Crigglestone Viaduct
Crigglestone Viaduct
The Midland Railway’s eight-mile route from Royston Junction to Thornhill was authorised under the 1898 West Riding Lines Act, which included lines to Huddersfield, Halifax and Bradford. First trafficked in 1905 after three years construction, it connected with the Lancashire & Yorkshire’s network at Thornhill Junction and featured a short tunnel as well as two substantial viaducts. 1st March 1906 saw the opening of a two-mile spur to Savile Town Goods from a junction near Horbury Bridge. This would have served as Dewsbury’s passenger station had the full plans come to fruition.
Intended principally for freight, the route was used by Bradford-St Pancras services for a 12-year period between the two world wars. The eastern end of the line closed in May 1968 but trains continued to use the western section until August, bringing materials to the M1 motorway which was then under construction. Track lifting took place the following year.
The viaduct at Calder Grove (known as Crigglestone Viaduct) has 21 arches. The most eastern one sits over the existing Wakefield-Barnsley line. The former Crigglestone curve (Crigglestone Jnc to Horbury Station Jnc) passed beneath its western approach embankment whilst the central section towered over Pepper’s Yard British Oak site and the old line serving the collieries around Flockton.
End-to-end, the viaduct measures 1,270 feet.
July 2008