The viaduct was built in 1848 to extend the
Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway from its previous terminus at
Bridgehouses. The requirements were laid down by
Sir John Fowler (engineer and designer of the
Forth Bridge), but because of its prominent position in the city, he employed a firm of architects,
Weightman, Hadfield and Goldie, to manage the detailed design. The design was then constructed by Miller, Blackie and Shortridge, and consisted of 41 arches. The arch which crosses the Wicker provides of headroom and spans . On either side are smaller arches around high, with heraldic decoration in the stonework above them. Many of the arches are now concealed by buildings. The structure is officially named the Sheffield Victoria Viaduct, and has in the past been called the Wicker Viaduct. Later a part of the
Great Central Railway, the viaduct supported
Sheffield Victoria Station. Main line rail passenger services crossing the Wicker Arches ceased in January 1970 with the closure of
Sheffield Victoria and its service to Manchester, but the viaduct still carried the local services to Huddersfield via Penistone until they too were diverted, via Barnsley, in the 1980s. The only other passenger services to cross the bridge thereafter were football excursion trains to
Wadsley Bridge for matches played at
Sheffield Wednesday's Hillsborough ground. This traffic ceased in 1996. The Victoria station buildings and platforms were demolished in 1989. Freight services continued to use the, now single, line across the
viaduct to reach the Stocksbridge Steel works up to 2023. The arches were restored in 1990 and are a
Grade II* listed building. They were added to the
Buildings at Risk Register in 2007. In 2002, the
Cobweb Bridge was suspended underneath the viaduct to allow the construction of the
Five Weirs Walk. In spring 2006, the two westernmost arches and the bridge over Brunswick Road were removed and replaced by a single steel span in connection to the building of the final phase of
Sheffield's Inner Ring Road. bombing raid during the
Second World War The central arch was hit by an unexploded bomb during the
Second World War but did not collapse and was repaired. The repair can still be seen today when going under the central arch away from the city centre. It is on the left-hand side of the arch. The Sheffield University
Rag Magazine
Twikker is named after The Wicker, and its 1991 cover featured the Wicker Arches. ==See also==