APPENDIX 10 – NAVVY SETTLEMENTS AND THE FIVE CONTRACTS AWARDED TO CONSTRUCT THE LINE

Revised December 2019 The figures given for the contracts are the initial figures accepted by the Midland Railway from the contractors who had tendered for the job, not the final cost of construction. This list of navvy settlements is incomplete and the exact locations of some of the settlements whose names are known have yet to be established. The numbers in parenthesis against an entry are the numbers of huts present at that location as listed by Jackson (2002) at 56 settlements and based on the 1871 Census.

Contract No. 1. Settle Junction to Dent Head Viaduct. 17 miles 18 chains. Awarded to John Ashwell of Kentish Town, London on 14 September 1869, at £348,318. Contractor’s agents: James Hope and William H. Ashwell. John Ashwell ran into financial difficulties and his contract was cancelled in 26 October 1871, the work then being taken over by the Midland Railway Company with W.H. Ashwell as agent. Resident engineers: R.E. Wilson for the southern portion of the line and Edgar O. Ferguson for the northern portion. Maximum number of men employed: 2,300. Navvy settlements : Settle: Runley Bridge [5] Ribblehead: Batty Green Goldlands (Goldielands) [17] Batty Wife Hole [74] Marshfield [1] Inkerman Ashfield [15] Sebastopol [29] Oxgang Huts [4] Belgravia Langcliffe Huts [4] Winterscales Stainforth [21] Near Viaduct [16] Elwith (Helwith) Bridge [15] Blea Moor Jericho [2] Horton, Blind Beck [4] Six Huts [6] Row Huts Jordan [8] Selside [18] Jerusalem Ashes Tunnel Huts Salt Lake Blea Moor [13] Other [3+11] Dent Head [31] Contract No. 2. Dent Head to Smardale viaduct. 17 miles. Awarded to Messrs Benton and Woodiwiss November 1869, at £334,880. Contractor’s agent: James Hay. Resident engineer: John S. Storey. Maximum number of men employed: 1,400. Navvy settlements: Arten Gill Incline Huts Stone House [2] High House Cowgill Far Ground Lea Gate/Lea Yeat/New Closes [11] Castle Cottage Pavilion [2] High Cocklade Shaft Huts (Rise Hill) [4] Birkett Huts [13] Kirkby Stephen [1] Raygill Fell [7] Smardale village [5] Town Green [8] Smardale Gill [9] Garsdale/Garsdale Head Moorcock/Moorcock Quarry [7] Shorgill Lunds [4] Sycamore Trees Ais Gill Moor Huts [9] Outhwaite Hell Gill Toll Bar Ings Huts Castlethwaite Moor Rigs Southwaite

Appendix 10 – 1

Contract No. 3. Crosby Garrett tunnel to New Biggin. 15 miles. Awarded to Joseph Firbank March 1870, at £278,813. Contractor’s agent: J. Throstle. Resident engineer: Jesse Drage. Maximum number of men employed: 1,500. Navvy settlements: Crosby Garrett – Balaclava Huts [27] Appleby – Battleborough [17] Gallansey Huts [12] Appleby – Roman Road Huts [2] Crow Hill [11] Long Marton [1] Helm [36] Kirkby Thore [6] Town Head

Contract No. 4. Crowdundle viaduct to Petteril Bridge. 24 miles. Awarded to Messrs Eckersley and Bayliss 23 April 1870, at £329,905. Contractor’s agents: J. Lambert and E. (S.?) Williams. Resident engineers: John Allin (Allen?), Samuel S. Paine and Dr Head. Maximum number of men employed: 1,600. Navvy settlements: Culgaith [11 + 2] Dry Beck [2+7] Langwathby [3] Low House [4] Little Salkeld * [4+8] Cumwhinton [2] Little Salkeld - Hunsonby & Winskill* Scotby [2] Lazonby [8+3] Lazonby – South and North Musgrave Terrace Huts Baron Wood Huts [8] Upper Nether Hesket Lower Baron Wood Huts [11] Armathwaite [2] * Because the parish boundary runs through Little Salkeld station, it is thought that the navvy camp here was possibly located on the site of what became the station yard. The 1871 Census records huts in both parishes, possibly on both sides of the parish boundary but essentially at the same location. (Lydia Gray, Private communi- cation)

