Special celebration for 175 years of Essex viaduct
THE East Anglian Railway Museum is holding a special weekend to celebrate the 175th anniversary of the landmark Chappel Viaduct.
Spanning the Colne valley, it was built by the Colchester, Stour Valley, Sudbury & Halstead Railway under the direction of engineer Peter Bruff, who was also instrumental in the development of both Clacton-on-Sea and Walton-on-the-Naze as resorts.
The first train ran across the viaduct on Monday, July 2, 1849. On entering the branch line, the engine’s chimney became entangled with the triumphal arch that had been erected, causing the arch to fall onto the engine, which continued to Sudbury adorned with foliage and woodwork.
As part of the commemoration, a new exhibition by renowned Chappel-based artist Wladyslaw Mirecki will be staged at the museum
Goods Shed between June 15 and August 18.
On display will be Mirecki’s 64 watercolours of the viaduct’s arches. He has painted each of the 32 arches from both east and west perspectives. It is fortunate that the museum has a space adequate for the exhibiting of the complete set.
Born in Chelmsford of Polish parents, Mirecki is self-taught and has painted all his life. He painted while studying for his science degree at Kingston Polytechnic, London, between 1975 and 1978, and then during his time as an industrial designer and while co-proprietor of Chappel Galleries (from 1986 to the present day).
The viaduct was built with seven million bricks, making it one of the largest brick-built railway structures in the UK. The Stockport and Ouse Valley viaducts used approximately 11 million. For comparison, the Stanley Dock warehouse in Liverpool, the world’s largest brick-built warehouse, now 550 apartments, took 27 million and Battersea Power Station six million to construct.
Sited on the Gainsborough line between Marks Tey and Sudbury, the 32-arch structure lies just to the south of Chappel and Wakes Colne station, where the East Anglian Railway Museum is located.
The viaduct was under threat in the 1970s when the Government announced that the Marks TeySudbury line would close in 1974, with the viaduct to be demolished.
The plan was abandoned in the aftermath of the oil crisis triggered by the 1973 Arab-Israel Yom Kippur war, which had raised concerns about the future availability of petrol.
In 1967, the viaduct was Grade II-listed as being of special interest and in 2002 it became a scheduled monument due to its role in the ‘stop line’ strategy developed to respond in the event of an invasion in 1941.
The Historic England listing states: “The defence line at Chappel Viaduct represents the survival, in a single grouping, of the whole spectrum of defensive structures deployed along the ‘stop lines’.
“Examples of all four major pillbox types deployed along the ‘stop lines’ are represented, and there is also excellent survival of the complementary defence mechanisms of anti-tank cubes and anti-tank cylinders, as well as two spigot mortar gun emplacements.
“Of the individual elements of the defence line, several represent exceptional survivals: the FW3/28 artillery pillbox is the last of its type to survive on the Eastern Command Line.”
The 175th anniversary of the structure presents an opportunity to celebrate its place in history.
Check https://earm.co.uk/events/ chappel-viaduct-display/ for details of opening times