School Aycliffe Lane overbridge, Heighington, Darlington

Summary

Masonry bridge carrying School Aycliffe Lane over the main line of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, built in 1832 when the line was upgraded to dual track, replacing a narrower bridge built for the opening of the line in 1825.

Description

Railway overbridge by Thomas Storey for the Stockton & Darlington Railway, 1832, widened on its northern side in the 1980s.

MATERIALS: rock-faced ashlar sandstone.

DESCRIPTION: the bridge is widened* on its northern side. The original southern elevation has a single basket arch of voussoirs with a span to accommodate a dual-track railway line. There is a roll-moulded string course at impost level which then forms an arch ring encompassing the voussoirs, this string course merging with a second, more pronounced string course that marks the base of the parapet. The arch is flanked by plain pilasters and the parapets are finished with a triangular coping, the northern parapet being rebuilt. The northern half of the bridge deck* is supported on horizontal bridging beams* that partly obscures the bridge’s original northern elevation.

* Pursuant to s1 (5A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 (‘the Act’) it is declared that these aforementioned features are not of special architectural or historic interest, however any works which have the potential to affect the character of the listed building as a building of special architectural or historic interest may still require LBC and this is a matter for the LPA to determine.

History

Acts of Parliament passed in 1821 and 1823 granted the Stockton & Darlington Railway (S&DR) powers to compulsorily purchase the land required to build its railway, but also placed several obligations on the company. One of these obligations was the requirement to provide bridges, not only for public roads (such as School Aycliffe Lane), but also for landowners whose land was divided by embankments or cuttings for the line. The number and cost of providing bridges for landowners (known as occupation bridges) was underestimated and placed a considerable strain on company finances before the railway opened for business in 1825. Although cuttings and embankments were engineered for dual track, to reduce costs only a single line was initially laid with bridges generally built accordingly. Two-way working of the line was facilitated with frequent passing loops. The railway proved to be a great success with traffic greatly exceeding expectations, however the passing loops caused serious operating difficulties leading to the decision in 1831 to dual the line between Stockton and Shildon. On 13 January the following year, Thomas Storey (1789-1859) then the company’s resident engineer, was instructed to prepare plans for widening four bridges (School Aycliffe Lane, Simpasture, Codling and the underbridge at Myers Flat), with instructions given on 29 April for rebuilding two further bridges (thought to be Aycliffe Wood and Little Whessoe). The contract for rebuilding School Aycliffe Lane was awarded on 10 February and completed by 18 May when final payment was requested.

The bridge, as built, measured 14.5 feet (4.42m) between its parapets, only wide enough to carry a single-track road over the railway. The carriageway was widened for two-lane use sometime between 1985 and 1988 with the addition of a level beam deck on the northern side of the original bridge.

A sketch plan and elevation including measurements, are included in the Line Diagram surveyed by the North Eastern Railway in the early C20. This shows the bridge pre-widening as having a narrow waisted plan form (characteristic of early railway overbridges) and a clearance of just 22 feet (6.7m). This very restricted clearance for a double-tracked line was generally used by the S&DR up until the later 1840s when a more generous clearance of 25 feet (7.6m) was generally used. Another indication of date is that the demolition rubble of the Codling Bridge (which was built to the same design) included two-holed sleeper stones, the S&DRs original style of sleeper stones which were replaced with larger four-holed stones when the line was dualled in 1831-1832.

The S&DR was a pioneering railway which was highly influential in the development of other railways both in England and abroad because the company actively shared information with visiting engineers and railway promotors, particularly in the late 1820s. Many early railways benefited from the lessons learned by the S&DR. The 1830 Liverpool and Manchester Railway was certainly influenced by the S&DR in choosing locomotive traction instead of rope or horse haulage, but also probably influenced the decision to build a dual-tracked line from the start.

Reasons for Listing

School Aycliffe Lane railway overbridge, built for the Stockton & Darlington Railway (S&DR), is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:
* a well-proportioned and detailed bridge featuring a basket arch, rock-faced ashlar stonework with string courses and pilasters, all marking a step-up in architectural sophistication from the bridges built for the opening of the S&DR in 1825;
* built 1832, this is a very early example of a railway overbridge still remaining in its original use.

Historic interest:
* built for the pioneering and internationally influential S&DR.

External Links

Historic England Listing

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