Kielder Viaduct
Commenced in 1858 and completed in 1862, this railway viaduct was built across the valley of the Dreadwater Burn.
Robert Nicholson had been the engineer responsible for building the first section of the line but, on his death in 1855, his nephew John Furness Tone (1822–1881) took on the task of completing the project and it was under his direction that contractors William Hutchinson and John Ridley built the viaduct. The arches are constructed at a skewed angle and the stones are laid along helical courses, according to a set of principles attributed to architect and mathematician Peter Nicholson. [1]
The project was initiated as a joint collaboration between the North British Railway and the Border Counties Railway in their extension programme to Riccarton junction. Before its completion though the Border Counties Railway became absorbed into the North British Railway.
Its unique Baronial style is due to the tastes of the landlord, The Duke of Northumberland, who insisted on it complementing a local shooting lodge.
It is now closed to traffic, but still remains a fine example of Victorian engineering.