Building record MDR16468 - King Street Bridge, King Street, Belper

A Grade II listed, single-span skew overbridge built in 1836-40 for the North Midland Railway, and widened in the 1970s. This list entry refers to the bridge only and not to the extended concrete deck which carries a parade of shops or the car park to the rear built in c.1973. The bridge forms part of a series of railway structures built for the North Midland Railway between 1837 and 1840. The line was designed by George and Robert Stephenson, two of the most important and influential engineers of the railway era, aided by Frederick Swanwick, the company's resident engineer. The line is considered to be amongst the best-preserved examples of the pioneering phase of railway development in England, and retains many of its original engineering structures, of which this is an example. The bridge is an example of the consistently high quality design and careful detailing of railway structures completed for the North Midland Railway between 1837 and 1840 and its aesthetic quality far exceeds the functional and structural requirements of bridge design. Developments in skew arches were designed specifically to meet the requirements of the railway, enabling them to be built in large numbers for the first time. Skew bridges represent a truly innovative engineering solution of the pioneering phase of railway development, and are therefore the first of their kind anywhere in the world. King Street Bridge forms part of an integrated design for the Belper cutting, in which the overbridges and the cutting walls share a common architectural vocabulary, and are seen in combination as elements of a railway transport landscape of great interest and quality. The other ten bridges and the cutting wall are also listed at Grade II. The bridge has unfortunately not survived with the same level of intactness as the other Belper bridges as it was extended on its north side with a flat concrete deck in the 1970s. Whilst this has resulted in some loss of original fabric, the modifications do not unduly detract from its special interest as an integral element in the group. Around 1973 the bridge was extended with a concrete raft on the north side to accommodate a parade of shops. See list description for more details. (1)