Yaxley railway bridge.

[joebassman]

I visited and took some pics of the old rail bridge near the site of Yaxley halt in Suffolk, which was part of the Mellis to Eye railway, closed to passangers in 1931 and freight in 1964.

I believe this is the only evidence left that this line ever existed.

The bridge still looked in a good condition although it looks like it has been filled in to an extent to raise the ground underneath. I could walk underneath though.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Is that the so-called 'Duke's Bridge', where the former Mellis and Eye Branch line passed (under?) the Ipswich->Norwich main road, and in the vicinity of where a Roman coin was once found in 1866?

 

[joebassman]

Is that the so-called 'Duke's Bridge', where the former Mellis and Eye Branch line passed (under?) the Ipswich->Norwich main road, and in the vicinity of where a Roman coin was once found in 1866?

I believe the Dukes bridge passed under the A140, according to wikipedia. This one is under the old Ipswich road which runs through Yaxley.

 

[Gloster]

Looking at the old map, it seems that it was the A140 that went over the bridge, although it appears to have been built alongside the original Roman Ipswich-Norwich road and the carriageway moved a few yards east. The old carriageway ended in dead ends either side of the line, but the village later gained a bypass to the east.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

@joebassman. Just so that we're not talking at cross purposes, what's the OS map reference / location of the structure that you've photographed upthread, and where exactly was Yaxley Halt, if it was at a separate location?

 

[joebassman]

@joebassman. Just so that we're not talking at cross purposes, what's the OS map reference / location of the structure that you've photographed upthread, and where exactly was Yaxley Halt, if it was at a separate location?

The structure was here, grid ref 52.3241808, 1.1115631. It looks like this was the old A140 going by what was commented by Gloster

 

[Gloster]

Yes, that was the old A140. You can see the original Roman road very slightly to the right: once the bridge was built it became dead ends stopping either side of the railway. The halt was on the south side of the line to the west of the bridge; its east end seems to have been over where the Roman road had been.

 

[joebassman]

Yes, that was the old A140. You can see the original Roman road very slightly to the right: once the bridge was built it became dead ends stopping either side of the railway. The halt was on the south side of the line to the west of the bridge; its east end seems to have been over where the Roman road had been.

Ah I see. Thanks for the info

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Found it. This detailed 1925 Ordnance Survey map of the Yaxley area (of Suffolk) shows the location of the one-time (tiny) halt. (Top centre of map).

View map: Ordnance Survey, Suffolk XXXVI.2 (Eye; Thornham Parva; Yaxley) - Ordnance Survey 25 inch England and Wales, 1841-1952

The halt was situated just to the West of the "Duke's Bridge" road (overbridge) and near to what's since been designated a Grade II listed property known as 'Guildhall Cottage'. Looks like the more modern day 'Dukes Cottage' (also on Old Ipswich Road) may have been built on the footprint of the former halt.

The finding (just to the East) of the Roman coin on 15th June 1866 (mentioned upthread) looks to have almost certainly occurred when the Mellis to Eye branch line was being constructed at the time.