The Dark Arch - Parlington, UK
Posted by: 
dtrebilc
N 53° 49.084 W 001° 21.547
30U E 608023 N 5964527
This tunnel was originally erected to cover a wagonway on the Parlington Estate so that coal being moved from a coal mine could not be seen from Parlington Hall. It was later used by steam engines on a private railway line to carry the coal.
Waymark Code: WM141ET
Location: Yorkshire, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 03/28/2021
Views: 0
These days the route of the railway line is a public bridleway and used as a 'rails to trails' route known as the Fly Line.
The tunnel had a series of small air grates in the top of the tunnel which also provide enough light that it does not need to have electric lights and can be walked through without using torches.
It is a Grade II Listed Building.
"Summary
Tunnel built to conceal coal traffic from Parlington Hall, 1813, for Richard Oliver Gascoigne.
Reasons for Designation
The Dark Arch, constructed in 1813 for Richard Oliver Gascoigne, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
Architectural interest:
* it is a good and rare example of an early-C19 tunnel set within the designed landscape of the Parlington Estate that was constructed to conceal the estate's coal traffic from the view of the hall and enable unbroken views towards the parkland; * the tunnel is constructed from high-quality limestone from the estate's own quarries and is a substantial structure that represents a considerable feat of engineering in following the sweeping curve of Parlington Lane; * it survives little altered.
Historic interest:
* it reflects the importance of the Gascoigne family's commercial mineral exploits and their willingness to share their landscape with industrial features, as long as they were cleverly hidden from view.
Group value:
* it has strong group value with the other listed buildings and structures on the Parlington Estate and the Grade II-registered landscape ...
... Parlington Lane, which was possibly originally the main central axis of the medieval village of Parlington, runs across the Parlington Estate and cuts straight through the hall's grounds less than 200m south of the former site of the now largely demolished Parlington Hall where it separated the more formal garden from the parkland to the south. It was used as a horse-drawn wagonway in the C18 and early C19 to transport coal from the Gascoigne family's collieries in Garforth to a coal staith in Aberford on the Great North Road where it could be transported away. In 1837 the wagonway became part of the Aberford-Garforth Railway, which remained in use until 1924. The Dark Arch is a tunnel believed to have been constructed in 1813 for Richard Oliver Gascoigne and was designed to conceal coal traffic on the wagonway so that it was not visible from the hall and gardens. The Dark Arch is included on an 1802 plan of the estate, although it is depicted in pencil, suggesting that it was proposed at this time, but had not yet been built.
Details
Tunnel built to conceal coal traffic from Parlington Hall, 1813, for Richard Oliver Gascoigne.
MATERIALS: coursed limestone, probably from the estate's own quarries.
DESCRIPTION: the Dark Arch is a tunnel located at roughly the mid-point of Parlington Lane where the lane is sunk out of view of the former site of the hall in a cutting several metres deep. It is approximately 75m long and follows the slight curve of the lane. It is constructed of coursed limestone with segmental-arched portals at each end incorporating plain voussoirs that spring from quoined jambs. The tunnel interior is similarly detailed with limestone 'brick' walls rising up to a segment-arched vaulted ceiling. The tunnel roof incorporates four air grates that still survive. Attached to the tunnel portals on both sides and running north-east for a short distance alongside Parlington Lane and also south-west towards Gamekeeper's Cottage are high limestone walls with rounded copings that form the walls of the cutting. A section of walling to the north-east of the Dark Arch, which originally linked the Dark Arch to the nearby Light Arch has been removed, but some of the footings survive."
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