This article needs additional citations for verification .(September 2022) |
Langcliffe | |
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Langcliffe Village Institute | |
Location within North Yorkshire | |
Population | 333 (2011 census) [1] |
OS grid reference | SD822650 |
Civil parish |
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Unitary authority | |
Ceremonial county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | Settle |
Postcode district | BD24 |
Dialling code | 01729 |
Police | North Yorkshire |
Fire | North Yorkshire |
Ambulance | Yorkshire |
UK Parliament | |
Langcliffe is a village and civil parish in the Craven district of North Yorkshire, in England. It lies to the north of Settle and east of Giggleswick. The River Ribble runs along the west of the village.
Langcliffe lies within one of eight regions covered by the Yorkshire Dales National Park, established in 1954. This covers an area of 680 square miles (1,762 km2) in the counties of North Yorkshire and Cumbria and straddles the central Pennines in the north of England. [2]
Langcliffe Scar is marked by numerous ancient circular-banked enclosures, cairns and quarries. [3] [4] The early settlement was nearer to the foot of the scar than it is now, in a field called Pesbers by the lane to Winskill.
In 1086 the Domesday Book , in folio 331V, records that the lord of the manor was named Fech. In Langcliffe he paid taxes on three carucates of ploughland. [5] By 1068 William the Conqueror had put Craven under the overlordship of Roger de Poitou but after 1102, when de Poitou rebelled, King Henry I confiscated his lands and gave those in the Ribble Valley to the House of Percy.
The manors of Giggleswick and Langcliffe were subsequently held by the de Giggleswicke family for five generations.
In about 1200 the monks of Furness Abbey built a corn mill on the Langcliffe side of the Ribble which caused a protracted controversy. In 1221 Pandulf, the Papal legate, gave judgment that the mill must belong to Langcliffe but that the mill pond would remain with the Abbey of Furness. This judgment still stands, as the Ribble forms the western boundary of Langcliffe, but the mill pond and its fields now pay their rates to Giggleswick. In around 1250, Elias De Giggleswicke granted his property and manorial rights in Langcliffe to Sawley Abbey and in 1524 it was recorded that the 18 tenants still held their houses from the Abbot of Sawley.
At the Dissolution of the Monasteries Henry VIII sold the land to the speculator Sir Arthur Darcy (1505–1561), younger son of the 1st Lord Darcy. [6] In 1584, Nicholas Darcy - Arthur's fifth son - sold the high land to the sitting tenants. Some were not able to purchase immediately and for a time paid quit-rents.
At that time Henry Somerscales bought the manorial rights and in 1602 rebuilt Langcliffe Hall in the Elizabethan style. [7]
In 1314, Scottish raiders destroyed Langcliffe's houses, after the Battle of Bannockburn. The village was then rebuilt, half a mile to the south. [8] [9] : 114
The muster rolls of 1513 show that nine men from the village fought the Scots army at the Battle of Flodden.
Cotton spinning was industrialised by the mid-18th century, but weaving remained a domestic activity based on the putting-out system. Many families had hand looms in their houses but some set up small weaving shops with a few looms and hired others. In the 1820s, weavers expected to produce three pieces of cloth per week for 2 shillings each. Work was irregular as yarn was not always available and it was customary to close the shops for haymaking and harvest to assist the farmers. Plain-cotton weaving could be done by a child of twelve and many parents preferred to have their children earning money rather than going to school. [7]
Langcliffe High Mill was a spinning-mill, built in 1783–84 by George and William Clayton and their brother-in-law, R. Walshman. They had previously established the first cotton mill in Yorkshire, at Low Mill in Keighley, using early Arkwright spinning frames. From that factory they brought experienced operators to Langcliffe, many of them children, for whom they provided lodgings, clothing and basic education. [7] This was one of Yorkshire's earliest and largest cotton-spinning mills: 14 bays, 5 storeys high, housing 14,032 spindles. [7] In the early 1800s the mill was enlarged to accommodate a steam engine to supplement its water power. [13]
Watershed Mill was a weaving-mill, dating from 1785, and is also known simply as 'the Shed'. It is a single-storey building, less than half a mile downstream from Langcliffe High Mill. It was built by friends of Richard Arkwright to house his new spinning machines, but in the 1820s it was converted into a weaving-mill housing 300 looms. [7] Financial difficulties forced the mill-owners to close it in 1855, [14] but Langcliffe High Mill then took it over.
