Hownsgill Viaduct – Victorian Engineering from Above

Built in 1857–1858 by Thomas Bouch, with input from Robert Stephenson, Hownsgill Viaduct carried the railway across the 150-foot gorge at Hown’s Gill, linking Durham’s coalfields and Weardale’s limestone quarries to the ports of the Tyne.

With twelve arches and over three million bricks, it was an industrial lifeline for nearly a century. Today, the trains are gone, but the viaduct lives on as part of the Waskerley Way, offering walkers and cyclists incredible views across the valley.

Captured by drone, this reel shows one of County Durham’s most iconic landmarks like never before.

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[Music] Stretching across the deep gully of Houndsgill, this towering vioideuct is one of County Durham’s most striking relics of Victorian engineering. Built between 1857 and 1858 by Thomas Bouch and advised by Robert Stevenson, it replaced a series of ropew worked inclines that once hauled wagons up and down the steep ravine. Made from over 3 million fire bricks dressed with sandstone ashler, its 12 graceful arches span 700 ft and soar to a height of around 150 ft. This single track structure helped link the limestone quaries of Weirddale and the coal fields of Durham to the ports at South Shields powering industry across the region. Though trains no longer cross its deck, the vioideuct lives on as part of the Wascali way cycle path and footpath carrying walkers, cyclists, and stories from the past.