Lancashire Witches Walk: Day 7 - Claughton Quarries to Lancaster Castle - Map A
Start Point
Distance/Time
SD 6082 6250
8 miles, 12.8 km
4.5 hours
Tercet Seven
Terrain
Fields, tracks, roads, gates and stiles.
This walks passes through some
farmland so be wary of livestock
and keep dogs on a lead.
OS Explorer
OL41
Key to Facilities
Claughton Quarries SD 5702 6441
Tercet Eight
Claughton Quarries (disused)
Parking (free)
Brookhouse and Caton pubs and
shops
C
rook O’Lune SD 5217 6474
Crook O’Lune picnic site
car park,
toilets,
tourist
information and
Woody’s café
N
GPS Waypoints (OS grid refs)
1
2
3
3
4
5
2
4
1
5
© Crown Copyright. All rights reserved (100023320) (2014)
6
SD 5702 6441
SD 5413 6453
SD 5392 6498
SD 5217 6475
SD 5033 6456
SD 4930 6166
6
0 Miles
0 Km
0.5 Mile
1 Km
1 Mile
www.forestofbowland.com
Lancashire Witches Walk: Day 7 - Claughton Quarries to Lancaster Castle - Map B
Start Point
Distance/Time
Terrain
8 miles, 12.8 km
4.5 hours
SD 6082 6250
Tercet Nine
Fields, tracks, roads, gates and stiles.
This walks passes through some
farmland so be wary of livestock
and keep dogs on a lead.
OS Explorer
OL41
Key to Facilities
W
illiamson Park SD 4893 6135
Tercet Ten
Lancaster City
Parking,
shops,
pubs and
cafés
Lancaster Castle SD 474 617
GPS Waypoints (OS grid refs)
N
7
8
9
10
SD 4917 6170
SD 4886 6134
SD 4868 6111
SD 4784 6178
10
© Crown Copyright. All rights reserved (100023320) (2014)
7
6
8
9
0 Miles
0 Km
0.5 Mile
1 Km
1 Mile
www.forestofbowland.com
Lancashire Witches Walk: Day 7 - Claughton Quarries to Lancaster Castle
Walk Description
Map A
1 GPS: SD 5702 6441
Follow Quarry Road downhill in a westerly
direction for 1½ miles till you reach the T-junction.
Turn right down Moor Lane, crossing over a
bridge and turn right at the T-junction to meet
the main road in Caton next to the Black Bull.
2 GPS: SD 5413 6453
Cross the road and continue down Holme
Lane (narrow) to reach the A683. CROSS
THIS ROAD WITH CARE and down the
lane directly opposite to reach The Lune
Millennium Park (disused railway).
3 GPS: SD 5392 6498
Turn left and follow the Lune Millennium
Park passing Caton village (shops) for 1¼
miles till you reach the Crook O’Lune picnic
site. Here is Tercet 8 (SD 5217 6475).
4 GPS: SD 5217 6475
From the Crook O’Lune continue your
journey along the Lune Millennium park
for another mile till you reach Denny Beck
(old railway station building and car park)
5 GPS: SD 5033 6456
Turn left onto Denny Beck Lane (CARE
LOOK OUT FOR CARS) and walk uphill
to reach the A683. CROSS THIS WITH
CARE and continue onto Grimshaw Lane
(unsurfaced). Follow Grimshaw Lane
south for 1 mile to cross the M6, then turn
immediately left to follow a bridleway
(Moor Lane) for 0.8 miles passing
Lancaster Farms Young Offenders
Institution on your right and what was
Lancaster Moor Hospital on your left.
6 GPS: SD 4930 6166
At the end of the lane turn right onto
Quernmore Road and follow it for 200 yards
and cross the road near the mini-roundabout
Map B
7 GPS: SD 4917 6170
Turn left into Parkgate Drive then almost
immediately right up the grassy slope to a
metal kissing gate, into Fenham Carr, a part
of Williamson Park. Follow the path on
your left and take the first fork to your
right up a slope. Continue till you reach a
set of large steel gates. Bear left through
these gates and up to the Butterfly house
and café near the Ashton Memorial. Look
out here for Tercet 9 (SD 4886 6134)
8 GPS: SD 4886 6134
Pass the Ashton Memorial and walk
downhill bearing left after the memorial
to follow the path past the ponds until
you reach the large iron gates out onto
Wyresdale Road.
The row of ancient cottages on Wyresdale
Rd opposite the entrance to the Williamson
Park car park, 100 yards to the east (left)
of the iron gates to the park, is known as
Golgotha – a reference to the place of
execution in Biblical Jerusalem. There is no
accurate evidence of the exact location of
where those condemned in 1612 were
hung, but hangings in this period took place
on Lancaster Moor, the area now occupied
by the park and the grammar school below.
9 GPS: SD 4868 6111
Turn right and head straight down
Wyresdale Rd into Lancaster, taking great
care at the crossroads, and continue onto
Moor Gate which becomes Moor Lane.
At the bottom of Moor Lane is the White
Lion Pub, dating from around this period
and said to be the place where those sent
for execution were traditionally allowed their
last drink on the way to the gallows at
Golgotha. It was formerly known locally as
’The Whittle Springs’
10 GPS: SD 4784 6178
At the bottom, where the road widens at
Stone Well, cross the one-way system at
the crossing and bear right to continue up
Church Street. Cross the one-way
system again opposite the Judges
Lodgings, then bear left up the cobbled
street to come out at the castle close to
the ancient Well Tower (or Witches
Tower). The main entrance to the castle is
on the opposite (west) side.
Here is sited Tercet 10 (SD 4733 6194).
Lancaster Castle was where those accused
of witchcraft were imprisoned until their trial
at the Lancaster Assize courts held on
18-19th August 1612. The Well Tower is said
to have been where they were held together
in very unsanitary conditions in an
underground cell. Elizabeth Southernes (alias
Old Demdike) died in prison before she
could be brought to court. It is not known
where she was buried, but it may have been
in an unmarked pauper’s grave within the
consecrated grounds of the nearby Lancaster
Priory Church. It is due to the writing of the
clerk of the court at the 1612 assizes,
Thomas Potts, that we have been able to
unearth so much about this tragic history.
The ten cast iron ‘Tercet’ way markers that
traverse this beautiful walking route have
been created in memory of those tragically
executed:V Anne Whittle (alias Chattox),
Elizabeth Device, James Device, Anne
Redferne, Alice Nutter, Katherine Hewit, John
Bulcock, Jane Bulcock, Alizon Device and
Isabel Roby
And in respect and hope for those accused
and still persecuted today.