EARLY BRITISH RAILWAY TUNNELS The implications for planners, landowners and passengers between 1830 and 1870 Hubert John Pragnell Doctor of Philosophy University of York Railway Studies October 2016 2 3 Abstract Of the many fears of early railway travellers, speed and a journey through a dark tunnel were among the greatest. This thesis looks at railway tunnels and their place in the minds of travellers, landowners, engineers and navvies, writers, journalists and artists, during the pioneering days of railway development up to 1870. Although tunnels and tunnelling occupy an important place in engineering literature, they have been neglected by social historians. The intention of this thesis is to demonstrate that tunnels are worthy of as much attention as other railway structures such as the station, which has been the subject of railway literature in recent years. Chapter 1 begins with a review of recent railway literature in which the railway tunnel has been introduced as a secondary topic. Chapter 2 discusses the problems involved in early tunnelling, and uses Brunel’s Box Tunnel as a case study. Chapter 3 discusses the relationship between railway companies, landowners and Parliament. Lord Lichfield and the Trent Valley Railway at Shugborough Hall are used as a case study. Chapter 4 discusses tunnels in early railway guide books and literature. It also examines their depiction in railway prints, as an architectural feature in their own right or set into a wider landscape with its own message for the viewer. Particular reference is made to pictures by J.C. Bourne for his volumes on the London & Birmingham and Great Western railways. Chapter 5 looks at the fear of tunnels as promoted by the anti-railway lobby. The chapter suggests that such fears were unjustified in view of the few deaths and injuries actually occurring in a tunnel. Chapter 6 looks at the variety of designs for tunnel portals. This thesis examines designs by Brunel, Stephenson, and others, which are truly masterpieces of the Railway Age. 4 5 CONTENTS Abstract 3 Contents 5 List of illustrations 9 Acknowledgements 13 Declaration 15 1 Introduction: The Fascination of the Railway Tunnel 17 The justification and scope of this study 18 The tunnel in railway history & archaeology 19 The tunnel as cultural artefact: literature and landowners 23 The tunnel as cultural artefact: engineers 27 The tunnel as cultural artefact: travellers and observers 29 Sources 33 Chapter synopsis 38 2 The Railway Tunnel as a Cultural Icon 41 Why build a tunnel? 42 The criteria for tunnelling 43 The earliest railway tunnels 44 Robert Stephenson’s early railway tunnels 45 The first tunnel for steam passenger haulage 47 Practical problems of tunnel construction on trunk routes 49 Bottlenecks 54 Environmental considerations 56 Collapse and abandonment 58 Celebration 59 Case study: Box Tunnel 60 Conclusion 74 3 A Railway, a Landowner and his Estate 75 Proposing a railway 79 Definition of a landowner’s domain 82 The nature of opposition 85 Personal gain or national interest 90 Eccentric and unusual objections 92 Brunel and landowners 98 Other planning interests or constraints 103 The impact of the landowners’ opposition on the early railways 105 Case study: Shugborough and the Earl of Lichfield 108 Conclusion 117 4 The Fascination of early Railway Tunnels 121 The early fascination with caves and grottoes 124 The Castleton Cavern 127 The attraction of the early mining tunnel 128 6 Joseph Williamson and his passion for tunnels 130 The impact of the giant portal 131 The Liverpool tunnels 132 The earliest passenger experiences of tunnels 137 The role of the early railway guide 139 The glorification of the London and Birmingham Railway 140 The Great Western Railway 147 Crossing the spine of England 151 Dante’s Inferno, or a modern vision of hell 152 A trip beneath cliffs and downs 154 Fiction 158 The tunnel in art 159 The earliest railway illustrations 163 Illustrating the London and Birmingham Railway 165 The romantic portal: Shugborough 179 Bourne’s Great Western Railway 181 The tunnel portrait 189 Conclusion 196 5 The Fear of a Railway Tunnel 199 The fear of speed 199 Vibration 201 Public feeling and health 203 How many tunnels to Brighton 205 The propaganda of fear and reassurance 207 Ventilations, the views of Lardner, Herapath and Storer 209 The fear of collapse and prolonged darkness 216 The question of lighting 220 The fear of collision 225 Signalling 230 Crime in the carriage 232 Fear as entertainment 234 The chance of death in a tunnel 236 Enlightenment 239 Conclusion 241 6 Style and Taste: unnecessary Splendour, Classical or Castellated? 