Cross Hills is a village in the
Craven district of
North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...
, England that is situated halfway between
Skipton
Skipton (also known as Skipton-in-Craven) is a market town and civil parish in the Craven district of North Yorkshire, England. Historically in the East Division of Staincliffe Wapentake in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is on the River Air ...
and
Keighley
Keighley ( ) is a market town and a civil parish
in the City of Bradford Borough of West Yorkshire, England. It is the second largest settlement in the borough, after Bradford.
Keighley is north-west of Bradford city centre, north-west of Bi ...
. The village is at the centre of a built-up area that includes the adjoining settlements of
Glusburn
Glusburn is a village and electoral ward in Craven in North Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the village is situated on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales, sits on the A6068 Kildwick to Hapton road, and is ...
,
Kildwick
Kildwick, or Kildwick-in-Craven, is a village and civil parish of the district of Craven in North Yorkshire, England. It is situated between Skipton and Keighley and had a population of 191 in 2001, rising slightly to 194 at the 2011 census. K ...
,
Eastburn and
Sutton-in-Craven. Cross Hills is the newer part of the
civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...
now called Glusburn and Cross Hills, historically known as Glusburn.
Geography
![Routeways in the Aire Valley above Eastburn Bridge - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ab/Routeways_in_the_Aire_Valley_above_Eastburn_Bridge_-_geograph.org.uk_-_453059.jpg)
Cross Hills is in
Airedale
Airedale is a geographic area in Yorkshire, England, corresponding to the river valley or dale of the River Aire.
The valley stretches from the river's origin in Aire Head Springs, Malham which is in the Yorkshire Dales, down past Skipton on ...
at a point where the
River Aire
The River Aire is a major river in Yorkshire, England, in length. The ''Handbook for Leeds and Airedale'' (1890) notes that the distance from Malham to Howden is direct, but the river's meanderings extend that to . Between Malham Tarn and Ai ...
bends east from its north–south course. The village lies on the south bank of the river just above the flood plain, which is wholly agricultural. As its name implies, Cross Hills is surrounded by the hills of the eastern
Pennines
The Pennines (), also known as the Pennine Chain or Pennine Hills, are a range of uplands running between three regions of Northern England: North West England on the west, North East England and Yorkshire and the Humber on the east. Commo ...
including Steeton Moor (south-east), Cowling Moor (south-west), White Hill (north-west) and Kildwick Moor (north-east). There are views along the Aire Valley itself to the north and east. Rombalds Moor, between
Silsden
Silsden is a town and civil parish in the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, England, on the River Aire and Leeds and Liverpool Canal between Keighley and Skipton, which had a population of 8,268 at the 2011 Census. The parish includes the haml ...
and
Ilkley
Ilkley is a spa town and civil parish in the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, in Northern England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Ilkley civil parish includes the adjacent village of Ben Rhydding and is a ward within the ...
, is about six miles east of Cross Hills. Skipton is about four miles north and the hills of the
Yorkshire Dales
The Yorkshire Dales is an upland area of the Pennines in the Historic counties of England, historic county of Yorkshire, England, most of it in the Yorkshire Dales National Park created in 1954.
The Dales comprise river valleys and the hills ri ...
can be seen beyond it.
Immediately south-west of Cross Hills is Glusburn. Due north, on the other side of the River Aire is
Kildwick
Kildwick, or Kildwick-in-Craven, is a village and civil parish of the district of Craven in North Yorkshire, England. It is situated between Skipton and Keighley and had a population of 191 in 2001, rising slightly to 194 at the 2011 census. K ...
.
Sutton-in-Craven is less than a mile to the south-west and
Eastburn less than a mile to the south-east. Cross Hills is separated from Sutton-in-Craven and Eastburn by the beck which flows into the Aire just east of Cross Hills. The beck is known by various names: Surgill Beck, Holme Beck and Eastburn Beck. It forms part of the county boundary between North and West Yorkshire as it approaches the Aire, Eastburn being in West Yorkshire.
Cross Hills is split by the
Airedale Line of the former
Midland Railway
The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It am ...
. The biggest part is south of the railway and is largely residential with most of the shops and restaurants on or near Main Street (the A6068). North of the railway, former farmland has been given over to light industry and commerce but with some residential property on Station Road which connects the A6068 and the A629.
History
The village originated as an outgrowth of the much older Glusburn (which is mentioned in the
Domesday Book
Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...
).
Cross Hills is overlooked by two monuments known as The Pinnacles – which take the form of small towers, standing on
Earl Crag
Earl Crag is a gritstone crag and climbing area in Craven, North Yorkshire, England. It is home to Lund's Tower, Wainman's Pinnacle, and The Hitching Stone, all of which are near Cowling
A cowling is the removable covering of a vehicle's ...
above Cowling Moor.
