Dolauhirion Bridge across the Tywi.

One of the most stunning bridges in the county.

              
                    A Grade I listed building: See British Listed Buildings.

                    History

Road bridge across the Tywi, built in 1773 by Thomas Edwards, and one of the outstanding surviving works of the bridge-building Edwards family of Pontypridd. This bridge has the weight-reducing pierced spandrels that Thomas' father the Rev William Edwards introduced at Pontypridd in 1756, one of the very few post-Roman advances in masonry bridge building. This is perhaps one of the most elegant of the surviving Edwards bridges, the very broad elliptical arch rising to a thin crown. Although marked 'Thomas Edward 1773', the bridge was attributed by Thomas Rees writing in 1815 and Samuel Lewis in 1833 to William Edwards, and A Arber-Cooke records that it has also been dated 1785.

                    Exterior

Road bridge, rubble stone single arch of some 25m span and 3.6m width rising high above the Tywi from natural rock abutments. The single broad elliptical arch has large cut stone voussoirs, and the spandrels have masonry in very thin courses and are pierced with large circular holes also with cut stone voussoirs. The abutments are stepped out slightly and splayed. Humped roadway with ramped parapets of rather cruder masonry than the bridge, with stone slab coping stones. In centre of S parapet a slate coping stone marked 'Thomas Edward 1773'.

                    Reason for listing

Included at Grade I as an outstanding example of the revolutionary bridge designs evolved by the Rev. William Edwards and his sons in the later C18.

Scheduled Ancient Monument: CM005

   The following text was extracted from Engineering Timelines:

         The simple and elegant Grade I listed Dolauhirion Bridge is said to be one of the most beautiful  bridges in the world. It carries a minor road (C2157) over the upper River Towy in south Wales and remains in use, with an imposed weight restriction.

         

The first bridge at this spot was recorded in 1396-7 as “'the bridge of Dolhir”, though the present Dolauhirion Bridge dates from 1773 and cost £800 to construct. It was designed by William Edwards (1719-89), the Welsh engineer who built Pontypridd Old Bridge. His sons David (b.1748) and Thomas (1750-1800) were involved too, and Thomas was the contractor.

The single span stone bridge lies 1.6km north of Llandovery and carries a 3.65m wide roadway across the river between rock abutments. Its 25.6m span segmental arch follows an elliptical curve and has deep haunches and a thin crown. One 2.4m diameter cylindrical hole through each spandrel reduces weight on the bridge’s haunches. Edwards first used the technique at Pontypridd in the 1755-6, though it is not unique to him.

In August 1961, The Field magazine claimed Dolauhirion Bridge as the “prettiest” bridge in Britain. A South American magazine later called it one of the 12 most beautiful bridges in the world.