Gallery

Preston Basin photographed in 1897 looking east. A bargewoman can be seen at the tiller negotiating the junction with a pole with the help of a man (blurred) standing alongside her. The distinct twin boatholes allowing barges to load and unload dry goods directly beneath the central stone Georgian era warehouse bridging the head of the basin can be seen. On the left (north), coal wagons that have left the mainline network via Dock Street Junction are stabled and a coal tippler extending over the north side of the basin is just visible. The faint outline of the Corn Exchange, later the Public Hall, can be seen above the southern warehouse. This is the only known photo of the basin in operation. Image courtesy of Janet Rigby.

The site of Preston Basin in 2022 taken in a similar spot to the barge in the 1897 view included for comparative purposes. The Corporation Street Retail Park including an Aldi supermarket currently occupies the site which was built in the early 1990s after the opening of the A59 Penwortham Bypass extension to Ringway. Much of the basin lies beneath the car park. The head of the basin finished roughly beyond the parked car and the shrubbery beyond where the Georgian-era canal warehouses were located. The photograph was taken from where the basin met the Lancaster Canal at an almost perpendicular angle.

Preston Basin seen in dereliction in this photograph taken in 1938, possibly taken in anticipation of the basin's infilling. By the end of the same decade most of the basin had been filled in and the centre and left-hand warehouse had been demolished for a continuation of the coal sidings seen on the left and then a car showroom. The stone warehouse on the right survived until the 1980s until it was demolished for the extension of A59 Ringway Penwortham Bypass. Preston Public Hall which began as the New Corn Exchange and Market can be seen beyond the southern warehouse. The image shows the canal wash walls and coping stones being buried in situ. Image courtesy of Janet Rigby.

A closer view of the stone-built Georgian era warehouses at the eastern end of Preston Basin taken from the north wharf. Construction started in the second half of 1803, and was likely complete by early 1804. The twin broad arches or 'boatholes' of the central 'straddle warehouse' allowed barges to enter beneath the central warehouses. It is possible these included trapdoors to allow for the speedy transhipment of goods to and from the barges stationed directly below. Dry goods and produce, in particular grain, would have been delivered here to the adjacent Corn Exchange, built in 1822. The photograph was taken in 1938 just prior to infilling. Image courtesy of Janet Rigby.

Near the junction of the Lancaster Canal and Preston Basin in 1897. The indentation of the stone wall on the right denotes the junction of the short, slender packet boat basin infilled by the 1840s located just north of Preston Basin. Two vertical lifting bridges can be seen that allowed coal wagons to access the wharves on the east side of the canal and north of Preston Basin. A coal wagon tippler can be seen on the left and a rowing boat is moored in the foreground possibly used for inspection purposes. About to cross the bridge is a horse-drawn railway wagon. Beyond lie the chimneyed streets of Ladywell Street with Nickson's Row, Birkett's Square (darker chimneys, later demolished in the late 1800s for the Boatman's Arms and stables on Marsh Lane which was complete by 1900) and Mount Pleasant (later Mount Pleasant West), the latter home to cellared handloom weavers' dwellings demolished between 1950 and 1953. The building immediately above the horse-drawn wagon is the Jolly Tars, previously known as the Jolly Tars and Packet Boat Inn (1841), and more simply the Packet Boat located on the north corner of Ladywell Street and Mount Pleasant West. The building was believed to have been built in 1798 initially for Baines Brothers. They became a well known Preston coal merchants who also carried gravel and limestone south from Carnforth. Image courtesy of Janet Rigby.

Agnes Robinson stands at the tiller of the horse boat Kendal (owned by the Wigan Coal & Iron Company Ltd.). She was the wife of Joseph Robinson senior and the mother of Joseph Robinson junior, who donated the photograph to Janet Rigby. A coal tippler is at work on the west side of the Lancaster Canal while one of the vertical lifting bridges is raised giving right of way to the canal in this image looking north to Marsh Lane bridge. The photo was likely taken in the 1920s. Image courtesy of Janet Rigby.

