Victoria Tunnel (Newcastle)

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The Victoria Tunnel, was completed on the 1842-01-08 and was officially opened on the 1842-04-07 by the Mayor. It served as a subterranean wagonway to take coal from the former site of the Spital Tongues Colliery to staithes on the River Tyne near Glasshouse Bridge in the Ouseburn Valley, Newcastle upon Tyne. The tunnel was cut through clay and is constructed using base courses of stone upon which an inverted brick arch was built. The loaded wagons descended the incline of the tunnel under their own weight and were drawn back to the colliery by a wire rope attached to a stationary engine.

During the Second World War the tunnel was converted for use as an air raid shelter with wooden benches and bunks installed, as well as chemical toilets, anti-blast baffles, lime washed walls and a number of new entrances.

At some point an 800 metre section of the tunnel (between Ellison Place and Queen Victoria Road) was converted into a sewer to replace the Pandon Sewer.

The tunnel closed in January 1860

The tunnel is 2.4 kilometres in length with a maximum depth of 26 metres and drops approximately 67.5 metres from top to bottom. It remains largely intact.

There are currently plans to refurbish the tunnel and make it into a tourist attraction.