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Craven was a
non-metropolitan district Non-metropolitan districts, or colloquially "shire districts", are a type of Districts of England, local government district in England. As created, they are sub-divisions of non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties (colloquially ''s ...
in the west of
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 ...
, centred on the market town of
Skipton Skipton (also known as Skipton-in-Craven) is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. Historically in the East Division of Staincliffe Wapentake in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is on the River Aire and the Leeds ...
. The name ''Craven'' is much older than the modern district and encompassed a larger area. This history is also reflected in the way the term is still commonly used, such as by the
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...
. In its modern manifestation, from
1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...
until 2023, Craven was a separate
local government district Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Local'' (comics), a limited series comic book by Bria ...
, formed originally as the merger of
Skipton Skipton (also known as Skipton-in-Craven) is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. Historically in the East Division of Staincliffe Wapentake in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is on the River Aire and the Leeds ...
urban district,
Settle Rural District Settle Rural District was an administrative district in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. The rural district was named after the town of Settle and included the civil parishes of Bentham, Clapham cum Newby, Malham, Settle, Stainforth, ...
and most of
Skipton Rural District Skipton was a rural district in the West Riding of Yorkshire from 1894 to 1974. It was named after Skipton, which constituted an urban district on its southern border. The district was expanded in 1937 by taking in the parishes of Steeton wit ...
; all were historically in the
West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, lieu ...
. Since 1 April 2023, it has formed part of the new
North Yorkshire Council North Yorkshire Council, known between 1974 and 2023 as North Yorkshire County Council, is the local authority for the non-metropolitan county of North Yorkshire, England. Since 2023 the council has been a unitary authority, being a county coun ...
unitary authority. The population of the Local Authority area at the 2011 Census was 55,409; it comprised the upper reaches of
Airedale Airedale is a valley, or Dale (landform), dale, in North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire, England. It is named after the River Aire, which flows through it. The upper valley, from Malham Cove to Airton, is known as Malhamdale, named after the vill ...
,
Wharfedale Wharfedale ( ) is one of the Yorkshire Dales. It is situated at source in North Yorkshire and then flows into West Yorkshire and forms the upper valley of the River Wharfe. Towns and villages in Wharfedale (downstream, from west to east) includ ...
,
Ribblesdale Ribblesdale is one of the Yorkshire Dales in England. It is the Dale (landform), dale or upper valley of the River Ribble in North Yorkshire. Towns and villages in Ribblesdale (downstream, from north to south) include Selside, North Yorkshire, ...
, and includes most of the
Aire Gap Aire Gap is a pass through the Pennines in England formed by geologic fault (geology), faults and carved out by glaciers. The term is used to describe a geological division, a travel route, or a location that is an entry into the Aire river val ...
and
Craven Basin The Craven Basin is a sedimentary basin in northern England, having the shape of a southerly-tilted graben which was active during the Carboniferous period. It is one of a series of such basins which developed across northern England in this perio ...
.


History

''Craven'' has been the name of this district throughout recorded history. Note: Select the Thorton in Craven entry. Its extent in the 11th century can be deduced from The Domesday Book but its boundaries now differ according to whether considering administration, taxation or religion.


Toponymy

The derivation of the name Craven is uncertain, yet a Celtic origin related to the word for garlic (''craf'' in Welsh) has been suggested as has the
proto-Celtic Proto-Celtic, or Common Celtic, is the hypothetical ancestral proto-language of all known Celtic languages, and a descendant of Proto-Indo-European. It is not attested in writing but has been partly Linguistic reconstruction, reconstructed throu ...
''*krab-'' suggesting scratched or scraped in some sense and even an alleged
pre-Celtic The European Bronze Age is characterized by bronze artifacts and the use of bronze implements. The regional Bronze Age succeeds the Neolithic and Copper Age and is followed by the Iron Age. It starts with the Aegean Bronze Age in 3200 BC and spans ...
word ''cravona'', supposed to mean a stony region. In civic use the name Craven or Cravenshire had, by 1166, given way to
Staincliffe Staincliffe is a cross-over district of both Batley and Dewsbury, in West Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. ...
. However, the church archdeaconry retained the name of Craven.


Prehistory

The first datable evidence of human life in Craven is ca 9000 BC: a hunter's harpoon point carved out of an antler found in Victoria Cave. Most traces of the
Mesolithic The Mesolithic (Ancient Greek language, Greek: μέσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic i ...
nomadic hunters are the
flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Historically, flint was widely used to make stone tools and start ...
barbs they set into shafts. Extensive finds of these
microliths A microlith is a small Rock (geology), stone tool usually made of flint or chert and typically a centimetre or so in length and half a centimetre wide. They were made by humans from around 60,000 years ago, across Europe, Africa, Asia and Austral ...
lie around
Malham Tarn Malham Tarn is a glacial lake near the village of Malham in the Yorkshire Dales, England. The lake is one of only eight upland alkaline lakes in Europe. At an altitude of above sea level it is the highest marl lake in the United Kingdom. It ...
and
Semerwater Semerwater () is the second largest natural lake in North Yorkshire, England, after Malham Tarn. It is half a mile (800 m) long, covers and lies in Raydale, opposite the River Bain, North Yorkshire, River Bain. A private pay and display parking ...
. Flint does not occur in the Dales, the nearest outcrop is in East Yorkshire. On higher ground microliths are found near springs at the
tree line The tree line is the edge of a habitat at which trees are capable of growing and beyond which they are not. It is found at high elevations and high latitudes. Beyond the tree line, trees cannot tolerate the environmental conditions (usually low ...
at indicating campsites close to the open hunting grounds. The valley woodlands were inhabited by deer, boar and
aurochs The aurochs (''Bos primigenius''; or ; pl.: aurochs or aurochsen) is an extinct species of Bovini, bovine, considered to be the wild ancestor of modern domestic cattle. With a shoulder height of up to in bulls and in cows, it was one of t ...
, the higher ground was open grassland that fed herds of reindeer, elk and horse. No permanent settlements have been found of that age, hunting here was seasonal, returning to the plains in winter. After 5000 BC long-distance trade is indicated by the distribution of
stone axes A hand axe (or handaxe or Acheulean hand axe) is a prehistoric stone tool with two faces that is the longest-used tool in human history. It is made from stone, usually flint or chert that has been "reduced" and shaped from a larger piece by kna ...
.
Lithic analysis In archaeology, lithic analysis is the analysis of stone tools and other chipped stone artifacts using basic scientific techniques. At its most basic level, lithic analyses involve an analysis of the artifact's morphology, the measurement of v ...
can identify their quarry source as Langdale in central Cumbria and most finds are in Ribblesdale and Airedale indicating that Craven was their trade route through the Pennines.
Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...
farmers permanently settled in Craven, bringing
domesticated Domestication is a multi-generational mutualistic relationship in which an animal species, such as humans or leafcutter ants, takes over control and care of another species, such as sheep or fungi, to obtain from them a steady supply of reso ...
livestock and used those stone axes to clear woodlands, probably by
slash-and-burn Slash-and-burn agriculture is a form of shifting cultivation that involves the cutting and burning of plants in a forest or woodland to create a Field (agriculture), field called a swidden. The method begins by cutting down the trees and woody p ...
, to increase areas for grazing and crops.


Roman occupation

In the first century the Romans, having trouble controlling the
Brigantes The Brigantes were Ancient Britons who in pre-Roman times controlled the largest section of what would become Northern England. Their territory, often referred to as Brigantia, was centred in what was later known as Yorkshire. The Greek geog ...
in 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 ...
, built forts at strategic points. In Craven one fort, possibly named Olenacum, is at
Elslack Elslack is a village and civil parish in the county of North Yorkshire, England, close to the border with Lancashire and west of Skipton. Thornton in Craven is nearby. The Tempest Arms is a large pub in the village, sited by the A56, which is ...
. Through this fort passes a Roman road linking two other forts:
Bremetennacum Bremetennacum, (), or Bremetennacum Veteranorum, was a Roman Britain, Roman castra, fort on the site of the present day village of Ribchester in Lancashire, England (). (Misspellings in ancient geographical texts include ''Bremetonnacum'', ''Brem ...
at
Ribchester Ribchester () is a village and civil parish within the Ribble Valley district of Lancashire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Ribble, northwest of Blackburn and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. The village has a long history w ...
Lancashire and another at
Ilkley Ilkley is a spa town and civil parish in the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, in Northern England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Ilkley civil parish includes the adjacent village of Ben Rhydding and is a ward within ...
Yorkshire. Archaeologists describe the road as running north-east up
Ribblesdale Ribblesdale is one of the Yorkshire Dales in England. It is the Dale (landform), dale or upper valley of the River Ribble in North Yorkshire. Towns and villages in Ribblesdale (downstream, from north to south) include Selside, North Yorkshire, ...
about east of
Clitheroe Clitheroe () is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Ribble Valley, Borough of Ribble Valley, Lancashire, England; it is located north-west of Manchester. It is near the Forest of Bowland and is often used as a base for to ...
, then bending eastwards near , then about north of
Barnoldswick Barnoldswick (pronounced ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Borough of Pendle, Lancashire, England. It lies within the boundaries of the Historic counties of England, historic West Riding of Yorkshire, West Ri ...
to pass into Airedale through the low pass near
Thornton-in-Craven Thornton-in-Craven is a village and civil parish in the county of North Yorkshire, England. It is approx from the border with Lancashire and north of Earby. Barnoldswick is nearby. The Pennine Way passes through the village, as does the A56 ...
.Google Earth


Anglo-Saxon

To collect the
Danegeld Danegeld (; "Danish tax", literally "Dane yield" or tribute) was a tax raised to pay tribute or Protection racket, protection money to the Viking raiders to save a land from being ravaged. It was called the ''geld'' or ''gafol'' in eleventh-c ...
in 991–1016 the Anglo-Saxons divided their territory into tax districts. The
Wapentake A hundred is an administrative division that is geographically part of a larger region. It was formerly used in England, Wales, some parts of the United States, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway, and in Cumberland County in the British Colony of ...
s of
Staincliffe Staincliffe is a cross-over district of both Batley and Dewsbury, in West Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. ...
and
Ewcross The historical area of Ewecross or Ewcross is a district in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. It included the parishes of Bentham, Clapham, Horton in Ribblesdale and Sedbergh and parts of Thornton in Lonsdale. Ewcross was split from the ...
covered the region we call Craven but also areas beyond it such as the Forest of Bowland in Lancashire; and
Sedbergh Sedbergh ( or ) is a town and civil parish in the ceremonial county of Cumbria. It falls within the historic boundaries of the West Riding of Yorkshire. Since April 2023, it has been administered by Westmorland and Furness local authority. Th ...
in Cumbria to the North.The genealogical region of Craven
, see map on p.2
The Church was still using these areas in the 16th century.


Norman Conquest

The farmlands were progressively taken from the Anglo-Scandinavian farmers and given by the King to selected Normans. The previous and subsequent landowners were recorded in the ''Domesday Book'' along with the area of the ploughland.


