Railway underbridge MDL1/35, Howley Mill Lane

Railway underbridge for the Leeds, Dewsbury & Manchester Railway line, mid-1840s, by Thomas Grainger.

MATERIALS: quarry-faced sandstone and ashlar.

DESCRIPTION: the bridge accommodates a right of way and a small stream beneath the Leeds, Dewsbury & Manchester Railway line. It is constructed of squared and coursed quarry-faced sandstone with the coping of the face and wing walls of squared ashlar. Both faces of the bridge are similarly detailed. The segmental arch is of stepped, rusticated v-jointed sandstone voussoirs springing from a low impost band of squared edges with chamfered top and bottom edges. There is a concave-moulded ashlar cornice, and on the east side this carries a triangular parapet formed of large, stone slabs set on edge. The curved and raked wing walls also have squared ashlar coping stones. A low stone wall with semi-circular coping stones runs the length of the bridge and projects beyond on both sides, separating the higher-level lane from the stream.