An additional view of the barge Kendal taken immediately to the north of Preston Basin, most likely taken in the 1920s, looking north east. Despite the poor reproduction of the image, a number of interesting features can be discerned. These include the cabin roof beneath the tiller beneath which the entire bargee family - in this case most likely the Robinson family - would have lived and slept, the four wheeled, seven plank coal wagon (which helps date the image to the 1920s) stabled on a railway siding parallel to the canal behind the smoking cabin chimney, the Hosiery House in the background which survives today, and the twin barrelled roof of the Preston Wagon Company Ltd. To the right, the former Packet Boat House which straddled a narrow basin can be seen and possibly the arch to allow packet boats to enter and leave. This basin was likely infilled in the 1840s when the Packet Boat service moved to a point near north near Kendal Street. The Packet Boat House would have repurposed and likely used by coal and stone merchants.

A similar view and possibly the same tippler at work probably taken in the 1920s, looking north west. The horse barge Richard receives a wagon-load of Wigan coal near the entrance to Preston Basin. Richard will then have made its way north and delivered to canal side mills, factories and foundries. The wagons and carriages are stabled on Dock Street sidings. These sidings were cleared for the A59 Ringway Penwortham Bypass extension in the late 1980s. Image courtesy of Janet Rigby.

A rare view of all three warehouses built between 1803 and 1804 from the Corporation Street side, taken most likely in the 1920s. Arkwright's Furniture Stores and the northern warehouse housing Todkill's Motor Body Garage were demolished around 1939 for Barton Townley's new car showroom which in turn became a site for Bradshaw's Motors and later Loxham's Garages, both taken over by Dutton-Forshaw in 1968. The central warehouse would have likely had trapdoors to extract and load barges in the culverts directly below the building. Preston Basin can just be seen through the paned window in the southern, left-hand warehouse. Image: Preston Digital Archive.

Another view of the same 1804 built warehouse that survived until the mid 1980s with the modified front to accommodate Corporation Street, cut in the 1880s and seen in the foreground, c1978. This warehouse was initially served by the tramroad which entered the building via the infilled stone archway on the south facing side. The new tarmac and concrete replaces the premises of Edward Sharples, monumental stonemason and sculptor whose single storey workshop fronted the warehouse until 1970.

The car showroom which was built over the infilled Preston Basin occupied a large shed like building and can be seen to the immediate right (north) of the warehouse with an art deco façade rendered in white. Image by Beth Hayes from Preston Digital Archive.

The remaining stone-built Georgian 1804 canal warehouse, looking north from Corporation Street, c1978. It has been modified probably around the 1880s to accommodate the construction of Corporation Street, making it a five sided structure. It was originally served by the tramroad and wagons were turned on turntables. The tramroad would have entered the building via the stone archway, shown here infilled. Later railway tracks superseded the tramroad but they did not enter the building.

The brick building beyond was a car showroom and was built directly over the filled in basin. Both buildings were demolished around 1986 and 1987 for the construction of the A59 Ringway Penwortham Bypass extension. Another showroom for Loxham's Garages (later Dutton Forshaw) can be seen on the right, east side of Corporation Street. Image by Beth Hayes from Preston Digital Archive; dated from Preston Historical Society.

A drawing and etching by C. E. Shaw showing Preston Basin and the trio of stone-built warehouses. The main image shows the warehouses from what is now Corporation Street. Note the hoists attached to the central warehouse to lift and lower goods from the building. Enlarge the image and in the top right can be seen the Packet House that existed with its own dedicated slender basin for passenger boats between Preston, Lancaster and Kendal. This passenger basin was filled in at some point as the wharves became busy with coal traffic and passengers instead arrived and departed further north at Canal Street (now Kendal Street). Image: Preston Digital Archive.

The single storey shop front at 73 Corporation Street of Edward Sharples, monumental stonemason and sculptor, looking north west in 1938. Sharples also occupied the southernmost Georgian canal warehouse immediately behind and if the 'Marble' sign painted on the roof is anything to go by, likely the central warehouse too. In the following year, the central and northern warehouse (the latter not pictured) was demolished for Barton Townley's car showroom. Image: P. Turner, Preston Digital Archive.

