Arthington Viaduct

Arthington Viaduct (also known as Wharfedale Viaduct or Castley Viaduct) carries the Harrogate Line across the Wharfe valley between Arthington in West Yorkshire and Castley in North Yorkshire, England. It is a Grade II listed structure.

The viaduct was built, between 1845 and 1849, in a curve some 460 metres in length, with 21 semi-circular arches on high piers. Construction was supervised by engineer Thomas Grainger, Chief Engineer of the Leeds and Thirsk Railway, who built the line from Leeds to Stockton-on-Tees via Harrogate and Thirsk. The Foundation Stone was laid on 31 March 1846 1846 by Henry Cooper Marshall, Chairman of Leeds and Thirsk Railway company and the line opened on 10 July 1849 when the nearby Bramhope Tunnel, another key component of the line, was complete. In excess of 50,000 tons of stone were used in its construction.

Dimensions

Arthington

Coordinates: 53°54′N 1°35′W / 53.90°N 1.58°W / 53.90; -1.58

Arthington is a small village in Wharfedale, in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. It is a civil parish which, according to the 2011 census, had a population of 532 and is in the LS21 postcode district with Otley as its post town. It is in the Otley ward of the City of Leeds, and the Leeds North West parliamentary constituency.

There used to be a railway junction (see Arthington railway station), where the (now-closed) line to Pool-in-Wharfedale station, Otley station, Ilkley station, and on to Skipton station joined the still open Harrogate Line from Leeds to Harrogate station. Arthington station closed completely in 1965 but there is a campaign to re-open the station and the former Otley line.

The village is at the northern end of the Bramhope Tunnel. There is a memorial to the workers killed digging the tunnel near the church in Otley. The railway then crosses the dramatic stone Arthington Viaduct over the River Wharfe. The A659 Otley to Tadcaster road passes through the village.