Caton-with-Littledale | |
---|---|
Caton - looking south toward Clougha | |
Location within Lancashire | |
Population | 2,738 (2011) [1] |
OS grid reference | SD532645 |
Civil parish |
|
District | |
Shire county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | Lancaster |
Postcode district | LA2 |
Dialling code | 01524 |
Police | Lancashire |
Fire | Lancashire |
Ambulance | North West |
UK Parliament | |
Website | www.catonvillage.org.uk |
The civil parish of Caton-with-Littledale is situated in Lancashire, England, near the River Lune. The parish lies within the Forest of Bowland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and contains the villages of Caton, Brookhouse, Caton Green, Littledale and Townend. [2]
The original settlement of Caton was renamed Brookhouse after Brookhouse Hall and is separated from modern Caton, originally Town End, by Artle Beck. [3]
Evidence of the Roman occupation in the area is from a mill stone, eight feet long found in Artle Beck in 1803, bearing the name of the Emperor Hadrian; and further engraved stone found some time later. [4]
Archaeological, place name and other evidence attests that Norse invaders settled in the area in the tenth century (Wainwright 1975). Caton is supposedly named from the Norse personal name Kati (Ekwall 1960), meaning 'cheerful' and ton. Geoffrey Hodgson (2008) argues that the Viking invasion of the area accounts for the relatively high frequency of the Hodgson surname in Caton and elsewhere in Lonsdale.
In late 18th century five mills were built in Town End. Low Mill cotton mill was built for cotton weaving in 1783 on the site of a 13th-century corn mill. it was built by Thomas Hodgson (1738–1817), a son of a Liverpool merchant.(Hodgson 2008) It was powered by a millrace from the Artle Beck at Gresgarth. Water power was replaced by steam in 1819. In the mid 19th century there were two silk mills, two cotton mills, and a flax mill. [4] In 1846 Ball Lane Mill was burnt down. Rumble Row Mill and Forge Mill operated until the 1930s and Willow Mill and Low Mill closed in the 1970s. [5] In 1826 coal and slate were worked in Littledale and bobbins for the mills were made. [6] In 1858 Adam Hodgson built a house which is now the Scarthwaite Hotel.
Caton was a chapelry composed of four districts; Brookhouse, Caton Green, Littledale, and Town-End, and a township in the ecclesiastical parish of Lancaster in the Lonsdale hundred in Lancashire. [4]
Caton is 5 miles north-east of Lancaster on the road to Hornby in the valley of the River Lune. It covers over 8,000 acres of which 4,000 were moorland where stone was quarried. [4] The township is hilly, Caton Moor in the east rises to over 1,000 feet (300 metres) above sea level and to the south rises to Clougha Pike at 1,355 feet (413 metres) and Ward's Stone at 1,841 feet (561 metres). The Artle Beck flows in a northerly direction towards the wider flatter valley of the River Lune. [6]
A turnpike road from Lancaster to Hornby and Kirkby Lonsdale, the A683, was constructed in 1812, bypassing the old route through Brookhouse and Caton Green. [5] This road connects Caton to the M6 motorway to the west.
Caton railway station was opened in 1850 on the "Little" North Western Railway between Wennington and Lancaster and closed in 1966. The section between Caton and Lancaster is now a popular cycle and pedestrian path.
The village was home to SJ Bargh haulage, including a Scania garage and repair plant, until the firm moved to Caton Road, Lancaster in 2015.
The village of Caton has a health centre, pharmacy, Co-operative store, petrol station, Ford dealership, funeral director, the Station Hotel and the Ship Inn. It is also home to a cake shop specialising in custom-made cakes and other bakes.
The village of Brookhouse has a Chinese fish and chip takeaway, a convenience store, a bridal shop and a hair salon, previously a florist and The Black Bull Inn public house.
Specialist Bobbin maker T. Wildman & Sons operated in Copy Lane from 1859 to 1973. [7] [8]
An ancient oak tree, known as the Caton Oak, stood near the Ship Inn, on which the monks of Cockersand Abbey are supposed to have hung fish for sale. The tree fell on 20 June 2016. Nine years earlier, an acorn from the tree was planted within the hollow by the High Sheriff of Lancashire. [9]
The original chapel built in about 1245 was rebuilt in the 1500s with a square tower. The present Church of St Paul is the parish church and, with the exception of the tower, was rebuilt between 1865 and 1867 by Edward Graham Paley retaining some Norman features. [10] There are other places of worship including Our Lady Immaculate Roman Catholic Church, Caton Methodist Church, Caton Baptist Church in and Brookhouse Methodist Church. There is a memorial to the younger Thomas Hodgson inside St Paul's Church, displaying the family's coat of arms.
The beauty of the area was captured by the artist J. M. W. Turner and described by the poet William Wordsworth. The poet Thomas Gray wrote, "every feature which constitutes a perfect landscape of the extensive sort is here not only boldly marked, but in its best position". When John Ruskin first saw the Lune Valley, he declared, "I do not know in all my country, still less France or Italy, a place more naturally divine or a more priceless possession of the true Holy Land..." although this was attributed to a view from the yard of St Mary's Church in nearby Kirkby Lonsdale, since known as "Ruskin View" rather than the Lune Valley in the parish of Caton-with-Littledale.
On 12 April 2008, a formal twinning agreement was signed with the village of Socx in France.
The Forest of Bowland, also known as the Bowland Fells and formerly the Chase of Bowland, is an area of gritstone fells, deep valleys and peat moorland, mostly in north-east Lancashire, England, with a small part in North Yorkshire. It is a western outlier of the Pennines.
