east-lothian-1924/05-121

Transcription

HADDINGTON.] -- INVENTORY OF MONUMENTS IN EAST LOTHIAN. -- [HADDINGTON.

the inside, 3 1/2 feet high on the outside and 40
feet distant from the crest of the last mentioned
rampart. Some 16 feet beyond, what looks
like the fragment of an outer rampart of
uncertain dimensions can be traced for some
distance east of the southern entrance. These
defences run west along the southern flank as
far as the southern entrance, beyond which
only the second of them is continued west-
wards, and this can be traced for about 65 yards,
after which it seems to carry on some distance
as a scarp. The distance between this line and
the inner rampart, adjacent to the southern
entrance, is 85 feet, the intervening space being
occupied by outcropping rocks. The defences
at the western, and most accessible, end of the
fort, consist of three ramparts outside the inner
rampart, intervals of 49 feet, 53 feet and 153
feet separating them from each other. The
first of these is built right across the ridge from
the outer rampart on the south to the edge of
the precipice on the north and measures 12
feet in breadth at the base and 3 to 4 feet in
height ; the second, commencing at the rocky
outcrop on the south, is also carried across the
ridge and measures 18 feet in breadth and 3 to
4 feet in height ; while the third and outer ram-
part, 10 feet in breadth and 1 foot in height, with
a ditch 8 feet broad and 1 foot deep outside it
runs from the ridge northwards for some 50
yards, when it terminates some 40 yards from
the edge of the precipice on the north.
There are no remains of hut circles to be
seen in the interior, but some hollows in the
rocky surface could easily have been, and
probably were, used as shelters.

v. S.W. 28 May 1913.

MISCELLANEOUS.

75. Nungate Bridge.-This bridge (fig. 92)
spans the River Tyne on the east of Haddington
and gives access from the town to the suburb
of Nungate.
The structure is over 210 feet in length and
traverses a waterway 100 feet in width on three
arches ; two additional arches on the east
carry the incline between the higher level of
the roadway of the bridge and the lower level
of the ground on the east bank.
The western arch is three-centred, the other
two spanning the river are slightly pointed,

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while those carrying the eastern approach are
semi-circular and are not contemporaneous with
the structure, having been added in the 18th
century. The arches are not ribbed, and the
cutwaters, which project from the piers, have
sloping weather tops. The western approach
from the town is angled ; the eastern has been
altered. The roadway averages 10 feet 8 inches
in width and the bridge measures 14 feet 8
inches across the parapets.
The structure is built of red sandstone and
has been considerably altered and repaired over
a long period ; from the evidence now visible
it appears to date from the 17th century. It is
still used for vehicular traffic, and its present
condition is satisfactory. In the retaining wall
on the east bank to the south of the bridge are
several carved stones. At a point A on
fig. 92 is found a lintel 3 1/2 feet by 10 inches
inscribed in relief ; the first words are illegible,
the termination reads A N O 1565. The lintel
and some other stones, which apparently bear
armorial achievements too decayed to be
decipherable, have probably nothing to do with
the bridge, and were possibly removed from
St. Mary's Church as the stones are of a similar
nature.

x. N.W. 13 July 1912.

76. Abbey Bridge.-A little over 3/4 mile
east of the town of Haddington, the river Tyne,
on emerging from the policies of Amisfield
House, is spanned by a bridge of the early
16th century (fig. 91).
The structure has a total span of 131 feet
by 16 feet in width and is borne on three pointed
drop-centred arches. These arches had origin-
ally five ribs with chamfered edges, each 1 foot
6 1/2 inches broad, dividing the vault into six
bays ; the ribs of the central arch are complete,
three ribs have been removed from the north
arch and two from the southern.
Two courses above the archivolts a row of
corbels of slight projection carry the overhang
of the parapet and appear to indicate a sub-
sequent widening of the roadway, which now
is 13 feet 6 inches wide. The piers between
the arches have projecting cutwaters termin-
ating in sloping tops at the level of the corbels.
A panel over the southern arch records that
the bridge was repaired, but the date is in-
decipherable. On the west coping the date

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