The Bridges of Bishop Auckland.

Jock’s Bridge

This bridge crosses Bishop Auckland’s other river, the Gaunless, immediately outside Auckland Castle Park. The date 1819 carved into the keystone of its eastern elevation (only visible from within the Park) has previously been taken as the year the entire structure was built. However, investigation by Historic England suggests otherwise.

Close inspection of the bridge’s masonry shows that although the lower levels of the two elevations are identical, the upper levels differ. While the western elevation has a humpbacked string course (a projecting decorative band, often found on bridges marking the level of the road deck) mirroring the slight rise in the road surface as it passes over the crown of the arch, the string course on the eastern elevation is horizontal. Furthermore, the eastern parapet is taller than its western counterpart and the masonry in it smaller. These differences are enough to suggest that the upper levels of the eastern elevation (from string course upwards) have been rebuilt, probably as part of the construction/re-building of the stone boundary wall that encloses Auckland Castle Park. The date 1819 carved into the eastern keystone is probably the date of this rebuilding rather than the original construction. A 1762 map shows a bridge across the Gaunless at the same location, so it's likely that the present bridge already existed in 1762 when the map was made. Indeed, the architectural style of the unaltered western elevation is more typical of the 18th than the 19th century.  Read the recently revised description for why Jock's Bridge is Grade II listed  and  add your own images and information. 

Gaunless Bridge

While not the earliest bridge to stand on this site (map evidence suggests a bridge here in 1576), parts of the present structure are nevertheless almost 260 years old. It is essentially two bridges of different date, built side by side: the first constructed in 1762 by the Bowes, Barnard Castle & Bishop Auckland Turnpike Trust, the second added against the downstream face of the first in 1822 by the County Authority who had taken over responsibility for maintenance. As such, this second bridge was probably designed by the well-known architect Ignatius Bonomi who was Durham County Surveyor of Bridges from 1813 to 1850. We can clearly see the bridge is two-phased by comparing the upstream and downstream elevations which are subtly different, and by looking at the soffit (underside) of the arch barrel which shows the construction join.

The bridge is also notable for the twisted cast-iron shaft of a 19th-century gas streetlight attached to its northern parapet, and for a triangular granite pillar standing above the southern crown of the arch. The stone is related to the passing of the Highways & Locomotives (Amendment) Act of 1878, which led to the Bishop Auckland Local Board of Health taking on certain responsibilities for highway maintenance (as allowed by the 1858 Health Act). Local Boards were abolished by the 1894 Local Government Act.

Despite the 1822 widening, the structure was judged too narrow and difficult to access for modern traffic, and was effectively by-passed just over a century later when Durham Road was diverted to cross the River Gaunless at a more convenient location a short distance downstream.  Read why the Gaunless Bridge is Grade II listed  and  add your own images and information. 

'Durham Road’ Bridge

This bridge was built in the mid- to late 1920s as part of a short bypass designed to improve road access into Bishop Auckland from Durham and points east. Rather than the old twisting and narrow route that passed over Gaunless Bridge and up Durham Chare, the new route linked Durham Road directly with the Market Place. It is likely that construction of the bypass was carried out as a job-creation scheme for unemployed soldiers in the aftermath of the First World War.

The new bridge is very easily overlooked, lying as it does at the base of a massive earthen embankment thrown across the valley of the River Gaunless. Today the embankment is heavily overgrown and the bridge is masked by trailing vegetation, but glimpses can be gleaned from the old route of Castle Chare (severed by the bypass). The bridge is simply two concrete box culverts laid side by side, but it does exhibit fine Art Deco stylistic flourishes. Either end of the central spine wall is moulded to form a bull-nose cutwater terminating in a domed cap, and on the elevations both the abutments and spine wall rise through the soffit and parapet walling as short, square-section piers topped by pyramidal caps, all cast in concrete. The marks of the timber shuttering and stages of the concrete pour are plainly visible on all exposed surfaces.

B6282 Bridge at South Church

The unnamed bridge that carries the B6282 over the River Gaunless at South Church – driven over by many on a daily basis but probably noticed by very few – is another fine, much overlooked, example of the bridge builder’s art. As with Gaunless Bridge to the north, this structure is really two bridges of different date, built side by side. The earlier part, dating from 1835, is just under 6m wide. It was almost doubled in width sometime between the First and Second World Wars by the construction of a second bridge flush with the downstream face of the old. Again as with Gaunless Bridge, the earlier part of the structure must be the work of Ignatius Bonomi, who in 1835 was still Durham County Surveyor of Bridges.

However, documentary evidence suggests that Bonomi’s bridge was not the first on this site, and that there has been a bridge here since the first half of the 16th century if not before. Indeed, there are hints in the stonework that Bonomi’s bridge may re-use the foundations and lower courses of an 18th-century predecessor.

