National Highways fight against Norfolk railway bridge order

West Norfolk Council has given the agency just four months to remove the material it poured underneath Congham Bridge, over the former South Lynn to Great Yarmouth branch line.

But the government-funded company has said the timeframe is "unrealistic" and it insists the work was essential to ensure it was made safe.

READ MORE: National Highways ordered to restore historic bridge

There are hopes the bridge could become part of a cycle way if it is restored (Image: The HRE Group)

Hélène Rossiter, head of the historical railways estate at National Highways, said: “This work was essential to ensure the bridge can carry traffic safely.

"We do not feel the council’s decision adequately reflects the safety concerns raised, which is why we are lodging an appeal with the Planning Inspectorate.”

In 2021, the organisation spent £127,000 to put the concrete and stones in place and used emergency powers to carry out the work.

It claimed "serious structural issues" made this necessary but critics that include the village parish council and heritage groups have said it could cause further harm to the crossing and that saving costs was prioritised over protecting the county's railway heritage.

The historic bridge in its heyday, when it formed part of the King's Lynn to Fakenham line (Image: M&GN Trust)

Earlier this year the Norfolk council's planning committee rejected a retrospective application which would have left it in place permanently.

The enforcement action gives National Highways until April 10 to remove the infill but it has said this is unrealistic due to the preparatory works it would require.

The agency's appeal has the potential to stop the restoration entirely if the Planning Inspectorate rules against West Norfolk Council's decision.

An aerial view of the bridge in Congham after it was filled in with concrete (Image: HRE Group)

Congham Bridge is the second railway crossing that National Highways has been ordered to restore and it is one of 51 bridges that have been infilled since 2013 at a cost of £8m.

Engineers have recently completed digging out hundreds of tonnes of concrete from Great Musgrave Bridge in Cumbria after Eden District Council ordered it to restore the Victorian structure last year.

A PIECE OF RAILWAY HISTORY

Congham Bridge is one of just six which were built in the 1920s by William Marriott, engineer of the Midland and Great Northern Railway, featuring curved wingwalls.

The railway route connected South Lynn with Fakenham before continuing on to Great Yarmouth.

But in 1959, it was decided that the Lynn to Fakenham line should be closed.

The Fakenham Flyer which travelled between South Lynn and Fakenham (Image: Newsquest Library)

This preceded the Beeching Cuts the following decade, which led to vast sections of the railway network to be shut.

The bridge had remained in use, carrying a quiet country road, St Andrews Lane, across the now-abandoned track.

But a century after it was opened, it had become corroded and began to develop fractures.

This led to National Highways to fill it in with concrete, arguing it had become unsafe and that it was the most cost-effective action it could take.

But heritage groups claim the structural issues were misrepresented and that it should have been repaired to preserve this piece of railway history.