Balcombe Viaduct - London to Brighton Railway

[daveSea]

This has already had a mention in the "What is it" topic built by John Rastrick in 1841 (also called the Ouse Valley Viaduct) consultant engineer on the London Brighton Railway,
he was also involved in construction of the tunnels on the same railway North to South - Merstham, Balcombe, Clayton and Patcham tunnels and also the London Road Viaduct in Brighton on the Brighton - Lewes link

This impressive viaduct is Grade 11 listed and here are some photos taken today, showing some of the detail of the stonework, unfortunately the brickwork has been repaired many times and some of the arches are a bit of a mish mash.


However the bit that fascinates me is the detail on the stone supports (brackets) which you can only see by using a camera with a good zoom. The pictures also show the balustrade which again has lovely detail.  


This is a repeat of the paragrah in the What is it topic - here for completeness
There were about 12 million bricks (various sources quote a variety of numbers used in its construction) and the stone work came from Caen via the Ouse navigation. The cement is thought to have come from Lewes again via the Ouse Valley navigation. Wikipadia says the bricks came from Holland this is thought to be incorrect and Piddinghoe Brickworks are a much more likely source.
 
 

[daveSea]

This pictures show the realtionship between two cottages, that mark the head of the Ouse Valley Navigation, and the viaduct. However I suspect the navigation may have been extended to the bottom of the viaduct. There is evidence of a stone wall near to one of the piers, which may just be there to protect the pier foundations or may have been a quay -the water level was too high today to inspect it closely.

[Pete]

The bricks were barged up from Newhaven, not sure if they were made in the area ie Newhaven/ Piddinghoe or brought in from elsewhere. Would have thought Dutch bricks either too thin (typical older Flemish brick) or more modern ones seem shorter and  higher than UK ones.

[daveSea]

It does seem odd to me that thery would have used Dutch bricks, especially when at the time the whole surrounding area had many brickworks
using Weald Clay and further east Wadhurst Clay (Hastings Beds). I can't find any reason for them not to use local bricks, unless they couldn't keep up with demand.

The Wadhurst Clay bricks from around Hastings could have been shipped into Newhaven but the more local ones from around Burgess Hill / Cuckfield
if used would have had to travel by road. 

[daveSea]

Piddinghoe seems certain to have been a source - would it have had the capacity to source all the bricks?
There were a number of brickworks in the Piddinghoe and Newhaven area - the source I have says 6-10 brickworks in each Parish
in the 18th and 19th Century. So thats between 12 and 20 between both.

I also found mention of a brickmaker moving to Balcombe, from Notts - recorded in the 1841 census by the 1851 census he had moved back to Notts   

I am trying to get in contact with a guy that put a comment about the Wikipaedia entry re Dutch Bricks on another web site
saying he has invoices for bricks from Piddinghoe for the viaduct.   

[Pete]

At that time there were Brickworks in Newhaven off the Lewes Rd/Valley close, now known as the ponds and at South Heighton  on the riverside roughly by the oxbow lake (still some remains) . Later there was one built on what is now Newhaven Rec to supply the fort build.

[Pete]

Times Friday 11 December 1840- from the Brighton Gazette
Thursday last saw the last arch of the Ouse Valley Viaduct keyed by Mr Maude, resident engineer.......Upwards of 1.3M bricks were used made from the soil of the neighbourhood.  The first stone was laid mid May 1839

[daveSea]

Pete - thats very interesting, think they might have missed a 1 from the brick number, the normally quoted 12 million seems reasonable if my maths are correct.

I've been doing a bit of further research and there were brickfields north east of the North entrance of the Balcombe tunnel and another one north west,
marked on old maps, its definitely wealden clay in those places. At the moment I can't find out where the brickworks were.
 
The Balcombe tunnel built at the same time as the viaduct is over 1100 yards long, also brick lined - so the quantities they needed were massive.

[Pete]

May have been 13m -print was barely legible. I also found a brick field about a mile south of the viaduct and a kiln wood and ponds between Ardingly College and the viaduct (Old maps 1870s)

[daveSea]

I've been researching this and found a paper written in 2000 by the Sussex Industrial Archaelogical Group dealing with the
Balcombe Tunnel. I'll try and extract the bits relevant to the Viaduct . One interesting piece Edward Maude who
performed the topping out ceremony on the viaduct , was later in trouble for misappropriating £600 of funds meant to pay for men
and materials.
   

[Pete]

Contracters fiddling the books? Glad that sort of thing doesn't happen now. You'll be saying politicians are corrupt next 

[daveSea]

This is an extract from Sussex Industrial Archaelogical Society (SIAS) investigation of the Balcombe Tunnel, its possibly relevant
to the Viaduct sourcing non local bricks. The sectoins in italics are quotes from that document -non italic are my comments

Rastrick had ordered the land beside the entire line to be examined for brick earth and brickfields to be opened wherever necessary. An archaeological survey has found evidence of a pugrnill near the tunnel, and in June it was noted that huge numbers of bricks were being made along the line. Company accounts show supplies reaching the works including coal, faggots and slates for the brickyards, yet in August Rastrick was authorized to buy in additional bricks for the tunnels.

The 1912 os map shows a tile and brickworks about 2kms north of the tunnel entrance, the site is now under the motorway or a housing estate

In 1842 Major-General Sir Charles Pasley, who had succeeded Sir Frederic Smith as Inspector-General of Railways at the Board of Trade, reported that water and excessive pressure by the soil on timbers during construction had necessitated bricking from 18 in. to 5 ft. thick.

If there was an average thickness of say 2.5ft - then I think it would have used about 13 million bricks (this is my calc so maybe be way out - anyone care to check this?)

Bricks that had already been damaged by frost should be replaced with ones of better quality, the procedure to be repeated each summer as necessary

In 1906 the tunnel was relined with strong blue bricks but water has remained a problem, leaking randomly as it flows behind them.

[daveSea]

Its funny how you find things on the internet that are wrong , this ones a bit of a classic the picture
is actually the London road viaduct in brighton and not the Balcombe one, its less than a mile
down the road from them! Which Viaduct?