English Heritage

Advice Report

01 July 2011

Case Name: Railway viaduct arches Case Number: 463206 Background

English Heritage has been asked to assess the viaduct to the former London, Brighton & South Coast Railway at London Bridge Station for listing. We have been asked to consider specifically the series of polychromatic brick arches facing St Thomas Street and Crucifix Lane, dating to 1864-6.

Asset(s) under Assessment

Facts about the asset(s) can be found in the Annex(es) to this report. Annex 1 List Entry Number 1400290 Name Railway viaduct arches Heritage Category Listing EH Recommendation Add to List

Visits
Date 14 January 2011 Visit Type Full inspection

Context
Planning permission and listed building consent has been granted for major alterations to London Bridge Station, including the demolition of the Grade II-listed London, Brighton and South Coast Railway train shed on the south side of the station and alterations to the arches. Revised proposals for the rebuilding of the station, which also include the demolition of the train shed, are currently being discussed by Network Rail and Southwark Council. As the proposals are currently constituted, the demolition of the arches is not planned, although works taking place to the train shed may have a modest impact on the western end of the structure. The arches form the southern wall of a series of parallel viaducts, dating from 1836 to 1894. Further to the east of London Bridge Station, well-preserved early sections of the viaduct are listed at Grade II: one portion runs from the North Kent Junction to Deptford Creek (built in 1836), the other from Greenwich to Deptford Bridge (of 1838). Two railway bridges to the east of the station, at Abbey Street and Spa Road, are also listed at Grade II. At London Bridge Station there are currently two designations, both at Grade II: the former London, Brighton and South Coast Railway train shed; and six composite wrought- and cast-iron roof trusses forming a bridge over Joiner Street to the north of the station.

Assessment
CONSULTATION: English Heritage undertook a consultation on the architectural and historic interest of the structure. We received one response against listing, from planning consultants on behalf of Network Rail, and three in favour of listing, from the listing applicants, the Railway Heritage Trust and the Victorian Society. The listing applicants asked us to include specific mention of the carved stone details on the capitals of the columns in our description; we consider this to be appropriate and have have done so. The applicants submit that the carved stone heads represent particular people, possibly managers or craftsmen of the LB&SCR, but no documentary evidence has yet been presented to support this. It may well be the case that the heads were carved as likenesses of people known to the stonemasons, but it is not likely that they were intended to commemorate specific figures. The Railway Heritage Trust also responded to our consultation. The Trust informed English Heritage that it has offered grants for the restoration of the arches to the London Borough of Southwark, but these have not resulted in any improvement in the condition of the structure. The Trust believes that, if restored, the arches would form a series of commercially attractive premises. The latter is not a relevant consideration for listing, nor is the availability of grants. The Trust considers the single-storey portion of the viaduct front to merit Page 1 of 8