*
Wainman's Pinnacle
Wainman's Pinnacle, originally built as a folly (and still used as a folly), is a stone obelisk in Sutton-in-Craven, North Yorkshire. It tends to be referred to as ‘Cowling Pinnacle’ or 'The Salt Pot' and could also be seen as being a part o ...
or Sutton's Spare Pinnacle, is an obelisk built reportedly by a local man named Richard or William Wainman, some time between 1816 and 1830. There are varying accounts of the date and reasons for its construction: one anecdote claims that it was a memorial to Wainman's son, who had been killed during the
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
, while another account suggests that it commemorates the Allied victory at the
Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armie ...
(1815).
*
Lund's Tower
Lund's Tower is a stone-built folly situated to the south-west of the North Yorkshire village of Sutton-in-Craven. It is also known as Cowling Pinnacle, Sutton Pinnacle, the Ethel Tower, the Jubilee Tower or, in conjunction with the nearby Wainma ...
, or Sutton Pinnacle was built in 1896 by James Lund of
Malsis Hall, to commemorate Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee; it is square with an internal staircase and topped by a crenelated parapet.
The Pinnacles are known colloquially as the "Salt Pot" and "Pepper Pot" both stand in the parish of Sutton..
Transport
The village is close to the main A629, connecting Keighley and Skipton. The A6068 trans-Pennine route from
Colne
Colne () is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Pendle in Lancashire, England. Located northeast of Nelson, north-east of Burnley, east of Preston and west of Leeds.
The town should not be confused with the unrelated Colne Val ...
forms the village's Main Street and joins the A629 at the large roundabout between Cross Hills and nearby Kildwick. The A6068 forms Colne Road through Glusburn and becomes Main Street at the junction with Wheatlands Lane. It joins Park Road, which climbs due west out of the village and provides routes to
Cononley
Cononley ( or ) is a village and civil parish in the Craven district of North Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Cononley is in the Aire Valley south of Skipton and with an estimated population of 1,080 (2 ...
and
Lothersdale.
There are regular
bus service
Public transport bus services are generally based on regular operation of transit buses along a route calling at agreed bus stops according to a published public transport timetable.
History of buses Origins
While there are indications ...
s between Keighley, Skipton, Burnley and Colne that serve the village.
The local
Kildwick and Crosshills railway station
Kildwick and Crosshills sic.html"_;"title="'sic">'sic''was_a_railway_station_off_Station_Road_in_Cross_Hills.html" ;"title="sic">'sic''.html" ;"title="sic.html" ;"title="'sic">'sic''">sic.html" ;"title="'sic">'sic''was a railway station off ...
, opened in 1847, was closed in 1965. It was just off Station Road where the humpback bridge crosses the railway. The nearest station is now
Steeton and Silsden, two miles to the east.
Amenities
The village has a large health centre on Holme Lane and is only a mile or so from the
Airedale NHS Trust hospital at
Steeton with Eastburn
Steeton with Eastburn is a civil parish within the City of Bradford Metropolitan District, West Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it has, according to the 2001 census, a population of 4,277, increasing to 4, ...
in
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...
. There is a public library and a police station.
South Craven School
South Craven School is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form with academy status, located in Cross Hills, North Yorkshire, England. It is the largest school in the Craven District and carries over 1,700 pupils.
The school has forme ...
, a secondary and sixth form college, is located in Cross Hills off Holme Lane, which is the road from Cross Hills to Sutton-in-Craven. The local primary schools are in Sutton-in-Craven, Glusburn and Kildwick.
Cross Hills has no
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
parish church of its own and is part of the parish of
St Andrew's Church across the Aire in Kildwick. Cross Hills contains St Peter's Methodist Church, St Joseph's Catholic Church and South Craven Evangelical Church.
Cross Hills Football Club plays in the Craven and District Football League and Glusburn Cricket Club is also located in the area. The Cross Hills
tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
and
bowling
Bowling is a target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a ball toward pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). The term ''bowling'' usually refers to pin bowling (most commonly ten-pin bowling), though ...
club has three tennis courts and one bowling green.
Notable people
The
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
and
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
er
Herbert Sutcliffe
Herbert Sutcliffe (24 November 1894 – 22 January 1978) was an English professional cricketer who represented Yorkshire and England as an opening batsman. Apart from one match in 1945, his first-class career spanned the period between the tw ...
died in a Cross Hills nursing home on 22 January 1978, aged 83.
CricketArchive – profile of Herbert Sutcliffe
Retrieved on 9 October 2009.
J. Arthur Dixon (1897–1958), founder of the eponymous manufacturer of greetings cards and postcards, was born at Cross Hills.
References
External links
Glusburn and Cross Hills website
{{authority control
Villages in North Yorkshire
Craven District