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| The Horseshoe Corner Horse shoe is back where it should be. Photo courtesy Lancaster City Council. |
Lancaster’s famous Horse Shoe is back in its rightful place on “Horse Show Corner”, as part of the improvements to Penny Street and Market Street co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) Programme 2007-2013 and both Lancaster City and Lancashire County councils.
Horse Shoe Corner is the unofficial name of the intersection between Penny Street, Cheapside and Market Street in Lancaster. It is so named because of the horse shoe once set into the paving at the centre of this crossroads that has now been restored.
There are three different stories about the shoe’s origin, the most popular being that John o’ Gaunt’s horse shed a shoe here when he left Lancaster castle for the last time and the townsmen fixed it on the spot to commemorate the visit. Another story connects it with the Young Pretender and, as noted on British History Online, a third account supposes it to have been connected with the city’s horse fairs.
The horses shoe was removed for safe keeping from Penny Street some time ago (during work carried out by United Utilities) and kept safe at Morecambe Town Hall until it was the “Square Routes” works reached the spot.
The works are part of the Lancaster Square Routes Project and being led by Lancaster City council in close partnership with Lancashire County Council and other partners to make improvements to Market Square and surrounding streets to strengthen the city centre’s position as a quality destination for visitors, residents and traders.
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| The Horseshoe in its original setting.Photo: Han Fleet |
While work is going on the Charter Market will continue to run in the city centre every Wednesday and Saturday as normal, but some stallholders have temporarily been relocated to New Street. Others have taken up vacant pitches on lower Market Street and Cheapside until the works are complete.
An improved long term layout for the Charter Market will be introduced after works are completed, which will make full use of the new look to Market Square.
• For more about Horseshoe Corner visit: https://www.facebook.com/groups/393878117314695
• For more information on Lancaster Square Routes visit www.lancaster.gov.uk/squareroutes
• Lancaster Library is hosting an ongoing exhibition of photographs of Market Square down the years