Returning from Edinburgh while traveling along the Hyndford Road early one morning, it occurred to Chief Richard Carmichael – 30th Chief of the Name and Arms, and 26th Baron of Carmichael– that this may be the only time he’d ever had the Hyndford Bridge to himself. At only nineteen feet wide between the small masonry obelisks on each side of its approach parapets and quickly narrowing to one lane, most travelers are used to waiting at a traffic signal before they can traverse the River Clyde along the narrow, one-way bridge. The bridge is so narrow, in fact, that there are four small recesses along each side of the bridge located above each pier that would, at one point in time, allow pedestrians a safe place to stand “when two conveyances would meet.”
Crossing the River Clyde used to be a more daunting task. Before the bridge’s construction, which is listed as having been completed in 1773, there were a number of fords and ferries along the Clyde that offered passage to either side of the river. “For centuries,” Chief Richard told me, “Carmichaels earned their livings...with [these] fords and small boats.” According to the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland’s 133rd Session (1912- 1913), the Hyndford Bridge was erected to facilitate communication by coach between Edinburgh on the east coast and Ayr on the west coast. For as long as anyone could remember, the path from the capital to Ayr had crossed the Clyde near Lanark at Clydesholm, but an official act of Parliament in 1772 proposed a new route, reasoning that “the River Clyde is often dangerous [at Clydesholm] and impassable for travelers.” The new route from Edinburgh to Ayr would pass through Carnwath, Ravenstruther, cross the Clyde at Carmichael, then proceed to Douglas, Parish Holm, and eventually arrive in Ayr. Incidentally, this route is designated today as the A70 road that bisects Scotland and is locally known as the “Lang Whang.” (A whang is Scots for a leather bootlace.) The route proposed in Parliament, however, would not be complete until the new bridge could be constructed.
“For centuries, Carmichaels earned their livings...with [these] fords and small boats.”
Alexander Stevens was one of the leading bridge builders of the time and was hired to design and build the five-arch sandstone bridge. Borrowing from a French design, Stevens chose to build streamlined, curved cutwaters above each of the pier’s foundation blocks. These cutwaters help to prevent debris from building up on the upstream face of the bridge and provide improved bridge hydraulics, allowing for a more structurally sound bridge. Cutwaters on the downstream side also allow the water to join again smoothly and minimize the formation of whirlpools. Stevens’s chosen design provided the Hyndford Bridge with a high degree of sophistication, especially for bridges of this time.
The central arch of the bridge spans sixty feet, with the two surrounding arches each spanning fifty-five feet. The outermost thirty-foot arches are built on solid ground and are known as flood arches. These last arches provide the Hyndford Bridge with a wide, majestic, and symmetrical form set along the mostly undisturbed fields surrounding it. In a 1793 account of the bridge featured in the Statistical Account of the Parish of Lanark, the author said of the bridge that “for elegance and simplicity, it may challenge any bridge...in Scotland."
The same 1772 act of Parliament that established the new route and the bridge construction also arranged for a pontage – a toll for the building or repair of a bridge – to be collected at a small toll house on the eastern side of the bridge, the ruins of which are still owned today by Chief Richard Carmichael. “For every coach, chariot, landau, berlin, chaise, hearse, calash or chair, drawn by six or more horses, mares, geldings, mules or beasts of draught,” the toll would be “1s. 6d.” – or one shilling and six pence (“one and six” as one would say). Fares decreased with the number of animals, and to cross on foot only cost each traveler a halfpenny (1/2d. – pronounced “haypny”).
The bridge, of course, took its name from the adjoining Hyndford estate, which had long been a possession of the Carmichael family and the namesake of the title bestowed on John, 2nd Lord Carmichael, 1st Earl of Hyndford in 1701. More widely known during the time the bridge was constructed would have been John, 3rd Earl of Hyndford, who was a well-known diplomat, having served as envoy to Prussia, Russia, and Vienna, among other prestigious positions.
When viewed from the banks of the river, the Hyndford Bridge presents a striking appearance and is a “great bridge and tribute [to the Earl of Hyndford]” according to Chief Richard. When constructed, the bridge was beneficial to the area which had previously been dependent on ferries and continues to this day to provide a beautiful focal point set among the Lowland countryside. Although the Hyndford Bridge no longer adjoins the lands of the Carmichael Estate, be sure to not miss it on your next visit to Carmichael. Along with the Hyndford Monument atop Carmichael Hill, the Hyndford Bridge is itself another local monument to the rich history of the Carmichael family.
The Hyndford Bridge
Very interesting! What a stately looking bridge. And over 300 years old. Hard to imagine anything we are building today that will last that long of a test of time. Thank you for sharing!