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Children, writers, ceramicists, church and community groups, dancers and people seeking sanctuary have come together with artists for Spill the Mill Race, the latest commission

of a three-year cultural programme complementing the High Street Heritage Action Zone improvements.

Together they have uncovered hidden stories of the Mill Race and re-imagined them for an exhibition which took place at St John’s Church.

Admiring the ceramics display as part of the Spill the Millrace project. Photo by Rich Berry.

The Mill Race is a channel of water, now underground, looping off and back into the River Lune.

It’s a special area because it encapsulates Lancaster’s history, influencing the positioning of streets and buildings and being home to a number of industries.

Among the streets in the area are North Road, St Leonard’s Gate, Stonewell and Chapel Street.

Ceramicist, Rose Atherton; storyteller, Mike Forde; dance artist, Jenny Reeves and sound artist, Jo Kennedy used the area’s history to inspire their projects which came together at workshops over six weeks.

A clog dancing workshop led by Jenny Reeves in St John's Church. Photo by Mark Battista.

Children from Christ Church Primary School were among groups taking part which also included business owners and musicians who play in the area’s pubs.

Rose visited the school to help the pupils make some of the jugs which went on display in the church and Mike led a storytelling workshop before the children acted out stories

from the Mill Race’s history.

Students from Our Lady’s Catholic College were involved in storytelling too.

A group from Standfast & Barracks work on a Spill the Mill Race jug. Photo courtesy of Rose Atherton.

"I have lived in Lancaster my whole life and have been largely unaware of the Mill Race area, taking it for granted as part of the city,” said Rose of Lancaster Pottery Studio.

“Then in 2015 after Storm Desmond put the area underwater, it suddenly became a distinct region in my thinking about the town.”

A series of fictional stories taking the Mill Race as inspiration included The Wood Street Disturbance, about a Victorian couple fined for using obscene language, and when

Sangers Circus came to town in 1905 and paraded past Stonewell.

A display of the Spill the Mill Race jugs produced by Lancaster Pottery Studio and local people. Picture by Rose Atherton.

"As a digital story-maker I’m on a quest to re-imagine Lancaster,” said Mike Forde.

“For me, the secret channel of the Mill Race is at the very heart of Lancaster and its stories are the wretched, trivial, monumental soul of this city. "

The stories can be read on https://www.spillthemillrace.com/ which also includes videos and more information about the project.

A soundscape, based on the imagined sounds of the Mill Race, was complemented by Underfoot, a clog dance performance which opened the exhibition.

Jenny Reeves, dancer and director of Lancaster’s About Time Dance Company, said: "In the Mill Race area, I was really drawn to the cobbled streets and the beauty and

precarious nature of these uneven surfaces. A particular favourite cobbled street is Pitt Street.

One of the jugs on display at the Spill the Mill exhibition. Picture by Rose Atherton.

Clogs would have been widely used in the 1800s and 1900s as a preferred shoe for many of the industries present in the Mill Race area.”

Spill the Mill Race is part of Mill Race: Flow of Change which was granted £86,660 by Historic England in 2021 and is a partnership between Lancaster City Council and

Lancaster Arts.

Lancaster's historic past inspires special project and exhibition