Halton-with-Aughton is a
civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...
and
electoral ward
A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to t ...
located east of
Lancaster, England, on the north bank of the
River Lune
The River Lune (archaically sometimes Loyne) is a river in length in Cumbria and Lancashire, England.
Etymology
Several elucidations for the origin of the name ''Lune'' exist. Firstly, it may be that the name is Brittonic in genesis and der ...
. The main settlement is the village of Halton, or Halton-on-Lune, in the west, and the parish stretches to the
hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
of Aughton in the east. It lies in the
City of Lancaster
The City of Lancaster () is a local government district of Lancashire, England, with the status of a city and non-metropolitan district. It is named after its largest settlement, Lancaster, but covers a far larger area, which includes the tow ...
district of
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly.
The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...
, and has a population of 2,227, down from 2,360 in 2001.
Halton
Halton consists primarily of modern housing, amongst which can be found a number of 17th- and 18th-century buildings. It has a primary school and there is a post office and other local amenities including a very successful community centre. The village is on the edge of the new
Heysham to M6 Link Road
The Heysham to M6 Link Road, known as the Bay Gateway, is a dual carriageway link road between the Heysham and Morecambe peninsula to Junction 34 of the M6 motorway in Lancashire, England. It was opened on 31 October 2016. In the process, Ju ...
.
Halton railway station was on the opposite bank of the river from the village, linked by a narrow toll bridge. The station closed in 1966, but the station building and part of one platform survive as the Lancaster University boat house, that sits beside the cycle path that was once the now disused
"little" North Western Railway.
History
Halton was the centre of an important Anglo-Saxon manor held by
Earl Tostig
Tostig Godwinson ( 102925 September 1066) was an Anglo-Saxon Earl of Northumbria and brother of King Harold Godwinson. After being exiled by his brother, Tostig supported the Norwegian king Harald Hardrada's invasion of England, and was killed ...
, the brother of
King Harold before the
Norman Conquest
The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conque ...
.
Count Roger of Poitou who held the fee after the regime change, and his successors, preferred Lancaster.
The 19th-century
textile mill
Textile Manufacturing or Textile Engineering is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful goods ...
s once harnessed the power of the Lune. Earthworks on Castle Hill show evidence of an 11th-century Norman
motte and bailey castle
A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively easy to ...
. In the churchyard of
St Wilfrid's Church stands the Halton Cross believed to have been carved by
Norsemen
The Norsemen (or Norse people) were a North Germanic ethnolinguistic group of the Early Middle Ages, during which they spoke the Old Norse language. The language belongs to the North Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages and is the pre ...
over 1,000 years ago.
Halton Castle was situated within the village of Halton. It is likely that a
motte and bailey
A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or Bailey (castle), bailey, surrounded by a protective Rampart (fortification ...
castle was constructed on the site in the late 11th century. However Halton's prominence was lost in the 12th century when favour shifted to
Lancaster, and Halton Castle was abandoned. Only earthworks now remain and it is privately owned with no public right of way.
Halton Hall was part of the Manor of Halton and stood for several centuries on the banks of the
River Lune
The River Lune (archaically sometimes Loyne) is a river in length in Cumbria and Lancashire, England.
Etymology
Several elucidations for the origin of the name ''Lune'' exist. Firstly, it may be that the name is Brittonic in genesis and der ...
before being demolished in the 1930s.
Industry
![Forge Bank weir](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/52/Forge_Bank_weir.jpg)
In 1752 a charcoal blast furnace was erected on the Cote Beck, where the
M6 motorway
The M6 motorway is the longest motorway in the United Kingdom. It is located entirely within England, running for just over from the Midlands to the border with Scotland. It begins at Junction 19 of the M1 and the western end of the A14 at t ...
crosses Foundry Lane, and by 1755 the Halton Furnace Company ran it with those at Leighton and
Caton Forge. The furnaces produced
pig iron
Pig iron, also known as crude iron, is an intermediate product of the iron industry in the production of steel which is obtained by smelting iron ore in a blast furnace. Pig iron has a high carbon content, typically 3.8–4.7%, along with silic ...
