The Blisworth Arch is a railway bridge in

Blisworth Blisworth is a village and civil parish in West Northamptonshire, England. The West Coast Main Line, from London Euston to Manchester and Scotland, runs alongside the village partly hidden and partly on an embankment. The Grand Union Canal pass ...

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...

, in eastern England. It was designed 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 ...

and completed in 1837. It is 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 ...

and a significant local landmark.

History

The name "Blisworth Arch" is a local name given to the bridge, which crosses the main

Northampton Northampton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is the county town of Northamptonshire and the administrative centre of the Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority of West Northamptonshire. The town is sit ...

Towcester Towcester ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire unitary authority area of Northamptonshire, England. From 1974 to 2021, it was the administrative centre of the South Northamptonshire district. Towcester is on ...

road just north of the village of

. The arch was built by 1837 for the

(LBR), whose chief engineer was

. The LBR was one of the first long-distance railways and its route became the southern section of 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 ...

. As such, the Blisworth Arch remains in use. It featured in several contemporary illustrations of the construction of the LBR, including one by

Thomas Roscoe Thomas Roscoe (Liverpool 23 June 1791 – 24 September 1871 London) was an English author and translator. Life The fifth son of William Roscoe, he was born in Toxteth, Toxteth Park, Liverpool in 1791, and educated by Dr. W. Shepherd and by ...

Description

The bridge is built from red brick and faced with grey lias stone. The round-headed arch is tall to the crown. It has a keystone in the centre and is flanked by

pilaster In architecture, a pilaster is both a load-bearing section of thickened wall or column integrated into a wall, and a purely decorative element in classical architecture which gives the appearance of a supporting column and articulates an ext ...

s and imposts where these meet the arch. On either side are wide tapering buttresses. A moulded

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative Moulding (decorative), moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, ar ...

runs the length of the bridge above the arch and below a parapet, which is finished with stone coping. The bridge has vertical

wing wall A wing wall (also "wingwall" or "wing-wall") is a smaller wall attached or next to a larger wall or structure. Bridges In a bridge, the wing walls are adjacent to the abutments and act as retaining walls. They are generally constructed of the same ...

s running parallel, and similar perpendicular retaining walls supporting the embankment. The bridge has undergone little alteration since it was built as neither the road nor the railway have been widened—the A43 was rerouted to bypass Blisworth and the bridge is just west of the point where the

Northampton loop The Northampton loop is a railway line serving the town of Northampton. It is a branch of the West Coast Main Line, deviating from the faster direct main line which runs to the west. The WCML is a four track line up to either end of the Loop: th ...

deviates from the main line. Up to this junction, the line was quadruple-tracked in the 1880s but the Northampton loop added capacity, negating the need to modify structures between

Roade Roade is a village in Northamptonshire, England. Currently in West Northamptonshire, before local government changes in 2021 it was represented by South Northamptonshire District Council, falling within the two-member Blisworth and Roade ward ...

and

Rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby union: 15 players per side *** American flag rugby *** Beach rugby *** Mini rugby *** Rugby sevens, 7 players per side *** Rugby tens, 10 players per side *** Snow rugby *** Tou ...

, including the Blisworth Arch. The

National Transport Trust The National Transport Trust is a British registered charity founded in 1965 as the Transport Trust, the name was changed to reflect the national remit and coverage of its activities. The Trust acts as a hub for the transport preservation movemen ...

describes it as "an elegant and lofty arch". E. A. Labrum, in the Eastern and Central England volume of ''Civil Engineering Heritage'', calls it "a fine example of the attention to detail in bridge design which was typical of the early railway engineers".

References

{{Reflist Grade II listed bridges Grade II listed buildings in Northamptonshire 1837 establishments in England Bridges completed in 1837 Railway bridges in Northamptonshire