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MHG63192 - Late C18th bridge - River Culag, Lochinver

Summary

A bridge over the River Culag in Lochinver originally constructed in the late 18th century.

Type and Period (1)

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Full Description

A bridge over the River Culag in Lochinver originally constructed in the late 18th century.

The bridge was built in c.1775 to enable access to and from a newly erected fishing station (see MHG12227) via a new road (see MHG33382). It is not shown on the Estate maps produced by John Home in c. 1773-4, which show a township, 'Milltown' clustered around and near a mill on the west side of the River Culag, all of which were removed. The mill was subsequenlty relocated to the southeast on the opposite side of the river (see MHG19771). <1>

The bridge is first shown on a map dated 1793 belonging to the Sutherland Estate. The map is a plan of an intended road from Loch Inver by the Portenleick Ferry surveyed by George Brown. It is available to view on the National Library of Scotland website. <2>

In 1994 the original road was converted into a footpath when a new bridge and road were constructed by the Highland Council to the north, bypassing the old bridge, though it still carries the minor road that runs southwards to Inverkirkaig. The old bridge is a single arch structure, originally built in stone and only a narrow single carriageway. However, at some time it was significantly widened with the addition of a concrete arch on the downstream side. This widening is almost twice the width of the original bridge, and has been faced in stone which appears to be the same stone which was taken down from the old structure, including the parapet. The use of concrete would suggest that the work was done in the 1930s, as a lot of comparable bridge works occurred in the Highlands during the decade.

GIS spatial data created in 2024 using OS MasterMap. <3>

Sources/Archives (3)

Map

Location

Grid reference	Centred NC 0943 2210 (27m by 23m) (2 map features)
Map sheet	NC02SE
Geographical Area	SUTHERLAND
Civil Parish	ASSYNT

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