Nash Mills railway bridge

Last updated
Nash Mills railway bridge
Kings Langley railway bridge - geograph.org.uk - 2160185.jpg
The west side of the bridge viewed from the canal
Coordinates 51°43′28″N0°26′59″W / 51.72451°N 0.449828°W / 51.72451; -0.449828
Carries West Coast Main Line
Crosses Grand Union Canal
Locale Nash Mills, Hertfordshire
Maintained by Network Rail
Heritage statusGrade II listed building
Characteristics
MaterialCast iron, concrete
No. of spans1
History
Opened1837
Location
Nash Mills railway bridge

Nash Mills railway bridge carries the West Coast Main Line railway over the Grand Union Canal to the west of Nash Mills, Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire, Eastern England. The bridge was built to the designs of Robert Stephenson for the London and Birmingham Railway and completed in 1837. Although modified, it is still in use and is Grade II listed building.

Contents

Design

The bridge was built in cast iron, one of the earliest railway bridges to use the material. It is a skew arch carrying the railway across the Grand Union Canal. It has a span of 66 feet (20 metres) and a width of 88 feet (27 metres). The arch is made up of six segmental ribs. It had decorative open spandrels and ornate iron parapet. It has substantial brick abutments which terminate in heavy stone capitals. [1] [2]

The bridge was strengthened in the 1960s by encasing it in concrete though the original outline is still visible and some of the ironwork can be seen from the underside. The parapet was rebuilt at the same time and a decorative band added below it in the concrete. [1] Gordon Biddle, a railway historian, described the original as "a handsome bridge" and lamented that it was "a great pity that some other means of strengthening it could not be found". [2]

History

The bridge was designed by Robert Stephenson for the London and Birmingham Railway (now the southern part of the West Coast Main Line) and was complete for the railway's opening in 1837. It is the last in a series of engineering works along a long embankment which starts just north of Watford Tunnel and is a short distance north-west of Abbots Langley bridge, another original skew bridge on the same line. It was widened in 1858 when the railway was quadruple-tracked. [2] [3] [4]

John Cooke Bourne illustrated the bridge as part of his series of lithographs documenting the construction of the London and Birmingham. The image depicts the bridge as-built and continues the theme of Bourne's work in contrasting the modernity of the railway with earlier forms of transport, such as the canal it crosses. [2] [5]

The bridge remains in use and was designated a Grade II listed building in 1985. Listed building status affords legal protection from unauthorised demolition or modification. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Galton Bridge</span> Cast-iron bridge in West Midlands, England

The Galton Bridge is a cast-iron bridge in Smethwick, near Birmingham, in the West Midlands of England. Opened in 1829 as a road bridge, the structure has been pedestrianised since the 1970s. It was built by Thomas Telford to carry a road across the new main line of the Birmingham Canal, which was built in a deep cutting. The bridge is 70 feet above the canal, making it reputedly the highest single-span arch bridge in the world when it was built, 26 feet wide, and 150 feet long. The iron components were fabricated at the nearby Horseley Ironworks and assembled atop the masonry abutments. The design includes decorative lamp-posts and X-shaped bracing in the spandrels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Huddersfield Broad Canal</span> Navigation canal in West Yorkshire, England

The Huddersfield Broad Canal or Sir John Ramsden's Canal, is a wide-locked navigable canal in West Yorkshire in northern England. The waterway is 3.75 miles (6 km) long and has 9 wide locks. It follows the valley of the River Colne and connects the Calder and Hebble Navigation at Cooper Bridge junction with the Huddersfield Narrow Canal near Aspley Basin in Huddersfield.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sankey Viaduct</span> Bridge

The Sankey Viaduct is a railway viaduct in North West England. It is a designated Grade I listed building and has been described as being "the earliest major railway viaduct in the world".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Skew arch</span> Method of construction

A skew arch is a method of construction that enables an arch bridge to span an obstacle at some angle other than a right angle. This results in the faces of the arch not being perpendicular to its abutments and its plan view being a parallelogram, rather than the rectangle that is the plan view of a regular, or "square" arch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corby Bridge</span> Bridge in Cumbria, England

