Description and History of Site:-
Tunnel on the Leeds & Thirsk railway between the Aire and Wharfe Valleys. Four oval ventilation shafts. The northern portal is well-known for its two castle-like masonry towers that flank the tunnel mouth. The southern portal is plainer in design but still quite striking. One 'sighting' or survey tower remains. Bramhope tunnel is 2 miles 241 yd long and has a maximum depth of about 290 ft. It cuts through the ridge separating the Aire and the Wharfe valleys and was built between 1845 and 1849 for the Leeds and Thirsk Railway. This later became the Leeds Northern, then the North Eastern, then the London and North Eastern, then British Railways and currently Network Rail. The Engineer was Thomas Grainger of Edinburgh and the Contractor James Bray of Leeds.

The first works involved the construction of two survey or 'sighting' towers. One can be seen at SE 24742 42515. These were used as fixed surface reference points in setting out the locations for the construction shafts. One of the survey towers still stands. The number of construction shafts involved varies somewhat between sources, though 15 are marked on the OS 6 inch survey of 1847-8 (published 1851) in addition to the two survey towers. Work on the construction shafts began on the 20th October 1845 and the clear path from north to south portal is thought to have been obtained on 27th November 1848. The tunnel was formally opened on July 4th 1849

It was a difficult job on which a peak of 2300 men and 400 horses were employed and 1600 million gallons of water had to be pumped out. The strata vary from hard sandstone at the south end, through shales, to clay at the north end, and dip southward: there are seven major faults towards the centre of the bore. The tunnel is on a falling gradient northwards and had at least 34 working faces, namely the two portals, construction shafts 1 to 14, plus two additional shafts at the south end. There may have been three others. Four were made into permanent ventilation shafts of large size, 40 ft x 30 ft, greater than that of the tunnel itself. The remaining construction shafts were eventually sealed and filled in. The original cross section was 25ft 6in high by 25 ft wide.

Most of Grainger's work displays very high-quality masonry, and the portals at Bramhope are no exception. That at the south end near Horsforth is comparatively plain but in some ways the more striking. The northern portal near Arthington is well known for its two castle-like towers, one large (at one time used as a residence) and one smaller, together with the Company's heraldic device above the tunnel mouth between them. A model of this portal is in Otley Churchyard as a memorial to the men who died during the tunnel construction.

During the driving of the tunnel, very considerable quantities of spring water were encountered prompting the Railway Company to propose setting themselves up as a water-works to supply not only the railway station in Leeds but also potential consumers along the railway line. This proposal was opposed by the Leeds water-works who obtained an Act of Parliament enabling them to use the water themselves. Ironically, Leeds never progressed the works which, as it turned out, would have been very valuable during the sustained drought of 1850-51 when the water supplies to Leeds from the Eccup scheme were considerably threatened.

The tunnel is still regarded as particularly 'wet'. Over it's life, an average outflow of 1.5 million gallons per day has been recorded. In 2003 and 2006 major works were conducted to replace the track-bed and improve the drainage.

The following elements are all listed Grade II:

South Portal, List Entry Number 1239959
North Portal, List Entry Number 1253370
Cutting to the south, List Entry Number 1261803
Sighting Tower, List Entry Number 1253379
Otley Memorial, List Entry Number 1135240

Further Reading and References:-
Cossons, Neil. 'The BP Book of Industrial Archaeology'. 1975, David & Charles
Barbey MF, Civil Engineering Heritage - Northern England, Thomas Telford, 1981
http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Bramhope_Tunnel
https://www.networkrail.co.uk/stories/the-architecture-the-railway-built-bramhope-tunnel/

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Key Words :- railway tunnel

Viewing the Site :- Can be viewed at various points along its route

Address :- Bramhope, Leeds, West Yorkshire
Grid Ref :- SE 2558 4380
Co-ordinates :- Lat 53.889756 , Long -1.612284
Local Authority :- Leeds Council
Pre 1974 County :- Yorkshire - West Riding
Site Status :- Listed - Grade II
Historic England List No - 1239959, 1253370, 1261803, 1253379, 1135240,
Site Condition :- Operational site, in use for original purpose
Site Dates :- 1849 - current
Record Date :- 26 September 2016

Copyright :- cc-by-nc-sa 4.0 © John Suter