Low Bentham, Yorkshire, England. Geographical and Historical information from 1835.

LOW BENTHAM:
Geographical and Historical information from the year 1835.

"LOW BENTHAM, a parish in the western division of the wapentake of STAINCLIFFE and EWCROSS, West riding of the county of YORK, comprising the chapelry of Ingleton, and the townships of Bentham and Langcliffe, and containing 3824 inhabitants, of which number, 2102 are in the township of Bentham, 12 miles W.N.W. from Settle. The living is a rectory, in the archdeaconry of Richmond, and diocese of Chester, rated in the king's books at £35. 7. 8., and in the patronage of T. L. Parker, Esq. The church, dedicated to St. John the Baptist, has lately received an addition of two hundred and eighteen sittings, one hundred and twentyseven of which are free, the Incorporated Society for the enlargement of churches and chapels having granted £100 toward defraying the expense. Here are mills for the spinning of flax and the manufacture of linen; there are also some potteries in the parish. William Collingwood, in 1726, bequeathed property for the endowment of a free school for boys in Upper Bentham, and an hospital for six men and six women, which was vested in trustees under a decree of the Court of Chancery, in 1733, and now produces £240 per annum; some trifling donations have since been made to the school."

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"INGLETON, a chapelry in the parish of LOW BENTHAM, western division of the wapentake of STAINCLIFFE and EWCROSS, West riding of the county of YORK, 9 miles N.W. from Settle, containing 1302 inhabitants. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the archdeaconry of Richmond, and diocese of Chester, endowed with £600 private benefaction, £400 royal bounty, and £800 parliamentary grant, and in the patronage of the Rector of Bentham. Six children are instructed for about £8 a year, the united bequests of Jennet Rose, in 1710, and of Henry Bouet. In the neighbourhood are many romantic objects, amongst which are Raven Roe, a rocky promontory covered with evergreens, Thornton Scar, and Thornton Froe, a curious water-fall; but the most striking of all is Yordas cave, in the vale of Kingsdale, under a mountain called Gray Gareth; the excavation, which is carried through a solid rock of black marble, "somewhat resembles the interior of a cathedral, having on the right what is called the Bishop's Throne, and on the left the Chapter House, with petrifactions hanging from the roof. From the roof and sides issue numerous rills, forming fantastic cascades, which contribute to the general beauty and sublimity of the whole. The report of a pistol here causes reverberations similar to those produced by the discharge of a park of artillery."

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"LANGCLIFFE, a township in the parish of LOW BENTHAM, western division of the wapentake of STAINCLIFFE-and-EWCROSS, West riding of the county of YORK, 1 mile N. from Settle, containing 420 inhabitants. Here are cotton and paper manufactories."

[Transcribed by Mel Lockie © from
Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England 1835]