Gargrave

Situated in upper Airedale, Gargrave is a picturesque stone-built village, with the river Aire and the Leeds Liverpool canal running through it.
South of the village, at Kirk Sink, is a Roman villa site, excavated and then recovered in the 1970s. Artefacts from the dig may be seen at Skipton and Cliffe Castle museums. St Andrew's parish church contains fragments of Celtic crosses. In 1318 a Scots raid destroyed the original building.
Apart from the 16th century Perpendicular tower, the present church dates from 1852 and has French stained glass windows. An ancient church dole, known as the Poor Lands Charity, is still distributed to older residents in December.

Gargrave now plays host to the canal pleasure boats, which tie up between the many locks, used to lower the water from the upper levels. The cotton industry also thrived in the village until 1932. Two mills are now in residential use. Gargrave once had a saw mill driven by a water wheel, now restored but not actually in use. Near the site of this mill is an aqueduct - the canal goes over the river, the road goes over the canal and the railway goes over the road.

The ancient summerseat by the river has recently been restored by the parish council. Opposite the summerseat there used to be a watering trough - now marked by a tall lamp-post. Amongst others, the trough was used for watering the horses of the gipsies travelling to Appelby Fair.

Three pubs remain in Gargrave - the Swan, the Mason's Arms and the Anchor inn. The Swan was once a main coaching inn, with post office, shoemaker, tailor, blacksmith, and saddler conveniently to hoof.

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Links

Official Site

Geneology

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