Contract No. 5. Hawes Junction to Hawes. 6 miles. Awarded to Messrs Benton and Woodiwiss mid-1871, at £83,913. 12s. 6d. Contractor’s agent: James Hay. Resident engineers: Frank Lynde and Edward Newcombe. Maximum number of men employed: 350. Navvy settlements:

The total estimated cost of the line (all five contracts) was £1,375,829. The final cost was more in the region of £3.5m.

Appendix 10 – 2

In view of the interest shown in the construction of the Settle-Carlisle line, the following is a list of resources which may be of use to the serious researcher.

SOURCES OF FACTUAL MATERIAL RELATING TO THE BUILDING OF THE LINE, NAVVY SETTLEMENTS, ETC.

1. PRIMARY SOURCES

Contemporary accounts of the progress during construction and incidents – local newspapers such as Lancaster Guardian, Westmorland Gazette, Appleby and Kirkby Stephen Herald, Daily News (26 and 29 October 1872). There are plenty of others. Contemporary article in Chambers' Journal of Popular Literature and Art 480, March 1873, pp. 157-160 “A Navvy Ball” (Anon.). Midland Railway (MR) historian F.S. Williams Our Iron Roads (1852; 3rd Edition 1883. London, Bemrose) and The Midland Railway: Its Rise and Progress (1876; 4th Edition 1878. London, Bemrose. Reprint of the 5th and final edition, with Introduction by C.R. Clinker, 1968. Newton Abbot, David & Charles). MR Construction Committee Minutes and Reports. MR engineers' drawings of structures and Land Plans. (Many still in use by Network Rail; also copies in the archives of the Midland Study Centre and FoSCL) Accounts and Diaries of missioners serving the navvy settlements. Ecclesiastical Parish Registers – Baptisms, Marriages and Burials. (Copies available at County Record Offices and elsewhere, some have been transcribed and published. 1871 Census Records, taken on the night of 2 April. Includes parishes along the line in Yorkshire West Riding, Westmorland and Cumberland. (Available at County Record Offices, Libraries and on-line by subscription) Contemporary photographic records (sparse) 1. NVM Digital Collection (CD-ROM) 2. British Rail/Network Rail Collection 3. Private collections. Archaeological evidence - air photographs - visible remains

- LIDAR images (several are available, some by subscription; on some, vital sections of the line have for some reason been redacted! The YDNP has commissioned a survey of the National Park and this should show details of the line and adjacent areas if the images can be accessed.)

2. SECONDARY SOURCES

Reports and analyses of Census records, Parish Registers, etc. Published works, including maps and site plans, of the construction period, including the following: Baughan, Peter 1987. The Midland Railway North of Leeds. Newton Abbot, David & Charles. 2nd edition, reprint of 1966 edition, with an additional chapter. 500pp. Coleman, Terry.1981. The Railway Navvies. Harmondsworth, Penguin. Reprint of the 1965 edition, with revisions. 256pp.

Appendix 10 - 3

Duffin, Kenneth D. 2012. The Man from Tasmania. Privately Published. 160pp. An in-depth study of the life and work of Charles Stanley Sharland. Mitchell, W.R. 1975. The Railway Shanties. Settle, Settle & District Civic Society. Reprinted Settle, North Craven Heritage Trust 1984. 16pp. 1988. Shanty Life on the Settle-Carlisle Railway. Giggleswick, Castleberg. Revised 2004. 48pp. 1989. How they Built the Settle-Carlisle Railway. Giggleswick, Castleberg. Reprinted 2005. 48pp. 1993. The men who made the Settle-Carlisle. Giggleswick, Castleberg. 120pp. 1996. The Lost Shanties of Ribblehead. Giggleswick, Castleberg. 96pp. Reprinted 2006, new format, 146pp. 1999. Garsdale:History and Traditions of a Junction Station. Giggleswick, Castleberg. 140pp. Mitchell, W.R. & Mussett, N.J. 1976. Seven Years Hard: Building the Settle-Carlisle Railway. Clapham, Dalesman. 64pp. Articles:

