Details
DORCHESTER STREET
Skew Bridge and associated
cantilevered walkway immediately to
the West of Bath Spa Station
(Formerly listed as Avon Bridge
immediately to the west
of Bath Spa Station)
21/09/00
GV II
Railway bridge, built in 1840 to the designs of Isambard Kingdom Brunel for the Great Western Railway. It was substantially rebuilt in 1878 by Wakefield Simpson, district engineer, and strengthened in the 1960s by British Rail.
MATERIALS: The remains of the 1840 bridge consist of a central stone pier and the lower stone courses of the abutments. The 1878 replacement bridge is constructed from steel, cast and wrought iron, with wrought-iron lattice girders and brick walling to the upper stages of the abutments. In the 1960s a steel superstructure was added to carry the platform extensions of the adjacent station and additional steel supports were added between the tracks.
PLAN: It consists of two 24.38m skew spans, skewed at an angle of 28 degrees.
SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: Beneath the western arch of the bridge, the towpath of the Avon Navigation is carried on a cantilevered iron walkway with semi-circular cast-iron railings running for a distance of 31.5m. The walkway dates from the original construction of the bridge in 1840 whereas the railings are believed to have been installed to coincide with the opening of the replacement wrought-iron bridge in 1878.
HISTORY: The development of a transport network gave much impetus to the C19 industrial prosperity of Bath. The opening of the Avon Navigation from Bristol to Bath in 1727, followed by the completion of the Kennet and Avon Canal by John Rennie in 1810, allowed for the shipment of coal and other materials to and from the city, and led to the development of Broad Quay as a centre of industrial activity. However it was the opening of Isambard Kingdom Brunel's Great Western Railway (GWR) that revolutionised trade and travel in Bath.
The GWR was founded at a public meeting in Bristol in 1833, and incorporated by Act of Parliament in 1835; Isambard Kingdom Brunel was appointed chief engineer. Construction started in 1836 and the railway opened in stages from 1838 with the 11.5 mile section from Bristol to Bath opening in 1840 and the Bath to London section opening in 1841 with the completion of the Box Tunnel.
As a result of Brunel's assertion that the route would be practical and accessible, without cutting through the city itself, Bath has been left with a legacy of significant railway engineering structures including, for example, the retaining walls and bridges in Sydney Gardens; Bath Spa Railway Station; St James's Bridge; Twerton Viaduct and Skew Bridge (Avon Railway Bridge).
When the GWR was constructed through Bath it skirted the city to the south in a long curve, crossing the river in two places, with the station set between two bridges (Skew Bridge and St James's Bridge) just 250 metres apart. In the building of the GWR the construction of Skew Bridge was the work most in arrears by 1839. Despite the fact that 500 tons of ironwork had been required and tenders invited by May 1839, difficulties arose and, probably with a view to a faster completion, Brunel decided to construct it of laminated timber and this proved to be the only bridge of this type on the GWR. It comprised two segmental arches of 27m square, skewed at 28 degrees, composed of six parallel laminated timber ribs on stone piers, with horizontal iron ties at springing level. The spandrels had cast-iron Gothic arched vertical struts supporting a wooden latticed parapet. To accommodate the abutment pier on the western side of the bridge the existing line of the towpath was re-aligned and carried on a cast-iron walkway cantilevered over the Avon
In 1878 Wakefield Simpson, district engineer, replaced the laminated timber bridge with one of iron girders resting on the same foundation and piers. In the 1960s a steel superstructure was added to allow the Up platform to be lengthened.
SOURCES: Biddle, G, Britain's Historic Railway Buildings: An Oxford Gazetteer of Structures and Sites (2003), 164
Maggs, C, The GWR Bristol to Bath Line (2001)
Forsyth, M, Pevsner Architectural Guides: Bath (2004)
REASONS FOR DESIGNATION: Skew Bridge at Dorchester Street, Bath, and the associated cantilevered towpath, is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Historic interest: it dates from the completion of the Great Western Railway, the pioneering first phase in national railway development.
* Group value: it has strong group value with other listed structures on the Great Western Railway, especially Bath Spa Railway Station and Twerton Viaduct.
* Historical association: the bridge is constructed to a design by the engineer and architect Isambard Kingdom Brunel, widely perceived as one of the most important transport engineers of the C19.
Listing NGR: ST7515564306
