Midland Counties Railway Viaduct, Rugby on:
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The Midland Counties Railway viaduct (sometimes referred to as the Avon Viaduct and known locally as the Eleven Arches Viaduct) is a disused
After being derelict for decades, the viaduct was brought back into use as a footpath and cycleway in 2012, as part of a £1 million scheme by Rugby Borough Council and the cycling charity
railway
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
viaduct
A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide v ...
at Rugby, Warwickshire
Rugby is a market town in eastern Warwickshire, England, close to the River Avon. In the 2021 census its population was 78,125, making it the second-largest town in Warwickshire. It is the main settlement within the larger Borough of Rugby whi ...
, which crosses over both the A426 Rugby to Leicester road, and the River Avon to the north of Rugby town centre.
Architecture
The viaduct is approximately long and consists of eleven elliptical arches, high and wide. It is built of redbrick
A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...
, with a facing of Staffordshire blue brick
Staffordshire blue brick is a strong type of construction brick, originally made in Staffordshire, England.
The brick is made from the local red clay, Etruria marl, which when fired at a high temperature in a low-oxygen reducing atmosphere ta ...
s covering the entire structure apart from impost bands at the tops of the piers and a narrow cornice
In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...
. It was one of the earliest large structures to make such extensive use of blue engineering bricks.
History
The double track viaduct was built to cross the Avon valley in 1839 by Charles Blacker Vignoles as part of theMidland Counties Railway
The Midland Counties' Railway (MCR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom which existed between 1839 and 1844, connecting Nottingham, Leicester and Derby with Rugby and thence, via the London and Birmingham Railway, to London. The MCR s ...
(MCR) and opened in 1840. It formed part of the MCR's line from Derby
Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...
and Nottingham
Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...
to Rugby via Leicester
Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands.
The city l ...
. From Rugby, MCR trains could join the London and Birmingham Railway
The London and Birmingham Railway (L&BR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom, in operation from 1833 to 1846, when it became part of the London and North Western Railway (L&NWR).
The railway line which the company opened in 1838, betw ...
to access London. The MCR also connected with other lines at its northern end, making the viaduct part of the main railway route from London to the East Midlands and Yorkshire for the first decade of its life, until more direct routes were opened. Besides a viaduct over the River Trent, the viaduct at Rugby was the only substantial bridge on the route and is the only one to survive in its original condition (the Trent viaduct was rebuilt as two bridges in the 1890s). It is one of the UK's oldest disused railway viaducts.
The main line over the viaduct was closed in January 1962, but trains continued to use it until May 1965, serving the Oxford Canal
The Oxford Canal is a narrowboat canal in central England linking the City of Oxford with the Coventry Canal at Hawkesbury (just north of Coventry and south of Bedworth) via Banbury and Rugby. Completed in 1790, it connects to the River Thame ...
basin at nearby Newbold-on-Avon
Newbold-on-Avon (usually shortened to just Newbold) is a suburb of Rugby in Warwickshire, England, located around 1½ miles north-west of the town centre, it is adjacent to the River Avon from which the suffix is derived. Newbold was historicall ...
.
Reuse as a cycleway
After being derelict for decades, the viaduct was brought back into use as a footpath and cycleway in 2012, as part of a £1 million scheme by Rugby Borough Council and the cycling charity Sustrans
Sustrans is a United Kingdom-based walking, wheeling and cycling charity, and the custodian of the National Cycle Network.
Its flagship project is the National Cycle Network, which has created of signed cycle routes throughout the United Kin ...
, in order to create a traffic free route from Rugby town centre to the northern suburbs of Newbold and Brownsover
Brownsover is a residential and commercial area of Rugby, Warwickshire in England, about miles north of the town centre. The area is named after the original hamlet of Brownsover. Since 1960, the area has been subsumed by the expansion of Rugby, ...
, and the Brownsover industrial estate.
Listing
The viaduct gained Grade II listing in February 2000. It met the criteria for listing because of its "age, design quality, unaltered nature and its association with an important engineer and railway company".See also
*Brandon Viaduct
Brandon Viaduct (also known as Wolston Viaduct or the Avon Viaduct) is a railway viaduct crossing the River Avon between the villages of Brandon and Wolston in Warwickshire. It carries the Birmingham Loop line and is roughly half way between Ru ...
, another bridge sometimes known as Avon Viaduct; crosses the same river to the west
*List of crossings of the River Avon, Warwickshire
This is a list of crossings of the River Avon, Warwickshire, River Avon in England (including bridges, tunnels, ferries and fords), in order from its source in Northamptonshire, through or adjoining the county, counties of Leicestershire, Northa ...
References
{{coord, 52.384531, -1.263976, display=title Buildings and structures in Rugby, Warwickshire Grade II listed bridges in Warwickshire Bridges in Warwickshire