“The Hincaster Tunnel was built between 1816-1817 and is 378 yards long, 146 feet above sea level and the working water level was 76 feet below the hill summit. The engineer was John Fletcher and the builder was William Crossley, the portals, the first 10 yards of the interior at each end, and all of the underwater parts are of limestone., the rest is lined with bricks -approximately 4,000,000 - all made locally at Heversham. The tunnel was the first major brick-built civil engineering project north of the river Mersey.(?)
Boats were pulled through the tunnel by means of a chain or rope fixed to the south wall (fixing rings can still be seen) or legged through by boatmen. Lacking a towpath, the horses were led over the hill on the horsepath. The tunnel was last used by commercial traffic in 1944.” Information taken from on site information panel. It is a scheduled ancient monument.”
LEICA D-LUX2, f/2.8 @ 6.3 mm, 1/100, ISO 80, No Flash
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Keywords:canals, cumbria, hincaster, john fletcher, kendal, lancashire, lancaster canal, milnthorpe, tunnels, william crossley