Ribblehead Viaduct
Yorkshire Dales National Park
What is it?
An iconic, 24-arched viaduct and a Grade II-listed building on the Settle and Carlisle Railway.
Why it is special?
The stone arches of this 400-metre long viaduct rise 32 metres above Batty Moor.
Constructing the Settle Carlisle Railway was a massive engineering feat. 35 miles of its 72-mile length lie within the Yorkshire Dales National Park
It opened in 1876 and .was the last railway to be built in Britain using almost all manual labour. It took 6,000 men seven years to build and many thousands of ‘navvies’ died during its construction, either from industrial injuries or small pox.
Many of the workers lived at the Ribblehead construction site which is still well-preserved today. It was the first such construction camp in the country to be archeologically surveyed and scheduled as an ancient monument and was large enough to contain:
- a hospital
- post office
- library
- many shops
- mission house
- schools
- public houses
Tell us something we didn’t know
The railway has survived two attempts to close it, once in the early 1960s and once in the 1980s when an outcry and increase in passenger numbers saved it.
What else can I do here?
Ride the rails! There are regular passenger trains along the 72-mile route and many of the stations are at picturesque stopping off points for walkers. Occasionally steam trains run a special service on the route.
How to get there
Take the A65 to Ingleton then the B6255 via Chapel-le-Dale.
Or get here by train from Settle, Carlisle or any of the stations along the way.
