Holborn Viaduct

Summary

The oldest surviving iron road bridge in London (1869) — a cast-iron and Portland stone viaduct carrying Holborn over the Farringdon Road valley, with four Gothic corner pavilions and the surviving Victorian street character of Farringdon below.

About this location

Holborn Viaduct was completed in 1869 as part of the Corporation of London’s road improvement programme to eliminate the steep valley between Holborn and the City. The viaduct carries the road at upper level over Farringdon Street below; the structure is cast-iron with Portland stone facing, with four Gothic corner towers at the ends and bronze statues representing Commerce, Agriculture, Science, and Fine Art.

Below the viaduct, Farringdon Street runs in the valley — a deeper, narrower road environment with the viaduct structure overhead and Victorian and Edwardian commercial buildings on both sides. St Bride’s Church (Wren, 1675) is immediately east; the Old Bailey (the Central Criminal Court) is a short walk north. The combination of the Victorian bridge structure, the Farringdon valley, and the City of London context gives a compressed visual sequence.

For productions, the viaduct and Farringdon Street together give an authentic Victorian City of London environment — the bridge overhead, the valley below, the period commercial architecture on both sides. City of London Corporation handles filming permits.