Railway Bridge

The railway bridge, located 50 meters west of Thurston Station, was built in 1846 by Frederick Barnes of Ipswich for the Ipswich, Bury and Norwich Railway. It carries the Ipswich to Bury St Edmunds railway line over Station Road. The bridge is constructed from red and gault brick, with later patching in engineering brick of both red and blue. It features an elliptical arch with vaulting made from skewed (diagonally-set) brickwork. At all four corners, rusticated block quoins of gault brick rise from road level to about 2 meters, supporting a heavy dentilled cornice. Above this cornice, the elliptical brick arch continues, with limestone key-blocks featuring sunk panels at the center of both faces. The bridge has a plain parapet that rises from a deep cornice with brick modillions below. The embankment is supported by curved and slightly battered retaining walls topped with stone copings.