East Portal - Hincaster Tunnel - Lancaster Canal - Hincaster, Cumbria - England
N 54° 15.564 W 002° 44.979
30U E 516308 N 6012412
This is eastern end of Hincaster Tunnel of the Lancaster Canal. Only 378 yards long. Now disused and cut off from the rest of the Northern Reaches by the A590 dual carriageway linking Kendal to the M6 at junction 36.
Waymark Code: WMEYYE
Location: North West England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 07/25/2012
Views: 7
Although the other end of this tunnel has water in, the eastern end of the tunnel is overgrown and partially filled in. The Lancaster canal trust are hoping to restore as much as possible of the Northern Reaches, the name given to the part of the canal north of Tewitfield which has been cut in to several pieces by the M6 motorway crossing the canal in 1968. Work has started on excavating the canal further south.
The engineer for the canal was John Fletcher and the builder was William Crosseley. The portals are limestone. The tunnel was opened on Christmas Day 1817. The roof is lined with locally made bricks, which were made further south on the canal at Millness. Too many were made and the excess sold off.
There is no tow path through the tunnel, so horses went over the hill by the horse path, whilst the barges were either pulled through using a chain or rope on the south wall or legged through. Ventilation shafts were not needed. The modern West Coast Main Line railway passes over this portal., built in 1846 as the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway.
The canal closed in 1944.
Listed Monument (
visit link)
Northern Reaches group (
visit link)