Railway underbridge MDL1/39, Churwell Bridge, Morley, Leeds

Summary

Bridge under the Leeds, Dewsbury & Manchester Railway, mid-1840s, by Thomas Grainger.

Description

Bridge under the Leeds, Dewsbury & Manchester Railway, mid-1840s, by Thomas Grainger.

MATERIALS: rock-faced sandstone with ashlar dressings.

DESCRIPTION: Churwell Bridge is located approximately 328m south-east of Elland Road and is an underbridge carrying the Leeds, Dewsbury & Manchester Railway line. The bridge is similarly detailed on both sides and is constructed of coursed local rock-faced sandstone with a semi-circular arched span that springs from rock-faced jambs and an ashlar impost band, and incorporates voussoirs with tooled margins bordering the arch intrados. The bridge's wing walls project forward to each side of the span and curve around in an arcing formation terminated by short square piers. Above the arch and topping the wing walls are large ashlar coping stones with a roll-moulded outer edge. As the bridge is an underbridge it does not have a parapet.

History

In contrast to the main trunk lines of the late 1830s that were constructed by single railway companies the route from Stalybridge to Leeds had fragmented origins and was the work of three different railway companies: the Huddersfield & Manchester Railway, Leeds, Dewsbury & Manchester Railway, and the Manchester & Leeds Railway.

The Huddersfield & Manchester Railway was authorised in 1845 and followed the route of the Huddersfield Narrow Canal for much of its length, including a railway tunnel through the Pennine hills set alongside the earlier Standedge Canal Company tunnel of 1811; in 1846 the railway company also acquired the canal. Joseph Locke and Alfred Stanistreet Jee were appointed to survey and design the new line, the two engineers having already worked together on a major project linking Manchester and Sheffield. Jee became the lead engineer for the Huddersfield line, which passed through challenging terrain, assisted by resident engineers that included his brother Moreland Jee (until 1848) and Herbert F Mackworth. Construction of the line was divided into various contracts, with many contractors being only responsible for a single cutting, viaduct or tunnel portal. The largest contract for the Standedge Tunnel between Diggle and Marsden was let to a single contractor, Thomas Nicholson in 1847. The tunnel's completion in 1849 marked the opening of the line.

The Leeds end of the route, which was also authorised in 1845, was constructed by the Leeds, Dewsbury & Manchester Railway. The engineer was Thomas Grainger who had previously largely worked in Scotland, and the line was completed in 1849.

A short three-mile section of the route between Heaton Lodge Junction and Thornhill Junction near Mirfield was developed by the Manchester & Leeds Railway and was constructed between 1837 and 1840, with George Stephenson as the chief engineer. The structures on this line were designed by Thomas Gooch under the oversight of Stephenson. In 1847 the railway company changed its name to the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway.

In 1847 the Huddersfield & Manchester Railway and the Leeds, Dewsbury & Manchester Railway were acquired by the London & North Western Railway (LNWR) so that the company could access the city of Leeds and the textile towns of West Yorkshire. This pitted them as rivals to the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway, although at points on the route the two companies had to work together. By 1851 the London & North Western Railway had an overall mileage of railway track of 800 miles and it became the most prominent railway company in the country and the largest joint-stock concern in the world in the late C19. Although the LNWR had a general manager, Captain Mark Huish, the lines of the Stalybridge to Leeds route still managed their own affairs. LNWR later carried out expansion works, including the widening of tracks and bridges, the construction of additional tunnels, and station alterations. In 1923 the line became part of the London Midland & Scottish Railway, and subsequently part of the nationalised British Railways in 1948. The line, its structures and track are currently (2018) owned by Network Rail, and the passenger services operated by TransPennine Express and Northern Rail.

Churwell Bridge was designed by Thomas Grainger and dates to the construction of the Leeds, Dewsbury & Manchester Railway between 1845 and 1847. It originally connected a lane known as Deadhead Lane to the north of the railway line with a footpath to the south, connecting farms in the locality, most of which have been lost to C20 development.

Reasons for Listing

Churwell Bridge (MDL1/39), constructed in the mid-1840s by Thomas Grainger for the Leeds, Dewsbury & Manchester Railway, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Historic interest:

* it was constructed during the heroic age of railway building and is a little altered example of an 1840s underbridge on what is now one of the main railway lines in northern England;

* it was designed by the notable Scottish railway engineer Thomas Grainger.

Architectural interest:

* the bridge is well detailed with ashlar dressings and striking arcing wing walls that lift its design above the purely functional.

Group value:

* it has group value with the other listed structures designed by Grainger on the Leeds, Dewsbury & Manchester Railway line.

External Links

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