Wolverton Viaduct

Wolverton Viaduct is a railway viaduct built between 1837 and 1838 for the London and Birmingham Railway, designed by Robert Stephenson. It was widened on the east side between 1878 and 1882 by the London and North Western Railway to accommodate two additional lines. The viaduct is 201 metres long and 17.4 metres high and is constructed of red brick in English bond, with repairs using blue engineering bricks, and red sandstone dressings. The widened section uses blue engineering brick throughout. It has six elliptical main arches, 18.3 metres wide, carried on high, rectangular piers with D-shaped cutwaters at their bases and semi-domed caps. A prominent stone cornice and stone-coped parapet finish the structure, which was broken for refuges and had steel catenaries added during electrification in 1958. The six main arches are framed by giant pilaster buttresses featuring an extra stonework frieze band and oversized dentils to the cornice. The abutments have three smaller round-headed arches above impost bands, with a further semi-buried, round-headed arch at each end.

The viaduct carries the West Coast mainline, originally built by the London and Birmingham Railway, later becoming part of the London and North Western Railway in 1846 and then the London, Midland and Scottish Railway in 1923. It is the most impressive of the viaducts along the line, notable for its height, elaborate detailing and wide arches. It was an important landmark of the first trunk railway and one of the earliest viaducts of this scale. The line was quadrupled between 1879 and 1882, widening the viaduct by 9.5 metres, with a distinct visual joint denoting the two separate structures. Despite this widening, the viaduct’s appearance remains largely unchanged, aside from the addition of electric catenaries in 1958.