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The Recreation of a Folly

The bridge was built by the Earl of Eglington for the Grand Tournament celebrating Queen Victoria’s coronation. The bridge's cast iron parapet is a repetition of the pointed Gothic arch design of the castle, surmounted by a battlement, and relieved in the centre with foliated pinnacles.

The bridge was left to decay, the sides fell into the river, the army patched it up with concrete and it carried on deteriorating. However, being a public park, Ayreshire Council took the decision, along with a grant from Historic Scotland, to restore the bridge to its former glory. Historic Scotland required a ‘faithful restoration where all details are replicated as closely as possible in terms of material, design and construction’.

All we had to go on were two old photographs which our patternshop produced and our heavy section moulders cast. All the component parts from the balustrading to the 4 meter parapets were made in house and our Engineering Company built the fascias onto the new bridge structure. Over 10 tonnes of castings were produced and fitted to on site. We feel we more than complied with Historic Scotland’s terms and the end result is the spectacular gothic photo you see in the photograph.

For the above work we were awarded a commendation by The Saltire Society. Information about this achievement can be found by following the link on the right hand side of the page.