Craven

For other uses, see Craven (disambiguation).

Craven
—  District  —
View of south Settle from Castlebergh
Logo of The Craven District
Shown within North Yorkshire
Coordinates: 53.95°N 2.02°W / 53.95; -2.02
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Constituent country	England
Region	Yorkshire and the Humber
Ceremonial county	North Yorkshire
Founded
Admin. HQ	Skipton
Government
• Type	Craven District Council
• Leadership:	Alternative - Sec.31
• Executive:	Conservative
• MPs:	Julian Smith
Area
• Total	454 sq mi (1,177 km2)
Area rank	18th
Population (2011 est.)
• Total	55,500
• Rank	Ranked 315th
• Density	Bad rounding here120/sq mi (Bad rounding here47/km2)
Time zone	Greenwich Mean Time (UTC+0)
• Summer (DST)	British Summer Time (UTC+1)
Postcode
ISO 3166-2
ONS code	36UB (ONS) E07000163 (GSS)
OS grid reference
NUTS 3
Ethnicity	96.1% White 2.0% S.Asian
Website	cravendc.gov.uk

Craven is currently the name of a local government district in North Yorkshire, England that began in 1974, centred on the market town of Skipton. Craven district was formed as the merger of Skipton urban district, Settle Rural District and most of Skipton Rural District, all in the West Riding of Yorkshire. It comprises the upper reaches of Airedale, Wharfedale, Ribblesdale, and includes most of the Aire Gap and Craven Basin.

Additionally, the name Craven is much older than the modern district, and once encompassed a larger area. This history is also reflected in the way the term is still commonly used, for example by the Church of England.

History

Craven: “The exact extent of it we nowhere find”

—Thomas Cox, 1730

Craven has been the name of this district throughout recorded history. Its extent in the 11th century can be deduced from The Domesday Book but its boundaries now differ according to whether considering administration, taxation or religion.

Etymology

The derivation of the name Craven is uncertain, yet a Celtic origin related to the word for garlic (craf in Welsh) has been suggested as has proto-Celtic *krab- suggesting scratched or scraped in some sense. In civic use the name Craven or Cravenshire had given way to that of Staincliffe before 1166 yet the Archdeaconry remained Craven throughout.

Prehistory

The first datable evidence of human life in Craven is ca 9000 BC: a hunter's harpoon point carved out of an antler found in Victoria Cave. Most traces of the Mesolithic nomadic hunters are the flint barbs they set into shafts. Extensive finds of these microliths lie around Malham Tarn and Semerwater. Flint does not occur in the Dales, the nearest outcrop is in East Yorkshire. On higher ground microliths are found near springs at the tree line at 500 m (1,600 ft) indicating campsites close to the open hunting grounds. The valley woodlands were inhabited by deer, boar and aurochs, the higher ground was open grassland that fed herds of reindeer, elk and horse. No permanent settlements have been found of that age, hunting here was seasonal, returning to the plains in winter.

After 5000 BC Neolithic long-distance trade is indicated by the distribution of stone axes many of which were of hard volcanic rock with a cutting edge made by polishing. Lithic analysis can identify their quarry source. Axes found in Yorkshire originate in central Cumbria and are found as far as eastern Yorkshire suggesting they were traded for the flint there. But most finds are in Ribblesdale and Airedale indicating that Craven was their trade route through the Pennines. Farmers permanently settled in Craven, bringing domesticated livestock and used those stone axes to clear woodlands, probably by slash-and-burn, to increase areas for grazing and crops.

Roman occupation

In the first century the Romans, having trouble controlling the Brigantes in the Yorkshire Dales, built forts at strategic points. In Craven one fort, possibly named Olenacum, is at Elslack 53°56′27″N 2°06′58″W. Through this fort passes a Roman road linking two major centers: Bremetennacum at Ribchester Lancashire and Olicana at Ilkley Yorkshire. Archaeologists describe the road as running northeast up Ribblesdale c1km east of Clitheroe and then bending at 53°53′35″N 2°20′29″Weastwards passing c1km north of Barnoldswick. To the west of Craven another road has been proved to run north from Ribchester via Lancaster to the Roman Calacum near Kirkby Lonsdale. Although it seem inevitable that to complete the triangle there would be a third road direct from Olicana to Calacum, where the A65 now runs past Settle and Ingleton, indisputable traces of it have yet to be determined. However a Roman farm has been uncovered at Gargrave on that route.

