Embsay 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 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 ...

. It is paired with the neighbouring hamlet of Eastby to form 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 ...

Embsay with Eastby Embsay with Eastby is a civil parish and electoral ward in the Craven district of North Yorkshire, England. Its main settlements are the village of Embsay and the nearby hamlet of Eastby. According to the 2001 UK census, Embsay with Eastby pa ...

. The parish population as of the 2011 census was 1,871.

Geography

At the foot of Embsay Crag, a rock formation north of the village, is

Embsay Reservoir Embsay Reservoir is located above the village of Embsay, near Skipton in the Yorkshire Dales in North Yorkshire, England. It is owned by Yorkshire Water, and supplies water to the north and west of Skipton, feeding 25,000 homes. It has a dam he ...

. The crag marks the start of Barden Moor, an expanse of open

moorland Moorland or moor is a type of habitat found in upland areas in temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands and montane grasslands and shrublands biomes, characterised by low-growing vegetation on acidic soils. Moorland, nowadays, generally ...

which is open access land and used by walkers. There are two more

reservoirs A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including control ...

on the moor:

Upper Barden Reservoir Upper Barden Reservoir is an upland fresh water reservoir, one of two reservoirs that collect water from Barden Moor, and dam Barden Beck, a tributary of the River Wharfe in the Yorkshire Dales, North Yorkshire, England. The reservoir was opene ...

and Lower Barden Reservoir. Embsay reservoir is the headquarters of Craven Sailing Club.

History

Embsay was originally a Celtic settlement, possibly founded at the same time as a local

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

, destroyed in a Viking raid in 867 AD. The village has a Saxon name and is listed in the

Doomsday 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 ...

as "Embesie", which translates as "Embe's enclosure". At that time, much of the area was wooded and this was progressively cleared over time to provide farmland. In 1120, Cecily de Romille and her husband founded

Embsay Priory Embsay Priory was a medieval monastic house in North Yorkshire, England. The priory was founded in 1120 in Embsay in Wharfedale. It was dedicated to St Mary and St Cuthbert and was part of the Augustinian order. William de Meschines and his ...

. The Augustinian members of the priory dedicated it to

Saint Cuthbert Cuthbert of Lindisfarne ( – 20 March 687) was an Anglo-Saxon saint of the early Northumbrian church in the Celtic tradition. He was a monk, bishop and hermit, associated with the monasteries of Melrose and Lindisfarne in the Kingdom of Nor ...

and received local tithes. In 1154 they exchanged estates with the de Romille family and moved to

Bolton Abbey Bolton Abbey in Wharfedale, North Yorkshire, England, takes its name from the ruins of the 12th-century Augustinian monastery now known as Bolton Priory. The priory, closed in the 1539 Dissolution of the Monasteries ordered by King Henry ...

, which was a more fertile location. The priory flourished and grew rich on the profits of sheep farming and wool trading. In 1305,

Edward I Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he ruled the duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony as a vassal o ...

granted a charter for an annual fair at Embsay. The Industrial Revolution resulted in several mills being built in Embsay.

Community

Embsay Village Hall events include film nights, pantomimes, bowls, and jumble sales. The village has a newsagent on the main road. The dedicated post office closed; a counter in a newspaper shop now serves as a post office. Other businesses in Embsay are a hairdresser and an arts and crafts store. Embsay has two

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

s: the Elm Tree Inn and the Cavendish Arms. The Elm Tree Inn and

Elm Tree Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the flowering plant genus ''Ulmus'' in the plant family Ulmaceae. They are distributed over most of the Northern Hemisphere, inhabiting the temperate and tropical-montane regions of Nor ...

Square take their names from a tree that stood there for many years. It was replaced in the late 20th century because of

Dutch elm disease Dutch elm disease (DED) is caused by a member of the sac fungi (Ascomycota) affecting elm trees, and is spread by elm bark beetles. Although believed to be originally native to Asia, the disease was accidentally introduced into Americas, America ...

, but in 2006 that replacement was also taken down. A further replacement was planted in 2007. The village has a Church of England voluntary controlled primary school which receives pupils from Embsay, Skipton and farther away. It was ranked the 141st best primary school in England in 2000, and had risen to 84th place by 2003.

Embsay railway station Embsay railway station is a railway station on the Embsay and Bolton Abbey Steam Railway. It serves the small village of Embsay in North Yorkshire, England. The station is a terminus on the railway and was re-opened in 1981. History The ori ...

was built in 1888, and is the current terminus of the heritage

Embsay and Bolton Abbey Steam Railway The Embsay and Bolton Abbey Steam Railway (E&BASR) is a heritage railway in North Yorkshire, England, formed in 1979 and opened in 1981. The preserved railway was part of the former Midland Railway route from Skipton to Ilkley which was clo ...

. There is a bus service between Embsay and Skipton eight times a day on weekdays and three on Saturdays. The village has a cricket club that competes in the Craven League; its second team was, in 2006, the first second team in the league's history to play in the first division. The village also has a football club. Both clubs play at the same ground on Shires Lane at the north of the village. The club grounds are named the 'Robinson Memorial' after a local family who supported the club. Also at the north of the village is a recreational ground with a climbing frame and small football pitch.

Filming location

In the 2018

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...

'' The ABC Murders'', Embsay is the location of the fifth murder. Scenes were filmed at the

Notable people

Ron Fawcett Ron Fawcett (born 6 May 1955) is a British rock climber and rock climbing author who is credited with pushing the technical standards of British rock climbing in traditional, sport, bouldering and free soloing disciplines, in the decade from the ...

, rock climber, born in Embsay *

Robert Sidgwick Robert Sidgwick (7 August 1851 – 1934) was an English amateur first-class cricketer, who played nine matches for Yorkshire County Cricket Club in 1882, and one game for Jamaica against R.S. Lewis' XI in 1894/95. Born in Embsay, near Skip ...

, amateur first-class cricketer, born in Embsay

Gallery

Image:EmbsayStation.jpg, Embsay Station Image:Embsaycrag.jpg, Barden Moor with Embsay Crag in the distance Image:UpperBardenReservoir.jpg,

in Barden Moor

References

Sources

* *

External links

*
Embsay & Bolton Abbey Steam Railway
Stringer Communications International, Ltd.
Embsay & Bolton Abbey Steam Railway
UK Individual web site
AboutBritain.com "Embsay, North Yorkshire Photo Gallery"
Aboutbritain.com
Embsay with Eastby Parish Council website
{{authority control Villages in North Yorkshire Craven District