Queen Street Bridge: a potted history - and why it's no longer needed

Research supporting the demolition scheme helps tell a fascinating story for what is, fundamentally, just a bridge.

Back in 1877 – which is about when the bridge was built – the railway station we have today was very much York’s ‘new’ station.

The earlier station – inside the city walls, where City of York Council’s West Offices now are – had been accessed by rail by two arches cut into the city wall by G.T. Andrews in 1839 and 1846.

The ‘new’ station was outside the city walls. But to get to it by road required crossing the railway lines leading to the former station inside the city walls. Hence the bridge.

It was built by contractors WD Cameron of Leeds – who, at the same time, cut two further road arches through the city walls at Station Road. The York Corporation insisted the new brick arches be faced with sandstone. 

A view of the old railway station seen through the arch of the Queen Street Bridge in May 1911. The arch cut through the city wall can also be seen in the distance (Image: Explore York Libraries and Archives)

The bridge was designed by Thomas Harrison, a highly regarded engineer, for North Eastern Railway.

He had the challenge of making the bridge high enough to clear the use of the railway lines beneath it, and yet not so steep as to prevent horse-drawn traffic from using it.

He achieved this by making the arches of the bridge span only a single railtrack, so minimizing the height and angle required.

Harrison also needed to allow access to the Queen Street railway workshops, that now incorporate part of the former railway building that is the Railway Institute complex.

View through the city walls by Queen Street Bridge in the 1930s. You can see the platform of the old station inside the city walls through the arch (Image: Explore York Libraries and Archives)

This explains why the bridge is so close to the city wall, and why much of the wall’s earthen ramparts at this point were removed.

Later changes to the bridge include a replacement of the two arches at the northern end with a single steel-girder span in 1909 to allow the realignment of some of the tracks for platform extensions at the station.

A year later, the bridge was widened to allow the city’s horse-drawn street tramways, meaning the footpaths that flank the bridge were built on extensions supported by reinforced concrete stanchions and beams.

The Queen Street Bridge in May 1911, with the new railway station to the right of the photograph and the engine sheds to the left. The photo was taken when the bridge was being 'load-tested' to check the strength of the footpath - hence the sandbags (Image: Explore York Libraries and Archives)

In 1928, a footbridge from the bridge to the first floor of the railway institute building was constructed, allowing immediate access to the new entrance hall constructed on that floor.

The year 1966 brought the closure and partial demolition of the Old Station and Merchandise Station - now part of West Offices - and the removal of the tracks through the city walls.

Consequently, the purpose of Queen Street Bridge has been largely redundant since then.

Why has it not been demolished sooner? Lack of funding is the main reason; it has been cheaper to keep it standing than remove it.

For some, its demolition will bring mixed feelings.

The openness and views of the city wall and its railway arches, the station, and Railway Institute will be greatly improved; all the better to appreciate the city’s rich railway past.

And yet, the bridge and evidence of the tracks beneath are also part of our railway heritage and will be physically lost forever.

A couple of last thoughts. The bridge was built in a Victorian Age when railways meant ‘Progress’: the heritage of our city walls and ramparts was never going to stand in its way!

Today, we’d be far more likely to challenge the plans if a major road bridge was proposed here.

The bridge also reminds us of historic connections between the railways and the importance of vehicular access – horse-drawn at first, but later as automobiles.

This connection continues today, and controversially so for some, with vast areas of land either side of York Railway Station, including approved multi-storey car parks, set aside for station car parking.