SKEW BRIDGE AND ASSOCIATED CANTILEVERED WALKWAY IMMEDIATELY TO THE WEST OF BATH SPA STATION

SKEW BRIDGE AND ASSOCIATED CANTILEVERED WALKWAY IMMEDIATELY TO THE WEST OF BATH SPA STATION, DORCHESTER STREET

Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places

Overview

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. Read the official list entry to find out more.

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1395344
Date first listed:: 21-Sep-2000
List Entry Name:: SKEW BRIDGE AND ASSOCIATED CANTILEVERED WALKWAY IMMEDIATELY TO THE WEST OF BATH SPA STATION
Statutory Address:: SKEW BRIDGE AND ASSOCIATED CANTILEVERED WALKWAY IMMEDIATELY TO THE WEST OF BATH SPA STATION, DORCHESTER STREET

User submitted image — Uploaded by David Lovell This photo may not represent the current condition of the site
View all

Location

Location of this list entry and nearby places that are also listed. Use our map search to find more listed places.

There is a problem

Use of this mapping is subject to terms and conditions.

This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale.

What is the National Heritage List for England?

The National Heritage List for England is a unique register of our country's most significant historic buildings and sites. The places on the list are protected by law and most are not open to the public.

The list includes:

🏠 Buildings
🏰 Scheduled monuments
🌳 Parks and gardens
⚔️ Battlefields
⚓ Shipwrecks

Find out more about listing

Historic England Archive

Search over 1 million photographs and drawings from the 1850s to the present day using our images archive.

Find Photos

Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1395344
Date first listed:: 21-Sep-2000
Date of most recent amendment:: 15-Oct-2010
List Entry Name:: SKEW BRIDGE AND ASSOCIATED CANTILEVERED WALKWAY IMMEDIATELY TO THE WEST OF BATH SPA STATION
Statutory Address 1:: SKEW BRIDGE AND ASSOCIATED CANTILEVERED WALKWAY IMMEDIATELY TO THE WEST OF BATH SPA STATION, DORCHESTER STREET

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:: SKEW BRIDGE AND ASSOCIATED CANTILEVERED WALKWAY IMMEDIATELY TO THE WEST OF BATH SPA STATION, DORCHESTER STREET

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

District:: Bath and North East Somerset (Unitary Authority)
Parish:: Non Civil Parish
National Grid Reference:: ST7513664309

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

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:: 510757
Legacy System:: LBS

Legal

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