West Tees Railway Bridge

West Tees Railway Bridge
County Durham
Location
Type:	Stone arch
Crossing:	River Tees
Location
Grid reference:	NZ15791731
Location:	54°33’3"N, 1°45’27"W
Structure
Type:	Stone arch
History
	Built 1856
Information

The West Tees Railway Bridge is one of a pair with the Gainford Railway Bridge, a mile downstream, It is a disused railway bridge which once carried a railway line over the River Tees between the North Riding of Yorkshire on the south bank and County Durham on the north.

The Teesdale Way runs along the north bank of the Tees here past the end of the bridge but does not cross it. The bridge has been bought by the local council.

The bridge is now disused, the line having closed on 30 November 1964. The line from Barnard Castle going west across Stainmore to Kirkby Stephen had been closed earlier, in 1962. The railway line was originally built as an independent line, though worked by the Stockton and Darlington Railway, opened in July 1856, and extended westwards by the South Durham and Lancashire Union Railway to Kirkby Stephen to link the Durham coalfields with the ironworks and iron-ore deposits to the west of the Pennines. The Tees Valley Railway branch from Barnard Castle to Middleton opened in May 1868 and was worked by the North Eastern Railway. The original plan had been to drive the line along the north bank of the river through the park of Selaby Hall, rousing opposition from the owner, Lord Cleveland: this forced the railway to build the Gainford Railway Bridge and the West Tees Railway Bridge, carrying it over the river and back again

References

• West Tees Railway Bridge: Bridges on the Tyne

Bridges and crossings on the River Tees
Abbey Bridge	Whorlton Bridge	Winston Bridge	West Tees Railway Bridge	Gainford Railway Bridge	Barforth Hall Bridge	Piercebridge Pipe Bridge