Place:Hawes, North Riding of Yorkshire, England

the text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia Hawes is a civil parish and a small market community at the head of Wensleydale in the western part of North Yorkshire, England. Until 1974 Hawes was in the North Riding of Yorkshire. It is now located in the Richmondshire District of North Yorkshire. Hawes is located at the head of Wensleydale valley in the Yorkshire Dales; the River Ure runs to the north of the town. The population of Hawes village in the 2011 UK census was 887; the population as estimated by the in 2016 was 893. The parish of Hawes, which covers over 19,000 acres (7690 hectares) also includes the hamlets of Gayle and Appersett. The population of the full parish was 1,137 in 2011 and was estimated at 1,138 in 2016. The village is 31.2 miles (50.2 km) west of the county town of Northallerton. Prior to the nationwide municipal reorganization of 1974, Hawes was in the Aysgarth Rural District from 1894.

History

There is no mention in the Domesday Book of 1086 of a settlement where the current town is. A marketplace was first recorded in 1307. The town was granted a charter to hold markets by King William III in 1699. It allowed for a weekly Tuesday market and two fairs a year. In 1887 an auction market was established in the town that held cattle sales fortnightly. In addition, five cattle fairs and three sheep fairs were held each year. Soon after, four cheese fairs spread over the year also became a regular event in the town. It is known as the home to the Yorkshire Wensleydale Cheese.

There is little mention of the town until the 15th century when the population had risen enough for a chapel of ease or "chapelry" to be built. The chapelry was dependent on the ancient parish of Aysgarth for its priest-in-charge. Hawes became a separate ecclesiastical parish in 1739, and a civil parish in 1866.

Transport

The Richmond to Lancaster Turnpike was diverted in 1795 and from then on, it passed through Hawes. The Wensleydale Railway reached Hawes in 1878. The village once had a railway station that was the terminus of the Hawes branch of the Midland Railway and an end-on terminus of the line from Northallerton from its opening in 1878 to its closure in April 1954.

Mossdale Moor

The following description from John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales of 1870-72 is provided by the website A Vision of Britain Through Time (University of Portsmouth Department of Geography).

"MOSSDALE, a hamlet in Hawes chapelry, Aysgarth parish, [North Riding of] Yorkshire; in the valley of the river Ure, near Hawes."

Wether Fell

Wether Fell was a hamlet and a parochial area located at the western base of a fell [hill] of the same name on the boundary between the parishes of Hawes and Bainbridge.

Research Tips

• GENUKI on Hawes. The GENUKI page gives numerous references to local bodies providing genealogical assistance.
• A Vision of Britain through Time on Hawes.
• The FamilySearch wiki on the ecclesiastical parish of Aysgarth provides a list of useful resources for the local area.