Anglo-Saxon

Map of the Wapentakes c. 1000 AD

To collect the Danegeld in 991–1016 the Anglo-Saxons divided their territory into tax districts. The Wapentakes of Staincliffe and Ewcross covered the region we call Craven but also areas beyond it such as the Forest of Bowland in Lancashire; and Sedbergh in Cumbria to the North. The Church was still using these areas in 16th century.

Norman Conquest

The farmlands were progressively taken from the Anglo-Scandinavian farmers and given by the King to selected Normans. The previous and subsequent landowners were recorded in the Domesday Book Book along with the area of the ploughland.

The Domesday Book

The Domesday Book, on folio 301v, lists the arable land In Craven

The Great Domesday Book of 1086 did not use the later Wapentake district names in this part of England, as it usually did, but instead used the name Craven. It included lands further west than any later description: Melling, Wennington and Hornby on the River Lune in Lonsdale and even Holker near Grange over Sands in Cumbria.

Although that suggests the length, the Domesday Book does not demonstrate the width of Craven, for in it only arable land was noted. Ploughing is a minor part of Craven agriculture, although cultivators had probably been reduced further by the Harrying of the North. Most of Craven is uncultivable moorland and the valley bottoms are usually boggy, shady frost-hollows, with soils of glacial boulder clay very heavy to plough. So ploughing was limited to well-drained lower slopes. The higher slopes are so full of rock debris that grazing oxen is still the primary living in Craven, with some sheep marginal. Because grazing land was not tallied in the Domesday Book the full areas of the estates of the manors can only be induced

The areas of ploughland were counted in carucates and oxgangs: one carrucate being eight oxgangs and one oxgang varying from fifteen to twenty acres. This vagueness comes from an oxgang signifying the land one ox could plough and that varied with the heaviness of the local soil. A carucate was the area that could be managed with team of eight oxen.

Main article: Craven in the Domesday Book

In 1086 Roger of Poitou was Tenant-in-chief of the western side of Craven: Ribblesdale and the Pendle valley. In 1092 he was granted also Lonsdale to defend Morecambe Bay against Scottish raiding parties.

Soon after Henry I of England's succession to the crown in 1100 arose a rebellion of men with a variety of grievances. Several Yorkshire lords were involved and suffered confiscation of their estates. In Craven these were Roger the Poitevin, Erneis of Burun and Gilbert Tison. The King conducted a reorganization of Yorkshire by establishing men more skilled in government. Shortly after 1102 the castleries in Cravenshire were divided between the House of Romille and the House of Percy. The King was clearly intent that Cravenshire should retain a compact structure for he added-in estates from his own demesne. The result was two partially interwoven castleries incorporating nearly all the land in Craven. The Percy estates were mainly concentrated in Ribble Valley with their castle at Gisburn while the Romilles dominated upper Wharfedale and upper Airedale with their fortress at Skipton Castle.

14th century

Craven was still suffering from Scottish raiders for example in 1318 they severely damaged churches as far south as Kildwick.

In 1377, in the form of Poll Tax records, the earliest surviving detailed statistics of Craven were collected. From them we can compare the income brackets of various occupations, and the relative worth of villages. The records list every hamlet and village using the wapentake system. The Wapentakes of Staincliffe and Ewcross cover Craven but also areas beyond such as Sedburgh to the North. Young King Richard II had commanded that poll tax to pay off the debts he'd inherited from the Hundred Years' War. Its first application in 1377 was a flat rate and the second of 1379 was a sliding scale from 1 groat (4p pence) to 4 marks. But the third tax of 1381 of 4 groats (1 shilling) and up was applied corruptly and led to the Great Rising of 1381.

