Canada Lane turns off the Lechlade Road at the corner with the Infant School. It was known as Canada Lane or Canada Road until the middle of the 19th century when it also became known as Gas Lane, Gas Road or Gas House Lane because the Gas Works were built there. After the demolition of these works it’s name officially reverted back to Canada Lane. Canada, being a country far away, was often used for an area on the outskirts of a town to indicate it was quite a way from the centre.
Past the infant school are the garden allotments on the right and the Free Church Cemetery on the left. Near the end, a new road branches off to the left providing access to The Pines housing estate, Ferendune Court (care home) and Oakwood House (sheltered housing). At the end of the lane, a farm track and public footpath across the field connects with Highworth Road. There is also a short footpath left into the Orchard Hill housing estate and right or westward to local farms and Badbury Hill.
Also see our house by house tour of Canada Lane in the Year 2000.
See Faringdon Streets for an indexed list of all streets in Faringdon.
Looking up from the end of Canada Lane towards the Lechlade Road. The main road can be seen sweeping round to the right into the new housing estate called The Pines. This section at the end is not tarmacked and has a few old cottages and now some new houses. Behind is a farm track and public footpath up Humpty Dumpty Hill to Highworth Road.
Faringdon Gas Works
Faringdon Gas, Light and Coke Company was set up here in 1835 and the production of gas in Faringdon continued until the 1940’s. See Lighting-up Faringdon for more about the gas works.
The Free Church Cemetery
The cemetery was established when 17 worthy men of Faringdon purchased land next to the gas works in 1860 for the burial of those who did not conform to the Anglican Church. Previously the area had been an orchard. It has not been used for burials since the 1940s. All the information on and around the gravestones has been recorded in a searchable Excel spreadsheet, which can be obtained from the Faringdon Community Website at www.faringdon.org/faringdon-free-church-cemetery.html
Tetronics (International) Ltd
In August 1978, Tetronics (International) Ltd took over the site of the old gas works which had not been in use since the 1940s. According to their website they provide waste management and resource recovery solutions to deal with a variety of materials such as spent catalysts, asbestos and nuclear waste. The site has now been left derelict again since they moved out in December 2000.
The following traders were listed in Kelly’s Berkshire Directory 1895:
BIRCH GEORGE, market gardener, Canada Road
CEMETERY, (J. A. Fewings – sec. to trustees), Canada Road
FARINGDON GAS LIGHT & COKE CO., (William Noad sec. – works), Canada Road
Researched by Ian Lee, March 2020.