Askrigg in 1843
Askrigg is a market-town and chapelry in the parish of Aysgarth, wapentake of West Hang, and liberty of Richmondshire, in the North Riding of Yorkshire. It is situated in Wensleydale, near the north bank of the river Ure, about 241 miles from London, 55 miles north-west of York, and 17 or 18 miles south-west of Richmond. The church is an ancient edifice dedicated to St. Oswald, and Baines says that there is an ash-tree growing out of the roof of the vestry. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the vicar of Aysgarth, formerly belonging to the archdeaconry of Richmond and diocese of Chester, but now in the deanery of Catterick, archdeaconry of Richmond, and diocese of Ripon, with a gross income of £110. There is a market on Thursday, and fairs are held on the 11th, 12th, and 17th of May, the first Thursday in June, and the 28th and 29th of October. Askrigg is a place of great antiquity, and had a population of 737 in 1831, and 727 in 1841 ; but in the population returns of 1841 it is stated that the township of Askrigg includes the hamlets of Newbiggin, Nappa, and Woodhall, while the chapelry comprises Askrigg, Bainbridge, and Low Abbotside, and has a total population of 1,698. In the township are six almshouses for poor widows, founded in 1807 by Christopher Alderson, Esquire, and the free grammar-school of Yorebridge, founded in the forty-third year of Elizabeth by Anthony Besson, with an endowment of £64 and 10 shillings per annum. This is a polling-place for the North Riding. The neighbouring moorland country is exceedingly picturesque, and contains some fine waterfalls, of which may be mentioned Millgill Force, Whitfield's Force, and, farther up the dale, about five miles from Askrigg, Hardrow Force, where the water falls in a vast sheet a vertical height of 99 feet, and then rushes for 300 yards along a rocky chasm or ravine. During the hard frost of 1740-1 a prodigious icicle was formed here of the whole height of the fall. There are lead-mines in the neighbourhood, but they are not very productive. |