The single storey shop front of Edward Sharples, monumental stonemason and sculptor, looking west in 1970. The scene is largely unchanged from the 1938 image, although the clock has disappeared above the main shop doorway. Sharples also occupied the Georgian canal warehouse seen on the right along Corporation Street. On the left, the adjoining terrace housed John I. Turner and Co Ltd, coal merchants and was demolished along with the single storey Sharples workshop in 1970 as part of a road improvement scheme along Corporation Street towards Fishergate. Note the sign advertising 'Memorials, Inscriptions, Renovations, and White Marble Slabs for Butchers and Confectioners'. Image: Preston Digital Archive.

A view of the remaining Georgian stone-built canal warehouse and the distinctive art-deco, bow-fronted, Dutton-Forshaw car showroom from the corner of Fleet Street and Corporation Street looking northwest. The shed like structure to the rear of the warehouse belongs to Dutton-Forshaw which straddled about ⅔ the length of the former basin. The roadworks are the same as those photographed by Beth Hayes in 1978, dating the photograph around this year. In the background to the left, the overhead catenary of the West Coast Mainline can be seen, and beyond the 340 ft long span of the coal conveyor that spanned the River Ribble to serve Penwortham Power Station. Image copyright of Jim Danby from Preston Digital Archive.

A busy scene looking due south in this photograph probably taken in the 1920s. The canal is looking somewhat neglected with empty vessels and reeds growing along the western bank. A loaded coal train makes it way to the coal yard, and coal and spare wagon wheel sets can be seen stored on the eastern side of the canal to the left. To the left of the left-hand barge, the indentation of the canal wall marks the entrance to a slender basin which served the fast packet boats under a covered 'Packet House'. The railway bridge appears fixed which suggests barges could no longer access Preston Basin to the immediate southeast of here at this stage. The skyline of Fishergate provides a backdrop including Loxham's Garages on Charnley Street advertising 300 cars in stock. Image courtesy of Janet Rigby.

The Robinson's bargee family pictured just north of Marsh Lane bridge looking south east, probably taken in the 1920s. The Boatman's Arms public house which included stables is right of centre at the top of the image, demolished in 2007. Dan Ashcroft was the last to carry coal on the canal in 1947 and his wife Mary was one of the Robinson boatpeople before she married. The boy in the photo demonstrates how common it was for barge families to take their entire families onboard while working on the canal. The canal and land to the left was then redeveloped for the Harris Institute, now the University of Central Lancashire. Image courtesy of Janet Rigby.

A boatman heaves-to and steadies his barge Express as a 10 ton load of coal falls from a coal wagon in this view looking northwest c1922. The mechanism to work the vertical lifting bridge just north of the barge and the dip to allow coal trains to pass beneath Marsh Lane bridge to access Leighton Street basin can be seen here. This section of canal is now built over by a two wings and an annex of Brunel Court. Image: Preston Digital Archive.

A coal wagon that went too far off a tippler and into a canal barge! The photo was taken c1925 on the west side of the canal by the Dock Street sidings. This section of canal is now built over by two wings and an annex of Brunel Court. Image: Preston Digital Archive.

The derelict three-storey stone coal office looks down over a forlorn Lancaster Canal, possibly taken in the 1950s after the last commercial traffic, a barge load of coal, left this stretch of canal in 1947. The abandoned barge is identified as Kenneth (Lancaster Canal Trust, 2023) although canal author Janet Rigby captions a barge clearly marked as Kenneth by Ben Baker's Yard at Catforth in 1955 about to be broken up (Rigby, 2007, p27). The Marsh Lane bridge has been infilled in preparation for the expansion of the Harris Institute north of the bridge. The ramp to the right of the coal office was reused for British Rail's Ladywell House (now Brunel Court) that was built by the side of the filled in canal and remains to this day. The entrance gate and coarse stone walls also remain as a boundary to Brunel Court. On the left, a single railway track ran alongside the canal to reach Leighton Street basin and coal yards dipping beneath the Marsh Lane bridge. Image courtesy of Janet Rigby.

In this sepia tinted view looking south east the dereliction of the largely drained canal is evident. The photo was likely taken in the 1960s just prior to the basin and canal's infilling at this point. A sunken barge identified as Kenneth (Lancaster Canal Trust, 2023), rubble and displaced stones fill the canal channel and the railway sidings have also retreated. The scene looks eerily quiet compared to the bustle and toil of the preceding decades. A derelict shed on the left reads the Preston Wagon Co. Ltd. On the right, a single but now severed railway track runs alongside the canal to reach Leighton Street basin and coal yards slowly dipping to provide enough headroom beneath the Marsh Lane bridge. Image courtesy of Janet Rigby.

