The Causey Arch is a bridge near

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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 Industrial heritage refers to the physical remains of the history of technology and industry, such as manufacturing and mining sites, as well as power and transportation infrastructure. Another definition expands this scope so that the term a ...

of England. It carried an early

wagonway Wagonways (also spelt Waggonways), also known as horse-drawn railways and horse-drawn railroad consisted of the horses, equipment and tracks used for hauling wagons, which preceded steam-powered railways. The terms plateway, tramway, dramway ...

(horse-drawn carts on wooden rails) to transport coal. The line was later diverted, and no longer uses the bridge.

History

It was built in 1725–26 by stonemason Ralph Wood, funded by a conglomeration of coal-owners known as the " Grand Allies" (founded by Colonel Liddell, the Hon. Charles Montague and George Bowes the owner of Gibside Estate on which the bridge is situated) at a cost of £12,000. Two tracks crossed the Arch: one (the "main way") to take coal to the River Tyne, and the other (the "bye way") for returning the empty

wagon A wagon or waggon is a heavy four-wheeled vehicle pulled by draught animals or on occasion by humans, used for transporting goods, commodities, agricultural materials, supplies and sometimes people. Wagons are immediately distinguished from ...

s. Over 900

horse-drawn A horse-drawn vehicle is a mechanized piece of equipment pulled by one horse or by a team of horses. These vehicles typically had two or four wheels and were used to carry passengers and/or a load. They were once common worldwide, but they have m ...

wagons crossed the arch each day using the

Tanfield Railway The Tanfield Railway is a heritage railway in Gateshead and County Durham, England. Running on part of a former horse-drawn colliery wooden waggonway, later rope & horse, lastly rope & loco railway. It operates preserved industrial stea ...

. When the bridge was completed in 1726, it was the longest single-span bridge in the country with an arch span of , a record it held for thirty years until 1756 when the Old Bridge was built in

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, Wales. After he designed the bridge, Ralph Wood was so afraid that his arch would collapse that he committed suicide in 1727, 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 Tanfield Colliery was destroyed by fire in 1739.

Present status

The Arch has been Grade I listed since 1950. It was restored and reinforced in the 1980s. There are a series of scenic public paths around the area and the Causey

Burn A burn is an injury to skin, or other tissues, caused by heat, cold, electricity, chemicals, friction, or ultraviolet radiation (like sunburn). Most burns are due to heat from hot liquids (called scalding), solids, or fire. Burns occur ma ...

which runs underneath it. The quarry near the bridge is a popular spot for local

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. Causey Burn itself flows into Beamish Burn which then flows into the River Team eventually discharging into the River Tyne.

References

* 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

{{Commons category, Causey Arch
Waggonway Research CircleCausey Arch Picnic Area
a leaflet produced by Durham County Council
Causey Arch
at structurae

at Sunniside Local History Group Railway bridges in County Durham Tourist attractions in County Durham Grade I listed buildings in County Durham Grade I listed railway bridges and viaducts Bridges completed in 1726 Industrial archaeological sites in England Arch bridges in the United Kingdom 1726 establishments in Great Britain Stanley, County Durham

History

Present status

See also

References

External links