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Metalwork Detective Work - A Victorian Stink Pipe

Metalwork Detective Work - Revisited!

A Victorian sewer vent, otherwise know as a 'stack pipe' or 'stink pipe'.
A Victorian sewer vent, otherwise know as a 'stack pipe' or 'stink pipe'.

This item is in Leyland, but it was manufactured in Preston. 

It popped up on the Facebook group run by the Milestone Society in 2024.  A member had been introduced to the area through his job and had noticed this 'post' was in pretty much in the same place that a Milestone and Benchmark should have been.  He came to the reasonable conclusion that it was perhaps previously a fingerpost (old road sign) and the plates that had place names and distances to them had been lost.  Although, generally, a fingerpost would have been directly placed on the junction and not many metres away from it.

A Victorian sewer vent, otherwise know as a 'stack pipe' or 'stink pipe'.
A Victorian sewer vent, know as a 'stink pipe'.


I was amazed that I had passed said post hundreds of times and never noticed it.  In my defence, that would normally be whilst cycling or driving, so I am concentrating on the road.  The roundabout at 'Seven Stars' is tricky at the best of times (where a fingerpost would most likely would have been placed, if extant). 

Initially, I thought it was an old lamppost that had been cut off. However, as per a comment on the Social Media post at the time, it could be a vent.  It looks a bit like the coal mining related ones that I have seen in Wigan, or alternatively the ones that project from modern landfill sites.  I haven't ever noticed any others in Preston, Leyland or Chorley, etc. on my travels though.  

At the time of my first posting about this in 2024, I thought that it appeared to be, or could have been, a sewer vent, otherwise known as a 'stack pipe' or 'stink pipe'.  Unfortunately, Leyland did not have a detailed Town Plan, created by the Ordnance Survey in 1848, it must not have been deemed significant enough at that time.  They may not ever be featured on maps anyway, I don't know yet, or they may have appeared later than 1848.

An Ordnance Survey map of the Seven Stars area of Leyland in 1910.
A 1910 Ordnance Survey map of the Seven Stars area of Leyland


ALLSUP & Cᴏ Lᴅ PRESTON

When I looked at the Milestone Society Facebook post's photographs, the text on the casting looked like ALLSUP [~something~] PRES[TON] with the 'ton' bit being lost under the tarmac these days. ALLSUP was a ship builder and foundry in Preston on the banks of the River Ribble, situated at the bottom of Fishergate Hill.  They are know also for the canopy of the Covered Market in Preston.  Their name can be seen on some of the upright castings. 

ALLSUP & Cᴏ Lᴅ PRESTON was a ship builder and foundry off Fishergate Hill in Preston
ALLSUP was a ship builder and foundry in Preston

The post is positioned on the east side of Leyland Lane near The Crofters Public House.  The area in Leyland can be seen on this Google Street View:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/Bgkbx3aXgbACfvdW7


I spoke to Peter Houghton from the Leyland Historical Society about this when I visited the Leyland Heritage Centre on Hough Lane.  That was a temporary set-up that ran for approximately six months over the winter 2024 into 2025.  As per my earlier comments, I had come to the conclusion that it was a 'stink pipe' to let methane build-ups off the sewer system. Peter said that he was convinced that it was an old gas lamp. These things aren't mutually exclusive. It could have been a lamp that burned sewer gas.

ALLSUP & Cᴏ Lᴅ PRESTON. ALLSUP was a ship builder and foundry in Preston on the banks of the River Ribble, situated at the bottom of Fishergate Hill.
ALLSUP & Cᴏ Lᴅ PRESTON. A ship builder and foundry.


ALLSUP & Cᴏ Lᴅ PRESTON. ALLSUP was a ship builder and foundry in Preston on the banks of the River Ribble, situated at the bottom of Fishergate Hill.
ALLSUP & Cᴏ Lᴅ PRESTON. A ship builder and foundry.


ALLSUP & Cᴏ Lᴅ PRESTON. ALLSUP was a ship builder and foundry in Preston on the banks of the River Ribble, situated at the bottom of Fishergate Hill.
ALLSUP & Cᴏ Lᴅ PRESTON. A ship builder and foundry.


ALLSUP & Cᴏ Lᴅ PRESTON. ALLSUP was a ship builder and foundry in Preston on the banks of the River Ribble, situated at the bottom of Fishergate Hill.
ALLSUP & Cᴏ Lᴅ PRESTON. A ship builder and foundry.


However, when looking at the Lancashire County Council's Red Rose Collections recently, I noticed that the pipe is very tall on an old photograph, and it doesn't have an obvious lantern on the top. A view south from Seven Stars along Leyland Lane on a circa 1920 photograph (reference identifier  CLE20110531002) shows it.  

A view south from Seven Stars along Leyland Lane, circa 1920 photograph. Lancashire County Council's Red Rose Collections.
View south from Seven Stars along Leyland Lane, circa 1920.


A view south from Seven Stars along Leyland Lane, circa 1920 photograph. Lancashire County Council's Red Rose Collections.
View south from Seven Stars along Leyland Lane, circa 1920.



Incidentally, Peacock Hall (From 1626) is on the other side of the road, to the south west.  It is worth a look if you are passing.


Peacock Hall. A house, dated 1626, in Leyland. Listed on the National Heritage List for England.
Peacock Hall. A house, dated 1626, in Leyland.


Peacock Hall. A house, dated 1626, in Leyland. Listed on the National Heritage List for England.
Peacock Hall. A house, dated 1626, in Leyland.


~


Further reading and other sources of information


Seven Stars Hotel, Leyland. Reference identifier: CLE20110531002
View south from Seven Stars along Leyland Lane.
Lancashire County Council's Red Rose Collections 

https://redrosecollections.lancashire.gov.uk/view-item?i=233436


National Library of Scotland Georeferenced Maps, Side by Side viewer,
Ordnance Survey Six-inch first edition 1848:

https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/side-by-side/#zoom=17.2&lat=53.68866&lon=-2.71625&layers=6&right=ESRIWorld


The Milestone Society's purpose is to encourage people –
Highways and Local Authorities, Parishes, civic societies,
local history groups, individuals - to look after milestones. 

https://www.milestonesociety.co.uk/


UK Shipbuilders database - Preston's Shipbuilders
Including William Allsup's Shipbuilding, Preston 

http://shippingandshipbuilding.uk/list.php?a1PageSize=20&port=109


Visiting The Leyland Heritage Centre 2024
Leyland Heritage Centre was open on Hough Lane
for approximately six months over the winter.

https://www.mylancs.uk/2025/04/visiting-leyland-heritage-centre-2024.html


Peacock Hall. A house, dated 1626, in Leyland.
Listed on the National Heritage List for England.

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1210600


~


Labels:
Location: The Crofters, Leyland PR25 1TA, UK

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