Calder Bridge Over River Calder, Lochwinnoch Village

Heritage listing

Category B Date Added 10/06/1971 Local Authority Renfrewshire Planning Authority Renfrewshire Parish Lochwinnoch NGR NS 35460 58420 Coordinates 235460, 658420 — Earlier to mid 19th century. 3 segmental-arched bridge over River Calder with triangular cutwaters. Droved ashlar with ashlar buttresses, piers and parapet coping and bullfaced voussoirs. Raised parapet over central span, ramped parapet over outer arches. Flat caps to piers flanking arches. Splayed abutments with massive octagonal terminal piers. — This is a good example of a early 19th century bridge with fine detailing and a good landscape presence, spanning the River Calder at the entrance to Lochwinnoch village. The octagonal terminal piers are similar to those at the Garthland Bridge to the East of Castle Semple Loch (see separate listing) and the 2 bridges are likely to be of a similar date. The bridge forms an important structure in the wider, former Estate of Castle Semple. A bridge is marked on this site in the John Thomson Atlas of 1832. Previous to this, a dotted line in 1800 John Ainslie Map marks a crossing over the River Calder at this site. The bridge is marked on the 1st Edition Ordnance Survey Map, which was surveyed in 1857 as a New Bridge and the date is therefore likely to be earlier to mid 19th century. Castle Semple Estate has a long history, originally associated with the Semple family who built the first Castle Semple and the collegiate church (scheduled monument, 2011) around 1504. In 1727, the Semples sold the estate to a sugar plantation owner, William McDowell. McDowell began a range of land improvements to the estate, which form the basis of the current estate, including building a new Castle Semple House and landscaping the grounds. The 2nd William MacDowell continued the improvemen

From Historic Environment Scotland under OGL v3.