Arthington is a small village in

Wharfedale Wharfedale ( ) is the valley of the upper parts of the River Wharfe and one of the Yorkshire Dales. It is situated within the districts of Craven and Harrogate in North Yorkshire, and the cities of Leeds and Bradford in West Yorkshire. It ...

, in the

City of Leeds The City of Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. The metropolitan borough includes the administrative centre of Leeds and the towns of Farsley, Garforth, Guiseley, Horsforth, Morley, Otley, Pudsey, Rothwel ...

metropolitan borough A metropolitan borough (or metropolitan district) is a type of local government district in England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, metropolitan boroughs are defined in English law as metropolitan districts within metropoli ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exis ...

, England. It is a

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of Parish (administrative division), administrative parish used for Local government in England, local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below district ...

which, according to the 2011 census, had a population of 532 and is in the LS21 postcode district with Otley as its

post town A post town is a required part of all postal addresses in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and a basic unit of the postal delivery system.Royal Mail, ''Address Management Guide'', (2004) Including the correct post town in the address increases ...

. It is in the Otley ward of the City of Leeds, and the

Leeds North West Leeds North West is a constituency in the City of Leeds which has been represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2017 by Alex Sobel, of Labour Co-op. Boundaries 1950–1955: The County Borough of Leeds wards of Far He ...

parliamentary constituency.

Geography

The village is a small collection of dwellings and farms along the A659 road (Arthington Lane) running from Pool-in-Wharfedale in the West to Harewood in the East, and south of a section of the River Wharfe. Up Black Hill Road to the south is a working stone quarry.

Etymology

The name ''Arthington'' is first attested 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 ''Hardinctone'', ''Ardintona'' and ''Ardinton''. The first element of the name comes from the Old English

personal name A personal name, or full name, in onomastic terminology also known as prosoponym (from Ancient Greek πρόσωπον / ''prósōpon'' - person, and ὄνομα / ''onoma'' - name), is the set of names by which an individual person is know ...

''Eard'', a nickname form of longer names like ''Eardwulf''; the connecting element ''-ing-'', used to indicate Eard's association with the place; and the word ''tūn'' ('farmstead, estate'). Thus the name meant 'Eard's estate'. Spellings with ''th'' for ''d'' appear from the twelfth century onwards and are thought to show the influence of

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 ...

pronunciation on the name.Harry Parkin, ''Your City's Place-Names: Leeds'', English Place-Name Society City-Names Series, 3 (Nottingham: English Place-Names Society, 2017), pp. 18-19.

History

Arthington was part of the estate of Aluuard of Northumbria, along with Adel,

Burdon Burdon is a village and civil parish in the City of Sunderland in Tyne and Wear, England. It is south of the city centre. The north-west of the parish includes part of the Doxford Park estate. It has a population of 971. There is currently no p ...

Cookridge Cookridge is a suburb of north-west Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, north of the Leeds Outer Ring Road. In 1715 Ralph Thoresby described it as a village four miles from Leeds and three from Otley, dating from 1540.Ralph Thoresby (1715) ''Duca ...

and Eccup, up until the Norman conquest of England. It was then given to the Count of Mortain (half brother of

William the Conqueror William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England The monarchy of the United Kingdom, ...

). However, it had greatly reduced in value during the Conquest, falling from 30

shillings The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 12 pence or ...

to 5, and much of the area was described as waste. It was in the 12th century that Arthington (or Ardington) as a family name was established, as vassals to the tenant in chief, the Paynel and later the Luterel family. Peter de Arthington donated lands at Arthington to

Kirkstall Abbey Kirkstall Abbey is a ruined Cistercian monastery in Kirkstall, north-west of Leeds city centre in West Yorkshire, England. It is set in a public park on the north bank of the River Aire. It was founded ''c.'' 1152. It was disestablished during ...

which led to the establishment of a

nunnery A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

known as Arthington Priory. The site is now believed to be occupied by Nunnery Farm, with the main house dated 1585 built from the ruins. By this time the region had improved with more land under agriculture and more inhabitants.

