Reaching North

Despite their northern and fairly isolated locations, the citizens of Lancaster and Kendal were quick to grasp the possibilities of improved transport by canal, particularly for the supply of coal from south Lancashire.

The engineer Robert Whitworth was commissioned to make surveys. His first, 1772, route is shown on the contemporary map above, starting from the proposed line of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal near Eccleston (Autumn 2009 NB), crossing the tidal Ribble by an aqueduct below Preston, and running by Kirkham, Garstang, and Lancaster to Tewitfield where it rose 86ft to a summit level extending to Kendal in Westmorland. It was essentially a contour canal in the Brindley style, and if built would have created a level pound from Liverpool into north Lancashire – imagine 86 miles of unobstructed cruising!

However, it also involved a lengthy and difficult aqueduct crossing the tidal Lune estuary at Lancaster, to circumvent which Whitworth produced a revised plan locking up 24ft near Preston, which enabled the Lune crossing to be at a more satisfactory site near Halton, and reduced the lockage at Tewitfield.

The promoters wavered for many years, ultimately seeking advice in 1791 from John Rennie. Parliament approved his proposals the following year, which largely followed Whitworth’s upper route north of Plumpton near Preston, except between Tewitfield and Hincaster where he chose a line further west passing near Yealand Conyers and Milnthorpe, with a proposed branch to the limestone quarries at Warton Crag.

Construction was soon under way, and the level reach from Preston to Tewitfield formally opened in 1797, but Kendal had to wait until 1819 for completion of the remainder.

Rennie’s line would have needed extensive embanking near Holme, which was avoided by a deviation from Tewitfield to Hincaster, authorised in 1807. The Tewitfield extract from the 1845 Ordnance Survey map clearly shows how the deviation, with its locks, struck north from the roadside wharf at the temporary terminus of the earlier section.

With this deviation, it is clear that most of the waterway as built was substantially on the route first proposed in 1772, but with a realignment of Hincaster Tunnel and other minor adjustments to reflect improved construction techniques. Perhaps Robert Whitworth should be given a little more of the credit traditionally reserved for John Rennie in the planning of the Lancaster Canal.

Canalmaps Archive

© Crown Copyright 2014 Ordnance Survey Media 009/14

© Crown Copyright 2014 Ordnance Survey Media 009/14

This extract from the 1845 Ordnance Survey map clearly shows how at Tewitfield, the deviation, with its locks, struck north from the roadside wharf at the temporary terminus of the earlier section.

Canalmaps Archive (www.canalmaps.net)