16th century

The Deanery of Craven had similar boundaries to the Wapentake of Staincliffe and so included the following areas which are not in the modern secular district of Craven:

• A large part of what is now the City of Bradford, namely the parishes Keighley, Addingham, and the Silsden and Steeton with Eastburn parts of the parish of Kildwick. However all of Bingley and part of Ilkley, though never part of Staincliffe Wapentake, were within Craven and are also now within Bradford. (They were in the upper division of the Wapentake of Skyrack.)
• The northern section of the modern Lancashire District of Ribble Valley, including Gisburn in Craven, and the Bowland Forest parishes of Bolton by Bowland, Slaidburn and Great Mitton, the latter including Waddington, West Bradford, and Grindleton. (Sawley, while not technically in the old Deanery, is also in this geographical area.)
• The northeastern section of the modern Lancashire District of Pendle, including Barnoldswick, Bracewell, and the part of the old parish of Thornton in Craven which includes Earby and Kelbrook

17th century hearth tax

These valuable records also define the area by wapentakes. This tax was introduced by the government of Charles II at a time of serious fiscal emergency, and collection continued until repealed by William and Mary in 1689. Under its terms each liable householder was to pay one shilling for each hearth within their property, due twice annually at the equinoxes, Michaelmas (29 September) and Lady Day (25 March). The Yorkshire records of all three ridings are now completely transcribed, analyzed and available free online

History of agriculture

Sheep

The hills and slopes of Craven are greatly involved in the history of sheep particularly in the history of wool. After 5000 BC the Neolothic farming movement introduced domesticated sheep, but the Roman occupation of Britain introduced advanced sheep husbandry to Britain and made wool into a national industry. Craven was made accessible by major roads from Ribchester up Ribblesdale and from York through Ilkley. The extent of a Roman villa farm excavated at Gargrave implies it practiced grazing on nearby moorland. By 1000 AD England and Spain were recognized as the pinnacles of European sheep wool production. About 1200 AD scientific treatises on agricultural estate management began to circulate amongst the Cistercian monasteries in the Yorkshire dales. These indicated the way to greatest profit was to produce wool for export.

“The famous monasteries under the steep, wooded banks of Yorkshire dales began the movement that in the course of four or five hundred years converted most of North England and Scotland from unused wilderness into sheep-run.”

—George MaCaulay Trevelyan, 1926

Fountains Abbey strongly affected Craven in upper Wharfedale, Airedale and Littondale. In 1200 the Abbey owned 15,000 sheep in various locations and traded directly with Italian merchants. On the limestone fells it held extensive sheep runs managed by granges located at valley heads to access both the moors and the rough pasture of valley sides. Many granges developed into hamlets. The Fountains’ sheep administrative centre was at Outgang Hill, Kilnsey. By 1320 Bolton Priory’s flock at Malham was about 2,750 and it built extensive sheep farm buildings there. Accounts show that a quarter of its cheese was sheep’s cheese, and that most of the Priory’s came from wool sales. It also developed fulling, sorting and grading into industries. Feudal Lords began to imitate monastic management methods for their own estates and in 1350 when the Black Death killed-off half the rent-paying farmers they had the bailiffs substitute sheep-pasture for tillage. The export of wool to the Flanders looms, and the concurrent growth of cloth manufacture in England, aided by Edward III's importation of Flemish weavers to teach his people the higher skill of the craft, made demand for all the wool that English flocks could supply. As the profitability of wool further increased some landowners converted all arable land into sheep pasture by evicting whole villages. Over 370 deserted medieval villages have been unearthed in Yorkshire. Henry VIII in 1539 suppressed the Monasteries and sold Littondale and the Bolton Priory's estates in lower Wharefedale and Airedale to Henry Clifford, 1st Earl of Cumberland and Lord of Skipton. By 1600 the wool trade was the primary source of tax revenue for Queen Elizabeth I. Britain’s success made it a major influence in the development and spread of sheep husbandry worldwide.

