- Sapperton Tunnel
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For the Vancouver SkyTrain station, see Sapperton Station.
Sapperton tunnel 
Railway tunnels with cutting Overview Line Golden Valley Line Location Sapperton, Gloucestershire Status operational Technical Length 1 mile 104 yards Gauge 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) The Sapperton Tunnels are located about seven miles East South East of Stroud in Gloucestershire, England.
History
The railway tunnel was begun by the Cheltenham and Great Western Union railway in 1839 and taken over by the Great Western Railway in 1843, being completed in 1845.[1]
There are three in total: the Sapperton Canal Tunnel at 2 miles 288 yards (3482m), and the two Sapperton railway tunnels, the longest being 1 mile 104 yards (1704m) in length,[2] and the shorter one at just 353 yards (323m).[3]
The canal tunnel was formerly the fourth longest canal tunnel in the country (after Standedge, Yorkshire, 3 miles 418 yards (5210m); Strood, Kent, 2 miles 492 yards (3669m); and Lapal, on the edge of the Black Country near Halesowen, 2 miles 297 yards (3490m)). It was the biggest engineering feature of the Thames & Severn Canal, and the longest tunnel of any kind in England between 1789 and 1811, but has but now fallen into disrepair.
The Sapperton railway tunnels, which follow a similar route, are on the Golden Valley Line from Stroud to Swindon.
Footnotes
- ^ 'Sapperton: Introduction', A History of the County of Gloucester: Volume 11. Bisley and Longtree Hundreds. 1976. p. 87–90. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=19050. Retrieved 31 August 2009.
- ^ 51°43′25″N 2°6′6″W / 51.72361°N 2.10167°WCoordinates: 51°43′25″N 2°6′6″W / 51.72361°N 2.10167°W to 51°42′59.5″N 2°4′48″W / 51.716528°N 2.08°W
- ^ 51°42′58.5″N 2°4′44.5″W / 51.71625°N 2.079028°W to 51°42′54″N 2°4′30″W / 51.715°N 2.075°W
Categories:- Canals in Gloucestershire
- Transport in Gloucestershire
- Buildings and structures in Gloucestershire
- Railway tunnels in England
- Tunnels completed in 1839
- Gloucestershire geography stubs
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