Staveley, Cumbria - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Staveley is a village in the District of South Lakeland

South Lakeland

South Lakeland is a local government district in Cumbria, England. Its council is based in Kendal. It includes much of the Lake District.The district was created on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972...

in Cumbria

Cumbria

Cumbria , is a non-metropolitan county in North West England. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local authority, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumbria's largest settlement and county town is Carlisle. It consists of six districts, and in...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. It is situated 4 miles (6 km) northwest of Kendal

Kendal

Kendal, anciently known as Kirkby in Kendal or Kirkby Kendal, is a market town and civil parish within the South Lakeland District of Cumbria, England...

where the River Kent

River Kent

The River Kent is a short river in the county of Cumbria in England. The river originates in hills surrounding Kentmere, and flows for around 20 miles into the north of Morecambe Bay. The Lake District National Park includes the upper reaches of the river within its boundaries.The river passes...

is joined by its tributary the Gowan

River Gowan, Cumbria

The River Gowan is a short river in Cumbria, running easterly through the village of Ings before joining the River Kent at Staveley....

Geography

Historically within the county of Westmorland

Westmorland

Westmorland is an area of North West England and one of the 39 historic counties of England. It formed an administrative county from 1889 to 1974, after which the entirety of the county was absorbed into the new county of Cumbria.-Early history:...

, it became part of the new non-metropolitan county of Cumbria in 1974. The village is strategically placed at the junction of the rivers Kent

River Kent

and Gowan

River Gowan, Cumbria

The River Gowan is a short river in Cumbria, running easterly through the village of Ings before joining the River Kent at Staveley....

, at the mouth of the Kentmere

Kentmere

Kentmere is a valley, village and civil parish in the Lake District National Park, a few miles from Kendal in the South Lakeland district of Cumbria, England. It is historically part of Westmorland...

Valley.

Three hills overlook the village; Reston Scar

Reston Scar

Reston Scar is a fell in the Lake District of Cumbria, England. It overlooks the north side of Staveley village, and is listed among Alfred Wainwright's "Outlying Fells of Lakeland" guide...

on the north side on which much of the village is built, Piked Howe to the northeast known to the locals as Craggy Wood and Lily Fell to the south in the direction of the village of Crook on the opposite side of the A591

A591 road

The A591 is a major road in Cumbria, in the north-west of England. The stretch of the road between Windermere and Keswick has been voted Britain's Favourite Road.-Route:...

bypass. Piked Howe and Reston Scar sit either side of the opening into the Kentmere Valley. Both mark the beginning of a larger horseshoe chain of hills known as the Kentmere Round.

The nearest village to the west is Ings

Ings, Cumbria

Ings is a village in the South Lakeland district of Cumbria, England. It lies on the course on the River Gowan and A591 road, to the east of the lake, Windermere....

, a small settlement which now shares schools and parish minister with Staveley.
To the south of the village is Crook, and to the north Kentmere

Kentmere

which can only be accessed by passing through Staveley village centre, meaning that the two villages have had a close relationship with each other for many centuries. But the village which had the strongest links to Staveley in more recent years is Burneside

Burneside

Burneside is a small village in South Lakeland in Cumbria, England. It is located to the north of Kendal and to the south east of Staveley, on the River Kent, just upstream from the confluence of the River Sprint...

which is the next stop on the railway line to the east on the way to Kendal

Kendal

Kendal, anciently known as Kirkby in Kendal or Kirkby Kendal, is a market town and civil parish within the South Lakeland District of Cumbria, England...

. Due to the majority of trade and industry passing along the railway lines in the 19th century the two villages grew in size and status and increased contact with each other.

Above the village on the east side is the Craggy Plantation, which covers much of Spy Crag. This area was used in the 1990s for testing various measures to control the spread of North American Grey Squirrel

Eastern Gray Squirrel

The eastern gray squirrel is a tree squirrel in the genus Sciurus native to the eastern and midwestern United States, and to the southerly portions of the eastern provinces of Canada...

s into the native Red Squirrel

Red Squirrel

The red squirrel or Eurasian red squirrel is a species of tree squirrel in the genus Sciurus common throughout Eurasia...

habitats.

The Gowan

Gowan beck

Beck (disambiguation)

Beck may refer to:* Beck, an American musician**Beck , 2001 EP by Beck* Beck , an American bus manufacturer* Beck , a British English dialect word for a small stream* River Beck, in South London, England...

comes in to the village from the west after passing through the village of Ings. It is difficult to determine where the river got its name. In Scottish

Scottish English

Scottish English refers to the varieties of English spoken in Scotland. It may or may not be considered distinct from the Scots language. It is always considered distinct from Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic language....

