St James' Viaduct (MLN110705), Bath, Bath and North East Somerset

Summary

A viaduct, incorporating spans over roads, built in 1840, by engineer I.K. Brunel for the Great Western Railway. It is also referred to as Holloway Viaduct and Southgate Viaduct.

Description

MATERIALS: limestone ashlar, English bond blue engineering brickwork, steel.

DESCRIPTION: the viaduct comprises a central section with pedestrian arches, flanked by wide skewed roadway openings, and a set of six viaduct arches to the east and eleven arches to the west, supporting the railway tracks above. The formal frontage of the central section remains in stone but the arches either end (both north and south sides) are almost entirely refaced in engineering brick.

The central, 'architectural', section is in the Tudor Gothic idiom. The centre of the north (Up) front, facing the city, has a pair of octagonal turrets flanking a doorway under paired transom lights with a stone mullion, and a drip mould. Above, there is a small rose window with a raised architrave, possibly depicting a locomotive wheel. The turrets have two stepped, weathered offsets, slit embrasures, and crenellated cappings. The parapet between the turrets has stepped merlons with no crenels, forming a pediment containing two raised shields. To each side of the turrets is a door opening with a four-centred head in a moulded surround, leading on the west side to a pedestrian walkway, open to a former roadway by three low, four-centred arches with deep splays in a thick brick wall. The east doorway leads to an enclosed pedestrian throughway. At upper level there is a crenellated parapet above a plain frieze with moulding above and below. The parapet extends to either side above wide, skewed roadway arches that are formed by large riveted steel girders (1911/12), each flanked by small square buttresses with two offsets, and a further four-centred arch with a second buttress. The archway to the east leads into a pedestrian throughway with low arches into the skew bay. The west doorway has an iron gate.

The south (Down) front is of simpler design, with a broad, plain, central section in ashlar, and has been altered. There is a plain parapet above a wide, sealed, segmental arch positioned centrally, with two slit embrasures, and a sealed rectangular opening at ground level. To its left is a round-arched opening, to the right a four-centred arched doorway. To the left of the elevation is a four-centred arch leading to a pedestrian throughway, which is flanked by stepped stone buttresses. At the right end is a plain pier with a sealed, round-arched door opening to the left. Beyond the central section, to both the east and west, are steel girders over the roadways.

The viaduct to the east of the central section has six segmental brick arches under a plain, stone parapet that is lower than the main parapet. Its north face terminates with a tall octagonal pier, and abuts the Skew Bridge (separately listed at Grade II). The eleven segmental arches of the west part of the viaduct also have a stone parapet. The first arch has been adapted in stone to form a four-centred opening. The viaduct continues to the steel span (not listed), built over Wells Road in 1961-62. The steel span, its eastern pier abutment and arches west of it are not included in this listing.

History

Great Western Railway

The Great Western Railway was authorised by an Act of Parliament in 1835 to construct a line from London to Bristol. At 118 miles this was slightly longer than the other major trunk railway of its time, the London and Birmingham (112 miles) and considerably longer than other pioneering lines. Construction of the line began in 1836, using a variety of contractors and some direct labour. The first section to be completed, from London to Maidenhead Riverside (Taplow), opened in 1838, and thereafter openings followed in eight phases culminating the completion of the whole route in 1841. Work at the Bristol end of the line had started in 1835, and the section from Bristol to Bath had opened in August 1840.

The engineering of the railway was entrusted in 1833 to Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806-59), who was already known for his projects in Bristol. More than any other railway engineer of his time he took sole responsibility for every aspect of the engineering design, from surveying the line to the detailing of buildings and structures. He sought to achieve as level a route as possible and, working from first principles, he persuaded the Directors of the GWR to adopt a broad gauge of 7ft 0¼in rather then the standard (4ft 8½in) gauge in use on other lines. A two track broad gauge line was 30ft wide, and this determined the span of the overbridges and other structures. Except in the case of larger bridges such as Maidenhead Bridge and Gatehampton Viaduct, Brunel’s masonry bridges were not as innovative as his works in timber and iron, and his buildings followed the typical architectural idioms of his time, but together they formed integral parts of a consistently-designed pioneering railway.

Although he left no written statement concerning his design concept for the line, it can be inferred from its design and from the way it was described when opened that part of his vision was a line engineered according to picturesque principles. This influenced his selection of the route and the design of structures along it. For reasons of cost, but also because it helped blend the railway to the landscape, he used local materials for bridges and other structures, ranging from stock brick at the London end of the line, to red brick, Bath stone east of Bath and Blue Lias stone west of Bath. This intentional variety was remarked on by contemporaries, for instance In J C Bourne, 'The History and Description of the Great Western Railway' (1846). Surviving contract drawings for bridges and other structures on this section of the line carry the signature of I K Brunel, reflecting his involvement with every aspect of the project. The Resident Engineer was G E Frere (1807-87), assisted by G T Clark (1809-98) and Michael Lane (1802-68), but their individual contributions have not been identified.

St James' Viaduct

On the line from Bristol to Bath, where the track runs along the Avon, Brunel chose to use Tudor four-centred arches for bridges, and castellation for the tunnel portals and viaducts. This makes it the most distinctive part of the whole route from London to Bristol, and it is also the section on which the structures have generally survived in their original form because this part of the route was not quadrupled and the Blue Lias stone used for most structures has lasted well. St James’ Viaduct opened to traffic on 21 August 1840. It carries the route west towards Bristol from Bath Spa Station and the Skew Bridge over the River Avon (listed at Grade II), which adjoins the Viaduct at its eastern (low mileage) end. By 1870 the structure was already under almost constant repair, partly due to the use of some poor quality stone. The two roadway spans were rebuilt with steel beams and engineering brick in 1911-12 (to take heavier locomotives; drawings dated 1909). A further steel span was built over Wells Road following alterations to the road layout in 1961-62.

Reasons for Listing

St James' Viaduct, Bath, is designated at Grade II* for the following principal reasons:
* Date: an early example of a railway structure dating from the pioneering phase in national railway development;
* Rarity: a rare viaduct to survive intact from the earliest phase of the Great Western Railway;
* Design: the scale, details and engineering of the structure are of particular note and contribute to its higher level of special interest;
* Historic association: it is constructed to a design by Isambard Kingdom Brunel who is widely perceived as one of the most important transport engineers and architects of the C19.

External Links

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