Place:Arncliffe, West Riding of Yorkshire, England

source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names

source: Family History Library Catalog

source: Family History Library Catalog

the text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia

Arncliffe is a small village and civil parish, the largest of Littondale's four settlements. Littondale is a small valley alongside Upper Wharfedale, 3 miles beyond Kilnsey and its famous crag. It is now part of the Craven District of the non-metropolitan county of North Yorkshire. Until 1974 it was in the West Riding of Yorkshire.

Situated on a gravel delta above the flood-plain of the River Skirfare, Arncliffe's houses, cottages, and other buildings face in towards a large green, and outwards to green hillsides etched with limestone scars. A barn to the north of the green is a good example of the local style, with an unusual entrance, and a datestone of 1677.

Behind the village buildings are several small crofts (small land holdings), nearly one to each house, and beyond these, limestone walls climb the surrounding hills separating higher fields. St Oswald's church lies close to the river a little north of the village, and the road up the dale crosses the river past Bridge End where Charles Kingsley stayed, and Old Cotes, built in 1650, whose gabled porch has a 3-light window somewhat characteristic of late 17th-century houses in this area of the dales. A narrow, winding road climbs steeply southwards from the village, across the fells towards Malham. Paths also go towards Kettlewell and Starbotton.

Arncliffe was an ecclesiastical parish in the Staincliffe and Ewcross Wapentake. It was situated in the Settle Registration District and the Settle Rural District in the West Riding. It includes several chapelries and townships: Buckden, Buckden, Halton Gill, Hawkswick, Litton, and Hubberholme, described below.

Hubberholme

A Vision of Britain through Time provides the following description of Hubberholme from John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales of 1870-72:

"HUBBERHOLME, a hamlet and a chapelry in Arncliffe parish, [West Riding of] Yorkshire. The hamlet lies on the river Wharfe, in Langstrothdale Chase, 2 miles NW of Buckden village, and 13½ NE by N of Settle.

"The chapelry is conterminate with Buckden township, which has a post office under Skipton. Acres:13,224. Real property: £5,039. Population: 335. Houses: 72. The living is a [perpetual] curacy in the diocese of Ripon. Value: £80. Patron: the Vicar of Arncliffe. The church has a small tower: and there is a Wesleyan chapel."

Research Tips

• British History Online (Victoria County Histories) do not cover the West Riding of Yorkshire
• GENUKI has a page on all three ridings of Yorkshire and pages for each of the ecclesiastical parishes in the county. Under each parish there is a list of the settlements within it and brief description of each. The list is based on a gazetteer dated 1835 and there may have been a number of alterations to the parish setup since then. However, it is worthwhile information for the pre civil registration era. GENUKI provides references to other organizations who hold genealogical information for the local area. There is no guarantee that the website has been kept up to date and the submitter is very firm about his copyright. This should not stop anyone from reading the material.
• The FamilyTree Wiki has a series of pages similar to those provided by GENUKI which may have been prepared at a later date from more recent data. The wiki has a link to English Jurisdictions 1851 which gives the registration district and wapentake for each parish, together with statistics from the 1851 census for the area.
• A Vision of Britain through Time, Yorkshire West Riding, section "Units and Statistics" leads to analyses of population and organization of the county from about 1800 through 1974. There are pages available for all civil parishes, municipal boroughs and other administrative divisions. Descriptions provided are usually based on a gazetteer of 1870-72.

• Map of the West Riding divisions in 1888 produced by UK Ordnance Survey and provided online by A Vision of Britain through Time
• Map of West Riding divisions in 1917 produced by UK Ordnance Survey and provided online by A Vision of Britain through Time. In other counties, the map for 1900 has been used, but it is not coming up in Vision of Britain's list.
• Map of West Riding divisions in 1944 produced by UK Ordnance Survey and provided online by A Vision of Britain through Time

• The above three maps indicate the boundaries between parishes, etc., but for a more detailed view of a specific area try a map from this selection. The oldest series are very clear at the third magnification offered. Comparing the map details with the GENUKI details for the same area is well worthwhile.
• Yorkshire has a large number of family history and genealogical societies. A list of the societies will be found on the Yorkshire, England page.
• In March 2018 Ancestry announced that its file entitled "Yorkshire, England: Church of England Parish Records, 1538-1873" has been expanded to include another 94 parishes (across the three ridings) and expected it to be expanded further during the year. The entries are taken from previously printed parish registers.