Durham Viaduct, Railway viaduct in Durham, England
The Durham Viaduct is a railway structure made of sandstone with eleven arches that spans a significant distance while rising high above the city below. Built with carefully dressed stone and brick soffits, it remains in active use as part of the rail network today.
The viaduct was designed in the mid-1800s for a railway company to connect two points on their network. It later became integrated into a more extensive rail route that serves the region still today.
The structure shaped how Durham expanded during the railway boom and remains woven into how locals and visitors see the city today. It stands as a reminder of when trains transformed how communities connected to the wider world.
You can view the structure from several vantage points around the railway station and city center. The best perspective comes from ground level, where you can see the arches and construction details clearly.
A nineteenth-century drinking fountain remains attached to the structure, showing how railway projects once included features for public use. Such details offer a glimpse into practical thinking from that era.
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