Holborn Viaduct, London

Opened in 1869, and designed by William Haywood, it's made of iron with granite pillars.

It was built to make the road approach to the City better, so they decided "to construct a viaduct and high-level bridge over Farringdon Street and form a spacious and pleasant thoroughfare connecting the City with that great Mediterranean of western traffic, Holborn and Oxford Street." [from Old and New London by Walter Thornbury, 1878]

The Viaduct spans the Fleet River Valley. The river runs south, underground, away from the camera and has been covered-over since 1737. It was infamously known as the 'Fleet Ditch' until then.

Farringdon Street on the lower level, follows the path of the Fleet down to the Thames. The next major junction is with Fleet Street, home of the newspaper industry until the 1980s.

There are four statues on the Viaduct, the two on the north side are Science and Fine Art, with Commerce and Agriculture on the south side. They were all made by the Farmer & Brindley Company who also made carvings and statues for the Albert Memorial in Hyde Park, Chester Cathedral, and Alfred Waterhouse's Natural History Museum and Manchester Town Hall. The big carving in this picture is the City Of London Coat of Arms in the middle of the Viaduct.