County Kildare Walking Routes Project - Kildare.ie

County Kildare Walking Routes Project
EVALUATION CRITERIA FOR WALKING ROUTES
No. Walk Title GRAND CANAL ROUTE 7 : SALLINS TO HAZELHATCH
Comments
1. Nature and Characteristics of the Route:
1 Variety of
landscapes
2 Diversity of
natural flora
& fauna
3 How route
links
between
villages,
towns &
countryside
The route passes through the Northern Lowlands, along the Grand Canal ‘landscape within a
landscape’, as defined in the Kildare CoCo CDP 2005-2011. This comprises flat pasture & tillage, with
stud farms, in very pleasant and quiet rural area. The prominent ridgeline of Lyons Hill between Kill and
Newcastle lies c. 2km to the southeast, with the Saggart Hills of the Eastern Uplands visible in the
southeastern distance. The canal landscape, with well developed hedgerows, encloses a haven of
solitude despite being so close to the Greater Dublin metropolis.
Geologically, the canal route straddles the southwestern margin of the Dublin Basin ‘calp’ limestones
and the carbonate Ballysteen and Waulsortian limestone formations, with complex northwest faulting of
the bedrock.
Canal habitat is dominated by fringe of Common Reed & sedges, rare water lilies & flag iris, with clovers,
celandine, meadowsweet, cow parsley on banks. A variety of ash, willow, hazel, alder, birch, whitethorn
& elder trees fringe the canal, but ash & whitethorn dominate for entire length of the walk, with mixed
deciduous in adjacent hedgerows of beech, chestnut, (oak, scots pine, lime) whitebeam, linked to the
local estates’ heritage. Haws and rosehips berries abundant through hedges, with rare yew and holly
near Ardclough. Lower order plants include Hart’s Tongue & Marsh Ferns and mosses in shaded
habitats. Gunnera sp. present but receding by October; also Loosestrife and Willowherb receding after
bumper Summer’05.
A group of 5 swans (1 female, 4 cygnets), heron and waterhen observed; overall birdlife relatively low (&
quiet).
The route endows a sense of the canal’s importance as a major thoroughfare of commerce and social
connection in the nineteenth / early twentieth centuries. Modern car transport has destroyed this strong
physical link to some extent, but the quietude of the canal, despite being so close to the Dublin
metropolis, is its strength. A narrow vehicular roadway links the south side of the canal between
Ponsonby and Henry bridges. Hazlehatch village lies to the north, while Sallins lie to the southwest, with
4 Diversity of
Wheatfield village just north of Henry bridge.
Built heritage: The canal architecture is particularly well demonstrated along this stretch, having the
built heritage 13
and
archaeology
th , 14 th and 15 th locks and associated lockkeepers’ cottages. Each lock displays excellent engineering,
weir & bypass features. Six hump back road bridges (named Sallins, Devonshire (Morell), Ponsonby,
Henry, Aylmer, Hazelhatch) are single-arch cut-stone structures, with widening of Sallins and Ponsonby
bridges on their eastern sides. Many display rope chafings from barge moorings etched in the limestone
underpasses. The lockkeeper’s cottage on 14 th lock has been tastefully restored, while those on 15 th
and 13 th are in ruins.
The 18 th century (?) Lyons Estate of the Hon. Baron Cloncurry dominated the ‘Big Houses’ of the
district 4 , and is currently undergoing major renovation. Lyons House and interiors boast the presence of
Gabrielli murals, while the Lyons Demesne hosts the Lyons Church & carvings, as well as the site of a
medieval castle and village. Original stone (1.5m) walls, gate lodges and gateways are preserved,
although new stone walls are being constructed to >2.5m height at the 13 th lock, bordering Lyons’ Estate.
At Oughterard, c. 2km south of Henry Bridge along a surfaced road, Oughterard church & round tower
can be seen, as well as Oughterard Castle a little further south.
Ardclough townland boasts an excellent cluster of 18 th / 19 th century period features, including a partially
renovated national schoolhouse dated 1839; an old church converted sensitively to a residence; a late
18 th 5
century(?) farmhouse at Waterbury, with an original manual waterpump beside the canal; a series of
single-story limestone, slated cottages on the north and south sides of the canal and a round tower/ folly
(?) one field south of the towpath (latter not listed on CDP).
Archaeology: Discovery Sheet 50 records a moated site at Clownings 1km north of Ponsonby Bridge,
and a single earthen ring fort at Ringwood just north of Hazlehatch Bridge. Earthworks on Lyons Hill
within the demesne are protected structures.
Level of co- No access issues regarding the canal itself; managed by Waterways Ireland. However there may be
operation issues concerning access to heritage sites along the route (e.g. the Lyons Demesne) and private lands
from
in current climate.
landowners
4 John Roe’s 1801 “Map of the Manor of Lyons, the Estate of the Rt Honble Lord Baron Cloncurry” indicates an acreage of
1060.2.12 (A.R.P.), which was subsequently revised and annoted for a total acreage of 1090.2.17 (A.R.P.).