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All the United Kingdom England Whalley Whalley Viaduct
AO Edited

Whalley Viaduct

A fantastic example of Victorian railway engineering with two unusual decorative features.

Whalley, England

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Alan Newman
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Whalley Viaduct   David Dixon/CC BY-SA 2.0
One of the two, unusual, infilled arches.   Martinevans123/Public Domain
Whalley Viaduct   Dr Alan P Newman / Atlas Obscura User
Looking very “church like” one of two unusual infilled arches.   Dr Alan P Newman / Atlas Obscura User
Whalley Viaduct   Dr Alan P Newman / Atlas Obscura User
Whalley Viaduct   Dr Alan P Newman / Atlas Obscura User
One of the arches on the River Calder.   Dr Alan P Newman / Atlas Obscura User
Gatehouse to the Whall Abbey viewed from under the arches.   Dr Alan P Newman / Atlas Obscura User
  rbenn250 / Atlas Obscura User
Whalley Viaduct   Alexander P Kapp/CC BY-SA 2.0
Maintenance work under the Arches (July 2024)   wulver / Atlas Obscura User
Garden under the Arches…   wulver / Atlas Obscura User
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About

This magnificent railway viaduct, built between 1846 and 1850 in a combination of red and blue bricks, is far less well known than the famous Ribblehead Viaduct, located about 25 miles to the north, but in many ways, it is more impressive not least because it is longer. Taking the Blackburn to Clitheroe railway line across the valley of the River Calder, close to the border of Lancashire and Yorkshire, it is in a magnificent setting under the shadow of the famous, Pendle Hill, widely associated with the Pendle Witch Trials. It is located just on the southern edge of the Forest of Bowland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

The viaduct consists of 48 elegant arches, two of which have a distinctive decorative brick infill. They look rather ecclesiastical from a distance and may have been introduced to reflect the importance of the 14th-century gatehouse of the nearby Whalley Abbey which the road serves. The gatehouse and abbey ruins are worth a visit in their own right.

At over 600 yards long, and 70 feet above the valley, the viaduct, known locally as the Whalley Arches,  required over six million bricks and over 12,000 cubic yards of stone to complete. During construction two of the arches collapsed, leading to three fatalities. The engineer was Terence Woulfe Flanagan who later constructed the railways between Antwerp and Rotterdam and between Lisbon and Santarem.

The line connects with lines in West and North Yorkshire.  It was closed to most passengers in 1962. It was kept open just for freight, and occasional passenger train diversions (due to track maintenance elsewhere)  until 1994.  In 1994 a public campaign secured the re-opening of the line to passengers between Blackburn and Clitheroe (and onward to Hellifield on Sundays). Currently, the line is known as the Ribble Valley Line and serves both commuters and tourists.

In addition to the regular diesel-powered services the line often runs special steam-hauled heritage services for which the crossing of this amazing viaduct is one of the unadvertised highlights. Plans are in place to assist local tourism by re-opening the line fully to passengers to allow scheduled passenger trains to join the famous Settle to Carlisle line.

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Railroads Engineering Trains

Know Before You Go

If traveling by train you can travel via Blackburn to Whalley station which is at the north end of the viaduct. 

The steam-hauled heritage service which most regularly crosses the viaduct runs as a service called the "Cumbrian  Mountain Express" and the service can usually be boarded in Crewe.

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Added By

Dr Alan P Newman

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rbenn250, wulver

  • rbenn250
  • wulver

Published

August 3, 2021

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  • https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1164458
  • http://www.engineering-timelines.com/scripts/engineeringItem.asp?id=10
Whalley Viaduct
24 Broad Ln
Whalley, England, BB7 9TW
United Kingdom
53.821576, -2.414103
Get Directions

Nearby Places

Cromwell's Bridge

Lancashire, England

miles away

Stonyhurst Hall

Stonyhurst, England

miles away

Holmes Mill

Clitheroe, England

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of England

England

United Kingdom

Places 2,219
Stories 145

Nearby Places

Cromwell's Bridge

Lancashire, England

miles away

Stonyhurst Hall

Stonyhurst, England

miles away

Holmes Mill

Clitheroe, England

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of England

England

United Kingdom

Places 2,219
Stories 145

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