Description and History of Site:-

Built to increase access to the Old Station. Opened in 1863, it is a cast iron arch with a single span of 53.34m.The Minster can be seen from York Station and the direct half mile or so of road between them is carried over the River Ouse by Lendal Bridge. This was designed by Thomas Page of Westminster and opened in 1863. It has a single main span of 175 ft clear by 37 ft wide in the form of a Tudor arch with heraldic decoration and ornamental lamp standards. It is of cast iron with six plain ribs each in eleven segments made by Hawks Crawshay and Co. of Gateshead. Three additional ribs of steel were inserted in 1910 to permit the running of street tramcars which have long since disappeared. This is quite a beautiful bridge as seen from the river banks which are easily accessible. The City Walls terminate there at two towers a small round one with conical tiled roof called Barker Tower on the station side and a larger square one on the Minster side known as Lendal Tower. At one time from 1380 to 1538 a chain was stretched between the two to complete the City defences and before the bridge was built the crossing was by boat at St Leonards ferry. The rch adjacent to Barker Tower is by G.T. Andrews for the Great North of England Railway. Lendal Tower was from 1677 for many years the 'Waterhouse where water was abstracted from the river pumped to a roof tank and distributed in the City via wooden pipes. John Smeaton the great civil engineer was an active shareholder from 1779 and employed his talents in 1784 to improve the Newcomen engine there traces of which remain. HEW 209 Hatcher site H060 Original bridge designed by William Dredge collapsed during construction in 1861 replacement bridge by Thomas Page Engineer of Westminster opened in 1863 Girder from original bridge recovered form river and used on Scarborough Valley Bridge in 1865

Further Reading and References:-

YAHS - Hatcher Card Index. Research funded by the Yorkshire Arts Association 1972.
Hatcher, J. The Industrial Architecture of Yorkshire. Phillimore, 1985, p71.
Rennison, R W. Civil Engineering Heritage - Northern England. 2nd ed. Thomas Telford, 1996, p150.

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Key Words :- bridge road river

Viewing the Site :- From public highway and River Ouse.

Address :- Station Road, York, North Yorkshire, YO1 7DP
Grid Ref :- SE 59989 51936
Co-ordinates :- Lat 53.960040 , Long -1.087208
Local Authority :- York City Council
Pre 1974 County :- Yorkshire - North Riding
Site Status :- Listed - Grade II
Historic England List No - 1257475,
Site Condition :- Operational site, in use for original purpose
Site Dates :- 1863 -
Contributor :- Daniel Balmforth - 4 July 2015

Copyright :- cc-by-nc-sa 4.0 © Daniel Balmforth