Bridgnorth Tunnel
The first plans drawn up for the Severn Valley Railway and authorised in the 1853 Act of Parliament showed the course of the line deviating to the right shortly after Sterns to cross the River Severn near Danesford, with the station being situated in Low Town east of the river. Beyond Bridgnorth a second bridge would have returned the line across the Severn to re-join its eventual route. However the potential cost of the bridges, allied to difficulties in raising funds for construction of the line, resulted in the line remaining west of the Severn, requiring a tunnel under Bridgnorth High Town immediately north of Bridgnorth Station.
The tunnel was 550 yards long (in comparison, Bewdley Tunnel is 480 yards), with a double curve right and left. The tunnel was re-lined in 1911, reducing the width to 15ft[1].
Following closure of the line north of Bridgnorth in 1963, ballast from the tunnel was recovered by SVRSevern Valley Railway volunteers in July 1965, with the permission of BRBritish Rail or British Railways[2].
In summer 2003, SVRSevern Valley Railway News noted that the BRBritish Rail or British Railways Residual Property Board had put Bridgnorth tunnel up for sale.
Links
BBC Article “It was 40 years ago” with photograph of the tunnel (Link)
