Hebden, North Yorkshire

infobox UK place
country = England
official_name = Hebden
latitude = 54.064
longitude = -1.962
static_

static_image_caption = Hebden Post Office
population = 216
area_total_km2 = 14.50
population_density =Pop density km2 to mi2|(14.9) |precision=1|abbr=yes|wiki=yes
civil_parish = Hebden
shire_district = Craven
region = Yorkshire and the Humber
shire_county = North Yorkshire
constituency_westminster = Skipton and Ripon
post_town = SKIPTON
postcode_district = BD23
postcode_area = BD
dial_code = 01756
os_grid_reference= SE02606317
london_distance=convert|190|mi|km

Hebden is a small village and civil parish in the Craven district of North Yorkshire, England, and one of four villages within the ecclesiastical parish of Linton. It lies near Grimwith Reservoir and Grassington, in Wharfedale, within the Yorkshire Dales National Park. In 2001 it had a population of 216,cite web
url = http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadTableView.do?a=7&b=797616&c=BD23+5DX&d=16&e=15&g=475346&i=1001x1003x1004&m=0&r=0&s=1220380197730&enc=1&dsFamilyId=779
title = 2001 Census: Key Statistics: Parish Headcounts: Area: Hebden CP (Parish)
accessdate = 2008-09-10
work = Neighbourhood Statistics
publisher = Office for National Statistics] and 133cite web
url = http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadTableView.do?a=7&b=797616&c=BD23+5DX&d=16&e=15&g=475346&i=1001x1003x1004&o=1&m=0&r=0&s=1221917801648&enc=1&dsFamilyId=787
title = 2001 Census: Key Statistics: Parish Profile - Accommodation and Tenure: Area: Hebden CP (Parish) |accessdate = 2008-09-20
work = Neighbourhood Statistics
publisher = Office for National Statistics] dwellings. Hebden has a church (built 1841), [For a well researched local short history, see: cite book |last=Joy |first=David |title=Hebden The History of a Dales Township |origyear=2002|publisher=Hebden History Group |location=Hole Bottom, Hebden, Skipton |isbn=0945304306] a chapel (1812) a hotel and public house, a community hall, a post-office and general store, and is well served by buses. [cite web | title = Pride of the Dales: Bus Timetable | url=http://www.prideofthedales.co.uk/timetable.htm | accessdate = 2008-09-19 ] Until 1983, it had its own primary school.

It straddles a cross roads. The main east-west B6265 route connects it with Grassington mi to km|1.7 to the west and from there to its market town Skipton, mi to km|11.5. To the east, the road crosses a fine bridge over Hebden Gill, built in 1827, and thence over the watershed to Pateley Bridge in Nidderdale, convert|9|mi|km away.

Main Street, forming the high street for the village, continues south as Mill Lane, towards the bank of the River Wharfe and the villages of Hartlington and Burnsall, the latter being just over convert|2|mi|km. The road to the north goes to Hole Bottom, made famous by William Riley's novel "Jerry and Ben", [] and from there continues as a track onto Grassington Moor.

The Dales Way crosses the River Wharfe at Hebden by means of a wrapped steel-cable suspension bridge, a few yards upstream of a reconstructed course of medieval stepping stones. The bridge was built in 1885 by local blacksmith William Bell, and paid for by public subscription. A construction of recycled materials which originally featured a central supporting pier (the base of which can be seen in low water conditions), it has been well conserved and is a popular landmark on the river-side path.

Brief history

The name "Hebden" is considered [cite book |last=Thurlow|first=William |title= Yorkshire Place-Names |origyear=1979| publisher=Dalesman Books |pages=30] to be derived from either "heopa", Old English for a rose-hip or "heopa", Old English for a bramble, and "dene", Old English for a valley. Two Bronze Age stone circles and remnants of huts on the moors above the village show that the area has been settled since earliest times, and place names such as "Scale Haw" show that the Norse left their influence but there is no documentary record of the area until a brief reference in the Domesday Bookcite web
url =http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/details-result.asp?Edoc_Id=7584949&queryType=1&resultcount=4
title = National Archives: Domesday Book: Hebden, Yorkshire |accessdate = 2008-10-10
work = Domesday Book
publisher = The National Archives] in 1086.

During medieval times, an important east-west droving route which was used to move sheep between winter pastures around Fountains Abbey and summer pastures around Malham, crossed Hebden Beck at Hebden. [cite book |last=Raistrick |first=Arthur |title= Monks and Shepherds in the Yorkshire Dales|origyear=1976|publisher=Yorkshire Dales National Park Committee |pages = 5] This droving route broadly followed the line of the Craven Fault, thereby avoiding the moorland peat bogs, and it became a busy packhorse route for traders.

Although no property within the village is older than seventeenth century, its layout reflects its development in medieval times as a planned village. Eight toft compartments are still discernible to the west of Main Street, and the outline of the four surrounding common fields, now divided, may be identified from the pattern of dry stone walls. These fields were then largely arable, providing the village with most of its food requirements, but are now farmed exclusively for pasture and hay.

