Railway Bridge

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

This skew-arched brick-and-stone bridge carries a minor road over the former Derry Central Railway, here running in a deep cutting along the side of a hill. Except for its brick soffit, the bridge is of random rubble basalt throughout.
The abutments have rusticated and margined quoins which are topped with a string course; however, the latter does not run through the arch at spring level. Just beyond the abutments are shallow tapered abutments with similarly detailed quoins. The arch is of semi-elliptical profile with five soldier courses of brick forming its arch ring. As already noted, the bricks are laid skewly to form the soffit. The span of the arch is such that it could have accommodated two lines of track, but only a single one was ever laid. A stone-faced earthen bank runs along the inside face of the SW abutment within the arch where the second track would have run.
The parapets are coped with large stones and terminate in slightly out-projecting piers, around the bases of which are basalt string courses similar to the quoins. The stonework at the N end of the SE parapet and S end of the NW parapet has been dislodged by vehicle impacts.
The road is in everyday use and makes a dog-leg bend at each end of the bridge. The disused railway line is now a field accommodation track.

Setting
The bridge is in wooded countryside, with the public road at NE and SW, and private tracks at NW and SE.

Schedule:
Random rubble basalt
Brick soffits

Historical information

This bridge lies on the Kilrea – Garvagh section of the Derry Central Railway which ran between Magherafelt and Macfin Junction. The contractor was Mr C.M. Holland of Liverpool, and the architect/engineer was James Barton. Work started on the line in September 1877 and the bridge was probably constructed in the period 1878-79.
The new railway opened in February 1880 and was worked by the Belfast & Northern Counties Railway as it connected its Belfast-Londonderry line near Coleraine with its Antrim-Cookstown Branch at Magherafelt.
This bridge is depicted on the 1905 OS 25-inch map; it is also on the 1853 six-inch map, but the line was obviously engraved on the original plate in the 1880s.
The BNCR acquired outright possession of the line from the DCR in 1901 but was in turn taken over by the Midland Railway (Northern Counties Committee) in 1903. This company was reconstituted as the London, Midland & Scottish Railway (Northern Counties Committee) in 1923. At nationalisation in 1949, the line was taken over by the Ulster Transport Authority, who closed it the following year.

References - Primary sources:
1. PRONI OS/6/5/18/2, Second edition OS six-inch map, Co Londonderry sheet 18 (1853).
2. PRONI OS/10/5/18/16/1. First edition OS 25-inch map, Co Londonderry sheet 18-16 (1905).

References – Secondary sources:
1. J.R.L. Currie, The Northern Counties Railway, vol.1, pp 166-189 (Newton Abbot: David & Charles, 1973).
2. S. Johnson, Johnson’s Atlas & Gazetteer of the Railways of Ireland, p.107 (Leicester: Midland Publishing, 1997).

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
F. Structural System
J. Setting

Criteria for listing: historic interest

V. Authorship
X. Local Interest
R. Age
S. Authenticity

Evaluation

A single-arched brick-and-stone road bridge of late 1870s date over the former Derry Central Railway. A good example of a well executed railway bridge, with only a modicum of embellishment. It is also of interest in having been built to take two lines (though only one was ever used), and for its skew brick arch soffit construction. It is also of local historical interest as a tangible reminder of the former railway.

General comments

Listing Criteria R - Age and S - Authenticity also apply.