Summary
Possible site of Lanty Slee's illicit still, High Arnside Farm, Coniston
Identification Images (0)
Monument Types
- DISTILLERY (Demolished, Mid 19th C to Unknown - 1853 AD (post))
Description
This collapsed subterranean feature is the putative site of Lanty Slee's illicit still located on land within the tenancy of High Arnside Farm, a farm once in the occupancy of Lanty Slee.
Lanty Scree was a infamous distiller who operated during the mid-nineteenth century from a number of remote sites, often former quarries located on commons and upland pastures, in the central Lake District.
This site, which may be the subterranean cave like feature which is refer to in a new report of 26th March 1853 (WDMDS/PC/16/221) contained in the archives of Mike Davies-Shiel and which now forms part of the archive deposited by Cumbria Industrial History Society at the Cumbria Public Records Office.
The site was rediscovered in 2021 by Phil Burrrow who was undertaking research into the archival and physical archaeological legacy of Lanty Slee. The physical appearance and location of the site corresponds with the newspaper article in numerous areas:
1 - The distance from the farm as the crow flies. 1.5 miles.
2 - The description of the dam to the north (yet this was modified with the construction of Tarn Howes).
3 - The cutting to the left of the dam is still there, with the little stream that leads to the niche, left by the cave collapse. it has been made by human hands.
4 - The field does indeed "End with an abrupt natural fall from one side of the field to another".
5 - Lanty was the named proprietor of the farm at Low Arnside, and the Magistrate ruled he could not have been unaware of its construction nor operation so was charged and fined £150.
Designations
None Recorded
Other Statuses and References
Associated Events
None Recorded
Associated Finds
None Recorded
Related Records
None Recorded