Buildings

The village mainly extends from the Wharfdale pub at the western end to the former parish church of St Peter on the eastern end. This dates from 1864 and 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 ...

like many others in the village. It became redundant because of the small congregation, and in 2007 it was renamed St Mary and St Abanoub as a

Coptic Orthodox The Coptic Orthodox Church ( cop, Ϯⲉⲕ̀ⲕⲗⲏⲥⲓⲁ ⲛ̀ⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ ⲛ̀ⲟⲣⲑⲟⲇⲟⲝⲟⲥ, translit=Ti.eklyseya en.remenkimi en.orthodoxos, lit=the Egyptian Orthodox Church; ar, الكنيسة القبطي� ...

church. It serves a congregation living in West, North and East Yorkshire. Arthington Hall was the home of the Arthington family from Norman times till the 18th century when it was taken over by the Sheepshank family who rebuilt in

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italia ...

style and also paid for the church. It has been used for filming the UK TV series ''Heartbeat''. To the West of the village is

Creskeld Hall Creskeld Hall is a grade II listed Country House located in Arthington, near Otley, West Yorkshire, England. Etymology The place-name is first attested in the twelfth century, as ''Creskeld'' and ''Creskelde''. The name comes from the Old Engli ...

, a former

Manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals with ...

, which has been used for filming the external shots of Home Farm in the TV serial

Emmerdale ''Emmerdale'' (known as ''Emmerdale Farm'' until 1989) is a British soap opera that is broadcast on ITV1. The show is set in Emmerdale (known as Beckindale until 1994), a fictional village in the Yorkshire Dales. Created by Kevin Laffa ...

. The village was the site of Arthington Priory, one of only two

Cluniac The Cluniac Reforms (also called the Benedictine Reform) were a series of changes within medieval monasticism of the Western Church focused on restoring the traditional monastic life, encouraging art, and caring for the poor. The movement began w ...

nunneries in England - the other being at Delapré Abbey in

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

. The site is now believed to be occupied by Nunnery Farm, with the main house dated 1585 built from the ruins.

Railway

There used to be a

railway junction A junction, in the context of rail transport, is a place at which two or more rail routes converge or diverge. This implies a physical connection between the tracks of the two routes (assuming they are of the same gauge), provided by ''points'' ( ...

(see

Arthington railway station Arthington railway station served the village of Arthington in the English county of West Yorkshire, near the North Yorkshire town of Harrogate. History Opened by the Leeds Northern Railway, as part of the North Eastern Railway it was ...

), where the (now-closed) line to Pool-in-Wharfedale

station Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle statio ...

, Otley

, Ilkley

, and on to

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 River A ...

joined the still open Harrogate Line from

Leeds Leeds () is a City status in the United Kingdom, 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 thi ...

Harrogate Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Harrogate in North Yorkshire, England. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist destination and its visitor attractions include its spa wate ...

. Arthington station closed completely in 1965 but there is a campaign to re-open the station and the former Otley line. The village is at the northern end of the

Bramhope Tunnel Bramhope Tunnel is on the Harrogate Line between Horsforth station and the Arthington Viaduct in West Yorkshire, England. Services through the railway tunnel are operated mainly by Northern. The tunnel was constructed during 1845–1849 by ...

. The railway then crosses the dramatic stone Arthington Viaduct over the River Wharfe to Castley on the north side of the valley. The Arthington Show is actually held on grounds in Castley. File:The Wharfdale, Arthington 23 April 2017.jpg, The Wharfedale File:St Mary and St Abanoub Church 01 8 July 2017.jpg, The church File:Beech Cottage Arthington 8 July 2017.jpg, Cottages File:Arthington bridge 23 April 2017.jpg, Railway bridge File:Arthington Viaduct.jpg, Arthington Viaduct

Location grid

References

External links

* * * {{authority control Villages in West Yorkshire Places in Leeds Wharfedale Civil parishes in West Yorkshire