Home    Essays                                                                                         September 2006

My recent and positive review of the often maligned north east city of Newcastle will unfortunately not be repeated here, regarding the city of Lancaster in the north west of England. There are some good things to be said, but very few.

My first impressions were not good and did not really improve. Travelling through the usual grim curtain of new and more often aged developments and housing which scar the outskirts of many a city, the centre of Lancaster in many respects was little better. It wholly comes across as grimy, shabby and neglected. The only relatively better areas surround the castle and priory which together, especially the latter, constitute the city’s principle redeeming features.

Indeed, there is some good Victorian and Georgian architecture amongst the various buildings in this area, with cobbled streets, old lamp posts and trees. The castle dominates impressively and retains it’s architecturally and historically important main gatehouse, of the 14th century. On the hilltop beside the castle, the ancient medieval priory church survives intact and in parochial use, from the front of which there are also good if marred views all the way to the distant mountains of the lake district.

For those with any interest in architecture, art and history; the priory is the one thing worth enduring the rest of the city for. It is a well kept, spacious and impressive building, and for the most part, surprisingly filled with light. There is some good Victorian stained glass. The most unusual feature is that of the original medieval monastic choir stalls, which are elaborately carved with traceried gothic canopies and many quirky carvings of people and demonic grotesques, including rodent and imp like creatures. These are rare survivors of the reformation or Cromwellian hatchet, two periods during which such furnishings were usually fated to end up as firewood. The church also has the usual gift shop and a refectory which uses fair-trade products. There is even the considerate provision of toilets for visitors.

However, in all senses it is all downhill from here. On the hillside below the priory there is the site of the roman fort and the remains of a bath house. The former of which ditches and banks appear to survive though these may instead relate to the castle. There are no references, plaques or anything referring to this site to indicate whichever possibility. Otherwise it is at least an inoffensive grassy hillside bordered by trees. The site of the bath house, to the right of the path however is little more than a dump. A pathway leads through an overgrown mess on one side and a mass of rotted vegetation, strewn with rubbish on the other. This leads to a grim sorry ruin of the bath house of the fort, now overgrown and surrounded by decayed iron fencing all dominated by the side facade of a dreary modern house. A truly depressing state of affairs and a forewarning of what to expect from much of the city.

Back up to the castle, past battered funerary monuments, the pathways continue around the exterior of this impressive building. Unfortunately; unbelievably, this medieval and later castle of great historical significance is still in use as a (category C) prison! It also contains the courthouse. A careful look will soon reveal the barbed wire snaking about the battlements, the security cameras and the other hallmarks of incarceration. Paying visitors, are however allowed by guided tour to see many parts of the building, even so, this ridiculous continued use of the building in this way needs to be reviewed. Nearby, there was a shabby looking public garden, with the same neglected look as most of everything else.

As for the rest of the city, the shopping areas of the centre; the streets and buildings were mostly filthy and crowded with delinquent, yobbish looking (and behaving) teenagers, and older, than I’ve seen just about anywhere else. Even in the lack-lustre museum there were groups of youths behaving like idiots, using the place as some kind of ‘hang out.’ At least effort has been made with the some of the displays, though a persistently flickering overhead light got on my nerves, and would have had anyone with photo-sensitive epilepsy laid out on the floor.

After more dirty streets crowded with yobs, run of the mill shops and a generally depressing squalid atmosphere, I couldn’t wait to leave, doing so much earlier than I’d expected.

The shame of it all is that deep, deep underneath the problems, there could be a good city which if there was allot more interest and care taken, and great investment of time and money, could be brought out from what at the moment brings to mind the often hellish visions of a painting by Bosch.

Who is to blame? Clearly a significant portion of the local population could not give a damn and what exactly is the local authority doing, or not as it would appear? Of course there is the government itself which could provide funding and other support, instead of spending money disproportionately on the south east, on Olympic facilities, overpriced ornamental trees and endless warmongering. Something needs to be done and soon.

As it is, the priory is worth viewing and the castle deserves consideration. In my opinion, visit the city but don’t bother lingering too long.