Railway Viaduct Between Deptford Creek And North Kent Junction

The following building shall be added:

RAILWAY VIADUCT TQ 3677 779-/4/10022 Railway viaduct between Deptford Creek and North Kent Junction

GV II

Railway viaduct for the London and Greenwich Railway. Construction was authorised by Act of Parliament in 1833; the section from North Kent Junction to Deptford was opened in February 1836, that east to Deptford Creek in December 1836. The total length is 5,150 metres. Grey brick; each arch is 20 feet from centre to centre and 22 feet high. The 28 ft railbed is enclosed by parapets roughly four and a half feet high. The viaduct comprises the following: 32 arches from Deptford Creek to Deptford Church Street - most of the arches remain open and this is the most attractive part of the line; 30 arches from Deptford Church Street to Deptford High Street - southern parapet rebuilt and modern construction within arches; 52 arches from Deptford High Street to Edward Street - the platform buildings of Deptford Station, which surmount the viaduct, have been rebuilt and are not of special interest; skew bridge spanning west branch of Edward Street - a singularly graceful composition; 36 arches from Edward Street to Abinger Grove - the south face obscured by other buildings up against it, but the north face a strong composition; 33 arches from Abinger Grove to Rolt Street - the arches infilled with workshops of no special interest; skew bridge over Rolt Street - particularly handsome in its use of brick; 13 arches from Rolt Street to North Kent Junction. This viaduct carried the first passenger railway in London, and is one of the first major achievements of railway engineering in Britain. Sources: V Mitchell and K Smith, London Bridge to East Croydon, Midhurst, Sussex, 1988 R H G Thomas, London's First Railway. The London to Greenwich, London 1972.

Listing NGR: TQ3682077568