, gowan the name for the common daisy or occasionally the buttercup. It is derived from the original form gollan which is the marsh marigold, the name was made famous by Robert Burns

Robert Burns

Robert Burns was a Scottish poet and a lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland, and is celebrated worldwide...

in a poem originally entitled "The Gowan" which is now known as "To a Mountain Daisy
To a Mountain Daisy
"To a Mountain Daisy" is a Scots poem written by Robert Burns in 1786. It was included in the Kilmarnock volume of Burns's poems, published in that year....

". The Lakeland poet William Wordsworth

William Wordsworth

William Wordsworth was a major English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with the 1798 joint publication Lyrical Ballads....

also uses the word gowan to refer to a common wayside flower indicating that the name was used in the area and therefore it is possible that the river got its name from the fact that it flows through many flower meadows on the valley floor. In Gaelic

Goidelic languages

The Goidelic languages or Gaelic languages are one of the two branches of the Insular Celtic languages, the other consisting of the Brythonic languages. Goidelic languages historically formed a dialect continuum stretching from the south of Ireland through the Isle of Man to the north of Scotland...

Gowen/Gowan can also mean "blacksmith". The name may therefore otherwise have come from the Scots Gaelic or from Irish missionaries who are known to have travelled in Cumbria during the Anglo-Saxon

Anglo-Saxon

Anglo-Saxon may refer to:* Anglo-Saxons, a group that invaded Britain** Old English, their language** Anglo-Saxon England, their history, one of various ships* White Anglo-Saxon Protestant, an ethnicity* Anglo-Saxon economy, modern macroeconomic term...

period and have given many words to the local dialect.

History

The area has been inhabited since around 4000 BC (evidence of which can be seen close to High Borrans) when Celtic

Celtic languages

The Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic"; a branch of the greater Indo-European language family...

speaking Britons established farms. The Romans

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

arrived in 90 AD building a road that passed to the south of where the village is now, linking Kendal to Galava (their main fort at Ambleside

Ambleside

Ambleside is a town in Cumbria, in North West England.Historically within the county of Westmorland, it is situated at the head of Windermere, England's largest lake...

). The line of this road is still roughly followed today by the A591. Staveley is one of a very few locations in the Lake District

Lake District

The Lake District, also commonly known as The Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous not only for its lakes and its mountains but also for its associations with the early 19th century poetry and writings of William Wordsworth...

to have a railway station

Staveley railway station

Staveley railway station is a railway station in Staveley in Cumbria, England. The station is situated on the Windermere Branch Line from Oxenholme to Windermere. Staveley is a request stop.-Services:...

on the Windermere Branch Line

Windermere Branch Line

The Lakes Line is the railway line from Oxenholme to Kendal and Windermere, originally part of the Kendal and Windermere Railway.Passenger services are operated by TransPennine Express using modern Class 185 diesel multiple units....

from Windermere

Windermere (town)

Windermere is a town and civil parish in the South Lakeland District of Cumbria, England. It has a population of 8,245. It lies about half a mile away from the lake, Windermere...

to Oxenholme

Oxenholme

Oxenholme is a village in England just south of the town of Kendal, with which it has begun to merge. It is best known for Oxenholme Lake District railway station on the West Coast Main Line. Because Oxenholme does not have its own church it is technically a hamlet.-History:Oxenholme station opened...

as laying down railway lines was deemed detrimental to the unique Lakeland landscape.

The area of Staveley is divided into three civil parishes; Nether Staveley, Over Staveley and Hugill

Hugill

Hugill is a civil parish in the South Lakeland district of the English county of Cumbria. It includes the village of Ings and the hamlets of Grassgarth, and Reston. The parish has a population of 416....

(after Hugill Fell). Williamson's Monument is situated on the fell above this section of the parish.

Industry

Weekly markets and a three day annual fair were held from 1329 when the village was granted a market charter. The village got its name from the woodworking industry that thrived in the area due to the forests that originally covered the surrounding hills, and the close proximity of two rivers for processing the wood. Staveley means literally the 'field of staffs' (from the Middle English

Middle English

Middle English is the stage in the history of the English language during the High and Late Middle Ages, or roughly during the four centuries between the late 11th and the late 15th century....

plural stave for staf OE stæf and the ME leye meaning pasture from Old English leah; akin to Old High German

Old High German

The term Old High German refers to the earliest stage of the German language and it conventionally covers the period from around 500 to 1050. Coherent written texts do not appear until the second half of the 8th century, and some treat the period before 750 as 'prehistoric' and date the start of...

loh thicket, Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

lucus grove).

