Gargrave

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Gargrave
Gargrave (North Yorkshire)
Gargrave

Gargrave shown within North Yorkshire
Population 1,427[1]
OS grid reference SD931541
District Craven
Shire county North Yorkshire
Region Yorkshire and the Humber
Constituent country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town SKIPTON
Postcode district BD23
Dialling code 01756
Police North Yorkshire
Fire North Yorkshire
Ambulance Yorkshire
European Parliament Yorkshire and the Humber
UK Parliament Skipton and Ripon
List of places: UKEnglandYorkshire

Coordinates: 53°59′02″N 2°06′18″W / 53.984, -2.105

Gargrave is a small village located along the A65, four miles northwest from Skipton in North Yorkshire, England. It is situated on the very edge of the Yorkshire Dales. The River Aire and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal pass through the village.

Contents

[edit] History and Information

Gargrave church
Gargrave church

Around half a mile beneath the village on a fertile plain, there are remains of a Roman Villa, called Kirk Sink. The stones used to construct the villa were gradually removed and most likely used to make the present church which replaces it.

Due to the inequalities upon the surface, prove the villa to have been a parallelogram; 300 feet long and 180 feet wide. 70 years ago it was dug into and the frame of a tessellated pavement was discovered at that time, of which a man named Dr. Whitaker had seen some of the remains, influenced him to apply for permission to open the ground again.

Unfortunately the remains could not be ascertained as the church bled into the foundations, all that could be found was fragments of the pavement and remains of the mortar used to construct the villa.

The church is located just across from the Masons Arms pub in the southern half of the village.

[edit] Government

Gargrave is in the Gargrave and Malhamdale ward of the non-unitary authority, Craven District Council, and is also served by the Yorkshire County Council for local services. For parliamentary elections Gargrave is in the Skipton and Ripon constituency.

[edit] Transportation

As well as sitting on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, the main road through Gargrave is the very busy A65 which goes from Leeds to Kendal in the Lake District. There has been a long-running campaign to have a by-pass built around the village. Gargrave railway station is on the Airedale Line with rail services to Leeds and Bradford to the east and Morecambe and Kendal to the west. Gargrave also has bus links to Skipton, Settle, Malham, Barnoldswick and Preston.

[edit] Leisure

Stepping Stones at Gargrave
Stepping Stones at Gargrave

Being on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales National Park and having the Pennine Way National Trail going through the village, Gargrave is a popular destination for hikers and cyclists. Gargrave has a busy village hall hosting art exhibitions, tea dances, snooker, lectures, indoor bowls and pantomimes.

[edit] Sport

Gargrave's football club currently has an A and a B team playing in the Premier Division and Division 2 of the Craven 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.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Office for National Statistics (2004). Mid-2004 population estimates. statistics.gov.uk. Retrieved on 2007-07-09.

[edit] External links

A view of the village of Gargrave
A view of the village of Gargrave