Full Report for Listed Buildings


The list description is not intended to be a complete inventory of what is listed: it is principally intended to aid identification. By law, the definition of a listed building includes the entire building and (i) any structure or object that is fixed to the said building and ancillary to it and (ii) any other structure or object that forms part of the land and has done so since before 1 July 1948, and was within the curtilage of the building, and ancillary to it, on the date on which said building was first included in the list, or on 1 January 1969, whichever was later.

Summary Description


Reference Number
11514
Building Number
 
Grade
II*  
Status
Designated  
Date of Designation
04/01/1988  
Date of Amendment
 
Name of Property
Quakers Yard Railway Viaduct  
Address
 

Location


Unitary Authority
Merthyr Tydfil  
Community
Treharris  
Town
Merthyr Tydfil  
Locality
Quakers Yard  
Easting
308853  
Northing
196473  
Street Side
 
Location
Crossing the Afon Taf just S of Edwardsville.  

Description


Broad Class
Transport  
Period
 

History
Railway bridge over the Afon Taf of 1840-1 by I K Brunel built for the Taff Vale Railway, opened April 1841, doubled in width before 1861. A remarkable early railway bridge of massive construction with octagonal piers necessitating deep chamfers to the arches. The viaduct crosses the line of the Penydarren tramroad on the N side of the river.  

Exterior
Railway viaduct over the Afon Taf. Very tall slightly curving viaduct of 6 arches, the original viaduct upstream and only visible from N. Massive rock-faced squared masonry and highly modelled octagonal piers, the rock-facing tooled at edges, banded 3 times with broad 3-course bands of tooled masonry, and the capitals of 6 stepped courses of rock-faced stone. Remarkable arches deeply splayed at edges, the splays in tooled stone as also the arch soffits. Rockfaced stone in spandrels, big coved string course in tooled stone and rock-faced stone parapets with ashlar copings. Splayed out ends to abutments. Addition of matching scale is simpler, having regular piers, caps in 2 courses, arches with rock-faced stone voussoirs and vermiculated keystones. Coved string course breaks forward over keystones.  

Interior
 

Reason for designation
Graded II* as one of the most remarkable bridges by Brunel to survive in Wales.  

Sources
  • J. Newman, Buildings of Wales, Gwent, 1995. p 536;,
  • D.S.M. Barrie, Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain, 12, South Wales, 1980, p 116;,
  • S. Owen-Jones, The Penydarren Locomotive, National Museum of Wales, 1981, front cover illustration;,
  • www.trevithick2004.co.uk/page8.html, 2002, photo.,

Cadw : Full Report for Listed Buildings [ Records 1 of 1 ]



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