Sapperton Tunnel
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| Railway tunnels with cutting | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Line | Golden Valley Line |
| Location | Sapperton, Gloucestershire |
| Status | operational |
| Technical | |
| Length | 1 mile 104 yards |
| Gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) |
The Sapperton Tunnels are located about seven miles East South East of Stroud in Gloucestershire, England.
[edit] History
The railway tunnel was begun by the Cheltenham and Great Western Union railway in 1839 and taken over by the Great Western Railway in 1843, being completed in 1845.[1]
There are three in total: the Sapperton Canal Tunnel at 2 miles 288 yards (3482m), and the two Sapperton railway tunnels, the longer being 1 mile 104 yards (1704m) in length,[2] and the shorter one at just 353 yards (323m).[3]
The canal tunnel was formerly the fourth longest canal tunnel in the country (after Standedge, Yorkshire, 3 miles 418 yards (5210m); Strood, Kent, 2 miles 492 yards (3669m); and Lapal, on the edge of the Black Country near Halesowen, 2 miles 297 yards (3490m)). It was the biggest engineering feature of the Thames & Severn Canal, and the longest tunnel of any kind in England between 1789 and 1811, but has now fallen into disrepair.
The Sapperton railway tunnels, which follow a similar route, are on the Golden Valley Line from Stroud to Swindon.
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ 'Sapperton: Introduction', A History of the County of Gloucester: Volume 11. Bisley and Longtree Hundreds. 1976. p. 87–90. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=19050. Retrieved 31 August 2009.
- ^ 51°43′25″N 2°6′6″W / 51.72361°N 2.10167°WCoordinates: 51°43′25″N 2°6′6″W / 51.72361°N 2.10167°W to 51°42′59.5″N 2°4′48″W / 51.716528°N 2.08°W
- ^ 51°42′58.5″N 2°4′44.5″W / 51.71625°N 2.079028°W to 51°42′54″N 2°4′30″W / 51.715°N 2.075°W
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