Sankey Viaduct Over Sankey Brook

The asset was previously listed twice also under List entry 1230621, in the district of Warrington. This entry was removed from the List on 25th February 2016.

455/9/25 03-FEB-66

NEWTON LE WILLOWS BRADLEY LANE

SANKEY VIADUCT OVER SANKEY BROOK

(Formerly listed as: SANKEY VIADUCT OVER SANKEY BROOK (THAT PART IN ST HELENS DISTRICT) and SANKEY VIADUCT OVER SANKEY BROOK (THAT PART IN WARRINGTON DISTRICT) Also Formerly listed as: BRADLEY LANE SANKEY VIADUCT (OVER ST HELEN'S CANAL AND THE SANKEY BROOK))

I

Railway viaduct, 1830, by George Stephenson for the Liverpool and Manchester Railway Company. Yellow sandstone and red brick, of 9 round-arched spans on sharply-battered piers. Rusticated ashlar faces, stone-banded brick jambs. Plinths of 3 steps. One projecting band on each jamb. Plain, square imposts. Heavily moulded cornices carry stone parapets with plain square caps; a corbelled square pilaster on each pier carries the cornice. Battered, curved abutments of brick have stone quoins at inner ends. Listed Grade I as the earliest major railway viaduct in the world; in form and expression it presages the slightly later and hence more assured Dutton and Vale Royal viaducts by George Stephenson and Joseph Locke, carrying the former Grand Junction Railway over the Weaver valley. Part of this viaduct is in Cheshire.

Reasons for Designation

Sankey Viaduct over Sankey Brook (that part in St Helens district), an 1830 railway viaduct by George Stephenson, is designated at Grade I for the following principal reasons:

• Date: Constructed in 1830 it is of international significance being the earliest major railway viaduct in the world.
• Innovation: It acted as a model for George Stephenson and Joseph Locke's later viaducts at Dutton and Vale Royal, which carry the former Grand Junction Railway over the Weaver valley.