Matlock Road Bridge (SPC8 35)

Matlock Road Bridge is a single-span skew overbridge built between 1836 and 1840 for the North Midland Railway, designed by George and Robert Stephenson along with Frederick Swanwick.

The bridge is constructed from coursed quarry-faced Derbyshire Gritstone with tooled ashlar dressings, and the underside of the arch features skew-set red brick. The north face of the bridge closely resembles the south face, featuring a single segmental arch that adheres to the standard dimensions of the Stephensons’ North Midland overbridges, standing 16 feet above the rails and spanning 30 feet. The arch is composed of v-channelled rusticated ashlar voussoirs that return on the underside as quoins. The soffit is made of skew-set red brick, rising from an impost band with diagonally set stone springers supported by courses of quarry-faced stone on a chamfered plinth.

Broad projecting piers flank the arch, which have a concave rake and v-channelled rusticated quoins. The abutments angle out to meet the piers, topped with an extension of the impost band shaped like a pitched cap stone to help shed water. The wing walls on either side of the piers are faced with coursed quarry-faced stone, also featuring a concave rake that curves to align with the approach roads before ending in sizeable semi-octagonal piers. The west wing walls are more substantial due to the raised approach road on that side.

The bridge is adorned with a bold ashlar roll moulding and a parapet consisting of two tall courses: the lower course is made of tooled ashlar with margins and a chamfered top edge, while the higher course is of stone with a punched finish and dressed margins. The coping is square-moulded, tooled, and has a slight fall towards the outside edge. The inside faces of the parapets contain one and a half courses of picked stone.