Wharncliffe Viaduct

Infobox Bridge
bridge_name=Wharncliffe Viaduct

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caption=Looking north, July 2006
official_name=
carries=trains, telecommunications via cables
crosses=River Brent
and Brent Valley
locale=London
(Hanwell/Southall)
maint=
id=
design=arch bridge, viaduct
mainspan=70 ft
length=886 ft
width=55 ft
height=
load=
clearance=
below=
traffic=
begin=1836
complete=1837
open=
closed=
toll=
map_cue=
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map_text=
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The Wharncliffe Viaduct is a brick-built viaduct that carries the Great Western Main Line railway across the Brent Valley, between Hanwell and Southall, Ealing, UK, at an elevation of 65 feet. The viaduct, built in 1836-7, was constructed for the opening of the Great Western Railway (GWR). It is situated between Southall and Hanwell stations, the latter station being only a very short distance away to the east.

The viaduct was the first major structural design by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the first building contract to be let on the GWR project, and the first major engineering work to be completed. It was also the first railway viaduct to be built with hollow piers,cite web
title =Wharncliffe Viaduct
work =(Grade 1 Listing)
publisher =Images of England
date =17 June 2000
url =http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/search/details.aspx?pid=1&id=201070
accessdate =2007-06-20 ] a feature much appreciated by a colony of bats who have since taken up residence within.

Design

Constructed of engineering brick, this 900-foot-long Georgian viaduct has eight semi-elliptical arches, each spanning 70 feet and rising 17 feet 6 inches. It is 55 feet wide. The supporting piers are hollow and tapered, rising to projecting stone cornices that held up the arch centring during construction. [cite web
last =
first =
authorlink =
coauthors =
title =Wharncliffe Viaduct
work =
publisher =Engineering Timelines
date =
url =http://www.engineering-timelines.com/scripts/engineeringItem.asp?id=444
format =
doi =
accessdate =2007-06-19 ]

When built, the viaduct was designed to carry two broad gauge tracks: the piers were 30 feet wide at ground level and 33 feet wide at deck level. The contractor was the partnership of Thomas Grissell and Samuel Morton Peto. The cost was £40,000.

As travel by rail became more popular and rail traffic grew, pressure mounted to have an additional local line. Also, the [http://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/docSummary.php?docID=60 Gauge Act of 1846] decreed that George Stephenson's narrow gauge should be the standard used for all railways across the country. Therefore, in 1877 the viaduct was widened by the addition of an extra row of piers and arches on the north side. Then in 1892 the broad gauge track was converted to narrow gauge, and this allowed enough width for four standard gauge tracks.A History of the County of Middlesex (1962). Hanwell: [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=22339&strquery=Wharncliffe%20GWR Introduction] . Vol 3: Shepperton, Staines, Stanwell, Sunbury, Teddington, Heston and Isleworth, Twickenham, Cowley, Cranford, West Drayton, Greenford, Hanwell, Harefield and Harlington, pp. 220-24. Date accessed: 19 June 2007.]

Notice how the visual impact of the over head electrification has been minimised by placing the supporting towers
for the catenary on the alternate centre lines of the viaduct's columns, thus maintaining symmetry of form.

On the central pier on the south side is a carving of the coat of arms of James Stuart Wortley Mackenzie, Lord Wharncliffe, who was chairman of the parliamentary committee that steered the passage of the GWR Bill through Parliament.

First viaduct to carry telegraph

Brunel was quick to see the possible advantages of the early electric telegraph system for use in running the railway. In 1838 he persuaded Sir Charles Wheatstone and William Fothergill Cooke to install their five-needle telegraph system between Paddington Station and West Drayton and to carry out experiments. [ [http://www.aim25.ac.uk/cgi-bin/search2?coll_id=2892&inst_id=6 Archives in London – Wheatstone (accessed 22 June 2007)] ] It proved to be useful, so the viaduct thus carried the world's first "commercial" electrical telegraph, on 9 April 1839.At first, the seven-core cables were carried inside cast iron pipes, on short wooden spikes, a few feet from the side of the railway line. But from January 1843, the public were treated to the sight of telegraph wires against the sky line, across the top of the viaduct, for the first time. Cook had renegotiated the contract with the GWR and extended the telegraph to Slough, using a simpler two-needle instrument that could be supplied with just two wires suspended from porcelain insulators on poles. [http://distantwriting.co.uk/cookewheatstone.aspx Distant Writing – Cooke & Wheatstone (Accessed 22 June 2007)]

