Gibfield Lane Bridge Over Railway

A single-span skew overbridge carrying Gibfield Lane over the railway, and an attached section of masonry walling lining the east side of the cutting over which the bridge passes, designed by A.M Ross for the North Midland Railway. The railway was surveyed by George Stephenson in 1835 and it was constructed c.1836-40 to the designs of George and Robert Stephenson with Frederick Swanwick.

MATERIALS: the bridge and cutting walls are constructed of coursed, squared, quarry-faced Derbyshire gritstone with ashlar dressings. The bridge arch soffit is lined with red brick laid in English bond.

DESCRIPTION: the bridge comprises a single segmental arch formed of rusticated, V-jointed, tooled voussoirs, which serve as quoins to the soffit and which extend to the quoined raking abutments at which the bridge arch terminates. The arch soffit is of skew-set red brick springing from a serrated sandstone course laid along the top of each impost band. Below, the walling is of coursed, squared, quarry-faced stone. Above the arch, a deep, tooled roll moulding supports the bridge parapets, formed from a single course of giant ashlar panels, capped with wide, gently sloping copings. The roll moulding is carried round onto the section of masonry walling lining the eastern side of the cutting. The walling is of concave section and linear in form, and extends southwards from the south-east corner of the bridge to the Derby Road Bridge and is approximately 215m in length. The cutting wall is of uniform curvature throughout its length, and rise from two deep projecting stone plinth courses. There are 5 broad projecting pilasters, delineating the 5 bays of walling which comprise two-thirds of its total length. The first one and a half bays extend to bridge parapet level and then are ramped downwards in two steps in the next half bay. On the top of the roll moulding on each section of the first two bays are further lengths of coursed masonry walling forming the garden wall of the house located above the cutting adjacent to the south-east end of the bridge. Bays 3, 4 and 5 extend southwards at half full-height level, continuing at that height for a further 20m and then ending at the Derby Road Bridge at low level.