Rewley Road Swing Bridge
in Oxford
This is a derelict railway swing bridge, an industrial survivor isolated within a new housing development near Oxford Railway Station. It lends historical context to an otherwise bland modernised part of central Oxford.
The bridge was originally built in 1851 to carry the Buckingham Railway's dual tracks to Rewley Road Station over the Sheepwash Channel (a navigable link between the Oxford Canal and the River Thames).
The bridge was designed in 1850 by Robert Stephenson. It is mounted on a cast iron turntable with sixteen cast iron rollers.[1] It was altered (presumably strengthened) in the late 19thC. and again in the 1940s. It was last used by trains in 1984. It is planned to be restored by the Oxford Preservation Trust.
Another source states that the bridge is a c.1900 steel replacement of an earlier structure.[2]
Some photographs of the turning mechanism here.
More photos of bridge, and of Rewley Road Station, together with a history of the line, here.[3]
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ [1] 'Oxford Rewley Road Railway Swing Bridge: Communicating the value of a redundant industrial relic' by Jacquie Martinez, Oxford Preservation Trust
- ↑ 'Britain's Historic Railway Buildings' by Gordon Biddle, Oxford University Press, 2003
- ↑ [2] Disused Stations website: Station Name: OXFORD REWLEY ROAD