The derelict canal looking due south in this c1960 view with the waterlogged barge Kenneth (Lancaster Canal Trust, 2023). The coal yards are still in use but not as busy as they once were. Instead, the sidings have found alternative uses to stable carriages and wheel sets. The Romanesque Fishergate Baptist Church forms the skyline of Fishergate in the background, while debris and a sunken barge fill the foreground. This section of canal is now built over by two wings and an annex of Brunel Court. Image: Preston Digital Archive.

An industrious scene taken looking north over Corporation Street, taken around 1950. The Church of St Walburghe and its 309 ft high spire overlook the busy meeting of canal and railway. The basin has been filled in since the 1930s and railway sidings have taken over almost every inch of canalside wharf! For a short period, it appears sidings were laid over the filled in basin, only to be removed for a car showroom. Image courtesy of Janet Rigby.

One or possibly two sunken barges and infilling are apparent in this c1955 view of the canal just north of the basin looking towards the Church of St Walburge. The last commercial traffic left this stretch of canal in 1947 carrying coal northwards. The pronounced dip beneath beneath Marsh Lane bridge is apparent here which took coal trains to Leighton Street basin; 'This provision was made following a tragic accident, whereby the crew of a 'foreign' locomotive, who failed to see a warning notice, ran their engine beneath the bridge, where it became stuck with the steam whistle broke off. Both men were trapped in the cab and scalded to death by the escaping steams' (Gregson, 2012, p49). 

This section of canal is now built over by a two wings and an annex of Brunel Court. One of the two barges is possibly Ann; Kenneth was abandoned and buried slightly further to the north of this view (Lancaster Canal Trust, 2023). Image: Preston Digital Archive.

A similar view to the photograph taken above, but likely taken in the 1960s. In the distance, a tower crane has been erected by contractors Holland, Hannan and Cubitts (North West) Ltd. on the canal alignment north of Marsh Lane bridge to construct an extension to the Harris College of Further Education. One of the two barges in the foreground is possibly Ann; Kenneth was abandoned and buried slightly further to the north and can be seen to the right of the tippler (Lancaster Canal Trust, 2023). All three barges are slowly being covered by spoil, waste and if they have not been disrupted by subsequent construction works are likely still there to this day.

British Railways Ladywell House redeveloped the site to the right, east side of the canal but did not build over the alignment. The building has since has since been converted into Brunel Court which built two wings and an annex over this stretch of canal. Image courtesy of Janet Rigby.

The canal in a sorry and de-watered state looking south beneath the Marsh Lane bridge towards Preston Basin. The bridge was previously known as Worsted Bridge and would have been rebuilt to accommodate the railway to Leighton Street basin dipping beneath the bridge from Dock Street sidings. The section of the canal in the foreground would be filled in by the early 1950s for the Harris Institute to expand and is now occupied by the Darwin Building of the University of Central Lancashire. Image: Preston Digital Archive.

A view of Preston's Public Hall, c1970 looking northwest towards the Church of St. Walburge. The site of Preston Basin can be seen to the immediate left or west of the Public Hall, covered by the roof of Dutton Forshaw featuring pyramid skylights. Directly beyond the hall's main roof can be seen the Hosiery House with five skylights which was built to serve the canal. To the left of the Hosiery House, the squat, light brown coloured British Railways Ladywell House is visible which was built on former coal wharves immediately north of the site of the Packet House. Demolition of the Georgian-styled Public Hall began in 1990 for the A59 Ringway Penwortham Bypass extension but the Grade II listed façade and entrance building remains. Image copyright of Jim Danby from Preston Digital Archive.

A view looking southwest at the entrance of the Dock Street Coal Depot in the late 1970s and the slender terraces on the north side of Corporation Street leading to Fishergate that housed various coal merchants. On the right, the photo is bordered by the remaining stone-built canal warehouse. Visible here beyond the row of parked cars is the dark coarse sloping stone retaining and boundary wall on the west side of the former tramroad alignment north of the former tramroad tunnel and east of Falkland Street (formerly Water Street West). It is likely this wall still exists and is buried beneath graded land, now part of Network Rail's Corporation Street Depot. 

