Cof Cymru: National Historic Assets of Wales · Wales
Railway Bridge beneath Pontypridd Railway Station
Pontypridd, Rhondda Cynon Taff, Wales
A Grade II listed building in Graig, Pontypridd, Rhondda Cynon Taff, designated on 17 July 1990.
The record
- Designation
- Listed building, Grade II
- Broad class
- Transport
- Date of designation
- 17 July 1990
- Locality
- Graig
- Town
- Pontypridd
- Community
- Pontypridd
- Unitary authority
- Rhondda Cynon Taff
- Country
- Wales
- Coordinates
- 51.59927, -3.34156
- Cadw reference
- 13526
Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.
David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesNational Library of ScotlandDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries
5 historical maps cover this location, the earliest the 1636 map "Cornubia : Devonia, Somersetus, Dorcestria, Wiltonia, Glocestria ..." (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries).
Historical maps covering this location
- 1636 · Cornubia : Devonia, Somersetus, Dorcestria, Wiltonia, Glocestria ... (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
- 1637 · The fourth table of England. Cornub. Devonia, Somerset etc. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
- 1865 · England and Wales. England No. 6. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
- 1895 · Sheet 11. Ordnance Survey of England and Wales. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
- 1963 · Map No. 14 - Local Government Commission for Wales : [Definitive maps showing proposed… (National Library of Scotland)
Cadw's description
Location
Directly below the railway station platforms and carrying the railway over High Street.
History
The Taff Vale Railway was the first major locomotive railway in Wales. It was incorporated in 1836, built 1837-40 and opened in 1840-1 from Merthyr Tydfil to Cardiff, primarily to serve the ironworks of Merthyr Tydfil. The chief engineer was Isambard Kingdom Brunel. As branch lines were built to the Cynon and Rhondda valleys later in the C19 mineral traffic, largely coal, increased dramatically, making Pontypridd an important focal point of the S Wales railway network. The bridge was rebuilt in 1899 by R Finch and Co Ltd, Engineers and Iron Founders of Chepstow.
Exterior
A steel girder bridge with distinctive parapets on both sides, which have fluted pilasters and blind elliptical arches with ornamental aprons. A foundry plate is in the centre. The bridge is flanked by 2 tall and broad rock-faced stone end piers with deep freestone cornices. Beneath the bridge the side walls are of white-glazed brick. A change in the cross members beneath the deck on the E side probably indicates the line of the earlier bridge.
Reason for designation
Listed as a good example of a plate girder bridge in a prominent location, and for group value with other listed railway items in the centre of Pontypridd.
Nearby in the register
- Pontypridd Railway Station Main Platform including buildings and canopyTransportunder 1 mi
- Pontypridd Register OfficeCivilunder 1 mi
- The Criterion Public HouseCommercialunder 1 mi
- Eglwys Gymraeg Sardis (Sardis Chapel)Religious, Ritual and Funeraryunder 1 mi
Other entries of the same register within about three miles of this one, by straight line.