A brief history of Grassington
Grassington, as it appears to us today, is comparatively new
given the fact that in much earlier times most people lived less
than half a mile away to the north at Lea Green above Grass and
Bastow Woods.
This is one of the richest archaeological sites in the
north of England, thanks to the gradual migration of the
settlement towards its present location, leaving the older sites
still exposed.
Here you can see Bronze Age burial mounds, Celtic villages and
fields, Romano-British settlements, and medieval farmsteads in
close proximity. Research has suggested that these
settlements date back to around 2000BC.
There is also evidence of two Celtic villages located between
Grassington and Bastow Wood.
The
Romans arrived in Upper Wharfedale around 50AD, departing in the
5th century, during which time they quickly developed the area
around Grassington as an important grain growing area comprising
hundreds of acres of Romano-British development building on the
earlier Celtic agricultural site.
As far as development within the bounds of present day
Grassington is concerned this also goes back a very long way,
probably to the 7th century, since the Domesday Book in the year
1087 recorded that at this time there was already 300 acres of
arable and meadow land in its vicinity, upon which tax was paid
to the King. This
site would have been chosen on account of it being located on a
fairly level shelf above the more densely wooded slope leading
down to the river.
Lead mining in the vicinity of Grassington has been carried out
since the 15th century.
When George Clifford, Earl of Cumberland, became Lord of the
Manor he brought skilled men from his Derbyshire mines to work
in the mines on Grassington Moor, in addition,
miners from Swaledale and Cornwall also settled here bringing
with them valuable expertise relating to mining techniques.
A few years later, the Earl built a smelt mill adjoining
his corn mill on the river Wharfe.A century or so later, in
1750, the Duke of Devonshire married one of the Clifford
heiresses and came to be the Lord of the Manor of Grassington.
He quickly began a great development plan for the
industry including the construction of a watercourse, the
erection of a large new smelt mill together with a cupola, and
the tall chimney that is still an important feature today.
He then greatly improved the road between Grassington and
Gargrave, where he owned a wharf on the Leeds-Liverpool canal.
It was in the context of this rather rough mining boom-town that
the tale of Tom Lee arises. The miners were a
tough breed, and it is no coincidence that Grassington police
were the first to be armed in Britain.
Cockfighting, bearbaiting and heavy drinking were the
entertainments on offer. Tom Lee was a miner
and innkeeper of the “Blue Anchor” around 1760, who had a
private grudge against the local doctor, Dr Petty, and murdered
him with some accomplices after they had been drinking having
been together to a cockfight. The doctor’s
body was eventually discovered after a few attempts to hide it,
but the perpetrator was not discovered until Lee’s apprentice
confessed some years later. Lee was tried at
York, hanged, and his body gibbeted at what is now called Gibbet
Hill in Grass Woods.
As a result of this great influx of new people into the area,
many new properties were built in Grassington, mainly in the
form of infilling between the buildings of the farming
community, from the latter part of the 17th century up to the
early part of the 19th century. Also a number
of the existing larger properties were each split into two or
three smaller dwelling units and thus the unique and quaint
character of Grassington came into being, many of the little
‘folds’ being the original farmyards in more rural times. In
1855, the Duke of Devonshire, taking his cue from other wealthy
benefactors of the time, built the Mechanics Institute, with a
library for the education and welfare of the miners.
This was enlarged in 1895, and in 1896, the Duke handed
over the Institute to the village who added a large hall, stage
and dressing rooms in 1923, and the building underwent a further
expansion with the addition of a studio theatre and nursery
school in 1998.
The late 1870s marked the start of the demise of the lead mining
industry and many miners and their families gradually left the
area. Shortly afterwards, Grassington House
changed its use from a private house into a boarding house, thus
heralding the birth of the tourist industry which is still so
important to Grassington today. Towards the
end of the 18th century a new textile industry had grown up with
the establishment of Grassington and Linton Mills, but compared
with the lead mining industry, these both had a relatively short
life. Grassington Mill had closed by 1894 and
Linton Mill was closed in 1959.
With the coming of the railway in 1902, many new people, mainly
Bradford commuters, moved into the area with property
development on the increase to meet the rising demand.
Often described by locals as a village it is really a small
town, as indicated by its name and the fact that it was granted
a charter for a market and fair in 1282, which continued to be
held regularly until about 1860.
The town has gradually expanded over this century, from a low
point on 1903 when the population was little more than 300, to
1100 today. Agriculture, quarrying, and
tourism are the mainstays of employment here, but there are many
professional commuters, and retired people, and increasing
numbers of artists, making a lively mix of locals and
“offcumd’uns”, a mix which makes the town lively and friendly.
