Summary
A mid C19 railway viaduct on the Cleveland railway for Sir Lowthian Bell and Ralph Ward Jackson, constructed to carry iron ore from their inland mines to Bell's ironworks on Teesside. The Cleveland Railway was subsequently amalgamated with the North Eastern Railway (NER) network in c. 1863 and was last used in 1960.
Reasons for Designation
This mid C19 disused railway viaduct is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Date: as a mid-C19 railway viaduct it dates from the third important phase of railway development from the 1850s to the 1870s, and pre-dates the lower quality and more standardised forms present after c. 1860.
* Architectural: It is a striking and attractive structure with strong aesthetic quality and design
* Historical: for its association with Sir Lowthian Bell and Ralph Ward Jackson and its influence on the development of the Teesside Iron industry
* Intactness: although disused, it is an intact example
History
This viaduct was constructed between 1858 and 1862 as part of the former Cleveland Railway. The railway was specifically constructed by Sir Lowthian Bell and Ralph Ward Jackson to carry raw material from Bell and Jackson’s inland ironstone mines, such as Spa Wood Mine, to Bell’s ironworks at Port Clarence on the River Tees. Its construction was opposed by the Stockton and Darlington Railway who wished to maintain a monopoly south of the Tees; the rivalry between the two railway companies led to parliamentary involvement resulting in each company being allowed to develop part of their original schemes in the region. For Bell, the construction of the Cleveland railway was part of a wider transport strategy, which eventually allowed him to control his own supplies of coal, ironstone and limestone free of freight charges. The line was therefore influential in the development of the iron industry on Teeside. The Cleveland Railway was subsequently amalgamated with the North Eastern Railway (NER) network in c. 1863 and was last used in 1960. Sir Lowthian Bell has an entry in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography and was a prominent iron and steel manufacturer and a respected world authority and publisher on blast-furnace technology. Ralph Ward Jackson, who is also entered in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, was an important railway promoter and entrepreneur.
Details
Viaduct, 1858-1862, for the Cleveland Railway .
End of official list entry
