Whalley Viaduct

Whalley
St. Mary and All Saints Church, Whalley
Whalley
Whalley shown within Lancashire
Population	2,645
OS grid reference	SD735365
Civil parish	Whalley
District	Ribble Valley
Shire county	Lancashire
Region	North West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	CLITHEROE
Postcode district	BB7
Dialling code	01254

Police	Lancashire
Fire	Lancashire
Ambulance	North West

EU Parliament	North West England
UK Parliament	Ribble Valley
List of places UK England Lancashire 53°49′26″N 2°24′14″W / 53.824°N 2.404°W / 53.824; -2.404Coordinates: 53°49′26″N 2°24′14″W / 53.824°N 2.404°W / 53.824; -2.404

Whalley /ˈhwɔːli/ is a large village and civil parish in the Ribble Valley on the banks of the River Calder in Lancashire, England. It was severely damaged by flooding in the end of 2015, and its restoration continues. It is overlooked by Whalley Nab, a large wooded hill over the river from the village. The population of the civil parish was 2,645 at the census of 2001, and rapidly increased to 3,629 at the census of 2011.

The main road through Whalley is King Street, which leads through to Clitheroe Road. Neighbouring Whalley are the small villages of Wiswell, Billington, Barrow, and Read. Close by is Downham village and Pendle Hill which was made famous in William Harrison Ainsworth's book "The Lancashire Witches".

Known locally as "Whalley Arches", Whalley Viaduct is a 48 span railway bridge crossing the River Calder and a listed structure.

It was built between 1846 and 1850 under the engineering supervision of Terrence Wolfe Flanagan and formed part of the Bolton, Blackburn, Clitheroe and West Yorkshire Railway. It is a red brick arch structure and the longest and largest railway viaduct in Lancashire. It carries the railway, now known as the Ribble Valley Line, 21.3m over the river for 620m.

Over 7 million bricks and 12,338 cubic metres of stone were used in construction. 3,000m of timber were used for the arch centring, temporary platforms and the permanent foundation piles. During construction on 6 October 1849, two of the 41 arches then completed collapsed, with the loss of three lives.

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