The Domesday Book

The Great ''
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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...
'' of 1086 did not use the later Wapentake district names in this part of England, as it usually did, but instead used the name Craven. The Book included lands further west than any later description: Melling, Wennington and HornbyThe Domesday Book Online, Lancashire
Retrieved November 2010
on the
River Lune The River Lune (archaically sometimes Loyne) is a river in length in Cumbria and Lancashire, England. Etymology Several elucidations for the origin of the name ''Lune'' exist. Firstly, it may be that the name is Brittonic languages, Brittonic ...
in Lonsdale and even Holker near
Grange over Sands Grange-over-Sands is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish on the north side of Morecambe Bay in Cumbria, England, a few miles south of the Lake District Lake District National Park, National Park. In the United Kingdom Census 201 ...
in
Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...
. The historic northwestern boundary of Craven is much disputed. One faction declares that before the Norman Conquest the North of England from coast to coast was administered from
York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...
and named The Kingdom of York. By 1086 the Normans had designated only one
county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...
in the North of England and that was Yorkshire. One may assume thereby that the Norman Yorkshire of 1086 was much the same as the Kingdom of York of 1065; and the Domesday Book supports this. However the opposing faction proposes that the first Yorkshire was smaller, much as it was up till 1974, and that Amounderness, Cartmel, Furness, Kendale, Copeland and Lonsdale were attached to it in the Domesday Book merely for administrative convenience. Also the ''Domesday Book'' does not describe the width of Craven at all, for only
arable land Arable land (from the , "able to be ploughed") is any land capable of being ploughed and used to grow crops.''Oxford English Dictionary'', "arable, ''adj''. and ''n.''" Oxford University Press (Oxford), 2013. Alternatively, for the purposes of a ...
was noted. Ploughing is a minor part of Craven agriculture, and cultivators then had been reduced by the
Harrying of the North The Harrying of the North was a series of military campaigns waged by William the Conqueror in the winter of 1069–1070 to subjugate Northern England, where the presence of the last House of Wessex, Wessex claimant, Edgar Ætheling, had encour ...
. Most of Craven is uncultivable moorland and the valley bottoms are usually boggy, shady frost-hollows, with soils of glacial boulder clay very heavy to plough. So ploughing was limited to well-drained moderate slopes. The higher slopes are so full of rock debris that grazing cattle still is the primary living in Craven, with some sheep marginal.R Hindley, the History of Oxenhope, pub 1996
Retrieved November 2010.
Because grazing land was not tallied in the ''Domesday Book'' the full areas of the estates of the manors can only be induced The areas of ploughland were counted in
carucate The carucate or carrucate ( or ) was a medieval unit of land area approximating the land a plough team of eight oxen could till in a single annual season. It was known by different regional names and fell under different forms of tax assessment. ...
s and
oxgang An oxgang or bovate (; ; ; ) is an old land measurement formerly used in Scotland and England as early as the 16th century sometimes referred to as an oxgait. It averaged around 20 English acres, but was based on land fertility and cultivation, a ...
s: one carrucate being eight oxgangs and one oxgang varying from fifteen to twenty acres. This vagueness comes from an oxgang signifying the land one ox could plough and that varied with the heaviness of the local soil. A carucate was the area that could be managed with team of eight oxen. In 1086
Roger of Poitou Roger the Poitevin or Roger de Poitou (mid-1060s – before 1140) was an Anglo-Norman aristocrat possessing large holdings both in England and through his marriage in France during the early 12th century. He was the third son of Roger of Montg ...
was
Tenant-in-chief In medieval and early modern Europe, a tenant-in-chief (or vassal-in-chief) was a person who held his lands under various forms of feudal land tenure directly from the king or territorial prince to whom he did homage, as opposed to holding them ...
of the western side of Craven: Ribblesdale and the Pendle valley. In 1092 he was granted also Lonsdale to defend
Morecambe Bay Morecambe Bay is an estuary in north-west England, just to the south of the Lake District National Park. It is the largest expanse of intertidal mudflats and sand in the United Kingdom, covering a total area of . In 1974, the second largest ga ...
against
Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...
raiding parties. Soon after
Henry I of England Henry I ( – 1 December 1135), also known as Henry Beauclerc, was King of England from 1100 to his death in 1135. He was the fourth son of William the Conqueror and was educated in Latin and the liberal arts. On William's death in 1087, Henr ...
's succession to the crown in 1100 arose a rebellion of men with a variety of grievances. Several
Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...
lords were involved and suffered confiscation of their estates. In Craven these were
Roger the Poitevin Roger the Poitevin or Roger de Poitou (mid-1060s – before 1140) was an Anglo-Norman aristocrat possessing large holdings both in England and through his marriage in France during the early 12th century. He was the third son of Roger of Montg ...
, Erneis of Burun and Gilbert Tison. The King conducted a reorganization of Yorkshire by establishing men more skilled in government. Shortly after 1102 the castleries in Cravenshire were divided between the House of Romille and the
House of Percy The Percy family is an old English nobility, English noble family. They were among the oldest and most powerful noble families in Northern England for much of the Middle Ages. The noble family is known for its long rivalry with the House of Nev ...
. The King was clearly intent that Cravenshire should retain a compact structure for he added-in estates from his own
demesne A demesne ( ) or domain was all the land retained and managed by a lord of the manor under the feudal system for his own use, occupation, or support. This distinguished it from land subinfeudation, sub-enfeoffed by him to others as sub-tenants. ...
. The result was two partially interwoven castleries incorporating nearly all the land in Craven. The Percy estates were mainly concentrated in
Ribblesdale Ribblesdale is one of the Yorkshire Dales in England. It is the Dale (landform), dale or upper valley of the River Ribble in North Yorkshire. Towns and villages in Ribblesdale (downstream, from north to south) include Selside, North Yorkshire, ...
with their castle at
Gisburn Gisburn (formerly Gisburne) is a village and civil parish within the Ribble Valley borough of Lancashire, England. Historically within the West Riding of Yorkshire, it lies northeast of Clitheroe and west of Skipton. The civil parish had a pop ...
while the Romilles dominated upper
Wharfedale Wharfedale ( ) is one of the Yorkshire Dales. It is situated at source in North Yorkshire and then flows into West Yorkshire and forms the upper valley of the River Wharfe. Towns and villages in Wharfedale (downstream, from west to east) includ ...
and upper
Airedale Airedale is a valley, or Dale (landform), dale, in North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire, England. It is named after the River Aire, which flows through it. The upper valley, from Malham Cove to Airton, is known as Malhamdale, named after the vill ...
with their fortress at
Skipton Castle Skipton Castle is a Grade I Listed medieval castle in Skipton, North Yorkshire, England. It was built in 1090 by Robert de Romille, a Norman baron, and has been preserved for over 931 years. History Skipton Castle was originally a motte a ...
.


14th century

Craven was still suffering from Scottish raiders; for example in 1318 they severely damaged churches as far south as
Kildwick Kildwick, or Kildwick-in-Craven, is a village and civil parish in the county of North Yorkshire, England. It is situated between Skipton and Keighley and had a population of 191 in 2001, rising slightly to 194 at the 2011 census. Kildwick is a ...
. In 1377, in the form of
Poll Tax A poll tax, also known as head tax or capitation, is a tax levied as a fixed sum on every liable individual (typically every adult), without reference to income or resources. ''Poll'' is an archaic term for "head" or "top of the head". The sen ...
records, the earliest surviving detailed statistics of Craven were collected. From them we can compare the income brackets of various occupations, and the relative worth of villages. The records list every hamlet and village using the wapentake system.’’Domesday Book: Yorkshire’’ Ian Morris, ed. Morris, Faull, Stinson – Phillimore, 1992 The
Wapentake A hundred is an administrative division that is geographically part of a larger region. It was formerly used in England, Wales, some parts of the United States, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway, and in Cumberland County in the British Colony of ...
s of
Staincliffe Staincliffe is a cross-over district of both Batley and Dewsbury, in West Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. ...
and
Ewcross The historical area of Ewecross or Ewcross is a district in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. It included the parishes of Bentham, Clapham, Horton in Ribblesdale and Sedbergh and parts of Thornton in Lonsdale. Ewcross was split from the ...
cover Craven but also areas beyond such as Sedbergh to the North. Young King Richard II had commanded that poll tax to pay off the debts he had inherited from the
Hundred Years' War The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a conflict between the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of France, France and a civil war in France during the Late Middle Ages. It emerged from feudal disputes over the Duchy ...
. Its first application in 1377 was a flat rate and the second of 1379 was a sliding scale from 1 groat (4p pence) to 4 marks. However, the third tax of 1381 of 4 groats (1 shilling) and up was applied corruptly and led to the Great Rising of 1381.


16th century

The
Deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residence of ...
of Craven had similar boundaries to the Wapentake of Staincliffe and so included the following areas which are not in the modern secular district of Craven: *A large part of what is now the
City of Bradford Bradford (), also known as the City of Bradford, is a metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. It is named after its largest settlement, Bradford, but covers a larger area which includes the towns and villages of Keighley, Shipley, Wes ...
, namely the parishes
Keighley Keighley ( ) is a market town and a civil parishes in England, civil parish in the City of Bradford Borough of West Yorkshire, England. It is the second-largest settlement in the borough, after Bradford. Keighley is north-west of Bradford, n ...
,
Addingham Addingham (formerly Haddincham , Odingehem 1086)Mills, A. D. (2003). ', Encyclopedia.com is a village and civil parish in the City of Bradford West Yorkshire, in West Yorkshire, England. It is situated near the A65 road, A65, south-east ...
, and the
Silsden Silsden is a town and civil parish in the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, England, on the River Aire and Leeds and Liverpool Canal between Keighley and Skipton, which had a population of 8,390 at the 2021 Census. The parish includes the ham ...
and
Steeton with Eastburn Steeton with Eastburn is a civil parish within the City of Bradford Metropolitan District, West Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it has, according to the 2001 census, a population of 4,277, increasing to 4 ...
parts of the parish of
Kildwick Kildwick, or Kildwick-in-Craven, is a village and civil parish in the county of North Yorkshire, England. It is situated between Skipton and Keighley and had a population of 191 in 2001, rising slightly to 194 at the 2011 census. Kildwick is a ...
. However all of
Bingley Bingley is a market town and civil parish in the metropolitan borough of the City of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. It is sited on the River Aire and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. The town had a population of 18,040 at the United Kingdom ...
and part of
Ilkley Ilkley is a spa town and civil parish in the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, in Northern England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Ilkley civil parish includes the adjacent village of Ben Rhydding and is a ward within ...
, though never part of Staincliffe Wapentake, were within Craven and are also now within Bradford. (They were in the upper division of the Wapentake of Skyrack.) *The northern section of the modern
Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...
District of
Ribble Valley Ribble Valley is a local government district with borough status in Lancashire, England. Its council is based in Clitheroe, the largest town. The borough also includes the town of Longridge and numerous villages and surrounding rural areas. ...
, including
Gisburn Gisburn (formerly Gisburne) is a village and civil parish within the Ribble Valley borough of Lancashire, England. Historically within the West Riding of Yorkshire, it lies northeast of Clitheroe and west of Skipton. The civil parish had a pop ...
in Craven, and the
Bowland Forest The Forest of Bowland, also known as the Bowland Fells and formerly the Chase of Bowland, is an area of gritstone fells, deep valleys and peat moorland, mostly in north-east Lancashire, England, with a small part in North Yorkshire (however ro ...
parishes of
Bolton by Bowland Bolton-by-Bowland is a village and civil parish in the Ribble Valley district of Lancashire, England. Before 1974, the village was part of Bowland Rural District in the West Riding of Yorkshire. According to the census of 2001, the parish ha ...
,
Slaidburn Slaidburn () is a village and civil parish within the Ribble Valley district of Lancashire, England. The parish covers just over 5,000 acres of the Forest of Bowland. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, ...
and
Great Mitton Great Mitton is a village and a civil parish in the Ribble Valley, Lancashire, England. It is separated from the civil parish of Little Mitton by the River Ribble, both lie about three miles from the town of Clitheroe. The combined population ...
, the latter including Waddington, West Bradford, and
Grindleton Grindleton is a village and civil parish in the Ribble Valley district of the English county of Lancashire, traditionally in the West Riding of Yorkshire. Its 3,700 acres sit within the Forest of Bowland. The population of the civil ward taken ...
. ( Sawley, while not technically in the old Deanery, is also in this geographical area.) *The north-eastern section of the modern
Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...
district of Pendle, including
Barnoldswick Barnoldswick (pronounced ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Borough of Pendle, Lancashire, England. It lies within the boundaries of the Historic counties of England, historic West Riding of Yorkshire, West Ri ...
, Bracewell, and the part of the old
parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...
of
Thornton in Craven Thornton-in-Craven is a village and civil parish in the county of North Yorkshire, England. It is approx from the border with Lancashire and north of Earby. Barnoldswick is nearby. The Pennine Way passes through the village, as does the A56 ...
which includes
Earby Earby is a town and civil parish within the Borough of Pendle, Lancashire, England. Although within the boundaries of the Historic counties of England, historic West Riding of Yorkshire, West Riding of Yorkshire, Earby has been administered by ...
and
Kelbrook Kelbrook is a village in the civil parish of Kelbrook and Sough, Borough of Pendle, in Lancashire, England. It lies on the A56 road between Colne and Earby. Historically a part of the now divided old parish of Thornton-in-Craven in the West Ri ...


