Lancaster Canal, West Portal of Whittle Hills Tunnel of Former Lancaster Canal is a Grade II listed building in the Chorley local planning authority area, England. First listed on 20 November 1986. Canal feature.
Lancaster Canal, West Portal of Whittle Hills Tunnel of Former Lancaster Canal
- WRENN ID
- patient-lantern-cedar
- Grade
- II
- Local Planning Authority
- Chorley
- Constituency
- Chorley MP: Sir Lindsay Hoyle (Spk)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 20 November 1986
- Type
- Canal feature
- Address
- Lancaster Canal, West Portal of Whittle Hills Tunnel of Former Lancaster Canal, Whittle-Le-Woods
- OS grid reference
- SD 583 218
- Coordinates
- 53.69153, -2.63238
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The west portal of the Whittle Hills tunnel, part of the former Lancaster Canal, was constructed between 1801 and 1803 under the engineering of John Rennie. It is made of rusticated rock-faced sandstone and features a semicircular arch with rusticated voussoirs and a triple keystone. Above the arch, there is a roll-moulded band that extends across battered piers on both sides. In the center of the retaining wall above this band, there is a large rectangular recess, which appears to have been intended for an inscription but is faced with ashlar. The portal is topped with a parapet that has a rounded top. On either side, there are curved sloped abutments made of similar masonry, finished with square copings. Historically, this portal was part of the canal link between the Leeds-Liverpool Canal at Johnsons Hillock and Walton Summit. Both portals are now redundant as the canal has been drained, and the center of the tunnel collapsed, leading to the opening of new portals to the central section around 1838, which are of less interest.
Local climate
Lancaster Canal, West Portal of Whittle Hills Tunnel of Former Lancaster Canal sits in one of the wettest parts of the UK, with an average of 1,200 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 91% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 87% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 38 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 73% of listed buildings. Of these, 20 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
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- No EPC on record for this property
- No sale records on file
- No related consent applications matched
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
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- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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