Culloden Viaduct
The Culloden Viaduct (known variously as the Nairn Viaduct, Culloden Moor Viaduct, or Clava Viaduct) is the longest masonry railway viaduct in Scotland. It carries the Highland Main Line, to the east of the city of Inverness, in the County of Nairn and Highland council area of Scotland.
Design
[edit]Culloden Viaduct has 29 arches, making it the longest masonry viaduct in Scotland. It crosses the River Nairn and its valley. It is built from rubble and dressed with red-faced ashlar. The arch rings have tooled ashlar details. The arches are all semi-circular with a 50-foot (15-metre) span except for the one crossing the river (between the 10th and 11th piers from the north) which has a span of 100 feet (30 metres). The total length of the viaduct is around 1,800 feet (550 metres). It curves at the south end to align with the hillside.[1][2]
History
[edit]The viaduct was designed by Murdoch Paterson, the Highland Railway's chief engineer. It opened in 1898 as part of the Inverness and Aviemore Direct Railway, which was built by the Highland Railway and is now part of the Highland Main Line. The railway previously took a more circuitous route via Forres. It was one of the last major railway engineering works in Scotland.[1][2]
Culloden Moor railway station was situated at the northern end of the viaduct, but the station was closed in the 1960s. Paterson died there in 1897, before the viaduct was complete. It was his last engineering project.[2][3]
The viaduct is a Category A listed building, a status which grants it legal protection, It was first listed on October 5, 1971.[1] It is just east of the site of the Battle of Culloden (1746).[4][5]
See also
[edit]- the Balnuaran of Clava cairns lie just to the west of the viaduct
References
[edit]Bibliography
[edit]- Biddle, Gordon (2011). Britain's Historic Railway Buildings: A Gazetteer of Structures (second ed.). Hersham: Ian Allan. ISBN 9780711034914.
- McFetrich, David (2019). An Encyclopaedia of British Bridges (Revised and extended ed.). Barnsley: Pen and Sword Books. ISBN 9781526752956.
- Yee, Ronald (2021). The Architecture of British Bridges. Ramsbury: The Crowood Press. ISBN 9781785007941.
Citations
[edit]- ^ a b c Historic Environment Scotland. "Clava, Nairn Viaduct over the Nairn River, otherwise known as Culloden Moor Viaduct (Category A Listed Building LB1709)". Retrieved 10 January 2019.
- ^ a b c Biddle, p. 729.
- ^ McFetrich, p. 97.
- ^ "About Culloden Moor Viaduct". National Transport Trust. Retrieved 2 April 2025.
- ^ Yee, p. 49.
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