17th century hearth tax

These valuable records also define the area by wapentakes. This tax was introduced by the government of Charles II at a time of serious fiscal emergency, and collection continued until repealed by William and Mary in 1689. Under its terms each liable householder was to pay one shilling for each hearth within their property, due twice annually at the
equinox A solar equinox is a moment in time when the Sun appears directly above the equator, rather than to its north or south. On the day of the equinox, the Sun appears to rise directly east and set directly west. This occurs twice each year, arou ...
es, Michaelmas (29 September) and Lady Day (25 March). The Yorkshire records of all three ridings are now completely transcribed, analyzed and available free onlineHearth Tax Online, Roehampton University, 2010
Retrieved 24 June 2011


History of agriculture


Sheep

The
hill A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. It often has a distinct summit, and is usually applied to peaks which are above elevation compared to the relative landmass, though not as prominent as Mountain, mountains. Hills ...
s and slopes of Craven are greatly involved in the
history of sheep Sheep are among the first animals to have been domesticated by humans. Their history goes back to between 11,000 and 9,000 BCE, when humans domesticated the wild mouflon in ancient Mesopotamia. The first sheep were primarily raised for meat, mi ...
particularly in the history of wool. After 5000 BC the Neolithic farming movement introduced domesticated sheep, but the
Roman occupation of Britain Roman Britain was the territory that became the Roman province of ''Britannia'' after the Roman conquest of Britain, consisting of a large part of the island of Great Britain. The occupation lasted from AD 43 to AD 410. Julius Caesa ...
introduced advanced
sheep husbandry Sheep farming or sheep husbandry is the raising and breeding of domestic sheep. It is a branch of animal husbandry. Sheep are raised principally for their meat ( lamb and mutton), milk (sheep's milk), and fiber (wool). They also yield sheepskin ...
to Britain and made wool into a national industry. Craven was made accessible by major roads from
Ribchester Ribchester () is a village and civil parish within the Ribble Valley district of Lancashire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Ribble, northwest of Blackburn and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. The village has a long history w ...
up
Ribblesdale Ribblesdale is one of the Yorkshire Dales in England. It is the Dale (landform), dale or upper valley of the River Ribble in North Yorkshire. Towns and villages in Ribblesdale (downstream, from north to south) include Selside, North Yorkshire, ...
and from
York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...
through
Ilkley Ilkley is a spa town and civil parish in the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, in Northern England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Ilkley civil parish includes the adjacent village of Ben Rhydding and is a ward within ...
. The extent of a
Roman villa A Roman villa was typically a farmhouse or country house in the territory of the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, sometimes reaching extravagant proportions. Nevertheless, the term "Roman villa" generally covers buildings with the common ...
farm excavated at Gargrave implies it practiced grazing on nearby moorland. By 1000 AD England and Spain were recognized as the pinnacles of European sheep wool production. About 1200 AD scientific treatises on agricultural estate management began to circulate amongst the Cistercian monasteries in the Yorkshire dales. These indicated the way to greatest profit was to produce wool for export.
Fountains Abbey Fountains Abbey is one of the largest and best preserved ruined Cistercians, Cistercian monasteries in England. It is located approximately south-west of Ripon in North Yorkshire, near the village of Aldfield. Founded in 1132, the abbey operat ...
strongly affected Craven in upper Wharfedale, Airedale and
Littondale Littondale is a Dale (landform), dale in the non-metropolitan county of North Yorkshire, England. It comprises the main settlements of Hawkswick, Arncliffe, North Yorkshire, Arncliffe, Litton, North Yorkshire, Litton, Foxup and Halton Gill, and f ...
. In 1200 the Abbey owned 15,000 sheep in various locations and traded directly with Italian merchants. On the limestone
fells A fell (from Old Norse ''fell'', ''fjall'', "mountain"Falk and Torp (2006:161).) is a high and barren landscape feature, such as a mountain or moor-covered hill. The term is most often employed in Fennoscandia, Iceland, the Isle of Man, parts ...
it held extensive sheep runs managed by granges located at valley heads to access both the moors and the
rough pasture Rough pasture or rough grazing is non-intensive grazing pasture, commonly found on poor soils, especially in hilly areas, throughout the world. In agricultural environment, it is an area outside of a field, a meadow or an area without any or wi ...
of valley sides. Many granges developed into
hamlets A hamlet is a human settlement that is smaller than a town or village. This is often simply an informal description of a smaller settlement or possibly a subdivision or satellite entity to a larger settlement. Sometimes a hamlet is defined f ...
. The Fountains' sheep administrative centre was at Outgang Hill,
Kilnsey Kilnsey is a small village in Wharfedale, North Yorkshire, England. It lies on the B6160 road, between the villages of Grassington and Kettlewell, near Arncliffe and just across the River Wharfe from Conistone. The village is north of Skip ...
. By 1320
Bolton Priory Bolton Priory, whose full title is The Priory Church of St Mary and St Cuthbert, Bolton Abbey, is a Grade I listed building, listed parish church of the Church of England in the village of Bolton Abbey (village), Bolton Abbey, within the Yorkshi ...
's flock at
Malham Malham is a village and civil parish in the county of North Yorkshire, England. In the ''Domesday Book'', the name is given as Malgun, meaning "settlement by the gravelly places". Until 1974 it was part of the Settle Rural District, in the ...
was about 2,750 and it built extensive sheep farm buildings there. Accounts show that a quarter of its cheese was sheep's cheese, and that most of the Priory's came from wool sales. It also developed
fulling Fulling, also known as tucking or walking ( Scots: ''waukin'', hence often spelt waulking in Scottish English), is a step in woollen clothmaking which involves the cleansing of woven cloth (particularly wool) to eliminate ( lanolin) oils, ...
, sorting and grading into industries. Feudal Lords began to imitate monastic management methods for their own estates and in 1350 when the
Black Death The Black Death was a bubonic plague pandemic that occurred in Europe from 1346 to 1353. It was one of the list of epidemics, most fatal pandemics in human history; as many as people perished, perhaps 50% of Europe's 14th century population. ...
killed off half the rent-paying farmers they had the bailiffs substitute sheep-pasture for tillage. The export of wool to the Flanders looms, and the concurrent growth of cloth manufacture in England, aided by
Edward III Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring royal authority after t ...
's importation of Flemish weavers to teach his people the higher skill of the craft, made demand for all the wool that English flocks could supply. As the profitability of wool further increased some landowners converted all arable land into sheep pasture by evicting whole villages. Over 370 deserted medieval villages have been unearthed in Yorkshire.
Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...
in 1539 suppressed the Monasteries and sold Littondale and the Bolton Priory's estates in lower Wharefedale and Airedale to
Henry Clifford, 1st Earl of Cumberland Henry Clifford, 1st Earl of Cumberland (1493 – 22 April 1542) was a member of The Cliffords, the Clifford family which was seated at Skipton Castle, Yorkshire from 1310 to 1676. Origins He was born at Skipton Castle, a son of Henry Clifford ...
and Lord of Skipton. By 1600 the wool trade was the primary source of tax revenue for
Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudor. Her eventful reign, and its effect on history ...
. Britain's success made it a major influence in the development and spread of sheep husbandry worldwide. In more modern times the
Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...
brought factory production of wool cloth to towns further down Airedale and many Craven families, made redundant by agricultural machinery, moved south to work in the
worsted Worsted ( or ) is a high-quality type of wool yarn, the fabric made from this yarn, and a yarn weight category. The name derives from Worstead (from Old English ''Wurðestede'', "enclosure place"), a village in the English county of Norfolk. T ...
mills. However, in 1966 the price of wool fell by 40% due to the increased popularity of
synthetic fibres Synthetic fibers or synthetic fibres (in British English; see spelling differences) are fibers made by humans through chemical synthesis, as opposed to natural fibers that are directly derived from living organisms, such as plants like cotton or ...
. Farmers complain it now costs more to shear a sheep than you can get for its wool and the result is reduced flocks. Although the tough wool of hill sheep is still used for carpet weaving, sheep breeding is now mostly for lambs to sell on for fattening for meat in low pastures.


Forestry

The small surviving areas of ancient woodland in the area have high
biodiversity Biodiversity is the variability of life, life on Earth. It can be measured on various levels. There is for example genetic variability, species diversity, ecosystem diversity and Phylogenetics, phylogenetic diversity. Diversity is not distribut ...
value. However, the
Pennines The Pennines (), also known as the Pennine Chain or Pennine Hills, are a range of highland, uplands mainly located in Northern England. Commonly described as the "Vertebral column, backbone of England" because of its length and position, the ra ...
are now notably lacking in trees despite archaeological evidence showing 90% was woodlands before human settlement.
Palynology Palynology is the study of microorganisms and microscopic fragments of mega-organisms that are composed of acid-resistant organic material and occur in sediments, sedimentary rocks, and even some metasedimentary rocks. Palynomorphs are the mic ...
indicates the decline in trees coincided with the increase in grasses in
Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...
times caused by direct clearance for pasture and by
overgrazing Overgrazing occurs when plants are exposed to intensive grazing for extended periods of time, or without sufficient recovery periods. It can be caused by either livestock in poorly managed agricultural applications, game reserves, or nature ...
. Since sheep are grazers, not
browsers Browse, browser, or browsing may refer to: Computing *Browser service, a feature of Microsoft Windows to browse shared network resources *Code browser, a program for navigating source code *File browser or file manager, a program used to manage f ...
, they do not affect mature trees, but they devour all their seedlings. With a much narrower face than cattle, they crop plants very close to the ground and with continuous grazing can overgraze land rapidly. Ancient
Common Common may refer to: As an Irish surname, it is anglicised from Irish Gaelic surname Ó Comáin. Places * Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland * Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts * Cambridge Com ...
Grazing rights Grazing rights is the right of a user to allow their livestock to feed (graze) in a given area. United States Grazing rights have never been codified in United States law, because such common-law rights derive from the English concept of the ...
made it impossible to grow trees, even for fuel, because
coppicing Coppicing is the traditional method in woodland management of cutting down a tree to a tree stump, stump, which in many species encourages new Shoot (botany), shoots to grow from the stump or roots, thus ultimately regrowing the tree. A forest ...
requires enclosure to protect regrowth from sheep, and the rights deny enclosure. From 2002 to 2008, a Yorkshire Dales National Park programme encouraged sheep farmers to switch uplands livestock from sheep to cattle since they do not graze so intensively. Traditional breeds such as Blue Greys and Belted Galloways can survive the harsh winters and live off the rough grasses just as well a sheep.Limestone Country Project
Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority. Retrieved 18 June 2013
Until December 2013, The National Park Farming and Forestry Improvement Scheme is offering grants to help farming, forestry and horticultural businesses become more efficient, more profitable and resilient whilst reducing the impact of farming on the environment.Farming and Forestry Improvement Scheme
Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority. Retrieved 18 June 2013
Since 1968, some moorland has been
reforested Reforestation is the practice of restoring previously existing forests and woodlands that have been destroyed or damaged. The prior forest destruction might have happened through deforestation, clearcutting or wildfires. Three important purpose ...
by the
Forestry Commission The Forestry Commission is a non-ministerial government department responsible for the management of publicly owned forests and the regulation of both public and private forestry in England. The Forestry Commission was previously also respons ...
. Since 2005, the collection of
indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology) In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often populari ...
seeds and propagation produced saplings for planting schemes that began in 2010. Between 2007 and 2013 The Dales Woodland Restoration Programme funded the creation of 450 hectares of new native woodland, almost all on privately owned land.Trees and Woodlands
Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority. Retrieved 18 June 2013


