Victoria Tunnel – Byker, England - Atlas Obscura

Victoria Tunnel

Byker, England

This tunnel was an amazing feat of engineering and an economic success but the coal mine which it served closed after only 18 years of the tunnel's use but in WW2 the tunnel was converted to an air raid shelter. 

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The Victoria Tunnel is a  former  underground waggonway in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It was 2¼ miles long, under the heart of the  city. The tunnel was pushed (by manual  excavation) through  the boulder clay (at a maximum depth of 85 feet), lined with a double  brick lining and equipped  with a single, standard guage rail track. 

Opened in 1842 the tunnel is a notable feat of engineering  and was constructed as a means of transporting coal from the Spital Tongues Colliery on the northern outskirts  of Newcastle  to the coal staithes on the Tyne quayside.The gradient to the river was slightly  downhill  and a train of 8 full wagons would travel  downhill under gravity and be pulled back up empty by a rope pulled  by a stationary  steam engine.

It was in use for a mere eighteen years  until  the coal mine closed but during that time it reduced the cost of transportation  of coal to the river by over 80%.

The tunnel was then forgotten until part of it was  brought back into use as an air raid shelter in World War II. As well as fitting  seating for a huge  number of people, internal blast walls and numerous  extra entrances were constructed but most of them were closed after WW2. In the cold war there were proposals to convert it to a nuclear bunker but nothing came of it.Today the, publicly  accessible,  part of the tunnel is under the care of  a charity called the Ouseburn Trust and public tours are available allowing one to visit about 750 yards of the tunnel. From time to time the tunnel  is also used for musical events. The central part of the tunnel has been converted  to a large storm drain.

Know Before You Go

The tunnel  is part of numerous  redevelopment projects  driven by the Ouseburn Trust. Even the (tidal) Ouseburn itself has some fascinating features.


For a nice coffee and cake (or more) try the Cafe Beam  next to the river (https://smileforlife.org.uk/cafe-beam-at-ouseburn-farm/) run by a group of kids with learning  disabilities. 

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