Skew road overbridge with a single, semi-elliptical arch.

The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport disagreed with Historic England’s recommendation for this case. For further information please contact the Historic England Listing Group.

Frouds Lane Bridge was built c.1845-47 as part of a railway line from Reading to Newbury, opened in 1847, which was the outcome of a dispute between the Great Western Railway (GWR) and the London & South Western Railway about the provision of a railway to Newbury. The GWR originally proposed to reach the town by a branch from the main line at Pangbourne, but eventually settled on the present route. This was built by a subsidiary company to the GWR, the Berkshire and Hampshire Railway. The engineer was Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806-59) who, as with the main line, designed the line on the broad gauge. Having previously dismissed the idea of a route to Bristol via Newbury and the Vale of Pewsey he did not regard this as a major project: it only became part of the direct GWR route to Exeter in 1906. It is not known who was the Resident Engineer for the project. There have been no significant alterations since construction.

Original contract drawings for the Frouds Lane Bridge survive. Although common nationally, single-arch bridges were less common on GWR lines where the wider triple-arch bridge was favoured.

MATERIALS: original handmade red brick, with limited patching in red engineering brick. English bond.

DESCRIPTION: the span is 30ft [9.5m]. Each face has a stepped string course and arcing parapet with step moulding, terminating in piers. Coping course of shallow-pitched stone. Splayed and raked wing walls with bull-nose brick copings.

The bridge is close to the Kennet & Avon Canal and prominent in an agricultural landscape.