Cattle

In the 16th and 17th centuries Longhorn cattle prevailed in Craven. Good quality bulls were bought communally to improve the livestock on the
common land Common land is collective land (sometimes only open to those whose nation governs the land) in which all persons have certain common rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect wood, or to cut turf for fuel. A person ...
beside each village. In the 18th century they
crossbred A crossbreed is an organism with purebred parents of two different breeds, varieties, or populations. A domestic animal of unknown ancestry, where the breed status of only one parent or grandparent is known, may also be called a crossbreed though ...
with
Shorthorn The Shorthorn breed of cattle originated in the North East of England in the late eighteenth century. The breed was developed as dual-purpose, suitable for both dairy and beef production; however, certain blood lines within the breed always em ...
s; fully grown crossbreeds weighed to . Some graziers of the Craven highlands also visited
Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
, for example
Oban Oban ( ; meaning ''The Little Bay'') is a resort town within the Argyll and Bute council area of Scotland. Despite its small size, it is the largest town between Helensburgh and Fort William, Highland, Fort William. During the tourist seaso ...
,
Lanark Lanark ( ; ; ) is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, located 20 kilometres to the south-east of Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Hamilton. The town lies on the River Clyde, at its confluence with Mouse Water. In 2016, the town had a populatio ...
and
Stirling Stirling (; ; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Central Belt, central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town#Scotland, market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the roya ...
, to purchase stock to be brought down the
drove road A drovers' road, drove road, droveway, or simply a drove, is a route for droving livestock on foot from one place to another, such as to market or between summer and winter pasture (see transhumance). Many drovers' roads were ancient routes of ...
s to the cattle-rearing district. In the summer of 1745 the celebrated Mr Birtwhistle had 20,000 head driven from the northernmost parts of Scotland to Great Close near
Malham Malham is a village and civil parish in the county of North Yorkshire, England. In the ''Domesday Book'', the name is given as Malgun, meaning "settlement by the gravelly places". Until 1974 it was part of the Settle Rural District, in the ...
, a distance of ca . In 1818 the
Craven Heifer Craven Heifer (1807–1812) was a cow which lived in the early 19th century, and remains the largest cow ever shown in England. Craven Heifer had a weight of 4,370 lbs, a length of 11.3 ft, a height of 5.3 ft, and a thickest girth of 10.1 ft. ...
, bred for meat on the
Bolton Abbey Bolton Abbey Estate in Wharfedale, North Yorkshire, England, takes its name from a 12th-century Augustinian monastery of canons regular, now known as Bolton Priory. The priory, which was closed in the 1539 Dissolution of the Monasterie ...
estate remains to this day the largest and fattest cow of her age ever shown in England, weighing . In modern times dairy farming has predominated and after the 1970s
Holstein Holstein (; ; ; ; ) is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider (river), Eider. It is the southern half of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost States of Germany, state of Germany. Holstein once existed as the German County of Holstein (; 8 ...
Friesians became the most popular breed weighing ca 1600 pounds (725 kg).


Crops

Pollen analysis shows that the peak of arable agriculture in Craven was 320–410 AD, but outbreaks of pestilence in the 6th century and in the 7–8th century resulted in a shift away from ploughing to grazing. However, the ''
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle The ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' is a collection of annals in Old English, chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the ''Chronicle'' was created late in the ninth century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of ...
'' records the Danish Viking settlers "were engaged in ploughing and making a living for themselves." Cultivation lynchet terraces and ridge-and-furrow fields of the Middle Ages are visible alongside many villages particularly in Wharfedale and Malhamdale and tithe records show they grew crops of
oat The oat (''Avena sativa''), sometimes called the common oat, is a species of cereal grain grown for its seed, which is known by the same name (usually in the plural). Oats appear to have been domesticated as a secondary crop, as their seeds ...
s, barley and wheat Life and Tradition in the Yorkshire Dales and in rotation, beans and peas. However, the wool boom of the 16th century caused most arable land to be turned into pasture. In the 18th century miller's records show they had to import wheat to grind and sell as flour but the farmers still grew oats for it formed the principle article of their subsistence, some made into bread and puddingsWhitaker's History of Craven
pdf. Skipton Castle Co UK. Retrieved 12 June 2013
but mostly cooked as
oatcake An oatcake is a type of flatbread similar to a cracker or biscuit, or in some versions takes the form of a pancake. They are prepared with oatmeal as the primary ingredient, and sometimes include plain or wholemeal flour as well. Oatcakes a ...
s.


Administration

In the 18th century the national
Board of Agriculture The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) was a United Kingdom government department created by the Board of Agriculture Act 1889 ( 52 & 53 Vict. c. 30) and at that time called the Board of Agriculture, and then from 1903 the Boar ...
commissioned a survey of agriculture in the region, with a view of improving it. It was published in 1793 as ''General view of the Agriculture of the West Riding of Yorkshire'', a 140-page book detailing every factor. The wide variety of soil composition resulted in
tithes A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Modern tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash, cheques or via onli ...
ranging from 6 shillings up to 3 pounds per acre and farms leasing from 50 to 500 pounds per year. It details by parish quantities of cattle and crop produced, their
rotation Rotation or rotational/rotary motion is the circular movement of an object around a central line, known as an ''axis of rotation''. A plane figure can rotate in either a clockwise or counterclockwise sense around a perpendicular axis intersect ...
and market value. The report recommended more wheat and turnips; more sheep and of better breed; criticized poor drainage and design of farm buildings and taught principles of farm management. Average wages then paid to employees were 12 pounds per annum with
victuals Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin and contains essential nutrients such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is inges ...
and drink; and to temporary labourers 2 shillings and sixpence per day with beer. Hours of work in winter were "dawn till dark" and in harvest time "six till six, with one hour for dinner and another for drinking". The author shows concern for their virtue and welfare.


Government


Parliamentary constituency

Since 1983 Craven has been in the
Parliamentary In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
constituency An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...
of Skipton & Ripon. This constituency is considered one of the safest seats in England with a long history of Conservative representation. The Member of Parliament (MP) was: John Watson 1983 to 1987;
David Curry David Maurice Curry (born 13 June 1944) is a British Conservative Party politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Skipton and Ripon from 1987 to 2010. Early life Curry, the son of teachers, was educated at the Ripon Grammar Scho ...
1987 to 2010; Julian Smith since 2010.


Previous local authorities

In July 2021 the
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for housing, communities, and local government in England. It was established in May 2006 ...
announced that in April 2023, the non-metropolitan county of North Yorkshire would be reorganised into a
unitary authority A unitary authority is a type of local government, local authority in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Unitary authorities are responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are ...
. Craven District Council, the other district councils and North Yorkshire County Council were abolished on 1 April 2023 and their functions were transferred to a new single authority for the non-metropolitan county of North Yorkshire.


Former County Council

North Yorkshire County Council North Yorkshire Council, known between 1974 and 2023 as North Yorkshire County Council, is the Local government in England, local authority for the non-metropolitan county of North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire, England. Since 2023 the ...
administered an area of , the largest
county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...
in England. It was a non-metropolitan county that operated a
cabinet-style council In England, local authorities are required to adopt one of three types of executive arrangements, having an "elected mayor and cabinet", a "leader and cabinet", or a "committee system". The type of arrangement used determines how decisions will b ...
in
Northallerton Northallerton ( ) is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the River Wiske in the Vale of Mowbray and had a population of 16,832 in 2011. Northallerton is an administrative centre for York and North Yorkshire ...
. The 72 councillors therein elected a council leader who appointed up to 9 councillors to form an executive cabinet. NYCC Elections – 2017 results


District divisions

Craven, for representation on North Yorkshire County Council, was divided into seven
divisions Division may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication * Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military *Division (military), a formation typically consisting of 10,000 t ...
and each returned one
councillor A councillor, alternatively councilman, councilwoman, councilperson, or council member, is someone who sits on, votes in, or is a member of, a council. This is typically an elected representative of an electoral district in a municipal or re ...
. # Airedale # Mid-Craven # North Craven # Ribblesdale # Skipton East # Skipton West # South Craven


Former District Council

Elections to Craven District Council were held in three out of every four years, with one third of the 30 seats on the council being elected at each election. Since the first election to the council in 1973 the council had alternated between periods when no party had overall control and times when the
Conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilizati ...
had a majority, apart from a 2-year period between 1996 and the 1998 election when the Liberal Democrats had a majority. After no party had a majority since 2001, the Conservatives regained overall control at the 2010 election and held it until abolition in 2023.


District council wards

There were 76 Civil Parishes in Craven. They were grouped into 19 wards. The Wards were represented by 30 councillors; eight wards by one councillor and eleven by two councillors.. The wards were: # Aire Valley with Lothersdale Ward : Parishes of Bradleys Both, Cononley, Farnhill, Kildwick, Lothersdale (two councillors) # Barden Fell Ward : Parishes of Appletreewick, Barden, Beamsley, Bolton Abbey, Bordley, Burnsall, Cracoe, Draughton, Hazlewood-with-Storiths, Halton East, Hetton, Rylstone, Thorpe. # Bentham Ward : Parishes of Bentham and Burton-in-Lonsdale (two councillors) # Cowling Ward : Parish of Cowling. # Embsay with Eastby Ward : Parish of Embsay with Eastby. # Gargrave and Malhamdale Ward : Parishes of Airton, Bank Newton, Calton, Coniston Cold, Eshton, Flasby-with-Winterburn, Gargrave, Hanlith, Kirkby Malham, Malham, Malham Moor, Otterburn, Scosthrop, Stirton-with-Thorlby (two councillors) # Glusburn Ward : Parish of Glusburn and Cross Hills (two councillors) # Grassington Ward : Parishes of Grassington, Hebden, Hartlington, Linton. # Hellifield and Long Preston Ward : Parishes of Hellifield, Long Preston, Nappa, Swinden. # Ingleton and Clapham Ward : Parishes of Austwick, Clapham-cum-Newby, Ingleton, Lawkland, Thornton-in-Lonsdale. (two councillors) # Penyghent Ward : Parishes of Giggleswick, Horton-in-Ribblesdale, Stainforth. # Settle and Ribble Banks Ward : Parishes of Halton West, Langcliffe, Rathmell, Settle, Wigglesworth (two councillors) # Skipton East Ward : Parish of Skipton (two councillors) # Skipton North Ward : Parish of Skipton (two councillors) # Skipton South Ward : Parish of Skipton (two councillors) # Skipton West Ward : Parish of Skipton (two councillors) # Sutton-in-Craven Ward : Parish of Sutton-in-Craven (two councillors) # Upper Wharfedale Ward : Parishes of Arncliffe, Buckden, Conistone-with-Kilnsey, Halton Gill, Hawkswick, Kettlewell-with-Starbotton, Linton, Threshfield. # West Craven Ward : Parishes of Broughton, Carleton, Elslack, Martons Both, Thornton-in-Craven.


