Plans for a new walkway at Ambleside's Roman fort have been submitted
The National Trust, which manages the fort, said the existing boardwalk can get submerged when there is bad weather
Plans have been filed with the Lake District National Park Authority (LDNPA) for a new walkway at Ambleside’s Roman fort.
The proposal, lodged by the National Trust, seeks to build a new boardwalk to replace the existing one that runs from the north-western corner of Ambleside Roman Fort to Borrans Meadow, in Borrans field.
The National Trust, which manages the fort, said the existing boardwalk “often becomes submerged during periods of prolonged wet weather.”
According to documents from the heritage and conservation charity, which is also one of the largest landowners in the UK, the new walkway will be built on higher ground and will maintain pedestrian access to the site “in all but the most severe high-water conditions”.
The planning documents show the current boardwalk, installed in 2005, “has now reached the end of its safe and useful lifespan and needs to be removed”.
Additionally, rather than building relacing the existing boardwalk in the same location, the National Trust wants to install a new boardwalk in a different location, which is “less affected by high lake levels and will therefore offer safe pedestrian access on a greater number of days through the year”.
Ambleside Roman Fort was built in the second century under Hadrian’s rule and was important in protecting the roads to other forts in what would become Cumbria
In 1974 it was designated as a grade-I listed building, the highest grade possible.
The installation of the new boardwalk, if permission is granted, will involve driving plastic posts into the ground at regular intervals along its 70m length.
Plastic is being used to “allow longevity of the boardwalk footings in a seasonally wet area”.
The walkable area of the boardwalk will be made of untreated larch sourced from Ambleside’s Skelghyll Wood, also owned by the National Trust.
The heritage statement, submitted alongside other planning documents, reads that the impact of the new boardwalk on the nearly 2000-year-old Roman fort would be “negligible” and the significance of any impact would be “slight”.
The proposal was registered on 8 August is currently under consideration by the LDNPA.