Railway accommodation bridge at NZ 225 311

Binchester, Bishop Auckland, DL14 8AL

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Overview

Railway accommodation bridge, 1885 for the Spennymoor Branch of the North Eastern Railway Company. Read the official list entry to find out more.

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1297613
Date first listed:: 23-Aug-1994
List Entry Name:: Railway accommodation bridge at NZ 225 311
Statutory Address:: Binchester, Bishop Auckland, DL14 8AL

Railway accommodation bridge at NZ 225 311 — Uploaded by D Moore This photo may not represent the current condition of the site
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Date:: 2002-04-24
Reference:: IOE01/06971/03
Rights:: © Mr Alan Bradley. Source: Historic England Archive

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1297613
Date first listed:: 23-Aug-1994
Date of most recent amendment:: 05-May-2022
List Entry Name:: Railway accommodation bridge at NZ 225 311
Statutory Address 1:: Binchester, Bishop Auckland, DL14 8AL

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:: Binchester, Bishop Auckland, DL14 8AL

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

District:: County Durham (Unitary Authority)
Parish:: Non Civil Parish
National Grid Reference:: NZ2251331092

Summary

Railway accommodation bridge, 1885 for the Spennymoor Branch of the North Eastern Railway Company.

Reasons for Designation

This railway accommodation bridge (BIF/12) 1885 for the Spennymoor Branch of the North Eastern Railway Company, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* a good example of a late-C19 railway bridge associated with one of the major railway companies; * it is well-executed in good quality stone that displays a good level of craftsmanship, seen especially in the finishes and detailing.

Group value:

* it benefits from a historic and functional group value with three other railway bridges on the same line.

History

This bridge (Engineer’s Line Reference (ELR) number BIF/12) was constructed for the North Eastern Railway (NER) to carry a footpath over its Bishop Auckland and Spennymoor Branch line (later known as the Bishop Auckland and Ferryhill Branch) north of Auckland Park. The line opened in 1885 and closed to regular passenger services in 1939, but remained open for freight in to the mid- to late 1950s. Today (2022) it forms part of a disused-railway walking trail.

Details

Railway accommodation bridge, 1885 for the Spennymoor Branch of the North Eastern Railway Company.

MATERIALS: snecked sandstone, mostly rock-faced and margined, with ashlar dressings; red brick arch

PLAN: single arched between abutments that rise from the sides of the cutting.

DESCRIPTION: the railway runs through a cutting, and the bridge comprises a single segmental arch 4.32m wide by 7.9m span by 4.72m high at the crown. It is set between abutments that rise from the cutting's sides. The eastern side of the cutting is marginally higher and the bridge deck slopes down slightly towards the west. The bridge appears to have been constructed to allow for dualling of the line, although only a single track was ever laid. The masonry is mostly rock-faced, and is margined on the abutment quoins, parapet end piers and elevations of the voussoirs; the inner faces of the parapets and soffits of the voussoirs are in contrast tooled and margined. The arch rings spring from skewback stones set above impost bands, and individual voussoirs have stepped ends that key directly in to the spandrels. The parapets are differentiated from the spandrels by a near-horizontal string course at deck level, and are topped by coping stones with a gently sloping upper surface, angled to the outside to help shed rain water. Parapets terminate in rectangular end piers that break forward on the elevations,and have ashlar pyramidal caps. Impost bands and string coursing are also ashlar, and both have a smooth, concave lower moulding, rising to a square middle and angled third section. All coping stones and end caps rise from a similar concave moulding.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:: 385630
Legacy System:: LBS

Sources

Websites
The Road, Rail and Parkland Bridges of Bishop Auckland, Co Durham, 4/2021: an assessment of the historical and archaeological evidence, M Jecock 2021., accessed 01-03-2022 from https://research.historicengland.org.uk/Report.aspx?i=16814&ru=%2fResults.aspx%3fp%3d1%26n%3d10%26t%3dBishop%2bAuckland%26ns%3d1

Legal

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