GWR Route: Banbury to Wolverhampton

Harbury Cutting and Tunnel: gwrhc1575

Looking through the mouth of the 73 yard Harbury Tunnel viewed from the western (Leamington Spa) end. Built for the Birmingham and Oxford Junction Railway to broad gauge proportions between 1847 and 1852, the portico once had a moulded pattern in Norman style on the arch. Originally it was intended to build a longer tunnel, but unstable ground resulted in a cutting 110 feet deep being constructed instead. This required massive brick retaining wing walls to be constructed at both ends of the tunnel.

Robert Ferris

back