Green's Bridge

Green's Bridge
Green's Bridge[1]

Green's Bridge on the river Nore in 2010
Coordinates 52°39′29″N 7°15′13″W / 52.6580457°N 7.2535254°W / 52.6580457; -7.2535254Coordinates: 52°39′29″N 7°15′13″W / 52.6580457°N 7.2535254°W / 52.6580457; -7.2535254
Crosses River Nore
Locale Kilkenny, County Kilkenny, Ireland
Official name Green's Bridge
Maintained by Kilkenny County Council
Heritage status Protected Structure[2]
NIAH[3] Reg. No.12004007[3]
KN-130[1]
Website buildingsofireland.ie
Characteristics
Design Arch bridge/palladian-style
Material limestone
Trough construction limestone
Pier construction limestone
History
Architect George Smith
Constructed by William Colles (c.1710-1770)
Construction begin 1765[1]
Construction cost £2828[4]
Opened 1766[1]
Replaces Great Bridge of Kilkenny
Location in Ireland

Green's Bridge, or Greensbridge, is an elegant palladian-style limestone arch bridge crossing the river Nore in Kilkenny, Ireland.[1] The bridge is a series of five elliptical arches, of high quality carved limestone masonry, with a two arch culvert to east.[1][3] Its graceful profile, architectural design value, and civil engineering heritage, make it of national significance.[3] Historian Maurice Craig described it as one of the five finest bridges in Ireland.[5] It was completed in 1766, built by William Colles and was designed by George Smith.[1][3] The bridge is 250 years old in 2016.

Situated on the north side of the city, the location has been a ford since at least the middle of the 10th century.[6] The first bridge was build in the 12th century by settlers from Flanders, and has been rebuilt many times due to constant floods.[6][7][8] The bridge itself is known from medieval times, described as "the Bridge of Kilkenny", "the big bridge of Kilkenny", "Grines Bridge", however the origin of Green's Bridge is uncertain.[9][10] The Great Flood of 1763 destroyed the previous bridge.[3]

Designed by George Smith and built by William Colles.[1] Colles was owner of the marble works and inventor of machinery for sawing, boring, and polishing limestone.[11] Smith designed almost a true copy of Bridge of Tiberius (Italian: Ponte di Augusto e Tiberio) in Rimini, as described by Andrea Palladio's (1508–80) in The Four Books of Architecture (1570) (I Quattro Libri dell'Architettura).[3][12] Parapets with added during a renovation in 1835.[1]

Currently used as a road bridge, temporary works carried out in 1969 have not had a positive impact and the general appraisal is that the bridge needs restoration.[3][13] Written stone on a cut-limestone plaque[3] is "Eland Mossom MP for this Borough 1776".[14] The estimated the cost of the bridge was £2828.[4]

Background

At the centre of Osraige, Kilkenny grew from a monastic settlement, now St Canice's Cathedral[15] on the hill above the bridge, to a thriving Norman merchant town in the Middle Ages. The location of a slow-moving and relatively easily fordable point on the Nore which had used from at least the 10th century.[6][7][8] Three important roads forded the Nore and Bregagh, including from Old Leighlin and Rosconnail (south of Ballyragget).[16]

Later the area was converted to a mill pond associated with the Augustinian Priory of St Johns and so new bridge was needed.[6][17] Settlers from Flanders may have built the first bridge in the 12th century.[7] The late medieval bridge has been recorded as "the Bridge of Kilkenny" in c.1178 and "the big bridge of Kilkenny" in c.1223.[9] Described as "Grines Bridge" in 1623,[9] the origin of Green's Bridge is unknown,[6] a Greene family "acquired the land in this area on October 21, 1631.",[6][18] however, merchant John Rothe, of Rothe House, in his will of 1619, bequeathed to his son John: "All my messauges in the Greene Street of the Irishtowne".[6][7][8]

The bridge has been rebuilt many times due to constant floods, including the great floods of 1338, c.1443 and 1526.[6][7] Sir James Ware the historian mentions the Bishop of Ossory Oliver Cantwell O.P. rebuilding "the great bridge of Kilkenny, thrown down by an inundation about the year 1447".[10] By 1623 it was a '"decayed state"', Kilkenny Archaeological Society has two unnamed depictions from 1655 and 1708.[1] It was recorded as 'out of repair' in 1710, the older late medieval bridge is recorded on Rocques' 1758 map.[1]

An archaeological excavation of part of the structure was carried out as part of the Kilkenny Flood Relief scheme.[9] One arch of the former bridge spans the Greensbridge mill‐race on the east and four‐five of its central pier abutments are visible in low water.[9]

Great Flood of 1763

The Great Flood of 1763 (October 2, 1763) washed away Green's Bridge and John's Bridge the other main bridge in the city.[10] the current bridge was rebuilt 120m to the south.[1] Bishop Pocoke estimated the cost of the loss of the bridge to be £2828. The Bishop of Ossory Richard Pococke estimated cost of the cleanup from Great Flood of 1763 at £11,381, Parliament of Ireland granted £5417 for the rebuilding of Green's Bridge and John's Bridge,[4] neighboring Churches collected £273, the lord lieutenant Earl of Northumberland gave £200, and the rest was raised by a tax on the county, some £4967.[4]

