Four unusual, cutting-edge tunnels which were designed to stop Selby Canal from flooding have been listed at Grade II.
Lund Tunnel, Brayton Tunnel, Paperhouse Tunnel and Tankard’s Culvert (West Haddesley) were created in 1778 by eminent engineer William Jessop for the Aire and Calder Navigation Company at an early stage in the development of the canals system.
The tunnels were built as an ingenious engineering solution to alleviate the threat of the Selby Canal being inundated and damaged by floodwater.
Selby canal is six miles long. The low lying, flat land that surrounds it meant Jessop and his team avoided costly engineering features, but the fact that the area was prone to flooding required Jessop to design five cutting-edge tunnels beneath the canal, to prevent it from being damaged or inundated by floodwater (the fifth tunnel was in-filled at an uncertain date).
More information including other sites in Yorkshire: https://historicengland.org.uk/whats-new/news/listed-in-2021/