Newsletter 179

Haigh Canal & Railway

It is well known about the canal and railway running through the grounds of Haigh Hall i.e. the Lancaster Canal and the Whelley Loop Line; but what about an earlier canal and railway? Remarkably another pair did exist, seemingly created sometime in the 18th century to supply coal and iron ore to the Haigh Foundry. The system ran for over a mile through the Lower Plantations following the contours of the hillside from Whelley to the foundry site in Leyland Mill Lane. It is no surprise that not many people know about these two as they do not appear on any OS map, the 1849 6 inch OS map only shows the Plantations after landscaping the early 19th century. I had heard of them but had no idea where they ran, or if any evidence still existed on the ground. When Trevor Boardman, of the Greenheart Project, offered to show us around, it was an opportunity not to be missed - so at quite short notice a field trip was arranged. We met Trevor at the Plantation Gates in Whelley, just south of where the Whelley Loop line used to cross the main road. The dismantled line is now a public footpath, running from Hindley to Hall Lane.

Our tour started here as the construction of this line has destroyed any evidence east of this point. We were not long into our walk when Trevor showed us the first signs - a ditch halfway up the side of the hillside but I must admit it was not convincing. However, as we progressed further down the path and crossed the tarmac road, we found ourselves on a level metalled track. This did look very much like a railway embankment but the ditch running along side was not particularly canal-like. However, as we progressed along the track, a bank began to develop separating the track from the ditch, itself getting wider and thus more convincing as a canal. At the next bend the canal feature cut through the hillside, whilst the rail track made a wider sweep. Further on the track began to separate from the canal and go downwards on a gentle slope towards the factory. The canal, however, remained level. After a short distance the feature opened up into a small body of water held back by a dam with a foot bridge over it. On the other side the feature continued and, to remove any doubt, it was now full of water. After passing a disused stone quarry, we eventually we arrived at our destination i.e. Leyland Mill. Here the canal stopped abruptly, a steep precipice overlooking the mill site preventing any further progress.

Barges would have been unloaded here and the material lowered down to the factory site. Lord Lindsay, the Earl of Balcarres, established his Iron Works here in 1788 but on an existing foundry site. The Earl ran two blast furnaces and a cupula for remelting the pig and scrap iron. There was a forge here and also at Brock Mill, just a few hundred metres up stream. Smelting ended on the site sometime before 1815 but the engineering works continued until the mid 19th century.

It would become well known for its steam engines and other machinery, including the famous Laxey Wheel on the Isle of Man. The canal and railway are fascinating rare fragments of Wigan's early industrial heritage, predating the huge Kirkless Iron Works site by at least 70 years. A survey of the route would make a great project for the Society so that an accurate map could be produced.

Hollowforth Mill Survey

Also last month we made another trip out onto the Fylde for the Wyre Group. They have been excavating a mill at Holloworth near Newsham for a few months now and have exposed foundations next to the standing remains where the mill wheel used to be. They have a theory however, that an earlier mill existed further downstream, as the tail race seems unusually long. There is also no evidence of a mill pond, but a mill further down would have allowed for this.

We carried out our survey in the suspected area and, unlike our previous visits, we seem to have a result, not necessarily mill-like but certainly a target for further investigations.

Next Meeting

Wednesday 3rd December - in the Standish Suite at the Brocket Arms (7.30pm as usual). Our speaker this month is Steve Hewitt who used to run the Geology Department at Wigan Technical College. He also taught Archaeology to 'O' level standard there. His talk therefore is not surprisingly entitled 'The Geology of Archaeology'. Bound to be a great talk.

Hope to see you there - B.A.