Glan Rhyd Railway Viaduct

Cadw's description

Location

Spanning River Ogmore on a minor road E of A4063 and almost directly beneath viaduct of M4.

History

Built to carry the Bridgend Railway, a horse-drawn railway built between 1827 and 1830 between Bridgend and the Dyffryn Llynfi and Porthcawl Railway, which in turn linked the area with the harbour at Porthcawl. The engineer for the railway was John Hodgkinson, who began as principal assistant to Benjamin Outram and became a leading early railway engineer in his own right, responsible for several important lines in South Wales and the Midlands. Hodgkinson's design was built in 1829 by Morgan Thomas of Laleston. The railway opened in 1830 and was absorbed into the South Wales Railway in 1861 but abandoned by 1864. It is now a road bridge.

Exterior

Triple-arched viaduct of coursed rubble, which has segmental arches with tooled voussoirs and prominent keys. The piers have pointed cutwaters which are moulded and stepped. Above the arches is a tooled string course and a parapet with big stone copings (part replaced in concrete on E side). On the W side the parapet has an engraved tablet with the letters highlighted in black paint and reading: 'THIS BRIDGE WAS ERECTED IN THE YEAR 1829 BY MORGAN THOMAS, LALESTON, MASON'.

Reason for designation

Listed Grade II* as a rare and especially fine example of an early railway bridge and an important component of the early industrial history of the district.