Hengoed Viaduct
| Hengoed Viaduct | |
|---|---|
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| Coordinates | 51°38′44.53″N 3°13′25.65″W / 51.6457028°N 3.2237917°WCoordinates: 51°38′44.53″N 3°13′25.65″W / 51.6457028°N 3.2237917°W |
| Carries |
Taff Vale Extension National Cycle Route 47 |
| Crosses | Rhymney River |
| Locale | Maesycwmmer, Caerphilly, South Wales |
| Other name(s) | Maesycwmmer Viaduct Rhymney Viaduct |
| Owner |
Newport, Abergavenny and Hereford Railway Great Western Railway British Railways Railway Paths Ltd |
| Heritage status |
Reopened: 2000 Grade II* listed |
| Preceded by | Crumlin Viaduct |
| Followed by |
Quakers Yard Taff Vale Railway |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | Thomas W. Kennard |
| Material | Brick |
| Total length | 284 yards (260 m) |
| Height | 120 feet (37 m) |
| No. of spans | 16 |
| History | |
| Architect | Charles Liddell |
| Designer | Thomas W. Kennard |
| Engineering design by | Thomas W. Kennard |
| Constructed by | Messrs Rennie and Logan |
| Construction start | 1853 |
| Construction end | 1854 |
| Construction cost | £20,000 |
| Inaugurated | 1854 |
| Opened | 1854 |
| Closed | 1964 |
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Hengoed Viaduct is a Grade II* listed railway viaduct, located above the village of Maesycwmmer, in Caerphilly county borough, South Wales. Originally built to carry the Taff Vale Extension of the Newport, Abergavenny and Hereford Railway (NA&HR) across the Rhymney River, it is now part of National Cycle Route 47
During the Industrial Revolution, and the mass-extraction of coal from South Wales, there was a resultant growth in construction of railways into the South Wales Coalfield. The Taff Vale Railway so monopolised the trade of shipping coal to Cardiff Docks, that mine owners were desperate for competitor railway companies to both improve speeds of shipping, provide access to new markets, and hence reduce shipping rates.
The London and North Western Railway had developed a route for the industrialised West Midlands and Northwest England, by controlling the Llanfihangel Railway and the Grosmont Railway's as feeder lines into the Hereford Railway, and hence onwards via the joint GWR/LNWR controlled Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway. This allowed shipment of goods from Pontypool and the Ebbw Valley to Hereford. However, access to the productive Rhymney Valley and Rhondda Valley coalfields was at best restricted, through having to route trains south to Cardiff along the TVR, then along the South Wales Railway to Newport via the GWR, before being able to access LNWR controlled track.
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