Knowlesands Tunnel

The south portal of Knowlesands Tunnel, looking towards Bridgnorth

Knowlesands Tunnel (Bridge 32) is the shorter of the two tunnels on the present day SVRSevern Valley Railway, being only 40 yards 2 feet in length. It is located on the 1 in 100 climb from Bridgnorth towards Hampton Loade, just north of milepost 149, between Bridgnorth Down Distant and Down Outer Home signals. The main B4555 Bridgnorth-Highley road passes over the railway at this location, but the railway is not visible.

Although the foundation and bridges of the original Severn Valley Line were laid out to accommodate a double track at a later date, Mount Pleasant Tunnel and Bridgnorth Tunnel were both built to single track width as an economy measure, while Bewdley Tunnel on the later Kidderminster Loop Line was also built to single width. However Knowlesands Tunnel was classed as an overbridge and therefore has much more clearance than other tunnels, having a segmental arch roof of 25ft span. Insufficient traffic materialised to justify the widening to a double track.

On 5 November 2000 torrential rain caused a major landslip at the Bridgnorth end of the tunnel with 3 lengths of track left hanging in space and the embankment spread across the field below. Contractors completed the reinstatement later that month.

See also

Towards Kidderminster
List of infrastructure
Towards Bridgnorth