In the middle ages the mills at Staveley produced cloth, but they were converted to work wood. By 1850 bobbin

Bobbin

A bobbin is a spindle or cylinder, with or without flanges, on which wire, yarn, thread or film is wound. Bobbins are typically found in sewing machines, cameras, and within electronic equipment....

turning was the main industry in the valley.
At Staveley Mill Yard

Staveley Mill Yard

Staveley Mill Yard is a former bobbin mill, which is now now used for a variety of different local industries, shops and other commercial ventures. It is situated in the centre of the village of Staveley, Cumbria, just off the main street.-History:...

visitors can water is drawn from the River Kent at a weir, originally powering a waterwheel, replaced in 1902 with turbines. The site houses various businesses including "Wilf's Cafe".

Historic buildings

A conservation area

Conservation area

A conservation areas is a tract of land that has been awarded protected status in order to ensure that natural features, cultural heritage or biota are safeguarded...

protects much of the centre of Staveley.
Staveley has a number of listed buildings of which the oldest is a church tower called St.Margret's.

In 1338 the then Lord of the Manor

Lord of the Manor

The Lordship of a Manor is recognised today in England and Wales as a form of property and one of three elements of a manor that may exist separately or be combined and may be held in moieties...

, Sir William Thweng agreed to build a church dedicated to St Margaret

Margaret the Virgin

Margaret the Virgin, also known as Margaret of Antioch , virgin and martyr, is celebrated as a saint by the Roman Catholic and Anglican Churches on July 20; and on July 17 in the Orthodox Church. Her historical existence has been questioned; she was declared apocryphal by Pope Gelasius I in 494,...

. Before this the villagers had been expected to travel 7 miles to Kendal each Sunday for services. The church was completed in 1388 and stood on High Street surrounded by its graveyard. Only the tower remains to this day. On it is a plaque commemorating the Staveley men of F Company, Second V B Border Regiment

Border Regiment

The Border Regiment was an infantry regiment of the line in the British Army, formed in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 34th Regiment of Foot and the 55th Regiment of Foot....

, who served in the South Africa Campaign

Second Boer War

The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...

of 1900-01 under Major John Thompson.
The new parish church; St James, was built in 1864-65 by J. S. Crowther

J. S. Crowther

Joseph Stretch Crowther was an English architect who practised in Manchester.-Life:He studied under Richard Tattersall from 1838–1843. He worked as a managing clerk for Henry Bowman until 1846, when Bowman took him into partnership as Bowman & Crowther...

. Its east windows were designed by William Morris

William Morris

William Morris 24 March 18343 October 1896 was an English textile designer, artist, writer, and socialist associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and the English Arts and Crafts Movement...

and Edward Burne-Jones

Edward Burne-Jones

Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, 1st Baronet was a British artist and designer closely associated with the later phase of the Pre-Raphaelite movement, who worked closely with William Morris on a wide range of decorative arts as a founding partner in Morris, Marshall, Faulkner, and Company...

and depict the Crucifixion

Crucifixion

Crucifixion is an ancient method of painful execution in which the condemned person is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross and left to hang until dead...

and Ascension of Christ

Christ

Christ is the English term for the Greek meaning "the anointed one". It is a translation of the Hebrew , usually transliterated into English as Messiah or Mashiach...

surrounded by angels and stars. One of the angels was used for the second class Christmas stamp in 2009.

Other places of worship

Other places of worship include a small Catholic church situated on Station Road and two former Methodist chapels, one of which has been converted into housing.

Education

Staveley CE Primary School was founded in 1755 and moved to its present position at Brow Lane on Reston Scar

Reston Scar

Reston Scar is a fell in the Lake District of Cumbria, England. It overlooks the north side of Staveley village, and is listed among Alfred Wainwright's "Outlying Fells of Lakeland" guide...

in 1840. A new building was built 30 years ago to house the infant classes. The school also caters for children from the nearby villages of Crook, Kentmere and Ings. Before the modern-day school that exists now, the school used to be housed in a small cottage on the main street next to St.Margrets Tower.

Cultural activities

Every year in August residents put on an art exhibition for regional artists at the Roundhouse on Main Street, which includes lectures and demonstrations by notable British artists.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.