Hebden Township Historical Data

1962 Craven Water Board map of the Longshaw Level area

To augment the Hebden water supply, in 1962 the Craven Water Board proposed to extract up to 150,000 gallons daily from Longshaw Level (named by them as Lanshaw Level). They applied to the Ministry of Housing and Local Government for an order to:

  1. To take water (subject to certain limitations) for public supply from a mine adit known as Lanshaw Level in the eastern side of Hebden Gill in the parish of Hebden in the Skipton Rural District;
  2. to construct works for the purposes of taking, measuring, treating, storing and using the said water, secondly of preventing pollution thereof from certain mine shafts or adits and thirdly of measuring the flow of Hebden Beck; and
  3. to acquire compulsorily (if not acquired by agreement) the land needed for the said purposes with and including the purpose of the said water against pollution, namely the said adit and shafts lying n Hebden Gill lying adjacent to the mouth of the said adit, together with rights of way to the same.

The work to be undertaken, with reference to the map below, was:

  1. Work No. 1 - An intake for water in or at the mouth of the adit known as Lanshaw Level driven into the eastern side of Hebden Gill.
  2. Work No. 2 - A measuring chamber and chlorination plant in conjunction with and adjacent to Work No 1.
  3. Work No 3 - A weir and gauge in the beck adjacent to Work No. 2.
  4. Works Nos. 4, 5, 6, and 7 - A guard for protecting the disused mine shaft in each of the plots of land lettered respectively A, D, G and H on the deposited plan.
  5. Works Nos. 8, 9, 10 and 11 - A guard for protecting the mouth of a disused mine adit in each of the plots of land lettered respectively B, C, E and F on the deposited plan.

The map below, which was deposited with the order, was based on the 1:2500 1909 OS map. The letters indicate the following features:

  1. The area around the entrance to Longshaw Level.
  2. Is Hargreaves Level - a small coal mine.
  3. Is Charger level.
  4. Is an old shaft associated with Charger Level.
  5. Is Bottle Level
  6. Is an adit associated with the waterwheel pit a few metres to the east
  7. Is Bolton Gill Engine Shaft.
  8. Is Cook's Shaft

Of the works identified, Work No. 1 was completed. A small reservoir was built at the entrance to Longshaw Level, which necessitated the removal of a spoil heap. The chlorination plant referenced in Work No. 2 was built in the Hole Bottom car park. The weir and gauge was constructed in the Care Scar Quarry section. Works 4 to 11 which were associated with fencing off the adits and shafts were not carried until the shaft identified by the letter D collapsed in 1993, taking the lives of a ewe, a lamb and a dog with it. Interestingly, they also fenced off an area they hadn't bought and was actually a small quarry!

You can read more about the work here. You should be able to use your mouse to zoom in and out and pan round the image.