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120 Chapter 7: Middle Lunesdale and Leck Fell The Brontë connection began when the Rev. Patrick Brontë sent four of his five daughters to the Clergy Daughters’ School opened by the Rev. William Carus Wilson in Cowan Bridge in 1824. They were only there for a year, illness forcing them back to Haworth. Maria and Elizabeth died of tuberculosis in 1825, although Charlotte and Emily did, of course, survive to write novels. All they wrote whilst at Cowan Bridge, however, was “Dearest father, please, please get us out of this place”. Elizabeth Gaskell’s biography (1857) of Charlotte Brontë painted a harsh picture of the Clergy Daughters’ School (Lowood of Jane Eyre, perhaps derived from the Low Wood School we met at Casterton) and of the Rev. Carus Wilson (Mr. Brocklehurst), so much so that threatened legal action brought changes to the third edition. To put the Brontë’s illnesses into context, child mortality in the region was so high at the time that average life expectancy was only 26 years. A plaque on the wall of Brontë Cottage by the old road bridge commemorates the Brontë sisters’ brief and unhappy time at the Cowan Bridge school. when it is in flood. In alcoves on the bridge there are acknowledgements to the work of those who built the bridge in 1733 – labourers (on the west) separated from management (on the east). The bridge is midway between Nether Burrow and Over Burrow, which together yield the novel parish name of Burrow-with-Burrow. At the former is the 18th century coaching inn, the Highwayman Inn, which has recently been refurbished and resurrected as a ‘Ribble Valley Inn’, a geographically remarkable transmogrification. Roman stonework in Over Burrow barn If you walk to the gate at the drive of Burrow Hall in Over Burrow and then 20m to the barn to the north and look at the wall near the north end, about head high, you will see a red sandstone block with carvings on it. This is a remnant of Roman stonework and is all that can be seen of the Roman fort that existed at Over Burrow from the 1 st to the 4 th century. The rest you must imagine. The gate to the hall driveway is probably at the east entrance to the fort, midway along the east wall. Burrow Hall itself, visible up the drive, 140m away, is on the west wall of the fort. The fort was roughly square, so the south wall was 70m south of the drive, across the green field. The north wall was similarly 70m north, where there are buildings now. The fort thus enclosed about 2ha, enough space for a thousand soldiers. How do we know this, when there is so little to see? The Roman’s Antonine Itinerary listed a fort called Calacum 27 Roman miles from Bremetenacum (Ribchester) and 30 Roman miles from Galava (Ambleside) – in other words, here. In the past, Burrow was regarded as a very old place and, not so long ago, there was more evidence than there is today: William Camden, in his great work Britannia (1610), the first historical survey of Great Britain, wrote “… by divers and sundry monuments exceeding ancient, by engraven stones, pavements of square checker worke, peeces of Roman coine, and by this new name Burrow, which with us signifieth a Burgh, that place should seeme to bee of great antiquity.” Various excavations have been carried out, particularly in the 1950s, to confirm the lines of the walls and positions of the gates. About thirty coins have been found, from Vespasian (69-79 AD) to Constantius I (305-306 AD), but none from the 3 rd century. Of course, much remains unknown and may always be so. It is assumed that a road went west across the Lune to Galava although its route has not been traced. The road from Low Borrowbridge, which we have been tracking south, runs 1km to the east of the fort. Burrow Hall is a substantial Grade I listed Georgian mansion, best seen from the footpath to the north. After the Civil War the Burrow estate was given to a Colonel Briggs, who built the first hall in the 1650s. The estate was sold to the Fenwick family in 1690 and Robert Fenwick, Attorney General and MP for Lancaster, rebuilt the hall, as we see it now, in 1740. After passing through various hands, the estate was offered for sale in 2005 for £3.5m This is Chapter 7 of The Land of the Lune (2nd edition), http://www.drakkar.co.uk/landofthelune.html, Copyright © 2010 John Self