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listing because the polychromatic work in the arches is distinctive and [there is nowhere] else in Great Britain where such stone carvings appear in such a way on a railway viaduct. The Victorian Society response stated that the arches are an important surviving part of Charles Henry Driver's work at London Bridge; that they are important examples of Victorian craftsmanship; that they incorporate parts of the first railway into London; that they create a powerful architectural effect; and have group value with the train shed. A planning consultant, acting on behalf of Network Rail, submitted that the railway viaduct arches do not possess sufficient special architectural or historic interest to merit statutory designation because: they date from the 1860s, in common with significant numbers of railways structures; they do not belong to a key phase in the development of London Bridge Station; are not an important example of LB&SCR architecture or engineering; possess no functional integrity when divorced from the wider context of railway development in the area; do not have group value; and have been subject to significant alterations. The points raised relating to the historic and architectural significance of the viaduct arches are addressed in the Assessment below. The questions of the viaduct's functional integrity, group value and level of alteration may be addressed here. We do not consider the argument put forward that the viaduct arches are divorced from the wider context of the railway or lack group value to be compelling. Historically (and to this day), the arches define the southern boundary of the railway station and tracks and are contiguous with the Grade II-listed train shed. Even if plans to redevelop London Bridge Station come to pass, the arches will continue to have significance as a surviving portion of the historic station. With regard to alterations, the question of degree is critical as there have undoubtedly been changes to the structure over the last century and a half. Yet only one of the nineteen bays has been significantly altered: it was rebuilt to provide access to a nearby construction site. This modification was undertaken with some sensitivity to the original design and the rebuilt arch, while clearly not displaying the quality of craftsmanship of the original, does not diminish the visual impact of the entire series. The other principal alterations are that a modern signal box has resulted in the loss of part of the parapet, and the original joinery inside the arches has been replaced in some cases with modern roller shutters, plate glass windows or modern signage. Yet the modern joinery and plate glass has been inserted within the original profile of each opening and the signal box necessitated the removal of only a short section of the parapet. These alterations have not affected the viaduct's principal decorative features, neither the polychromatic brickwork nor the carved stonework of the capitals. The series of arches runs uninterrupted along St Thomas Street and Crucifix Lane and retains its visual integrity and historic character. ASSESSMENT: The English Heritage Selection Guide on Transport Buildings, published in 2007, sets out the criteria upon which we base the assessment of railway structures for listing. The section applicable to the railway viaduct frontage at London Bridge Station reads: 'Rigorous selection is required for buildings after c.1860: this reflects both the quantity of what remains and the standardisation of design. A number of factors should be taken into account when assessing buildings of the latter half of the nineteenth century. Railway companies had different approaches to construction and different house styles and, where possible, a representative sample of structures from each company should be designated if the architecture is distinctive; rarity of survivals by company may be a factor here. Also, as with industrial buildings generally, group value can be a key determinant. Some stations and goods yards need to be assessed as a whole, especially where they demonstrate the phased evolution of the railway system, through alteration and extension.' London Bridge is emphatically one of those stations where the assessment of its individual parts should be considered in relation to the development of the whole. Historically, this was a highly significant place: Londons first major railway passenger terminus, opening in 1836. While the structure under consideration for listing is part of a later phase of development, the pioneering importance of London Bridge Station in the history of the railways bestows enhanced significance on all its older parts, especially as so little historic fabric remains from the first period of its growth. Moreover, the mid-nineteenth century period was an important phase in the development of the station, when the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway built a new terminus, hotel and railway tracks, the latter raised on a highly-decorative viaduct. Until the Second World War destroyed large sections of London Bridge Station, its two distinct and contrasting mid-Victorian railway termini were a vivid manifestation of this frenzied period of railway speculation, when many different companies competed to build track and carry passengers. The scarcity of historic buildings from this and earlier phases in the stations history enhances rather than diminishes the special historic interest of those structures which have prevailed, namely Charles Henry Drivers train shed and the railway viaduct arches. The series of arches forming the southern frontage of the viaduct at London Bridge Station also has special architectural interest. This is a rare instance of the architectural flourish usually reserved for stations in the Victorian period applied to railway infrastructure. In the 1860s, Charles Henry Driver developed a vivid, Page 2 of 8

