Sedgwick suspension bridge

This suspension footbridge was built across the River Kent at Sedgwick to enable workers from Sedgwick and Natland access to the gunpowder works on the opposite bank, close to Sizergh Castle.  The works were owned by the Wakefiled family, for whom Sedgwick House was built in 1868.  The works were later moved to a new factory at Gatebeck near Endmoor just a few miles away.  Both sites are now used as holiday parks; Sizergh in Summer for touring caravans, and Gatebeck for static homes.

The bridge was built in about 1876 by Francis James Willacy, whose great grandson, David, is my neighbour, and whose great great grandson, Mark, will soon be starting some building work on my house, which was built originally as a laundry for Sedgwick House, and adjacent accommodation for the laundry maids.  As a consequence, we still have rights to extract water from the Lancaster Canal (which contains no water at this point).