You are in [Places] [Bridges of Hungerford] [Nonsuch Palace Railway Bridge]
[This article is based on text by Dr. Jimmy Whittaker, May 2022].
Nonsuch Palace Bridge is the somewhat surprising name given to the culvert carrying the River Shalbourne under the railway embankment near the north-eastern corner of the children’s play park off Smitham Bridge Road. Smitham Bridge itself is the road bridge crossing the small River Shalbourne (which I have described elsewhere in the Hungerford Virtual Museum).
The Shalbourne Brook at Smitham Bridge
Until now there has been no mention of this bridge in historical documents or even on the extensive pages of The Hungerford Virtual Museum website and even local government organisations such as Berkshire County Council, West Berks Council and Hungerford Town Council have been unable to shed any light upon this name or its location.
However, I am most grateful to Robin Mann, a project manager at West Berkshire Council who supplied the following information: "I’m afraid I don’t have any information that you probably aren’t already aware of. I can only think that the bridge may be associated with the culverting of a water course which was present before the building of the railway. Perhaps the bridge was made wider than just the water course to accommodate a track to allow for maintenance of the water course or access for landowners."
The playground at Smitham Bridge. The Shalbourne Brook runs on the east (right hand) side
An extract from the Enclosure Map of 1819 shows the existence of a culvert before the Berks and Hants railway extension was built in 1862 and an examination of the extract from the 1843-93 epoch of the OS Maps shows a watercourse flowing under the railway which must be via a bridge.
The only definite records of this bridge are kept by Network Rail who own and manage most of the fixed assets of the railway network, including tracks, stations, signals and bridges. (Network Rail is often confused with National Rail which is a brand name used to promote passenger railway services and providing some harmonisation for passengers in ticketing).
Information on this bridge was supplied by Network Rail following an enquiry under the Freedom of Information Act.
I got in touch with Network Rail and spoke to a couple of guys there who were most helpful and searched through their records but could not furnish any further information on this particular bridge.
Joe Hill, a Community Relations executive, checked his records and drew a blank but said he would pass on my enquiry to his structures team who were familiar with this particular section of the National Rail network.
Chris Connell, their structural maintenance engineer, wrote to me and informed me that this bridge did not have a bridge strike plate but he would update his Bridge Scour reference information used to locate this particular bridge on Network Rail’s bridge information.
(Bridge scour information is used to indicate that there are bridge abutments(side supports) that cross a stream or a culvert. This bridge information is used by maintenance crews. Indeed both of the entrances to this bridge are now sealed off to the general public but the fenced off abutments can be seen through the undergrowth by the intrepid explorer. The exit to this bridge can be found down a track which runs parallel to the railway line, just off Marsh Lane.This track leads to an area known as The Orchard.)
Nonsuch Palace Bridge is the culvert at the north-east corner of the playground, carrying the Shalbourne Brook under the railway embankment (to the left of the two obvious storm water drains)
Chris Connell asked for my suggestion of a suitable name based upon my local knowledge. I suggested the name of "Shalbourne Brook bridge" since the bridge spanned the Shalbourne Brook. But when he went deeper into the National Rail archives hefound that the bridge did alreay have a registered name - "Nonsuch Palace Bridge". He confirmed that the bridge had been built in 1862.
The official Network Rail record is given below:
Structure Overview:
Asset Name: Nonsuch Palace Ub - Over Stream - Brick Arch - 1 Span
Asset Type: Bridge- - -Sub-type: Underline Bridge
Operational Status: Functionary
Construction Details
Primary Material: RBE - Brick
Secondary Material: RBE - Brick
Structure Form: Arch
Construction Details: Arch
Listed Structure: No.
No. of Components: 1
Every six years, Network Rail carry out detailed inspections on all their structures, which in most cases includes the calculation of an SCMI (or Structures Condition Marking Index). An SCMI score is a number between 0 and 100 and is used to grade the condition of a structure or how close it is to life-expiration. This bridge was inspected on 28th July 2006 and scored 52 on this index which would indicate that the bridge was in average condition. (As a very rough guide, a score below 40 is considered in poor condition, with a score above 80 in excellent condition).
So what was the origin of this name "Nonsuch"?
Nonsuch Palace was a Tudor royal palace, built by Henry VIII near Cheam, Surrey; it stood from 1538 to 1682–83. Its site lies in what is now Nonsuch Park on the boundaries of the borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey and the London Borough of Sutton.
The palace was designed to be a celebration of the power and the grandeur of the Tudor dynasty, built to rival Francis I's Château de Chambord. Unlike most of Henry's palaces, Nonsuch was not an adaptation of an old building; he chose to build a new palace in this location because it was near to one of his main hunting grounds. However the choice of location was unwise, as there was no nearby supply of water suitable for domestic use.
Nonsuch Palace was perhaps the grandest of Henry VIII's building projects. It was built on the site of Cuddington, near Ewell, the church and village having been destroyed and compensation paid, to create a suitable site. Work started on 22nd April 1538, the first day of Henry's thirtieth regnal year, and six months after the birth of his son, later Edward VI.
Within two months the name "Nonsuch" appears in the building accounts, its name a boast that there was no such palace elsewhere equal to it in magnificence. Construction had been substantially carried out by 1541, but it took several more years to complete.
The palace was eventually demolished in 1682-83 and no trace can be seen today.
But why is this small railway bridge named "Nonsuch Palace"?
At the present time, there is no knowledge of why the bridge has this name.
One possible explanation could be that one of the engineers who helped to build the Berks and Hants extension line had previously worked on the Southern Railway which passed through Ewell and Epsom and he had been told about the Nonsuch Palace.
If anyone can help explain this mystery, please
The Canal Wharf, 2011