Luggie Aqueduct

Luggie Aqueduct

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This imposing structure was originally constructed to carry the Forth & Clyde Canal over the Luggie Water in Kirkintilloch, to the north of Glasgow. Construction of the 35-mile waterway, which traverses central Scotland, started in 1668 using the design of engineer John Smeaton. It was opened from the River Forth at Grangemouth to nearby Hillhead in Kirkintilloch in 1773.

The aqueduct was built under the supervision of resident engineer Robert Mackrell by Falkirk contractors John Muir and William Gibb who later founded the company that became Sir Alexander Gibb & Partners. With its completion in 1775, a connection was provided into the heart of Glasgow. The final section of canal, linking to the River Clyde, suffered from a lack of funds and was not finished until 1790.

The ashlar masonry structure is 37.8m long by 27.4m wide and stands 15.2m high. The single arch, which has a span of 13.7m, was built in three stages using 9.1m wide curved timber formwork on rollers. The joints between the sections are almost invisible on the underside of the arch. Unusually for the British network, the canal is maintained at its full width across the aqueduct, allowing uninterrupted passage of vessels.

In 1848, the Edinburgh & Glasgow Railway opened its Campsie Branch from a junction near Lenzie to Lennoxtown, through Kirkintilloch. Engineers were able to take the line under the aqueduct by constructing a low twin-arched masonry culvert, approximately 63m in length, and diverting the river through it.

The branch was later extended by both the Blane Valley and Strathendrick & Aberfoyle railways, all three concerns being later absorbed by the North British Railway. The line beyond Kirkintilloch was closed to passengers in 1951. Passenger traffic from Lenzie to Kirkintilloch survived until 1964 and the line finally succumbed to complete closure in 1966.

The canal saw its last traffic in 1963 and the nearby Townhead bridge in Kirkintilloch was replaced by a piped culvert. As part of the millennium celebrations, funding was secured to reopen the canal. Pleasure craft can once again be seen passing overhead.

Sadly, there was no such funding for the railway and now the aqueduct, which was known as ‘The Unique Bridge’, crosses over the Strathkelvin Railway Path. An indication of its former usage is provided by rails embedded in the surface. These are about 2.5m apart and would appear to have served to retain the cobbles which formed the original path.

(Many thanks to Stewart Smith for the above information)

December 2012

Luggie Aqueduct

Adrian Snook tells the story of… Pulpit bridge

Bridge 69, known as Pulpit or Armchair bridge, is on the West Coast Main Line’s Northampton Loop and was built by the London & North Western Railway in 1877. Its site is close to the village of Watford in Northamptonshire.

Its design was specified by the local peer Anthony Henley, 3rd Baron Henley of Chardstock (1825-1898), and it marks the point where the new line crossed the estate’s famous North Ride, within sight of the north elevation of the family seat, Watford Court.

Henley was the son of Robert Henley, 2nd Baron Henley. He succeeded his father as third Baron Henley in 1841 but, as this was an Irish peerage, it did not entitle him to a seat in the House of Lords. He was instead elected to the House of Commons as MP for Northampton in 1859 – a seat he held until 1874. Lord Henley married, firstly, Julia Emily Augusta, daughter of the Very Reverend John Peel, Dean of Worcester, in 1846. After her death in 1862, he married Clara Campbell Lucy, daughter of Joseph H S Jekyll, in 1870. Clara was the cousin of the as-yet-unknown garden designer Gertrude Jekyll. Pulpit bridge was built just seven years later and it is possible that the young Gertrude might have been consulted on the ornate design.

According to local people, the aim of the bridge’s unusual look was to placate villagers who were upset by the coming of the railway and its resulting impact on the beautiful parkland thereabouts, as well as their religious observances. Its decorative ecclesiastical elements are attributed to the fact that the bridge was built very close to the spot on the North Ride where Rogation services were taken by the Lay Rector (Lord Henley). This apparently gave rise to the unique ‘pulpit’ features and ‘ecclesiastical window’ echoes in the balustrade.

In 1885, the Northington title held by Lord Henley’s great grandfather was revived when he was created Baron Northington of Watford in the County of Northampton, in the peerage of the United Kingdom. This title gave him and the later Barons an automatic seat in the Lords. Pulpit bridge marked the point where trains would halt to take Lord Henley to London and his seat in Parliament, linking Watford with world affairs. He died aged 73 in November 1898 and was succeeded in his titles by eldest son Frederick. Lady Henley died in 1922.

The bridge seems to have been created as a multi-purpose feature – partly an open-air church, partly a piece of railway infrastructure, partly a garden feature and partly a private railway halt. The design is believed to be unique and the ironwork still bears the monogram of the Henley family.

In his book ‘British Railway Bridges and Viaducts’, Martin Smith states “…the ‘Armchair Bridge’ must rate as one of Britain’s more charismatic railway bridges. Situated ½ mile south of Watford Lodge, between Rugby and Long Buckby, it is officially known as ‘Bridge No. 69’, but the name was coined by railwaymen and positively stuck. An alternative nickname was the ‘Pulpit bridge’, local legend telling how clergymen used to preach to estate workers from it….It originally had some ornamental work in cast iron, but that deteriorated beyond repair and was removed in 1934. On the outside of the ‘armchairs’, the Henley family coat of arms was, for many years, finished in gilt paint.”

In October 2011, the efforts of a local campaign group to protect Pulpit bridge resulted in English Heritage bestowing upon it Grade II listed status – a rare honour for an operational railway structure. The decision was influenced by three factors:

• Architectural: the unusual pulpit or armchair features and decorative metalwork in the spandrels are well-executed and distinctive
• Intactness: despite maintenance as an operational railway bridge, the principal structure and decorative elements remain and have clear aesthetic merit
• Group value: the bridge has group value with other designated assets within the former estate of Watford Court.

December 2012