On 16 May 1843 the Paddington-to-Slough telegraph went public, becoming Britain's first public telegraph service. Despite being something of a publicity stunt for Cooke, it became very popular, and HM Government were frequently using it for communication with the royal household at Windsor Castle nearby.

In early 1845, John Tawell was apprehended following the use of a needle telegraph message from Slough to Paddington on 1 January 1845. This is thought to be the first use of the telegraph to catch a murderer.

The message was:::"A murder has just been committed at Salt Hill and the suspected murderer was seen to take a first class ticket to London by the train that left Slough at 7.42pm. He is in the garb of a Kwaker with a brown great coat on which reaches his feet. He is in the last compartment of the second first-class carriage"

As the telecommunication traffic grew, the viaduct came to carry one of the trunk routes for the transatlantic cables, and more recently fibre-optic cables. [ [http://www.atlantic-cable.com/ Atlantic Cable] ]

Public recognition

The viaduct was among the first structures to be listed, being defined as a Grade 1 listed building on 8 November, 1949 (the legal framework for listing was introduced in 1947).

Sir Nikolaus Pevsner, CBE, the historian of art and architecture, said of it, "Few viaducts have such architectural panache." [Pevsner N B L (1991). The buildings of England, London 3: North-West. ISBN 0-300-09652-6]

It is one of the key locations in the bid for historic parts of the original GWR main line from Paddington to be recognised as a World Heritage Site. [The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) [http://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/1319/ The Great Western Railway: Paddington-Bristol (selected parts)] Accessed 2007-06-19]

On the nearby Uxbridge Road, an eighteenth-century coaching inn was renamed "The Viaduct" in its honour when the railway opened. This pub, which is itself listed as of local interest, still contains parts of the original stable block. [cite web
title =The Viaduct Pub, Hanwell
work = – A brief history
publisher =The Viaduct
url =http://www.the-viaduct.com/index.asp?page=History
accessdate =2007-06-19 ]

Bat colony

The hollow cavities within the structure of the supporting piers, provide convenient roosting places for bats. [cite web
title =Hanwell parks and open spaces
work = (Churchfield's Recreation Ground)
publisher =Ealing Council
url =http://www.ealing.gov.uk/services/leisure/parks_and_open_spaces/find_a_park_or_open_space/hanwell.html
accessdate =2007-06-20 ] These 'bat caves' have been given legal protection under the Countryside Act (1981). [cite web
title =Countryside Act, 1981: Schedule 5 (Animals)
publisher =Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC)
url =http://www.jncc.gov.uk/page-1815
accessdate =2007-06-20 ] Bats are vulnerable to disturbance and the Act requires that only trained and licensed batworkers may enter caves and other areas where bats roost.

The Parks and Countryside Service of the London Borough of Ealing, in conjunction with Network Rail and the London Bat Group, have worked to safeguard the colonies by providing entrance grilles and hibernation shelters for each roost.

It is not clear which species of bat is resident; indeed, there may be several. Identification usually requires capture and expert knowledge. However, the most likely candidate is Daubenton's bat ("Myotis daubentonii"), since this species forms colonies in caves, tunnels and under bridges, always near water (in this case, the River Brent), and is known to reside in other locations in west London. [cite web | title =Bats of London | publisher =London Bat Group | url =http://www.londonbats.org.uk/lonbats.htm | accessdate =2007-06-20 ]

It is quite likely that this viaduct is the largest bat cave complex in the whole of London, and possibly the south of England, as no other roost approaching this size has so far been reported.