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polychromatic, Italianate house style for the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway. Listed stations by the company include Battersea Park, Peckham Rye, Denmark Hill, Leatherhead and Box Hill. In few places, however, was the quality of design and craftsmanship of the station and platform canopies extended to the railway viaducts or to retaining walls. One listed example is an ornamental viaduct built by the LB&SCR in 1867 over the River Mole in Surrey, decorated at the request of the owner whose land the railway crossed. There are a small number of instances of railway architects and engineers deploying monumental classical forms to embellish railway tunnel entrances (the Grade II* listed Box Tunnel portal in Wiltshire by IK Brunel, for example, or William Buddens eastern portal to the railway tunnel at Primrose Hill in London). Yet these examples are all in rural or semi-rural surroundings, or were built at the request of landowners (Eton College in the case of the Primrose Hill tunnel). It is unusual to see carved stonework and polychromatic brick used to embellish a railway viaduct in a fairly squalid, urban area, as was Bermondsey in the 1860s, and at the instigation of the railway company itself. The composition of the viaduct is interesting too, with tripartite arches, rather than a regularly-spaced arcade, as was more typical. There are few structures currently on the statutory list comparable to this series of arches. Most of the railway viaducts that have been listed in the past are utilitarian brick or stone structures, which impress by their scale and relationship to local topography, rather than by composition or richness of detailing. The decorative quality of the railway viaduct arches is perhaps unsurprising, given they were designed by Charles Henry Driver, a Victorian architect who specialised in major civil engineering projects such as Abbey Mills Pumping Station (Grade II*) and stations on the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway. Driver lectured and wrote on the decorative and structural properties of cast iron and was a proponent of synthesis between the architectural and engineering professions. His authorship of the viaduct frontage at London Bridge adds to the case for listing. A similar run of arches at the goods yard of St Pancras Station on St Pancras Way is listed at Grade II, and provides a useful comparison. This row of commercial premises also have stone dressings, but are otherwise plainer in their composition and detailing than those at London Bridge. They belong to the far more impressive ensemble that is St Pancras Station, and retain the original joinery, but also date to the 1890s (much later than the London Bridge examples). The two structures are not identical, but both are rare and they have equally strong claims to significance. It is appropriate that the London Bridge example joins that at St Pancras Station on the Heritage List for England. CONCLUSION: With its fragments of surviving historic fabric from various periods, London Bridge Station demonstrates the phased evolution of the railway system; while in places, the station illustrates the negative effects this can have on the quality of the physical environment, in others there is historic and architectural interest aplenty. In particular, the southern part of the station comprises an aesthetically coherent and historic group of structures, designed by Charles Henry Driver for the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway in the 1860s. The train shed is listed at Grade II and the southern frontage to the railway viaduct running east from it deserves to be listed as well. REASONS FOR DESIGNATION DECISION: The series of arches forming the southern frontage of the viaduct at London Bridge Station is recommended for designation at Grade II for the following principal reasons: * historic interest: a surviving structure from the frenzied period of railway speculation in the 1860s, when London Bridge Station - Londons first major passenger terminus expanded under the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway; * design, materials and craftsmanship: the polychromatic brick arches with stone carved capitals are a rare instance of the architectural flourish usually reserved for railway stations in the Victorian period applied to track infrastructure in what was then a poor, inner-city district; * authorship: designed by Charles Henry Driver, a Victorian architect who specialised in major civil engineering projects such as Abbey Mills Pumping Station and stations on the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway.

Countersigning comments: Agreed. This case has had much thought and we are also fully aware that this fairly late-in-the-day application and assessment may cause disruption to the current proposals to improve the station. We are of the view, however, that the series of mid-Victorian carved and polychromatic arches that form the southern frontage of the viaduct at London Bridge Station possess the special architectural and historic interest that listing requires, and should be listed at Grade II along with the station. While this is by no means a consideration at

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this designation assessment stage, it is worth noting that these arches are not affected as part of the current proposals. Emily Gee 1 June 2011

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Annex 1
Proposed List Entry List Entry Summary
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest. Name: Railway viaduct arches List Entry Number: 1400290 Location Railway viaduct arches, CRUCIFIX LANE, The building may lie within the boundary of more than one authority. County District Greater London Authority Southwark District Type London Borough Parish Non Civil Parish

National Park: Not applicable to this List entry. Grade: II Date first listed: Date of most recent amendment:

Legacy System Information

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system. Legacy System: Not applicable to this List entry. Legacy Number: Not applicable to this List entry.

Asset Groupings
This List entry does not comprise part of an Asset Grouping. Asset Groupings are not part of the official record but are added later for information.

List Entry Description

Summary of Building Railway viaduct arches, 1864-6, by Charles Henry Driver for the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway. Part of the final bay of the viaduct frontage forms the eastern part of the lower storey of the southern wall of the station train shed, which is separately listed at Grade II. Reasons for Designation

