St James'S Railway Bridge

SPRING GARDENS ROAD 656-1/41/1520 St James's Railway Bridge 05/08/75 II

Railway bridge over River Avon. c1840; extensive repairs undertaken c1927. Isambard Kingdom Brunel, engineer, for the Great Western Railway. MATERIALS: Bath stone ashlar; extensive repairs in red and blue brick, mainly Flemish bond. EXTERIOR: Wide elliptical skew arch, crossing river at about 45 degrees, flanked by small stilted round arches. Plain parapet, inflected above corbels, above bold double roll moulding. On downstream (south) side, faced in ashlar, central arch has stepped paired channelled voussoirs, some of these repaired in brick, channelling carried right round, with projecting keystone, side arches have alternating voussoirs, central projecting keystone, and quoins taken down to pavement level. Bold cornice broken over central keystone, and also to four corbels with cartouche decoration flanking side arches. Cutwaters have been added on this side. Upstream (north) side similar, but principally faced in brick, one of corbels also in brick, with stone abutment to east end, at west end some outwork at parapet level associated with platform to Bath Spa Station (qv). Cutwaters are in brick with stone cappings. Main arch soffit has broad splay at each outer edge. HISTORY: A notable component along the GWR main line World Heritage site, this skewed bridge, with a 27m span, embodies Brunel's ability to find elegant architectural solutions to engineering challenges. SOURCES: Civil Engineering Heritage: Sievewright WJ: Wales and Western England: London: 1986-: 12 AVON.

Listing NGR: ST7539464423