Richmond Railway Bridge And Approach Viaduct

Richmond Railway Bridge and Approach Viaduct

Railway bridge completed in 1908, designed by J W Jacomb-Hood and incorporating the structure of an earlier bridge built in 1848 by Joseph Locke, together with an approach viaduct dating to 1848. The main bridge girders and decking were replaced in 1984.

The bridge is 91.5 metres long and consists of three steel arch-girder spans of 30.5 metres each. These are supported on stone-faced brick arched abutments and two stone-faced brick river piers with rounded cutwaters. The principal structural elements are four shallow-arched ribs per span, pinned at their ends to allow movement and braced together as pairs. This creates, in effect, two separate steel arch bridges positioned side-by-side, each supporting a line of track. Although fabricated from steel, these members reproduce the original arched profile of the cast-iron arches they replaced. The bridge preserves the distinctive open spandrels with vertical dividers characteristic of the 1840s structure, a feature also seen on the nearby Richmond Sluice and Half-Tide Dock (1891-94). A plaque on the towpath arch records that the bridge was "made and erected by the Horseley and Co Ld London and Tipton 1908".

The 1848 approach viaduct extends northwards from the bridge and comprises six arches with red brick voussoirs and banded piers containing small niches, finished with a panelled parapet. The sixth arch, furthest from the railway bridge, is blind except for an ornate round-arched opening with original railings. The viaduct continues north-eastwards in plainer stock brick with a slightly splayed base and simple dentil cornice until the land levels off. Both sections are largely unaltered. The first six arches possess particular architectural interest, while the second section is included in the listing for its early significance in railway history, monumentality and simple decorative features.

The original Richmond Railway Bridge was constructed between 1846 and 1848 as part of a six-mile line connecting Richmond to Clapham Junction and thence to Waterloo. Initially called the Richmond Windsor and Staines Railway Bridge, it opened as part of the Windsor, Staines and South Western Railway, which was quickly absorbed by the London and South Western Railway. It was designed by the engineer Joseph Locke (1805-60) with J E Errington (1806-62) and erected by the renowned contractor Thomas Brassey (1805-70). Locke and Errington's bridge was notable as one of the first railway bridges to cross the Thames. During the initial railway expansion of the 1840s, parliamentary prohibition on surface railways in central London limited impact on the river. This ban was lifted in 1846, but by then the distinctive ring of railway termini surrounding central London had been established, leaving little financial incentive for companies to link the north and south banks. The first railway crossings therefore appeared in outlying areas, with Barnes completed by 1848 and Richmond following shortly after.

Concern over bridge safety arose following the collapse of a similar cast-iron beam bridge near Norbury Junction in 1891, prompting eventual replacement of the original structure. The present bridge was designed by John Wykeham Jacomb-Hood (1859-1914), chief engineer of the London and South Western Railway. It was fabricated and erected by the Horseley Bridge Company in 1906 and completed in 1908. Jacomb-Hood reused the piers and abutments of the old bridge but employed steel rather than iron for the new superstructure. Despite successive renewals, the bridge retains the overall appearance of the 1848 structure and significant historic fabric survives, including the handsome approach viaduct on the Surrey side. The first six arches of the viaduct, with their red brick voussoirs and panelling, were decorated at the insistence of the Crown Commissioners, who held responsibility for Richmond Old Deer Park which the viaduct crosses.