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Belvidere Bridge</span> Historic bridge in Shrewsbury

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wolverton Works canal bridge</span> Bridge in Milton Keynes, England

The Wolverton Works canal bridge, or Bridge no. 171C, is a bridge over the Grand Union Canal in Wolverton, Milton Keynes in south-eastern England. It carries a spur from the West Coast Main Line into Wolverton Works. It was built in 1834–1835 for the London and Birmingham Railway under the supervision of Robert Stephenson and has been little modified since. It is a grade II* listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gelt Bridge</span> Bridge in Carlisle, England

The Gelt Bridge or Gelt Viaduct 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brandon Viaduct</span> Bridge in Warwickshire, England

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sowe Viaduct</span> Bridge in Coventry, England

The Sowe Viaduct is a railway bridge on the Birmingham Loop line crossing the River Sowe at the south-eastern edge of Coventry in central England. Built in 1838, it is a Grade II listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sherbourne Viaduct</span> Bridge in Coventry, England

The Sherbourne Viaduct is a railway bridge that carries the Birmingham Loop line across the River Sherbourne in Coventry, central England. Built in 1838, it is a grade II listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mile Lane Bridge</span> Bridge in Coventry, England

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wolverton Viaduct</span> Bridge in Milton Keynes, England

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blisworth Arch</span> Bridge in Northamptonshire, England

The Blisworth Arch is a railway bridge in Blisworth, Northamptonshire, in eastern England. It was designed by Robert Stephenson for the London and Birmingham Railway and completed in 1837. It is a grade II listed building and a significant local landmark.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hampton in Arden packhorse bridge</span> Bridge in the West Midlands of England

Hampton in Arden packhorse bridge crosses the River Blythe near Hampton in Arden in the West Midlands of England, between Birmingham and Coventry. Dating from the 15th century, it is the only bridge of its kind in the area now covered by the West Midlands, and is a grade II* listed building and a scheduled monument.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brent Viaduct</span> Bridge in Stonebridge Park, London

The Brent Viaduct is a railway bridge carrying the West Coast Main Line over the valley of the River Brent just south of Stonebridge Park station in north-west London, England. Originally built in 1838 for the London and Birmingham Railway, it is now a Grade II listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bushey Arches Viaduct</span> Bridge in Bushey, Hertfordshire

Bushey Arches Viaduct is a railway bridge on the West Coast Main Line immediately north of Bushey railway station, between Bushey and Watford, in Hertfordshire, Eastern England, just north-west of London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colne Viaduct</span> Bridge in Watford, Hertfordshire

The Colne Viaduct, also known as Five Arches Viaduct, carries the West Coast Main Line railway over the River Colne near Watford in Hertfordshire, Eastern England, just north-west of London. It was built in 1837 for the London and Birmingham Railway by Robert Stephenson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Watford Tunnels</span>

Watford Tunnels are a pair of railway tunnels on the West Coast Main Line just north-west of Watford in Hertfordshire, Eastern England. The original was built in 1837 for the London and Birmingham Railway to the design of Robert Stephenson and is just over a mile long. When the line was widened in the 1870s, a second tunnel was built just to the east. Both tunnels had decorative portals and the south portal of the original tunnel is a Grade II listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abbots Langley railway bridge</span> Bridge in Abbots Langley, Hertfordshire

Abbots Langley railway bridge, also known as the bridge over Railway Terrace is a skew bridge carrying the West Coast Main Line over a road near Abbots Langley, Hertfordshire, in Eastern England. The angle of the bridge creates a 25-metre (82-foot) tunnel along the road. It was built in 1837 and is a Grade II listed building.

References

Bibliography

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 3 Historic England. "Nash Mills railway bridge (1172991)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 28 February 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Biddle, p. 195.
  3. ↑ Jenkinson, p. 14.
  4. ↑ Biddle (2016), p. 195.
  5. ↑ Thompson, p. 40.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.