Captured impulse responses from disused Northamptonshire railway tunnels Oxendon Tunnels and Kelmarsh Tunnels as part of the Northampton to Market Harborough line opened in 1859.  

 

These tunnels were known as the “rat-holes” by the train drivers on the line due to small bores of the tunnels.  

Passengers stopped running on the line in 1960, with final closure in 1981, with the tunnels currently opened as a part of a footpath to this day.

​

The line was built in 1859 by George R. Stevenson and George Biden due to the valuable iron ore located close to the railway line.

​

Kelmarsh Tunnel is 480 metres long, with Oxendon Tunnel being 414 metres long.

Each tunnel has a shaft (or and 'eye') - these are to aid ventilation, as well as to speed up construction.

​

There are four tunnels in total, the 1859 (down) tunnels and the 1879 (up) tunnels, however the down tunnels are no longer accessible, with the up tunnels being accessible along the footpath.

The impulse responses are for the 1879 (up) tunnels.