Allied organisations

Craven District Council allied with other organizations: * ''North Yorkshire County'' was a two tier local authority area, with NYCC being the top and Craven District Council the bottom tier. Whilst CDC was responsible for providing some services NYCC was responsible for others. * ''The Leeds City Region'' is the economic area comprising Craven, Harrogate, York, Bradford, Leeds, Selby, Calderdale, Kirklees, Wakefield and Barnsley. LCR members work together in fields such as transport, housing and spatial planning. * ''North Yorkshire Strategic Partnership'' is a partnership of public sector, private sector and voluntary organizations in Craven working together to meet the needs of the communities. * ''North Yorkshire Children's Trust'', part of the NYSP, represents all those agencies that working with children and young people across the county. NYCT promotes the five national Every Child Matters outcomes for children. * ''York and North Yorkshire Cultural Partnership'' brings together a number of Yorkshire agencies that bring the benefits of culture to quality of life and economic regeneration. This partnership is working together to deliver the York and North Yorkshire Cultural Strategy 2009–2014. * ''Welcome to Yorkshire'' works to improves what the region has to offer tourists.


Other Cravens


West Craven

In the 1974 government reorganization of the shire districts, some towns were lost to Lancashire, but because of cultural history some of them, all now part of the
borough of Pendle Pendle is a local government district with borough status in Lancashire, England. The council is based in Nelson, the borough's largest town. The borough also includes the towns of Barnoldswick, Brierfield, Colne and Earby along with the sur ...
, came to be known as
West Craven West Craven is an area in the east of Lancashire, England in the far northern part of the borough of Pendle. Historically the area was within the ancient county boundaries of Yorkshire and was administered as part of the Skipton Rural District ...
:
Barnoldswick Barnoldswick (pronounced ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Borough of Pendle, Lancashire, England. It lies within the boundaries of the Historic counties of England, historic West Riding of Yorkshire, West Ri ...
,
Earby Earby is a town and civil parish within the Borough of Pendle, Lancashire, England. Although within the boundaries of the Historic counties of England, historic West Riding of Yorkshire, West Riding of Yorkshire, Earby has been administered by ...
,
Sough A sough (pronounced /saʊ/ or /sʌf/) is an underground channel for draining water. It can be for draining mines; where the mine sump is lower than the outlet, water must be pumped up to the sough. It can also drain sloping farmland: these ar ...
,
Kelbrook Kelbrook is a village in the civil parish of Kelbrook and Sough, Borough of Pendle, in Lancashire, England. It lies on the A56 road between Colne and Earby. Historically a part of the now divided old parish of Thornton-in-Craven in the West Ri ...
,
Salterforth Salterforth is a village and civil parish within the Borough of Pendle in Lancashire, England. The population of the Civil Parish at the 2011 census was 637. It lies on the B6383 road that connects Barnoldswick to the A56 road at Kelbrook. T ...
and
Bracewell and Brogden Bracewell and Brogden is a former civil parish, now in the parish of Barnoldswick, in the West Craven area of the Borough of Pendle in Lancashire, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 238, increasing slightly to 244 at ...
. (Other more westerly parts of Craven that became parts of
Ribble Valley Ribble Valley is a local government district with borough status in Lancashire, England. Its council is based in Clitheroe, the largest town. The borough also includes the town of Longridge and numerous villages and surrounding rural areas. ...
in modern Lancashire, such as
Gisburn Gisburn (formerly Gisburne) is a village and civil parish within the Ribble Valley borough of Lancashire, England. Historically within the West Riding of Yorkshire, it lies northeast of Clitheroe and west of Skipton. The civil parish had a pop ...
, are not normally referred to as part of West Craven.)


Archdeaconery of Craven

The Anglican Church Archdeanery number 542 is named Craven and has four Deaneries: Ewecross, Bowland, Skipton and South Craven. Ecclesiastic Craven is much larger than the civic District of Craven; in particular northern Ewecross is in
Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...
county, lower South Craven is in
West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...
, and south-west Bowland is in
Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...
county. The Church of England has considered changing their boundary of Bowland to match that of civic Lancashire


Deanery of South Craven

The
Deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residence of ...
of South Craven is much bigger than the council election division of South Craven, as the Deanery of South Craven comprises the following parishes: Cononley, Cowling, Cross Roads cum Lees, Cullingworth, Denholme, East Morton, Harden, Haworth, Ingrow, Keighley (St Andrews), Kildwick, Newsholme, Oakworth, Oxenhope, Riddlesden, Silsden, Steeton with Eastburn, Sutton-in-Craven, Thwaites Brow, Utley and Wilsden. The Civic boundaries also contrast in that only Bradley, Cowling, Kildwick and Sutton-in-Craven are in North Yorkshire; the other 16 are in West Yorkshire.


South Craven and Wharfedale

South Craven is in the Archdeaconery of Bradford, and on 1 January 2017
The Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglican tradition, with foundational doctrines being contained in the '' Thirty-nine Articles'' and ''Th ...
put into effect a redrawing of the
map A map is a symbolic depiction of interrelationships, commonly spatial, between things within a space. A map may be annotated with text and graphics. Like any graphic, a map may be fixed to paper or other durable media, or may be displayed on ...
of its subdivisions of the Bradford Episcopal Area by geographic re-grouping This
geographic Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...
departmentalization Departmentalization (or departmentalisation) refers to the process of "grouping the organizational activities and structure into departments". Division of labour creates Expert, specialists who need :wikt:coordination, coordination and the coordi ...
into four new deaneries is an effective
mind map A mind map is a diagram used to visually organize information into a hierarchy, showing relationships among pieces of the whole. It is often based on a single concept, drawn as an image in the center of a blank page, to which associated represe ...
, whereby South Craven is now grouped by
regional geography Regional geography is one of the major traditions of geography. It focuses on the interaction of different cultural and natural geofactors in a specific land or landscape, while its counterpart, systematic geography, concentrates on a specific geo ...
with similar parishes so they can work together more effectively.
West Yorkshire Dales Anglican News Retrieved 6 May 2017
Whereas South Craven was previously grouped with "Ilkley and Keighley" it is now adjoined to
Wharfedale Wharfedale ( ) is one of the Yorkshire Dales. It is situated at source in North Yorkshire and then flows into West Yorkshire and forms the upper valley of the River Wharfe. Towns and villages in Wharfedale (downstream, from west to east) includ ...
as South Craven and Wharfedale. The Deanery of South Craven and Wharfedale now includes:
Addingham Addingham (formerly Haddincham , Odingehem 1086)Mills, A. D. (2003). ', Encyclopedia.com is a village and civil parish in the City of Bradford West Yorkshire, in West Yorkshire, England. It is situated near the A65 road, A65, south-east ...
; St John
Ben Rhydding Ben Rhydding is a village in the City of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. It is part of the Ilkley urban area and civil parish. The village is situated on a north-facing valley side beneath the Cow and Calf rocks and above and to the south ...
;
Burley Woodhead Burley Woodhead is a hamlet in the City of Bradford, in West Yorkshire, England. The hamlet is to the south-west of Burley in Wharfedale and is approximately from the spa town of Ilkley. Burley Woodhead comprises chiefly of a small cluster ...
; St John the Evangelist,
Cononley Cononley ( or ) is a village and civil parish in the county of North Yorkshire, England. Cononley is in the Airedale, Aire Valley south of Skipton and with an estimated population of 1,080 (2001 est.), measured at 1,172 at the United Kingdom ...
with
Bradley Bradley may refer to: People * Bradley (given name) * Bradley (surname) Places In the United Kingdom In England: * Bradley, Cheshire * Bradley, Derbyshire * Bradley (house), a manor in Kingsteignton, Devon * Bradley, Gloucestershire * ...
;
Cowling A cowling (or cowl) is the removable covering of a vehicle's engine, most often found on automobiles, motorcycles, airplanes, and on outboard boat motors. On airplanes, cowlings are used to reduce drag and to cool the engine. On boats, cowlings ...
;
Ilkley Ilkley is a spa town and civil parish in the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, in Northern England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Ilkley civil parish includes the adjacent village of Ben Rhydding and is a ward within ...
All Saints; St Margaret Ilkley;
Kildwick Kildwick, or Kildwick-in-Craven, is a village and civil parish in the county of North Yorkshire, England. It is situated between Skipton and Keighley and had a population of 191 in 2001, rising slightly to 194 at the 2011 census. Kildwick is a ...
; Christ Church
Lothersdale Lothersdale is a small village and civil parish in the county of North Yorkshire, England, near Skipton and within the triangle formed by Skipton, Cross Hills and Colne. It is a small community of about 200 houses but local amenities include a p ...
; St John the Divine,
Menston Menston is a village and civil parish in the City of Bradford in the county of West Yorkshire, England. Along with Burley in Wharfedale, most of Menston is within Wharfedale Ward in the metropolitan borough of Bradford. The remainder of Me ...
; St James
Silsden Silsden is a town and civil parish in the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, England, on the River Aire and Leeds and Liverpool Canal between Keighley and Skipton, which had a population of 8,390 at the 2021 Census. The parish includes the ham ...
; and St Thomas
Sutton-in-Craven Sutton-in-Craven is a village, Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom, electoral ward and (as just Sutton) a civil parish in the county of North Yorkshire, England that is situated in the River Aire, Aire Valley between Skipton an ...
.


Towns

The largest town in Craven is
Skipton Skipton (also known as Skipton-in-Craven) is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. Historically in the East Division of Staincliffe Wapentake in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is on the River Aire and the Leeds ...
. Other major population centres in the region include
High Bentham Bentham is a civil parishes in England, civil parish in North Yorkshire, England, with a population of 3,027 at the 2011 Census. The parish includes the town High Bentham, occasionally known as Higher Bentham or just Bentham, and the older ad ...
,
Settle Settle or SETTLE may refer to: __NOTOC__ Places * Settle, Kentucky, United States, an unincorporated community * Settle, North Yorkshire, a town in England ** Settle Rural District, a historical administrative district Music * Settle (band), an in ...
,
Grassington Grassington is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. The population of the parish at the 2011 Census was 1,126. The village is situated in Wharfedale, about north-west from Bolton Abbey, and is surrou ...
. The expanded villages of
Sutton-in-Craven Sutton-in-Craven is a village, Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom, electoral ward and (as just Sutton) a civil parish in the county of North Yorkshire, England that is situated in the River Aire, Aire Valley between Skipton an ...
,
Cross Hills Cross Hills is a village in the county of North Yorkshire, England, situated halfway between Skipton and Keighley. The village is at the centre of a built-up area that includes the adjoining settlements of Glusburn, Kildwick, Eastburn, West Yo ...
and
Glusburn Glusburn is a village and electoral ward in the county of North Yorkshire, England. The village is situated on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales, sits on the A6068 Kildwick to Hapton road, and is conjoined to the village of Sutton-in-Craven at ...
are now considered one urban conglomerate.