Today, a short section of stone wall survives directly behind Mick's Hut takeaway at 21 Corporation Street, see Lancaster Canal and Tramroad today. To view the boundary wall on an 1849 published OS map and compare it with present day satellite imagery, see: https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=19.9&lat=53.75786&lon=-2.70590&layers=117746212&b=1. Image copyright of Jim Danby from Preston Digital Archive.

A similar view looking southwest at the entrance to the Dock Street Coal Depot around 1978. Pavement widening on Corporation Street has taken place on the site of the single storey shop of Edward Sharples, a monumental stonemason. Note the British Railways notice board attached to the stone canal warehouse. Image copyright of Jim Danby from Preston Digital Archive.

A view looking north from Fishergate along Falkland Street (formerly Water Street West) towards the three storey British Railways Ladywell House and beyond, St. Peter's Church. The cars park in the grounds of Ladywell House nearest to the camera are parked over Preston Basin and its junction with the Lancaster Canal. The demolition site in the foreground was occupied by Livesey & Toulmin Cheese Merchants at 81 Fishergate. Image copyright of Jim Danby from Preston Digital Archive.

A plan of the proposed Lancaster Canal extension by William Cartwright, dated 1801. The canal was extended from Spitall's Moss at the top, north end of the map where Fylde Road crosses the canal on a skew bridge to 345 ft north of Fishergate with Preston Basin heading off in an easterly direction 40 ft from the end of the canal. The extension was originally planned to temporarily terminate by Avenham Walk where the Belvedere now stands in Avenham Park but Cartwright revised his plans realising there was insufficient land to accommodate a transhipment wharf. Instead, the proposed alignment of the canal shown here in Cartwright's plan including the tunnel under Fishergate was used by the canal's tramroad. Funds were never found to build the canal across the River Ribble so the tramroad became a permanent fixture. The map shows the fields cut through for the canal and the Near House of Correction Field which was disused by this point and used the only remaining building of the Franciscan Friary. Image: Preston Digital Archive. 

William Shakeshaft's map of Preston in 1822. The Lancaster Canal can be seen entering Preston from the northwest, paralleling Fylde Road before passing beneath it and heading in a south-easterly direction towards Fishergate. Four basins make junctions with the canal, including Preston Basin, the longest, near the terminus of the canal. Previously Preston was principally confined to Fishergate, Friargate and Church Street but already by this point the impact of the canal can be seen with mills, foundries and houses built between the canal, Fylde Road and Friargate. Had the canal been built in its entirety, it would have taken an identical route to the tramroad. Image: Preston Digital Archive.

Edward Baines's map of Preston in 1824. Like William Shakeshaft's map of 1822, it shows Preston on the cusp of rapid industrialisation and development. Fields and crofts either side of the canal will soon give way to foundries, mills, housing and streets. The Old Priory or Friary to the west of the canal can be seen. William Cartwright's home can been seen directly beneath the 'F' of Fishergate; his garden led down to the Preston and Walton Summit tramroad he planned and supervised. Homes and their gardens north of here would give way to coal yards clustered around the canal basin. In just over 10 years, the railway would arrive in Preston cutting through a swathe of land to the west of the canal and tramroad and eventually cause the closure of both systems. Image: Preston Digital Archive.

A colourised view of Preston by John Tallis in 1852. The growth of Preston is stark when comparing with Shakeshaft's and Baines's maps of Preston published in the 1820s. The growth of the railways is apparent although at this stage the Preston & Longridge Railway is still an isolated line with its terminus set back from Deepdale Road. The tentacles of the railways are already beginning to bridge the canal in two places north of the basin. The tramroad is still in operation at this point but would close within a decade. One branch of the tramroad can be see heading west interlaced across the railway tracks to serve coal yards on Pitt Street. Image: Preston Digital Archive.

An OS Map of Preston published in 1849, showing Preston Basin rapidly being overrun by railway sidings off the Lancaster & Preston Junction Railway, barely 10 years old at this date. The tramroad is in retreat and truncated spurs can be seen at the head of the canal where they would have served coal yards on Dock Street in the west and a line of coal yards towards Fleet Street and Fox Street to the east. 

