Harwich Train Ferry Berth, Harwich, Essex

Summary

Train ferry berth, erected in 1923 by the London and North Eastern Railway, utilising components from the train ferry berths constructed at Richborough and Southampton in 1917, probably by Armstrong Whitworth and Company Ltd of Newcastle-upon Tyne, to designs by the Inland Water Transport and Docks (IWTD) Department of the Royal Engineers. Disused since 1987.

Description

MATERIALS: the structure is constructed from fabricated steel girders with sheet steel cladding and a timber-decked train bridge. The foundations and landside approach bridge are of reinforced concrete with sheet steel piles while the pedestrian walkway and berthing arms are steel-framed with timber decks.

PLAN: although the train ferry berth stands on a north-west to south-east axis cardinal compass points will be used in the following description for simplicity.

On plan the train ferry berth is rectangular and comprises a concrete approach bridge (1923) and an adjustable train bridge (1917) straddled by steel-framed gantry surmounted by a motor house (1917). A pedestrian walkway (1923) runs parallel with the bridge's south side, running from the concrete approach bridge to the southern berthing arm (1923). A shorter berthing arm (1923) lies to the north. All the 1923 components are of lesser interest while the free-standing wooden dolphins and modern navigation lights are excluded from the listing.

DESCRIPTION: the train ferry berth comprises a steel-framed gantry which straddles, and supports, an adjustable train bridge (linkspan). The gantry's support legs, which are bolted to reinforced-concrete foundations, are constructed from fabricated steel plates and steel angles riveted together to form a box section. King struts on the east side of each leg provide the gantry with its main lateral stability while the legs themselves are hollow to allow for the vertical travel of the bridge's lifting mechanism counterweights. Spanning the legs is the gantry bridge which is formed of two deep plate girders placed a short distance apart to allow for the cable winch and bridge cable retention system to operate between them. A gantry platform with chequer plate decking, which is accessed by a steel ladder fixed to the southern king strut, is suspended below the girders. From this platform a short steel ladder rises to the motor house which sits on top of the girders. The motor house is constructed from steel angle frames that are arched at roof level and clad with light-steel plate. It accommodates the main bull wheel and the north-side counterweight cable wheel. An access walkway, fabricated from steel angles to form a frame in which timber boards were placed, surrounds the machine house (the timber boards and steel handrail now missing). The south-side counterweight wheel is housed in a plate-steel covering at the gantry's southern end. Suspended below the gantry platform is a timber-decked access platform to the four pulley wheels around which a steel lifting cable raises and lowers the adjustable train bridge (linkspan). The pulley wheels are connected to an upper crane block from which a triangular-shaped steel frame is suspended. The horizontal beam end nodes of this steel-framed structure are connected to the northern and southern trusses of the adjustable train bridge by a vertical lifting linkage and to the gantry bridge above by steel tension cables (which were adjusted according to the state of the tide).

The adjustable train bridge (linkspan) is formed of fabricated steel trusses on its north and south sides with steel beams connecting the top and bottom chords, and diagonal bracing in between. Its deck structure is comprised of primary steel beams aligned north-south across the width of the bridge with secondary beams spanning east-west between them. The secondary beams support a series of timber railway sleepers and timber joists above. The deck itself is comprised of timber boards (probably later-C20 replacements) spanning east-west between the timber joists, with rails running between them. The primary beams are connected to the northern and southern girders via a four inch diameter steel pin that allowed the bridge to articulate with the movement of the ferry-boat and tidal conditions.

A pedestrian walkway runs parallel with the south side of the train ferry berth for a distance of some 40m. Accessed from the landside access bridge, it is steel framed with a timber deck, with the steel posts probably driven directly into the London Clay of the intertidal zone. Stairs just over midway along its length give access to the southern berthing arm.

The two berthing arms at the west end of the train ferry berth were not accessible at the time of survey. However, it is known that both contain mooring bollards, with the southern berthing arm, which is the longer of the two at 130m in length, also having a navigation light (not of special interest) at its west end. The northern berthing is considerably shorter, measuring 17m in length.

The landside access bridge at the east end of the ferry berth is constructed from reinforced concrete and carries two railway lines across its deck. Its abutment on the seaward side contains a steel hinged pivot bearing that allowed the west end of the adjustable train bridge to articulate vertically up or down.

History

The origins of the continental train-ferry service between Harwich and Zeebrugge, Belgium dates to the First World War and the vital need to keep the British Army fighting on the Western Front equipped with arms, ammunition, food and other essential provisions. In the early months of 1917 Major General AS Collard (1876-1938), Director of the Inland Water Transport and Docks (IWTD) Department of the Royal Engineers, which had been established in December 1914 to transport war goods by barge across the English Channel to France, was directed to the proposition of using train-ferries to meet the demands and requirements of military transport.

Barges were initially seen to be valuable as they could be piloted along the inland waterways of France and Belgium to military stores depots close to the fighting front. After two years, however, a serious shortage of vessels coupled with congestion at the ports, particularly on the French side, which delayed the turn-round of barges, started to compromise the efficiency of the service. A further issue which supported the introduction of train-ferries was the fact that a substantial proportion of cross-channel traffic consisted of locomotives, wagons, ambulance train coaches, tanks, heavy ordnance, motor vehicles and other bulky material which not only took up an inordinate amount of stowage space but also required a significant amount of man-power, crane-power and time to load and unload. It was estimated that 1,500 labourers were requited to transport 1,000 tons of war goods from the point of manufacture to the Front. With the support of Sir Guy Granet (1867-1943), Director General of the Midland Railway and Director General of Movements and Railways at the War Office, and his successor Sir Sam Fay (1856-1953), General Manager of the Great Central Railway, Collard’s plan was approved in early 1917.