In more modern times the Industrial Revolution brought factory production of wool cloth to towns further down Airedale and many Craven families, made redundant by agricultural machinery, moved south to work in the worsted mills. However in 1966 the price of wool fell by 40% due to the increased popularity of synthetic fibres. Farmers complain it now costs more to shear a sheep than you can get for its wool and the result is reduced flocks. Although the tough wool of hill sheep is still used for carpet weaving, sheep breeding is now mostly for lambs to sell on for fattening for meat in low pastures.

Forestry

Woodland is an important component of the landscape and are crucial to scenic beauty. The small surviving areas of ancient woodland have high biodiversity value. However the Pennines are now notably lacking in trees despite archaeological evidence showing 90% was woodlands before human settlement. Palynology indicates a coincident decline in trees and increase in grasses. The dramatic shortage of natural woodlands is due to overgrazing and direct clearance for pasture. Since sheep are grazers not browsers they do not affect mature trees however they devour all their seedlings. With a much narrower face than cattle they crop plants very close to the ground and with continuous grazing can overgraze land rapidly. Ancient Common Grazing rights made it impossible to actively grow trees, even for fuel, because coppicing requires enclosure to protect re-growth from sheep. Since 2002 The Yorkshire Dales National Park has encouraged sheep farmers to switch uplands livestock to cattle since they do not graze so intensively. Traditional breeds such as Blue Greys and Belted Galloways can survive the harsh winters and live off the rough grasses just as well a sheep. Since 1968 some moorland has been afforested by the Forestry Commission. Since 2005 the collection of indigenous seeds and propagation by the Dales National Park produced saplings for planting schemes that began in 2010.

Cattle

In the 16th and 17th centuries Longhorn cattle prevailed in Craven. Good quality bulls were bought communally to improve the livestock on the common land beside each village. In the 18th century they crossbred with Shorthorns: fully grown crossbreeds weighed 420–560 pounds. Some graziers of the Craven highlands also visited Scotland, for example Oban, Lanark and Stirling, to purchased stock to be brought down the drove roads to the cattle-rearing district. In the summer of 1745 the celebrated Mr Birtwhistle brought 20,000 head from the northernmost parts of Scotland to Great Close near Malham. In modern times dairy farming has predominated. After the 1970s Holstein Friesians became the most popular breed.

Crops

Pollen analysis shows that the peak of arable agriculture in Craven was 320-410 AD. But outbreaks of pestilence in the 6th century and in the 7-8th century resulted in a shift away from ploughing to grazing. However, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records the Danish Viking settlers “were engaged in ploughing and making a living for themselves.” Cultivation lynchet terraces and ridge-and-furrow fields of the Middle Ages are visible alongside many villages particularly in Wharfedale and Malhamdale and tithe records show they grew crops of oats, barley and wheat and in rotation, beans and peas. But the wool boom of the 16th century caused most arable land to be turned into pasture. In the 18th century miller’s records show they had to import wheat to grind and sell as flour but the farmers still grew oats for it formed the principle article of their subsistence, some made into bread and puddings but mostly cooked as oatcakes.

“We were browt up on haverbreead and cheese”

—Mr J Postlethwaite, 1940

Administration

In the 18th century the national Board of Agriculture commissioned a survey of agriculture in the region with a view of improving it. This was published to the public in 1793 as General view of the Agriculture of the West Riding of Yorkshire a 140-page book detailing every factor. The wide variety of soil composition resulted in tithes ranging from 6 shillings up to 3 pounds per acre and farms leasing from 50 to 500 pounds per year. It details by parish quantities of cattle and crop produced, their rotation and market value. The report recommended more wheat and turnips; more sheep and of better breed; criticized poor drainage and design of farm buildings and taught principles of farm management.

Average wages then paid to employees were 12 pounds per annum with victuals and drink; and to temporary labourers 2 shillings and sixpence per day with beer. Hours of work in winter were “dawn till dark” and in harvest time “six till six, with one hour for dinner and another for drinking”. The author shows concern for their virtue and welfare.

Government

Craven is administered by the Craven District Council which is made up of 30 councillors who represent the 19 wards that make up the district.