Also visible is the 50 yard long, single track Fishergate tramroad tunnel, the former Packet House just north of Preston Basin which appears to have been sub-divided to serve the coal yards and the canal foundry on the site of the Franciscan friary.

The distinct curve of the Lancaster & Preston Junction Railway to avoid the Lancaster Canal Foundry is still apparent to this day, particularly from the north end of Preston railway station.

An enlarged view of the same OS Map of Preston Basin in 1849.  These maps can be viewed at: https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=18.1&lat=53.75938&lon=-2.70670&layers=117746212&b=1

An OS Map of Preston Basin published in 1909, compare and contrast this to William Cartwright's plan of the same area in 1801 or William Shakeshaft's map of 1822. Preston Basin and its environs display the typical features of an industrial town at the turn of the 20th century yet has already undergone redevelopment. The Lancaster Canal has been cut back to accommodate a fan of railway sidings forming Dock Street Coal Depot, although a faint trace of the tramroad alignment can be seen just north of Corporation Street and east of Falkland Street. 

The cutting of Corporation Street in the 1880s obliterated most traces of the tramroad cutting north of the tramroad tunnel under Fishergate. The alignment of the Fishergate tramroad tunnel was reused but widened and rebuilt by the London & North Western Railway (LNWR) to access their goods station on Butler Street and is still in use today as an access road to the Fishergate Shopping Centre car park. The coal yards that were originally served by the tramroad along Fleet Street and reaching Fox Street have been replaced by commercial properties and coal distribution consolidated at the Dock Street Coal Depot, and coal yards along the Lancaster Canal to the north. This map can be viewed at: https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=17.3&lat=53.75981&lon=-2.70759&layers=168&b=1

A plan of Preston Basin showing the railway sidings of the Wigan Coal and Iron Company Ltd. Sidings and Yard 1915. The tramroad between Preston Basin and Bamber Bridge closed in 1864 and its northern portal from the Fishergate Tunnel has been obliterated at this stage, although a faint trace of the former alignment can been seen south of the two prongs of railway track leading off the southernmost siding from a wagon turntable. The plan would demonstrate which company or trader was responsible for each section of railway line, see the Reference notes on the plan. Image: Preston Digital Archive.

An extract from the LMS Railway Auction Catalogue Preston December 1935 with the instruction of dispose of railway owned property in Corporation Street by Henry F. Cobb, Auctioneer. North is to the left in this plan, east is at the top. Lot 3 straddles most of the canal and in reality most of this lot became a car showroom by the late 1930s, incorporating all of Wharf Street west of Corporation Street. Image: Preston Digital Archive.

An 1880s era land ownership plan of Preston Basin and environs annotated into the 1920s. The dominance of the railways can be clearly seen by this point, consuming both the west and east sides of the canal and the north and south sides of Preston Basin. The former elongated Packet House shaded in red sub-divided can be seen north of the basin and the corresponding indentation on the canal wall shows where the packet boat basin met the canal. In the early 1880s, Corporation Street had not yet been constructed but once built created an oblique street linking Fishergate with Fleet Street. 

The Fishergate tramroad tunnel can be seen at the bottom (south) of the plan but the cutting north of the tunnel would be buried under Corporation Street once built and the tunnel widened and reused as road access to Butler Street goods yard by the LNWR. 

An agreement dated 21 June 1937 is annotated in red, denoting the sale of land marked with a red rectangle straddling the canal to Barton Townley, for a car showroom which later became Bradshaw's Motors and Loxham's Garages, both bought by Dutton Forshaw in 1968. Image: Preston Digital Archive.

A plan drawn up by a law firm based in Lincoln's Inn Fields, London on behalf of the Lancaster Canal Company in 1837 protesting the proposed Lancaster & Preston Railway and the loss of land at the Canal Foundry and access to its coal yards on Pitt Street. North is to the right. The dry dock that gave its name to Dock Street sidings can be seen immediately opposite to Preston Basin and the Packet House with its own narrow, covered basin can be seen to the right (north) of the entrance to the basin. It is one of the few maps and plans to show the Packet House basin. 

