Documents

There are no additional online documents for this record.

Summary

Description

Grainger & Miller, 1842. 8-span, segemental-arch railway viaduct for Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway, over Red Burn at Castlecary. 177.8m long arcade between E and W abutments, 8 arches each spanning 15.2m; 8.1m wide between parapets; highest soffit 26.9m above water. Channelled and stugged ashlar piers with projecting, polished ashlar plain entablature; raised, channelled and polished square voussoirs to arches; channelled and stugged abutment. Projecting cornice at rail level; simple roll-moulding detail. Coursed, broached ashlar parapet above with rectangular coping; 20th century steel railing to parapet head. Large, stugged ashlar abutment walls to E and W with full-height rectangular pilaster buttresses at springing point of arcade; coursed, broached ashlar with rectangular sunken detailing. Additional reinforcement to arches; cast-iron railway sleepers bolted to N and S abutments, tied together along soffit.

Statement of Special Interest

The Red Burn Viaduct is an instantly recognisable landmark in Central Scotland. It remains in constant use on the main train line between Edinburgh and Glasgow, and also spans over the busy A80 road between Stirling and Glasgow. The Antonine Wall and Forth and Clyde canal (SCHEDULED ANCIENT MONUMENTS) run almost exactly parallel with the line of the Red Burn Viaduct, and since its construction, the Red Burn Viaduct has remained a vital transport link in this strategic location, the shortest and most negotiable spanning point across Central Scotland. The designers of Red Burn, Grainger and Miller, were also responsible for the Avon Viaduct (1838, A-listed, see separate listing), another greatly engineered viaduct on the Glasgow and Edinburgh Railway. This viaduct, to the W of Linlithgow, is of a similar style to Red Burn but boasts a massive 23-span arcade.

The Red Burn Viaduct lies within the amenity zone for the Antonine Wall recommended in D N Skinner The Countryside of the Antonine Wall (1973), and which will form the basis of the buffer zone, yet to be defined, for the proposed Antonine Wall World Heritage Site.

References

Bibliography

About Listed Buildings

Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating sites and places at the national level. These designations are Scheduled monuments, Listed buildings, Inventory of gardens and designed landscapes and Inventory of historic battlefields.

We make recommendations to the Scottish Government about historic marine protected areas, and the Scottish Ministers decide whether to designate.

Listing is the process that identifies, designates and provides statutory protection for buildings of special architectural or historic interest as set out in the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997.

We list buildings which are found to be of special architectural or historic interest using the selection guidance published in Designation Policy and Selection Guidance (2019)

Listed building records provide an indication of the special architectural or historic interest of the listed building which has been identified by its statutory address. The description and additional information provided are supplementary and have no legal weight.

These records are not definitive historical accounts or a complete description of the building(s). If part of a building is not described it does not mean it is not listed. The format of the listed building record has changed over time. Earlier records may be brief and some information will not have been recorded.

The legal part of the listing is the address/name of site which is known as the statutory address. Other than the name or address of a listed building, further details are provided for information purposes only. Historic Environment Scotland does not accept any liability for any loss or damage suffered as a consequence of inaccuracies in the information provided. Addresses and building names may have changed since the date of listing. Even if a number or name is missing from a listing address it will still be listed. Listing covers both the exterior and the interior and any object or structure fixed to the building. Listing also applies to buildings or structures not physically attached but which are part of the curtilage (or land) of the listed building as long as they were erected before 1 July 1948.

While Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating listed buildings, the planning authority is responsible for determining what is covered by the listing, including what is listed through curtilage. However, for listed buildings designated or for listings amended from 1 October 2015, legal exclusions to the listing may apply.

If part of a building is not listed, it will say that it is excluded in the statutory address and in the statement of special interest in the listed building record. The statement will use the word 'excluding' and quote the relevant section of the 1997 Act. Some earlier listed building records may use the word 'excluding', but if the Act is not quoted, the record has not been revised to reflect subsequent legislation.

Listed building consent is required for changes to a listed building which affect its character as a building of special architectural or historic interest. The relevant planning authority is the point of contact for applications for listed building consent.

Find out more about listing and our other designations at www.historicenvironment.scot/advice-and-support. You can contact us on 0131 668 8914 or at designations@hes.scot.