The last stretch of Hebden Beck before it reaches the River Wharfe was first used to power a corn mill in the Middle Ages, and corn milling survived into the middle of the nineteenth century. In the fourteenth century Fountains Abbey had a wool fulling mill [cite book |last=Raistrick |first=Arthur |title= Monks and Shepherds in the Yorkshire Dales|origyear=1976|publisher=Yorkshire Dales National Park Committee |pages = 15] in the village. At the end of the eighteenth century a cotton mill was built alongside the corn mill, and this was productive until 1870 when it was eventually driven out of business by the more efficient stream-driven machinery of the industrial revolution. At its peak, the mill employed over 70 men, women, and children. The building continued to fulfil a variety of roles, including a roller skating rink, but was eventually demolished in 1967.

Lead mining on Grassington Moor became important in the 1700s, [cite book |title=Lead Mining in the Mid-Pennines |last=Raistrick |first=Arthur|year=1973 |publisher=D. Bradford Barton Ltd. |location=Truro|pages=90] and from the early nineteenth century Hebden served as a dormitory village for some of the miners, helping the population to rise to over 500 in the 1830s. In the early 1850s [cite book |last=Gill |first=M.C.|title=The Wharfedale Mines|origyear=1994|series=British Mining |volume=49 |publisher=Northern Mine Research Society |location=Keighley|isbn=0901450413|pages=97–120] profitable mines were established within the parish to the north of the village on veins associated with Grassington Moor, which led to a doubling of the population to over 1,000 in 1861. [cite book |last=Davis|first=V. |coauthors= J.M.Dickinson|title=The Effect of Lead Mining on the Population of Villages in the Wharfedale Minging Field 1853–1880 |origdate=1964 |series= Memoirs|publisher=The Northern Cavern and Mine Research Society |pages=8–9] However, although activity continued sporadically into the last decade of the century, the accessible ore was largely exhausted by 1865, and the population steadily declined.

The prosperity brought by the mines was a significant factor in the remodelling and redevelopment of much of the village. Green Terrace, which includes the Post Office was built in the 1870s, and Main Street was transformed from a humble back lane into the high street. The village school, with working clock and bell tower, was built by the community in 1874, [cite book |last= Raistrick|first=Elizabeth|title=Village Schools. An Upper Wharfedale History|origyear=1971 |publisher= The Dalesman Publish Company|location=Clapham (via Lancaster) |pages=41–44] and the Ibbotson Institute, a well-built stone building which serves as a community hall, was completed in 1903.

The opening of the Yorkshire Dales Railway to Threshfield in 1902 opened up Hebden as a destination for both day visitors and holiday makers. A purpose-built timber guest house opened in 1909 at the south end of the village to cater for the new demand, and it continued in business, mainly catering for school parties, until 1990.

Although it now has its fair share of second homes, holiday cottages and commuters, [cite web
url =http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadTableView.do?a=7&b=797616&c=BD23+5DX&d=16&e=15&g=475346&i=1001x1003x1004&o=1&m=0&r=0&s=1221984364991&enc=1&dsFamilyId=783
title = 2001 Census: Key Statistics: Parish Profile - Work and Qualifications: Area: Hebden CP (Parish) |accessdate = 2008-09-20
work = Neighbourhood Statistics
publisher = Office for National Statistics] with eight working farms, a fish farm, coach and haulage companies, Hebden remains a working and thriving community.

Governance

Hebden lies within the Parliamentary Constituency of Skipton and Ripon, with the seat currently [cite web | title = BBC News. Skiptom & Ripon 2005 Election Result|url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/vote2005/html/520.stm | accessdate = 2008-09-23 ] held by Conservative member David Curry MP, and within the Mid Craven electoral division of North Yorkshire County Council, currently [cite web | title = North Yorkshire County Council: 2005 election results for Craven area| url=http://www.northyorks.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=6328| accessdate = 2008-09-23 ] represented by Conservative member, County Councillor Shelagh Marshall. [cite web | title = North Yorkshire County Council: Councillor Shelagh Marshall| url=http://www.northyorks.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=2901&contactid=5675 | accessdate = 2008-09-19 ] Hebden is also within the Grassington ward of Craven District, a non-metropolitan district, which is currently [cite web | title = Craven District Council: 2005 election results|url=http://www.cravendc.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/875C374D-4BA5-4AC0-B144-F04F7A551347/2758/DeclarationofResultofPollDistrictWards0205091.pdf| accessdate = 2008-09-23 ] represented by Conservative member, Councillor Richard Foster. [cite web | title = Craven District Council: Councillor Richard Foster| url=http://www.cravendc.gov.uk/Craven/Residents/Council+and+Democracy/Democracy/YourCouncillors/Richard+Foster.htm | accessdate = 2008-09-19 ]

Hebden has a parish council with five independent members supported by a parish clerk. [cite web | title = Craven District Council: Hebden Parish Council | url=http://www.cravendc.gov.uk/Craven/Residents/Council+and+Democracy/Democracy/ParishCouncils/Hebden/ | accessdate = 2008-09-19 ] Elections are held every four years, with the most recent held in 2008. Council meetings are held every six weeks. The parish council activities are largely funded from the proceeds of the annual letting of parish lands.

