Railway Viaduct
Railway Viaduct, Fancy Bank, Slapewath
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1400090
- Date first listed:
- 22-Nov-2011
- List Entry Name:
- Railway Viaduct
- Statutory Address:
- Railway Viaduct, Fancy Bank, Slapewath
Location
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1400090
- Date first listed:
- 22-Nov-2011
- List Entry Name:
- Railway Viaduct
- Statutory Address 1:
- Railway Viaduct, Fancy Bank, Slapewath
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.
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.
Location
- Statutory Address:
- Railway Viaduct, Fancy Bank, Slapewath
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- District:
- Redcar and Cleveland (Unitary Authority)
- Parish:
- Guisborough
- District:
- Redcar and Cleveland (Unitary Authority)
- Parish:
- Lockwood
- National Grid Reference:
- NZ6364215839
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 .
MATERIALS: constructed of rock-faced sandstone with dressed sandstone to the undersides of the arches; iron ties and railings.
DESCRIPTION: the viaduct carries a disused railway over Spa Gill and comprises eight semi-circular arches a maximum of 18.3m (60ft) high, each carried on pairs of tapered piers. There is a low stone parapet with remains of plain cast iron railings and rectangular and lozenge shaped iron tie-ends.
This list entry was subject to a Minor Amendment on 29/02/2012
Sources
Books and journals
Harrison, B J D, Dixon, G, Guisborough Before 1900, (1981)
Websites
Ralph Ward Jackson, accessed from http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/37591
Sir (Isaac) Lowthian Bell, accessed from http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/30690
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 08-Jun-2026 at 11:53:33.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
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