Other bridges around Hungerford

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This article is based on material kindly provided by Dr. Jimmy Whittaker, August 2022. 

Marsh Road Railway Bridge:

This is the official name of this bridge even though it is situated in Marsh Lane not Marsh Road.

This is an underline bridge with a headroom of 12’6” and is described as a brick arch bridge of one span which crosses a road.

It has a reference number of 32.18 and a line reference of BHL (Berks and Hants Line). Its line distance is 62miles, 396 yds and both its primary and secondary construction materials are brick.

• ELR: BHL- - -Structure Ref: 62 47 B/O
• Railway Location: 62m 47ch. / 62m 1034yds.
• Railway Location (rounded): 62.59 miles / 100.7Km
• OS Location Ref: SU324683

Freeman’s Marsh Railway Bridge:

This is an arched bridge found on Freemans Marsh, accessed from Marsh gate or from a track off the North Standen Road.

This bridge was last inspected by Network Rail in 2001 and was given an SCMI score of 63 and a Grade 2.

Old Spring Bridge:

If you go the Cobbler’s Lock and walk 1100 yards west along the canal and look over to your left you will see the rippling waters of the River Dun and a railway bridge under which flows the River Dun.

This bridge is on a piece of land once known as Pennyquicks, and owned by Lord Rootes. It was bought in 1974 by the Town and Manor of Hungerford to extend its common land holding on Freemans Marsh. This was a land-locked area of pasture in the southwest corner of the Marsh. A bargain was struck for the abandonment of the land south of the railway and the stream in it, and extinguishment of the Commoners Rights. "Rootes Meadow" was added to the Marsh.

Many years ago this area had a small trout farm called Old Spring Hatchery because it was fed by a natural spring of the Dun. The area is grazed by 30-35 store cattle each year, and although it is technically without Commoners Rights, the grazing by all cattle is overseen by the Trustees.

The bridge is a brick built arch of one span in design and can be accessed by steps which are found on a public right of way up the embankment. At the top of the steps you will see a sign which says Stop Look Listen=beware of trains! Believe me, it is a very dangerous part of the railway. On the opposite side of the railway track there is a grey electricity box confirming its location. Looking right you will see a grey metal hand rail which crosses the bridge.The only way to get a proper view of the bridge is to use the zoom facility on your phone or camera.

In 2002 the bridge was surveyed by Network rail scored 60 and given a Grade 2.

Network Rail’s official Location Details are as follows

• ELR: BHL- - -Structure Ref: 62 73 B/U
• Railway Location: 62m 73ch. / 62m 1606yds.
• Railway Location (rounded): 62.91 miles / 101.2Km
• OS Location Ref: SU319682

Rennie Railway Bridge:

This underline bridge is found just past Cobbler’s Lock on the canal path towards Froxfield. It is called Picketfield Railway Bridge by the River and Canal Trust who have assigned No 89 to it.The trust have named it after Picketfield Lock which is close by on the canal.

This is an interesting bridge since it spans both the canal and the railway. 

It is made out of two steel decks which sit on brick abutments.

In 2013, Network Rail engineers inspected the bridge and gave the down deck (from Paddington) an SCMI score of 32 and the up deck (towards Paddington) a score of 40. These scores reflect that the bridge is in poor condition. 

In 2016, Network Rail engineers carried out a detailed examination of the bridge using a pontoon, a scaffold tower and a safety boat.

Bridges of Hungerford Marsh:

If you cross the canal by the swing bridge at St. Lawrence’s Church, you are entering Hungerford Marsh and you will encounter two bridges on the footpath that eventually leads to the Ashpool.

These bridges are owned by the Town and Manor of Hungerford but are periodically examined for health and safety reasons by West Berkshire Council.

Bridges of Hopgrass:

If you walk across Freeman’s Marsh via the footpath across from Marsh Lock Bridge towards Hopgrass Farm, you will come across two metal footbridges which cross the River Dun on a piece of water meadow historically known as Hopgrass Marsh. Alternatively, you can access these two bridges from the Hopgrass Gate on the Bath Road and take the footpath which runs along the side of Hopgrass Farm.

Bath Road Gate Bridge: One of the entrances to Freeman’s Marsh is via a footpath which starts on the A4 just opposite Cobbs Farm Shop. This footpath leads to a bridge, a weir and a ford all of which cross the River Dun.

Just west of the bridge there is a monitoring station on the bank of the River Dun behind Cobbler’s lock and since monitoring began, for 90% of the time the levels of the Dun have been between 0.05 and 0.2m with a record level of 0.31m on 1st January 2003.