Geography

The south-east boundary of Hebden Parish runs along the River Wharfe, convert|500|ft|m above sea level, and the north-east boundary runs along the Wharfedale-Nidderdale watershed, reaching a height of convert|1770|ft|m. The upper section of the eastern boundary runs along Gateup Gill which is one of the main inflows of Grimwith Reservoir. The parish is rectangular in shape, averaging under convert|1.5|mi|km across and some convert|5|mi|km long. To the north, the land rises away from Hebden up to the convert|2310|ft|m summit of Great Whernside, some convert|7|mi|km distant.

The habitations and main farming are largely confined to the area within the Wharfe valley, with the rest of the land being mainly rough moorland pasture. Hebden village is positioned on one of several branches of the North Craven Fault where Hebden Beck emerges from the moors through a steep-sided valley into the Wharfe valley, at an ancient east-west route.

Hebden Beck rises on Grassington Moor some convert|2.5|mi|km from the village, but the main valley continues north as a dry valley, until it reaches Mossdale Caverns and the upper flanks of Great Whernside.

The geology is dominated by rocks [cite book|last=W. W.|first=Black|title=The Carboniferous Geology of the Grassington Area|series=Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society|volume=28|year=1950|pages=29–42] Carboniferous in age, but as the parish straddles a complex section of the North Craven Fault, it is varied. To the north-east of the village the rocks are predominantly Bowland sandstones and shales, and to the south-east are largely massive limestones. The River Wharfe runs across the limestone, through the impressive gorge of Loup Scar. Mineral veins cross the Bowland series, and these have been exploited for their lead ore.

Religion

Hebden is part of the ecclesiastical parish of Linton within the Diocese of Bradford, and has a chapel of ease dedicated to St. Peter. [cite web | title=St. Peter's Church, Hebden |url=http://www.achurchnearyou.com/hebden-st-peter/| accessdate = 2008-10-04 ] There is also a Methodist chapel which is part of the Skipton and Grassington Methodist Circuit. [cite web | title=Skipton and Grassing Circuit: Hebden|url=http://www.skiptonandgrassingtonmethodist.org.uk/churches/index.php?content=hebden&version=graphic| accessdate = 2008-10-04 ] Because the congregation is small, the Anglicans and Methodists share a single service on Sundays, alternating between the venues.

Public Services

Local medical facilities are provided by the medical centre in Grassington, [cite web | title=Grassington Medical Centre | url=http://www.grassingtonmedicalcentre.co.uk/index.htm | accessdate = 2008-10-11 ] and hospital facilities are provided by the Airedale NHS Trust [cite web | title=Airedale NHS Trust |url=http://www.airedale-trust.nhs.uk/ | accessdate = 2008-10-11 ] at Airedale General Hospital in Steeton, some convert|18|mi|km away. Ambulance services are provided by the Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust, [cite web | title=Yorkshire Ambulance Service | url=http://www.yas.nhs.uk/ | accessdate = 2008-10-11 ] who have an ambulance station in Grassington.

Attractions

Hebden is a popular centre for walkers and cyclists in Upper Wharfedale. It has a inn, [cite web |url =http://www.daelnet.co.uk/clarendon/ |title = Clarendon Inn, Hebden |accessdate = 2008-10-11] a shop, and a tea room to help meet the needs of its many visitors, and within easy walking distance are the attractive Dales villages of Appletreewick, Burnsall, Thorpe, Linton and Grassington. Grimwith Reservoir, popular with wind surfers, dinghy sailors, and bird watchers is convert|2|mi|km to the east along the B6265, and a further convert|2|mi|km brings one to Stump Cross Caverns - a show cave.

Because of its proximity to the Craven Fault, the scenery is remarkably varied. The Dales Way passes through the parish as it follows the banks of the River Wharfe between Burnsall and Grassington, mainly through peaceful limestone pastures but occasionally, as at Loup Scar and Linton Falls, through limestone gorges and past waterfalls. Hebden Beck flows down from Grassington Moor, which is dominated by the long-abandoned remains of the lead mining industry, through a splendidly rugged and wooded gill. A popular walk is an convert|8|mi|km circuit up to Grassington Moor, and thence to Grassington, returning along the River Wharfe. South of Hebden, the edge of the limestone is heralded by a number of text-book examples of reef knolls, including Elbolton Hill, Stebden Hill, and Kail Hill depicted below, which are the conical remnants of limestone reef structures. [cite book |last=Ramsbottom |first=W.H.C. |coauthors= R.F.Goosens, E.G. Smith, M.A. Calver |editor=D.H. Rayner and J.E. Hemingway |title=The Geology and Mineral Resources of Yorkshire |origdate=1974 |publisher=Yorkshire Geological Society |pages=61–64] Behind the reef knolls lies a large expanse of Millstone Grit grouse moor, Thorpe Fell and Burnsall Fell, where further walking may be enjoyed - especially around the edges.

Photograph gallery

References