The complex of tramroad 'splice roads' or sidings serving the coal yards and the basin warehouses is evident here shown in red. Between 1831 and 1835, the canal company had to fend off similar railway proposals three times. In this instance, the canal company lost and the  Lancaster & Preston Railway was duly opened on 25 June 1840 between Preston and Lancaster (Penny Street) terminus. Image: Preston Digital Archive.

A plan of the Lancaster Canal Foundry in 1873, at this point known as the John Stevenson & Co. Foundry Works. North is to the left of the plan and Preston Basin off to the east (top). The foundry was a valuable source of income for the Lancaster Canal Company and could be fired by coal arriving on sidings or 'splice roads' from the nearby tramroad. The foundry stood on the site of Preston's Franciscan Friary or Grey Friars, which later became a House of Correction. Based off map interpretation, the friary may have influenced the layout of the foundry complex, ‘As late as the Ordnance Survey (OS) town plan of 1849, the most northerly structure belonging to the Canal Foundry displays a remarkably similar configuration to that shown in the locale by Shakeshaft (1809) and by Baines (1824).’ (Bradley and Rowland, p13). The foundry later moved to new premises on Fylde Road; it is shown on the OS 25 inch map published in 1893, but the 1912 edition shows a cleared space which would later be occupied by additional railway sidings. Image: Preston Digital Archive.

Perhaps the most famous of 'unbuilt Preston' structures: the Ribble Aqueduct designed to carry the Lancaster Canal over the River Ribble. The aqueduct with the accompanying embankment south across the Ribble floodplain would have made for an impressive sight, the surface of the canal some 40 ft above sea level. The aqueduct was one of three designs submitted (see also History of Preston Basin) but due to a lack of funds a temporary tramroad was built to link the two ends of the Lancaster Canal instead which became permanent. Image: Preston Digital Archive.

Unbuilt Preston - a post-WWII vision of Preston published in the 1946 report 'Towards a Prouder Preston' envisaged the reconstruction of large parts of the town centre. It is included here to show the partial infilling and redevelopment of Preston Basin at this point in faint outline, located due north of the planned but unbuilt bus station interchange adjacent to Preston railway station which is shaded in dark red (bottom left). Image: Preston Digital Archive.

The Lancaster Canal and Preston Basin marked on two OS Maps at 1:2,500 (25 inch to the mile) published in 1931 and 1946.

The 1931 edition shows Preston Basin, marked by a red guideline, in water but beginning to show signs of siltation and disuse with its junction with the Lancaster Canal. By 1946, the eastern end of the basin has been built over by the square-shaped Barton Townley car showroom. The map lends credence to the possibility that the car showroom's southern wall reused the southern basin wall as a foundation. Made from stone, the basin wall would have easily supported the two storey shed like car showroom. Note the demolition of the northern and central canal warehouse at the head of the basin between 1931 and 1946, only the southern canal warehouse survived until the late 1980s.

The Lancaster Canal and Preston Basin marked on three OS Maps at 1:10,560 published in 1955, 1:25,000 published in 1960 and 1:10,560 published in 1968. 

The canal last saw commercial traffic leave here carrying coal to Lancaster in 1947. The stub of the former Preston Basin can be seen and the area is still rail served for coal traffic. The basin, marked by red guidelines, had been largely filled in and built over further coal sidings and a car showroom since the late 1930s. Note the bowed front of the car showroom visible on the 1968 map.

The section of canal between Maudland Road and Marsh Lane was filled in and redeveloped for the Harris Institute of Further Education in the early 1960s.

An aerial view of Preston taken circa 1929 looking southeast. Preston Basin still in water can be seen to the left (north) of the fan of railway sidings in the top left of the image. The basin would be filled in within a decade of this photograph been taken. The freight delivered to the canal by rail would almost exclusively be coal from Wigan's coalfields. Image: Preston Digital Archive.

A 1930s aerial image of Preston looking due east. Preston Basin is just below the centre of the photograph and at this point has recently been filled in. A curved siding bridges the canal near the junction with the basin to serve the northern wharf of the basin. The Packet House can be seen just to the left (north) of the the end of this siding but for around 100 years would have been used for other purposes surrounded by coalyards. Preston's Public Hall can be seen immediately beyond (east) of the basin warehouses. The land to the left (north) of the basin has been cleared which corresponds with the LMS Railway Auction Catalogue Preston December 1935 and the desire to sell superfluous land owned by the railway. Image: Preston Digital Archive.

