Stackhouse (sometimes written as Stack House), is a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

near to

Giggleswick Giggleswick, a village and civil parish in the Craven district of North Yorkshire, England, lies on the B6480 road, less than north-west of the town of Settle and divided from it by the River Ribble. It is the site of Giggleswick School. T ...

on the western bank of the

River Ribble The River Ribble runs through North Yorkshire and Lancashire in Northern England. It starts close to the Ribblehead Viaduct in North Yorkshire, and is one of the few that start in the Yorkshire Dales and flow westwards towards the Irish Sea (t ...

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.

History

Stackhouse lies on the western side of the River Ribble in north

Ribblesdale 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 (downstream, from north to south) include Selside, Horton-in-Ribblesdale, Stainfo ...

, opposite

Langcliffe 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 ...

, and north of

. The hamlet is located on the road from

Settle Settle or SETTLE may refer to: Places * Settle, Kentucky, United States * Settle, North Yorkshire, a town in England ** Settle Rural District, a historical administrative district Music * Settle (band), an indie rock band from Pennsylvania * ''S ...

to Helwith Bridge via Knight Stainforth. The hamlet 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 ...

as belonging to Roger de Poitu, though with no resident population. The hamlet was listed as having nearly , and later came under the possession of

Furness Abbey Furness Abbey, or St. Mary of Furness, is a former Catholic monastery located to the north of Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England. The abbey dates back to 1123 and was once the second-wealthiest and most powerful Cistercian monastery in the coun ...

. The hamlet has been recorded across the centuries as: ''Stacuse'' (1086), ''Stachus'' (1285), ''Stacho(u)ssum'', ''Stakho(u)ssum'' (1150–70), and ''Stackhowse'' (1592). The name derives from

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...

meaning "the house near, or for,

ricks Ricks may refer to: People * Andre Ricks (born 1996), American basketball player * Bob Ricks (21st century), American police chief * Christopher Ricks (born 1933), British literary critic and scholar * Doug Ricks, American politician and membe ...

." Sometimes the hamlet's name is written out as ''Stack House''. The hamlet was previously in the Township of Giggleswick (along with another hamlet called ''Rome''), and in the

wapentake A hundred is an administrative division that is geographically part of a larger region. It was formerly used in England, Wales, some parts of the United States, Denmark, Southern Schleswig, Sweden, Finland, Norway, the Bishopric of Ösel–Wiek, C ...

Staincliffe Staincliffe is a cross-over district of both Batley and Dewsbury, in West Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the name is believed to derive from ''staine'', meaning stone and ''cliffe'', cliff. The area is ...

in the

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...

. The hamlet is now in the civil parish of Giggleswick, in North Yorkshire. James Carr, who came from the hamlet, was a priest at the church in Giggleswick ( St Alkelda) and also later founded

Giggleswick School Giggleswick School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) in Giggleswick, near Settle, North Yorkshire, England. Early school In 1499, Giggleswick School was founded on half an acre of land leased by the Prior an ...

. Some of the houses in the village were built for the cotton workers of Langcliffe Mill (opened in 1783) on the opposite bank of the river to Stackhouse, but connected by a bridge. Both the Ribble Way and

Dales High Way A Dales High Way is a long-distance footpath in northern England. It is long and runs from Saltaire in West Yorkshire to Appleby-in-Westmorland, Cumbria, roughly parallel to the line of the Settle and Carlisle Railway. Route The Dales High Way ...

long-distance paths run through the hamlet. The village is also on

National Cycle Route The National Cycle Network (NCN) is the national cycling route network of the United Kingdom, which was established to encourage cycling and walking throughout Britain, as well as for the purposes of bicycle touring. It was created by the cha ...

68 (The

Pennine Cycleway The Pennine Cycleway is a Sustrans-sponsored route in the Pennines range in northern England, an area often called the "backbone of England". The route passes through the counties of Derbyshire, West Yorkshire, Lancashire, North Yorkshire, Cumb ...

). A footbridge connects the hamlet over the Ribble with Langcliffe on the eastern bank. The footbridge was swept away in a storm of 1953, but was replaced soon afterwards. To the north west of the village, following the route of the footpath to Feizor, several

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

ring

cairn A cairn is a man-made pile (or stack) of stones raised for a purpose, usually as a marker or as a burial mound. The word ''cairn'' comes from the gd, càrn (plural ). Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes. In prehis ...

s are located on the moor. One was excavated in the 19th century revealing human bones and ivory discs.

References

Sources

* * *{{cite book , last1=Whitaker , first1=Thomas Dunham , title=The history and antiquities of the deanery of Craven in the county of York , date=1805 , publisher=Nichols and Son , location=London, oclc=1190994017

External links

Stackhouse on GetOutside
Villages in North Yorkshire Craven District