Eastern Counties Railway London Viaduct

This is a former railway viaduct, built between 1839 and 1840 by engineer John Braithwaite for the Eastern Counties Railway. The viaduct, located north of Bancroft Road, was part of the line connecting London with East Anglia and initially ran from Romford to Mile End. The structure is primarily built of yellow stock brick with sandstone dressings.

The remaining section of the viaduct comprises ten arches on the south side of the approaches to Liverpool Street station. Each shallow elliptical arch has an in-filled opening with a surround of seven courses of brick headers. Above this is a sandstone string course at track level and a brick parapet with sandstone coping. The arches continue to the north, a result of track widening around 1891. A wide arch, formerly the location of Globe Road and Devonshire Street station (open 1884, closed 1916), has been largely reconstructed. To the left of a skew bridge are two blind arches set between buttresses, their lower courses partly hidden by later blue brick bases. The skew bridge has a very shallow elliptical opening with radiating sandstone voussoirs above an impost band of sandstone. To the right, the viaduct transitions into an embankment.

The Eastern Counties Railway was established in 1836 and represented the first rail link between London and East Anglia. John Braithwaite was the engineer responsible for the line's construction into London. The viaduct is an early and significant example of a first-generation railway structure in London, with the 1839-40 sections holding particular historical interest. The line was widened later in the 19th century.