Continuation on this footpath leads to Cobber’s Lock House and Marsh House which are the only properties to be found on Freeman’s Marsh.

Mill Bridges:

Dun Mill River Kennet Bridge:

This is a road bridge built in the late 1700s and can be described as brick-built with stone caps to end piers and double curved brick coping to parapet, band at road level. Three arches: 2 small and 1 large.

Dun Mill Canal Bridge:

This brick bridge near Dun Mill, carrying the road from Hungerford Common over the canal towards Lower Denford, is Listed Grade II. The Listing states "Canal bridge. Late c18. Brick with stone end piers and capping and band at road level. Plain single arch with curved brick courses to parapet. Deep brick lines cut forming end of Lock.". It is thought to date from c.1798.

Dun Mill Railway Bridge:

This bridge is found on Hungerford Common and is an overline  bridge that crosses the Great Western Railway main line from London Paddington to Penzance, Cornwall.

Network Rail has incorrectly given this bridge an official name of "Duns Mill" rather than Dun Mill. 

It is a 1-span bridge that is brick built.

Bridge Information:

• Bridge Reference: 60 69
• Area: Thames
• Route: Western
• Line Reference (ELR): BHL
• Line Distance: 60 miles 1518 yards
• Type: Overline Bridge
• Description: Dunn's Mill Ob - Brick Arch - 1 Span
• Primary Construction Material: RBE – Brick

SCMI Ratings and Inspection Details:

Every 6 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.

As a (very) rough guide, a score below 40 is considered in poor condition, with a score above 80 in excellent condition. The chart below shows SCMI scores and their equivalent Bridge Condition Grades.

Denford Mill River Kennet Bridge:

This is a road bridge similar in age and construction to the one at Dun Mill.

West Berks Council carries out regular inspections on all of its bridges that cross highways.

In 2005, WBC found that the main bridge girders and corrugated steel troughing were suffering from extensive corrosion and had a load bearing capacity of 40/44 gross weight. Its traffic study revealed that on average the bridge was used by 874 vehicles each day and that failure to replace the bridge deck would result in closing the bridge to all, causing traffic chaos in Hungerford.

In 2016 the Council considered four options for reconstruction which were:

• Option 1. In-situ reinforced concrete deck using precast permanent formwork. This was the preferred option on which the on-going design is based. It is preferred over the following options on grounds of construction cost, whole life cost, construction programme and for environmental reasons.
• Option 2. In-situ reinforced concrete deck. This option was rejected due to the need to prop formwork off the river bed, which had environmental and flood risk implications.
• Option 3. Precast beams and in-situ deck. This option was rejected due to slightly higher construction costs and construction risks than option 1.
• Option 4. Replacing the Steel beams and steel troughing on the existent bridge deck. This option was rejected due to high whole life costs, maintenance costs and environmental concerns resulting from maintenance works. Additional Works. The reconstruction of the bridge deck would have also involved moving parts of the adjacent walls of Denford Mill which were partially supported by the existing bridge. Previous approaches to the owner of the mill had been unsuccessful.

In 2018, option 1 was implemented.

Bridges of Smitham Bridge Road:

Smitham Bridge Road Bridge:

If you continue down Church Street, just before you arrive at the the junction of North Standen Road and Marsh Lane, you will have crossed Smitham Bridge Road Bridge. This bridge crosses the Shalbourne Brook.

In 1907, complaints were received by Hungerford Parish Council concerning the condition of the bridge.

It is believed that this bridge was updated in 1932 when James’s Great Western Mill was built in Smitham Bridge Road after the great fire at James’s Great Western Mill in Church Street in 1960. It was then updated in 1995 when Trencherwood built a new development there.

In 1939, the Wessex electricity company had a generating plant and an office just west of the bridge on the North Standen Road.

In 2005, The Environment Agency installed a monitoring station at Smitham Bridge Road, just behind the entrance to the Hungerford Industrial Estate. It consists of an electronic gauge which measures water levels every 15 minutes, the purpose of which is to act as part of a flood warning system. Normal levels of the “Shalbourne” are between 0.04 and 0.60m. When the water level exceeds 0.6m minor flooding is possible. However, on 3rd June 2008, it reached 1.08m.

Play Park Bridge:

This is a wooden footbridge that crosses the Shalbourne Brook and is found in the grounds of Smitham Bridge Play Park, just off Marsh Lane. It is believed that it was installed by Trencherwood Homes when planning permission was given for the Smitham Bridge Road development in 1985. It links the Play Park to Somerset Close.