Lancaster's Dye Industry

15th March, 2026

An Adventure Begins

A few weeks ago I saw an advert for the E2M (Escape 2 Make) Hertiage Festival, calling for craft workshop leaders to deliver workshops to kids throughout the summer. As part of the application, they wanted leaders to show how their craft links back to the heritage of Lancaster. 

Typically, I fell down the rabbit hole, and went on a mission to explore Lancaster's dye history. And I wasn't disappointed! My first clue led me towards the Mill Race. Having lived in Lancaster for around 8 years, I was suprised I'd never heard of it. But what exactly is it? And how does it relate to Lancaster's dyeing industry?

The Mill Race

The mill race is a channel of water that comes off the river Lune at the now Parliament Street. It runs under North Road and Damside Street before reentering the river further downstream. We don't know the exact origin of the mill race, but the most likely explanation is that it is a natural branch off the river Lune. John Speed's first map of Lancaster, dated to 1607, shows the mill race before the area was developed, with Green Ayre at its centre. 'Ayre' is a local word, meaning 'island'. (2)

If you walked down Parliament Street to Damside Street now, you wouldn't see the mill race, but it does still exist, running through an underground channel right below our feet. Before the channel was paved over the folks of Lancaster used bridges to cross it, and many companies set up business on the mill race. They used water wheels to power their mills, and the dye house was one of them.

The First Dye House

Although we don't know exactly when the first dye house was constructed, it does start to appear on maps from the 1740's, so we can conclude that it must have appeared a little before this. (3) It sits on the aptly named Dye House Lane and was owned by the Butterfield family. Cross Street, running perpendicular to Dye House Lane, was later renamed Butterfield Street in their honour.

Jeremiah Wane

Jeremiah was born in 1787 and moved to Lancaster with his family when he was 8 years old. His father set up a dye house, which was situated at 2-4 Damside Street. Jeremiah took over as a dyer when his father died in 1809. (3)

The dyeing industry relied on oversees trade of dyestuff and large quantities of water, which explains why Lancaster's dye houses were situated next to the mill race. (4)

Thomas Cunningham

Wane's dyehouse was sold to Thomas Cunningham in 1887 by Jereniah's son. Thomas kept a notebook detailing supplies being perchased by the busniess, and also included a watercolour painting of the dye house before the shop front was installed. 

Interestingly, the property still shows the name J. Wane, which may indicate it was left in place purposely as Jeremiah was a well respected member of the community. (4)

Thomas's son James was a watchmaker and jewellery dealer, and the dye house became a jewellers in the early 1900's. The property was bought from the Cunningham family in 1945, but still remains a jewllers to this day, and even retains the same name, 'Cunningham Jewellers'. (4)

What's next?

Although my quest for history has shown me some really interesting things around Lancaster's dye industry, I still cannot find information on exactly what materials and dyes were being used. 

But as always, I will continue to seek knowledge, and if I find out any more, you can bet I'll tell you all about it on this blog.

~ Caz of Red Hare History

References

(1) https://www.lancastercivicsociety.uk/2021/06/20/weekend-walk-1-the-earliest-map-of-lancaster/

(2) https://www.lancastercivicsociety.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Mill-Race-L.pdf

(3) https://share.google/5wi7NfRrr2UJrFsMm

(4) https://www.hpa.ltd/the-history-of-lancasters-damside-street/