Lengthman
Encyclopedia
Lengthsman is a term used mainly in English National Parks
and originally used in the Peak District National Park. It refers to a person who keeps a "length" of road neat and tidy. This person was responsible for a few miles (3-6) of road. Employed by the local parish council, his job was to keep the grass and weeds cut down at the edge of the road and the drainage ditch clear. Litter would have been collected and wild flowers tended to.
More recently, lengthsmen are still employed by parish councils (normally a group of councils to make it financially viable). Their tasks now are to tend to areas of the central "common" parts of the village such as village greens, drainage into fields, and public areas.
The term was also applied to workers on the canal system, who were responsible for a particular length of the canal. Many lived in isolated cottages, sometimes close to a lock, in which case their duties would include acting as a lock keeper and managing water levels by the control of weirs. They were also responsible for repair and maintenance of the banks in their "length", which might include cutting reeds and vegetation, and the treading of puddle clay into sections of the bank which were weak or suffering from leakage. One unusual feature of the Thames and Severn Canal
was the provision of cottages for lengthsmen which had three floors and were circular. Five of them, dating from the 1790s remain, and most are on the Listed Building register.
National parks of England and Wales
The national parks of England and Wales are areas of relatively undeveloped and scenic landscape that are designated under the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949...
and originally used in the Peak District National Park. It refers to a person who keeps a "length" of road neat and tidy. This person was responsible for a few miles (3-6) of road. Employed by the local parish council, his job was to keep the grass and weeds cut down at the edge of the road and the drainage ditch clear. Litter would have been collected and wild flowers tended to.
More recently, lengthsmen are still employed by parish councils (normally a group of councils to make it financially viable). Their tasks now are to tend to areas of the central "common" parts of the village such as village greens, drainage into fields, and public areas.
The term was also applied to workers on the canal system, who were responsible for a particular length of the canal. Many lived in isolated cottages, sometimes close to a lock, in which case their duties would include acting as a lock keeper and managing water levels by the control of weirs. They were also responsible for repair and maintenance of the banks in their "length", which might include cutting reeds and vegetation, and the treading of puddle clay into sections of the bank which were weak or suffering from leakage. One unusual feature of the Thames and Severn Canal
Thames and Severn Canal
The Thames and Severn Canal is a canal in Gloucestershire in the south of England, which was completed in 1789. It was conceived as part of a canal route from Bristol to London. At its eastern end, it connects to the River Thames at Inglesham Lock near Lechlade, while at its western end, it...
was the provision of cottages for lengthsmen which had three floors and were circular. Five of them, dating from the 1790s remain, and most are on the Listed Building register.