Dunans Bridge is a category A-listed structure, designed by

Thomas Telford Thomas Telford FRS, FRSE, (9 August 1757 – 2 September 1834) was a Scottish civil engineer. After establishing himself as an engineer of road and canal projects in Shropshire, he designed numerous infrastructure projects in his native Scotla ...

. It is located at

Dunans Castle Dunans Castle is an historic structure located in Glendaruel, on the Cowal peninsula, Argyll and Bute, Scotland. The property is owned by Charles and Sadie Dixon-Spain. A property at Dounens was shown on maps in 1590; Dunans House was elaborated ...

on the

Cowal Cowal ( gd, Còmhghall) is a peninsula in Argyll and Bute, in the west of Scotland, that extends into the Firth of Clyde. The northern part of the peninsula is covered by the Argyll Forest Park managed by Forestry and Land Scotland. The Arrochar ...

peninsula in

Argyll Argyll (; archaically Argyle, in modern Gaelic, ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a historic county and registration county of western Scotland. Argyll is of ancient origin, and corresponds to most of the part of the ancient kingdom of ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. It was built for John Fletcher of Dunans, to commemorate the

battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armie ...

. The bridge was completed in 1815, and predates the 1864 elaboration of Dunans House by Kerr into a Franco-Baronial "castle". The three-arched rubble construction is considered internationally important as it is the only extant bridge of this type. It stands over from the river bed and has been voted one of Scotland's ten best bridges. It was built to replace the now destroyed "swing bridge". Though it is of a kind often constructed by Telford, the three arches, gargoyles and eight hexagonal piers, as well as its sheer height , make it unique. The structure is in the "At Risk" category on the

Buildings at Risk Register for Scotland The Buildings at Risk Register for Scotland records buildings of national architectural or historic interest which are considered to be under threat. The list is maintained by Historic Environment Scotland (HES). The register was established in 1 ...

. The 2008 inspection indicated: "there is significant vegetation growth on and around the structure and the buttress caps have been damaged by cement repairs."

References

{{commons cat Category A listed buildings in Argyll and Bute Listed bridges in Scotland Bridges completed in 1815 Bridges by Thomas Telford Kilmodan Glendaruel Clan Fletcher Buildings at Risk Register for Scotland Bridges in Argyll and Bute 1815 establishments in Scotland