Grosmont Tunnel

The Grosmont Tunnels are two separate railway tunnels adjoining each other in the village of Grosmont, North Yorkshire, England. The first tunnel was built in 1835 and has now become a pedestrian route through to the North York Moors Railway (NYMR) engine sheds on the south side of the hill.

Grosmont Tunnel
A shot of two stone railway tunnels side by side
The tunnels at Grosmont Station; the original tunnel is on the left
Overview
LineNorth York Moors Railway
LocationGrosmont, North Yorkshire, England
Coordinates54.434°N 0.724°W / 54.434; -0.724
StatusHeritage
Start1834
End1835
Operation
Opened1835
Rebuilt1845

The original tunnel was superseded by a new bore in the 1840s that was sited immediately west of the old tunnel. The 1830s tunnel is now the only original structure built by the Whitby & Pickering Railway (W&P) that is under the care of the NYMR.

History

The first tunnel was started in 1834 and completed in 1835.[1][2] It was located on the initial stretch of the horse operated W&P which had reached a point that was known as just 'Tunnel', which became known as Grosmont by 1894.[note 1][3][4] Initially, services only ran between Whitby and Grosmont (Tunnel) as the tunnel was still being constructed when the horse tramway opened. The Tunnel Inn was built in the village to accommodate passengers[5] (though the grade II listed building is now known by the name of The Station Tavern and is one of the first permanent surviving structures built by the Whitby & Pickering Railway).[6] Not many of the structures from the original Whitby & Pickering Railway exist, and the Horse Tunnel is the only one which is maintained by the NYMR.[7]

The first tunnel, which is 120 yards (110 m) long, is sometimes referred to as Grosmont Old Tunnel[8] or as the Horse Tunnel as the initial railway was a horse operated tramway.[9] Both bores tunnel under Lease Rigg,[10] a hill just south of Grosmont which when the first tunnel was excavated, was found to contain iron ore. Various kilns sprung up in the area to exploit the mineral commercially.[11]

The Horse Tunnel is castellated at its northern portal but plainer at the southern end. In his book, The North Yorkshire Moors Railway, Michael Vanns states that in the early days of railway building, such castellations were significant of the railway company's individuality and also to assure passengers of the safety of the structure they were about to enter.[12] The Horse Tunnel is believed to have been designed and built by George Stephenson, who was the overall engineer for the whole route from Whitby to Pickering.[13] Because of its early construction date, it is reputed to be the oldest castellated tunnel in England[14] and also one of the oldest passenger railway tunnels in England.[3][15]

When the railway was upgraded to steam locomotion in the 1840s by the York and North Midland Railway (Y&NMR), the Horse Tunnel was not big enough to accommodate trains, so a longer tunnel, 146 yards (134 m) long,[16] was constructed to the west and was double track throughout.[17] The original tunnel was retained to allow access to the workman's cottages on the south side of the tunnel.[18] It was designed by John Cass Birkenshaw (the then architect for the Y&NMR), was grade II listed in 1989 and is still used by trains on the NYMR.[19]

When the railway was re-opened as a heritage concern in 1973,[20] the Horse Tunnel was used as an access point to the NYMR engine sheds which are located at the southern portal of both tunnels. The Horse Tunnel is now grade II* listed[21] and is still in use as a thoroughfare to allow visitors to the NYMR access to viewing areas around the engine sheds.[22][23] In the 2016 autumn gala on the NYMR, temporary track was laid through the tunnel to a 2 ft (610 mm) gauge, thereby allowing steams trains to work through the Horse Tunnel for the first time in its 180-year history.[24][25]

Notes
  1. The village name was taken from the Grandmontine priory that was located near to the village that was known as Growmond. The monks who founded the priory who had come from Grandimont in Normandy.

References
  1. Suggitt, Gordon (2005). Lost railways of North and East Yorkshire. Newbury: Countryside Books. p. 86. ISBN 978-1-85306-918-5.
  2. "Grosmont Station". nymr.co.uk. Retrieved 24 December 2017.
  3. "Grosmont to Beck Hole: North York Moors National Park". northyorkmoors.org.uk. Retrieved 24 December 2017.
  4. Chrystal, Paul (2017). The Place Names of Yorkshire; Cities, Towns, Villages and Dales. Catrine: Stenlake. p. 39. ISBN 9781840337532.
  5. Pevsner, Nikolaus (2002). Yorkshire, the North Riding. New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 176. ISBN 0-300-09665-8.
  6. Historic England. "Station Tavern (Grade II) (1148749)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 24 December 2017.
  7. "Whitby and Pickering Railway (1832 – 1845)". nymr.co.uk. Retrieved 25 December 2017.
  8. Deaves, Phil. "Railway tunnel lengths, G-P". www.railwaycodes.org.uk. Retrieved 23 December 2017.
  9. "Remembering a lifetime spent 'chasing' steam". Whitby Gazette. 22 April 2013. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  10. "OL27" (Map). North York Moors - Eastern area. 1:25,000. Explorer. Ordnance Survey. 2016. ISBN 9780319242667.
  11. Vanns 2017, p. 15.
  12. Vanns 2017, p. 12.
  13. "Engineering Timelines - Grosmont Horse Tunnel". www.engineering-timelines.com. Retrieved 25 December 2017.
  14. Pragnell, Hubert John (October 2016). "Early British Railway Tunnels" (PDF). whiterose.ac.uk. University of York. p. 247. Retrieved 24 December 2017.
  15. Rennison, R W, ed. (1996). Civil engineering heritage (2 ed.). London: T. Telford. pp. 139–140. ISBN 07277-2518-1.
  16. Brailsford, Martyn (2016). Railway Track Diagrams Book 2: Eastern. Frome: Trackmaps. 48. ISBN 978-0-9549866-8-1.
  17. Vanns 2017, p. 20.
  18. Chapman, Stephen (2008). York to Scarborough, Whitby & Ryedale. Todmorden: Bellcode Books. p. 5. ISBN 9781871233193.
  19. Historic England. "North York Moors Railway Tunnel Approximately 130 Metres Long (Grade II) (1316181)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 24 December 2017.
  20. Young, Alan (2015). Lost Stations of Yorkshire; the North and East Ridings. Kettering: Silver Link. p. 11. ISBN 978-1-85794-453-2.
  21. Historic England. "North York Moors Railway Pedestrian Subway Approximately 110 Metres Long (Grade II*) (1148752)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 24 December 2017.
  22. "Weekend Walk: Grosmont & Esk Valley". The Yorkshire Post. 16 July 2016. Retrieved 25 December 2017.
  23. Bagshaw, Mike (2014). Slow Yorkshire Moors & Wolds : including York & the coast (1 ed.). Chalfont St Peter: Bradt. p. 53. ISBN 978-1-84162-548-5.
  24. Jones, Robin, ed. (September 2016). "First steam through horse-only tunnel". Heritage Railway. No. 220. Horncastle: Mortons Media. p. 7. ISSN 1466-3562.
  25. Milner, Chris, ed. (November 2016). "Welsh theme takes centre stage at the 'Moors'". The Railway Magazine. Vol. 162, no. 1, 388. Horncastle: Mortons Media. p. 75. ISSN 0033-8923.

Sources
  • Vanns, Michael (2017). The North Yorkshire Moors Railway. Barnsley: Pen & Sword. ISBN 9781473892088.
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