Design

Andrea Palladio's drawing of 'Ponte di Augusto e Tiberio' in Rimini

George Smith, from Kilkenny and the Nore navigation engineer was appointed to design the new bridge.[19][20][21] Smith had worked under George Semple durning the building of Essex Bridge (now Grattan Bridge) in Dublin.[22][23] Within three years of the Blackfriars Bridge competition Smith had three notable stone bridge designs in County Kilkenny.[24] At Inistioge Bridge (1763), the nearest bridge to the mouth of the Nore, Smith used a design derived from Robert Mylne's design for Blackfriars Bridge.[12] In the city of Kilkenny, Smith designed two notable new bridges John's Bridge and Greene's Bridge.[19][24][25]

For the larger of the two bridges in the city, Green's Bridge, Smith designed almost a true copy of Bridge of Tiberius (Italian: Ponte di Augusto e Tiberio) in Rimini, as described by Andrea Palladio's (1508–1580) in I Quattro Libri dell'Architettura (1570) (The Four Books of Architecture).[12][26] Built with rubble limestone, Smith's design incorporated five elliptical arches with cut-limestone Gibbs surrounds and dressed squared limestone soffits.[3] With three central arches and two smaller arches[13] it is decorated with pedimented aedicules and doric columns.[3] It has tooled limestone ashlar triangular cut-waters.[3] Renovated with two random rubble limestone parapets with coping were added in 1835.[1][3] As well as the five arches there is also a pair of elliptical arches over culvert (one blocked-up with concrete block infill).[3]

It was temporally remodelled in 1969, where the missing parapet on the north (upstream) facade of the bridge was removed, a cantilevered steel walkway and services were added.[6][13] These alteration works have not had a positive impact on the composition of the bridge.[3][13]

After severe flooding in 1763 had destroyed several bridges in the County, Smith designed a number of bridges including Castlecomer Bridge (1763) on the Dinin (Deen) River,[27] Thomastown Bridge (post-1763 and 1792) on the River Nore,[28] Graiguenamanagh Bridge (1764-7) on the River Barrow,[29] and Inistioge Bridge (1763) on the River Nore.[30]

Construction

Green's Bridge in flower.

The task of building the bridge went to William Colles (August 30, 1702 - March 8, 1770).[11] Colles was a building contractor and entrepreneur from Kilkenny.[11] He owned a marble works at Millmount about 1.9 miles (3 km) downstream of Kilkenny and a quarry Archersgrove Quarry situated on the outskirts of the city.[11][31] Archersgrove Quarry was a quarry of fine-grained Lower Carboniferous limestone (Butlersgrove Formation), which has become known as "the Black Quarry" due to the colour of the final product.[31] It is thought to be the first location where the "Kilkenny Black Marble" was quarried in Ireland.[31] This site is included as a County Geological Site as it is of historic and geological significance.[31]

Colles is credited as the inventor of machinery for sawing, boring and polishing limestone using water mills, tasks which had previously been performed by hand.[11] A weir on the river provided water to drive reciprocating cross-cut steel bands saws (with sand as an abrasive) to cut the larger blocks.[31]

The river Nore was used to transport large blocks from the quarry by means of horse-drawn floats and/or barges.[31]

As well as in several local buildings like the The Tholsel, Kilkenny Black Marble was used in the Cobh Cathedral, the plinth of the tomb of Richard III in Leicester Cathedral,[32] and the headstone of Daniel O'Connell in Glasnevin Cemetery.[33] Some fossils can be observed on the visible rock faces, mainly solitary corals and occasional brachiopods.[31]

Green's Bridge complex

Green's Bridge complex also includes a late medieval bridge,[9] a medieval mill stream,[17] and watermill.[34] Between the current bridge and the late medieval bridge a watermill is depicted on Rocques 1758 map, and the Civil Survey also describes a watermill "standing upon Grene's Bridge".[34]

As part of the Kilkenny Flood Relief scheme, an archaeological examination of the late medieval bridge was undertaken.[6] This revealed two piers, two sections of collapsed masonry, and a bridge abutment from the 16th century bridge.[9] A post‐medieval mill building with associated river bank revetment walls were also found.[9] A small section of the millstream was re‐opened at Greensbridge mill during the archaeological examination.[17]

The medieval millstream was a part of the medieval watermill at Green's Bridge and for the Maudlin mills, evidence suggests, it was constructed in the 12th century and associated with the Augustinian Priory of St Johns.[17] It ran along the eastbank of the river Nore from an inlet at Friar's Inch, under Noremount, and re-entered below Green's Bridge.[17]

A lower section flowed as far as the Maudlin mills to the south.[17] Included on Rocque's 1758 map and the First Edition Ordnance Survey Map, of the 0.68 miles (1.1 km) of millstream much of the upper section can still be seen, however most of the town section has been filled in and built upon.[17] In John Street much of the mill‐stream was walled and was crossed by the "Little Bridge".[17]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Green's Bridge.