The Craven Local Government District since 1974

For representation on North Yorkshire County Council Craven is divided into seven divisions and returns one councillor per division.

On a national level Craven forms part of the Skipton and Ripon constituency which is currently represented by the Conservative Member of Parliament Julian Smith.

Craven District Council allies with other organizations:

• North Yorkshire County is a two tier local authority area, with NYCC being the top and Craven District Council the bottom tier. Whilst CDC is responsible for providing some services NYCC is responsible for others.
• The Leeds City Region is the economic area comprising Craven, Harrogate, York, Bradford, Leeds, Selby, Calderdale, Kirklees, Wakefield and Barnsley. LCR members work together in fields such as transport, housing and spatial planning.
• North Yorkshire Strategic Partnership is a partnership of public sector, private sector and voluntary organizations in Craven working together to meet the needs of the communities.
• North Yorkshire Children's Trust, part of the NYSP, represents all those agencies that working with children and young people across the county. NYCT promotes the five national Every Child Matters outcomes for children.
• York and North Yorkshire Cultural Partnership brings together a number of Yorkshire agencies that bring the benefits of culture to quality of life and economic regeneration. This partnership is working together to deliver the York and North Yorkshire Cultural Strategy 2009–2014.
• Welcome to Yorkshire works to improves what the region has to offer tourists.

Towns

The largest town in Craven is Skipton. Other major population centres in the region include High Bentham, Settle, Grassington. Due to expansion the villages of Sutton-in-Craven, Cross Hills and Glusburn now make one urban conglomerate.

Other Cravens

West Craven

Main article: West Craven

In the 1974 government reorganization of the shire districts some towns were lost to Lancashire but because of cultural history some of them, all now part of the borough of Pendle, came to be known as West Craven. These are Barnoldswick, Earby, Sough, Kelbrook, Salterforth and Bracewell and Brogden. (Other more westerly parts of Craven which became parts of Ribble Valley in modern Lancashire such as Gisburn, are not normally referred to as part of West Craven.)

Archdeaconry of Craven

The modern Archdeaconry of Craven is much larger than civic District of Craven

The Anglican Church Archdeaconry 542 is named Craven and has four Deaneries: Ewecross, Bowland, Skipton and South Craven. Ecclesiastic Craven is much larger than the civic District of Craven; in particular the north of Ewecross is in Cumbria county, the lower part of South Craven is in West Yorkshire, and south-west Bowland is in Lancashire county.

The Church of England is considering charging their boundary of Bowland to match that of civic Lancashire, but this is unlikely to happen before July 2013.

South Craven

The Deanery of South Craven comprises 20 parishes: Cononley, Cowling, Cross Roads cum Lees, Cullingworth, Denholme, East Morton, Harden, Haworth, Ingrow, Kildwick, Newsholme, Oakworth, Oxenhope, Riddlesden, Sildsden, Steeton with Eastburn, Sutton-in-craven, Thwaites Brow, Utley, Wilsden. Civic boundaries further contrast in that only Bradley, Cowling, Kildwick and Sutton-in-craven are in North Yorkshire, the rest are in West Yorkshire.

Geography

Craven comprises the upper reaches of Airedale, Wharfedale, Ribblesdale and the river Wenning of Lonsdale.

Topography

Main article: Aire Gap

A Pennine traverser does not have to climb above 170 m (558 ft) following the river Aire through Craven to the river Lune

Craven was of great topographic significance for the historic North of England for it provides a low-altitude pass through "the backbone of England". It was the Pennine transport corridor from Cumbria and Strathclyde to the Vale of York. Even Neolithic long-distance trade is proved by many finds of stone axes from central Cumbria.

To the route’s north stand limestone mountains of up to 736 m (2,415 ft) above mean sea level and to its south lie bleak sandstone moors, that above 275 m (902 ft) grow little but bracken.

To walk the Pennine moors is "potentially dangerous if the weather is bad and you are ill equipped. If the cloud comes down you will need both a compass and a knowledge of how to use it."

