Norden Tunnel 1

Norden Tunnel is a plateway tunnel dated 1807, constructed from coursed stone rubble with dressed stone arch rings. It features a round arch and is approximately 23 metres long. The keystone of the west portal is inscribed with "B.F. 1807." The tunnel was built for Benjamin Fayle, a shipping agent and insurance broker from London, who leased the Norden clay pits from William Morton Pitt in 1804. By 1806, Fayle had created a plateway connecting the clay pits to Middlebere Quay on Poole Harbour, allowing clay to be transported by horse-drawn train. This plateway was one of the earliest railways in southern England and remained in use as a horse-drawn tramway until around 1905, when a new line was constructed. Currently, the tunnel carries a watercourse.