. The chamber was charged with
charcoal
Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, cal ...
,
limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
, and
ore
Ore is natural rock or sediment that contains one or more valuable minerals, typically containing metals, that can be mined, treated and sold at a profit.Encyclopædia Britannica. "Ore". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 7 Apr ...
and a blast of air was blown into the base using water driven bellows. The molten iron (1530 C) ran down the furnace and was intermittently released in to the 'pig bed' of sand. It could produce 20 tons of pig iron a week- working for several weeks at a time. The 3-5% carbon pig iron was then
decarburised in
forge
A forge is a type of hearth used for heating metals, or the workplace (smithy) where such a hearth is located. The forge is used by the smith to heat a piece of metal to a temperature at which it becomes easier to shape by forging, or to th ...
s and purified in a
finery forge
A finery forge is a forge used to produce wrought iron from pig iron by decarburization in a process called "fining" which involved liquifying cast iron in a fining hearth and removing carbon from the molten cast iron through oxidation. Finery ...
to remove
carbon
Carbon () is a chemical element with the symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalent
In chemistry, the valence (US spelling) or valency (British spelling) of an element is the measure of its combining capacity with o ...
and
silicon
Silicon is a chemical element with the symbol Si and atomic number 14. It is a hard, brittle crystalline solid with a blue-grey metallic luster, and is a tetravalent metalloid and semiconductor. It is a member of group 14 in the periodic tab ...
in a process that used a
trip hammer
A trip hammer, also known as a tilt hammer or helve hammer, is a massive powered hammer. Traditional uses of trip hammers include pounding, decorticating and polishing of grain in agriculture. In mining, trip hammers were used for crushing meta ...
. In the
chafery
A chafery is a variety of hearth used in ironmaking for reheating a bloom of iron, in the course of its being drawn out into a bar of wrought iron.
The equivalent term for a bloomery was string hearth, except in 17th century Cumbria, where the ...
the metal was reheated and shaped with a trip hammer into an malleable iron bar. There were two forges on the river in Halton- the upper forge had six water-wheels, two fineries and two chaferies, the lower forge had a tilt and lift hammer.
Coke furnaces had displaced most charcoal furnaces by 1800, though Halton hung on until 1845 servicing local need. Nothing remains to be seen.
There was intensive industrial activity on the river bank in the 18th century with the forges and the construction of two water powered cotton mills: Forse Bank mill (1744) and Low Mill. Little to nothing now remain. Forse Bank mill whose name morphed into Forge Bank Mill was upstream. Water was taken from above the weir and two parallel leets powered all the buildings. The mills have separate origins but eventually merged. Forse bank started spinning flax, in 1821 it was spinning cotton but in 1826 it was flax. Other buildings, including a forge were acquired and converted. After the
Lancashire Cotton Famine
The Lancashire Cotton Famine, also known as the Cotton Famine or the Cotton Panic (1861–65), was a depression in the textile industry of North West England, brought about by overproduction in a time of contracting world markets. It coincided wi ...
in 1861, the spinning stopped - but in 1862 it was producing oilcloth, thus weaving. Eventually it was purchased by Williamson, who moved
linoleum
Linoleum, sometimes shortened to lino, is a floor covering made from materials such as solidified linseed oil (linoxyn), Pine Resin, pine resin, ground Cork (material), cork dust, sawdust, and mineral fillers such as calcium carbonate, most com ...
and
oilcloth
Oilcloth, also known as enameled cloth or American cloth, is close-woven cotton duck or linen cloth with a coating of boiled linseed oil to make it waterproof.
Manufacture
Boiled linseed oil was prepared by a long boiling of linseed oil with me ...
manufacture to Lancaster. Cotton weaving stopped in 1941. Part of the site has been developed with eco-housing, which have proved to be very popular and sell quickly. Further development is currently underway.
