Dairsie Bridge is a 16th-century stone bridge, located south of

Dairsie Dairsie, or Osnaburgh, is a village and parish in north-east Fife, Scotland. It is south-southwest of Leuchars Junction, and east-northeast of Cupar on the A91 Stirling to St Andrews road. The village grew out of two smaller settlements (cal ...

, in north-east Fife,

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. It carries a minor road across the River Eden, linking the parishes of Dairsie to the north and

Kemback Kemback is a village and parish in Fife, Scotland, located east of Cupar. The present village was developed in the 19th century to house those working the flax mills on the nearby Ceres Burn. From 1681 the minister for the parish was Alexander ...

to the south. The bridge is protected as a Category A

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

History

There was an earlier bridge at Dairsie, as it is recorded that

King James IV James IV (17 March 1473 – 9 September 1513) was King of Scotland from 11 June 1488 until his death at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. He inherited the throne at the age of fifteen on the death of his father, James III, at the Battle of Sauchi ...

crossed it on his way from St Andrews to

Stirling Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its me ...

in 1496. The present bridge bears an inscribed stone displaying the arms and initials of

James Beaton James Beaton (or Bethune) (1473–1539) was a Roman Catholic Scottish church leader, the uncle of David Cardinal Beaton and the Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland. Life James Beaton was the sixth and youngest son of John Beaton of Balfour ...

(1473–1539),

Archbishop of St Andrews The Bishop of St. Andrews ( gd, Easbaig Chill Rìmhinn, sco, Beeshop o Saunt Andras) was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of St Andrews in the Catholic Church and then, from 14 August 1472, as Archbishop of St Andrews ( gd, Àrd-easbaig ...

, and it is likely that he ordered the bridge to be built during his episcopate (1522–1539). Nearby

Dairsie Castle Dairsie Castle is a restored tower house located south of Dairsie in north-east Fife, Scotland. The castle overlooks the River Eden. History The first castle built here was the property of the bishops of St Andrews, and may have been constru ...

had been a property of the archbishops of St Andrews until the early 16th century. The three-arched bridge is long and wide. The Eden flows under the two southern arches, and

cutwater In architecture, a starling (or sterling) is a defensive bulwark, usually built with pilings or bricks, surrounding the supports (or piers) of a bridge or similar construction. Starlings may be shaped to ease the flow of the water around the brid ...

s project from the bridge's

pier Seaside pleasure pier in Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th century.">England.html" ;"title="Brighton, England">Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th ...

s. Only minor alterations, to the parapets and approaches, have been carried out since the bridge's construction.

References

External links

*{{cite web, title=Dairsie Bridge, url=http://www.scottish-places.info/features/featurefirst11251.html, work=Gazetteer for Scotland, accessdate=4 June 2010 Bridges in Fife Category A listed buildings in Fife Listed bridges in Scotland Road bridges in Scotland Stone arch bridges 16th-century establishments in Scotland Bridges completed in the 16th century