No sheepfold, but lots of arches

This building is on the main street running through the village of Shap. It is also the A6, the main route south from Scotland, before the M6 was built. The road was originally a drovers' route and huge herds of cattle and sheep would have been driven down here on their way south from Scotland.

When Goldsworthy and his team were making their way down this road, they were struck by this building and the number of arches built into it. So they stopped and built their arch outside on the pavement in front of the arches. Of course it caused a lot of interest, and I dare say amusement, from passers by. Shap school is just opposite, in fact I was standing at its gateway to take this picture. So children got involved as well. I wonder if any of them remember the day a strange man came along and built an arch and then took it away again!

The building itself is interesting. It was built in 1687 when a market charter was granted to the village. Then the arches were open and full of stalls selling produce. In the 19th century it was a dame school and later it became parish rooms. Then it was taken over by the Council and was a library.

When the library relocated, Shap Local History Society rented it from the Council to set up their archive and heritage centre. By 2007 they had raised enough money to buy the building. It is now a permanent community facility and is a treasure trove of archive material, books, photographs etc. I know this because I had reason to carry out some research a while back and was astonished by the amount of material that had been gathered and the enthusiasm of the society members. They open up to the public at the weekends through the summer with special exhibitions.

I know some people are wondering what this arch was like. It's tricky as the whole point is that it only passed through these places, so we only see now where it once was. It does exist and we may find it at the end of the road. I know all about it because of a book by Andy Goldsworthy and David Craig called, appropriately enough, 'Arch'. I bought this little book a long while ago and it is currently out of print. It is a complete log of the journey, with photographs of the arch in each location. I have posted one picture from the book here. I am a bit concerned about copyright issues, as this is a scanned copy from the book, but I think it is necessary to give you an idea of the arch.