and so, for what it’s worth, we have the estate agent’s description of the interior of the building: the Baroque ceilings, the marble fireplaces, the delicate cornicing of its five grand reception rooms, the sumptuous master suite, the stunning atrium with fabulous views, and so on. The Burrow estate also includes 0.5km of fishing on the Lune, which Leck Beck joins 300m below Burrow Bridge. The Top 10 pubs in Loyne (This ‘top 10’ has provoked more comment than all the others combined. I think that I had better play safe and list the pubs (generously, more than ten) in alphabetical order. I am open to persuasion, financial or gustatory, from any owner who feels their pub has been neglected.) 1= Barbon Inn, Barbon 1= Cross Keys Inn, Tebay 1= Fenwick Arms, Claughton 1= Game Cock, Austwick 1= Golden Ball, Lancaster 1= Hill Inn, Chapel-le-Dale 1= Lunesdale Arms, Tunstall 1= Marton Arms, Thornton-in-Lonsdale 1= Redwell Inn, Gressingham/Arkholme 1= Ship Inn, Caton 1= Stork, Conder Green 1= Sun Inn, Dent 1= The Head, Middleton 1= The Sun, Lancaster 1= Water Witch, Lancaster P.S. The Highwayman Inn is disqualified for calling itself a Ribble Valley Inn. Logs and the Lune at the ‘island’ Leck Beck 121 The Lune from Leck Beck ... The map shows a ford across the Lune immediately after Leck Beck has entered the Lune and I can vouch for the fact that it is indeed fordable, on foot (sometimes). If the paddling expedition is from the east and is timed properly, it is possible to sneak in on the Whittington point to point steeplechases that are held on Easter Saturdays in the fields opposite. The Lune valley has now flattened out, giving long views to the south, east and north. An island (when the river is high) has been formed, with its shores strewn with large boulders and tree-trunks washed down in floods. The riverside fields show evidence of old river channels, with the lagoons left by the shifting Lune being favourite haunts of the heron, a bird that, unlike others, rises with graceful dignity if disturbed and with slow beats of its wings drifts off to settle in the long reeds where it can keep a better eye on you than vice versa. This is a magnificent spot for seeing the salmon leap. Settle on the west bank on a fine autumn day, at a point opposite the island, where a deep stretch of Lune runs straight towards you from the north. There will be little noise, apart from the splashing salmon. If the salmon should be resting, there will be, apart from the heron, a display of bird-life such as oystercatcher, snipe and kingfisher, if you are lucky – and all this with a backdrop of the Howgills, Leck Fell and Ingleborough. This beats Ruskin’s View by far! The 1847 OS map shows that, south of the island, the Lune swept in a wide curve half the way to Tunstall, that is, 500m from its present course. All the fields east and west of the Lune from Kirkby Lonsdale were marked This is Chapter 7 of The Land of the Lune (2nd edition), http://www.drakkar.co.uk/landofthelune.html, Copyright © 2010 John Self
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The Land of the Lune John Self
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The Land of the Lune A guide to the
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The Land of the Lune - and its trib
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Contents Introduction 9 1. Northern
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The Land of the Lune - and its trib
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Acknowledgements Writing a general
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Chapter 9: Gretadale and a little m
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CHAPTER 1: Northern Howgills and Or
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The River Lune ... A great oak may
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Looking down Bowderdale Bowderdale
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The Lune from Bowderdale Beck ... T
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A walker near the head of Langdale
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Rais Beck gathers pace as it passes
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ancient earthworks on the Orton Fel
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The Lune from Chapel Beck ... Immed
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CHAPTER 2: Shap Fells and Birkbeck
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Birk Beck Birk Beck arises in Wasda
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Bretherdale Beck Bretherdale Beck r
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The Lune from Birk Beck ... At thei
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The Lune below Jeffrey’s Mount Wa
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Borrow Beck 41 This is Chapter 2 of
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44 Chapter 2: Shap Fells and Birkbe
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46 Chapter 3: Western Howgills and
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The Lune from Carlingill Beck ... A
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The presence of dippers along any b
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Walk 6: Lowgill and Brown Moor Holy
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62 Chapter 4: Upper Rawtheydale The
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64 Chapter 4: Upper Rawtheydale Sea
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66 Chapter 4: Upper Rawtheydale Sal
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68 Chapter 4: Upper Rawtheydale the
Page 70 and 71: 70 Chapter 4: Upper Rawtheydale The
Page 74 and 75: 74 Chapter 4: Upper Rawtheydale Clo
Page 78 and 79: 78 Chapter 4: Upper Rawtheydale Bau
Page 80 and 81: 80 Chapter 5: Lower Rawtheydale and
