| The Northern Reaches of the Lancaster canal has many
scheduled ancient monuments,
listed structures,
and passes through
conservation areas and
many other features of interest. Restoration of the Northern
Reaches of the Lancaster canal would help ensure the longer-term
survival of significant heritage assets, by enabling their
on-going maintenance and repair. |
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Scheduled Ancient Monuments |
| Three waterway
structures on the Lancaster Canal are designated as Scheduled
Ancient Monuments. These are Glasson Dock, Sedgwick Aqueduct
(right) and
the horse-path over Hincaster Tunnel. Several additional
Scheduled Ancient Monuments are located along the route of the
canal from Preston to Kendal. Those within a 300m radius of the
waterway in Lancashire include Greenhalgh Castle and the
Medieval Market Cross in Garstang, Skerton Bridge in Lancaster,
and Manor Farm low round cairn in Borwick. In Cumbria, the
Scheduled Ancient Monuments within 300m of the canal (or former
line of the canal) are concentrated around Kendal. These include
Miller Bridge, Kendal Castle and associated earthworks, Nether
Bridge and Watercrook Roman Fort. |
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Listed Structures |
There are a total of 166 Listed
structure’s located immediately along the length of the canal.
This includes 154 on the main line of the canal and 12 on the
Glasson Branch. The Lune Aqueduct is listed at Grade II*; all
other Listed structures are listed at Grade II.
The total count of Listed structure’s includes 115 stone bridges
over the canal, 13 aqueducts, ten mileposts, six locks, five
dwelling-houses, two cotton mills and two tunnel portals. The
remainder includes packet boat houses, canal hotels, a lock
flight, a lighthouse, a customs house, a lime-kiln, a tethering
post, a public house, a church and a culvert. |
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Conservation Areas |
Nine Conservation
Areas lie along, or in close proximity to, the Lancaster Canal.
Of these, seven include the canal (or the former line of the
canal) within their boundaries. These are Garstang Conservation
Area, Glasson Dock Conservation Area, Greaves Conservation Area
(Lancaster), Moor Lane Mill Conservation Area (Lancaster),
Bolton le Sands Conservation Area, Borwick Conservation Area and
Kendal Conservation Area. Lancaster City Conservation Area is in
close proximity to the canal (within 50m), and the boundary of
Bath Mill Conservation Area abuts the canal.
Part of the former line of the canal through Kendal is included
in the Kendal Conservation Area. A draft Conservation Area
Appraisal has been carried out for Kendal. However, this does
not include the revised Conservation Area boundary, which now
includes the former line of the canal.
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Other Features of Interest |
Stone Bridges
The Lancaster Canal
is strongly characterised by its fine stone bridges, the
majority of which are listed. A standard design of stone bridge
is found on the Lancaster Canal. This standard bridge derives
from the designs of the canal engineer John Rennie. Indeed, even
along the Glasson Branch and the Northern Reaches, which were
built after Rennie’s main line, the engineers worked to Rennie’s
original drawings. The features of this standard are large,
dressed, stone block construction, an elliptical arch, keystone,
bands, solid parapets with rounded copings (though some bridges
north of Tewitfield have flat-topped copings), and pilastered
ends. A number of bridges also include stone steps built into
their abutments on one side. |
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Tunnels
Hincaster Tunnel is
the sole tunnel built along the Northern Reaches of the
Lancaster Canal. This listed tunnel has attractive, classically
designed, stone portals to each end, and is notable for its
integrated sunken stone horse path and the nearby cottage and
stables associated with its management. |
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Locks
Tewitfield Locks
stand as the sole locks on the main line of the Lancaster Canal
between Preston and Kendal. They were opened in 1819 as part of
the Northern Reaches to Kendal, and consist of eight locks. The
flight is constructed of large punched, gritstone blocks and
incorporates Tewitfield Lock Bridge at Lock No.5. No lock gates
and little of the winding gear survive. On the Glasson Branch
there are six separate sandstone ashlar locks, all constructed
in the 1820’s when the branch was built. |
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Mileposts
Thirty-five
mileposts were identified along the canal in the Architectural
Heritage Survey in 1993. Two standard designs of milepost are
found. The first, found as far north as Lancaster, is a slim,
stone, tombstone-shaped post. The majority of these have been
refaced with concrete oval plates on each face. The second type
is found on the stretch north of Lancaster and is a simple stone
tablet upon which numerals are inscribed. |
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