Location

The Wharncliffe Viaduct is best viewed from Brent Meadow on the south side, accessed from the Uxbridge Road, opposite Ealing Hospital. This is an area being maintained as a traditional hay meadow and is part of the Brent River Park.

The river Brent has marked the Hanwell boundary almost unchanged since before Doomsday and so, most of the viaduct to the west of it, resides in Southall.

Time line

The history of the viaduct has been largely uneventful. Of those things that have been recorded:

1836

A large body of Irish engaged in constructing the Great Western Railway went to The Stag beerhouse, where a few Englishmen had assembled, and a row commenced. Hearing that the Rev. Dr. Walmisley, the rector, had dispatched a messenger to Brentford for the police, their rage was diverted to that worthy magistrate, whom they threatened to sacrifice to their fury. Three prisoners were sentenced to two months in the House of Correction by the magistrates, who sent a letter to the Company, and stated that unless something was done, it would be necessary to apply to the Government for a body of police or military, to be stationed at Hanwell. [cite book
last =Sharpe
first =Sir Montagu
title =Some accounts of bygone Hanwell
publisher =The Brentford Printing and Publishing Coy. Ltd.
date =1924
location =Middlesex, London. UK
pages =pg 97
doi =
id = ]

3 May 1838 First trains run. The first locomotives to cross were the Vulcan and the Aeolus built by Tayleur and Co., of Warringtion and the more famous North Star, built by Robert Stephenson and Company at Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

4 June 1838

The line opened to the public. [ The Times, Saturday, June 4 1938; pg. 9; issue 48012; col C]

1839

Trains on the new railway left Hanwell for Paddington every morning at 8 and 11, and at 3 and 7 p.m. Also westwards for Slough and Maidenhead, at 9.30 a.m., and at 1.30, 4.30, and 8.30 p.m.

Locally, it is often repeated to this day, that Queen Victoria so much enjoyed the view that she would have her train halt for a while on Brunel's spectacular viaduct over the river Brent.

1847

The engine of an Exeter Express lost a tyre of a 7 foot drive wheel near Southall. It killed two passers by and derailed a goods train on the other track. As this happened at high speed it was unable to stop until it had passed over the Wharncliffe viaduct. [Brunel University West London. [http://www.brunel.ac.uk/about/history/ikb/broad/broad3 Broad gauge trilogy] . Accessed 2007-06-23] [cite book
last =Oates
first =Jonathan
authorlink =
coauthors =
title =Southall and Hanwell
publisher =Tempus Publishing Ltd.
date =
location =Gloucestershire GL5 2QG UK
pages =
url =
doi =
id = ]

Second World War

With the industrial base of Britain being so dependent on its rail system back then, this viaduct was seen by the Luftwaffe as one of their strategic targets. Local people still remember, the many attempts made by the Luftwaffe to destroy it. Had they succeeded, it would have severed the arterial link, to and out of, the west London industrial estates for many weeks -if not months. All raids however, fell wide of their mark or the bombs failed to explode.

24 November 2002

A First Great Western Train travelling from Swansea to Paddington at approximately 120 mph derailed shortly after it passed through a set of points close to Southall station. The train remained upright but travelled a further 2 miles passing an oncoming High Speed Train, through Hanwell station, and over Wharncliffe viaduct before coming to a halt. There were no injuries to the 450 passengers on board, but the driver had to be treated for shock. [cite press release
title =Network Rail and Amey fined for major train derailment (ORR/27/06)
publisher =Office of Rail Regulation
date =12 September 2006
url =http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/server/show/ConWebDoc.8270
accessdate =2007-06-23 ]

ee also

*River Brent
*List of railway bridges and viaducts in the United Kingdom

References

External links

*
* [http://www.scienceandsociety.co.uk/results.asp?
] – "drawing commissioned by the GWR for a book of stations and railway infrastructure."
* [http://www.londonbats.org.uk/ The London Bat Group] Accessed 2007-06-18
* [http://www.flickr.com/photos/that_james/538495546/ Photo of grille preventing human access to bat roosts]
* [http://www.flickr.com/photos/that_james/538612033/ Photo of information board under the viaduct.]