Elslack is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in the county 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 ...

, England, close to the border with

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 ...

and west 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 ...

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 ...

is nearby. The Tempest Arms is a large pub in the village, sited by the A56, which is popular with locals from the surrounding area. Elslack Moor, above the village, is crossed by the

Pennine Way The Pennine Way is a National Trail in England, with a small section in Scotland. The trail stretches for from Edale, in the northern Derbyshire Peak District, north through the Yorkshire Dales and Northumberland National Park and ends at Kir ...

, though this does not visit the village itself. In 2015 it had a population of 100.

History

A Roman fort lies at about north-west of Elslack. The fort may have been named Olenacum, or Ριγοδουνον, according to the analysis of Ptolemy's coordinates by Kleineberg et al. It guarded 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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

. This road has been traced by archaeologists 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 at it turns eastwards passing

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 ...

, Elslack and

. Elslack is mentioned in the 1086 ''

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 ...

'' as ''Eleslac''. The name derives from a personal name at the start (''Elli'' or ''Elesa'') and the Old English word for stream (''Lacu''). Elslack Hall is thought to have be constructed in the 16th century (since modified) on the moated site of a Mediaeval

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

. Godfrey de Altaripa was granted a licence to crenellate a building here in 1318, presumably at this location. Elslack had its own

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

which connected it with Colne and Skipton, but this was closed in 1952. The line passing through it suffered the same fate in 1970. Skipton is some to the north-east of Elslack. The Pennine Way long-distance walk crosses Elslack Moor (to the south-west of Elslack village), but the walk bypasses Elslack itself. The village is east of the A56 road which connects Skipton with Colne. The Tempest Arms was named "Pub of the Year" in the 2011 '' Good Pub Guide''.

Governance

Historically the village was in 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 ...

of Staincliffe (East), in the old West Riding of Yorkshire. In 1974, Elslack was transferred as part of the township of Broughton into the Craven District in the county of North Yorkshire. Population statistics for Elslack have been grouped together with Broughton, or with

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 ...

, especially in the 2001 and 2011 censuses, however by 2015, Elslack was again its own separate parish. Craven was abolished in 2023 and the village is now administered by the unitary

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 ...

. The area is represented at

Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

as part of the Skipton and Ripon Constituency.

Notes

References

External links

* *
Open Data page about Elslack Civil Parish
{{authority control Villages in North Yorkshire Civil parishes in North Yorkshire

History

Governance

See also

Notes

References

External links