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Summary

Description

John Smith of Darnick, 1819, widened later 19th century. 2 segmental arches (one principal span and smaller flood arch to N) spanning Slitrig Water, with splayed wing walls and triangular cutwaters. Random rubble with some 20th century rebuilding to W side.

Statement of Special Interest

A good, prominent, example of the work of John and Smith of Darnick, using his pioneering economical method of whinstone rubble arch construction. The bridge is situated at a sharp corner on the B6399 between Hawick and Newcastleton, just S of Hawick.

John Smith (1782-1864) and his brother Thomas were the younger sons of John Smith, a mason and builder from Darnick (near Melrose). Intelligent and enterprising, they worked as architect-builders for a large number of projects in the Borders during the first half of the 19th century. They pioneered whinstone rubble arch construction without the use of ashlar and published a paper on this subject in the first volume of the RIBA Transactions. They built a number of bridges using this method, of which Crowbyres is a good example.

Matthew Stobie's Map of Roxburghshire or Tiviotdale (1770) shows a ford in this position, but a bridge is shown on Ainslie's map of 1821. The bridge was evidently widened to the W in the later 19th century, probably circa 1870. This is evident both from the Ordnance Survey maps and from the neatly dressed voussoirs on the W elevation. The clear distinction between the two evident building periods adds to the architectural interest of the bridge.

References

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