Smardale Viaduct

Location Kirkby Stephen
Grid Ref NY 733082

12 arches, 131 ft high, 237 yards long.

Smardale Viaduct. Photo by Ann Bowker

Smardale is the highest viaduct on the S&C railway, towering 131 feet over Scandal Beck, and built entirely of grey limestone.

Smardale Viaduct. Photo by Simon Ledingham

The old North Eastern Railway line (formerly the South Durham and Lancashire Union railway) from Darlington to Tebay also passed under this viaduct.

About a mile south along the old NER line is the another magnificent viaduct over Scandal Beck – Old Smardale viaduct. The viaduct has been restored by the Northern Viaducts trust into its present excellent condition, and a public footpath utilises the viaduct to cross the valley.

Smardale Gill itself is a nature reserve under the care of Cumbria Wildlife Trust.

The two viaducts at Smardale – the CSR one in the foreground, and the disused NER viaduct beyond

Aerial photos by Simon Ledingham.

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