Dairsie Bridge is a 16th-century stone bridge, located south of

Dairsie Dairsie, or Osnaburgh, is a village and parish in north-east Fife, Scotland. It is south-southwest of Leuchars Junction, and east-northeast of Cupar on the A91 Stirling to St Andrews road. The village grew out of two smaller settlements (call ...

, in north-east

Fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...

, Scotland. It carries a minor road across the River Eden, linking the parishes of Dairsie to the north and

Kemback Kemback (Scottish Gaelic: ''Ceann Bac'') is a village and parish in Fife, Scotland, located east of Cupar. The present village was developed in the 19th century to house those working the flax mills on the nearby Ceres Burn. From 1681 the minis ...

to the south. The bridge is protected as a Category A

listed building 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 ...

History

There was an earlier bridge at Dairsie, as it is recorded that

King James IV James IV (17 March 1473 – 9 September 1513) was King of Scotland from 11 June 1488 until his death at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. He inherited the throne at the age of fifteen on the death of his father, James III, at the Battle of Sauch ...

crossed it on his way from

St Andrews St Andrews (; ; , pronounced ʰʲɪʎˈrˠiː.ɪɲ is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fourth-largest settleme ...

Stirling Stirling (; ; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Central Belt, central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town#Scotland, market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the roya ...

in 1496. The present bridge bears an inscribed stone displaying the

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

and initials of

James Beaton James Beaton (or Bethune) ( – 15 February 1539) was a Roman Catholic Scottish church leader, the uncle of David Cardinal Beaton and the Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland. Life James Beaton was the sixth and youngest son of John Beaton ...

(1473–1539),

Archbishop of St Andrews The Bishop of St. Andrews (, ) was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of St Andrews in the Catholic Church and then, from 14 August 1472, as Archbishop of St Andrews (), the Archdiocese of St Andrews. The name St Andrews is not the town ...

, and it is likely that he ordered the bridge to be built during his episcopate (1522–1539). Nearby

Dairsie Castle Dairsie Castle is a restored tower house located south of Dairsie in north-east Fife, Scotland. The castle overlooks the River Eden. History The first castle built here was the property of the bishops of St Andrews, and may have been construc ...

had been a property of the archbishops of St Andrews until the early 16th century. The three-arched bridge is long and wide. The Eden flows under the two southern arches, and

cutwater A cutwater is the forward part of the prow or stem of a watercraft around the waterline The waterline is the line where the hull of a ship meets the surface of the water. A waterline can also refer to any line on a ship's hull that is paralle ...

s project from the bridge's

pier A pier is a raised structure that rises above a body of water and usually juts out from its shore, typically supported by piling, piles or column, pillars, and provides above-water access to offshore areas. Frequent pier uses include fishing, b ...

s. Only minor alterations, to the parapets and approaches, have been carried out since the bridge's construction.

References

External links

*{{cite web, title=Dairsie Bridge, url=http://www.scottish-places.info/features/featurefirst11251.html, work=Gazetteer for Scotland, accessdate=4 June 2010 Bridges in Fife Category A listed buildings in Fife Listed bridges in Scotland Road bridges in Scotland Stone arch bridges 16th-century establishments in Scotland Bridges completed in the 16th century