The Bridge of Dee or Brig o Dee is a road bridge over the River Dee in

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. The term is also used for the surrounding area of the city. Dating from 1527,Richards, J.M., ''The National Trust Book of Bridges'', Jonathan Cape, 1984, the bridge crosses at what was once the City of Aberdeen's southern boundary. The Bridge of Dee is approximately 32 feet (10 m) above typical water height and consists of seven nearly semicircular ribbed arches, built using

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

and

Elgin Elgin may refer to: Places Canada * Elgin County, Ontario * Elgin Settlement, a 19th-century community for freed slaves located in present-day North Buxton and South Buxton, Ontario * Elgin, a village in Rideau Lakes, Ontario * Elgin, Manit ...

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

. Today the bridge carries the main

A92 road The A92 is a major road that runs through Fife, Dundee, Angus, Aberdeenshire, and Aberdeen City in Scotland. From south to north, it runs from Dunfermline to Blackdog, just north of Aberdeen. History The A92's original route in southern Fif ...

into Aberdeen from the south. It was designated a Category A

listed structure In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

in 1967, and was also listed as a

Scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage, visu ...

until being de-scheduled on 16 February 2009. George Gordon, 6th Earl of Huntly with his Catholic supporters rebelled against

James VI of Scotland James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until ...

and confronted the King at the Brig of Dee on 17 April 1589. There was no battle and Huntly surrendered a few day later. The bridge was the site of a

battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force co ...

in 1639 between the Royalists under

Viscount Aboyne Viscount Aboyne was a title in the Peerage of Scotland The Peerage of Scotland (; ) is one of the five divisions of peerages in the United Kingdom and for those peers created by the King of Scots before 1707. Following that year's Treaty of Un ...

and the

Covenanter Covenanters were members of a 17th-century Scottish religious and political movement, who supported a Presbyterian Church of Scotland and the primacy of its leaders in religious affairs. It originated in disputes with James VI and his son C ...

s who were led by the

Marquess of Montrose A marquess (; ) is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German-language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman with the rank of a marquess or the wife (or widow ...

and

Earl Marischal The title of Earl Marischal was created in the Peerage of Scotland for William Keith, the Great Marischal of Scotland. History The office of Marischal of Scotland (or ''Marascallus Scotie'' or ''Marscallus Scotiae'') had been hereditary, held ...

. This was the only substantial action of the

First Bishops' War The First Bishops' War was a conflict that took place in Scotland in 1639 between a Scottish political movement known as the Covenanters and forces loyal to King Charles I, who at that time was the king of both Scotland and England. Military acti ...

, and it took place after the peace treaty had already been signed.

History

The bridge was built following a bequest of £20,000 by Bishop

William Elphinstone William Elphinstone (143125 October 1514) was a Scottish statesman, Bishop of Aberdeen and founder of the University of Aberdeen. Biography He was born in Glasgow. His father, also William Elphinstone, later became the first Dean of the Facu ...

who died in 1514. The bridge was completed by Bishop Gavin Dunbar. It was nearly all rebuilt between 1718 and 1723, and in 1841 was widened from 14 to 26 feet (from four to eight metres) under the direction of Aberdeen City Architect John Smith. Smith also designed the Shakkin' Briggie, and worked on the Bridge of Don with

Telford Telford () is a town in the Telford and Wrekin borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Shropshire, England. The wider borough covers the town, its suburbs and surrounding towns and villages. The town is close to the county's eastern b ...

and Wellington Suspension Bridge with Captain Samuel Brown. The bridge is located near the northern terminus of the

Causey Mounth The Causey Mounth is an ancient drovers' road over the coastal fringe of the Grampian Mountains in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. This route was developed around the 12th century Anno Domini, AD as the main highway between Stonehaven and Aberdeen, a ...

, a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

drovers' road A drovers' road, drove road, droveway, or simply a drove, is a route for droving livestock on foot from one place to another, such as to marketplace, market or between summer and winter pasture (see transhumance). Many drovers' roads were anci ...

connecting

Stonehaven Stonehaven ( ) is a town on the northeast coast of Scotland, south of Aberdeen. It had a population of 11,177 at th2022 Census Stonehaven was formerly the county town of Kincardineshire, succeeding the now abandoned town of Kincardine, Aberd ...

. This ancient

trackway Historic roads (or historic trails in the US and Canada) are paths or routes that have historical importance due to their use over a period of time. Examples exist from prehistoric times until the early 20th century. They include ancient track ...

specifically connected the Bridge of Dee via Bourtreebush,

Muchalls Castle Muchalls Castle stands overlooking the North Sea in the countryside of Kincardine and Mearns, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The lower course is a well-preserved Romanesque, double-groined 13th-century tower house structure, built by the Frasers o ...

and

to the south. The route was that taken by

William Keith, 7th Earl Marischal William Keith, 7th Earl Marischal (16141670 or 1671) was a Scottish nobleman and Covenanter. He was the eldest son of William Keith, 6th Earl Marischal. Life During the English Civil War, the 7th Earl Marischal joined James Graham, 1st Marque ...

and the

when they led a

army of 9000 men in the first battle of the Civil War in 1639. The following contemporary verse was written about the battle. ::' large cannon''has made a vow'' ::' are to go ::' ::''Led by a Covenanter.'' ::''The Covenanters that ye see'' ::' pen grassy ground ::' ::' A chapel had been built right next to the bridge as a resting place for pilgrims travelling to and from Aberdeen. There appears to be no record showing when it was built but we know that an inventory was made by the Chaplin Sir William Ray. This may have been done prior to a legal battle. Gordon of Abergeldie petitioned Aberdeen town council on 27 February 1530 claiming that the chapel prevented him having easy access to his fishing rights in the river. Having lost the court case Gordon removed one of the buttresses to the bridge to make a footpath for his men to get to the river. Consequently, Aberdeen Town Council, the owners of the bridge, started legal action against him in Edinburgh High Court. Until 1832, this was the only access to the city from the south. The bridge still features the original 16th-century piers, coats of arms and passing places.

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dee, Bridge of Bridges completed in the 16th century Buildings and structures completed in 1527 Transport infrastructure completed in the 1520s Areas of Aberdeen Category A listed buildings in Aberdeen Road bridges in Scotland Bridges across the River Dee, Aberdeenshire Bridges in Aberdeen 1520s establishments in Scotland

History

See also

Footnotes