Gelt Bridge | |
---|---|
Coordinates | 54°54′31″N2°43′52″W / 54.9085°N 2.731°W Coordinates: 54°54′31″N2°43′52″W / 54.9085°N 2.731°W |
Carries | Tyne Valley line |
Crosses | River Gelt |
Locale | Carlisle, England |
Maintained by | Network Rail |
Heritage status | Grade II* listed building |
Characteristics | |
Material | Red sandstone |
Height | 60 ft |
No. of spans | 3 |
History | |
Constructed by | Francis Giles |
Construction start | 1832 |
Construction end | 1835 |
Location | |
The Gelt Bridge or Gelt Viaduct (also known as Middle Gelt Bridge) is a skew arch railway viaduct in the parish of Hayton, east of Carlisle in Cumbria, north west England. Built from 1832, it is one of the earliest and largest skew bridges in Britain. It is a Grade II* listed building. [1]
The idea of linking Newcastle upon Tyne on England's east coast with Carlisle on the west dates back to at least the 1770s, when proposals were tabled for a canal. The prospectus for the Newcastle & Carlisle Railway was published in 1825 and construction work began in 1829 under the supervision of Francis Giles. [2] The line was one of the earliest mainline railways and Britain's first major east-west line. [3]
Giles was the consulting engineer for the entire line but was also directly responsible for the principal works at the western end, which presented some of the greatest engineering challenges on the route, including the Gelt Bridge and the Corby Bridge (or Wetheral Viaduct) and Corby Viaduct some five miles closer to Carlisle. [2]
The bridge consists of three skew arches, each with a span of 30 feet (9 metres), standing on two rusticated pillars. It carries the railway 60 feet (18 metres) over the River Gelt in a deep but narrow gorge. The bridge has a skew angle of 27 degrees. It is built from rusticated red sandstone, with smoothed voussoirs and V-shaped joints. An iron railing forms the bridge parapet. [1] [3] [2] A plaque is built into each of the abutments; one reads "Gelt Bridge: Francis Giles Engineer, John McKay Builder, MDCCCXXXII; MDCCCXXXV"; The other has the same inscription in Latin. [3]
The bridge was designed by Francis Giles, engineer to the Newcastle & Carlisle Railway, and built by the contractor, John McKay. Construction began in 1832 and the bridge was completed by 1835, making it one of the earliest railway skew bridges and one of the largest of its era. [1] [4] [5] The viaduct is still in use, carrying the modern Tyne Valley line. It is a grade II* listed building. [1]
Haltwhistle is a market town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, ten miles east of Brampton. It had a population of 3,811 at the 2011 Census.
Francis Giles was a canal engineer and surveyor who worked under John Rennie and later became a railway engineer.
Wetheral is a railway station on the Tyne Valley Line, which runs between Newcastle and Carlisle via Hexham. The station, situated 4 miles 7 chains east of Carlisle, serves the villages of Great Corby and Wetheral, City of Carlisle in Cumbria, England. It is owned by Network Rail and managed by Northern Trains.
Great Corby is a village in northern Cumbria, England, above the eastern bank of a wooded gorge on the River Eden. Directly across the river from Great Corby is the village of Wetheral. The two villages are linked by a railway viaduct. This is on the Tyne Valley Line from Newcastle to Carlisle, which passes to the north of the village. The railway station at Wetheral is accessible to residents of Great Corby by a pedestrian footpath attached to the railway viaduct.
Wylam Railway Bridge is a footbridge and former railway bridge crossing the River Tyne at Hagg Bank, approximately 1⁄2 mile (0.8 km) west of Wylam in Northumberland, England.
The Alston Line was a 13-mile (21 km) single-track branch line, which linked Haltwhistle in Northumberland with Alston in Cumbria.
The Tyne Valley Line is a 58-mile (93 km) route, linking Newcastle upon Tyne with Hexham and Carlisle, England. The line follows the course of the River Tyne through Tyne and Wear and Northumberland. Five stations and two viaducts on the route are listed structures.
