A public consultation on the Phase I structures on the Midland Main Line being assessed for designation took
place between 14th November 2013 and 4th December 2013. The consultation was carried out by means of
the English Heritage website, which contains an illustrated Consultation Report for each of the sites under
assessment. Each report contains a description of the structure, and a summary of its history, and
comments on the content of the reports were invited.
Background information on the history and development of the line, and details of the supplementary
selection guidance developed by English Heritage to inform these designation assessments are also to be
found on the website.
English Heritage Advice Report 21 January 2014
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These are:
* ‘A Statement of History and Significance.’ A report commissioned by Network Rail and produced by Alan
Baxter & Associates
* 'Route Structures Gazetteer.’ A report commissioned by Network Rail and produced by Alan Baxter &
Associates
* FAQs for the Midland Main Line Designation Consultation
* Supplementary selection guidance against which the architectural and historic interest of the structures
will be considered by English Heritage.
The review of all assets on the Midland Main Line likely to be affected by the electrification of the route has
been informed by detailed historical research, recently undertaken on behalf of Network Rail by its
professional advisers Alan Baxter and Associates. The new style of web-based consultation will allow English
Heritage to reach a wide audience, to set out its understanding of the significance of those sites identified for
assessment, and to explain the selection guidance used in the review. Rigorous application of designation
selection criteria has made possible the identification of candidates for designation. The remaining structures
are deemed not to fulfil the selection criteria, and will only receive further consideration on the basis of
substantive new information.
Strategic designation assessment projects form part of the National Heritage Protection Plan (NHPP)
developed by English Heritage. In this instance, the Plan provides the means for the rapid assessment of
assets on the Midland Main Line, and thus helps deliver the requisite certainty concerning statutory
designations in advance of the planning of the electrification programme.
The consultation responses included some general comments on the history and significance of the Midland
Main Line by Alan Baxter and Associates (ABA) and The Railway Heritage Trust. ABA forwarded some
research by Peter Billson, a Derbyshire historian, which provides substantive evidence that the architect
Francis Thompson was not involved in the design of the tunnel portals, bridges and viaducts on the North
Midland Railway. However the research shows that Thompson designed stations along the line as well as
railway works buildings and a goods warehouse at Derby. Some specific comments by ABA on the history of
the Midland Main Line have been taken into account in the relevant parts of the designation Advice Reports.
A general history is included for each structure to provide the wider historical context in which to place them.
In terms of the Midland Counties Railway, ABA stated that the line is not as significant as the North Midland
Railway because it was constructed under greater economic constraints and because the engineer, Charles
Blacker Vignoles, does not have the high historic reputation of the Stephensons. It states that the pre-1840
bridges along the line were plainer and more utilitarian that those on the North Midland Railway; where intact
they should meet the criteria for designation but where altered this is less likely. The Railway Heritage Trust
commented that structures on the line are not of the same quality as those on the North Midland Railway and
that subsequent quadrupling and other work has destroyed much of the merit of the surviving underbridges.
The Trust suggested several structures should not undergo full assessment for designation but English
Heritage is already taking them forward for assessment; the consultation offers the opportunity to comment
on their architectural and historic interest. Furthermore the Trust suggested that John Ellis House, Derby,
should be considered for designation. Since it is not directly affected by the electrification project the building
will be considered in phase II of the designation survey.
A consultation response from Network Rail refers specifically to the east portal of Red Hill South Tunnel.
This concludes that it is an architecturally, technically and historically unexceptional structure dating to the
final phase of railway construction. It has none of the qualities that make the other three Red Hill Tunnel
portals of special interest and does not meet the supplementary criteria for designation.
Another consultation response was received from Rushcliffe Borough Council, which queried why tunnel
portals were being assessed for designation but not the tunnel linings. Other than in certain very exceptional
circumstances (Roman sewers, early mine-workings) are underground tunnel structures designated. This is
largely for practical reasons and in general with tunnels, only the portals, where of architectural and historic
interest, are designated - as highlighted in the supplementary guidance for the designation of Midland Main
Line structures.
DISCUSSION
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The Listing Selection Guide for Transport Buildings (English Heritage, April 2011) explains that, as with all
building types, transport buildings have to be assessed in terms of their intrinsic value: special architectural,
planning, engineering and technological interest. The origins of the railway network lay in the Georgian
period but the railway system’s development was one of the greatest achievements of the Victorians. The
Guide sets out the four key stages in its development. The pioneering first phase from 1825 to 1841 was
followed by the heroic age of development, the period of ‘railway mania’ in which commercial speculation and
the competition for routes led to a frantic construction of lines. The period from 1850 to the 1870s saw the
consolidation of the network, and by 1914, it was substantially complete.
The guidance makes clear that pre-1840 railway structures will often be of international significance as being
amongst the earliest in the world, and will warrant serious consideration for listing. Subsequent phases of
development saw greater standardisation of design for which more rigorous selection is appropriate, although
the introduction of metal bridges brought a new dimension to bridge design, and the modification of existing
bridges. The great majority of bridges and viaducts are masonry structures, however, where the quality of
design and constructional detail are important considerations for a designation assessment. It is also
important to ensure that, where possible, a representative sample of structures from each railway company is
considered for designation, where the design is distinctive or identified as the work of one of the notable
railway engineers of the period.