Geography

Craven comprises the upper reaches of
Airedale Airedale is a valley, or Dale (landform), dale, in North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire, England. It is named after the River Aire, which flows through it. The upper valley, from Malham Cove to Airton, is known as Malhamdale, named after the vill ...
,
Wharfedale Wharfedale ( ) is one of the Yorkshire Dales. It is situated at source in North Yorkshire and then flows into West Yorkshire and forms the upper valley of the River Wharfe. Towns and villages in Wharfedale (downstream, from west to east) includ ...
,
Ribblesdale Ribblesdale is one of the Yorkshire Dales in England. It is the Dale (landform), dale or upper valley of the River Ribble in North Yorkshire. Towns and villages in Ribblesdale (downstream, from north to south) include Selside, North Yorkshire, ...
and the river
Wenning Wenning is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Brian Wenning (born 1981), American skateboarder * Gregor Wenning (born 1964), German neurologist * Keith Wenning (born 1991), American football player * Michael Wenning (1935–2011) ...
of Lonsdale.


Topography

Craven is a group of valleys. Through Craven the
River Aire The River Aire is a major river in Yorkshire, England, in length. Part of the river below Leeds is canalised, and is known as the Aire and Calder Navigation. The ''Handbook for Leeds and Airedale'' (1890) notes that the distance from Malha ...
and River Wharfe flow east to the
North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...
; and the
River Ribble The River Ribble runs through North Yorkshire and Lancashire in Northern England. It starts close to the Ribblehead Viaduct in North Yorkshire, and is one of the few that start in the Yorkshire Dales and flow westwards towards the Irish Sea (t ...
and
River Wenning The River Wenning is a tributary of the River Lune, flowing through North Yorkshire and Lancashire. The name derives from the Old English ''Wann'', meaning ''dark river''. The Wenning is formed from the confluence of Clapham Beck, which rises ...
flow west to the
Irish Sea The Irish Sea is a body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel and to the Inner Seas off the West Coast of Scotland in the north by the North Ch ...
. To Craven's north stand
limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...
mountains of up to
above mean sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...
and to its south lie bleak
sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...
moors, that above grow little but bracken.page 4
an
page 5
Marginal Upland Grazing Sutton Moor, Domesday Reloaded, BBC 1986
Transport Transport (in British English) or transportation (in American English) is the intentional Motion, movement of humans, animals, and cargo, goods from one location to another. Mode of transport, Modes of transport include aviation, air, land tr ...
can find the
Pennines The Pennines (), also known as the Pennine Chain or Pennine Hills, are a range of highland, uplands mainly located in Northern England. Commonly described as the "Vertebral column, backbone of England" because of its length and position, the ra ...
a formidable barrier for roads can be blocked by snow for several days. However, Craven makes a sheltered passageway with low passes.


Natural vegetation

At the end of the last
ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages, and g ...
, ca 11,500 years ago, plants returned to the bare earth and archaeological
palynology Palynology is the study of microorganisms and microscopic fragments of mega-organisms that are composed of acid-resistant organic material and occur in sediments, sedimentary rocks, and even some metasedimentary rocks. Palynomorphs are the mic ...
can identify their species. The first trees to colonize were willow, birch and juniper, followed later by alder and pine. By 6500 BC temperatures were warmer and woodlands covered 90% of the dales with mostly pine, elm, lime and oak. On the limestone soils the oak was slower to colonize and pine and birch predominated. Around 3000 BC a noticeable decline in tree pollen indicates that Neolithic farmers were clearing woodland to increase grazing for domestic livestock, and studies at Linton Mires and Eshton Tarn find an increase in grassland species in Craven. On poorly drained impermeable areas of millstone grit, shale or clays the topsoil gets waterlogged in Winter and Spring. Here tree suppression combined with the heavier rainfall results in
blanket bog Blanket bog or blanket mire, also known as featherbed bog, is an area of peatland, forming where there is a climate of high rainfall and a low level of evapotranspiration, allowing peat to develop not only in wet hollows but over large expanses ...
up to thick. The erosion of peat ca 2010 still exposes stumps of ancient trees. Vegetation in the Pennines is adapted to subarctic climates, but altitude and acidity are also factors. For example, on
Sutton Sutton (''south settlement'' or ''south town'' in Old English) may refer to: Places United Kingdom England In alphabetical order by county: * Sutton, Bedfordshire * Sutton, Berkshire, a List of United Kingdom locations: Stu-Sz#Su, location * S ...
Moor the millstone grit's topsoil below has a
soil ph Soil pH is a measure of the acidity or basicity (alkalinity) of a soil. Soil pH is a key characteristic that can be used to make informative analysis both qualitative and quantitatively regarding soil characteristics. pH is defined as the neg ...
that is almost neutral, ph 6 to 7, and so grows good grazing. However, above it is acidic, ph 2 to 4, and so can grow only
bracken Bracken (''Pteridium'') is a genus of large, coarse ferns in the family (biology), family Dennstaedtiaceae. Ferns (Pteridophyta) are vascular plants that undergo alternation of generations, having both large plants that produce spores and small ...
, heather,
sphagnum ''Sphagnum'' is a genus of approximately 380 accepted species of mosses, commonly known as sphagnum moss, also bog moss and quacker moss (although that term is also sometimes used for peat). Accumulations of ''Sphagnum'' can store water, since ...
, and coarse grasses such as
cottongrass ''Eriophorum'' (cottongrass, cotton-grass or cottonsedge) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cyperaceae, the sedge family. They are found in the cool temperate, alpine, and Arctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere, primarily in the mi ...
,
purple moor grass ''Molinia caerulea'', known by the common name purple moor-grass, is a species of grass that is native to Europe, west Asia, and north Africa. It grows in locations from the lowlands up to in the Alps. Like most grasses, it grows best in acid s ...
and heath rush. However dressing it with lime produces better quality grass for sheep grazing. Such is named
marginal Marginal may refer to: * Marginal (album), ''Marginal'' (album), the third album of the Belgian rock band Dead Man Ray, released in 2001 * Marginal (manga), ''Marginal'' (manga) * ''El Marginal'', Argentine TV series * Marginal seat or marginal c ...
upland grazing. This suggests that early
pastoral farming Animal husbandry is the branch of agriculture concerned with animals that are raised for meat, fibre, milk, or other products. It includes day-to-day care, management, production, nutrition, selective breeding, and the raising of livestock. ...
on millstone grit soil flourished in areas where lime was most easily available.


Demography

* The population is increasing and growing older. By 2020 Craven's population is projected at 63,400, an increase of 14.2% (2006 based sub-national population projections ONS) * 95.6% of the Districts population is white British, with ethnic minority (BME) groups making up 4.4% (Mid Year 2006 Population Estimates, Experimental Statistics ONS). * Young people aged 19 and under make up 22% of the population, those aged 20 to 64 make up 56%, and those aged 65 and over 22% (Mid Year 2008 Population Estimates, ONS) * 17.23% of the population consider themselves to have a long-term limiting illness or disability (2001 Census Statistics ONS).


Economy

Economic forecasts for 2010 show that the Craven District's diverse economy, measured in Gross Value Added (GVA), is worth £1.14 billion ($1.87 billion) Since 1998 the value of the District's economy has grown by 45%. Craven hosts a variety of small businesses – 72% employ less than four people. Businesses that employ above 50 employees (2.2%) are mostly in the south of the District. * The visitor economy sector has the largest number of businesses. * The banking, finance and insurance sector has experienced significant growth since 2003 mainly through the Skipton Building Society group. * Agriculture and land-based industries form a significant part of the District's economy, particularly within the remoter areas. * Manufacturing has declined since 2003 but is still a key sector: Major manufacturers are Systagenix Wound Management.


Traditional mainstays


Agriculture

The business of agriculture revolves around the
market towns A market town is a Human settlement, settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular marketplace, market; this distinguished it from a village or ...
of Craven: AHDB, the national Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board, The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board issues regional reports with constant updates on agricultural output: * CATTLE: For example, at Skipton Auction Mart on one day 108 cattle were sold including 55 prime steers, 53 heifers, 2 young bulls and 21 older heifers (July 2011). In June 2013 the top price by weight was 185.5p/kg for two Aberdeen Angus-cross heifers at £1,075 ($1,681) per head.Selling prices at Skipton Cattle Market
Meat Trade News. Retrieved 19 June 2013
* SHEEP: For example, at Skipton Auction Mart in one day 985 lambs and 278 ewes/rams were sold (July 2011). In June 2013 the top price by weight for lambs was 240.8p/kg at £94 ($147) per head); rams fetched a top price of £79.50 ($124) per head and sheep averaged £47.10 ($73) per head. * SHEEP DOGS auctions for working dogs are held seasonally at Skipton and Bentham. The world record price was broken in 2011 with £6,300 ($10,270) for ''Dewi Fan'' and again in May 2016, when ''Cap'' was sold at Skipton for £16,000. * DAIRY: Traditionally Craven milk is mostly sold as cheese. North Yorkshire in 2008 had 649 holdings with 71,518 dairy cows aged over 2 years. Average annual milk yield is 7,406 litres/cow. Wholesale production of milk for all of North Yorkshire 2009/10 was 488,894,588 litres. Two thirds of Craven lie within 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 ...
National Park where traditional landscape preservation is required.Craven District Council Adopted Local Plan
Craven District Council. Retrieved 19 June 2013


Quarrying

Silurian The Silurian ( ) is a geologic period and system spanning 23.5 million years from the end of the Ordovician Period, at million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Devonian Period, Mya. The Silurian is the third and shortest period of t ...
gritstone Gritstone or grit is a hard, coarse-grained, siliceous sandstone. This term is especially applied to such sandstones that are quarried for building material. British gritstone was used for millstones to mill flour, to grind wood into pulp for ...
is quarried along the North Craven Fault above Ingleton and in
Ribblesdale Ribblesdale is one of the Yorkshire Dales in England. It is the Dale (landform), dale or upper valley of the River Ribble in North Yorkshire. Towns and villages in Ribblesdale (downstream, from north to south) include Selside, North Yorkshire, ...
. Lower
Carboniferous The Carboniferous ( ) is a Geologic time scale, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), system of the Paleozoic era (geology), era that spans 60 million years, from the end of the Devonian Period Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the ...
Great Scar
Limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...
is quarried in those areas and also near
Grassington Grassington is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. The population of the parish at the 2011 Census was 1,126. The village is situated in Wharfedale, about north-west from Bolton Abbey, and is surrou ...
. Carboniferous
reef A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral, or similar relatively stable material lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic component, abiotic (non-living) processes such as deposition (geol ...
limestone is quarried around
Skipton Skipton (also known as Skipton-in-Craven) is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. Historically in the East Division of Staincliffe Wapentake in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is on the River Aire and the Leeds ...
.


Employment

In 2008 there were 26,591 employed; 22% were self-employed. In 2010 each Full Time Equivalent (FTE) employee contributed £40,311 to the District's economy, representing an increase in productivity of 21.9% since 1998; an annual increase of 1.8%. The value of output per capita (estimated to be £19,703) has increased by 32% since 1998.


Transport

There are no motorways in the area. It was shown by a national detailed Land Use Survey by the
Office for National Statistics The Office for National Statistics (ONS; ) is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, UK Parliament. Overview The ONS is responsible fo ...
in 2005, that Craven has the least proportion of land taken up by roads of any district in England: 0.7%. This compared with a maximum of over 20% in four London boroughs and the
City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...
.


