Ken Bridge
19th-century road bridge in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland
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Ken Bridge | |
|---|---|
Ken Bridge | |
| Coordinates | 55°04′52″N 4°07′52″W |
| Carries | A712 road |
| Crosses | Water of Ken |
| Heritage status | Category A listed building |
| Characteristics | |
| Material | Granite ashlar |
| Total length | 110 metres (360 ft) |
| No. of spans | 5 |
| History | |
| Architect | John Rennie the Elder [1] |
| Construction start | 1820 |
| Construction end | 1821 |
| Location | |
 Interactive map of Ken Bridge | |
The Ken Bridge is a road bridge about 0.8 kilometres (0.5 mi) north east of New Galloway in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, which carries the A712 road over the Water of Ken towards Balmaclellan. Designed by John Rennie shortly before his death, it has been designated a Category A listed building.
History
Description
The bridge is entirely made of granite ashlar, roughly finished for the most part, with polished granite surfaces on the inner faces of the parapet and on the soffits.[5] It curves along its length, and has a total span of 110 metres (360 ft), with the widest central arch spanning approximately 30 metres (100 ft).[5] Its piers are supported on the riverbed by round-nosed cutwaters, and the spandrels between the arches are decorated with pilasters.[5]
The bridge has been praised for its aesthetic qualities. Architectural historian John Gifford, writing in the Dumfries and Galloway volume of the Pevsner Architectural Guides series, described it as a "long elegant curve of granite ashlar",[1] and John R. Hume, the former chief inspector of historic buildings for Historic Scotland, wrote that it was the "most elegant of Rennie's bridges in the South-West... ...five graded segmental arches leap the Ken's floodplain in a long, low streamlined curve."[6]
The bridge now carries the A712 road towards Balmaclellan.[3] It was designated a Category A listed building in 1971.[5]