Causey Arch

The Causey Arch is a bridge near Stanley in County Durham. It is the world’s oldest surviving railway bridge.

It was built in 1725-26 by stonemason Ralph Wood, funded by a conglomeration of coal-owners known as the "Grand Allies" (founded by Colonel Liddell and the Hon. Charles Montague) at a cost of £12,000. Two tracks crossed the Arch: one (the "main way") to take coal to the River Tyne, and the other (the "bye way") for the returning the empty wagons. Over nine hundred horse-drawn wagons crossed the arch each day using the Tanfield Railway.

At the time the bridge was completed in 1726, it was the longest single span bridge in the country, a record it held for thirty years until 1756 when a bridge was built in Pontypridd, Wales.

Wood was haunted by the collapse of his earlier timber bridge. Fearing that this arch would also collapse, he committed suicide by jumping from the top of it. An inscription on a sundial at the site reads "Ra. Wood, mason, 1727".

Use of the Arch declined when Tanfield Colliery was destroyed by fire in 1739.

The Arch was restored and reinforced in the 1980s. There are a series of scenic public paths around the area and the Causey Burn which runs underneath it. The cliffs near the bridge are a popular spot for local rock climbers.

Causey Burn itself flows into Beamish Burn which then flows into the River Team eventually discharging into the River Tyne.

References

* [http://www.durham.gov.uk/DurhamCC/usp.nsf/pws/Parks+and+Picnic+Areas+-+Causey+Arch Durham Country council]
* [http://www.waggonways.fsnet.co.uk/causey_arch_photo.html Waggonway Research Circle]
* [http://www.derwentside.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=1177 Derwentside District Council]
* [http://www.dmm.org.uk/archives/a_caus01.htm Durham Mining Museum Archives]