Image: General Wade’s Bridge, Aberfeldy by C L T Smith, 19 September 2009, sourced from Wikimedia Commons and licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
William Adam turned a strategic military-road crossing into an exceptionally composed bridge with five arches, obelisks, carved tablets and stone cannon.
Quick facts
- Date
- 1733–34
- Architect / designer
- William Adam for the Board of Ordnance under Lieutenant-General George Wade
- Type
- Five-arch military-road bridge with classical monuments and refuges
- Designation
- Listed building, Category A (LB20861)
- OS grid reference
- NN 85134 49298
Architecture, archaeology and continuing use
A taller central arch is flanked by four smaller segmental spans. Chlorite-schist rubble, ashlar rings, cutwaters and roadway refuges support four panelled obelisks, while inscriptions and small projecting stone cannon add an overtly monumental character.
Its story
Work began in April 1733 for General Wade’s Highland road programme and continued into 1734. The bridge helped make later settlement and movement around Aberfeldy possible and remains part of the road network.
Why it is included
Category A designation reflects outstanding engineering, architectural design and national association with the military-road system that reshaped Highland communications.
What to notice
- The broad central arch and graduated side spans.
- Four obelisks rising from roadway refuges.
- Marble and stone panels carrying heraldic and commemorative detail.
Reading the surroundings
The bridge carries live traffic, often in one direction at a time. Use the pedestrian space carefully, obey signals and avoid blocking the narrow roadway or refuges.
Timeline
- 23 April 1733 The first stone was laid for William Adam’s Tay crossing.
- 1734 Parapets and finishing details completed the bridge after a winter pause.
- 1932 Replacement inscription tablets renewed Wade’s English and Latin texts.
- 2024 Historic Environment Scotland updated the designation description after review.
What we know — and what remains uncertain
The bridge’s 1733 completion inscription compresses a campaign that actually continued with finishing work in 1734.
Sources & further reading
- Historic Environment Scotland: General Wade’s Bridge, LB20861 — Designation status, mapped location, date, fabric and architectural or archaeological interest.
- Trove: Tay Bridge, Aberfeldy — Measured engineering description, archival references and mapped identity.
- Visit Aberfeldy: heritage and history — Local historical context for Wade’s roads, the bridge and the town’s development.
Location
OS grid reference NN 85134 49298 · Location confidence: High: the national designation supplies an official mapped National Grid Reference; the independent source confirms the Place relationship, history or current identity. · Select the marker to open its satellite view in Google Maps. On desktop, drag Pegman (the yellow figure) onto a blue road. On mobile, turn on the Street View layer and tap a blue road. Other photo markers may be user-contributed.
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