It took some time to gain permission from the French authorities for Charles and his uncle to leave Guadeloupe, this was granted in a prisoner exchange dated 7 Frimaire, presumably 28 Nov 1795.

[3] He was then brought to England and raised by his grandfather, Charles Hutton, Professor of Mathematics at the Woolwich Royal Military Academy.

Because his parents died while his father was a serving officer, he had been gazetted as an ensign on half-pay from the age of eighteen months.

In 1814 Vignoles gained a commission in the Royal Scots regiment, serving at the siege of Bergen op Zoom and later in Canada.

His biography of his father was published as a 'Life of Charles Blacker Vignoles ... a reminiscence of early railway history (London, 1889).

Originally intending to serve under Simón Bolívar, he became an assistant to the state civil engineer at Charleston in South Carolina.

The combination of his surveying experience and his initial training in the law enabled him to present the case for new lines clearly in Parliament.

Vignoles resigned in February 1827[6] after a disagreement with Stephenson over the measurements for Wapping Tunnel, who in any case distrusted civil engineers, .

The experience led to larger projects, including new railways in Ireland, which then was wholly part of the United Kingdom.

This included Ireland's first, the Dublin and Kingstown (the latter town and ferry port is now called Dun Laoghaire) (1832–34), initially built to the standard English gauge of 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)."

He had possibly been associated with Stephenson in initial work for a proposed Sheffield and Manchester Railway, but by the time the prospectus was issued in 1830, they had parted company.

In the event, the scheme foundered because of the severity of the proposed route via Whaley Bridge and over Rushop Edge into the Hope Valley.

[10] Meanwhile, he surveyed the Midland Counties Railway linking Nottingham, Derby and Leicester with Rugby, opened in 1839 The early years of the decade were difficult.

In 1846 he was employed to construct the Nicholas Chain Bridge in Kyiv over the Dnieper River (then: Russian Empire, today: Ukraine).

After his stay in Ukraine, Vignoles became involved in some English projects, such as the London, Chatham and Dover Railway (1855–64).

The grave is a flat stone slab, level with the ground, 1m x 2.5m, and lies on the east side of the main path towards the colonnade, in the tree-less area.

In 1836 he suggested the use, on the London and Croydon Railway, of a flat-bottomed rail, first invented by the American R.L.Stevens in 1830 (but rolled in British steel works).