One of the most distinctive landmarks in the Bath area has been listed by Government heritage officials.
Box Tunnel is one of 35 structures along Brunel’s Great Western Railway given new listed status by Department for Culture, Media and Sport, while another seven have been upgraded, including the footbridge at Sydney Gardens in Bath.
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Stretching from Paddington in London to Temple Meads in Bristol, the line was started in 1836 to open up new trade routes.
English Heritage began a public consultation earlier this year, to help identify and safeguard historic structures ahead of Network Rail’s plans to electrify part of the line.
The 1.8-mile long Box Tunnel took five years to build and cost the lives of 100 navvies, and was the longest railway tunnel in the world when it opened in 1841.
The east portal of the tunnel is now Grade II listed.
Structures being upgraded to Grade II*, the second highest grade for listed buildings, include the Sydney Gardens footbridge, which was also completed in 1841, and is the last surviving example of Brunel’s cast-iron bridges on the GWR line.
The gateways to Saltford Tunnel have also been Grade II listed, while the entrances to Twerton Wood Tunnel in Bath have been upgraded to Grade II*.
A number of bridges around Keynsham have also been given Grade II listed status.
Heritage minister John Penrose said: “Our railways and the historic buildings that go along with them are a wonderful and emotive part of our national heritage, symbolising for many of us a sense of romance, history and adventure. And nowhere more so, perhaps, than on the Great Western Railway.
“I am very pleased to be able to give these buildings, bridges and tunnels the extra protection that listing provides.”