Langcliffe High Mill and Watershed Mill continued to operate for another century, before both closed in the 1950s. Langcliffe High Mill then became a paper-mill but now it houses a packaging company. [11] It was made a grade II listed-building on 7 April 1977. [15] Watershed Mill now houses a shopping centre. [12]
An 1870s description of Langcliffe described:
... a village, a township, and a chapelry in Giggleswick parish, W. R. Yorkshire. The village stands near the river Ribble, ¾ of a mile N of Settle, and 2 NNE of Settle r. station; and has a post-office under Settle.—The township contains also the hamlet of Winskill, and comprises 2,550 acres. Real property, £3,319. Pop. in 1851,601; in 1861,376. Houses, 78. The decrease of pop. was caused by the stoppage of cotton mills and the dispersion of the workers. [16]
The building of the Settle-Carlisle Railway made heavy industry possible in Langcliffe and in 1873 a Hoffman Continuous Kiln was built for the Craven Lime Company. The continuous-kiln had been patented by German inventor Friedrich Hoffman in 1858 and the kiln at Langcliffe had 22 chambers, in which limestone was burned continuously in a circuit that took around six weeks to complete. [17] Lime burning became a key local industry: [17] the operation was labour-intensive and provided significant local employment; [18] however, the working conditions were unhealthy and could be dangerous.
The lime industry is now part of the Craven industrial heritage. The quarry and lime-kiln closed in 1931 as a result of falling sales due to outside competition; the kiln was fired-up again in 1937 but closed permanently in 1939. In 1951, arrangements to demolish the chimney were thwarted when it fell down of its own accord on the day before the planned date. [19]
In the village centre is a war memorial commemorating the men who lost their lives during the two World Wars. There are 15 names on the fountain memorial: 11 from the First World War, and four from the Second World War. [20] Relatives of those who died chose the design of the fountain memorial, which was unveiled on Saturday 17 July 1920. [21]
Around a mile to the east of Langcliffe is Samson's Toe, a large glacial erratic boulder which is approximately 8 feet high and rests on small limestone stilts at the edge of a limestone ridge. The shape of the rock, like a huge toe, gave rise to tales about a giant named Samson. Local legend has it that Samson lost his footing while jumping across from Langcliffe Scar or Ribblesdale, resulting in him breaking off his toe. However, the boulder was in fact deposited during the last ice age, between 12 and 13,000 years ago or more. This was caused by retreating glacial flows moving from north to south, and the boulder was picked up by a glacier somewhere to the north. [22]
Langcliffe formed part of the ancient Parish of Giggleswick, but was detached to become a separate ecclesiastical parish in 1851. [7]
The new parish required its own church, and St John the Evangelist Church was therefore built in 1851 by architects Mallinson and Healey of Bradford. The church site, and the funds for the construction, were given by John Green Paley (1774–1860), a son of Langcliffe who had prospered with the Industrial Revolution as a director of Bradford's Bowling Iron Works and of two local railway companies. According to a local interest website, this "tiny chapel with slender bell-turret and steeply-pitched roof overlooks one of the finest village greens in the north and an unspoilt village of enormous architectural interest. Its tranquil and homely interior contains memorials to the distinguished Dawson family of Langcliffe Hall." [23] The green altar-frontal was made from a dressing gown belonging to Lord Halifax, the former Viceroy of India. [24]
Residents or former residents of this village include the author Marina Fiorato.[ citation needed ]
The Paley family, benefactors of the St.John the Evangelist, were among the oldest families in the village: they are recorded as being in Langcliffe, and nearby Giggleswick, since at least the 16th century. Thomas Paley (1540–1592) of Giggleswick is recorded as having married Elizabeth Preston in 1561 in St. Alkeda's church, but their son Johannes (1572–1597) in time moved out to Langcliffe. The descendants of Johannes then lived quietly in the village for a century before achieving any great form of prominence: Thomas (1597–1669), John (1632–1717) and Thomas (1675–1740). George (1708–1765), the eldest son of this Thomas, also remained in the village, but his descendants became – after various setbacks – the branch of the wealthy industrialists, which developed parts of Leeds and Bradford, whilst remaining loyal to their rural roots. A part of this family became established as gentry in Suffolk, and Maj.-Gen. Sir Victor Paley, KBE, CB, DSO, DL achieved distinction as a soldier. The Rev. William (1711–1799), was the second son of Thomas: a graduate of Christ's College, Cambridge University, who moved back to Giggleswick to become headmaster at the Free Grammar School (Giggleswick School) for more than half a century. His son, the Ven. William Paley, DD (1743–1805), was the well-known writer, theologian and Archdeacon of Carlisle. The descendants of this branch include the respected and eponymous firm of Lancashire architects. Both main branches include clergymen in almost every generation, with medical practitioners also prominent. Paley Road and Paley Terrace in Bradford are named after the Paleys of Langcliffe and Giggleswick.[ citation needed ]
The television chef Susan Brookes grew up in Langcliffe. [27]
Craven was a non-metropolitan district in the west of North Yorkshire, centred on the market town of Skipton.
Barnoldswick is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Pendle, in the administrative county of Lancashire, England. It is within the boundaries of the historic West Riding of Yorkshire. Barnoldswick and the surrounding areas of West Craven have been administered since 1974 as part of the modern administrative county of Lancashire. This was when West Riding County Council and Barnoldswick Urban District Council were abolished and the town was transferred to the Borough of Pendle.
Settle is a market town and civil parish in the Craven district of North Yorkshire, England. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town had a population of 2,421 in the 2001 census, increasing to 2,564 at the 2011 census.
