Blue Bridge

The original bridge was designed by Robert Stephenson, the chief engineer to the London and Birmingham Railway, and was opened at roughly the same time as the line in 1838. The extension was built between 1878 and 1882 when the L&BR's successor, the London and North Western Railway doubled the line to four tracks. At the same time, the line was diverted slightly to the east to allow for an extension of Wolverton Works, the L&BR's maintenance depot. The right-of-way under the original bridge is now empty; the main line passes under the extension. Above the line, the road over the bridge was bypassed by a 1970s replacement and is now disused. The original bridge is unusual among Stephenson's…

The bridge is an accommodation bridge, built to provide access to a farm after the road was severed by the construction of the railway. It has three elliptical arches in blue engineering brick which stand on piers of local coursed, squared limestone, faced with rock. The arches have substantial stone imposts and a stone course below parapet level. The parapets are in brick with a combination of stone and concrete coping. The much larger extension was built onto the end of the original. It has a pair of segmental arches almost entirely in blue brick. It has a broad stone roll cornice and a stepped parapet at the far end from the original bridge.