Gargrave is a large village 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 below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

in the Craven district located along the A65, north-west of

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 Riv ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by national parks, including most of the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors. It is one of four co ...

, England. It is situated on the very edge of the

Yorkshire Dales The Yorkshire Dales is an upland area of the Pennines in the 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 rising from the Vale of York w ...

. 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 ...

and the

Leeds and Liverpool Canal The Leeds and Liverpool Canal is a canal in Northern England, linking the cities of Leeds and Liverpool. Over a distance of , crossing the Pennines, and including 91 locks on the main line. The Leeds and Liverpool Canal has several small branc ...

pass through the village. It had a population of 1,764 in 2001 reducing slightly to 1,755 at the 2011 census.

Etymology

Multiple etymologies have been proposed for the name ''Gargrave''. The name may contain

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th ...

''gāra'' in its original meaning of "spear" formed with ''graf'' apparently meaning ''wood'', originally meaning "wood from which spear-shafts were cut". The first part of the name may also have had the sense "triangular piece of land" and was replaced by the cognate

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

''gieri''. Also suggested is that the name contains one of the Old Norse names with ''Geir-'' (e.g. ''Geirmundr, Geirlaug'') with the Old English termination ''græf'', "grave, trench", Gargrave therefore meaning "grave of the Scandinavian Giermundr, Geirlaug etc". William Wheater thought Gargrave to be derived the

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foo ...

''caer'' and the

Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...

''gerefa'', meaning "the camp or city of the reeve/governor". The element ''-grave'' may be a "Celtic lenited" variant of '' Craven''.

History

At Kirk Sink in the second century the

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

built a

villa A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became ...

in flat meadowland near the

. It was excavated in 1968–1974 by Brian Hartley. Its central room had a seven-metre square mosaic floor and a bath house was built alongside. The villa was surrounded by two ditches. Gargrave - The Old Swan Inn

In the 1820s the main industry in Gargrave was cotton manufacturing and along the side of the canal were numerous warehouses. The population at this time was 972 and there were several public houses including the pubs named the Masons Arms and the Swan Inn. Gargrave House was built in 1917 by the distinguished Scottish architect, James Dunn. It is a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

. The Old Swan is also Grade II listed and was named the Keighley and Craven

CAMRA The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) is an independent voluntary consumer organisation headquartered in St Albans, England, which promotes real ale, cider and perry and traditional British pubs and clubs. With just under 155,000 members, it is ...

''Pub of the Season'' for summer 1998.

Governance

Gargrave is in the Gargrave and Malhamdale

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

of the non-

unitary authority A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governmen ...

, Craven District Council, and is also served by the

County Council A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Ireland The county councils created under British rule in 1899 continue to exist in Irela ...

for local services. The population of this ward at the 2011 Census was measured at 3,037. For parliamentary elections Gargrave is in the Skipton and Ripon constituency.

Transport

The

passes through the village and the main road is the A65

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popul ...

Kendal Kendal, once Kirkby in Kendal or Kirkby Kendal, is a market town and civil parish in the South Lakeland district of Cumbria, England, south-east of Windermere and north of Lancaster. Historically in Westmorland, it lies within the dale of t ...

road. There has been a long-running campaign to have a by-pass built around the village. Gargrave railway station is served by rail services to Skipton and Leeds to the east and

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district in Lancashire, England. It is in Morecambe Bay on the Irish Sea. Name The first use of the name was by John Whitaker in his ''History of Manchester'' (1771), ...

and

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers Eden, Caldew and Petteril. It is the administrative centre of the City ...

to the west. Gargrave has bus links to Skipton,

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 ...

, Malham,

Barnoldswick Barnoldswick (pronounced ) is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Pendle, Lancashire, England. It is within the boundaries of the historic West Riding of Yorkshire, Barnoldswick and the surrounding areas of West Craven have be ...

and

Preston Preston is a place name, surname and given name that may refer to: Places England *Preston, Lancashire, an urban settlement **The City of Preston, Lancashire, a borough and non-metropolitan district which contains the settlement **County Boro ...

Religion

The parish church is dedicated to St Andrew was built in 1521 and restored in 1852, though there is thought to have been a church on the site long before this time. Robert of Newminster who was born in the parish in about 1100 was an early rector. Former Chancellor of the Exchequer

Iain Macleod Iain Norman Macleod (11 November 1913 – 20 July 1970) was a British Conservative Party politician and government minister. A playboy and professional bridge player in his twenties, after war service Macleod worked for the Conservative Researc ...

is buried in the south-east corner of the churchyard.

Leisure

Being on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales National Park and having 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 ...

National Trail going through the village, Gargrave is a popular destination for

hikers Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Histo ...

and

cyclists Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...

. Gargrave has a

village hall A village hall is a public building in a village used for various things such as: United Kingdom In the United Kingdom, a village hall is usually a building which contains at least one large room (plus kitchen and toilets), is owned by a local ...

hosting art exhibitions, tea dances, snooker, lectures, indoor bowls and pantomimes.

Sport

Gargrave AFC, the village football club, had an A and a B team playing in the Premier Division and Division 1 of the Craven League until 2016 when they withdrew from the league. The cricket club has first and second team playing in the Craven and District Cricket League. There is also a snooker club and a bowling club in the village as well as the Craven Lawn Tennis Club being sited there. Since the turn of the century there is a golf society run from the Masons Arms public house in the village.

Notable people

* St Robert of Newminster (c.1100–1159),

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...

and

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. Th ...

, was born in Gargrave. * Adam Osgodby (died 1316), English lawyer and parson of Gargrave. * Robert Shute (died April 1590), English judge and politician, was born in Gargrave. * Robert Story (1795–1860), known as "''the Craven Poet''", lived in Gargrave. * The Rt Hon Iain Macleod (1913–1970), British politician and government minister, is buried in Gargrave churchyard. * The Rt Rev'd Ian Harland (1932–2008), former Bishop of Lancaster and

, retired to Gargrave in 2000.

References

External links

The Leeds Liverpool Canal in Gargrave

Gargrave Homepage

Craven and District Cricket League

Masons Arms Golf Society

Gargrave Parish Council
{{authority control Villages in North Yorkshire Civil parishes in North Yorkshire Craven District