Kielder Viaduct consists of seven semi-circular masonry skew arches and was built in 1862 by the North British Railway to carry the Border Counties Line across marshy land, which following flooding to create Kielder Water, became the place where Deadwater Burn joins Bakethin Reservoir. Now closed to rail traffic, the bridge is currently used as a footpath.
The River Irwell Railway Bridge was built for the Liverpool & Manchester Railway (L&MR), the world's first passenger railway which used only steam locomotives and operated as a scheduled service, near Water Street in Manchester, England. The stone railway bridge, built in 1830 by George Stephenson, was part of Liverpool Road railway station. The bridge was designated a Grade I listed building on 20 June 1988.
Corby Bridge is a railway viaduct adjacent to and immediately east of Wetheral railway station at Wetheral, near Carlisle, in north-western England, begun in 1830 and completed in 1834. It is 920 feet (280 m) long and 100 feet (30 m) high, and has been a Grade I listed building since 1 April 1957.
The Newcastle & Carlisle Railway (N&CR) was an English railway company formed in 1825 that built a line from Newcastle upon Tyne on Britain's east coast, to Carlisle, on the west coast. The railway began operating mineral trains in 1834 between Blaydon and Hexham, and passengers were carried for the first time the following year. The rest of the line opened in stages, completing a through route between Carlisle and Gateshead, south of the River Tyne in 1837. The directors repeatedly changed their intentions for the route at the eastern end of the line, but finally a line was opened from Scotswood to a Newcastle terminal in 1839. That line was extended twice, reaching the new Newcastle Central Station in 1851.
The Nene Viaduct is a railway bridge immediately south of Peterborough railway station in Cambridgeshire, Eastern England. It was built to carry the Great Northern Railway across the River Nene. It is a Grade II* listed building.
The Chappel Viaduct is a railway viaduct that crosses the River Colne in the Colne Valley in Essex, England. It carries the Gainsborough Line which now is a short branch linking Marks Tey in Essex to Sudbury in Suffolk. The line previously, however, extended to Shelford in Cambridgeshire.
The Midland Counties Railway viaduct is a disused railway viaduct at Rugby, Warwickshire, which crosses over both the A426 Rugby to Leicester road, and the River Avon to the north of Rugby town centre.
Belvidere Bridge is a cast iron arch railway bridge in Shrewsbury, western England, built for the Shrewsbury and Birmingham Railway in 1849. It carries the modern Wolverhampton to Shrewsbury railway line over the River Severn and is a grade II* listed building.
Corby Viaduct is a railway bridge built to carry the Newcastle & Carlisle Railway over the Corby Beck near Great Corby, in the parish of Wetheral, to the east of Carlisle in north-western England. One of the largest structures on the route, it is a grade II listed building.
Riddings Junction Viaduct is a disused cross-border railway bridge over Liddel Water between Kirkandrews, in Carlisle, north-western England, and Canonbie in Dumfries and Galloway, south-western Scotland. It is a listed building in both countries; the Scottish section is category A listed, and the English section is Grade II*.
Brandon Viaduct is a railway viaduct crossing the River Avon between the villages of Brandon and Wolston in Warwickshire. It carries the Birmingham Loop line and is roughly half way between Rugby and Coventry. The bridge was built in around 1835 for the London and Birmingham Railway and is now a grade II listed building.
Mile Lane Bridge is a road-over-rail bridge in Coventry, central England. It is possibly the first use of a flying arch over a railway cutting and is a Grade II listed building.
Wolverton Viaduct is a railway bridge carrying the West Coast Main Line over the River Great Ouse to the north of Wolverton, part of the City of Milton Keynes, in south-eastern England. Built in 1837 for the London and Birmingham Railway under the supervision of Robert Stephenson, it is one of the largest and most notable structures on the route and is a grade II listed building.