Lea Road Bridge (TJC1 26)

A stone overbridge including an approach road and span over the River Drone, at the northern end of Dronfield Station, 1870 for the Midland Railway, built to the designs of J.S. Crossley.

MATERIALS: snecked, quarry-faced Derbyshire gritstone walling, tooled ashlar dressings and red brick soffit linings.

DESCRIPTION: the bridge is L-shape in plan, and consists of two segmental arches spanning the railway and cutting, a ramped approach road at right angles on the east side, and three further segmental arches, including one over the River Drone. The principal section consists of one span over the railway, and a smaller, approach arch spanning the west embankment. Both arches share the same detailing, typical of bridges on this section of the line, with V-jointed punch-dressed stepped voussoirs and drafted margins. The voussoirs return as elongated ashlar quoining to the brick soffit linings. The arches spring from pick-faced impost blocks and integral impost bands with tooled margins and chamfered upper arrises. A similar string course runs across the bridge face above the arches. This and the parapet are curved, following the road alignment. The parapet has steeply-curved, pick-dressed copings with drafted margins and hipped ends. All other stonework, including the abutments and spandrels, is snecked and quarry-faced.

The bridge faces terminate at raking piers with shallow, hipped copings set beneath the parapet coping. Abutting these, with a straight joint on the west side, are walls of squared masonry flanking the approach road. On the east side, the bridge extends beyond the piers and then turns sharply to the north forming a ramped approach to Chesterfield Road. Within the curved section of the flanking wall is a segmental arch spanning the River Drone. The approach road is articulated by four piers, and there are two segmental arches between the middle two piers. The last section has a lower parapet, possibly altered, with modern steel railings. An opening in the south parapet  at the top of the approach road wall gives access to a C20, timber footbridge leading to Dronfield Station.

Pursuant to s.1 (5A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 (‘the Act’) it is declared that the C20 timber footbridge leading to Dronfield Station is not of special architectural or historic interest.