For the assessment of Midland Main Line railway structures supplementary criteria have been produced.
These are available at:
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/caring/listing/listed-buildings/consultation-process/midland-main-line-desig
nation-consultation/
The development of the railway network saw the construction of a wide range of buildings and structures, and
the appropriation of extensive tracts of land on which the lines and associated facilities were laid or erected.
Whilst the stations and other track-side buildings provided opportunities for architectural expression, it was
the structures which carried the lines across, over or through the landscape ‘obstructions’ which lay in their
paths that made rail transport a reality. The challenges met by successive generations of railway engineers
are most eloquently expressed in their designs for bridges, tunnels and viaducts, and the engineering
solutions that they represent.
The south tunnel portal of the west line was built during the first phase of railway development by the Midland
Counties Railway, and the earliness of its date is one of the key considerations in assessing it for listing. The
line was designed by Charles Blacker Vignoles who was the engineer to a large number of railway projects
and is best known for the Kiev Suspension Bridge, one of the most celebrated bridge designs of its time.
Whilst the Midland Counties Railway did not present Vignoles with an engineering challenge comparable to
that undertaken by the Stephensons for the North Midland, the surviving structures nevertheless represent a
legible expression of his concept for the line which is an important example of the pioneering phase of railway
development in England.
Tunnels were one of the principal engineering challenges faced by those constructing a railway line.
Although railway engineers inherited established tunnelling techniques from the canal-building era, the
challenge was less the surveying, digging and lining of the tunnel than the nature of the earth they passed
through and the necessity of avoiding water flooding into them. The importance of these structures is
reflected in their portals which tended to be either grandly classical or castellated for major projects in the
early phase, with later examples becoming much plainer in design. The Grade II listed north portals of the
Red Hill Tunnel were treated with remarkable architectural flair, largely because they faced the River Trent, a
major transport artery at the time, which was used by the railway train’s rival, barges.
The south portal of the west line, built 1838-40, was in a less prominent position and was consequently less
flamboyant, instead having a quiet classical composition, delicately defined by pilasters and an entablature.
The portal demonstrates a high standard of design and masonry detailing resulting in an aesthetic quality that
far exceeds its functional and structural requirements. The south portal of the later east line was built in
1892-3, probably to the design of J. A. McDonald, the Midland Railway’s chief engineer who master-minded
the completion of the route-widening programme. Whilst the east tunnel portal lacks the level of architectural
refinement of the west one, its construction in engineering brick demonstrates the development in the use of
building materials and is an important reflection of the evolution of the line. Moreover, the portals at each end
of a tunnel form an architectural and engineering entity, and it is appropriate for both to be listed. The south
portals have strong group value with the listed north portals which are seen in combination with one another
as elements of a railway transport landscape of great interest and quality. They fully meet the criteria for
listing and should be added to the List at Grade II.
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In recommending the extent of designation, we have considered whether powers of exclusion under s.1 (5A)
of the 1990 Act are appropriate, and consider that they are not.
CONCLUSION
After examining all the records and other relevant information and having carefully considered the
architectural and historic interest of this case, the criteria for listing are fulfilled. The south portals of the Red
Hill Tunnel are therefore recommended for listing at Grade II.
REASONS FOR DESIGNATION DECISION
The west and east, south portals of the Red Hill Tunnel, constructed in 1838-40 and 1892-3, respectively, are
recommended for listing at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Architectural interest: the west portal has a quiet classical composition, delicately defined by pilasters
and an entablature. It demonstrates a high standard of design and masonry detailing resulting in an aesthetic
quality that far exceeds its functional and structural requirements. Whilst the east portal is less refined, its
construction in engineering brick demonstrates the important development in the use of building materials
along the line;
* Historic interest: they form part of a series of railway structures along the line of the Midland Counties
Railway designed by Charles Blacker Vignoles between 1837 and 1840, and later widened by J. A.
McDonald, the Midland Railway’s chief engineer. The portals are important examples of both the pioneering
phase of railway development in England and its subsequent evolution;
* Group value: the portals at each end of a tunnel form an architectural and engineering entity, and it is
appropriate for both to be listed. The south portals have strong group value with the listed north portals which
are seen in combination with one another as elements of a railway transport landscape of great interest and
quality.
Countersigning comments:
Agreed. S Gibson 9/12/13
Second Countersigning comments:
Agreed, yes list. Where a tunnel portal at one end is listed, there is an obvious logic in assessing the
architectural and historic interest of its companion at the other end, as arguably they form part of a single
design and engineering concept for the tunnel as a whole. In addition there is the consideration of Group
Value to take into account even where the portals differ in date. In this case the four portals form a
fascinating group and the two south portals should join their northern counterparts on the List at Grade ll.
Tony Calladine. 17 Dec 2013

<0> OS, 1in, 1st Edn (Map). SNT1085.