Passes

Transport Transport (in British English) or transportation (in American English) is the intentional Motion, movement of humans, animals, and cargo, goods from one location to another. Mode of transport, Modes of transport include aviation, air, land tr ...
can find the
Pennines The Pennines (), also known as the Pennine Chain or Pennine Hills, are a range of highland, uplands mainly located in Northern England. Commonly described as the "Vertebral column, backbone of England" because of its length and position, the ra ...
a barrier on occasion when some roads are blocked by snow for several days. Craven is of great significance to the North of England for by its topography it provides low-altitude
pass Pass, PASS, The Pass or Passed may refer to: Places *Pass, County Meath, a townland in Ireland *Pass, Poland, a village in Poland *El Paso, Texas, a city which translates to "The Pass" * Pass, an alternate term for a number of straits: see Li ...
es through "the backbone of England". They were especially significant for the railway and canal builders. The lowest passes through the Pennines are: * The
Airedale Airedale is a valley, or Dale (landform), dale, in North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire, England. It is named after the River Aire, which flows through it. The upper valley, from Malham Cove to Airton, is known as Malhamdale, named after the vill ...
to Ribblesdale pass near
Barnoldswick Barnoldswick (pronounced ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Borough of Pendle, Lancashire, England. It lies within the boundaries of the Historic counties of England, historic West Riding of Yorkshire, West Ri ...
is at
Thornton-in-Craven Thornton-in-Craven is a village and civil parish in the county of North Yorkshire, England. It is approx from the border with Lancashire and north of Earby. Barnoldswick is nearby. The Pennine Way passes through the village, as does the A56 ...
* The Airedale to Ribblesdale pass near
Settle Settle or SETTLE may refer to: __NOTOC__ Places * Settle, Kentucky, United States, an unincorporated community * Settle, North Yorkshire, a town in England ** Settle Rural District, a historical administrative district Music * Settle (band), an in ...
is just East of
Hellifield Hellifield is a village and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England (). Historic counties of England, Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the village was once an important railway junction on the Settle-Carlisle Railway between ...
a point labelled Aire Gap on some maps.Bing Maps
Enter "Aire Gap, United Kingdom"
* The Airedale to Pendle Water pass near
Colne Colne () is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Borough of Pendle in Lancashire, England. The town is northeast of Nelson, Lancashire, Nelson, northeast of Burnley and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. The ...
is at
Foulridge Foulridge (pronounced ) is a village and civil parish in Pendle, Lancashire, close to the border with North Yorkshire in England. It is situated just beyond Colne, on the route from the M65 to Skipton, and is an important stopping point on s ...
also sometimes called Aire Gap. * The Ribblesdale to Lonsdale pass near Settle is at
Giggleswick Giggleswick, a village and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England, lies on the B6480 road, less than north-west of the town of Settle and divided from it by the River Ribble. It is the site of Giggleswick School. Until 1974 it was part ...
Scar The nearest alternative pass through the Pennines is
Stainmore Gap Stainmore is a remote geographic area in the Pennines on the border of Cumbria, County Durham and North Yorkshire. The name is used for a civil parish in the Westmorland and Furness of Cumbria, England, including the villages of North Stainmor ...
(Eden-Tees)Ordnance Survey Explorer Map, OL41, Forest of Bowland and Ribblesdale
to the North, but that is not in Craven's league for it climbs to and its climate is classed as sub-arctic in places. The nearest low-level routes across the country are over away: the
Tyne Gap The River Tyne is a river in North East England. Its length (excluding tributaries) is . It is formed by the North Tyne and the South Tyne, which converge at Warden near Hexham in Northumberland at a place dubbed 'The Meeting of the Waters ...
to the north, or the
A619 road The A619 is an A road that links Bakewell, Derbyshire to Worksop, Nottinghamshire in England. Route The route begins in Bakewell at Rutland Square, where it crosses the Bakewell Bridge over the River Wye, heading north towards Baslow. The road ...
in
Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...
to the south.


Main routes

*
A59 road The A59 is a major road in England which is around long and runs from Wallasey, Merseyside to York, North Yorkshire. The alignment formed part of the Trunk Roads Act 1936, being then designated as the A59. It is a key route connecting Merseysi ...
:
York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...
,
Harrogate Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and civil parish in the North Yorkshire District, district and North Yorkshire, county of North Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist de ...
, Skipton,
Barnoldswick Barnoldswick (pronounced ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Borough of Pendle, Lancashire, England. It lies within the boundaries of the Historic counties of England, historic West Riding of Yorkshire, West Ri ...
,
Clitheroe Clitheroe () is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Ribble Valley, Borough of Ribble Valley, Lancashire, England; it is located north-west of Manchester. It is near the Forest of Bowland and is often used as a base for to ...
, Preston,
Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
*
A65 road The A65 is a major road in England. It runs north west from Leeds in West Yorkshire via Kirkstall, Horsforth, Yeadon, Guiseley, Ilkley and Skipton, west of Settle, Ingleton and Kirkby Lonsdale before terminating at Kendal in Cumbria. Bypass ...
:
Ilkley Ilkley is a spa town and civil parish in the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, in Northern England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Ilkley civil parish includes the adjacent village of Ben Rhydding and is a ward within ...
, Skipton, Settle, Ingleton,
Kendal Kendal, once Kirkby in Kendal or Kirkby Kendal, is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Westmorland and Furness, England. It lies within the River Kent's dale, from which its name is derived, just outside the boundary of t ...
*
A629 road The A629 road is an intra-Yorkshire road that runs from Skipton to Rotherham through Keighley, Halifax, Huddersfield and Chapeltown in Yorkshire, England. The road runs through North, West and South Yorkshire, but before 1974, the entire leng ...
: Skipton, Keighley, Halifax,
Huddersfield Huddersfield is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confl ...
,
Rotherham Rotherham ( ) is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies at the confluence of the River Rother, South Yorkshire, River Rother, from which the town gets its name, and the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don. It is the largest settlement ...
*
A56 road The A56 is a road in England which extends between the city of Chester in Cheshire and the village of Broughton in North Yorkshire. The road contains a mixture of single and dual carriageway sections, and traverses environments as diverse as ...
:
Earby Earby is a town and civil parish within the Borough of Pendle, Lancashire, England. Although within the boundaries of the Historic counties of England, historic West Riding of Yorkshire, West Riding of Yorkshire, Earby has been administered by ...
, Colne,
M65 motorway The M65 is a motorway between Preston, Lancashire, Preston and Colne in Lancashire, England. It runs from Bamber Bridge just south of Preston, through major junctions with the M6 motorway, M6 and M61 motorways, east past Darwen, Blackburn, Ac ...
,
Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...
,
Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
,
Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...
* Train:
Skipton railway station Skipton railway station is a Grade II listed station which serves the market town of Skipton in North Yorkshire, England. It is a stop on the Airedale Line, which provides access to destinations such as Leeds, Bradford, Carlisle, Lancaster, Lan ...
to
Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...
on the Airedale Line * Train: Skipton railway station to
Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district of Lancashire, England, on Morecambe Bay, part of the Irish Sea. In 2011 the parish had a population of 34,768. Name The first use of the name was by John Whit ...
on the
Leeds–Morecambe line The Leeds–Morecambe line, also known as the Bentham line, is a railway line running between Leeds, Skipton, Lancaster, Lancashire, Lancaster and Morecambe in northern England. The service is operated by Northern (train operating company), No ...
* Train:
Settle railway station Settle is a railway station on the Settle and Carlisle Line, which runs between and . The station, situated north-west of Leeds, serves the market town of Settle in North Yorkshire, England. It is owned by Network Rail and managed by Norther ...
to Carlisle or Leeds on
Settle–Carlisle line The Settle–Carlisle line (also known as the ''Settle and Carlisle'' (S&C)) is a main railway line in northern England. The route, which crosses the remote, scenic regions of the Yorkshire Dales and the North Pennines, runs between Settle J ...


A59 York–Liverpool

The
A59 road The A59 is a major road in England which is around long and runs from Wallasey, Merseyside to York, North Yorkshire. The alignment formed part of the Trunk Roads Act 1936, being then designated as the A59. It is a key route connecting Merseysi ...
runs along the southern edge of Airedale to Ribblesdale. It runs about north of a disused Roman road through Craven that took the lowest pass through Thornton-in-Craven.


A56 Skipton–Chester

The route now known as the A56—-M65 first developed as 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 ...
to carry heavy industrial goods like
masonry Masonry is the craft of building a structure with brick, stone, or similar material, including mortar plastering which are often laid in, bound, and pasted together by mortar (masonry), mortar. The term ''masonry'' can also refer to the buildin ...
stone, limestone, and coal. The planned route into Ribblesdale was via a lower level pass but the
Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...
in
Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...
and
Colne Colne () is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Borough of Pendle in Lancashire, England. The town is northeast of Nelson, Lancashire, Nelson, northeast of Burnley and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. The ...
made it seem more profitable to change their route to Foulridge near Colne despite it being the highest pass.


A629 and A65 Keighley–Kendal

The route of the
A65 road The A65 is a major road in England. It runs north west from Leeds in West Yorkshire via Kirkstall, Horsforth, Yeadon, Guiseley, Ilkley and Skipton, west of Settle, Ingleton and Kirkby Lonsdale before terminating at Kendal in Cumbria. Bypass ...
is perhaps the oldest for it follows a
Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...
trade route for stone axes from central Cumbria. By the 18th century the principal exports were cattle and most imports came on ninety pack horses from
Kendal Kendal, once Kirkby in Kendal or Kirkby Kendal, is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Westmorland and Furness, England. It lies within the River Kent's dale, from which its name is derived, just outside the boundary of t ...
.OCR copy by North Craven Historical Research
Retrieved 30 September 2012
The cost of that for heavy goods was prohibitiveIntroduction To The Main Roads of Kendale
British Historyac.uk. Retrieved 30 September 2012
so the textile industrialist of
Settle Settle or SETTLE may refer to: __NOTOC__ Places * Settle, Kentucky, United States, an unincorporated community * Settle, North Yorkshire, a town in England ** Settle Rural District, a historical administrative district Music * Settle (band), an in ...
campaigned that the road from Keighley to Kendal be made passable to wheeled vehicles and in 1753 the
Keighley and Kendal Turnpike The Keighley and Kendal Turnpike was a road built in 1753 by a turnpike trust between Keighley in the West Riding of Yorkshire and Kendal in Westmorland, England. The primary instigators were in Settle, North Yorkshire, Settle. The road followe ...
Trust was founded. By 1840 passenger
stagecoach A stagecoach (also: stage coach, stage, road coach, ) is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by ...
es ran daily but in 1878 Parliament abolished all Turnpikes and set up
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. Australia In the Australian state of New South Wales, county councils are special purpose ...
s; and the management of the main roads was transferred to them. By 1968 traffic had so increased in volume that it necessitated the rebuilding of the A629 and A65. The
Skipton Skipton (also known as Skipton-in-Craven) is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. Historically in the East Division of Staincliffe Wapentake in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is on the River Aire and the Leeds ...
northern bypass of 1981 cost £16.4 million. The Kildwick bypass was completed in 1988.


Education


Educational attainment

The proportion of the working age population with high levels of educational attainment is above the national average, and 40% of the District's residents have managerial and professional occupations. Also Lantra's Landskills offers workshops in efficiency and profitability in agriculture, horticulture and forestry with up to 70% funding. Craven is covered in ''Farm Business Support and Development'' and ''Yorkshire Rural Training Network''. Yet from 2004 to 2009 there was generally a decline in attainment of about 12% and the number of people in the District with no qualifications increased by 1.8%. Such people have reduced employment options, however Craven College in Skipton is one of the largest Further Education Colleges in North Yorkshire and provides an outreach service to rural areas.


