Clashnessie Bridge

Clashnessie Bridge carries the B869 over the Abhainn Clash an Eas in the tiny village of Clashnessie. Both stream and village take their name from the dramatic waterfall which cascades out from Loch an Lub about half a mile above the bridge. It is a plain single stone arch with battered abutments and parapets which curve down into the ground at either end, design features of the bridges designed by Thomas Telford as part of his commission on Highland Roads and Bridges. However, the B869 was not a road built by the commissioners, so it is likely that the bridge dates from the later 1820s when Telfords former apprentice, Joseph Mitchell worked as county surveyor in Sutherland and built much of the current road network across the county. Due to the topography of the site, the abutments are unusually large in comparison to the arch, with the stream sitting down in a small gulley with banks sloping steeply up to the fields on either side.