Preston Basin and the course of the Lancaster Canal is just visible in this view taken in the summer of 1948. Mills and foundries that established themselves by the canal to make use of its water and transport can be seen including the chimneys of Progress Mill, Shelley Road Mills and Brookhouse Mills in Tulketh to the top left (northwest). In the foreground, the impressive sweep of the railway tracks form Christian Road Goods Station to the left (west), Butler Street Goods Station to the right (east) with the reused and widened tramroad tunnel under Fishergate, and Dock Street sidings sweeping off to Preston Basin and the Lancaster Canal north of Fishergate. Preston Central Station, so called to distinguish it from other stations open in Preston at the time, occupies the centre of the photograph. The 'panhandle' Butler Street passenger station to the right serves East Lancashire via Todd Lane. The eclectically designed Park Hotel, opened as a joint venture between the London & North Western Railway (LNWR) and Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway (L&YR) can be seen to the right overlooking Miller Park. It combines Queen Anne, Elizabethan, Gothic and Renaissance styles and was opened in 1882. The hotel featured a footbridge nicknamed the 'Glass Bridge' visible in the photograph to take guests directly between the hotel and station which was only removed during the electrification of this section of the West Coast Mainline in 1973 and 1974. Image: Preston Digital Archive.

The Lancaster Canal and Preston Basin form a 'L' shaped alignment in this late 1920's era view looking northeast. The expanse of railway sidings serving Dock Street Coal Depot off Corporation Street and Dock Street sidings with an extension further north to Leighton Street basin is visible. The longitudinal pitched roofing of the rebuilt London & North Western Railway (LNWR) era Preston Central station and transverse ridge-and-furrow roof of the 1903 extension to the west and Butler Street goods yard occupies the foreground of the photograph. The single track railway to Preston docks is visible curving off to the left (west) to descend a sharp 1 in 29 gradient to Strand Road. It opened in 1846 and remains open to this day for bitumen freight to a depot on Chain Caul Way. Image: Preston Digital Archive.

An enlarged view of the same late 1920's era photograph showing the distinct 'L' shaped alignment of the Lancaster Canal and its junction with the Preston Basin. The canal is bridged in three places by railway lines to access the wharves and yards on the east side of the canal and the north wharf of Preston Basin. The wharf looks derelict at this stage and is partly infilled. Image: Preston Digital Archive.

The site of Preston Basin in the late 1960s showing the large car showroom built over most of the basin and Dock Street Coal Depot off Corporation Street to the right (south). The former tramroad can be traced forming the eastern boundary of Butler Street Goods Station and Mount Street on an embankment then passing through Avenham Park to the top right. Image: Preston Digital Archive.

The large shed-like car showroom of Dutton Forshaw covers most of the site of Preston Basin in this 1970's era view of Preston looking south. British Rail's elongated Ladywell House is visible to the bottom right (northwest) of the basin with cars parked on the former canal alignment to the right (west) of the building. The alignment of the former tramroad can be discerned heading to the top-left (southeast) marked by trees. Image: Preston Digital Archive.

Preston Basin is just off in this view of Preston looking north, taken in the mid to late 1920s. The width of the Lancaster Canal is evident at this point allowing for barges to be moored on both sides but still allowing enough room for one vessel to pass. The rail served coal yards each with their own fan of sidings accessed by wagon turntables can be seen. The recently expanded Harris Institute takes the centre of the photograph partly built over Back Canal Street, and further north the crocketed spire of St. Peter's Church. Image: Preston Digital Archive.

Not quite an aerial image - Preston from the spire of the Church of St. Walburge in 1908. The long Packet House can just be seen on the centre-right of the photograph where the contrast is darker, beyond is Preston Basin. The wharves serving the Maudlands area of the canal can be seen more clearly in the centre of the photograph, including one partly silted basin heading east and Leighton Street basin further to the south heading off in a westerly direction just beyond the saw mill and soap works in the foreground. The long lines of wagons in the foreground are stabled at Maudland Goods Station. Image: Preston Digital Archive.