Friar Gate Bridge

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Coordinates: 52°55′26″N 1°29′08″W / 52.923989°N 1.485604°W / 52.923989; -1.485604
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Friar Gate Bridge
Grade II listed
History
DesignerRichard Johnson
Constructed byAndrew Handyside and Company
Opened1878
Location
Map

Friar Gate Bridge, was made by

GNR Derbyshire and Staffordshire Extension (known locally as the Friargate Line); it formed the approach to Derby Friargate railway station. It is a grade II listed building.[1]

History and design

The bridge was built in 1878 by

Derbyshire and Staffordshire Extension across the foot of Friar Gate and into Derby Friargate railway station from the direction of Nottingham Victoria railway station via Bennerley Viaduct. Friar Gate is a street of Georgian houses on the edge of Derby city centre and the bridge was built to be sympathetic to the local architecture, though it did not appease local residents who complained of its "meretricious decoration, which only emphasised the insult". The bridge is, in fact, two separate bridges set slightly apart in a vee shape; the tracks on each span served opposite sides of the island platform at Friargate station. Each bridge consists of four panels of ribbed arches bolted together.[1]

The railway line closed in 1964 as a result of the Beeching cuts. Most of the infrastructure was demolished and the bridge and the nearby goods warehouse (built in the same year) are among the only traces of Friargate station. The Friargate Bridge forms a gap in viaduct on which the station was sited, the arches of which remain in use by various businesses. The bridge is not accessible; the surrounding area is largely derelict and wildlife has taken over.[3][4] The bridge itself fell into disrepair after its closure and British Rail eventually sold it to Derby City Council for the nominal sum of £1, on condition that the council assumed responsibility for the bridges' maintenance.[5]

The bridge has been a grade II

Heritage Lottery Fund for £1 million for a larger restoration project including tree clearance and drainage improvements.[5][8]

The bridge is the subject of the duo Flanagan and Allen's best known song Underneath the Arches, referring to the homeless men who slept there during the Great Depression.[9] According to a television programme broadcast in 1957, Bud Flanagan said that he wrote the song in Derby in 1927, and first performed it a week later at the Pier Pavilion, Southport.[10]

See also

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 9780711034914
    .
  2. ISBN 9780727719706
    .
  3. ^ "On Top of Friar Gate Bridge". BBC Derbyshire. 20 October 2008. Retrieved 20 February 2016.
  4. ^ "In Pictures: Friar Gate Bridge". BBC Derbyshire. Retrieved 20 February 2016.
  5. ^ a b "Derby's historic Friar Gate Bridge to get £260,000 facelift". Derby Telegraph. 9 April 2015. Retrieved 20 February 2016.
  6. ^ Historic England. "Friar Gate Railway Bridge (1216461)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  7. ^ Historic England. "K6 Telephone Kiosk Adjacent to Handyside Bridge (1230232)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  8. ^ "Derby's Friar Gate bridge needs £1m facelift". BBC News. 1 December 2014. Retrieved 20 February 2016.
  9. ^ "On Top of Friar Gate Bridge", BBC website, Oct 2008, retrieved 26 Nov 2011
  10. ^ Together Again, TV Programme broadcast 19 April 1957

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Friargate Bridge, Derby.
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