Staveley, Cumbria

Staveley (grid reference SD469981) is a village in the District of South Lakeland in Cumbria, England. It is situated 4 miles (6 km) northwest of Kendal where the River Kent is joined by its tributary the Gowan. It is also known as Staveley-in-Westmorland and Staveley-in-Kendal to distinguish it from Staveley-in-Cartmel (a small village near Newby Bridge which is now in Cumbria but was previously in Lancashire).

Geography

The village is strategically placed at the junction of the rivers Kent and Gowan, at the mouth of the Kentmere Valley. Three hills overlook the village; Reston Scar on the north side on which much of the village is built, Piked Howe to the northeast known to the locals as Craggy Wood and Lily Fell to the south in the direction of the village of Crook on the opposite side of the A591 bypass. Piked Howe and Reston Scar sit either side of the opening into the Kentmere Valley. Both mark the beginning of a larger horseshoe chain of hills known as the Kentmere Round.

The nearest village to the west is Ings, a small settlement which now shares schools and parish minister with Staveley. To the south of the village is Crook, and to the north Kentmere which can only be accessed by road via Staveley village centre, meaning that the two villages have had a close relationship with each other for many centuries. But the village which had the strongest links to Staveley in more recent years is arguably Burneside which is the next stop on the railway line to the east on the way to Kendal. National Cycle Route 6 runs through Burneside and Staveley.

The Gowan

Gowan beck comes in to the village from the west after passing through the village of Ings. There is sometimes flooding at the confluence of the two rivers.

History

The area has been inhabited since around 4000 BC (evidence of which can be seen close to High Borrans) when Celtic speaking Britons established farms. It has been suggested that the Romans built a road near Staveley in order to link the Roman forts at Kendal (Alauna) and Ambleside (Galava).^[1] However, the existence of any Roman road in the immediate vicinity of Kendal is not confirmed.^[2] On the other hand, the Roman road at High Street (a few miles north of Staveley) is well evidenced.

Weekly markets and a three-day annual fair were held from 1329 when the village was granted a market charter.

In the eighteenth century a turnpike road from Kendal to Ambleside was constructed through Staveley. In Dorothy Wordsworth’s journal for 1802 there are references to an inn at Staveley (possibly the Eagle and Child).^[3][4] She wrote: "I am always glad to see Stavel(e)y; it is a place I dearly love to think of"

Since the 1840s Staveley has had a railway station on the Windermere Branch Line from Windermere to Oxenholme. It is one of only a few locations in the Lake District National Park to have a station, but in the nineteenth century most tourists continued on to the railhead at Windermere. Staveley remained relatively unaffected by mass tourism until the twentieth century.

Another nineteenth-century project built through Staveley is the Thirlmere Aqueduct, commissioned in 1894. On its way to Manchester, the aqueduct passes under the river Kent at Staveley.^[5] Although the Staveley section of the acqueduct was constructed underground (via "cut-and-cover" and tunnelling techniques), some of the infrastructure associated with it is visible.

Governance

Historically within the county of Westmorland, it became part of the new non-metropolitan county of Cumbria in 1974.

The area of Staveley is divided into three civil parishes;

• Nether Staveley,
• Over Staveley
• Hugill (after Hugill Fell). Williamson's Monument is situated on the fell above this section of the parish.

Woods

The village got its name from the woodworking industry that thrived in the area due to the forests that originally covered the surrounding hills, and the close proximity of two rivers for processing the wood. Staveley means literally the 'field of staffs' (from the Middle English plural stave for staf OE stæf and the ME leye meaning pasture from Old English leah; akin to Old High German loh thicket, Latin lucus grove).

Woods in the area include:

• Beckmickle Ing (3.58 ha) which is managed by the Woodland Trust^[6]
• Craggy Plantation, which belongs to the Lake District National Park Authority and is mainly deciduous.^[7] This area was used in the 1990s for testing various measures to control the spread of North American Grey Squirrels into the native Red Squirrel habitats.
• Dorothy Farrer's Spring Wood (4.6 ha), which is managed by the Cumbria Wildlife Trust and is partly coppiced in the interests of biodiversity. Birdlife includes the Pied Flycatcher.^[8]
• Mike's Wood (3 ha) native woodland planted in the 1990s by the organisation Friends of the Lake District.^[9]

Mills

In the Middle Ages, the mills at Staveley produced woollen cloth. During the industrial revolution there was cotton production at Staveley, and there is an eighteenth century mill building from this time. The cotton industry shifted to Lancashire, and the Staveley mills were converted to work wood. By 1850 bobbin turning was the main industry in the valley.

While there is no longer any bobbin production, there is a carpentry business in the village, established in 1972.

Staveley Mill Yard

At the weir by Wilf's Cafe visitors can see water being drawn from the River Kent, which originally powered a waterwheel, replaced in 1902 with turbines.

Historic buildings

A conservation area protects much of the centre of Staveley.^[10] There are proposals to extend the conservation area across the river Kent to include a garden designed by Thomas Mawson. Staveley has a number of listed buildings, including its oldest building, a tower, all that remains of a medieval church dedicated to St Margaret. The structure is maintained as a clock-tower: on it is a plaque commemorating the Staveley men of F Company, Second V B Border Regiment, who served in the South Africa Campaign of 1900-01 under Major John Thompson.

In 1338 the then Lord of the Manor, Sir William Thweng agreed to build a church. Before this the villagers had been expected to travel 7 miles to Kendal each Sunday for services. The church, completed in 1388, was replaced by a new parish church, built in 1864-65 to a design by J. S. Crowther.

This Victorian church, dedicated to St James, is notable for the stained glass windows at the east end, which were designed by William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones and depict the Crucifixion and Ascension of Christ surrounded by angels and stars.^[11] One of the angels was used for the Royal Mail's second class Christmas stamp in 2009.

Other places of worship

There is a small Catholic church, now disused, situated on Station Road. There are two former Methodist chapels, Wesleyan and Primitive Methodist, which have been converted for residential use.

Education

Staveley CE Primary School was founded in 1755 and moved to its present position at Brow Lane on Reston Scar in 1840. A new building was built 30 years ago to house the infant classes. The school also caters for children from the nearby villages of Crook, Kentmere and Ings. Before the modern-day school that exists now, the school used to be housed in a small cottage on the main street next to St. Margaret's Tower.

Cultural activities

Every year in August residents put on an art exhibition for regional artists at the Roundhouse (a former gas holder which serves as a theatre).^[12]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Staveley, Cumbria.

• Staveley with Ings Parish Council
• Staveley and District Historical Society
• Virtual Tours of Staveley
• The Operatic Society's fiftieth production (dead-link)
• Staveley CE School
• St James' CofE church
• Wilf's Cafe - formerly the Bobbin Life
• Staveley Natural Health Centre
• Staveley Carnival
• The Cumbria Directory - Staveley

Coordinates: 54°22′32″N 2°49′08″W / 54.37562°N 2.81894°W / 54.37562; -2.81894