LANCASTER'S Georgian heritage has been captured in a new book by a well known local author.

The city's distinctive range of stone-built houses and public buildings, which date between 1715 and 1830, are examined in a new, illustrated book -The Buildings of Georgina Lancaster.

Published by Lancaster University's Centre for North West Regional Studies, it has been written by Andrew White, head of the city council's Museums Service.

Mr White has studied the architects, stonemasons and minor trades to show how the building trade worked in the eighteenth century. He has also consulted a wide range of sources to see who purchased and lived in the houses which were built in this period. The book is fully illustrated with more than 80 photographs, engravings, maps and plans.

The book sets these buildings in the context of Lancaster's growing prosperity which resulted from the lucrative trade with the West Indies, changing Lancaster from a town of timber and thatch to one of stone.

The first edition of this book was published in 1992 and proved extremely

popular with locals and visitors alike. This new edition is even more fully illustrated with new photographs and is available now from all good booksellers.