Former Railway Bridge over Copperhouse Creek at NGR SW566382

Former Hayle Railway Bridge, Footpath south of Glebe Row, Hayle, Cornwall, TR27 5AH, TR275AH

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Overview

A former railway bridge of 1830s date, the pioneering period for railway construction. The Hayle Railway served the industrial port of Hayle. Read the official list entry to find out more.

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1143706
Date first listed:: 14-Jan-1988
List Entry Name:: Former Railway Bridge over Copperhouse Creek at NGR SW566382
Statutory Address:: Former Hayle Railway Bridge, Footpath south of Glebe Row, Hayle, Cornwall, TR27 5AH, TR275AH

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Date:: 2005-05-11
Reference:: IOE01/13509/24
Rights:: © Mr Ivor Corkell. Source: Historic England Archive

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1143706
Date first listed:: 14-Jan-1988
Date of most recent amendment:: 16-Jul-2018
List Entry Name:: Former Railway Bridge over Copperhouse Creek at NGR SW566382
Location Description:: NGR: SW5670138235
Statutory Address 1:: Former Hayle Railway Bridge, Footpath south of Glebe Row, Hayle, Cornwall, TR27 5AH, TR275AH

This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.

Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.

For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.

Understanding list entries

Corrections and minor amendments

This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.

For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.

Understanding list entries

Corrections and minor amendments

Location

Statutory Address:: Former Hayle Railway Bridge, Footpath south of Glebe Row, Hayle, Cornwall, TR27 5AH, TR275AH

The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

District:: Cornwall (Unitary Authority)
Parish:: Hayle
National Grid Reference:: SW5670138235

Summary

A former railway bridge of 1830s date, the pioneering period for railway construction. The Hayle Railway served the industrial port of Hayle.

Reasons for Designation

The former Hayle Railway bridge at NGR SW566382 in Hayle, Cornwall is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* as an integral part of a railway built in the 1830s, the pioneering period for railway construction; * for the good survival of historic fabric, including the original Cornish granite and killas stone structure.

Historic interest:

* as a surviving component of the railway that served the historically significant industrial port of Hayle, an internationally renowned centre for the production of steam pumping engines.

Group value:

* with a number of designated structures in Hayle Harbour including bridges and quays.

History

The Hayle Estuary was an important focus for trade and the movement of people and ideas in the prehistoric period, but rapid decline set in during the later medieval period as the estuary became choked by silts from tin extraction along the valleys feeding into it. From the mid-C18 this decline swiftly reversed as Hayle serviced the tin and copper mining industry of West Cornwall. Hayle and Copperhouse developed around two rival foundries owned by the Cornish Copper Company and Harvey’s (of Hayle).

The Hayle Railway opened in 1837 as a single-track rail system for the conveyance of minerals to and from the mines at Redruth and Camborne. It ran from Penpol in the west across Copperhouse Creek via a swing bridge to Riviere Quay (now North Quay) and then re-crossed the creek via a bridge and continued to Angarrack via an incline plane. The bridge across the creek dates to the opening of the railway and, therefore, may be the earliest standard gauge rail bridge in Cornwall.

The line was superseded by the West Cornwall Railway in 1852 and parts of the Hayle Railway were reused. The northern branch over the creek was maintained throughout the C19, and the bridge became a footpath in the C20, which continues to be its use in the C21. Some of the parapet blocks had been removed by 1983 and the parapet was repaired in 1999 and later. In 2018 the bridge is being maintained.

Details

Former railway bridge over Copperhouse Creek, now serving as part of a public footpath, and built in 1837 for the Hayle Railway.

MATERIALS: constructed of Killas and granite rubble with dressed granite voussoirs to the road arches and granite hogs-back copings to the parapets.

DESCRIPTION: a three-span bridge built obliquely over a tidal stream and with rounded cutwaters on the upstream side. There are three equal spans of round arches. It is 7.64m long and 3.67m wide.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:: 70153
Legacy System:: LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Beacham, P, Pevsner, N, The Buildings of England: Cornwall, (2014), 239
Other
Cahill, N and Cornwall Archaeological Unit, ‘Hayle Historical Assessment Cornwall - Inventory’ (2000), p57

Legal

This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.