Skerne Bridge

Skerne Bridge is a railway bridge that spans the River Skerne, built in 1825 by Ignatius Bonomi for the Stockton & Darlington Railway. The bridge is constructed from finely dressed stone ashlar, with rock-faced stone ashlar used for the later wing walls and the surviving piers of the extension bridge to the north.

The bridge features a single arch that spans the river, flanked by smaller, lower pedestrian arches set in wide piers that rise from the riverbanks, best viewed from the south. The central arch is segmental, formed with an arch-ring of voussoirs and a roll-moulded string course that creates a second, narrower arch-ring. The piers slightly project forward and have a horizontal string course aligned with the springing points of the roll-moulded arch-ring. The pedestrian arches have round arches made with voussoirs integrated into the coursing of the ashlar stonework of the piers. The bridge and its piers are topped with a moulded cornice made of three courses of stonework, culminating in a plain blocking course that forms a low parapet fitted with later railings.

The flanking wing walls, which retain the sides of the embankment, are gently concave until they reach the bridge, where they turn sharply convex to meet the bridge piers. The transition point is covered by a slightly projecting pilaster. The ramped sections of the wing walls are stone coped, and the sections on either side of the bridge feature a low parapet rising from a moulded cornice. Earlier wing walls are likely buried within the embankment, and the bridge structure retains evidence of 19th-century strengthening works and engineering approaches.

Extending from the north face of the 1825 bridge are two narrow piers that originally supported the bridge decking for three lines added in the late 19th century, which have since been removed. The north face of the 1825 bridge has lost its original cornice and parapet.