Bushey Arches Viaduct is a railway bridge on the

West Coast Main Line The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important railway corridors in the United Kingdom, connecting the major cities of London and Glasgow with branches to Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Edinburgh. It is one of the busiest ...

immediately north of

Bushey railway station Bushey is an interchange station in Hertfordshire which serves Bushey and Oxhey. It is located on an embankment where the Watford DC line, operated as the Lioness line of the London Overground, diverges from the West Coast Main Line (WCML). Nati ...

, between

Bushey Bushey is a town in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire in the East of England. It had a population of 25,328 in the 2011 census, rising to 28,416 in the 2021 census, an increase of 12.19%. This makes Bushey the second most populated town ...

and

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

, in Hertfordshire, Eastern England, just north-west of London.

Design

The viaduct consists of five arches in yellow brick and stone and carries the railway across the London to Watford road. Each arch has roughly a span and a rise. The total length of the bridge is about . The

voussoir A voussoir ( UK: ; US: ) is a wedge-shaped element, typically a stone, which is used in building an arch or vault.“Voussoir, N., Pronunciation.” Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford UP, June 2024, https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/7553486115. Acces ...

s (insides of the arches) are in rusticated stone. The centre arch (the one crossing the road) is

skewed In probability theory and statistics, skewness is a measure of the asymmetry of the probability distribution of a real-valued random variable about its mean. The skewness value can be positive, zero, negative, or undefined. For a unimodal ...

. It has a prominent

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an upward extension of a wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/brea ...

, below which is a protruding stone band, and impost bands where the arches meet the piers, all of which are in stone. The viaduct is a local landmark and similar in design to the

Colne Viaduct The Colne Viaduct, also known as Five Arches Viaduct, carries the West Coast Main Line railway over the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne near Watford in Hertfordshire, Eastern England, just north-west of London. It was built in 1837 for the ...

, the next major structure on the line in the Birmingham direction.Biddle (2011), p. 119.

History

The viaduct was built by

Robert Stephenson Robert Stephenson , (honoris causa, Hon. causa) (16 October 1803 – 12 October 1859) was an English civil engineer and designer of locomotives. The only son of George Stephenson, the "Father of Railways", he built on the achievements of hi ...

for the

London and Birmingham Railway The London and Birmingham Railway (L&BR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom, in operation from 1833 to 1846, when it became part of the London and North Western Railway (L&NWR). The railway line which the company opened in 1838, betw ...

, the world's first long-distance railway, which opened fully in 1838. Construction took place from 1834 to 1837. The railway was quadrupled, beginning in 1858. That year, an iron span was built adjacent to the viaduct on its east side. This was expanded in 1875 and then replaced altogether in the 20th century with a steel bridge deck supported by brick and stone piers. Another viaduct, built in 1862 in blue brick, curves away from the Bushey Arches Viaduct at its southern end, carrying the

Watford DC line The Watford DC line is a suburban railway line from London Euston to Watford Junction in Greater London and Hertfordshire. The line is shared by services on London Underground's above-ground section of the Bakerloo line between Harrow & Weald ...

towards

Watford High Street railway station Watford High Street is a station on the Lioness line of the London Overground, located in the centre of Watford, Hertfordshire. It is the only station on the sole deviation of the Watford DC line away from the West Coast Main Line, situated bet ...

. The viaduct was illustrated by

John Cooke Bourne John Cooke Bourne (1 September 1814 – February 1896) was a British artist, engraver and photographer,John Hannavy (2013) ''Encyclopedia of Nineteenth-Century Photography.''. p. 196. best known for his lithographs showing the construction of th ...

in his series of

lithograph Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the miscibility, immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by ...

s on the London and Birmingham Railway, published in 1838. Beneath the main arch is a Second World War pillbox, once part of the Outer London Defence Ring, a series of obstacles and fortifications designed to hinder an invading army heading towards London. The viaduct was designated a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

, a status which provides legal protection from unauthorised demolition or modification, in 1983.

References

Bibliography

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Footnotes

{{reflist Bridges completed in 1837 London and Birmingham Railway Grade II listed bridges in Hertfordshire Railway viaducts in Hertfordshire Buildings and structures in Watford