Kirkby Lonsdale is a town and civil parish in the Westmorland and Furness district of Cumbria, England, on the River Lune. Historically in Westmorland, it lies 13 miles (21 km) south-east of Kendal on the A65. The parish recorded a population of 1,771 in the 2001 census, increasing to 1,843 at the 2011 Census.
The River Lune is a river 53 miles (85 km) in length in Cumbria and Lancashire, England.
Bay Horse is a sparsely populated hamlet in the English county of Lancashire. It lies between Lancaster and Preston to the north and south respectively.
Halton-with-Aughton is a civil parish and electoral ward located 3 miles (5 km) east of Lancaster, England, on the north bank of the River Lune. The main settlement is the village of Halton, or Halton-on-Lune, in the west, and the parish stretches to the hamlet of Aughton in the east. It lies in the City of Lancaster district of Lancashire, and has a population of 2,227, down from 2,360 in 2001.
Quernmore is a village and civil parish in the City of Lancaster in Lancashire, England. It is located about 3 miles (5 km) east of Lancaster. The parish of Quernmore had a population of 532 recorded in the 2001 census, increasing to 567 at the 2011 Census. Apart from Quernmore itself, the parish also includes Brow Top, once a local crafts mecca, now barn conversions.
Artle Beck is a minor river of Lancashire, England.
Wray is a small village in Lancashire, England, part of the civil parish of Wray-with-Botton, in the City of Lancaster district. Wray is the point at which the River Roeburn joins the River Hindburn.
Casterton is a small village and civil parish close to Kirkby Lonsdale on the River Lune in the south east corner of Cumbria, England. In the 2001 census the parish had a population of 500, decreasing at the 2011 census to 425.
West Bradford is a village and civil parish in Lancashire, England, 2.5 miles (4 km) north of Clitheroe. The population at the 2011 census was 788. It covers some 2000 acres of the Forest of Bowland. In Domesday, it is recorded as Bradeford and in the thirteenth century, Braford in Bouland. It was part of the West Riding of Yorkshire until 1974. "West Bradford" was introduced in the nineteenth century at the start of postal services to distinguish the village from the city of the same name.
Claughton is a small village and civil parish in the City of Lancaster in Lancashire, England. The village is on the A683 road east of Lancaster and at the time of the 2001 census had a population of 132. In the 2011 census Claughton was grouped with Roeburndale to give a total of 223.
Escowbeck House a country manor house on Caton Lane in Quernmore near Lancaster, Lancashire was constructed in 1842 in extensive parkland and countryside. It is situated overlooking the Crook of Lune south of the road from Lancaster to Caton and Hornby, near where the Escow Beck from which it takes its name, flows into the River Lune. The name Escow Beck is derived from the Old Norse eski + hofud and bekkr meaning the beck by the ash tree hill. It was recorded as Escouthebroc in 1225 and Escouthe bec in 1241. The gardens, created in the early 20th century, had a fish pond through which the Escow Beck flows and boat house. The house was divided into apartments during the 1950s.
Easington is a civil parish within the Ribble Valley district of Lancashire, England, with a population in 2001 of 52. The Census 2011 population details have been grouped with the parish of Slaidburn. Before 1974, it formed part of Bowland Rural District in the West Riding of Yorkshire. It covers just over 9000 acres.
St Paul's Church is in the village of Brookhouse, Caton-with-Littledale, Lancashire, England. It is an active Anglican parish church in the deanery of Tunstall, the archdeaconry of Lancaster, and the diocese of Blackburn. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building.
Littledale Hall is a former country house in the civil parish of Caton-with-Littledale in Lancashire, England, some 10 miles (16 km) east of Lancaster. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building.
Caton-with-Littledale is a civil parish in Lancaster, Lancashire, England. It contains 53 listed buildings that are recorded in the National Heritage List for England. Of these, two are listed at Grade II*, the middle grade, and the others are at Grade II. The parish contains the villages and smaller settlements of Caton, Brookhouse, Littledale, Caton Green, and Crossgill. It is otherwise rural, with a number of isolated farms. Many of the listed buildings are houses and associated structures in the settlements and in the surrounding countryside. The other listed buildings include a church, disused chapels, a cross base, bridges, two former mills, and two milestones.
The Lancashire Witches Walk is a 51-mile (82 km) long-distance footpath opened in 2012, between Barrowford and Lancaster, all in Lancashire, England. It starts at Pendle Heritage Centre in Barrowford before passing through the Forest of Pendle, the town of Clitheroe and the Forest of Bowland to finish at Lancaster Castle.
The Caton Oak was an ancient oak tree that stood in Caton, Lancashire, reputedly dating from the time of the druids. The oak tree stood atop a set of steps known as the "Fish Stones" that were used by medieval monks to display salmon for sale. The tree declined during the 20th century and was reinforced with a metal support; an acorn from the tree was planted in 2007 to grow a replacement. The original Caton Oak fell on 20 June 2016.
Over Burrow Roman Fort is the modern name given to a former Roman fort at Over Burrow, Lancashire in North West England. Today it is the site of the 18th-century country house Burrow Hall. The first castra is thought to have been founded in the first century AD within the Roman province of Britannia.
The Crook o' Lune or Crook of Lune, about 3 mi (4.8 km) north-east of Lancaster, Lancashire, is a horseshoe bend of the River Lune, which here meanders through meadows and low hills into a wooded gorge. It has long been noted for its views eastward up the Lune valley to Hornby Castle and, in the far distance, Ingleborough and other Pennine fells. It was painted by J. M. W. Turner and its scenic attractions were celebrated by such writers as Thomas Gray and William Wordsworth. In recent years the Sunday Times has claimed that it "rivals the beauty of the Lake District". It lies within the Forest of Bowland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and the Lune Millennium Park. The river is crossed here by two former railway viaducts and one road bridge, all being Grade II listed buildings.
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