Brooke, D. 1975. Railway Navvies of the Northern Pennines 1841-1871. Journal of Transport History, 3, 1, February 1975. Fleming, Harry Willis. 2004. The Temporary Township of Batty Green in 1870-1879, Part 1. Industrial Heritage, 30, No. 1, Spring 2004, pp.2-7. 2004. The Temporary Township of Batty Green: 1870-1879, Part 2. The Decline and Fall of Batty Green, 1875-1879. Yorkshire History Quarterly, 9, No. 4, June 2004. Jackson, K.C. 1997. The Railway Shanty Towns at Ribblehead, North Yorkshire. Yorkshire Historical Quarterly, 2, No. 4, pp. 133-138. 1998. Ribblehead in1871. FoSCL Magazine, 77, August 1999. Jackson, Kenneth. 2002. Navvy Settlements between Settle and Carlisle. FoSCL Magazine, August 2002 and No. 90, November 2002. 2003. Constructing the Settle & Carlisle Railway: Some Last Minute Changes. Industrial Heritage, 29, No. 3, Winter 2003, pp. 61-63. Kampen, Paul. 1998. Memorial to Railway Builders, St Mary’s Church, Outhgill. FoSCL Magazine 73, August 1998, pp. 30-31. Mitchell, W.R. Buried at Chapel-le-Dale. Dalesman, August 1974, pp. 371-374. The Shanties of Cowgill Parish. Dalesman, March 1975, pp. 945-948. Mr Fairburn's Contract. Cumbria, May 1975, pp. 83-85. A Quest for the Shanties, Dalesman, February 1978, pp. 868-871. An Old Hall in the Crackenthorpe Country. Cumbria, Dec. 1978, pp. 520-523. Molloy, Rupert, and Mussett, Nigel. 2018. A Story of Perseverance – Charles Stanley Sharland. FoSCL Magazine 52, May 2018, pp. 27-28. Mussett, Nigel. 2013. The Engineer Sharland -1. FoSCL Magazine 132, May 2013, pp. 26-28. The Enginer Sharland – 2. FoSCL Magazine 133, August 2013, pp. 34-37. Charles Stanley Sharland. Cumbrian Railways, No. 148, Vol. 11, No. 4, October 2013, pp. 134-137. 2018. John Little, Engine Driver – 10 Batty Wife Hole 1871. FoSCL Magazine 151, February 2018, pp. 37-38. In Press: Navvies at Crosby Garrett. Smith, C.S. 1972. James Sharp: Pioneer of Rolling Carts. Country Life, 7 December 1972, pp.1596-8. Viner, D. 1978. Following the Tracks of Navvies. Country Life, 24 August 1978.

Appendix 10 – 4

Research Studies: Brennan, M. 1981. Navvy Gangs on the Settle and Carlisle Railway 1871. Unpublished thesis, institution not stated. 16pp. (Copy in National Railway Museum Library, York).

