HICKLING LENGTHSMAN’S HUT

The Hickling Lengthsman’s Hut is located beside the towpath just over 650 metres from Hickling Bridge (Bridge 30) on the Grantham Canal going in the Grantham direction. It had been in a dilapidated state for many years and the subject of many discussions regarding its future and reconstruction. The Hickling Lengthsman’s hut was most likely built at the end of the 19C. Its walls were constructed from upended wooden railway sleepers and was complete with a brick fireplace and chimney. It had a pitched planked and felted roof and a plain earth floor. Hickling Local History Group comment that Hickling’s last Lengthsman was Shelton Walker who farmed the fields to the north of the towpath. His son, John, planted Shelt’s Spinney a little further east (by the swing bridge) in his memory. These days, this is an extraordinary wildlife haven, particularly for woodland birds. The Hickling Lengthsman’s Hut is an extremely rare example of a building of this type. See www.hicklingnottslocalhistory.com/lengthmans-hut/ In March 2014, a team from the Grantham Canal Society and Hickling Parish Council undertook the first stage of the restoration of the hut, which was then completely lost in the undergrowth. The first task was to clear the area around the hut and rebuild the chimney which was undertaken by Grantham Canal Societies volunteers early in 2014. The wooden structure was later dismantled and removed to CRT’s workshop in Newark where the work to restore and rebuild it was passed to CRT’s Heritage Trainees in 2019. New timber, which had been previously sourced, together with the existing was treated and weatherproofed. August 2020 saw the building project completed by the Canal and River Trust. A Lengthsman’s responsibility was to maintain his ‘length’ of the canal and there would have been several placed along the towpath between Nottingham and Grantham particularly where there were no lock-keepers cottages. The task of the original Lengthsman dates back to the middle ages where they were employed to keep the roads passable by either the Lord of the Manor or local parish council. Lengthsman’s huts were usually built at the time of a canal’s construction for shelter and storage, however, most have disappeared over time with only two remaining on the Grantham canal.