Secret Lancaster

By Billy F.K. Howorth

The Roman city of Lancaster, on the banks of the River Lune, has an impressive history stretching back centuries. While it was once the home of a thriving Georgian port and later Victorian industries, many tales of the city’s past have been lost.Secret Lancaster examines the lesser-known pieces of the city’s long and unique past, from lost buildings and forgotten events to the city’s notable residents and surviving heritage. Lancaster has many secrets to tell and as you explore its streets and buildings you take a walk into the past, giving an insight into the city’s former life. Join author and archaeologist Billy Howorth on a journey through this inspiring city and its heritage, illustrated with original maps, images and photographs. You may think you know Lancaster, but take another look around and you will find more than you might expect.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Amberley Publishing
• Release date: Oct 15, 2019
• ISBN: 9781445673370

Book preview

1. A Town of Many Faces – From Roman Fort to Bustling City

Lancaster today may on the surface seem to be of lesser significance than other larger cities in Lancashire, but when we look back at the history of the city, we can see how it not only shaped the local area but also the county and nation.

Since prehistoric times people have settled around Morecambe Bay, utilising its natural resources in order to thrive. After the conquest by the Roman Empire, the area became an important base for the Roman garrisons who were slowly working their way northwards in pursuit of conquering Scotland. Lancaster’s unique geography, with several prominent hills, was the ideal location of a Roman fort, providing unobstructed views of the surrounding lands and outwards towards the Morecambe Bay.

The later Norman Conquest during the eleventh century once again cemented Lancaster’s importance as a hub in the north, with the Domesday Book recording the city name as Loncastre. During this time the city was part of the Lonsdale Hundred, which was part of the County Palatine of Lancashire. The establishment of the castle around this time also formed an enduring bond between the city and the monarchy, with the Honour of Lancaster being passed down the generations and the role of Duke of Lancaster still surviving in the present day.

During the medieval period the town once again began to grow and develop, although the layout of the streets during this period had changed very little as can be seen in surviving maps from this period. Lancaster also played an important part during the Middle Ages as the scene of the infamous Pendle Witch Trails in 1612.

figure

Map of the County Palatine of Lancaster by John Speed, 1610.

During the eighteenth century the city grew to become the fourth largest port in Britain, fuelled by the growing North Atlantic Slave Trade. The establishment the port during the Georgian period brought with it a new wealth and led to the creation of many new industries.

The latter growth of industry in the town during the nineteenth century brought Lancaster to the world stage, showing that even a small city can play an important role. Although during the twentieth century Lancaster lost much of its influence, partly due to Preston becoming the administrative centre of the county, the city retains many remnants of its past.

Today Lancaster remains an important hub in the north-west, home to two notable universities and most importantly a melting pot of local and national history.

figure

Map of Lancaster by John Speed, 1610.

figure

Plan of Lancaster by Edward Baines, 1824.

figure

OS map of Lancaster, 1919.

figure

Multiview postcard of Lancaster.

2. Notable Lancastrians

Robert Laurence Binyon (10 August 1869–10 March 1943)

He was born in Lancaster 10 August 1869 to Frederick Binyon and Mary Dockray. In his later life he studied at St Paul’s School, London, and went on to read classics at Trinity College, Oxford.

In 1893, he found employment in the Department of Printed Books at the British Museum where he took an interest in writing catalogues of the collections, publishing his first book Dutch Etchers of the Seventeenth Century in 1895. Over the years he cemented his reputation and became well known in the social circles of artists and intellectuals. Upon the death of Poet Laureate Alfred Austin in 1913 he was named as a possible successor, alongside Thomas Hardy and Rudyard Kipling.

The start of the First World War had a significant impact on Binyon and he wrote his now famous ‘For the Fallen’ poem. After the war he returned to his job at the British Museum and continued writing. He continues to be remembered for his wartime poems, which are often recited at remembrance events.

Henry Cort (c. 1740–23 May 1800)

He was born in Lancaster around 1740 and is famous for his methods of refining pig iron to wrought iron. He patented an improved version of the ‘puddling process’, which earnt him the title of ‘father of the iron trade’.

figure

Sketch of Henry Cort.

Thomas Edmondson (30 June 1792–22 June 1851)

Thomas Edmondson was born in Lancaster and is remembered as the inventor of the Edmondson railway ticket.

He was a trained cabinetmaker at Gillows and later became the station master for the Newcastle & Carlisle Railway. While working on the railways, he came up with a new way of issuing travellers with tickets, which were at that stage handwritten. He instead suggested that a small pre-printed ticket that contained information on the journey would be more suitable, which would be numbered by hand and date stamped to verify them.

When the Manchester & Leeds Railway opened in 1839, he became chief booking clerk at Manchester. Later he invented and patented a machine that could print tickets in batches, including serial numbers. When companies used his machine, he charged them a royalty, which made him a wealthy businessman. His machine soon became the standard after the creation of the Railway Clearing House in 1842.

Sir John Ambrose Fleming (29 November 1849–18 April 1945)

Fleming was born in Lancaster and went to Lancaster Royal Grammar School. Later he went on to study at several universities and later became a lecturer, as well as the first professor of electrical engineering at University College London.

His knowledge also allowed him to become a consultant in his field and he worked with many prominent companies including the Edison Electric Light Company, Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company and Swan Company.

He is best known as the inventor of the first thermionic valve (vacuum tube) and designed the radio transmitter that was used to make the first transatlantic radio transmission.

figure

Photograph of Sir John Ambrose Fleming.

Sir Richard Owen (20 July 1804–18 December 1892)

Sir Richard Owen is one of Lancaster’s most important scientists due to his ground-breaking work during the nineteenth century.

He was born in Lancaster on 20 July 1804 to merchant Richard Owen and Catherine Parrin. His parents had little money and he was one of six siblings. The situation was made worse when his father passed away only a few years later. Although Richard came from humble beginnings, he was given the chance to attend the Lancaster Royal Grammar School.

Shortly after he finished school he enlisted into the Royal Navy as a midshipman. It was during his time in the navy that he developed an interest in surgery and decided return to Lancaster to pursue a career in the medical profession. In 1820, Richard was apprenticed to a