Cardwell, P., Ronan D. and Simpson, R. 1995. Batty Moss Navvy Settlements, Ribblehead, North Yorkshire. Topographic and Archaeological Survey for the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority. Unpublished Northern Archaeological Associates Report, 95/23. 2003. An Archaeological Survey of the Ribblehead Navvy Settlements. No.19 in White, R. and Wilson, P. (Editors): Archaeological and Historic Landscapes in the Yorkshire Dales, Yorkshire Archaeological Society Occasional Series. Dennison, (Ed.). Garsdale Station and Moorcock Cottages, Garsdale Head, Garsdale, Cumbria and North Yorkshire. Pennine Bridleway, Phase 1 – archaeological survey. Ilson, P. 2001. Batty Moss Settlements, Ribblehead, North Yorkshire: Archaeological Watching Brief for the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority. Unpublished. Northern Archaeological Associates Report 01/15. Ingleborough Archaeological Group. 2007. Ribblehead Construction Camp: Excavation of Building n6. Morris, M. 1994. Towards an archaeology of navvy huts and settlements of the Industrial Revolution. Antiquity, 68, pp. 573-584. Tyler, Gerald 2001. The Railway Years in Chapel le Dales 1870-1877. Friends of St Leonard’s Church, Chapel le Dale. 18pp. Includes a (not totally accurate) transcript of the Burial Records 1870-1877). Channel 4 television. 2008. ‘Blood, Sweat and Beer’. A programme in the Timewatch series featuring a visit to Rise Hill tunnel and the excavations carried out at No. 2 air shaft. Commentary by Tony Robinson. Paintings and illustrations depicting navvy life may offer an interesting perspective.

NAVVY SETTLEMENTS: RIBBLEHEAD TO DENT HEAD 1870s

The names of the various settlements appear scattered in several contemporary publications and it is often difficult to determine precisely where these were situated. Some settlements were in use longer than others. Contract No. 1 saw the greatest concentration of engineering major works and the building of these inevitably involved the employment of the largest workforce and the construction of the greatest density of temporary settlements or ‘shanty towns’ along the entire line. The account published in The Lancaster Guardian for 10 August 1872, fortuitously at the height of the construction period, provided the best clue of the location of most of the settlements in the Ribblehead and Blea Moor area relative to each other, and was appropriately dubbed ‘The Rosetta Stone’ by Bill Mitchell when he and I were researching the shanty towns in the mid-1970s. Further research of contemporary accounts has authenticated the details provided here and added further understanding of this aspect of construction, summarised in the plans shown below.

Appendix 10 - 5

1870-1876 1871 1871 1871 1872 1872 1873 1873 1878 1883

2 Apr. 21 Oct. 9 Dec. 10 Aug. 26,29 Oct. 8 Mar. 28 Jun.

Chapel le D. 8 Nov. F.S.W. F.S.W.

SETTLEMENT BURIAL REG.CENSUS L.G. L.G. L.G. Daily News Chambers J. L.G. History M.R. Iron Roads

SALT LAKE Salt Lake

BATTY WIFE HOLE Batty Wife Hole B.W.H. B.W.H. B.W.H. B.W.H. B.W.H. B.W.H.

INKERMAN Inkerman Inkerman Inkerman

BATTY GREEN Batty Green Batty Gn B.Gn B.Gn B.Gn B.Gn B.Gn B.Gn B.Gn

SEBASTOPOL Sebastopol Sebast. Sebast. Sebast. Sebast. Sebast. Sebastopol Seb. Seb.

BELGRAVIA Belgrav. Belgravia Belgravia Belgravia

JERICHO Jericho Jericho Jericho Jericho Jericho Jericho Jericho Jericho Jericho

JORDAN Jordan

SIX HUTS Six Huts

JERUSALEM Jerus. Jerus.

TUNNEL HUTS Tunnel Huts T.Huts T. Huts T. Huts T. Huts

THE BARRACKS The Barracks The Barracks

BLEA MOOR Blea Moor Huts B.M.H. B.M.H.

DENT HEAD Dent Head (Dent H.) Dent H. Dent H. Dent Head Dent

NAVVY SETTLEMENTS: RIBBLEHEAD – DENT HEAD 1870s

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Supposed locations of navvy settlements between Ribblehead and Dent Head.

Revised to 2017. © Nigel Mussett

Appendix 10 - 7

Victorian railway workings at Ribblehead 1870s.

© Nigel Mussett 2019

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