Railway Viaduct

CHIPPENHAM

ST9173NE NEW ROAD 930-1/6/167 (East side) 22/06/78 Railway Viaduct

II*

Railway viaduct. Opened 1841. Mainly by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, widened later. Limestone ashlar to the north side, English-bond brick to the south with a stepped ashlar cornice and parapet to both facades including the piers. Vermiculated rustication to the plinth. 3 semicircular-arched openings to the original structure; the north facade has a tall central road arch with a keystone reaching to the parapet, flanked by lower narrower arches to the footpath. To the east a thick coped retaining wall to the embankment ramps up from a square pier at street level to meet a curved pier at the cornice. A similar pier to the west end is connected to another later brick arcade of 5 full-height arches with a lower one to the west making 9 arches in all. The brick south side is similar but plain. The pier to the east end curves forward to meet a simlar embankment retaining wall. The arches to the west enclose huge vaulted spaces, 2 with rows of harnessing rings to each side, one with an axial division of rubblestone. HISTORY: a lithograph of 1842 shows the north facade as having a classical cornice, the present one may be later. One of the notable monuments on Brunel's main line of the Great Western Railway. (Chamberlain, Joseph A: Chippenham: Chippenham: 1976-: 3).

Listing NGR: ST9181573588