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The series of arches forming the southern frontage of the viaduct at London Bridge Station is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons: * historic interest: a surviving structure from the frenzied period of railway speculation in the 1860s, when London Bridge Station - Londons first major passenger terminus expanded under the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway; * design, materials and craftsmanship: the polychromatic brick arches with stone carved capitals are a rare instance of the architectural flourish usually reserved for railway stations in the Victorian period applied to track infrastructure in what was then a poor, inner-city district; * authorship: designed by Charles Henry Driver, a Victorian architect who specialised in major civil engineering projects such as Abbey Mills Pumping Station and stations on the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway. History London Bridge Station was London's first railway terminus, opening in 1836. It was built by the London & Greenwich Railway, which ran London's first passenger steam railway line between Deptford and Spa Road in Bermondsey. This opened on 8 February 1836, before being extended to London Bridge in December of the same year. Other railway companies soon began to use the same line, paying a tariff to the London & Greenwich. The London & Croydon Railway, for example, used the northern portion of the tracks and built a small station at London Bridge in 1839. A large Italianate terminus building with a belvedere tower, designed by Henry Roberts, was built in 1844 to serve passengers of all three railway companies which used the station at this time; it had proved too small as soon as 1847, however, and was demolished. By the 1850s, two companies operated from London Bridge, and they resolved to build adjacent termini, separated by a wall. The South Eastern Railway now used the northern portion of the tracks, and in 1851 built a three-storey Italianate station to designs by S Beazley. The London, Brighton & South Coast Railway ran on the tracks to the south and also employed Beazley to design a terminus building. In addition, the LBSCR built a French Renaissance-style station hotel on the corner of St Thomas Street and Joiner Street in 1861-2, to designs by Henry Currey, and a new train shed in 1864-6, to designs by Charles Henry Driver. At the same time, additional track was along the north side of St Thomas' Street and Crucifix Lane and this new viaduct's southern frontage decorated with polychromatic brick arches, to match the new train shed. The two companies operated parallel railway services out of London Bridge until 1925. London Bridge Station was badly damaged in the Second World War, when Currey's station hotel (which since 1893 had served as railway company offices) was ruined, along with the parcels office. The upper storeys of some of the station frontage buildings were destroyed, but the old terminus continued to be used, for parts of it were photographed by John Gay in the 1960s. The station was largely rebuilt in 1976-8 by British Rail Architects, at which time the Victorian platform canopies and footbridges in the northern portion of the station were replaced. Details The arches date to 1864-6 and decorate the southern frontage of the stock brick railway viaducts which carry trains out of London Bridge Station. There are nineteen bays, plus two larger openings for the roads that run south-north under the viaduct (Bermondsey Street and Shand Street). Each bay contains round-headed arches, mainly arranged in triplets, with a taller central arch with a keystone. The arches are dressed in polychrome brick (in red, black and white) and have carved stone capitals and hood-moulds. The capitals have stiff-leaf carving and carved male heads and eagles. The road openings are elliptical in profile, but similarly decorated. Most of the arches have radiating timber-paned fanlights. Some are blind, with brick faces, whereas others have timber or metal-paned windows; some have been altered and have modern metal roller shutters, signage, plate-glass windows or doors. One bay has been rebuilt quite recently as a single vehicular opening. Above the arches, the viaduct has a stone cornice supported on brick modillions set against a band of red brick, then a raised parapet with stone-capped brick piers. The parapet has been removed on the central portion of the viaduct where a large concrete signal box was built in the 1970s. London Bridge Station was built and has been rebuilt in successive phases, beginning with a brick viaduct and makeshift platforms in 1836 and including, most recently, the construction deep underground of the extension to the Jubilee Line in 1999. The physical fabric of the building is thus characterised by a mixture of architectural styles and periods.

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Selected Sources New and Enlarged Railway Stations in London, The Building News, 20 October 1865 Paul Dobraszczyk, Historicizing Iron: Charles Driver and the Abbey Mills Pumping Station (1865-68) , Architectural History, Vol. 49, 2006 Ben Weinreb, Christopher Hibbert, Julia Keay and John Keay, The London Encyclopaedia - Third Edition, 2008 Biddle, G and Simmons, J, The Oxford Companion to British Railway History, 2003, 291 Cherry, B and Pevsner, N, The Buildings of England London: South, 1983, 603-4 G Biddle, Britains Historic Railway Buildings, 2003, 39-40 Jackson, Alan A, London's termini, 1984 RHG Thomas, London's First Railway The London to Greenwich, 1972 Sheila Taylor and Oliver Green, The Moving Metropolis: a History of London's Transport since 1800 , 2001, 41 Smith, Denis, Civil Engineering Heritage: London and the Thames Valley , 2001, 154-7 Bermondsey Village Action Group, London to Brighton Railway Viaduct, December 2010 CgMs Consulting, Railway Viaduct Arches, Crucifix Lane, Bermondsey, Southwark , Briefing report, January 2011

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English Heritage Map National Grid Reference: TQ3317279924

Advice Report

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Crown Copyright and database right 2011. All rights reserved. Ordnance Survey Licence number 100019088. The above map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. For a copy of the full scale map, please see the attached PDF - 1400290_1.pdf

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