South Ventilation Shaft, Kilsby Tunnel is a Grade II* listed building in the West Northamptonshire local planning authority area, England. First listed on 11 March 1987. Ventilation shaft.
South Ventilation Shaft, Kilsby Tunnel
- WRENN ID
- third-parapet-meadow
- Grade
- II*
- Local Planning Authority
- West Northamptonshire
- Constituency
- Daventry MP: Stuart Andrew (Con)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 11 March 1987
- Type
- Ventilation shaft
- Address
- South Ventilation Shaft, Kilsby Tunnel, London to Birmingham Railway
- OS grid reference
- SP 574 703
- Coordinates
- 52.32782, -1.15902
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The South Ventilation Shaft of Kilsby Tunnel is a ventilation shaft built around 1838, designed by engineer Robert Stephenson. It is constructed from random blue and red brick with stone dressings. The shaft is circular in shape and features square recesses around its base, a machicolated stone frieze, and a castellated parapet. The London to Birmingham railway, under the supervision of Robert Stephenson, was constructed between 1833 and 1838, with the Kilsby Tunnel opening in 1838 and measuring approximately 2,194 metres in length. The ventilation shafts were built from the top down, with small sections of the wall excavated at a time. The interior base of the shafts inside the tunnel is depicted in lithographs by J.C. Bourne from around 1838, which are held in The Science Museum, London.
Local climate
South Ventilation Shaft, Kilsby Tunnel receives an average of 750 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 71% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 68% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 37 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 69% of listed buildings. Of these, 18 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
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- No EPC on record for this property
- No sale records on file
- No related consent applications matched
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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