There is plenty of evidence to say that there was a Yarrow Bridge Inn well before 1824 when the inn we see today was built.
How much can we find out about one of Chorley's earliest Inns?
I am investigating the course of the old A6 through Red Bank, Chorley to Duxbury, and came across 2 references to a Yarrow Bridge Inn from before the current Yarrow Bridge Hotel was built in 1824 (See lower down page).
Looking at the 1824 surveyors drawing (Fig1) proposing the current route of the A6, you can see 9 buildings around the original Yarrow Bridge up to Carr Lane. By the time of the 1843 tithe map, buildings 1 to 5 have gone. |
Using lidar data, 3D models and images can be produced of the area.
The route of the old turnpike road can be clearly seen from Fig3 which runs past buildings 5 to 2 and then a cutting is visible heading towards Rawlingson Lane on the other side of the golf course. The roadway/path from the Lodge on the A6 towards can be seen cutting across the old road. |
By overlaying Fig1 onto a modern map (I use the excellent Lancashire MARIO mapping system) and using the river Yarrow to best fit the two together, I have marked the approximate position of the 9 buildings in Fig2.
Buildings 1 and 2 are on the Duxbury side of the Yarrow. The old road and footings for the old bridge are still clearly visible today and easy to access from the modern path from the Lodge. Building 2 would be next to the bridge footings. There is also an old horse trough on the west side of the road next to the location of building 2. Building 5 is now under the Tenant building, although the position of the building shown on the 1824 map (Fig1) places it next to the still existing road.
Fig4 shows an 1804 plan of Red Bank showing building 5 in more detail. There isn't anything indicating that building 5 is an inn. Building 4 and 3 are probably lost when Miles Standish Way was built a decade ago. However, if you look at the lidar below building 3, you can see the mill race that is clearly visible on the ground, so some portion of it may survive. |