Bridges and viaducts › Ribblehead Viaduct

Ribblehead Viaduct

The Settle to Carlisle line's viaduct across Batty Moss, finished in 1875: 24 stone arches, up to 100 ft (30 m) above the ground.

unverified Some of these figures haven’t yet been checked against an official source or a published history. What’s in doubt ↓

Four times larger

At 10 px a metre, the scale of the train drawings, so the train is the size it is on its own page. Each is cut from the same drawing.

The south abutment, half buried by the embankment, and the first arches.

King pier 18, its pilaster rising to the parapet; the impost bands at the springing.

A Northern Class 158 behind the parapet, on the 1 in 100.

Review of drawing SAC/MR bridge 66, Batty Moss Viaduct (The National Archives, RAIL 491/1158) Mark R. Harvey, Settle-Carlisle Railway Conservation Area, 2020SCRCA review of TNA RAIL 491/1158 (Mark R. Harvey, 2020): arches 45 ft 0 in at springing, rise 18 ft 0 in; normal piers 9 ft 10 in and 6 ft 6 in at the lower and upper bonding courses, king piers 21 ft 10 in and 12 ft 0 in; parapet 'inclination 1 in 100'; pier numbering
Knowledge base: bridge SAC/66, Ribblehead Viaduct Settle-Carlisle Railway Conservation Area, read 8 November 2026SCRCA knowledge base, bridge SAC/66: 24 arches; rise 18 ft; arch rings 3 ft 0 in to 2 ft 3 in; piers' 1 in 32 batter; every sixth pier a king pier; 1,328 ft long; greatest height 100 ft above the ground; gradient 1 in 100 rising north
Ribblehead Viaduct, Batty Moss Valley, Yorkshire (photograph, public domain) Wikimedia CommonsRibblehead Viaduct, Batty Moss Valley, Yorkshire (Commons, public domain): the near piers' heights (pier 23), the parapet, impost bands, king pier 18, the colours
Ribblehead Viaduct (photograph) Wikimedia CommonsRibblehead Viaduct (Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0): the ground's profile along the viaduct
OpenStreetMap OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), read 8 November 2026way 3999706, read 8 November 2026: the viaduct's length on the line, 1,329 ft (405 m; 1,328 ft = 404.8 m)

The arches' span (45 ft at springing) and rise (18 ft) and the piers' widths are the contract drawing's as transcribed by SCRCA; the scan itself could not be downloaded (missing on its site, 8 November 2026), so they are unchecked against it. SCRCA's knowledge base gives 43 ft spans south of pier 14.
The ground under each pier is estimated: the published greatest height (100 ft, between piers 20 and 21), the distant photograph's profile for piers 1 to 19 and the near photograph for piers 22 and 23; within about 10 ft.
The abutments' length (41 ft each) is what the published 1,328 ft leaves after the arches and piers.
The crown's depth below formation, the parapet's height, the impost bands and the king piers' pilasters are read off the near photograph, scaled by an arch's rise.
The colours are read off one photograph (warmly processed).