Wolverton Viaduct
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Haversham Road, Wolverton MK12 5
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Visit websiteThe London and Birmingham Railway (L&BR) was an early railway company from 1833 until 1846, at which date it became a constituent part of the London and North Western Railway. The 112 mile (180km) long railway line that the company built between London and Birmingham was, when it opened in 1838, one of the first intercity railway lines in the world, and the first railway line to be built into London. It survives to the present day as the southern section of the West Coast Main Line.
The line was engineered by Robert Stephenson. It started at Euston Station in London, and travelled north-north-westward until reaching Rugby, where it turned west to Coventry and thence to Birmingham, In Birmingham the line terminated at Curzon Street Station, which it shared with the Grand Junction Railway (GJR), whose platforms were adjacent. This provided a link to the Liverpool & Manchester Railway (L&MR).
A brick railway viaduct was built to carry the railway over the River Great Ouse. The viaduct has six semi-eliptical arches spanning 60ft (18 m) each between solid piers.
The hollow abutments are punctuated by semi-circular arches with 15ft (4.5 m) spans. Stephenson formalised this design for most railway bridges on the line: an early example of standardisation.
In 1881 the viaduct was widened to the west to allow for more tracks. The new work is similar to the original and the join can seen as the two are not bonded together.
The tracks run 50ft (15 m) above the water and the viaduct is now 53ft (16 m) across.
Best seen from a footpath along the river accessed from Haversham Road, a continuation of Wolverton Road which runs past Wolverton railway station.
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