Picture caption: The eastern portal of Brunel’s Box Tunnel
Two Brunel-designed landmarks are due to be restored this month, with another potential restoration in the pipeline. The Grade II listed Sydney Gardens footbridge and the Grade II listed eastern entrance to Box Tunnel were designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, and are both in need of attention to enable them to be preserved for future generations. Network Rail has committed to doing the work required over the next few weeks.
In addition to this, “Brunel’s other bridge” has a substantial amount of funds in place for its restoration. The other bridge refers not to his iconic Clifton Suspension Bridge, but to his Grade II listed swing bridge at Howard’s Lock in the Cumberland Basin, Bristol. Campaigners at the Avon Industrial Buildings Trust have secured £1 million of the £2 million required to restore the bridge, which was decommissioned in 1968. This work is not quite as imminent, with the Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) saying they aim to complete the work in 2029.
The footbridge in Sydney Gardens, Bath, is the last remaining cast iron footbridge of its kind on the Great Western Main Line. The gardens are one of the oldest Georgian “pleasure gardens” – fashionable gardens created for leisure and entertainment.
A spokesperson for Friends of Sydney Gardens, a group formed to take care of the parkland, said, “The cast-iron pedestrian bridge built in 1841, is a rare survivor of Brunel’s legacy. Brunel’s railway cuts through the centre of Sydney Gardens. [It is the] sole surviving Grade II listed pleasure garden in the UK, which deserves to be protected and preserved for future generations.”
Contractors for Network Rail will spend two months grit blasting the bridge and undertaking steel and masonry repairs, replacing the wooden deck and carrying out a repaint. The work area will be fully wrapped to protect the surrounding gardens.
Further along the railway line to the east of Bath is Box Tunnel, one of Britain’s early railway tunnels. Engineers will survey and repair the eastern portal, near Corsham. Dan Parkes, principal portfolio manager for Network Rail commented: “Sydney Gardens footbridge and the Box Tunnel entrance are not just railway structures, they are irreplaceable pieces of Brunel’s legacy.”
It’s good to see iconic landmarks like these being restored, as it is so easy for bridges and other structures to fall into disrepair. We can’t keep every piece of our heritage, but this footbridge and tunnel portal seem like sensible elements to prioritise. It will be interesting to see whether the restoration of the swing bridge is able to go ahead, as raising the full funding required will no doubt be a challenge for a small campaign group.
Meanwhile, if you need any assistance with the structural elements of an upcoming project, please do get in touch.