Giggleswick School is a public school in Giggleswick, near Settle, North Yorkshire, England.
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Ingleton is a village and civil parish in the Craven district of North Yorkshire, England. The village is 19 miles (30 km) from Kendal and 17 miles (28 km) from Lancaster on the western side of the Pennines. It is 9.3 miles (15 km) from Settle. The River Doe and the River Twiss meet to form the source of the River Greta, a tributary of the River Lune. The village is on the A65 road and at the head of the A687. The B6255 takes the south bank of the River Doe to Ribblehead and Hawes. All that remains of the railway in the village is the landmark Ingleton Viaduct. Arthur Conan Doyle was a regular visitor to the area and was married locally, as his mother lived at Masongill from 1882 to 1917. It has been claimed that there is evidence that the inspiration for the name Sherlock Holmes came from here.
Hellifield is a village and civil parish in the Craven district of North Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the village was once an important railway junction on the Settle-Carlisle Railway between the Midland Railway and the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, but Hellifield railway station is now a shadow of its former glory. It is situated on the A65, between Skipton and Settle. Hellifield had a population of 1,060 residents at the 2001 census, increasing to 1,426 at the 2011 census.
Ribblesdale is one of the Yorkshire Dales in England. It is the dale or upper valley of the River Ribble in North Yorkshire. Towns and villages in Ribblesdale include Selside, Horton-in-Ribblesdale, Stainforth, Langcliffe, Giggleswick, Settle, Long Preston and Hellifield. Below Hellifield the valley of the river is generally known as the Ribble Valley.
Rathmell is a village and civil parish in the Craven district of North Yorkshire, England. The population of the civil parish in the 2011 census was 305. It is close to the River Ribble and about three miles south of Settle. Other towns and villages nearby include Wigglesworth, Tosside, Giggleswick and Long Preston.
The Craven Fault System is the name applied by geologists to the group of crustal faults in the Pennines that form the southern edge of the Askrigg Block and which partly bounds the Craven Basin. Sections of the system's component faults which include the North, Middle and South Craven faults and the Feizor Fault are evident at the surface in the form of degraded faults scarps where Carboniferous Limestone abuts millstone grit. The fault system is approximately coincident with the southwestern edge of the Yorkshire Dales National Park and the northeastern edge of the Bowland Fells.
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Gisburn Forest is a civil parish in the Ribble Valley, in Lancashire, England. Mainly lying within the Forest of Bowland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the parish includes the larger part of the village of Tosside and the hamlet of Grunsagill to the south. Historically, the parish lay within the West Riding of Yorkshire. It had a population of 151 at the 2011 Census.
St Peter's Church is in the village of Stainforth, North Yorkshire, England. It is an active Anglican parish church in the deanery of Bowland, the archdeaconry of Craven, and the Diocese of Leeds. Its benefice is united with those of St Oswald, Horton-in-Ribblesdale and St John the Evangelist, Langcliffe. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building.
Aire Gap is a pass through the Pennines in England formed by geologic faults and carved out by glaciers. The term is used to describe a geological division, a travel route, or a location that is an entry into the Aire river valley.
The Keighley and Kendal Turnpike was a road built in 1753 by a turnpike trust between Keighley in the West Riding of Yorkshire and Kendal in Westmorland, England. The primary instigators were in Settle. The road followed a modified ancient route through Craven. It necessitated bridge widening, reorientation in some of the towns it passed and the relocation of inns and stables. The road was of great benefit to commerce in the northwest but proved a financial loss as the cost of repairing wear caused by heavy traffic was underestimated. The trust's records were lost when it closed.
William Reginald Mitchell was a British writer who was the editor of Dalesman magazine for twenty years and over a sixty-year period wrote over 200 books, hundreds of articles, and delivered many talks on the history and physical and natural evolution of North Britain, with particular emphasis on the Yorkshire Dales, Lancashire and the Lake District. These include the regions' biographies, social history, topography, and natural history. In the course of his career Mitchell made and collected many taped interviews with people of these regions - now housed at the Universities of Leeds and Bradford - representing a unique archive of dialect and history.
The Church of St Alkelda, Giggleswick, is an Anglican church in the village of Giggleswick, North Yorkshire, England. St Alkelda's was the mother church for the extended parish of Giggleswick, until the church in Settle was built in 1838, and later became a separate parish.
Horton Quarry is a limestone quarry near to Horton-in-Ribblesdale, North Yorkshire, England. The quarry, which is some 6 miles (9.7 km) north of Settle, has been operating since at least 1889, and produces limestone for a variety of purposes. Stone used to be exported from the quarry by rail, but now leaves by lorry, although there are plans to re-instate the railway sidings. The quarry used to produce its own lime by roasting the limestone in big kilns on the site, but the last of these were removed in the 1980s. Since 2000, the quarry has been owned and operated by Hanson.
Stackhouse, is a hamlet near to Giggleswick on the western bank of the River Ribble in North Yorkshire, England.
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