—Jim Jarratt, 2006

Cross-section of the topography of England, coast to coast. In red is shown the altitudes of the valley called the Craven Basin or the Aire Gap. In particular the A683 from Lancaster on the tidal waters of the Irish Sea, via Ingleton on the A65 to Skipton and then on any major road beyond to Goole where the River Ouse is tidal from the North Sea. This Craven Basin or Aire Gap contrasts with the heights of the mountains of the Yorkshire Dales National Park to the north marked in blue, and also contrasts with the heights of the Forest of Bowland and the South Pennine Moors to the south marked in yellow.

Craven was first made fully accessible to wheeled vehicles by the Keighley and Kendal Road, a turnpike that started in 1743.

The treeless moorland gives no shelter from storms. Even modern Pennine transport can find it a formidable barrier for roads can be blocked by snow for several days. But the Craven route is a welcoming sheltered passageway, and also inhabited along its length.

The "little" North Western Railway's builders c.1848 sought the lowest course through the valleys of Craven and found that to be 166 m (545 ft) near Giggleswick scar at 54.074167°N 2.318056°W / 54.074167; -2.318056 (The lowest pass at Giggleswick Scar), and 160 m (525 ft) just East of Hellifield at 54.00000°N 2.16667°W / 54.00000; -2.16667 (Aire Gap, the pass between Ribblesdale and Airedale) a point labeled Aire Gap on maps.

The nearest alternative pass through the Pennines is Stainmore Gap (Eden-Tees) to the North, but that is not in Craven’s league for it climbs to 409 m (1,342 ft) and its climate is classed as sub-arctic in places. The nearest low-level routes across the country are the 228 m (748 ft) Tyne Gap over 100 km (62 mi) to the north, or the Midlands just as far to the south.

Natural vegetation

As the Ice age glacial sheets retreated from Craven ca 11,500 BC plants returned to the bare earth and archaeological palynology can identify their species. The first trees to settle were willow, birch and juniper, followed later by alder and pine. By 6500 BC temperatures were warmer and woodlands covered 90% of the dales with mostly pine, elm, lime and oak. On the limestone soils the oak was slower to colonize and pine and birch predominated. Around 3000 BC a noticeable decline in tree pollen indicates that Neolithic farmers were clearing woodland to increase grazing for domestic livestock, and studies at Linton Mires and Eshton Tarn find an increase in grassland species in Craven.

On poorly drained impermeable areas of millstone grit, shale or clays the topsoil gets waterlogged in Winter and Spring. Here tree suppression combined with the heavier rainfall results in blanket bog up to 2 m (7 ft) thick. The erosion of peat ca 2010 still exposes stumps of ancient trees.

“In digging it away they frequently find vast fir trees, perfectly sound, and some oaks...”

—Arthur Young, 1771

Vegetation in the Pennines is adapted to subarctic climates, but altitude and acidity are also factors. For example on Sutton Moor the millstone grit’s topsoil below 275 m (902 ft) has a soil ph that is almost neutral, ph 6 to 7, and so grows good grazing. But above 275 m (902 ft) it is acidic, ph 2 to 4, and so can grow only bracken, heather, sphagnum, and coarse grasses such as cottongrass, purple moor grass and heath rush. Dressing it with lime produces better quality grass for sheep grazing - such is named marginal upland grazing. This points to the advantage of Pastoral farming near Craven Fault where the lime is so available.

Demography

• The population is increasing and growing older. By 2020 Craven’s population is projected at 63,400, an increase of 14.2% (2006 based sub-national population projections ONS).
• 95.6% of the Districts population is white British, with ethnic minority (BME) groups making up 4.4% (Mid Year 2006 Population Estimates, Experimental Statistics ONS).
• Young people aged 19 and under make up 22% of the population, those aged 20 to 64 make up 56%, and those aged 65 and over 22% (Mid Year 2008 Population Estimates, ONS)
• 17.23% of the population consider themselves to have a long-term limiting illness or disability (2001 Census Statistics ONS).

