The Transatlantic Slave Trade

Slavery has existed for thousands of years; in ancient times tribes would capture people from enemy tribes and use them to do their work for them. But slavery only started on a large scale in the 1700s. This century saw the beginning of the 'Triangular Trade'. This was a three-way trade between the Americas, Africa and Europe. Manufactured goods such as guns would be shipped from Europe to Africa, and traded for African people who were forced to be slaves - they would then be sent to the Americas on ships. Conditions on the ships were so bad that many people died before they even reached America. In the Americas the slaves were sold and with the money the traders bought tobacco, mahogany, cotton, sugar and rum, which they then brought back to Europe.

Lancaster Slave Trade Town Trail

Many people are aware that Lancaster was a major port in the North West of England during the 18th and 19th centuries. However, it is not common knowledge that during the 1700s Lancaster was the fourth largest slaving port in England and that the income generated from the Slave Trade played an important part in the development of Lancaster and funded many major landmarks in the city. Did you know that the Maritime Museum used to be where slave traders paid their taxes for the things they imported? Or that St John's Church contains a memorial stone to John Lowther, captain of a slave ship from Lancaster named the "The Johns" who died on Thomas Island?

To enable residents and visitors to increase their historical understanding of the role of the slave trade in the development of Lancaster, Global Link produced a 'Town Trail Leaflet' which was designed to guide readers around sites in the city centre associated with the slave trade.

The trail was designed with year five children and teachers at Dallas Road Community Primary School, Lancaster, and was officially launched on Sunday 2nd April 2006 at Lancaster Maritime Museum on St. Georges Quay.

Walk the Town Trail

The printed version of the 'Town Trail Leaflet' is a 4-sided A4 booklet and is available for free from the Tourist Information Centre, Lancaster City Museum, the Maritime Museum, The Priory and other prominent locations around the city centre.

The printed leaflet guides the reader around sites in Lancaster city centre associated with the slave trade. The printed leaflet contains a map of the city centre (with the route to follow and landmarks to visit clearly marked), information and key facts about each site you'll visit and how each site is related to the slave trade, and information about modern slavery. You can read most of the information from the printed leaflet by visiting the online version of the town trail on this website, but we still recommend picking up a printed version, from one the distributors listed previously, so you can follow the route around the city centre and complete the trail and visit all the sites properly!

Maritime Museum Slavery Exhibition

An exhibition on Lancaster's role in the slave trade, produced by year five children at Dallas Road Community Primary School, is currently on display at the Maritime Museum. The exhibition contains children's drawings and writing about slavery and is on display until April 2007. Before you visit you may wish to check their website for opening hours.

Download the Town Trail

If you can't make it to the Museum or to Tourist Information Centre to pick up a printed copy of the Town Trail, then you can view it on this website. Please click the link below to view the town trail - an accompanying audio version for visually impaired users is also available on this page.