Mount Bellew

Single-arch pedestrian bridge, built c.1850. Cast-iron arch with open oriel motif to spandrel panels. Cast-iron lattice parapets with rose motifs at intersections and flat cast-iron handrail, flanked by pair of bow-top cast-iron open piers with lattice panel between set on ashlar limestone piers. Timber deck set into base of parapets. Set in Mountbellew Forest Park on footpath to site of Mount Bellew House.

This unusual cast-iron pedestrian bridge, known as "Rocky Bridge", sits in Mountbellew Forest Park and once led to Mount Bellew, seat of the Bellew family for over one hundred and fifty years. Cast-iron was first used for bridge construction in the late eighteenth century when it was discovered that the best structural use of cast-iron was in arches, so that all the material is in compression where it is very strong, such as in this example. The delicate nature of the spandrel details and the open lattice balustrade makes this a very attractive and seemingly lightweight bridge, adding significantly to the diversity of the architectural and engineering heritage of the district.