‘Deanery’ Bridge

South Church possesses a second road bridge of some antiquity: that which takes Mill Lane across the River Gaunless to the south of the Church of St Andrew. The lane takes its name from a watermill that used to lie close to the southern end of the bridge, but it probably originated as a route for prebends (a class of priest) travelling between St Andrew’s and their Prebendial College - now the suite of buildings called East Deanery – that lay west of the old mill. Hence the unofficial name ‘Deanery Bridge.’ The College was founded in 1293.

The extant bridge is very basic in style and accordingly difficult to date. It appears to be undocumented before the mid-19th century, but its narrow width (only about 1.5m) and simple form would support a much earlier date. The original stone bridge is now heavily obscured beneath a modern cast concrete slab - partly supported by old rails set into the spandrels - that oversails the original elevations, and by very Heath-Robinson railings made of T-section angle irons, tyre-traction mats and wire mesh. The bridge is further disfigured by a number of service pipes and cables that use the rails as support to cross the river.  Read why the 'Deanery' Bridge is Grade II listed  and  add your own images and information. 

Bishop Trevor’s drive bridge

When the bishops of Durham travelled between their cathedral in Durham and residence (Auckland Castle) in Bishop Auckland, it is likely they would have chosen to make the final leg of the journey through their deer park (Auckland Castle Park) that lies adjacent to the Castle. In 1757, Bishop Trevor built a fine stone arch bridge to take this parkland carriage drive across the River Gaunless.

Even though map evidence shows that in the years immediately prior to 1757, the drive had crossed the river at a ford a short distance downstream, Trevor’s bridge is unlikely to be the earliest such structure on the site. This is suggested by references to at least three bridges within the park in medieval times, although there is no evidence for where precisely they stood (the documents also suggest the bridges were of timber). It is even possible that there was a bridge here in Roman times, for during the construction of Trevor’s bridge a Roman cremation urn was found and more were discovered nearby during sewer-pipe works in 1938. Roman law forbade human interments within settlements, and accordingly burials were often located alongside roads. If a bridge did exist somewhere in the locality in Roman times, it is most likely to have carried Dere Street on its way between the forts at Piercebridge on the River Tees and Binchester on the River Wear just to the north.  Read the recently revised description for why Bishop Trevor's drive bridge is Grade lI listed  and  add your own images and information. 

Green Bridge

By the 18th century, Auckland Castle Park was increasingly used by the Bishops for pleasure rather than hunting. They also opened the park up to the public. As part of improvements to the Park around 1810, a stone tower or folly called The Temple was erected on the wooded heights on the east bank of the River Gaunless, and a walk linking it to Auckland Castle laid out. Green Bridge took this walk over the river.

We do not know what the original footbridge looked like, but by the end of the century photographs reproduced as postcards show a kingpost truss bridge stood here. A kingpost truss is a simple form of truss where the deck girders rest on the abutments but are made more rigid by vertical posts at their midpoint, from the tops of which diagonal bars run back to the girder ends. However, postcards from around the time of the Fist World War show that the truss later had to be strengthened by the addition of a metal trestle mid-stream. The bridge was demolished in 1961 at the same time as The Temple. All that now survives is the concrete foundation for this trestle in the riverbed, the sawn-off holding-down bolts that secured the trestle to it, and the concrete steps that latterly led on to the bridge.

Bishop Van Mildert’s drive bridge

A map of the park dated 1772 shows a network of paths or carriage drives criss-crossing the valley of the Coundon Burn, including four crossings of the Burn. The easternmost of the four bridges indicated is this very simple bridge – so simple it is probably more accurate to refer to it as a culvert! However, the keystone in the eastern elevation is inscribed ‘WD | 1827’, indicating that the extant bridge is a rebuild of the mapped 18th-century bridge by Bishop William Van Mildert (WD standing for William Dunelmensis, or William, Bishop of Durham).    Read the recently revised description for why Bishop Van Mildert's drive bridge is Grade lI listed  and  add your own images and information. 

Newton Cap Viaduct

This fine Victorian railway viaduct opened in 1857 as part of the North Eastern Railway Company’s Durham to Bishop Auckland Branch; it is one of three very similar viaducts the company constructed on the line. It is 828 feet (252.37m) long, and comprises 11 semi-circular arches, all of 60-foot (18.29m) span and standing up to 100 feet (30.5m) above the river. The foundations of the bridge piers extend 20 feet (6.1m) below the water. The combination of dressed limestone for the main structural elements and red brick for the soffits (undersides) of the arches makes for a striking (and pleasing) visual contrast.

The railway branch line closed to rail traffic in 1968. Although initially converted to a walking route, the viaduct was later threatened with demolition when the Toronto road bypass scheme was mooted. Fortunately, after a local campaign, a plan was devised to make the viaduct wide enough for vehicular use by adding a new concrete road deck that oversails both elevations. This pioneering decision means that Bishop Auckland can proudly claim to have the first example in the country of a former railway bridge specifically adapted and widened for road use. Of course, it also means that the town has retained a much-loved local heritage asset and landmark.  Read why the Newton Cap Viaduct is Grade II listed  and  add your own images and information. 

