Askrigg | |
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Askrigg |
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Askrigg shown within North Yorkshire | |
Population | 563 (2011) |
OS grid reference | SD948910 |
District | |
Shire county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | LEYBURN |
Postcode district | DL8 3 |
Police | North Yorkshire |
Fire | North Yorkshire |
Ambulance | Yorkshire |
EU Parliament | Yorkshire and the Humber |
UK Parliament | |
Askrigg is a small village and civil parish in Wensleydale in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. It is part of the Richmondshire district of North Yorkshire, England. The village and its parish are located in Upper Wensleydale, 12 miles west of Leyburn, and 5 miles east of Hawes. It is 26.4 miles (42.5 km) west of the County Town of Northallerton.
The village is mentioned in the Domesday Book as Ascric. At the time of the Norman invasion the manor was held by Arnketil. Afterwards the lands were owned on behalf of the Crown by Count Alan of Brittany who granted then lordship of the manor to Gospatric, son of Arnketil. By 1251 the manor had come to the Fitz Hugh family who were also lords of Ravenworth and stayed with them until the 16th century. In the early 16th century the manor became the possession of Sir Thomas Parr. His son William died without issue in 1571 when it became the property of the Crown. In 1664 the manorial rights were leased from the Crown by Metcalfe family.
The name Askrigg is of Old Norse origin, consisting of the combination of askr (ash tree) and hryggr (ridge), meaning the ridge where ash trees grew, denoting the existence of Viking settlers and their farming. The oldest settlement probably dates back to the Iron Age.
The village remained of little commercial importance throughout the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries when Wensleydale was extensively used for sheep grazing by the Cistercian monks, who became prosperous on the profits of the wool trade. In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, however, secular wealth became important in the dale following the border conflicts in the north and the Dissolution of the Monasteries throughout the country.