Chapel Milton Viaduct

The Midland Railway opened a new line via Chapel-en-le-Frith Central and Great Rocks Dale, linking the Manchester, Buxton, Matlock and Midland Junction Railway with the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway, in 1867, giving it an express through route for the first time between Manchester and London. The Midland's Engineer-in-Chief for the project was William Henry Barlow (known for designing the train shed at St Pancras at around the same time), and he designed, along with the rest of the structures on the line, the Chapel Milton Viaduct which curves to the west at the junction with the MS&LR. The fifteen-arch bridge was required to carry the railway across a deep valley formed by…

The viaduct has two curved arcades, converging to the south with fourteen arches to the east and fifteen to the west. The central arch of the western arcade is blocked with a blind venetian arch; it is filled with clay to help reduce vibration. It has tapering rectangular piers with a projecting string course at the top. All arches are stilted and voussoired, with a string course and parapet wall over, topped by projecting copings. The masonry of the viaduct is composed of rubble work in regular courses, and the span of each arch is 42 feet. The gradient of the line over the viaduct is 1 in 90 throughout; at its highest point it is 102 feet from water to rail level.