Holborn Viaduct

Holborn Viaduct is a road bridge in London and the name of the street which crosses it (which forms part of the A40 route). It links Holborn, via Holborn Circus, with Newgate Street, in the City of London, England financial district, passing over Farringdon Street and the subterranean River Fleet. The viaduct spans the steep-sided Holborn Hill and the River Fleet valley at a length of 1,400 feet (430 m) and 80 feet (24 m) wide. City surveyor William Haywood was the architect and the engineer was Rowland Mason Ordish. History Holborn Viaduct was built between 1863 and 1869, as a part of the Holborn Valley Improvements, which included a public works scheme which, at a cost of over £2.5 million (over £257 million in 2025), improved access into the City from the West End, with better traffic flow and distribution around the new Holborn Circus, the creation of Queen Victoria Street, the rebuilding of Blackfriars Bridge, the opening of the Embankment section into the City, the continuation of Farringdon Street as Farringdon Road and associated railway routes with Farringdon station and Ludgate Hill station. It was opened by Queen Victoria at the same time as the inauguration of the other thoroughfares with a formal coach drive procession on 6 November 1869. The viaduct crosses the junction of Victoria Street with Farringdon Street, at the point where Oldbourne Bridge had spanned the River Fleet before it was culverted for the creation of Farringdon Street and its market in 1734, thus enabling east-west traffic to avoid the steep gradients of the Holborn/Fleet valley at Holborn Hill and Snow Hill (also Skinner Street from 1829). Pedestrian access between the two street levels was effected via four pavilions, at each side and either end, containing staircases for access from the viaduct to Farringdon Street below. The pavilions' parapets are adorned with statues of important figures in the history of London: William Walworth (north west), Hugh Myddelton (north east), Henry fitz Ailwin (south west), and Thomas Gresham (south east). On the viaduct there are figurative statues to represent fine art and science on the north side, by the sculpture firm Farmer & Brindley, with commerce and agriculture on the south side, both by sculptor Henry Bursill. In 1941 the Blitz raids destroyed and damaged most of the area including the north side pavilions; these were copied and reinstated with associated property developments in 2000 (western) and 2014 (eastern), including lifts. Holborn Viaduct railway station, opened on 2 March 1874, was at the eastern end with a low-level through route towards Farringdon, and was replaced in 1990 by St. Paul's Thameslink railway station (later renamed City Thameslink). In 1882, 57 Holborn Viaduct, on the north-eastern side, became home to the world's first coal-fired power station, the Edison Electric Light Station, operational from 1882 to 1886. The building in which it was housed was destroyed by bombing during the Blitz, and the large building called 60 Holborn Viaduct has since subsumed the site. See also List of bridges in London References Bibliography Butt, R. V. J. (October 1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199. OL 11956311M. Weinreb, Ben; Hibbert, Christopher; Keay, John; Keay, Julia, eds. (2008) [1983]. The London Encyclopaedia (Third ed.). Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-405-04924-5.