[1] The tunnel was built to hide the line at the insistence of Thomas Anson, 1st Earl of Lichfield, the landowner of the Shugborough Estate through which it passes, after negotiations with the railway company with options for diversion were also discussed.

[7] The eastern portal, which lies within the park, has influences from Classical and Egyptian architecture, and has a decorated overhang below its cornice, which has a shield carved with the arms of the Earl of Lichfield in its centre, and a stone parapet above.

[8] The western portal has a much different castellated Romanesque architectural style; a deeply moulded arch supported on jamb-shafts and cushion capitals, with a face dressed in finely coursed stone.

A description of the portal said "a very striking architectural composition...a noble archway deeply moulded, flanked by two square towers, the whole surmounted by a battlemented parapet resting on arched corbel tables.

The lofty trees clothed with the richest foliage rising from the elevated ground through which the tunnel is pierced, give a depth of tone, and artistic effect to the whole scene, at once peculiarly imposing and beautiful, and form a remarkably fine feature in the scenery of the railway.

The Anson family, to which he belonged, was sufficiently powerful to have previously had the ancient road from Lichfield to Stafford diverted so as not to divide the landscaped grounds of the 16th century manor house on Shugborough estate.

In a letter to Colonel Anson, he wrote "I have no wish ever to live [at Shugborough] again, and therefore in decidedly objecting to the proposed line, I have been able to consider it without any special partiality to the place itself.

Though not wishing to lose the £40,000 compensation − a figure supported by the Earl − by having the line go by an alternative route, he concluded that use of a tunnel to pass through Shugborough Park would be the only plan free from further objections.

It required guard fencing for 40 yards (37 m) around the tunnel entrance to hide the trains, and for the portals to be neatly faced with stone, but without mentioning specific ornamentation; Locke and John Livock, the Company Architect, were respectful when designing the portals due to its historic surroundings, especially the Hall and the follies in the park, including the Triumphal Arch (now Grade I listed), under which the tunnel almost directly passes.

[6] It took less than two years for the Trent Valley Railway's completion, with the cutting of the tunnel (constructed by a group of contractors led by Thomas Brassey[2]) swift in comparison to the negotiations preceding, and was opened fully on 31 October 1846.