Clayton Tunnel
Clayton Tunnel is a railway tunnel located in the village of Pyecombe near the village of Clayton, West Sussex between Hassocks and Preston Park railway stations on the Brighton Main Line.
Another tunnel of the same name is found on the Queensbury Lines, a disused route between Queensbury and Bradford at 53°46′35″N 1°49′53″W / 53.7763°N 1.8314°W.
At 1 mile 499 yards (2065 metres) the Sussex Clayton Tunnel is the longest tunnel on the route. The tunnel was designed by David Mocatta, architect to the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway. It was completed in 1841 after 3 years of work.
The turreted and castellated north portal, along with its attached (privately owned) cottage perched directly over the line, is one of the more unusual and photogenic railway features on the London-Brighton Main Line or in Sussex and is now a Grade II listed building. It was clearly designed by Mocatta as it shares features with his Ouse Valley Viaduct. The portal was ornamented as a condition of the farmer who owned the land. The single storey cottage over the north portal, which is built in contrasting red brick and sits curiously off centre, was added in 1849 and was designed by John Urpeth Rastrick for the purpose of housing the lamp-lighter, who was tasked relighting the gas lamps in the tunnel after passing trains snuffed them out.
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