York Historic Environment Record

YORK SE6051SW SKELDERGATE 1112-1/21/11 Skeldergate Bridge and attached 01/07/68 tollhouse, abutment walls and steps (Formerly Listed as: Skeldergate Bridge) GV II Bridge, tollhouse, steps, and abutment walls extended to enclose St George's Field park and carpark, and Skeldergate park. 1879-1881, reconstructed and strengthened 1938-39. By Thomas and George Page. MATERIALS: bridge of steel and cast-iron girders on ashlar piers, and cast-iron parapet; ashlar tollhouse, with hipped slate roof and embattled tower with paired octagonal stacks with moulded cornices; abutment walls and steps of ashlar. EXTERIOR: bridge has 3 river spans between single pedestrian arches. 4-centred arches, the centre one flattened, with traceried spandrels, those to centre arch incorporating the City arms of York and the Keys of St Peter. Piers are treated as machicolated turrets, those flanking centre arch castellated. Parapet pierced by quatrefoils over band of heraldic badges. Piers form half-octagonal embrasures in parapet and enclose octagonal pedestals on chamfered plinth, surmounted by gas lamp standards of 5 octagonal shafts linked by tracery, the outer ones with ogee caps and crocket finials; interspersed with crocketed gablets. Centre shaft cast in blind trellis work incorporating the York rose. Traceried head supports three tapered lanterns with pennant finials, encircled by coronets. Tracery incorporates the City arms. Tollhouse: 2 storeys on basement plinth, with 3-stage octagonal tower, and 2-stage projecting staircase tower. Segment-arched doorway, approached by external steps, and slit lights in staircase tower. Elsewhere, windows are mullioned and transomed, of 1-, 2- or 3-lights, with traceried heads and square-latticed glazing. Panelled door to tollbooth at bridge level, beneath half-hipped canopy on carved brackets. Mullions and window and door surrounds are hollow chamfered. On north-east bank, downstream abutment contains blocked round-arched doorway to room which formerly housed machinery for opening the adjacent river span of bridge. A panel to left of tollbooth door reads: " This bridge was formally declared free/ from tolls on April 1st 1914 by/ The Right Hon Henry Rhodes Brown Lord Mayor/ Robert Newbald Kay Esquire./ Sheriff Alderman Norman Green (Chairman of Bridge Committee )" Abutment walls have moulded coping. Piers form pedestals to tapering octagonal gas lamp standards on stepped bases; tapered lanterns, encircled by coronets, have pennant finials. Foundation stone set in upstream parapet reads: "The Foundation Stone/ of this Bridge was laid 12th June 1878 by/ The Right Honourable William Lord Mayor John Bellerby Esquire, Sheriff./ George Gordon Page Esquire, Engineer". Second stone in downstream parapet reads: "This Bridge/ was first used by Foot Passengers on the 1st January 1881, and was formally/ Opened for General Traffic on the 10th March 1881,/ by the Right Honourable John Stephenson Rowntree, Lord Mayor/ Richard Thompson Esquire, Sheriff". INTERIOR: tollhouse not inspected. Listing NGR: SE6043851321