Railway
In 1849, the
"little" North Western Railway built
Halton station[Butt, p.112] on the other bank of the Lune, primarily to serve the forge. During construction it was linked to Halton village by a ferry. Eight people died when this capsized. In December 1849, the railway company built a toll bridge. It was washed away replaced in 1869 and replaced for the second time in 1913.
When the railway closed in 1966, the bridge fell into disrepair, it has been restored and is now free and open to small cars, pedestrians and cycles. The original timber station was destroyed by fire on 3 April 1907. A spark from the engine of a passing
Heysham
Heysham ( ) is a coastal town in Lancashire, England, overlooking Morecambe Bay. It is a ferry port, with services to the Isle of Man and Ireland, and the site of two nuclear power stations.
Demography
Administratively, Heysham is part of th ...
– boat train set fire to a wagon of oil drums by the goods shed. The fire brigade were unable to cross the narrow bridge and it was left to a special trainload of railway workers from
Lancaster to pass buckets of water from the river. The station was rebuilt in brick and timber and the building survives to this day, used as storage by
Lancaster University
Lancaster University (legally The University of Lancaster) is a public university, public research university in Lancaster, Lancashire, Lancaster, Lancashire, England. The university was established in 1964 by royal charter, as one of several pla ...
Rowing Club, with a public car park occupying the former track bed. The bridge is on
National Cycle Network
The National Cycle Network (NCN) is the national cycling route network of the United Kingdom, which was established to encourage cycling and walking throughout Britain, as well as for the purposes of bicycle touring. It was created by the cha ...
Route 90, and the trackbed on Route 69.
Aughton
![St Saviour's Church, Aughton-1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/38/St_Saviour%27s_Church%2C_Aughton-1.jpg)
Aughton () was known as 'Actun' in the 1086
Domesday Book
Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...
, meaning a place where oak trees grow. A riverside hamlet by the
River Lune
The River Lune (archaically sometimes Loyne) is a river in length in Cumbria and Lancashire, England.
Etymology
Several elucidations for the origin of the name ''Lune'' exist. Firstly, it may be that the name is Brittonic in genesis and der ...
, Aughton consists mainly of stone cottages and
St Saviour's Church, which is located on Aughton Road to the north of the hamlet. The church was built in 1864 and designed by architect
E. G. Paley.
Aughton lies within the
Forest of Bowland
The Forest of Bowland, also known as the Bowland Fells and formerly the Chase of Bowland, is an area of gritstone fells, deep valleys and peat moorland, mostly in north-east Lancashire, England, with a small part in North Yorkshire (however ro ...
Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Every 21 years the gigantic Aughton Pudding is baked over a celebratory weekend. The pudding made in 1992 was entered into the ''
Guinness Book of Records
''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
'' as the largest, but the festival itself was run at a loss. The festival in 2013 was a great success. No world record was attempted but the attendance was over 5000 and the profit made divided between good causes, St Saviour's and the Recreation Rooms. This money was later loaned to
Broadband 4 Rural North
Broadband for the Rural North (B4RN, read as "BARN") is a community-led project to bring high-speed broadband Internet connectivity to domestic FTTH and business properties in rural Lancashire, Cumbria, Allen Valleys (North Pennines), Cheshire ...
to bring broadband to the village on 14 August 2014.
See also
*
Listed buildings in Halton-with-Aughton
Halton-with-Aughton is a Civil parishes in England, civil parish in City of Lancaster, Lancaster, Lancashire, England. It contains 46 Listed building#England and Wales, listed buildings that are recorded in the National Heritage List for England. ...
References
;Notes
;Footnotes
;Bibliography
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External links
Halton with Aughton Parish Council WebsiteLancashire County Council
{{Authority control
Civil parishes in Lancashire
Geography of the City of Lancaster