243 Stephenson’s tunnel portals 245 Shugborough Tunnel drawings: the south portal 269 The north portal 272 Brunel’s tunnel portals 274 The Box Tunnel drawings 275 The east portal 276 The west portal 280 The forgotten tunnel: Middle Hill 285 Twerton and Brislington Tunnels 289 The classic castellated portal: Bramhope and Red Hill 308 The mystery of Clayton Tunnel 312 Cost: a necessary architectural extravagance? 318 7 7 Conclusion: The Railway Tunnel as Cultural Artefact 321 Suggestions for future research 327 Appendices 1. Architectural Terminology 331 2. Maps: route of London & Birmingham Railway at Primrose Hill 334 3. Box Tunnel: gradient and proposed routes 335 4. London & Brighton proposed railway routes, 1836-37 338 5. Trent Valley Railway: alternative routes through Shugborough Park 339 6. Tunnel portals with distinctive architectural character 340 7. Accidents in tunnels 1830-70 341 8. Cost of construction 344 List of railway companies abbreviations used in appendices and bibliography 344 Bibliography 345 8 9 List of Illustrations: 1 Bletchingley Tunnel, F.W. Simms, Practical Tunnelling, 1844 50 2 Shakespeare Cliff Tunnel, east portal, coloured postcard 54 3 Method of timbering the face of the excavation at intended entrance of Saltwood Tunnel F. W. Simms Practical Tunnelling. 1844 55 4 Menai Straits Tubular bridge, 1850, Edwin Clark 57 5 Tunnel section through Box Hill, Wilts, c.1838 National Archives 63 6 View from above western end of Box Tunnel, 1846 75 7 Bangor Tunnel, west portal, private photo 78 8 Gisburn Hall Tunnel, Yorkshire, private photo 93 9 Littleborough Tunnel, Essex, south portal 97 10 Entrance to tunnels at Edge Hill lithograph, 1831 133 11 Celebrating Brunel’s Birthday, Box Tunnel Daily Telegraph, 12 April, 1859 149 12 Sevenoaks Tunnel, Kent watercolour, anon. Science Museum 162 13 The Wapping Tunnel, Liverpool, lithograph T. Bury,1830 163 14 Haltwhistle Tunnel, Newcastle and Carlisle Railway,1836 164 15 Tyler Hill Tunnel, Kent illustrated in Lewin, Early British Railways 165 16 Boxmoor Tunnel, interior J.C. Bourne watercolour , 1837 167 17 Primrose Hill Tunnel, east portal watercolour, 1837 London, Science Museum 168 18 Primrose Hill Tunnel, east portal, J. C. Bourne, London, Science Museum 169 19 Primrose Hill Tunnel, east portal, watercolour J. C. Bourne 170 20 Primrose Hill Tunnel, east portal, J. Nixon & J. Cleghorn, lithograph, 1831 171 21 Primrose Hill Tunnel, east portal, Edwin T. Dolby 171 22 Primrose Hill Tunnel, east portal, P. P. Burrel lithograph 172 23 Primrose Hill Tunnel, east portal, anon, woodcut 1840 172 24 Primrose Hill Tunnel, east portal, Drakes Road Book, 1839 173 25 Primrose Hill Tunnel, west portal, 1841 anon. 174 26 Kilsby Tunnel, working shaft, J C. Bourne, 1838 175 27 Kilsby Tunnel, giant ventilation shaft, J. C. Bourne 175 28 Kilsby Tunnel, shaft, Frederick Williams, Our Iron Road, 1852 175 29 Kilsby Tunnel, shaft, George Meason, Guide to the North Western Railway, 1852 175 30 Watford Tunnel, south portal, lithograph T. Bury 176 31 Watford Tunnel, south portal, watercolour J. C. Bourne 177 32 Watford Tunnel, south portal, lithograph J. C. Bourne 177 33 Watford Tunnel, south portal, anon. woodcut 1839 178 34 Linslade Tunnel, north portal, anon. woodcut 1839 179 35 Shugborough Tunnel, north portal, woodcut Illustrated London News, 1847 180 36 Shugborough Tunnel, north portal, watercolour 181 37 Tunnel No. 1 Bristol J. C. Bourne, 1846 183 38 Long Tunnel, Fox’s Wood, east portal, J. C. Bourne, 1846 184 39 Long Tunnel, Fox’s Wood, west portal, J. C. Bourne, 1846 184 40 Box Tunnel, west portal, anon, pen & wash, Bath, Royal Victoria Museum 185 41 Box Tunnel, west portal, J. C. Bourne, 1846 186 42 Box tunnel, west portal, lithograph J. Shury c.1841 187 43 Box tunnel, interior, J. C. Bourne, 1841 188 44 Randall & Saunders, Quarrymen, Box, Wilts. engraved letterhead, c.1850 189 45 Shakespeare Cliff Tunnel, Kent, east portal, lithograph, E. T. Dolby 190 46 Teignmouth, South Devon Railway anon. 1850 191 47 Tunnel at Dawlish Warren, South Devon Railway, anon, engraving, 1850 192 10 48 Dawlish Warren, landslip, F. Jones lithograph, 1852 National Railway Museum 192 49 Summit Tunne, A.F. Tait, lithograph, 1845 National Railway Museum 193 50 Elland Tunnel, west portal, lithograph A. F. Tait 194 51 Milford Tunnel painting , anon. Ironbridge, Elton Collection 195 52 Littlebury Tunnel Audley End, woodcut Illustrated London News, 1845 196 53 Looking into Bramhope Tunnel, private photo 218 54 Portal Designs F. W. Simms, Practical Tunnelling, 1844 245 55 Grosmont Tunnel, north portal, private photo 247 56 Primrose Hill Tunnel, east portal, elevation, 1836 Network Rail Archive 250 57 Primrose Hill Tunnel, east portal, F. W. Simms, Public Works, 1838 250 58 Primrose Hill Tunnel, west portal, author’s photo 252 59 Watford Tunnel, south portal, private photo 253 60 Stow Hill Tunnel, portal, watercolour c.1836 National