Rewley Road Swing Bridge

Rewley Road Swing Bridge
The old Rewley Road Swing Bridge with the newer Sheepwash Channel Railway Bridge behind over the Sheepwash Channel.
Coordinates	51°45′20″N 1°16′15″W / 51.755599°N 1.270721°WCoordinates: 51°45′20″N 1°16′15″W / 51.755599°N 1.270721°W
Carries	Buckinghamshire Railway
Crosses	Sheepwash Channel
Locale	Oxford, England
Maintained by	Network Rail
Characteristics
Design	Swing bridge
Material	Steel girder
Number of spans	1
History
Designer	Robert Stephenson
Opened	1851
Closed	1984

Railways around Oxford

Legend to Banbury to Worcester to Bicester to Witney and Fairford Oxford Parkway Yarnton Oxford Road Halt Yarnton Loop City boundary Wolvercot Junction Wolvercot Platform Wolvercote Halt Oxford North Junction Port Meadow Halt Exchange sidings Sheepwash Channel Rewley Road Swing Bridge Oxford Oxford Rewley Road City boundary Oxford (Grandpont) Goods Hinksey Halt Millstream Junction Abingdon Road Halt Kennington Junction Radley Iffley Halt to Didcot Kennington Railway Bridge Littlemore Morris Cowley BMW Mini terminal Horspath Halt to Princes Risborough

Rewley Road Swing Bridge is a disused railway swing bridge over Sheepwash Channel in west Oxford, England.^[1][2] To the north are Cripley Meadow and Fiddler's Island and to the south are Osney Island and the Botley Road.

The bridge was designed by Robert Stephenson and built in 1850–1.^[3] It was reconstructed in 1890 and 1906, latterly using steel girders. The bridge closed to passenger traffic in 1951 and to goods in 1984.

Overview

The swing bridge was for the former Buckinghamshire Railway line of London and North Western Railway that used to serve the Oxford Rewley Road railway station (later London, Midland and Scottish Railway, LMS), which was on the site of the Saïd Business School.^[4][5] It is close to Rewley Road Bridge to the east and Sheepwash Channel Railway Bridge to the west, which also cross Sheepwash Channel.^[1]

Restoration project

The bridge is one of two swing bridges in England that are scheduled monuments.^[3] As of 2012, it is due to be restored by the Oxford Preservation Trust, English Heritage, Network Rail (the owners), and other partners.

Gallery

• 

  View of the swing bridge over Sheepwash Channel in 1977 when it was still in operation.

• 

  The swing bridge in the open position on the north bank of the Sheepwash Channel.

• 

  Close-up view of the end of the bridge.

• 

  View of Sheepwash Channel, with the site of the old swing bridge in the foreground and the newer railway bridge in the background.

• 

  The Sheepwash Channel with the old swing bridge and the newer railway bridge behind.

References

1. "River Thames (Sheepwash Channel)". UK: CanalPlanAC. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
2. "Rewley Road Swing Bridge". Dereliction in the Shires: Oxfordshire Urban Exploration. Retrieved 18 September 2012. External link in |work= (help)
3. Woolley, Liz (2012). Oxford's Working Past. Huxley Scientific Press. p. 14. ISBN 978-0-9522671-7-1.
4. "Sheepwash Channel — Oxford Canal / River Thames". UK: Movable Bridges in the British Isles. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
5. "Rewley Road (LMS) Swing Bridge". Projects. UK: Oxford Preservation Trust. Retrieved 18 September 2012. External link in |work= (help)