Economy

Businesses by industrial sector

Sector	Quantity	%
Manufacturing	213	7.2
Construction	369	12.5
Distribution, Hotels and Restaurants	972	32.8
Transport and Communications	157	5.3
Banking, Finance and Insurance	760	25.6
Public Admin, Education and Health	271	9.1
Other	221	7.5

Economic forecasts for 2010 show that the Craven District's diverse economy, measured in Gross Value Added (GVA), is worth £1.14 billion ($1.87 billion) Since 1998 the value of the District’s economy has grown by 45%. Craven hosts a variety of small businesses - 72% employ less than four people. Businesses that employ above 50 employees (2.2%) are mostly in the south of the District.

• The visitor economy sector has the largest number of businesses.
• The banking, finance and insurance sector has experienced significant growth since 2003 mainly through the Skipton Building Society group.
• Agriculture and land-based industries form a significant part of the District’s economy, particularly within the remoter areas.
• Manufacturing has declined since 2003 but is still a key sector: Major manufacturers are Johnson & Johnson Wound Management and Angus Fire & Transtechnology.

Traditional mainstays

Agriculture

The business of agriculture revolves around the Market towns of Craven:

The market days of Craven

Market town	Street market	Farmers	Crops auction	Cattle auction	Other livestock
Bentham	Wed	1st Sat	-	Wed: primestock	1st Tues: dairy, sheep, seasonals
Ingleton	Fri	inactive	-	-	-
Settle	Tues	2nd Sun	-	-	-
Gisburn	-	-	Thur: hay and straw	Thur: prime, dairy, sheep	1st and 3rd Sat: breeding, store
Grassington	inactive	3rd Sun	inactive	inactive	inactive
Skipton	Mon Wed Fri Sat	1st Sat	Mon: crops and produce	Mon: prime, dairy, sheep	1st and 3rd Wed: store, pedigree

AHDB, the national Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board, issues regional reports with constant updates on agricultural output:

• CATTLE: For example on 18 July 2011 at Skipton 108 cattle were sold including 55 prime steers@ave £123 ($202); 53 heifers@ave £157; 2 young bulls@ £120; 21 older heifers@ £147.
• SHEEP: For example at Skipton 18 July 2011 price average for 985 lambs was £188; and for 278 ewes/rams £156. Sheep dogs auctions are held seasonally at Skipton and Bentham - the world record price was broken February 2011 with £6,300 ($10,270) for Dewi Fan - previous record £5,145 ($8,390)
• DAIRY: Traditionally mostly sold as cheese. North Yorkshire in 2008 had 649 holdings with 71,518 dairy cows aged over 2 years. Average annual milk yield is 7,406 litres/cow. Wholesale production of milk for all of North Yorkshire 2009/10 was 488,894,588 litres.

Two thirds of Craven lie within the Yorkshire Dales National Park where traditional landscape preservation is required

Quarrying

Silurian gritstones are quarried along the North Craven Fault line above Ingleton and in Ribblesdale. Lower Carboniferous Great Scar Limestone is also quarried in those areas and near Grassington; and Carboniferous reef limestones are quarried around Skipton.

Employment

Employment by occupation

Occupation	%
Sales and customer service	6
Personnel services	7
Process: Plant	8
Administration	10
Elementary	12
Professional occupations	12
Associate Professionals	12
Skilled Trades	16
Managers and senior officials	17

Employees by industrial sector 2008

Sector	Quantity	%
Agriculture	362	1.4
Manufacturing	2,602	9.8
Construction	1,759	6.6
Distribution, Hotels and Restaurants	7,383	27.8
Transport and Communications	781	2.9
Banking, Finance and Insurance	7,522	28.3
Public Administration, Education and Health	5,357	20.1
Other	825	3.1

In 2008 there were 26,591 employed; 22% were self-employed. In 2010 each Full Time Equivalent (FTE) employee contributed £40,311 to the District’s economy, representing an increase in productivity of 21.9% since 1998; an annual increase of 1.8%. The value of output per capita (estimated to be £19,703) has increased by 32% since 1998.

