Ribblehead Viaduct
An iconic structure that symbolises mankind’s dominion over the landscape, this famous viaduct inspires with its sheer presence - and its past
Nomination: This 24-arch viaduct towers above the Yorkshire moorland on the Settle-Carlisle Line, but further away the landscape turns the tables and this stone edifice seems to get lost against the backdrops of Whernside, Ingleborough and Pen-y-ghent. But it must be one of the most photographed and easily recognisable features on Britain’s railways.
Ribblehead Viaduct is 28 miles northwest of Skipton and 26 miles south-east of Kendal. The Grade 2-listed viaduct is the longest and third tallest structure on the ‘S&C’.
Designed by John Sydney Crossley, who was chief engineer of the Midland Railway, the viaduct was necessitated by the challenging terrain of the route.
It was a close-run thing between Ribblehead Viaduct or the entire Settle-Carlisle Line winning a spot in RAIL’s Seven Wonders of the Railway. But Ribblehead just beat its parent to the title.
A favourite with photographers of every kind, Ribblehead Viaduct (known in the past as Batty Moss Viaduct) carries the Settle-Carlisle Line through the famously scenic Ribble Valley in North Yorkshire. Opened in 1875, it took the Midland Railway five years to build what is the longest (400 metres) and third tallest (32 metres) construction on the ‘S&C’.
The impressive structure was designed by John Sydney Crossley, who was the Midland Railway’s chief engineer and responsible for all major structures along the route. Its construction was necessary to facilitate the railway’s path across the difficult terrain of the Yorkshire Dales, exposed as it is to the westerly winds. Building it was no easy feat.
Faced with limestone masonry brought from nearby quarries, the foundations of the viaduct had to be dug at depths of up to 7.5 metres (25ft) into the peat and clay, right down to solid rock. Steam-powered cranes were used to lift blocks of concrete into place, and the semicircular arches were made from a total of 1.5 million red bricks. It was a serious feat of engineering and sheer manpower.
Construction began in 1870 on the foundations for the viaduct (at the time being built by contractor William Henry Ashwell), but financial difficulties meant that just a year later the contractor was ousted and the Midland Railway employed its own labour.
Around 2,300 men were employed on the build, most of them navvies living with their families in shanty towns at the foot of the viaduct. These temporary accommodations were given names such as Belgravia, Batty Green and Jerusalem, and they even had their own schools, libraries and pubs. Nonetheless, it was a dangerous job and more than 100 workers died during the project, usually either from falling from the tall structure or from ill-health afforded by their poor living conditions.
The loss of life on the build was so extreme that the railway company paid for an expansion of the local graveyard. Today a number of memorials along the line commemorate the lives of those who died.
Just two years into the project, the plan was expanded from a viaduct with 18 arches to one with 24, each with a span of 13.7 metres (45 feet). However, the work was duly completed
in 1874, and the first passenger-carrying train crossed it in September that year. But it was August the following year before the viaduct opened to freight traffic, and May 1 1876 before passenger services fully began.
The viaduct has endured many a trial over the years. By the time it reached its first centenary, it was falling into disrepair and many of its piers had become weak through constant beating from the Yorkshire rain. Between 1981 and 1984 steel rails and concrete cladding were added to strengthen some of the worstaffected piers, and further repairs were carried out in 1988-89, including the installation of a waterproof membrane.
It was famously threatened with closure (along with the whole of the ‘S&C’) during the 1980s, when British Rail became concerned by the high cost of repairs to its major structures, including Ribblehead. But campaigning by the Friends of the Settle-Carlisle Line saved the railway and the iconic structure from closure in 1989. It was then Minister of State for Transport Michael Portillo who stopped the closure from taking place, saying that the arguments had been weakened by an improvement in passenger numbers and an overestimation of the costs of restoration work.
By then Ribblehead had also been Grade 2* listed and the surrounding land where the workers had lived recognised as a scheduled ancient monument. A major restoration programme followed in the 1990s to protect the future of the line and its key structures.
Today, Northern operates regular services on the line, still providing a vital link across the Yorkshire countryside, and the route is popular with charter companies running special tours through the scenic landscape. But the viaduct also holds a special place in local tourism, with its stunning location a popular stop (for which laybys, a tea wagon and the Station Inn are provided).
For the many trials of its past to result in Ribblehead Viaduct being recognised as one of
RAIL’s Seven Wonders of the Railway seems a fitting stage in its long existence.