Solway Viaduct
Railway Viaduct (19th Century)
Site Name Solway Viaduct
Classification Railway Viaduct (19th Century)
Alternative Name(s) Solway Firth; River Eden; Seafield; Solway Junction Railway
Canmore ID 67045
Site Number NY26SW 33
NGR NY 2062 6450
NGR Description NY 2062 6450 to NY 2124 6260
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/67045
- Council Dumfries And Galloway
- Parish Annan
- Former Region Dumfries And Galloway
- Former District Annandale And Eskdale
- Former County Dumfries-shire
NY26SW 33 2062 6450 to 2124 6260
Dismantled Railway [NAT]
(at NY 205 647 and 212 625)
OS 1:10,000 map, 1976.
Extends into England.
This viaduct was designed to carry the main line of the Solway Junction Railway across the Solway Firth between Kirtlebridge (on the Caledonian Railway) and Brayton (on the main line of the Maryport and Carlisle Railway). It opened to mineral traffic on 13 September 1869 and to passengers on 8 August 1870, being conceived (in a time of boom) to carry Furness iron ore to Lanarkshire while avoiding the bottleneck of Carlisle. It was the longest viaduct in Britain, until the completion of the first Tay Bridge.
In the winter of 1875-6 the bridge suffered severe damage from ice floes and in 1881 forty-five of the piers were destroyed by the same agency. This damage was subsequently repaired but traffic continued to decline and arrears of maintenance necessitated its closure on 1 February 1915. After being rejected for use as a road bridge, it was demolished in 1934-5.
M Smith 1994.
(Originally noted by RCAHMS as Seafield, Breakwater at NY 2062 6446). This viaduct formerly carried rail traffic from Seafield, near Annan, Dumfriesshire (NY 2062 6450) to Kelswyn House near Bowness-on-Solway, Cumbria, England (NY 2124 6260), by-passing the major railway centre of Carlisle. Only the approach embankments now remain.
Information from RCAHMS (RJCM), 11 June 1996.
