Lancaster Canal aqueduct to be repaired

MONEY from the Heritage Lottery Fund has secured initial funding for the repair of Stainton Aqueduct on the Lancaster Canal that was damaged by floods.

The initial development funding award of £41,000 will not however repair the aqueduct but will enable a second stage application to be submitted in November. If successful, the bid will be £1.5m towards a total project value of £2.2m.

Badly damaged

This will then enable the repair to Stainton Aqueduct, which was badly damaged during storms in December 2015, and will also help to develop other sites along the Lancaster Canal, including the Hincaster Tunnel and Sedgewick Aqueduct.

The Grade ll listed Stainton Aqueduct was built in 1819 and carries the Lancaster Canal over Stainton Beck. Prior to the damage caused during extreme rainfall in the storms, the aqueduct was in good condition.

Emergency stabilisation work

Emergency stabilisation works costing £250,000 were completed  by Canal & River Trust in early 2016, but were not sufficient to open up the public right of way through the aqueduct tunnel or to enable navigation over the aqueduct that is principally used by a trip boat operated by the Lancaster Canal Trust.

The Stainton Aqueduct however is not part of the navigable Lancaster Canal but the northern end that is cut off by the M6 motorway.