Wade's Bridge | |
|---|---|
 The bridge in 2022 | |
| Coordinates | 56°37′17″N 3°52′25″W / 56.6215°N 3.8737°W |
| Crosses | River Tay |
| Locale | Aberfeldy, Perth and Kinross, Scotland |
| Other name(s) | Tay Bridge |
| Characteristics | |
| Total length | 112 metres (367 ft) |
| History | |
| Architect | William Adam |
| Opened | 1733 |
| Location | |
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Wade's Bridge (originally known as Tay Bridge) is five-arch bridge crossing the River Tay at Aberfeldy, Perth and Kinross, Scotland. A Category A listed structure built in 1733,[1] to a design by William Adam, it carries the pedestrian and vehicle traffic of Poplar Avenue.[2] Erected for the Board of Ordnance, to the order of Lieutenant General George Wade, its original purpose was as a military road linking the garrisons at Ruthven, Fort George, Fort Augustus and Fort William.[3]
The stone was quarried, cut and tooled at nearby Bolfracks. In 1932, two tablets with copies of Wade's original inscriptions were let into the stonework of two obelisk plinths; one in English and one in Latin. These state that the bridge was begun in April 1733 and finished by January; however, this is not strictly true, as General Wade stopped work for the winter, leaving the bridge without parapets over the side arches. These were added the following year.[2]
- ^ Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland: A Graphic and Accurate Description of Every Place in Scotland, Francis Hindes Groome (1901)
- ^ a b Tay Bridge – Historic Environment Scotland
- ^ Mackenzie, Sir Kenneth (13 April 1897). Paper entitled General Wade & his Roads. Inverness Scientific Society.