Railway overbridge MVL3/82, Church Street, Huddersfield, Kirklees

Summary

Road bridge over the Huddersfield & Manchester Railway line, built in 1845-1849 under the engineer Alfred Stanistreet Jee.

Description

Road bridge over the Huddersfield & Manchester Railway line, built between 1845 and 1849 under the engineer Alfred Stanistreet Jee.

MATERIALS: coursed and squared quarry-faced gritstone with ashlar dressings.

DESCRIPTION: Church Street Bridge is situated near the junction of Church Street with Branch Street in the Paddock area of Huddersfield. It carries Church Street (formerly Paddock Road) over a cutting for the Huddersfield & Manchester Railway line and is a skewed flying arch; the arch springing directly from the rock of the cutting and crossing the railway at an angle or skew. The bridge is similarly detailed on both sides and is constructed of coursed local gritstone with a segmental arched span incorporating rusticated voussoirs that springs from an ashlar impost band. Above the arch is a projecting carriageway band and a parapet of coursed quarry-faced stone with rounded and tooled ashlar coping stones. The parapet terminates in projecting piers at each end. There are steel handrails running along the top of the coping.

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.

Church Street Bridge (MVL 3/82) was designed by A S Jee and built during the construction of the Huddersfield & Manchester Railway between 1845 and 1849 (it is depicted on the town plan of 1851 (1:1,056)). It is a skewed flying arch overbridge; the arch springing directly from the rock of the cutting and crossing the railway at an angle or skew. The first flying arch bridge across a railway is thought to have been built in about 1838 at Mile Lane, Coventry, under Robert Stephenson (Grade II-listed, List Entry No.1431090). Church Street Bridge was formerly known as Paddock Bridge and was constructed to carry Paddock Road over the railway line; the road has since been re-named Church Street. Two sets of tracks run beneath the bridge. The embankment on the south side of the railway was excavated to accommodate an extra track for the London & North Western Railway when the line was widened from 1881 onwards. This involved cutting into the bedrock and inserting a very short tunnel next to the bridge on this side of the railway.

Reasons for Listing

Church Street Bridge, constructed between 1845 and 1849 by Alfred Stanistreet Jee for the Huddersfield & Manchester Railway, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Historic interest:

* as an overbridge constructed in 1845-49 during the heroic age of railway development, on what is now one of the main railway lines in northern England;
* as a bridge with a skewed flying arch that was built just a few years after the first flying arch railway bridge at Mile Lane, Coventry (erected about 1838, Grade II listed);
* as a design by the notable railway engineer Alfred Stanistreet Jee.

Architectural interest:

* as a railway bridge with an uncommon skewed flying arch which is well detailed with rusticated voussoirs, ashlar dressings, impost bands, and a parapet with a tooled ashlar coping terminating in projecting piers, lifting its design above the purely functional;
* for the high degree of survival of the original fabric.

Group value:

* with the other listed structures designed by Jee on the Huddersfield & Manchester Railway line.

External Links

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