It was subsequently agreed that a train ferry service would operate from Richborough, the new military port to which the IWTD had moved to a year earlier, to Calais and Dunkirk. Somewhat prudently, in case the French northern ports were captured, approval was also given for a second service to run from Southampton to Dieppe and Cherbourg. Following the order of three new train-ferries from Armstrong Whitworth and Co Ltd of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, which were named SS Train Ferry No 1, SS Train Ferry No 2 and SS Train Ferry No 3, consideration was given to the design and construction of a new type of terminal which would allow the vessels to rise and fall with the tide but yet be available for loading and unloading at all times. This issue was resolved with the use of an adjustable train bridge which, supported by a steel-framed gantry, was hinged at the shore end while its opposing end rested on the stern of the ferry. Pulleys and winding drums and counterweights provided the means for raising and lowering the bridge which was operated by an electric motor situated in a machine house placed on the gantry bridge. It is also belived that Armstrong Whitworth were also responsible for the fabrication of the ferry berths.

Train-ferries began sailing on 10 February 1918, just in time to deliver supplies critical to resisting the German Spring Offensive which began on 21 March. Their introduction not only saw the first use in Britain of roll-on/roll-off ferries, but they also greatly reduced the amount of labour required, taking only 30 to 40 minutes to load or unload the 54 railway wagons and the 50 or 60 motor vehicles that could be transported. It was now estimated that only 100 labourers were required to move 1,000 tons of war goods from their place of manufacture to the Front. Train-ferries continued to operate on a daily basis until late 1919, returning material from the Front after the signing of the Armistice on 11 November 1918, before being laid up at Immingham despite interest from local railway companies to continue the service.

In 1922 the London and North Eastern Railway Company (LNER) and Belgian State Railways approached the Army with the view to purchasing the three train-ferries along with the ferry berths at Southampton and Dunkirk for their proposed train ferry service between Harwich and Zeebrugge. In January 1923 the Great Eastern Ferry Company Limited was established in Britain to supply the ferries while Société Belgo-Anglaise des Ferry Boats was formed in Belgium to provide the rolling stock. The train ferry berth at Southampton, given a similar tidal range, was purchased for the Harwich terminal, while the Dunkirk ferry berth was re-erected at the Ferry Dock in Zeebrugge. Dismantling of the Southampton terminal took place in August and, as initial plans to transport it by train proved to be too expensive, it was placed on two specially strengthened barges for the 199 nautical mile journey to Essex. Having left Southampton on 1 September, the barges and their tug were practically within reach of Harwich when, in the early hours of 5 September, they sank after encountering rough weather off Cork Lightvessel. It was not until mid-October that the train bridge was salvaged and beached at Harwich. The rest of the structure, however, and the two barges could not be recovered and were later blown up so as not to be a hazard to shipping. The gantry and operating machinery from Richborough were subsequently sent as replacements and, with the train bridge from Southampton, were re-erected a short distance to the south-west of Harwich’s Trinity Pier. Along with concrete foundations, additional works for the new terminal included a landside approach bridge, two berthing arms and a pedestrian walkway.

The train ferry service between Harwich and Zeebrugge was officially opened on 24 April 1924 by His Royal Highness Prince George (1902-1942). Two ferries made six round trips weekly, the third vessel being held in reserve, with Customs and Excise arranging for goods forwarded in padlocked wagons to be examined for customs duties at inland railway stations rather than at Harwich. The service's early years proved to be very successful, but the depressed economic conditions of the late 1920s and early 1930s, which saw a fall in traffic and thus revenue, resulted in the service being fully absorbed into the LNER in 1933. Traffic started to increase again by 1935, with the service operating regularly until the Second World War, at which time the ferries were requisitioned by the Admiralty for war time service.

Train-ferry services resumed in June 1946, although only Train Ferry No 1, subsequently renamed Essex Ferry, survived the War. With new ferries purchased, and a new service to Dunkirk inaugurated in 1963, train-ferries continued to operate from Harwich until January 1987, when the service was transferred to Dover.

Reasons for Listing

Harwich Train Ferry Berth, erected in 1923 by the London and North Eastern Railway, utilising components from the train ferry berths constructed at Richborough and Southampton in 1917, probably by Armstrong Whitworth of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, to designs devised by the Inland Water Transport and Docks Department of the Royal Engineers, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* as the sole surviving example of a train ferry berth in a national context;

* although of a standard, functional design, its aesthetics, technology and construction illustrates Britain's rapid resonse in devising a new type of ferry terminal which would allow vessels to rise and fall with the tide but be available for loading and unloading at all times.

Historical interest:

* as the only tangible reminder of the role played by train ferries during the First World War, one which kept the British Army fighting of the Western Front equipped with sufficient arms, ammunition, food and other essential provisions;

* for its role in the first, commercial, cross-channel train ferry service in England.

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British Listed Buildings

History in Structure

Harwich Train Ferry Berth

A Grade II Listed Building in Harwich, Essex

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Summary

Description

History

Reasons for Listing

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