Thorpe is a hamlet and

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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

Wharfedale Wharfedale ( ) is one of the Yorkshire Dales. It is situated at source in North Yorkshire and then flows into West Yorkshire and forms the upper valley of the River Wharfe. Towns and villages in Wharfedale (downstream, from west to east) includ ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...

, England. It is south of

Grassington Grassington is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. The population of the parish at the 2011 Census was 1,126. The village is situated in Wharfedale, about north-west from Bolton Abbey, and is surrou ...

and north of

Skipton Skipton (also known as Skipton-in-Craven) is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. Historically in the East Division of Staincliffe Wapentake in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is on the River Aire and the Leeds ...

. At the 2011 census the population remained less than 100, so the details were included in the civil parish of

Burnsall Burnsall is a village and civil parish in the county of North Yorkshire, England. It is situated on the River Wharfe in Wharfedale, and is in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. The village is approximately south-east from Grassington. It has ...

. However in 2015, North Yorkshire County Council estimated the population to be 50.

History

Thorpe 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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

as belonging to Osborn of Arques. The name derives from the

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was 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 ''þorp'', which means "outlying farmstead". It was sometimes referred to as ''Thorpe Subtus Montem'', and ''Thorpe-sub-Montem''. The hamlet is secluded and surrounded by reef knolls, especially Elbolton Hill to the west, and Kail Hill to the east. All of these form part of the Cracoe Reef Knolls

SSSI A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain, or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...

. This seclusion apparently meant that Thorpe remained unaffected by Scottish raiders, and was the place that local people went to in order to escape troops engaged in the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

. These areas also have an extensive field system of

lynchet A lynchet or linchet is an Terrace (earthworks), earth terrace found on the side of a hill. Lynchets are a feature of ancient field systems of the British Isles. They are commonly found in vertical rows and more commonly referred to as "strip lyn ...

s, agricultural terraces that are notable within the Yorkshire Dales. The hamlet is at an elevation of , and faces northwards with the hill of Burnsall and Thorpe Fell directly behind it, rising to a height of . The only road out of the village runs northwards towards Linton, and this road is part of the National Cycle Route 688. Whilst there are many farmhouses and barns in the hamlet, which are indicative of agriculture, (of the 21 listed buildings in the parish, at least half are associated with farming), it also historically had a large community of cobblers. Just to the south of the village are the remains of Elbolton Lead Mine, which was producing lead and

fluorspar Fluorite (also called fluorspar) is the mineral form of calcium fluoride, CaF2. It belongs to the halide minerals. It crystallizes in isometric cubic habit, although octahedral and more complex isometric forms are not uncommon. The Mohs scal ...

in the 19th century, closing down in 1888.

Governance

Historically, the hamlet was in the parish of Burnsall, within Skipton Rural District, 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, Sweden, Finland, Norway, and in Cumberland County in the British Colony of ...

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 West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. ...

, in the

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, lieu ...

. In 1974, the area was moved from the West Riding into North Yorkshire, and Thorpe was made into its own civil parish. From 1974 to 2023 it was part of the district of Craven, it is now administered by the unitary

North Yorkshire Council North Yorkshire Council, known between 1974 and 2023 as North Yorkshire County Council, is the local authority for the non-metropolitan county of North Yorkshire, England. Since 2023 the council has been a unitary authority, being a county coun ...

. The parish is rural and extends southwards over the summit of Burnsall and Thorpe Fell, covering . The parish is represented at

Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

as part of the Skipton & Ripon Constituency. Thorpe has always been in the ecclesiastical parish of Burnsall, and remains so in the 21st century, being part of the benefice of Linton, Burnsall and Rylstone. In the 19th century, the Wesleyan Methodists had a mission room in the hamlet.

References

External links

* {{authority control Villages in North Yorkshire Civil parishes in North Yorkshire Wharfedale