Ribble Link - History

History

The marshland of the River Ribble and the Savick Brook were natural obstacles preventing easy access north west of Preston. Before the private toll road and modern roads A583/A584 were built crossing the marsh and the brook would have been much further inland, north east of the present crossing and supportive evidence is this may have been at what is now the footbridge at Lea Golf Course. On the first 1840 Ordnance map this is called Wads Bridge but more importantly also shows a ford. This route also leads south to St Catherines Well on Lea Marsh, suggesting a route of pilgrimage and antiquity. The route north avoiding the marsh and toll road leads to the now much quieter lanes leading to the village of Clifton, which was at one time the main thoroughfare to Kirkham and the west. The area is criss-crossed with public rights of way, public footpaths.

Before canalisation the Savick Brook was a shallow meandering watercourse and transversing the brook was much easier in several paces, formal by bridges and informal where it could simply be waded across. The Savick Brook with its fresh water and considerable fish population was an important local resource, in history and more recently into the 20th Century.

The Savick Brook, perhaps originally spelt Savock separated the local parish of Lea which after Domesday (1086) was separated as Norman or French Lea to the south while English Lea was to the north.

The Savick Brook has drained the hinterland for some considerable distance, being one of many brooks and streams that drains down from the foothills of the Pennines. The River Ribble was once the northern boundary of the ancient Kingdom of Mercia. To the south of the river it was once known as Cheshire, while to the north it was known as Yorkshire. Neolithic to Saxon finds from along the River Ribble during the creation of the Preston Docks and other revealed man has been in the area for a long time. Of course the River Ribble looked completely different then and the coastline is likely to have been much further inland than it is at present where land has been reclaimed and the marsh extended out into the River Ribble due to sedimentation. Indeed a new private toll road across the marsh was built with the toll being paid at Lea Gate, hence its name. This is now the Ribble Link bridge under the A583 Blackpool Road. No charge is now levied.

Crossing of the River Ribble north to south was always problematic and the first place a 'safe' crossing could be made 'on foot' was at Penwortham Holme (much changed and channelled by the creation of Preston Docks), once being three islands with separate river channels. On the River Ribble to the west, a chain ferry once ran between Hesketh Bank and Freckleton to avoid the long round trip to cross the river in Preston.

The River Ribble is of course a tidal river extending a long way inland and the Romans had forts at Ribchester and Walton le Dale. There was a fort at Kirkham. A Roman Road is known to have passed between Ribchester and Kirkham and possibly on to the River Wyre. With the various 'brook's along the north coast of the River Ribble, at Lytham (present day dockyard), Freckleton (present day dockyard) and Lea it is feasible the Romans used these as inland access points and the Savick Brook may have been one of them. There is also talk of a Roman 'landing stage/port' downstream on the Savick Brook/River Ribble but no archaeological evidence has been found. This would not be unusual as the Savick Brook has repeatedly changed its course every year and over the millennia. Other Roman finds have been found to the north between the Savick Brook/Ribble Link and the Lancaster Canal on the UCLAN Sports Arena. If you use the Millennium Ribble Link, where it joins the Lancaster Canal is very close to the location of the Ribchester–Kirkham Roman Road. Travelling 'north/west' on the Lancaster Canal passing the UCLAN Preston Sports Arena, you are inevitably following in the footsteps of Roman soldiers! The Lancaster Canal in places follows and crosses the route of the old Roman Road.

The Savick Brook by its very nature has altered course over every year and over millennia due to the structure of the land and flooded into the adjoining field systems, as a floodplain.

As part of the construction of the Ribble Link, an archeological evaluation took place to establish whether any important archeological sites would be disturbed by the new waterway.

The evaluation found signs that there could have been an old mill at Lock 8 and evidence of a ridge and furrow field system and likely to be disturbed in part by the construction. Once gain local people refer to this field as 'the Mill Field'. This is what the evaluation said about the area:

The preliminary assessment of the archaeological potential along the line of the Ribble Link Navigation identified Mill Field as an area in which significant features, essentially a water mill, may have been located. The evaluation established that the field contained the abraded remains of a ridge and furrow field system. This feature partially survived as indistinct, but identifiable, earthworks covering the centre of the field. The remains of furrows found within the excavation trenches indicated that the field system originally covered a greater area. The evaluation indicated that the construction of the navigation should not conflict with the area in which the ridge and furrow survived as earthworks. However, the area where the field system was known to survive only as subsurface features would be affected by the excavations for the navigations. It may be possible to locate the eastern and western boundary ditches to the field system, if they exist, during the construction work.

Mill sites are generally re-used and therefore the site of a mill may suggest occupation for hundreds of years.

Severe flooding of the Millennium Ribble Link took place in 2003/2004 causing severe sedimentation to the channel and scour to by-wash weirs resulting in the Ribble Link becoming un-navigable. There was limited water supply due to major works on the Lancaster Canal. Ironically the site was subjected to sever flooding during remedial works. Remedial costs were £124,576.00.

The Ribble Link was closed again in 2006 after £600,000 was spent on dredging and 'repairs'.

The Savick Brook was known to be tidal as far as Haslam Park, what is now the bottom of the 3 lock staircase.

As with all brooks entering the salt water sea, it was a breeding ground for flatfish. Other migratory fish are known to have used the Savick Brook to reach their spawning grounds.

The Millennium Ribble Link was built with locks and straightened leaving the original meanders of the Savick Brook, but only by constructing over-flow weirs at each lock allowing water to continue to flow through the Savick Brook. Fish passes were built into these weirs to allow fish passage.