Railway underbridge MVN2/194, Hurst Lane, Mirfield, Kirklees

Summary

Single-span underbridge, built 1836-1839 under the direction of George Stephenson and Thomas Gooch for the Manchester and Leeds Railway, and widened by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway in 1884 and 1888-1892.

Description

Railway underbridge, 1836-1839 with widening of 1884 and 1888-1892, by George Stephenson and Thomas Gooch for the Manchester and Leeds Railway.

MATERIALS: gritstone.

DESCRIPTION: a single-span, segmental-arched underbridge. The arch has quarry-faced voussoirs (concealed behind modern warning signs, and painted in similar colours beneath the signs on the south elevation), with tooled margins, resting on slightly-projecting ashlar impost bands. The arch forms a subway and the soffit is formed of stone blocks, with some red brick patching. The arch is multi-phased, displaying several straight joints and a large number of mason marks; it is aligned roughly north-east to south-west, with a deflection slightly to the south, at a point approximately two-thirds along its length.

The spandrels and abutments of both the north and south elevations are of quarry-faced coursed yellow gritstone, supported by canted buttresses. The north elevation has symmetrical curved wing walls to either side, with canted ashlar coping stones, terminating in low square masonry piers with dressed pyramidal cap stones. The south elevation has a similar curved wing wall on the east side, which retains its three-bar iron railings, with flat cast-iron posts. To the west the abutment is obscured by the embankment and retaining wall of the former Mirfield goods station. The plinths of the parapet walls rest on ashlar cordons; the walls, terminating in rectangular piers, are capped by ashlar coping stones. The two-piece pier capstones have a slightly convex upper surface, apart from that to the south-west which is flat and a single stone.

This list entry was subject to a Minor Amendment on 24 February 2021 to correct the name and address.

History

In contrast to the main trunk lines of the late 1830s that were constructed by single railway companies the route from Stalybridge to Leeds had fragmented origins and was the work of three different railway companies: the Huddersfield & Manchester Railway, Leeds, Dewsbury & Manchester Railway, and the Manchester & Leeds Railway.

The Huddersfield & Manchester Railway was authorised in 1845 and followed the route of the Huddersfield Narrow Canal for much of its length, including a railway tunnel through the Pennine hills set alongside the earlier Standedge Canal Company tunnel of 1811; in 1846 the railway company also acquired the canal. Joseph Locke and Alfred Stanistreet Jee were appointed to survey and design the new line, the two engineers having already worked together on a major project linking Manchester and Sheffield. Jee became the lead engineer for the Huddersfield line, which passed through challenging terrain, assisted by resident engineers that included his brother Moreland Jee (until 1848) and Herbert F Mackworth. Construction of the line was divided into various contracts, with many contractors being only responsible for a single cutting, viaduct or tunnel portal. The largest contract for the Standedge Tunnel between Diggle and Marsden was let to a single contractor, Thomas Nicholson in 1847. The tunnel's completion in 1849 marked the opening of the line.

The Leeds end of the route, which was also authorised in 1845, was constructed by the Leeds, Dewsbury & Manchester Railway. The engineer was Thomas Grainger who had previously largely worked in Scotland, and the line was completed in 1849.

A short three-mile section of the route between Heaton Lodge Junction and Thornhill Junction near Mirfield was developed by the Manchester & Leeds Railway (MLR) and was constructed between 1837 and 1840, with George Stephenson as the chief engineer. The structures on this line were designed by Thomas Gooch under the oversight of Stephenson. In 1847 the railway company changed its name to the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway.

In 1847 the Huddersfield & Manchester Railway and the Leeds, Dewsbury & Manchester Railway were acquired by the London & North Western Railway (LNWR) so that the company could access the city of Leeds and the textile towns of West Yorkshire. This pitted them as rivals to the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway, although at points on the route the two companies had to work together. By 1851 the London & North Western Railway had an overall mileage of railway track of 800 miles and it became the most prominent railway company in the country and the largest joint-stock concern in the world in the late C19. Although the LNWR had a general manager, Captain Mark Huish, the lines of the Stalybridge to Leeds route still managed their own affairs. LNWR later carried out expansion works, including the widening of tracks and bridges, the construction of additional tunnels, and station alterations. In 1923 the line became part of the London Midland & Scottish Railway, and subsequently part of the nationalised British Railways in 1948. The line, its structures and track are currently (2018) owned by Network Rail, and the passenger services operated by TransPennine Express and Northern Rail.

This bridge was built to carry the railway over Hurst Lane. It was designed by George Stephenson and Thomas Gooch and dates from 1836 to 1839. It was widened from two to four tracks by an addition on its southern side by the LYR in 1884, and then from four to twelve tracks between 1888 and 1892, due to the expansion of the Cleckheaton junction immediately to the east. However, the elevations and arch soffits are very similar in appearance to the original stonework of contemporary bridges, and it is considered that the elevation was rebuilt or replicated at each phase of widening, including its curved wing walls. The south-west wing wall is believed to have been removed when the current retaining wall was built up to the arch ring, but the upper end of the south-west buttress remains visible above the embankment. Some iron railings have been lost from the north elevation, indicated by witness marks in the coping stones, and the arch soffit has been patched with red brick. The coping stone to the south-east pier appears to be a replacement.

Reasons for Listing

Hurst Lane Bridge (MVN2/194), built 1836-1839 by George Stephenson and Thomas Gooch for the Manchester and Leeds Railway, and widened by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway in 1884 and between 1888 and 1892, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Historic interest:

* constructed during the pioneering age of railway building and a sympathetically-altered example of an 1830s underbridge on what is now one of the main railway lines in northern England;

* associated with the notable railway engineer George Stephenson;

* the widening of the bridge illustrates the late-C19 growth in railway traffic and the repeated choice to dismantle and re-erect the original elevation is an unusual one.

Architectural interest:

* the bridge is well-detailed with curving wing walls, parapet piers, impost bands and tooled margins that lift its design above the purely functional;

* retaining the majority of its original design features and fabric despite repeated widening.

Group value:

* with the other listed structures designed by George Stephenson and Thomas Gooch on the former Manchester and Leeds Railway.

External Links

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