Statue of Mary in HS1 North Downs tunnel

[mr_moo]

Hi everyone,

I was sorting through some of my old photos today and came across the set that I took back in 2002 when I was working on the construction of CTRL (now HS1).

So, an interesting piece of info for you - Did you know that there is a statue of Mary in the tunnel wall at each end of the North Downs Tunnel?

Mary is apparently, for the French at least, the patron saint of tunnels, and it's placed there to protect the tunnel. You'll find similar statues in many large French tunnels. Bear in mind that CTRL was built mainly by French managers and equipment, although many of the 'on site' workforce were English. This led to some interesting site discussions!

Here's a photo. Sorry it's so small - it's a scan from 2002 and I have no idea where the original actual photo (remember when they were film and you got them developed?!) has gone now.

 

[snowball]

I always thought St Barbara was the patron saint of tunnellers.

 

[Beebman]

I always thought St Barbara was the patron saint of tunnellers.

Me too - see the second photo in this article:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/rail-journeys/inside-the-gotthard-base-tunnel/

 

[mr_moo]

Now I'm intrigued. I was told at the time it was Mary and never questioned it. Perhaps the guy who told me was wrong! I'll try to find the original photo - I must have it somewhere.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

I suppose that whoever allocates patronage to the saints might well allocate one saint to tunnellers and another to the tunnels themselves. Given that new saints don't come along all that often this seems rather wasteful, but what do I know?

 

[eastwestdivide]

There are statues of St Barbara pictured here:
http://www.xfel.eu/events/general_events/second_tunnelfest
and:
https://www.ianvisits.co.uk/blog/2012/12/19/photos-the-crossrail-tunnel-portal-at-plumstead/
in connection with tunnels, each holding a construction in a similar sort of style to the OP's picture.


Scratch all that: how about this link - http://www.kentrail.org.uk/north_downs_tunnel.htm
showing the St Barbara on HS1 (scroll down).

 

[mr_moo]

Well, I stand well and truly corrected. I guess it must be St Barbara after all.
I've been wrong for 14 years!

I'll dig through the rest of my photos and see what else I've got wrong next...

 

[Trog]

Just a thought but should St Emeric of Hungary be the patron saint of railways generally?
Seeing as he was St Stephen's son.

 

[eastwestdivide]

A bit more on SB from wikipedia:

Saint Barbara became the patron saint of artillerymen. She is also traditionally the patron of armourers, military engineers, gunsmiths, miners and anyone else who worked with cannon and explosives. She is invoked against thunder and lightning and all accidents arising from explosions of gunpowder. She is venerated by Catholics who face the danger of sudden and violent death in work

although that wikipedia article at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Barbara only mentions tunnelling once:

In the Czech Republic, a statue of Saint Barbara is placed near the future tunnel portal during the groundbreaking ceremony of most major tunneling projects, owing to her being the patron saint of miners.

 

[Tio Terry]

Definitely Saint Barbara - and we were banned from running cables in front of her when we were designing the cable routes through the tunnel.

 

[kentuckytony]

Great pieces of info, all.
(I liked the "St. Stephen's son " bit.)

[My wife is a real saint, her name is Barbara and she is always digging in the garden...]

 

[Kentish Paul]

Great pieces of info, all.
(I liked the "St. Stephen's son " bit.)

[My wife is a real saint, her name is Barbara and she is always digging in the garden...]

Great post. Thanks.