Causey Arch
 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (December 2015) |
Causey Arch | |
|---|---|
 North side of the bridge | |
| Coordinates | 54°53′51″N 1°41′16″W / 54.8974°N 1.6878°W |
| OS grid reference | NZ 20126 55896 |
| Carries | Waggonway (disused); footpath |
| Crosses | Causey Burn |
| Locale | Stanley, County Durham |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | Arch |
| Material | Stone |
| Total length | 105 ft (32 m) |
| Height | 80 ft (24 m) |
| No. of spans | 1 |
| History | |
| Designer | Ralph Wood |
| Opened | 1727 |
| Statistics | |
Listed Building – Grade I | |
| Official name | CAUSEY ARCH |
| Designated | 19 July 1950 |
| Reference no. | 1240816[1] |
| Location | |
 | |
The Causey Arch is a bridge near Stanley in County Durham, northern England. It is the oldest surviving single-arch railway bridge in the world, and a key element of the industrial heritage of England. It carried an early wagonway (horse-drawn carts on wooden rails) to transport coal. The line was later diverted, and no longer uses the bridge.[2]
History
It was built in 1725–26 by stonemason Ralph Wood, funded by a conglomeration of coal-owners known as the "
When the bridge was completed in 1726, it was the longest single-span bridge in the country with an arch span of 31 metres (102 ft), a record it held for thirty years until 1756 when the Old Bridge was built in Pontypridd, Wales. After he designed the bridge, Ralph Wood was so afraid that his arch would collapse that he committed suicide in 1727,[3] but the bridge still stands today. An inscription on a sundial at the site reads "Ra. Wood, mason, 1727".
Use of the arch declined when
Present status
The Arch has been
See also
References
- ^ Historic England & 1240816.
- ^ "Sunniside Local History Society". www.sunnisidelocalhistorysociety.co.uk. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
- ^ "Causey Arch Stanley, England". Atlas Obscura. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
- ^ Historic England (19 July 1950). "Causey Arch (Grade I) (1240816)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
- Skempton, A.W. (2002) Biographical Dictionary of Civil Engineers in Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Volume 1, 1500–1830, p 791–792. Published by Thomas Telford Ltd.
External links
- Waggonway Research Circle
- Causey Arch Picnic Area, a leaflet produced by Durham County Council
- Durham Mining Museum Archives
- Causey Arch at structurae
- Tanfield Waggonway at Sunniside Local History Group