Sonning Cutting

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View of Sonning Cutting.

Map of Sonning Cutting. (The grid lines are at intervals of 1,000 metres.)

Sonning Cutting is on the original Great Western Railway built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel. It is to the east of Reading station and to the west of Twyford station near the riverside village of Sonning in Berkshire, England. Originally it had been intended to route the railway around the north of the hill past the village in the early 19th century. However instead, due to local objections, the railway bypassed the village and a deep cutting through the hill was created instead, taking a much more direct route between Twyford and Reading.

The cutting was produced by hand using spades, with no machinery. Wheelbarrows and horse-drawn carts were used to remove the spoil. It took two years to complete and several people were killed in the process. The line was opened on 30 March 1840.

Following the ending of the broad gauge in 1892 the railway was widened to four tracks. This involved a major rebuilding of the cutting, during which the slope of the sides was reduced.

Sonning Cutting is a well-known location for viewing trains because of its impressively steep sides. It can be viewed from a number of bridges and is on the border between Sonning and the Reading suburb of Woodley, just off the A4 trunk road.

Position: grid reference SU756742

[edit] Early railway accident

View of Sonning Cutting in 1846.

Main article: Railway accident at Sonning Cutting

On Christmas Eve 1841, a mixed goods and passenger train ran into a landslide in the cutting, caused by the previous persistent heavy rain. The passengers were standing in open-sided wagons and many were thrown out or crushed between the wagons. As a result, eight people died and there were seventeen injuries. Many of the dead and injured were artisans returning home after working on the new Parliament building, and were travelling in open trucks, a feature which no doubt increased the severity of the accident. The tragedy stimulated William Ewart Gladstone, while President of the Board of Trade (1843–1845), in introducing new legislation to improve safety on the railway network.