Railway Bridge Over Southdown Road

The railway bridge over Southdown Road, built around 1865 by Liddell and Barlow, is a Grade II listed structure. It was extended on the west side around 1880 when the London-Midland track was made quadruple. The bridge features Cambridge blue brick, with stone dressings on the east side and dark red stock brick on the west side. It has a semicircular tunnel arch that crosses the road at a steep angle, giving it a parabolic appearance. The elevations include one and two broad plain piers on either side of the arch and a deep parapet. The east side showcases a stone roll moulding around the arch and T-shaped stone modillions in the stepped brick band below the parapet. The blue and stock bricks on the east side are mixed, and the parapet piers have brick modillions. The tunnel arch consists of 18 square sections arranged diagonally in a criss-cross, stepped formation, with the nine sections on the east side featuring smooth stone imposts. A continuous plain plinth, capped in stone, is present on the eastern half. The northeast and southwest embankments have sloping abutments made of blue brick, each with deep rectangular buttresses connected by deep arched recesses that end in niches. The long sloping elevations are finished with short brick piers.