 North Portal of Clayton Tunnel | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Location | Pyecombe, West Sussex |
| Coordinates | 50°54′46″N 0°09′14″W / 50.91278°N 0.15389°W |
| Operation | |
| Opened | 1841 |
| Owner | Network Rail |
| Traffic | Railway |
| Character | Passenger and freight |
| Technical | |
| No. of tracks | Two |
| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) |
Clayton Tunnel is a railway tunnel located near the villages of Clayton and Pyecombe in West Sussex, between Hassocks and Preston Park railway stations on the Brighton Main Line. This tunnel is notable for its turreted and castellated north portal with a single-storey cottage on the top, as well as for being the site of a serious accident in 1861 which was influential in the adoption of a robust signalling system in the UK and elsewhere.
At 1 mile 499 yards (2,066 m)[1] the Sussex Clayton Tunnel is the longest tunnel on the route. Construction of the tunnel commenced during 1839, although aspects of its design weren't approved until 1 October 1840. The accomplished tunnel builder William Hoof was the prime contractor on its construction; Clayton Tunnel was completed in 1841 after three years of work.[2]
- ^ Yonge, John (November 2008) [1994]. Jacobs, Gerald (ed.). Railway Track Diagrams 5: Southern & TfL (3rd ed.). Bradford on Avon: Trackmaps. map 15C. ISBN 978-0-9549866-4-3.
- ^ "SideTracked - Clayton Tunnel". Geocaching (mattd2k). 17 October 2011. Retrieved on 28 April 2015.