Museums

Craven Museum & Gallery Craven Museum & Gallery is a museum located in the town of Skipton, North Yorkshire, England, in Skipton Town Hall. The museum holds a collection of local artefacts that depict life in Craven from the prehistoric times to the modern day. O ...
in Skipton is one of three museums in the district. It has obtained funding to deliver various projects: * The Phoenix Project; delivered in partnership with the three other museums in Craven increased accessibility of collections. * The Archaeology in the Landscape project, targeting young people, families and the disadvantaged, delivers events, workshops, demonstrations and education programmes to 3,460 young people and over 17,000 adults. *The Young Archaeologists Club programme delivered museum education to approx 3,000 students 2009–2010. As part of the projects above Craven Museum & Gallery staff worked with both the Museum of North Craven Life, The Folly in Settle and the Grassington Folk Museum.


Arts

Craven District supports arts through music, theatre, dance, literature, visual arts and festivals. Funding from the Arts Council England (Yorkshire) alone totalled £435,811 between 2006 and 2009. Grants from other sources including the Gulbenkian Fund and Esme Fairburn Trust totalling well over an additional £160,000. A new exhibition gallery was opened in 2005 at Craven Museum & Gallery, Skipton, which now hosts a programme of exhibitions each year.


Media

In terms of television, the district is covered by
BBC Yorkshire BBC Yorkshire is one of the English regions of the BBC. It was formed from the division of the former BBC North region into BBC Yorkshire and BBC Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, based in Kingston upon Hull. Serving West, North and South Yorkshir ...
and
ITV Yorkshire ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV (TV network), ITV network. Until 19 ...
broadcast from the
Emley Moor The Emley Moor transmitting station is a telecommunications and broadcasting facility on Emley Moor, west of the village centre of Emley, in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. It is made up of a concrete tower and apparatus that began ...
TV transmitter. However, north western parts of the district including
Settle Settle or SETTLE may refer to: __NOTOC__ Places * Settle, Kentucky, United States, an unincorporated community * Settle, North Yorkshire, a town in England ** Settle Rural District, a historical administrative district Music * Settle (band), an in ...
is served by
BBC North West BBC North West is the BBC English Regions, BBC English Region serving Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside, as well as parts of North Yorkshire (western Craven District, Craven), Derbyshire (western High Peak, Derbyshire, High ...
and
ITV Granada ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV (TV network), ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire on weekdays only, as ABC Weekend TV, ...
which broadcast from the Winter Hill TV transmitter.
BBC Local Radio BBC Local Radio (also referred to as Local BBC Radio) is the BBC's local and regional radio division for England and the Channel Islands, consisting of 39 stations. As of December 2024, the network broadcasts to a combined audience of 7.1 mil ...
for the district is served by
BBC Radio York BBC Radio York is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of North Yorkshire. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios in the Bootham area of York. According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly audience ...
on 104.3 FM and
BBC Radio Lancashire BBC Radio Lancashire is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of Lancashire. Originally launched as BBC Radio Blackburn, in 1981 it expanded to cover the whole county and was renamed BBC Radio Lancashire. It broadcasts on FM, DAB ...
on 104.5 FM. County-wide commercial station are
Greatest Hits Radio Yorkshire Greatest Hits Radio (GHR) is a classic hits radio network in the United Kingdom, owned and operated by Bauer Media Audio UK. It currently includes 18 local and regional radio stations operating over 50 FM and DAB licences in England, Scotl ...
(formerly
Stray FM Stray FM was an Independent Local Radio station serving the western half of North Yorkshire, and sections of West Yorkshire, to the north of Leeds and Bradford, England. The original licence covered the towns of Harrogate and Ripon and the surr ...
) on 107.8 FM and community based stations are Drystone Radio on 103.5 FM and Dales Radio (covering Settle and Ingleton) on 104.9 FM. The district's local newspaper is the ''
Craven Herald & Pioneer The ''Craven Herald & Pioneer'' is a weekly newspaper covering the Craven area of North Yorkshire as well as part of the Pendle area of Lancashire. Until 29 October 2009 it remained one of only two weekly papers in the United Kingdom that co ...
''.


Sport

Craven Council opened the ''Craven Pool and Fitness Centre'' in 2003 and extended it in 2007. The Centre reached the semi-finals in the Best Semi Best Sports Project category of The National Lottery Awards. The ''Craven Active Sports Network'' develops opportunities for participation in sport and active recreation, sourcing funding for a variety of projects throughout the District, totalling over £14.5 million in 2001–2011. The ''National Sport Unlimited Scheme'', delivering a programme of sporting activity to 1,205 young people and teenagers, brought in £45,000 of external funding.


Notable people

In 1665
Lady Anne Clifford Lady Anne Clifford, Countess of Dorset, Pembroke and Montgomery, ''suo jure'' 14th Baroness de Clifford (30 January 1590 – 22 March 1676) was an English peeress. In 1605 she inherited her father's ancient barony by writ and became ''suo jure'' ...
, 14th Baroness de Clifford, owned and restored
Skipton Castle Skipton Castle is a Grade I Listed medieval castle in Skipton, North Yorkshire, England. It was built in 1090 by Robert de Romille, a Norman baron, and has been preserved for over 931 years. History Skipton Castle was originally a motte a ...
. In 1548 William Craven of Appletreewick was born to a modest family in
Appletreewick Appletreewick (traditionally pronounced , ) is a village and civil parish in the county of North Yorkshire, England, north-east of Skipton, from Skipton railway station and from Leeds Bradford International Airport. Appletreewick is in Wharf ...
near Skipton. At age 14 he was sent to London to apprentice to a Watling Street tailor. He qualified in 1569 and made such a fine impression that in 1600 he was made Alderman of Bishopgate; in 1603 he was knighted by James I and in 1610 he was chosen Lord Mayor of London. He is sometimes referred to as "Aptrick's Dick Whittington" suggesting that the story of
Dick Whittington Richard Whittington ( March 1423) of the parish of St Michael Paternoster Royal,Will of Richard Whittington: " I leave to my executors named below the entire tenement in which I live in the parish of St. Michael Paternoster Royal, Londo/ ...
is based on his life. William made benefactions to Craven, founding the school in
Burnsall Burnsall is a village and civil parish in the county of North Yorkshire, England. It is situated on the River Wharfe in Wharfedale, and is in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. The village is approximately south-east from Grassington. It has ...
. One of William's sons, John Craven, founded the famous Craven Scholarships at Oxford and Cambridge Universities and in 1647 left many large charitable bequests to Craven towns including Burnsall and Skipton. In 1660 William's first son William Craven was made the first
Earl of Craven Earl of Craven, in the County of York, is a title that has been created twice, once in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. History The first creation came in the Peerage of England in 1664 in favour of the so ...
by Charles II. However, that title was
eponym An eponym is a noun after which or for which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. Adjectives derived from the word ''eponym'' include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Eponyms are commonly used for time periods, places, innovati ...
ous for the estate was in Uffington, Berkshire so he was in no sense a
lord Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power (social and political), power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the Peerage o ...
of Craven Yorkshire. The botanist
George Caley George Caley (10 June 1770 – 23 May 1829) was an English botanist and explorer, active in Australia for the majority of his career. Early life Caley was born in Craven District, Craven, Yorkshire, England, the son of a horse-dealer. He was ed ...
(1770–1829) was born in Craven.


Gallery

File:River Wenning - geograph.org.uk - 116841.jpg,
River Wenning The River Wenning is a tributary of the River Lune, flowing through North Yorkshire and Lancashire. The name derives from the Old English ''Wann'', meaning ''dark river''. The Wenning is formed from the confluence of Clapham Beck, which rises ...
passing The Punch Bowl in Low Bentham File:View of High Bentham from path.jpg, View of
High Bentham Bentham is a civil parishes in England, civil parish in North Yorkshire, England, with a population of 3,027 at the 2011 Census. The parish includes the town High Bentham, occasionally known as Higher Bentham or just Bentham, and the older ad ...
from the Heritage Trail File:View of Settle from Castlebergh.jpg, View of
Settle Settle or SETTLE may refer to: __NOTOC__ Places * Settle, Kentucky, United States, an unincorporated community * Settle, North Yorkshire, a town in England ** Settle Rural District, a historical administrative district Music * Settle (band), an in ...
from Castlebergh, a 300 feet (91 m) limestone crag File: Hillside above Settle and the Langcliffe mills - geograph.org.uk - 782271.jpg, View back across the Ribble to
Giggleswick Giggleswick, a village and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England, lies on the B6480 road, less than north-west of the town of Settle and divided from it by the River Ribble. It is the site of Giggleswick School. Until 1974 it was part ...
Scar File:River Aire south of Malham.jpg,
Airedale Airedale is a valley, or Dale (landform), dale, in North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire, England. It is named after the River Aire, which flows through it. The upper valley, from Malham Cove to Airton, is known as Malhamdale, named after the vill ...
South of
Malham Malham is a village and civil parish in the county of North Yorkshire, England. In the ''Domesday Book'', the name is given as Malgun, meaning "settlement by the gravelly places". Until 1974 it was part of the Settle Rural District, in the ...
File:Gargrave Milepost - geograph.org.uk - 1331010.jpg, Gargrave's milestone on the
Keighley and Kendal Turnpike The Keighley and Kendal Turnpike was a road built in 1753 by a turnpike trust between Keighley in the West Riding of Yorkshire and Kendal in Westmorland, England. The primary instigators were in Settle, North Yorkshire, Settle. The road followe ...
, 1753–1878 File:River Aire Gargrave.jpg, The
River Aire The River Aire is a major river in Yorkshire, England, in length. Part of the river below Leeds is canalised, and is known as the Aire and Calder Navigation. The ''Handbook for Leeds and Airedale'' (1890) notes that the distance from Malha ...
at
Gargrave Gargrave is a large village and civil parish in the county of North Yorkshire, England. It is located along the A65 road, A65, north-west of Skipton. The village is situated on the very edge of the Yorkshire Dales; the River Aire and the Leeds ...
File:View from Skipton moor.jpg, View of
Skipton Skipton (also known as Skipton-in-Craven) is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. Historically in the East Division of Staincliffe Wapentake in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is on the River Aire and the Leeds ...
from Skipton Moor File:Kildwick Bridge 14th century side.jpg,
Kildwick Bridge Kildwick Bridge is a road bridge over the River Aire in North Yorkshire, England. It is one of the oldest documented bridges in England, with a reference dating back to 1305. It was the main route through Yorkshire to and from Skipton, later be ...
west side built 1305–1313 with ribbed vaulting


See also

*
List of places of worship in Craven This is a partial list of active, former and demolished places of worship in the former Craven District in North Yorkshire in England. Most or all of Craven falls within the Archdeacon of Richmond and Craven, Archdeaconry of Richmond and Craven ...


References


Further reading

* * *. Viewable online a
Whitaker's History of Craven
pdf Skipton Castle Co UK. Retrieved 12 June 2013


External links


Craven District Council

North Yorkshire County Council

Craven Museum & Gallery, Skipton

North Craven Historical Research Group, Settle

The Craven Herald & Pioneer
{{DEFAULTSORT:Craven 1974 establishments in England 2023 disestablishments in England Leeds City Region Former non-metropolitan districts of North Yorkshire