Exterior

History: Late C19 railway bridge of special historic interest for its association with secret operations during World War II. Following the fall of France in 1940 the decision was taken to evacuate National treasures to safety from invasion and bombing in secret underground locations. The disused Manod slate quarry was chosen to house the National Gallery's collection and, in specially designed and disguised cases, roughly 2,000 paintings were transported by lorry to the remote quarry. Negotiating the sharp bend under this bridge on the last stretch to Manod was notoriously difficult for the larger lorries. Sir Anthony van Dyck's famous equestrian portrait of King Charles I had to be carried at an angle to reduce its height. The road under the bridge was also lowered by nearly 0.9m and concrete reinforcing aprons were built. Despite these measures there was still not enough clearance; the lorry finally just scraped through after air had been let out of the tyres. A photograph of this difficult manoeuvre has become a famous image of the War.

Description: Late C19 single-span railway bridge of rough-dressed, snecked stone. Pronounced voussoirs to the arch with projecting string-course above. Curved concrete aprons of about 0.6m deep and 0.6m wide support the bridge's foundations; the roadway dips down as it passes beneath the bridge arch.

Listed for the special historic interest associated with the bridge.

Reference: A. Wilson, `Buried Treasure,' article in National Art Collections Fund Magazine, No.21, Spring 1995, 29-34.
Merioneth Record Office, Dolgellau.

External Links

• Cadwr Listing
• Wikidata Q29494468

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Historic Environment Law: Planning, Listed Buildings, Monuments, Conservation Areas and Objects by Harwood, Richard (2012) Paperback
• 
  England's Post-War Listed Buildings
• 
  [(Shropshire)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1958)
• 
  [(Cumberland and Westmorland)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1967)
• 
  London 1: The City of London: City of London v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  London 4: North: North v. 4 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)