Stambermill Viaduct

The viaduct was built for the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway (OWW). The OWW was under the influence of the Great Western Railway (GWR) and so commissioned the GWR's chief engineer, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, to survey the route for its line. Brunel designed three similar viaducts within the space of eight miles (12 kilometres) between Kidderminster and Stourbridge—the Hoo Brook Viaduct, shortly after leaving Kidderminster, Blakedown Viaduct, and Stambermill Viaduct. Brunel supervised the early stages of the construction of the line, including the three viaducts, and it opened from 1852. To save costs, Brunel designed all three viaducts as timber structures. The engineer famously…

Stambermill Viaduct carries the railway line across the River Stour, its valley, and Birmingham Street. It has ten equal arches and is 190 yd long, making the longest of the three viaducts on this stretch of line. It reaches a maximum height of 94 ft above the river. The arches are supported by tapering piers at the top of which are tall plinths and impost bands from which the arches spring. At the Birmingham Street end is a substantial buttress, containing a blind arch, and wing wall. The bridge is a Grade II listed building, first designated in September 1971, a status which provides it legal protection.