Torksey Viaduct, & Castle Lincolnshire

Updated Video - 20th November 2024

Torksey Viaduct, Lincolnshire
Built between 1847 and 1849 by the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway, Torksey Viaduct was designed by John Fowler

Straddling the River Trent, Torksey Viaduct is a rare and early example of a tubular box bridge. The bridge consists of 2 equal box girder spans supported on a single central pier and double side piers. It was completed more than 150 years ago as part of the Manchester Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway, but it took the engineer Sir John Fowler 4 months to convince the Railway Commissioners that it was strong enough. It closed in 1959, and has been out of use ever since

The Boards of Trade and the Institute of Civil Engineers both rejected the design, and the bridge was eventually strengthened with a central truss system in 1897.

There are attractive walks along the river and canal. Three miles away is Stow Minster, a superb Saxon church.
The Railway line was closed to passengers on 2nd November 1959. The viaduct is protected by a Grade II* listing

Torksey Castle
Beside the river is the remains of the 16th-century manor house, Torksey Castle, which fell into disuse after its destruction in the Civil War. The manor house (it was never a castle, despite the name) was built by the Jermyn family, possibly as a stopover on travels to York from their Suffolk home.
orksey is the viaduct built in 1847 to carry the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway across the Trent.

The Jerymyns supported the king in the Civil War, and the manor was seized by Parliamentary troops. Royalist soldiers from Newark attacked and burned the house, which was never rebuilt. Stones were scavenged for local building projects, and some of the structure was lost when the Trent River Board raised the water levels in 1961.