Summary
Stone seat for travelling migrants, in particular Irish harvest workers, of 1860 and designed by James Kendrick to suit men, women and children, and inscribed.
Reasons for Designation
The Travellers’ Rest stone at Swan Green, Winwick, a stone seat for travelling migrants, of 1860 and designed by James Kendrick, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
Historic interest
* manifesting the area’s history, well into the second half of the C19, of migrant-labourer foot traffic, by local and Irish migrants in particular, and enhanced by the presence of other listed examples surviving along the route.
Architectural interest
* for the careful design by a doctor to cater for the needs of men, women and children and their loads;
* for the interest of the stepped shape with doming to the central seat, enlivened by an incised inscription.
History
This stone is one of several stones placed by Dr James Kendrick in the Warrington area around 1860. In September 1859, inspired by Charles Melly’s donation of drinking fountains in Liverpool, Kendrick proposed a series of stone seats for foot travellers through Warrington, in particular along the road from Liverpool to Manchester. This road was much travelled by itinerant labourers including many Irish harvest-time migrants. The stone was designed by Kendrick to provide an easy resting position for an adult, leaning forward with elbows resting on knees, and with space for companions or for baggage to be rested off the ground. The lower steps were intended for children, and to provide a footrest for a nursing mother.
Kendrick himself supplied only 2 stones, the rest being donated by others. By January 1860 the road from Warrington to Prescot had stones spaced on average about every 2 miles (thus probably around 5 stones) and Kendrick stated that he had secured a donor to continue from there to Liverpool (around another 10 miles, although none of these stones are known to survive). He also stated that he had enough stones to supply the road from Manchester to Hollins Green (around 14 miles), but that time to visit proposed sites was a limiting factor. The cost of stones for use outside the borough of Warrington, which were made of a cheaper stone, was 2 guineas (including transport and an inscription). The suggested routes and locations indicate that around 30 stones might have been installed altogether if the project was completed as planned - and Kendrick noted that the suggestion was taken up elsewhere.
A stone is not marked in this location on the Ordnance Survey (OS) 1:2,500 maps of 1893 and 1907, but is marked on the 1928 map. It might have been moved here from next to the driveway of the former Winwick Grammar School, where a stone was marked in 1893 but not 1907 or 1928. The inscription probably originally read ‘I will look towards thy sanctuary whilst I am here’ but the first two words have worn. This may be a reference to the execution of Charles I. It was listed in 2008.
James Kendrick MD (1809-1882) was the son of a notable botanist and surgeon, and also became a physician, but was an important Lancashire antiquarian and sigillographer who contributed significantly to the excavation of Roman remains at Wilderspool, and the collections of Warrington’s museum and free library. He was a member of the British Archaeological Association.
Details
Stone seat for travelling migrants, dated 1860, designed by James Kendrick.
MATERIALS: red sandstone.
DESCRIPTION: standing on the grassed area in front of St Oswald’s Church, scene of the denouement of the Battle of Winwick (1648).
The stone has an overall length of 63 inches, a depth of 22 inches and an overall height of 16 inches. The stone is slightly domed in the centre to shed water, across a width of 39 inches; at either end it steps down by 6 inches, to a lower seat 12 inches wide, and 10 inches high. There is also a slight step in the plane of the north and south faces, where the stone steps up.
The south face is inscribed TRAVELLERS’ REST/ (illegible) LOOK TOWARDS THY SANCTUARY WHILST I AM HERE/ 1860. The north face is also inscribed with the same words and date, but is more worn. The upper face has some graffiti.