Education

Jobskills

The proportion of the working age population with high levels educational attainment is above the national average, and 40% of the District’s residents have managerial and professional occupations. Also Lantra's Landskills offers workshops in efficiency and profitability in agriculture, horticulture and forestry with up to 70% funding. Caven is covered in Farm Business Support and Development and Yorkshire Rural Training Network. Yet from 2004 to 2009 there was generally a decline in attainment of about 12% and the number of people in the District with no qualifications increased by 1.8%. Such people have reduced employment options, however Craven College in Skipton is one of the largest Further Education Colleges in North Yorkshire and provides an outreach service to rural areas.

Museums

Craven Museum & Gallery in Skipton is one of three museums in the district. It has obtained funding to deliver various projects:

• The Phoenix Project; delivered in partnership with the three other museums in Craven increased accessibility of collections.
• The Archaeology in the Landscape project, targeting young people, families and the disadvantaged, delivers events, workshops, demonstrations and education programmes to 3,460 young people and over 17,000 adults.
• The Young Archaeologists Club programme delivered museum education to approx 3,000 students 2009–2010.

As part of the projects above Craven Museum & Gallery staff worked with both the Museum of North Craven Life, The Folly in Settle and the Grassington Folk Museum.

Arts

Craven District supports arts through music, theatre, dance, literature, visual arts and festivals. Funding from the Arts Council England (Yorkshire) alone totaled £435,811 between 2006 and 2009. Grants from other sources including the Gulbenkian Fund and Esme Fairburn Trust totaling well over an additional £160,000. A new exhibition gallery was opened in 2005 at Craven Museum & Gallery [4], Skipton, which now hosts a programme of exhibitions each year.

Sport

Craven Council opened the Craven Pool and Fitness Centre in 2003 and extended it in 2007. The Centre reached the semi-finals in the Best Semi Best Sports Project category of The National Lottery Awards. The Craven Active Sports Network develops opportunities for participation in sport and active recreation, sourcing funding for a variety of projects throughout the District, totaling over £14.5 million in 2001–2011. The National Sport Unlimited Scheme, delivering a programme of sporting activity to 1205 young people and teenagers, brought in £45,000 of external funding.

Notable people

William Craven of Appletreewick, born in a modest family, went to London and rose rapidly to became its Lord Mayor. He is sometimes referred to as "Aptrick's Dick Whittington" suggesting the story of Dick Whittington is based on his life. William was born c1518 in Appletreewick near Skipton. At age 14 was sent to London to apprentice to a Watling Street Tailor. He qualified in 1569 and made such a fine impression that in 1600 he was made Alderman of Bishopgate; in 1601 he was chosen Lord Mayor of London and in 1603 was knighted by James I. He made benefactions to Craven Yorkshire, founding the school in Burnsall.

William’s son John founded the famous Craven Scholarships at Oxford and Cambridge Universities and in 1647 left many large charitable bequests to North Yorkshire towns including Burnsall and Skipton in Craven.

After 1660 William's first son William Craven was made the first Earl of Craven by Charles II. However, that title was eponyminous for the estate was Uffington Berkshire; he was in no sense a lord of Craven Yorkshire.

Lady Anne Clifford, 14th Baroness de Clifford owned and restored Skipton Castle in 1665.

Gallery

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  River Wenning passing The Punch Bowl in Low Bentham

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  View of High Bentham from the Heritage Trail

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  View of Settle from Castlebergh

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  View back across the Ribble to Giggleswick Scar.

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  Airedale South of Malham

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  Gargrave's milestone on the Keighley and Kendal Turnpike, 1753 – 1878

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  The River Aire at Gargrave

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  View of Skipton from Skipton Moor

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  Kildwick Bridge west side built 1305-1313 with ribbed vaulting

Further reading

• Carr, William (1828). The Dialect of Craven [Horæ momenta Cravenæ]. London: Wm. Crofts. ISBN 978-0-554-43398-1. 

• Pontefract, Ella; Marie Hartley (1938). Wharfedale. London: J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd. ISBN 978-1-870071-21-5. 

External links

• Craven District Council
• North Yorkshire County Council
• Craven Museum & Gallery, Skipton
• North Craven Historical Research Group, Settle