19th century culvert at Rectory Lane, Ashdon (EHER 40468)

Mid 19th culvert passing below the Saffron Walden Branch Line.

2004. Desk-based assessment. No evidence of the rail bridge at Rectory lane or the rail embankment to the south of the road, remain. The southern embankment appears to have been quarried out and to the north of the road, survival is also intermittent. Presently only the causeway embankment at the northern end of Rectory Lane, which provides access to Reckitts Farm remains. A culvert which channelled a tributary of the River Bourn, east-west below the causeway, still remains in use. Built in a typical railway corporate style the culvert comprised a squat 4 course on-edge blue brick faced arch with red brick abutments in English bond and splayed revetment walls that channelled the river bed and retained bank in the area of the opening. <1> Current Use: The culvert remains in use and is clear of any obstructions. Only the eastern culvert arch was inspected. It showed considerable amounts of brick spalling and loss of mortar, particularly around the arch face, and a number of large and significant structural cracks within the brickwork of the revetments and abutments. However, there are no signs of collapse within culvert itself, but to insure future stability of the culvert as a whole, it requires remedial repairs to the revetments and to the arch face. <1>