Neidpath Viaduct, occasionally known as the Queen's Bridge, consists of eight stone

skew arch A skew arch (also known as an oblique arch) is a method of construction that enables an arch bridge to span an obstacle at some angle other than a right angle. This results in the faces of the arch not being perpendicular to its abutments and its ...

es and was built to carry the Symington to

Peebles Peebles ( gd, Na Pùballan) is a town in the Scottish Borders, Scotland. It was historically a royal burgh and the county town of Peeblesshire. According to the 2011 census, the population was 8,376 and the estimated population in June 2018 wa ...

branch line of the

Caledonian Railway The Caledonian Railway (CR) was a major Scottish railway company. It was formed in the early 19th century with the objective of forming a link between English railways and Glasgow. It progressively extended its network and reached Edinburgh an ...

over the

River Tweed The River Tweed, or Tweed Water ( gd, Abhainn Thuaidh, sco, Watter o Tweid, cy, Tuedd), is a river long that flows east across the Border region in Scotland and northern England. Tweed cloth derives its name from its association with the ...

to the south-west of

Neidpath Castle Neidpath Castle is an L-plan rubble-built tower house, overlooking the River Tweed about west of Peebles in the Borders of Scotland. The castle is both a wedding venue and filming location and can be viewed by appointment. History An early cast ...

. Now closed to rail traffic the bridge is used as a footpath.

History

The Symington, Biggar and Broughton Railway's extension to Peebles was authorised on 3 July 1860 but by the time construction was complete the company had been absorbed by the much larger Caledonian Railway. The bridge was designed by Robert Murray, a local engineer living in Peebles, and George Cunningham, Consultant Engineer to the Caledonian Railway, and built of sandstone ashlar blocks. All eight arches are semicircular, skewed and constructed with helical courses, crossing the Tweed obliquely with four of the piers in the water, and the whole structure is built on a graceful curve of radius so as to align the route with nearby Neidpath Tunnel, at the eastern end of the viaduct and to the south of Neidpath Castle. In addition to the curve, the level of the trackbed falls approximately 6 feet (1.8 m) from west to east. The similar but smaller

Lyne Viaduct Lyne Viaduct is a viaduct at Lyne in the Scottish Borders of Scotland. It consists of three stone skew arches and a plate girder approach span over a minor road and was built to carry the Symington to Peebles branch line of the Caledonian Railw ...

is located a little to the west and is often confused with this bridge. On 1 January 1923 ownership of the viaduct, along with the rest of the Caledonian Railway, passed to the London, Midland and Scottish Railway and thence to the Scottish region of British Railways on nationalisation in 1948. The line lost its regular passenger traffic on 5 June 1950 and closed completely on 7 June 1954 but the Category A

listed structure In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

, one of the finest examples of skew arch construction in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

, remains as part of a footpath, the picturesque setting being popular with

ramblers The Ramblers is the trading name of the Ramblers Association, Great Britain's leading walking charity. The Ramblers is also a membership organisation with around 100,000 members and a network of volunteers who maintain and protect the path ...

Gallery

References

{{River Tweed Railway bridges in Scotland Skew bridges Bridges across the River Tweed Transport in Scotland Bridges completed in 1863 Category A listed buildings in the Scottish Borders Listed bridges in Scotland Viaducts in Scotland Stone arch bridges

History

Gallery

See also

References