THE BOX TUNNEL 



But Blackmore was read in his day, just as Leigh 

 Hunt was iu his, and Fate is sardonic enough (for 

 who at this time reads Hunt's tedious stuff?) to 

 consign critic and criticized to one common limbo of 



neo;lect. 



xxxvni 



From Corsham the okl road used to lead preci- 

 pitously up to the summit of Box Hill and thence 

 downwards by breakneck gullies, furrowed by rains, 

 and rich in loose stones, into Box. The modern high- 

 way goes modestly round the shoulder of the hill. 

 The village of Box has gained an adventitious fame 

 from the celebrated tunnel on the Great Western 

 Eailway, which pierces Box Hill, and was, upon its 

 completion, the longest tunnel in England. Com- 

 pared with later works, it sinks into quite minor 

 importance ; but it is still an impressive engineering 

 feat, whether you view it from the railway carriage 

 windows or from the highway. Its length is 3199 

 yards, or nearly two miles, and the hill rises above 

 it to a height of three hundred feet. Its cost of 

 over £500,000 is uo less impressive. 



A curious story is told at Box of a platelayer, 

 em.ployed in the tunnel some twenty years ago, who 

 with his gang worked there at night, and slept at Box 

 village in the day. After a while he became engaged 

 to a girl in the village, and the wedding-day was fixed. 

 The vicar of Box, however, was a stickler for red tape, 

 and it appears that he found some technical objection 



