Monkwearmouth Railway Bridge Over River Wear With Viaduct to North

MONKWEARMOUTH RAILWAY BRIDGE OVER RIVER WEAR WITH VIADUCT TO NORTH

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Overview

Heritage Category:
Listed Building
Grade:
II
List Entry Number:
1207051
Date first listed:
10-Nov-1978
List Entry Name:
Monkwearmouth Railway Bridge Over River Wear With Viaduct to North
Statutory Address:
MONKWEARMOUTH RAILWAY BRIDGE OVER RIVER WEAR WITH VIADUCT TO NORTH
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Date:
2005-08-05
Reference:
IOE01/14199/20
Rights:
© Mr Bob Cottrell. Source: Historic England Archive

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:
Listed Building
Grade:
II
List Entry Number:
1207051
Date first listed:
10-Nov-1978
Date of most recent amendment:
17-Oct-1994
List Entry Name:
Monkwearmouth Railway Bridge Over River Wear With Viaduct to North
Statutory Address 1:
MONKWEARMOUTH RAILWAY BRIDGE OVER RIVER WEAR WITH VIADUCT TO NORTH

The scope of legal protection for listed buildings

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

The scope of legal protection for listed buildings

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

Location

Statutory Address:
MONKWEARMOUTH RAILWAY BRIDGE OVER RIVER WEAR WITH VIADUCT TO NORTH

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

District:
Sunderland (Metropolitan Authority)
Parish:
Non Civil Parish
National Grid Reference:
NZ 39625 57416

Details

This List entry was subject to a Minor Amendment on 05/02/2018


NZ 3957 SE, 920-1/18/1

SUNDERLAND,
Monkwearmouth Railway Bridge over River Wear with viaduct to north

(Formerly Listed as: Railway Bridge across River Wear)

10/11/78

GV

II

Railway bridge and viaduct to north. 1879. For Monkwearmouth
Junction Railway of North Eastern Railway Company. Engineer
Thomas Harrison. Wrought-iron arch, rock-faced abutments with
ashlar dressings. Girder deck and bow-string arch with girder
ties braced by pierced plates graduating from circles to tall
ovals. Piers arch-pierced with plinths and top bands below
square ashlar rail-bed piers with plinths, top bands and
chamfered coping. Abutments and viaduct of rock-faced stone
have high accommodation arches over Sheepfolds Road and
Easington Street with voussoirs, and flat-coped ashlar
parapets. Built to link former Brandling Junction Railway line
terminus at Monkwearmouth Station with a new Central Station
in Sunderland; the first through line between Newcastle and
Sunderland. Said to be `the largest hog-back iron girder
bridge in the world' when built. The railway bridge and
viaduct to north is linked with Monkwearmouth Station (qv).



Listing NGR: NZ3962557416

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:
391375
Legacy System:
LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Sinclair, N T, Railways of Sunderland, (1986)
Biddle, G, Britain's Historic Railway Buildings: A Gazetteer of Structures and Sites, (2011), 433
Pevsner, N, The Buildings of England: County Durham, (1983)
Warn, C R, Northern History Booklets in Rails Between Tyne and Wear (Route 219), (), 30
Hoole, K, A Regional History of The Railways of Great Britain in The North East, (1965)

Legal

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

Ordnance survey map of Monkwearmouth Railway Bridge Over River Wear With Viaduct to North

Map

This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 06-Jun-2026 at 13:52:42.

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© Crown copyright [and database rights] 2026. OS AC0000815036. Use of this mapping is subject to Terms and Conditions.

End of official list entry

All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.

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