Culloden Viaduct

Railway bridge in Highland, Scotland, UK

The Culloden Viaduct is a railway viaduct on the Highland Main Line, to the east of the city of Inverness, in the Highland council area of Scotland.

It was designed by Murdoch Paterson^[1] and opened in 1898 as part of the Inverness and Aviemore Direct Railway, which was built by the Highland Railway. The 29 span viaduct crosses the wide valley of the River Nairn. At 1800 ft (549 m) in length, it is the longest masonry viaduct in Scotland.

Historic Scotland added the viaduct to its "Category A listed building" protected status on October 5, 1971.^[2] It is nearby two important sites: Culloden battlefield and the Clava cairn, a trio of Bronze Age burial cairns.

Culloden Moor railway station was situated at the northern end of the viaduct, but the station was closed in the 1960s. The viaduct remains in use as of 2024.

Terminology

It is known also as the Nairn Viaduct, the Culloden Moor Viaduct or the Clava Viaduct.^[1]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Culloden Viaduct.

^ ^a ^b Yee, Ronald (2021). The Architecture of British Bridges. The Crowood Press. ISBN 978-1785007958.
^ Historic Environment Scotland. "CLAVA, NAIRN VIADUCT OVER THE NAIRN RIVER, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS CULLODEN MOOR VIADUCT (Category A Listed Building) (LB1709)". Retrieved 10 January 2019.