Gazetteer of Scotland > Volume 2

MONTROSE.
783
Montrose is situated on a plain, environed on
the west by an expansion of the South Esk, and
on the south by the again contracted channel of
that fine river. The basin here alluded to is
nearly dry at low water, but is so completely
filled up by every tide, as to wash the garden
walls on the west side of the town, and to af-
ford sufficient depth of water in the channel of
the river for allowing small sloops to be navigat-
ed to the distance of three miles above the har-
bour. At these periods of high water, the ap-
pearance of Montrose, when first discerned
from the public road on the south, is peculiarly
striking, and seldom fails to arrest the eye of
a stranger. The basin opening towards the
left in all the beauty of a circular lake ; the fer-
tile and finely cultivated fields rising gently
from its banks ; the numerous surrounding
country seats which burst at once upon the
view ; the town, and harbour, and bay, stretch-
ing further on the right ; and the lofty sum-
mit of the Grampians, nearly in the centre of
the landscape, closing the view towards the
north-west — altogether present to the view of
the traveller one of the most magnificent and
diversified amphitheatres to be found in the
united kingdom. The South Esk is crossed
by a very magnificent suspension-bridge, which
is erected on the precise site of the former
wooden one. The foundation-stone of the
masonry was laid in September 1828, and the
Dridge declared open December 1829. It was
designed by Captain Brown, R. N., patentee,
and finished at an expense of L.20,000. It
stretches across the river in a noble span, the
distance between the points of suspension be-
ing 432 feet. The main chains, four in num-
ber, are supported by two stone towers, 72
feet in height, which form the grand entrance
to the platform of the bridge on each side,
through an archway 16 feet wide by 18 feet
high. The backstay-chains rise from cham-
bers in which they are strongly imbedded and
fastened by great plates to channels on the tops
of the towers. From these imperishable
main chains the platform is suspended ; it
forms a roadway, 26 feet in breadth, construct-
ed upon iron beams, to which the planking or
platform is bolted. On each side of the
bridge there is a footpath, railed off by a
handsome guard chain ; and the sides of the
platform aie furnished with an ornamental
cornice, so fastened as to stiffen the bridge
and prevent vibration or undulation. The
hollow noise arising from the treading of
horses, which has ever been an objection to
wooden platforms or roadways, and been the
cause of accidents, is entirely obviated, by
employing a composition, discovered by Cap-
tain Brown, of coal, tar, pitch, and broken
metal laid on of a proper thickness over the
planking, which besides being a superior pre-
servation of the platform, is impervious to
water. The river at this point is of a con-
siderable depth, about twenty feet at low wa-
ter in ordinary tides, and thirty-five at spring
tides ; and so rapid, that it frequently runs at
the rate of six miles an hour. On the west
side of this entrance, and close upon the river,
is the longest of the three mounts, to which
the French name of the town is supposed to
refer, called Forthill, on which a fortification
was formerly erected, and in cutting through
which, to form a new entrance to the town from
the bridge, a stratum of human bones, nearly
fourteen feet thick, was laid open. The har-
bour on the east side of the bridge is very com-
modious, and furnished with excellent quays.
Two light- houses were some years ago erect-
ed, to direct vessels in taking the river during
the night ; and a larger house in which the
keeper of the lights resides, is provided with
accommodation for the recovery of persons who
have suffered shipwreck. The spot upon which
the town is built is nearly a dead flat, from
which the sea seems gradually to have receded ;
but the soil, being a dry sandy beach, and the
whole exposure completely open on every side,
the climate is much more healthy than the low-
ness of the situation might give reason to ex-
pect. The town is neatly built, and consists
chiefly of |one spacious main street, from
which numerous lanes run off on each side, as
from the High Street of Edinburgh. Many
of the houses have their gables turned to the
street ; but a number of more modern build-
ings are constructed in a different manner, and
have a very handsome appearance. The prin-
cipal public buildings are the Town Hall, which
has been greatly enlarged, and which, with an
arcade below, makes a fine termination to the
main street ; the parish ohurch, which is a plain
edifice ; the Episcopal chapel, in the Links,
to the eastward of the town, neatly built and
handsomely fitted up ; the public schools,
standing in a safe and airy situation ; a new
chapel, of good architecture, at the end of St.
John Street ; the Academy, a spacious edifice,