TWEEDSMUIR PARISH HISTORY.
Carlow's Bridge. (Listed as Category B)
This bridge spans the river Tweed at the point where it narrows to flow through the rocky defile known as Carlow's Linn, 400 yards SW of Tweedsmuir Church. It is built entirely of rubble masonry and comprises a single arch having a span of 30 feet and a width of 15 feet. Upon the south facing of the bridge a block of sandstone bearing the date of 1783 is built into the fabric above the crown of the arch. The structure evidently replaces an earlier bridge shown on various maps the oldest of which is William Edgar's map of peeblesshire, surveyed in 1741(1)
The current bridge was constructed by James and Alexander Noble(1) who were stone masons based in the Upper Tweed area and constructed many of the smaller bridges including several on the A701..(2).
The bridge including its predeceasters would have been consructed without parapets. This was to alow for carts with wide loads to cross. An example of this is the painting by Andrew Lorimer of cart with a hay stack. This was painted nearby to the bridge outside Dykehead . (7)
Image on left from Highways & Byways in the Border(6).
The bridge is the oldest bridge between Tweedsmuir and the source of the Tweed. There are newer bridges at Hawkshaw and at Fingland to give access to the respective farm sites.
Various spellings can be found in the records such as Carlows and Carlowse but the 's version was registered with the O.S. Name Book for Peeblesshire in 1849 (3) and was first used in the New Statistical Account of 1834. It has subsequently found favour with both Historic Scotland and the Royal Commission (RCAHMS). I wonder who Mr or Mrs Carlow (Carlaw) was who gave their name to the Linn (waterfall). John Buchan referred to it as Curlew Linn in his short story titled Sentimental Travelling in his book Scholar Gypsies.(4) Or, is Carlow a corruption of Carlin the Scots word for witch - Witch's Linn?
In 1884 The Rev. Dick reported on a flood that nearly carried away the Carlow's Bridge. The flood waters, the result of heavy rains on the heights above Fruid and Tweeddshaws was above the top of the arch of the bridge. The bridge survived mainly because the embankmennt carrying the road on the west side of the bridge was swept away for a connsiderable distance leaving a deep chasm in its place. The Glebe cottages were flooded. It was also noted that a good section of field below the Bield had been torn off and added a considerable slice to Tom's Inch(5). The Inch is the field at the confluence of the Tweed and the Talla Water. This recorded incident does highlight the fact that washaways in this area did occur including the one that carried away a good portion of Chapel Knowe some time past For more about the bronze age sites in the Parish see page Early Peoples.
It was probably this flood that finally obliterated any remaining vestiges of the ford and stepping stones that were known to be at this point.
This bridge is the sole access for the large lorries taking away the harvested spruce and pine trees from the Tweedsmuir forests. The fact that this ancient bridge designed for a mule and cart can cope with the weight of these lorries is a wonder.
The bridge - March 2011 - is now showing signs of wear and tear and with no sign of the number of timber lorries crossing the bridge diminishing there is real concern by the local residents that the bridge could fail - leaving them isolated.
The bridge was successfully repaired in 2014 by the Scottish Borders Council
Photographs in Picture Gallery - Carlow's Bridge.
References.
1) Royal Commission on the Ancient Historical Monuments of Scotland, Inventory for Peeblesshire, Edinburgh, 1967. Vol 2 No 633. p342. Also Canmore ID 48564.
2) Somerville, Meredyth, Editor; The Diary of James and Alexander Noble 1762-1827, Biggar Museum Trust, 1984. p17.
3) Ordnance Survey Name Book, Vol 44, Peeblesshire, Tweedsmuir. p30.
4) Buchan, John; Scholar Gipsies - Chapter 7 Sentimental Travelling, John Lane/Bodley Head, London. 1896. p103.
5) Scott, Sheila; Tales of Tweedsmuir, Glimpses of an Upland Parish in the Past, Biggar, 1995. p27.
6) Lang, Andrew and John with Illustrations by Hugh Thomson; Highways & Byways in the Border, Macmillan, London, 1913, p361,
7) Railton, Margaret, Compiler; Andrew Lorimer, His Life and Times in the Upper Tweed Valley, Phantassie, 2001. Dust Jacket - front.