Railway viaduct MDL1/40, Churwell Viaduct, Morley, Leeds

Summary

Viaduct carrying the Leeds, Dewsbury & Manchester Railway, mid-1840s, by Thomas Grainger

Description

Viaduct carrying the Leeds, Dewsbury & Manchester Railway, mid-1840s, by Thomas Grainger.

MATERIALS: rock-faced sandstone with ashlar dressings.

DESCRIPTION: Churwell Viaduct lies to the north-east of Churwell and carries the Leeds, Dewsbury & Manchester Railway line over Elland Road, Old Road and the former site of Churwell Gas Works. The six-span viaduct, which is approximately 95m long, is similarly detailed on both sides and is constructed of coursed local rock-faced sandstone. The six segmental-arched spans incorporate chamfer-rusticated voussoirs with pitted vermiculation and tooled margins; decoration that is also replicated to the intrados (underside) of each arch. Some of the arches' voussoirs have modern tie plates. The arches spring from an ashlar impost band with moulding to the bottom edge and are supported by rectangular piers with projecting plinths and quoining sharing the same decoration as the arches' voussoirs. Above the arches is a projecting roll-moulded ashlar stringcourse and a parapet of larger coursed ashlar blocks, the upper courses of which again share the pitted vermiculation and tooled margins of the arches' voussoirs. The parapet is topped by flat ashlar copings surmounted by later metal railings. The span at the south-eastern end of the viaduct over Elland Road has the appearance more of a bridge due to the fact that Elland Road is set upon a hill and follows the gradient of the hill up to Churwell. Towards the south-east end of the viaduct on the north-west side of Elland Road is a sandstone pedestrian stair with a brick side wall leading down from Elland Road to the lower ground level underneath the main part of the viaduct.

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 Viaduct was designed by Thomas Grainger and dates to the construction of the Leeds, Dewsbury & Manchester Railway between 1845 and 1847. The viaduct was constructed to carry the railway line over Elland Road, Old Road, and Churwell Gas Works.

Reasons for Listing

Churwell Viaduct (MDL1/40), 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 viaduct 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 viaduct is an impressive six-span structure with ashlar dressings and decorative stonework detailing.

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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