High Abbotside is a

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 authorit ...

in the

Richmondshire {{Infobox settlement , name = Richmondshire District , type = District , image_skyline = , imagesize = , image_caption = , image_blank_emblem= Richmondshire arms.png , blank_emblem_type = Coat ...

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 a rural parish on the north side of upper

Wensleydale Wensleydale is the dale or upper valley of the River Ure on the east side of the Pennines, one of the Yorkshire Dales in North Yorkshire, England. It is one of only a few Yorkshire Dales not currently named after its principal river, but th ...

, and includes the settlements of

Hardraw Hardraw is a hamlet near Hawes within the Yorkshire Dales in North Yorkshire, England. It takes its name from the nearby Hardraw Force waterfall. The old school house, built in 1875, can be seen in the centre of the photograph of the village, ...

, Sedbusk and several hamlets.

Governance

The parish is located within the Richmond UK Parliament constituency. It also lies within the Upper Dales electoral division of North Yorkshire County Council and the Addlebrough ward of Richmonshire District Council. The civil parish shares a grouped parish council with the civil parish of

Hawes Hawes is a market town and civil parish in the Richmondshire district of North Yorkshire, England, at the head of Wensleydale in the Yorkshire Dales, and historically in the North Riding of Yorkshire. The River Ure north of the town is a touri ...

, known as Hawes & High Abbotside Parish Council.

Geography

The majority of the parish boundary runs along the

A684 road The A684 is an A road that runs through Cumbria and North Yorkshire, starting at Kendal, Cumbria and ending at Ellerbeck and the A19 road in North Yorkshire. It crosses the full width of the Yorkshire Dales, passing through Garsdale and the f ...

from just west of Bainbridge to where the

River Ure The River Ure in North Yorkshire, England is approximately long from its source to the point where it becomes the River Ouse. It is the principal river of Wensleydale, which is the only major dale now named after a village rather than its r ...

turns northwards. The western boundary then follows the river north to the county boundary with

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. C ...

. The northern boundary runs south-east across the top of both Great Shunner Fell and Abbotside Common. In addition to the main settlements, there are several hamlets such as the Lunds, Blades, Litherskew, Fossdale, Simonstone, Cotterdale and West End. The highest point in the Parish is Great Shunner Fell, the third highest peak in Yorkshire, at . The

Pennine Way The Pennine Way is a National Trail in England, with a small section in Scotland. The trail stretches for from Edale, in the northern Derbyshire Peak District, north through the Yorkshire Dales and Northumberland National Park and ends at Kir ...

crosses over the summit. The area has many small gills and becks that feed the main river system. There are extensive amounts of shake holes which are popular with cavers. One of the most notable natural features in the Parish is

Hardraw Force Hardraw Force ( OS grid ref: ) is a waterfall on Hardraw Beck in Hardraw Scar, a wooded ravine just outside the hamlet of Hardraw, north of the town of Hawes, Wensleydale, in the Yorkshire Dales. The Pennine Way long distance footpath passes ...

, a waterfall with a drop of .

History

High Abbotside was historically a

township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, C ...

in the large ancient parish of

Aysgarth Aysgarth is a village and civil parish in Wensleydale, in the Richmondshire district of North Yorkshire, England. The village is in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, about south-west of Richmond and west of the county town of Northallerton. ...

in the North Riding of Yorkshire. The name derives from the land on the north side of Wensleydale held by the

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The ...

Jervaulx Abbey Jervaulx Abbey in East Witton, 14 miles north-west of the city of Ripon, was one of the great Cistercian abbeys of Yorkshire, England, dedicated to St Mary in 1156. It is a Grade I listed building. The place name ''Jervaulx'' is first attes ...

in the Middle Ages. The abbot's manor was formally known as the Manor of Wensleydale, at least from the 14th century, but was also known as Abbotside. After the

dissolution Dissolution may refer to: Arts and entertainment Books * ''Dissolution'' (''Forgotten Realms'' novel), a 2002 fantasy novel by Richard Lee Byers * ''Dissolution'' (Sansom novel), a 2003 historical novel by C. J. Sansom Music * Dissolution, in mu ...

the abbot's lands were sold to a succession of owners, and in 1723 were acquired by the Wortley family, who divided Abbotside into the manors of High Abbotside and

Low Abbotside Low Abbotside is a civil parish in the Richmondshire district of North Yorkshire, England. It is a rural parish on the north side of Wensleydale. There is no village in the parish. The population was estimated at 110 in 2012. Governance The pa ...

. In 1866 the manor or township of High Abbotside became a separate civil parish. The parish was enlarged in 1934, when the greater part of Abbotside Common, previously shared with the parish of Low Abbotside, was added to the parish.

Demography

2001 census

The 2001 UK census showed that the population was split 46.9% male to 53.1% female. The religious constituency was made of 82.7% Christian and the rest stating no religion or not stating at all. The ethnic make-up was 97.1% White British, 1.4% White Irish and 1.4% White other. There were 133 dwellings.

2011 census

The 2011 UK census showed that the population was split 47.6% male to 52.4% female. The religious constituency was made of 74.8% Christian and the rest stating no religion or not stating at all. The ethnic make-up was 96.2% White British, 2.4% each White Other and 1% Black British. There were 152 dwellings.

Economy

The main occupations in the parish are farming and tourism. In the past the area was known for lead mining and remnants can still be found in the hillsides of the parish. Most notable of this industry is the Sargill Ore Heath Lead Smelt Mill on North Rigg near to the Sargill Lead Mine. This has been designated an Ancient Scheduled Monument.

Religion

The church of St Mary the Virgin and St John in Hardraw was built in 1879–81 in place of an earlier building from the 18th-century date. The registers begin in 1749. There is a small disused church situated in the hamlet of Lunds which is a Grade II listed building. There also used to be a Methodist chapel in Sedbusk.

References

{{Reflist, 2 Civil parishes in North Yorkshire Wensleydale