Carperby is a village in

Wensleydale Wensleydale is a valley in North Yorkshire, England. It is one of the Yorkshire Dales, which are part of the Pennines. The Dale (landform), dale is named after the village of Wensley, North Yorkshire, Wensley, formerly the valley's market tow ...

, one of the

Yorkshire Dales The Yorkshire Dales are a series of valleys, or Dale (landform), dales, in the Pennines, an Highland, upland range in England. They are mostly located in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, but extend into C ...

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 lies west of

Leyburn Leyburn is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England, sitting above the northern bank of the River Ure in Wensleydale. Historic counties of England, Historically in the North Riding of Yorkshire, the name was derived from 'Ley' ...

Etymology

The derivation of the villages name is uncertain, but Ekwall believes it to mean 'Cairpe's settlement' in

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 ...

(''Cairpes bȳ''). The name ''Cairpe'' is of

Old Irish Old Irish, also called Old Gaelic (, Ogham, Ogham script: ᚌᚑᚔᚇᚓᚂᚉ; ; ; or ), is the oldest form of the Goidelic languages, Goidelic/Gaelic language for which there are extensive written texts. It was used from 600 to 900. The ...

origin, implying Norse-Gaelic settlement in the area.

History

In the centre of the village is a Carperby Market Cross, dated 1674, that tells of the time when Carperby had a market (granted in 1305). In the 17th century the village was an important

centre of Quakerism, and its biggest building even today is the classically styled Carperby Quaker Meeting House of 1864. In 1810, the western end of the village supposedly suffered from a fire which destroyed 12 thatched cottages. Whilst there is no documentary evidence of this, it is a locally believed legend and mapping from 1819 and 1856 does show at least nine dwellings as having been removed. The

Richmond to Lancaster Turnpike The Richmond to Lancaster Turnpike, was a road that was opened in the second half of the 18th century between Richmond, North Yorkshire, Richmond, in the North Riding of Yorkshire and Lancaster, Lancashire, Lancaster in Lancashire, Northern Engl ...

was opened up through the village in 1751. Later diversions meant that the main

A684 road The A684 is an A road that runs through Cumbria and North Yorkshire, starting at Kendal, Cumbria and ending at Ellerbeck and the A19 road in North Yorkshire. It crosses the full width of the Yorkshire Dales, passing through Garsdale and the f ...

was diverted to run through

Aysgarth Aysgarth is a village and civil parish in Wensleydale, in North Yorkshire, England. The village is in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, about south-west of Richmond, North Yorkshire, Richmond and west of the county town of Northallerton. Hi ...

. The minor road that now runs through Carperby shadows the A684 westwards along the valley until the two roads meet at

Hardraw Hardraw is a hamlet near Hawes within the Yorkshire Dales in North Yorkshire, England. It takes its name from the nearby Hardraw Force waterfall. From 1974 to 2023 it was part of the district of Richmondshire, it is now administered by the uni ...

. The road through Carperby is colloquially known as 'The High Road'. The name of the Wheatsheaf Hotel suggests a corn-growing past, and the inn itself was where

James Herriot James Alfred Wight (3 October 1916 – 23 February 1995), better known by his pen name James Herriot, was a British veterinary surgeon and author. Born in Sunderland, Wight graduated from Glasgow Veterinary College in 1939, returning to En ...

and his bride spent their

honeymoon A honeymoon is a vacation taken by newlyweds after their wedding to celebrate their marriage. Today, honeymoons are often celebrated in destinations considered exotic or romantic. In a similar context, it may also refer to the phase in a couple ...

in 1941. In 2004, the village launched a campaign to provide a sports pavilion for its football team which plays in the Wensleydale Creamery League. After years of events and fundraising, the effort was still far short of its goal when the

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...

confectionery company donated money to the final £125,000 needed to construct the pavilion. The building of the pavilion was filmed in a time-lapse and used by Mars as a TV advertisement which also had footballer

Peter Crouch Peter James Crouch (born 30 January 1981) is an English former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker. He was Cap (sport), capped 42 times by the England national football t ...

playing on the pitch at Carperby.

References

External links

Mars advert with Peter Crouch
{{authority control Villages in North Yorkshire Wensleydale