Grace's Guide To British Industrial History

Registered UK Charity (No. 115342)

Grace's Guide is the leading source of historical information on industry and manufacturing in Britain. This web publication contains 165,118 pages of information and 246,492 images on early companies, their products and the people who designed and built them.

Grace's Guide is the leading source of historical information on industry and manufacturing in Britain. This web publication contains 147,919 pages of information and 233,587 images on early companies, their products and the people who designed and built them.

Clayton Tunnel

From Graces Guide
2022. Northern end of tunnel

Clayton Tunnel, north of Brighton.

Built by the London and Brighton Railway

Constructed 1838-1841.

2259 yards (1 1/4 miles) long. Ten air shafts.

Engineer: John Urpeth Rastrick.

Castellated portal and cottage at north end. The cottage is out of character with the rest of the tunnel entrance and was surely a later addition. This assumption is supported by a statement in an 1842 newspaper report: 'All the entrances to the tunnels are very simple and neat. That, however, on the London side of the Clayton tunnel is a beautiful exception. It consists of a very pretty facing of brickwork and stone, a castellated parapet, and a neat octagonal tower on each side of the tunnel entrance, with apartments within them for the policeman. Placed the midst of a deep cutting, these towers, with their old-fashioned loop-holes, present a formidable and menacing appearance to intruders.'[1]

See here for information and impressive photographs.

NOTE: Although the northern portal can be viewed from the nearby road bridge, this is definitely not recommended, as it involves crossing the fast, dangerous A273 road near a busy junction.

See Also

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Sources of Information

  1. Sussex Advertiser - Tuesday 9 August 1842