Tamworth Road Bridge (SPC6 19)

A single-span skew underbridge, built 1837-38 for the Midland Counties Railway to the design of Charles Blacker Vignoles, with a subsidiary span in the low mileage (east) wing walls, reconstructed in 2005.

MATERIALS: coursed and squared sandstone walling with ashlar dressings.

DESCRIPTION: Tamworth Road Bridge carries the east-west railway over the north-south Tamworth Road. Due to the skew of the bridge the north-east and south-west wing walls are longer and more pronounced than the one to the north-west (the south-east wing wall does not survive).

The bridge has a single segmental arch of rusticated V-channelled punched voussoirs with tooled margins. The soffit is skew set, with V-channelled banded rustication springing from serrated and tooled impost bands. Beneath the impost bands are four rusticated V-channelled punched courses with tooled margins. The imposts curve around to terminate at the abutments, merging with the voussoirs above.

The spandrels of the arch are formed of coursed and punched stones with tooled margins. Above is a tooled string course with a chamfered upper edge. The parapet comprises two courses of picked ashlar with tooled margins surmounted by tooled coping stones with a chamfered upper edge. On top of the coping are C20 steel railings. Below the string course, the abutments project with a concave rake. The abutment walling is V-channelled banded rustication, punched with tooled margins. These abutments curve to terminate in projecting piers, which have tooled parapet courses. On the high mileage (west) side of the bridge, the string course carries through to become the coping of the splayed, quarry-faced wing walls. These begin at the projecting piers with slight concave rakes, but straighten out to terminate in low end piers.

The low mileage (east) wing walls of the bridge have been replaced by an additional narrow span, known as Roosevelt Avenue (SPC6 19A). It is a concrete structure, with a flat soffit, faced in reclaimed stone. A fragment of the 1838 wing wall, with low terminating pier, survives on the up (north) side. This is of the same material and detail as the wing walls on the high mileage (west) side.

Pursuant to s.1 (5A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 (‘the Act’) it is declared that the subsidiary span in the low mileage (east) wing wall, known as Roosevelt Avenue (SPC6/19A) (a concrete structure, with a flat soffit, faced in reclaimed stone), and the C20 steel railings of the bridge are not of special architectural or historic interest.

This list entry was subject to a Minor Amendment on 03/07/2015