Stonemason Daniel Herbert's grave in the Ross cemetery

Four years in construction and built of stone quarried locally by convicts and completed in 1836, it's unquestionably one of the most picturesque and unusual bridges in Australia.

Its ornate carvings are the work of Englishman Daniel Herbert, who came to Van Diemen's Land a convicted highway robber. He died here a free man - he was buried in the local cemetery on a hill not far from the bridge - and he would have thanked Ross Bridge, for it was his work on its construction that gained him a pardon and his release from a chain gang. James Colbeck, another stonemason who worked alongside Herbert, also received a pardon for his work on the bridge.
The bridge was designed by the Government Architect, John Lee Archer, as a replacement for an earlier wooden structure that had fallen into disrepair. Archer's plan was for a freestone bridge built for "beauty and durability". His design was for a solid stone structure with three symmetrical arches. a curved stone staircase at each end of the bridge goes down to the river, and chain linked stone pillars lead to the bridge on both sides of the road at each end of the bridge.
Stone and timber for use in the bridge's construction was readied but a delay in the commencement of the bridge's construction prompted Gov. Arthur to send Divisional Jorgen Jorgenson and six constables to Ross to investigate. It appears that some of the materials prepared for the construction of the bridge had been used in the building of a number of houses at Ross as a result of dealing with settlers and the supervisor of the work.
Work on the bridge finally commenced in 1833. The main credit for its construction goes to convicts Daniel Herbert and James Colbeck. As overseers of the workforce, they laid all the stones and Herbert did most of the carving.
Tourists from all over the world come to photograph the bridge and marvel at the sandstone panels, with its 186 carvings consisting of abstractions of shapes - animals, birds, insects, plants, Celtic God and Goddesses, and heads of friends and foe, including the Governor of day, George Arthur. The fine craftsmanship of the Ross Bridge is a unique colonial legacy, cast in locally quarried sandstone.

View Larger Map