Place:Gisburn Forest, West Riding of Yorkshire, England

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Name	Gisburn Forest
Alt names	Gisburn-Forest	source: hyphenated
	Haughton Chapel	source: hamlet in parish
	Owlshaw	source: hamlet in parish
Type	Township, Civil parish
Coordinates	53.97°N 2.31°W
Located in	West Riding of Yorkshire, England ( - 1974)
Also located in	Yorkshire, England (1974 - )
	Lancashire, England (1974 - )
See also	Gisburn, West Riding of Yorkshire, England	ancient parish in which it was a township
	Staincliffe and Ewcross Wapentake, West Riding of Yorkshire, England	wapentake in which it was located
	Settle Rural, West Riding of Yorkshire, England	rural district in which the parish was situated 1894-1938
	Bowland Rural, West Riding of Yorkshire, England	rural district in which it was located 1938-1974
	Ribble Valley (borough), Lancashire, England	district municipality in which it has been situated since 1974

source: Family History Library Catalog

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

"GISBURN-FOREST, a township in Gisburn parish, W. R. Yorkshire; 8 miles S of Settle. It contains the hamlets of Haughton-Chapel and Owlshaw. Acres: 4,756. Real property: £2,491. Population: 301. Houses: 62."

Historically, Gisburn Forest was in the ecclesiastical parish of Gisburn in Staincliffe Wapentake. From 1894 until 1938, Gisburn Forest was located in Settle Rural District. In 1938 it was transferred to Bowland Rural District. In 1974 the area became part of the Ribble Valley District in Lancashire.

The whole of the parish had a population of 151 at the 2011 Census. The largest settlement is the western part of the village of Tosside. The two hamlets mentioned in Wilson's Gazetteer may no longer exist. The eastern part of Tosside (which was a separate parish) was absorbed into Wigglesworth in 1938.

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Research Tips

GENUKI on Gisburn Forest. The GENUKI page gives numerous references to local bodies providing genealogical assistance.
The FamilySearch wiki on the ecclesiastical parish of Gisburn provides a list of useful resources for the local area.
A Vision of Britain through Time on Gisburn Forest.
A Vision of Britain through Time on Bowland Rural District. This section provides statistics on population and industry, as well as a listing of the civil parishes and the alterations to the municipal organization.
A map of the West Riding of Yorkshire circa 1888 (before the existence of rural and urban districts) supplied by A Vision of Britain through Time
A map of the southern part of the West Riding of Yorkshire circa 1931 supplied by A Vision of Britain through Time
A map of the northern part of the West Riding of Yorkshire circa 1931 supplied by A Vision of Britain through Time (Bowland Rural Districts is divided in half horizontally between these two maps.)