It is hoped, and expected, that walkers
on the trail will be careful and
considerate. Please remember that the
paths, although rights of way, are on
privately owned land, much of it
working farmland. You may encounter
cattle in some of the fields. Part of
stage three, on open moorland, is the
natural habitat and nesting area for
grouse and other species of birds,
whose future is being increasingly
threatened. Finally, please remember
that parts of the trail may be muddy, so
We hope that you will enjoy the walks,
and learn more about the way Bentham
ha developed over the years. If the
information boards and map help to
increase the awareness of the rich
local heritage, particularly among
younger people, then there is a much
greater chance of the heritage, both
natural and built, being preserved for
future generations.
To get to the Heritage Web Site simply
scan the qr code to the left and
download this map as pdf.
Published by - Bentham Town Team
Artwork, design & text: Gill Barron - ipaint.org.uk
By bus: there are regular bus services from
Lancaster and ample free parking in Bentham.
By rail: Bentham Station is on the Leeds to
Morecambe line, with connections at Lancaster
for Manchester, London Euston, Carlisle and
Glasgow.
By road: Bentham is about 12 miles east of
junction 34 (Lancaster/Morecambe) on the M6
and a few miles south of the A65 at Ingleton and
Clapham - just follow the signs. The B6478
north from Clitheroe across the Forest of
Bowland (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty),
turning right at Slaidburn, is one of the most
scenic roads in England.
GETTING HERE
his three stage Heritage Trail,
through some of the varied and
lovely countryside around Bentham,
has been made possible through
funding from the Local Heritage
Initiative. The project was developed by
a focus group of the Market Towns
Initiative, after the idea had been put
forward at a public meeting in 2000.
Many other local groups were
consulted and the trail can truly be
described as a community initiative, to
celebrate the traditions and heritage of
the area.
T
Alongside these developments, people
continued to farm, to produce their own food,
fuel and raw materials, much as they had for
preceding millennia.
Bentham Heritage Trail
WHAT IS HERITAGE?
It must be whatever has survived through
history, leaving a legacy in the present, which
shapes the place and its people and makes us
what we are today. What makes Bentham’s
heritage special is that it is the history of a place
where nothing very “historic” ever happened,
and where people carried on with their daily
lives undisturbed by great dramas, so its
evolution was natural.
The Romans passed us by (though there is
evidence of tribal resistance - a kind of “protest
camp” on top of Ingleborough) and later the
Vikings landed and became locals through
marriage. The Normans arrived with their
annoying Domesday Book and tax-collectors,
and then the great Yorkshire abbeys overran the
dales with their vast flocks of sheep. No doubt a
few stray Norman sheep found their way into
local flocks!
Haymaking at Bentham 1912
The railways certainly provided a boost, as they
made so many jobs easier, faster and more
profitable, but the key to local life remained, as
it still does, self-reliance, and the sensible,
sustainable use of our abundant local
resources.
Silk Mill workers 1939
Later, the Wars of the Roses may have caused
a flutter, as Bentham is on the borders of
Yorkshire and Lancashire, but no battles were
fought here. The Pilgrimage of Grace in 1536,
(a protest at royal greed), did cause some
excitement. Bells were rung, beacon fires were
lit and a few “faultie” persons were
subsequently carted off for punishment.
Nothing is recorded during the Civil War era.
Life just went on. Cavaliers and Roundheads
may well have seemed airy-fairy intellectuals
to the down-to-earth Benthamers, more
concerned, then as now, with getting a good
price for their sheep. However, the great
plague of 1665 brought real and terrible grief
into the lives of ordinary fold. Where politics
left most people cold, natural disasters could
still wreak havoc. The Plague Stone in a wall
between High and Low Bentham is a moving
reminder of those terrible times.
Here even the industrial Revolution occurred in
a fairly organic way. Millstones, wool and
water power were parts of life already, so the
gradual development of a manufacturing
enterprise, the Silk Mills, came as no great
shock. However, the mills here were owned by
Quakers, the first to introduce sick pay,
holidays and pensions for their workers. In a
harsher age, this really was revolutionary.
Looking at Bentham on a map, it appears as the
centre of a great hinterland of “wilderness” - the
Yorkshire Dales and the Forest of Bowland. Far
from being empty, this area is full of natural
resources and abiding interest. It has sustained
the lives of countless generations of ordinary
folk and hopefully will continue to do so for a
long time to come, resisting passing fads and
fashions and sticking stubbornly to its own
sturdy values.
As you walk this trail, whether on the short or
longer routes, look around you and absorb the
atmosphere - it hasn’t changed much in a long
time, and isn’t about to. The eight information
boards you will encounter, describing aspects of
our local history, our inheritance, will provide
you with lots of interesting facts, and with many
pictures drawn from our local archives.
Pack horse and drover. From a painting of 1757