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 (Devine et al. 2009, p. 94, KN‐130) Green's Bridge KN‐130 Sources (Craig 1982, p. 279), (Tierney 1996, p. 24‐27), (NIAH, NIAH12004007), (Kilkenny County Council & Heritage Office 2014), (Hamond 1990 IAS), (Devine et al. 2009, p. 148,149,174,175, Maps 24,25,50,51), (Devine et al. 2009, p. 95, Figures 96,97).
  2. ↑ (Kilkenny County Council & Heritage Office 2014, rps) Green's Bridge (D4)
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 (NIAH, Green's Bridge Reg. No. 12004007.) Green's Bridge (12004007)
  4. 1 2 3 4 Vallencey 1786, pp. 452–453, pg452
  5. ↑ (Craig 1982, p. 279)
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Keane, Sean. "Green's Bridge, Kilkenny brought to its knees". Kilkenny, Ireland: Kilkenny People. Retrieved June 1, 2016.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Hogan 1884, pp. 186–187
  8. 1 2 3 (Tierney 1996, p. 24‐27)
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Devine et al. 2009, Vol 2. Sources Stevens 2002d; (Farrelly, O'Reilly & Loughran 1993, p. 35), (Ó Drisceoil et al. 2008, p. 34,57,67,95,116,134,199, KKAP‐126), (Devine et al. 2009, p. 148,149,174,175, Maps 24,25,50,51).
  10. 1 2 3 (Stewart 1797, p. xxii)
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 (Rowan 2012, COLLES, WILLIAM)
  12. 1 2 3 (Ruddock 1979, p. 105)
  13. 1 2 3 4 "The architecture of Green's Bridge, Kilkenny". canicopolis.ie. Retrieved June 1, 2016.
  14. ↑ Eland Mossom, Esq. (1709 – 29th April 1774) representative in the Parliament of Ireland for the Borough of St Canice in Irishtown. He was the eldest son of Dean Mossom. His eldest son, Eland Mossom, became M.P. for Kilkenny City. Sources (Graves & Prim 1857, p. 331, p.331), ("Biographies of Members of the Irish Parliament 1692-1800". Ulster Historical Foundation.).
  15. ↑ (Room 2006)
  16. ↑ (KAS 1954)
  17. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Devine et al. 2009, p. 93, Vol 2. Green's Bridge medieval mill stream (KN‐127) " Sources Doyle 1985,149; (Farrelly, O'Reilly & Loughran 1993, p. 37), First Edition Ordnance Survey map, (Ó Drisceoil et al. 2008 KKAP‐393), (Ó Drisceoil et al. 2008 UAS‐43), (Devine et al. 2009, p. 148,149,174,175, Maps 24,25,50,51).
  18. ↑ Egan
  19. 1 2 (Rowan 2012, SMITH, GEORGE)
  20. ↑ NLI MS. 15,058 (IAA, Edward McParland files, Acc. 2008/44).
  21. ↑ (Rowan 2012, OCKENDEN, WILLIAM,)
  22. ↑ (Rowan 2012, SEMPLE, GEORGE)
  23. ↑ (Cox & Goul 1998, pp. 93–94)
  24. 1 2 Tighe 1802, p. 563 (illus.).
  25. ↑ (Tighe 1802, p. 136)
  26. ↑ (Palladio 1570)
  27. ↑ (NIAH, Castlecomer Bridge, Castlecomer, County Kilkenny) Reg. No. 12301001.
  28. ↑ (NIAH, Thomastown Bridge, Thomastown, County Kilkenny) Reg. No. 12317011.
  29. ↑ (NIAH, Graiguenamanagh) Reg. No. 12318004.
  30. ↑ (NIAH, Inistioge Bridge, Inistioge, County Kilkenny) Reg. No.12323011.
  31. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "KILKENNY - COUNTY GEOLOGICAL SITE REPORT" (PDF). gsi.ie.
  32. ↑ Leicester Cathedral website
  33. ↑ "O'Connell's crypt in Glasnevin refurbished". rte. 21 October 2009.
  34. 1 2 (Devine et al. 2009, p. 94, KN‐129) Green's Bridge watermill (possible) KN‐129 Sources (Farrelly, O'Reilly & Loughran 1993, p. 36), (Ó Drisceoil et al. 2008 KKAP‐337), (Ó Drisceoil et al. 2008 UAS‐42), (Devine et al. 2009, p. 148,149,174,175, Maps 24,25,50,51).

References

Further reading

Unpublished

  • Farrelly, J.; O'Reilly, B.; Loughran, B. (1993). The Urban Archaeological Survey County Kilkenny. Dublin: Office of Public Works. 
  • Tierney, Ann (1996). Survey of the Bridges of the Nore in County Kilkenny. p. 24‐27. 
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