Wheelbarrow - Wythburn Church - Wythburn, Cumbria - Wooden Church Artefacts on Waymarking.com

This old wheelbarrow in Wythburn Church, was used in 1894 when the Thirlmere reservoir was created, to provide the city of Manchester with it's water. The area was dammed and flooded, submerging the Lakeland villages of Amboth and Wythburn.

The barrow was made for and owned by Manchester Corporation Water Works M.W.C.C. who built the dam and created Thirlmere as a reservoir.

Plans to create the reservoir caused much consternation at the time, the movement against creating Thirlmere found a figure head in the Victorian poet, artist, critic and conservationalist, John Ruskin, who indignantly stated that 'Manchester should be put to the bottom of Thirlmere.'

The dam is situated at the north end of the lake and has a plaque commemorating the start of the work on 22 August 1890. Stone for construction of the dam was quarried at Longridge in Lancashire and delivered by train to Windermere.

"In the mid 19th century Thirlmere valley bore no resemblance to its appearance today. Two small tarns, Leathes Water and Wythburn Water, sat in the bottom of the valley connected by a stream with a small causeway bridge running over it. At the south end there was a small hamlet with a pub.

However the Industrial Revolution in Manchester was creating a demand for more water in the suburbs and factories of the cities; this led to a search for good water sources. The search ended in Thirlmere and following an Act of Parliament, work was begun on both a dam at the north end, to stop the water flowing out of St Johns Beck to Keswick, and a 96 mile aqueduct to carry the water to Manchester. This was connected up for the first time in 1894."

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Approximate age of artefact (Year): 1894 Times available for viewing: Daytime hours Entrance fee (if applicable), local currency: 0 Relevant website: Not listed

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