Disused railway bridge in Auckland Castle Park

There are three disused railway bridges in Auckland Castle Park – and further examples lie south and north of the Park. They are all part of the former Bishop Auckland & Spennymoor (or Ferryhill) Branch Line which opened in 1885 and finally closed to all traffic in the 1960s. The bridges exhibit similar architectural styles and detailing, which is perhaps not surprising given that they were all built by the same railway company, the North Eastern Railway (NER), at around the same time. Perhaps the most striking of the three bridges within the Park, though, is that which lies just inside the present northern boundary. This took the railway across one of the Bishop of Durham’s parkland rides. The bishop in 1885 was Bishop Lightfoot, who happened to have a distaste for railways, and resisted having the line cross his land. It may be to appease the bishop, therefore, that the NER went to considerable effort to design and build a structure of considerable grandeur and presence in the landscape.  Read the recently revised description for why the disused railway bridge in Auckland Park is Grade lI listed  and  add your own images and information. 

‘Bishop’s Bridge’ (disused railway bridge)

This bridge is another that lies on the disused Bishop Auckland & Spennymoor Branch line, opened by the NER in 1885. Although it lies just outside the present northern boundary of Auckland Castle Park, it nevertheless shares the same level of design and degree of attention to architectural detail as those actually within the Park. This is probably because it was built to carry the northern part of the main carriage drive connecting Auckland Castle to the Park’s original north-east entrance at Park Head, across the railway, even though this section of drive then lay outside the Park. As we have seen previously, Bishop Lightfoot disliked the railway crossing his land and didn’t want to be reminded of its presence. This bridge, therefore, was built over twice the width it needed to be in order to include planting that screened the bishop’s view of the railway beneath when using the drive. Although never its official name, the bridge has since come to be popularly referred to as ‘Bishop’s Bridge’.  Read why the 'Bishop's Bridge' is Grade II listed  and  add your own images and information. 

Coundon Grange railway bridge

In the 1830s what is often fêted as the world’s first modern railway, the Stockton & Darlington Railway (S&DR), began to expand its market by extending its mainline westwards from Shildon, up the Wear valley. The new line was called the Bishop Auckland and Weardale (BA&W). Outside what was to become the settlement of Coundon Grange, the new line crossed what was then Eldon Lane on a bridge. The railway crossed at an oblique angle rather than at 90 degrees, meaning the bridge is what engineers call ‘skew’. Skew arch bridges transfer forces to their abutments differently to conventional ‘head on’ bridges. One of the solutions developed was the use of what is known as helicoidal coursing in the arch barrel, ie each stone course lies not at 90 degrees to the abutments, but at 90 degrees to the bridge elevations. At Coundon Grange, to help prevent the arch ‘slipping off’ its abutments, the engineers went one step further and cut the first stone in each arch-barrel course as a complex 3-dimensional shape integral with the topmost course of the abutment walling beneath.

The line here was quadrupled (i.e. increased from two to four tracks) later in the century, and the bridge widened by extending the abutments (note the straight joins in the stonework) and spanning them with girders. The present girders are concrete but would originally have been iron or steel. These later parts of the bridge are now disused.

Bone Mill Bank railway bridge

This is another skew road bridge built by the BA&W Railway, although probably a few years after Coundon Grange as the line progressed north-westwards along the Wear valley (the railway did not reach Bishop Auckland until 1843). In addition, Bone Mill Bank had to be sunk in to a cutting to allow the railway to pass over.

The stonework of the bridge is much more decorative than Coundon Grange – note particularly the textured or rock-dressed finish, the chevrons chiselled in to the stones, and the whimsical cartouche in the centre of each abutment – but the engineering is similar: helicoidal coursing in the arch barrel. However, the engineers went one step further, and as well as tying the stonework of the arch barrel to the abutments as at Coundon Grange, they also keyed the arch rings (the voussoirs visible in each elevation) to the spandrels (that part of the elevation that lies between the arch ring and parapet) by giving the voussoirs stepped ends. This may be due to lessons learned at Coundon Grange, where the arch rings were not tied to the spandrels and there was later movement (bulging) in the spandrel stonework - mitigated by the insertion of metal tie rods and anchor plates.

River Gaunless railway bridge

The bridge the BA&W built to take its railway across the River Gaunless on the approach to Bishop Auckland carries an earthen embankment as well as the railway. In that sense, the bridge could be seen as more of a ‘large culvert’. However, the company did not stint on the decoration and embellishment, and the stonework in the portals is heavily rusticated with each course of stone in addition picked out by V-grooving. This is Baroque architecture at its grandest, even though today at least very few people probably notice or appreciate it.

The eagle-eyed amongst you will also have noticed that the northern portal is slightly different from the southern in having a low stone parapet above the arch ring. This was probably added later in the 19th century when a third line was laid across the river as part of changes to the track layout approaching Bishop Auckland Station. It was presumably added to retain the extra embankment material necessitated by the third line.