Page 94 and 95: 94 Chapter 6: Middleton Fell Hall B
Page 96 and 97: 96 Chapter 6: Middleton Fell Killin
Page 98 and 99: 98 Chapter 6: Middleton Fell Stockd
Page 100 and 101: 100 Chapter 6: Middleton Fell The L
Page 102 and 103: 102 Chapter 6: Middleton Fell Barbo
Page 104 and 105: 104 Chapter 6: Middleton Fell Crag
Page 106 and 107: 106 Chapter 6: Middleton Fell a doc
Page 108 and 109: 108 Chapter 7: Middle Lunesdale and
Page 124 and 125: 124 Chapter 8: The Greta Headwaters
Page 135: The roof was so high, and the botto
Page 140 and 141: 140 Chapter 9: Gretadale and a litt
Page 154 and 155: 154 Chapter 10: The Wenning Headwat
Page 156 and 157: 156 Chapter 10: The Wenning Headwat
Page 159 and 160: Opposite: Ingleborough from Moughto
Page 161 and 162: active area long ago - long before
Page 163 and 164: Fen Beck Fen Beck arises on the eas
Page 165 and 166: often evidence, in the form of old
Page 167 and 168: silence is complete, apart from bir
Page 169 and 170: CHAPTER 11: Wenningdale, Hindburnda
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The Wenning from Keasden Beck ... T
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is split into four smaller cast-iro
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The River Hindburn By the time it r
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in spring is not, however, in silen
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Furnessford Bridge, although the 18
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182 Chapter 11: Wenningdale, Hindbu
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184 Chapter 11: Wenningdale, Hindbu
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CHAPTER 12: The Lune Floodplain and
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The Lune from the Wenning ... The a
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ather than shale, has been reached
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there are remains of about thirty c
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The Lune from Bull Beck ... The ste
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Foxdale Beck passes Littledale Hall
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four Roman miles from Lancaster, wh
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CHAPTER 13: The Lune to Lancaster
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The Lune from Artle Beck ... After
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entirely natural. Within Loyne the
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Halton washed away. This was swept
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Turner sketched it on his 1797 tour
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castle and priory now framed by the
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with the Dissolution of the Monaste
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St George’s Quay from the Millenn
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CHAPTER 14: The Salt Marshes
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The Lune from Lancaster ... Beyond
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Burrow Beck We followed the Roman r
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The River Conder The River Conder a
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from Clougha Pike. The valley seems
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nearby Church of St Thomas and St E
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The Lune from the Conder ... East o
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CHAPTER 15: Into Morecambe Bay
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The Lune from the Conder (continued
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then walk south along the coast. Th
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largest remaining uncultivated peat
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The remains of Cockersand Abbey Wal
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that there was a large local commun
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Reflections from the Point of Lune
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Bibliography and References Bibliog
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Contact Details for Further Informa
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Contact Details for Further Informa
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Austwick Game Cock Inn “ 51226 ht
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Tourist/Visitor Information Centres
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Bridge End (Caton) 198 Bridge End (
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Foul Gutter 125 Foundry Beck 207 Fo
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Leck Beck 105, 114-121, 117, 119, 1
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Ripley Orphanage 213 Rise Hill 75-7
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Walk 23: Ward’s Stone 225 Walk 24
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