Close
Back to Projects

Rusland Local History Group

Two projects started in early 2020 researching ancient routeways and old orchards.

Under the auspices of the Rusland Horizons Trust, we have formed a Local History Group. This will continue the work of the Mapped Histories and Archaeology 'Lives in the Landscape' projects, as well as embarking on new work. Close links with the Oral Histories project will be maintained.

Two new projects were started in early 2020 (just before Covid)

  • Orchards: Discovering and mapping the location of old orchards and their tree species, where known. This may lead to orchard restoration projects.
  • Ancient Routeways: Researching, discovering (on the ground) and mapping old routeways in the Rusland area.

These projects went on 'on hold' durimg the Covid pandemic. Some progress has been made with building a database of local orchards and mapping some of the ancient routes. 

Images:
1851 OS map showing orchards at Finsthwaite House

Our achievements

  • The first Local History Group meeting was held on 11th February 2020 at Oxen Park Reading Rooms. 25 people attended.
  • The new Orchards project made contact with the South Lakeland Orchard Group and the People's Trust for Endangered Species Orchards Project
  • An orchard database has been built to record the location of our Rusland orchards, their constituent trees and condition.
  • The Ancient Routeways project is researching the routes used by the Abbots of Furness to access their farms or 'granges' in High Furness.
  • These projects are ready to resume once the Covid pandemic allows.

Did you know?

There is an ancient route from Hawkshead to Dalton that runs high over Bethecar Moor. It was used to carry corpses to the mother church at Dalton, and in the reverse direction, to carry iron ore to the bloomeries in Rusland.

Media

© Rusland Horizons 2017 - 2025. All rights reserved.
Rusland Horizons was a Landscape Partnership funded by the National Heritage Lottery Fund until July 2019.
Website by The Creative Branch
Top