In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Asby like this:
ASBY, formerly Ashby or Asheby, a parish in East Ward district, Westmoreland; on an affluent of the river Eden, adjacent to the Eden Valley railway, near Warcop r. station, and 4 miles S by E of Appleby. It comprises the townships of Great Asby, Little Asby, Asby-Coatsforth, and Asby-Winderwath, and the tract of Grange Hall sometimes deemed extra-parochial; and its Post Town is Warcop under Penrith. ...
Acres, 8,395. Real property, £3,507. Pop., 440. Houses, 89. The property is subdivided. Great Asby belonged to Roger Clifford. Little Asby had formerly a chapel with a chantry; and belonged to the Honeywoods. Asby-Coatsforth belonged to the Coatsforths and the Musgraves. Asby-Winderwath belonged to the Vanes. Asby-Overgrange belonged to Byland Abbey; and Gathorne to St. Leonard's, York. Asby Hall is the seat of the Park family. Great part of the parish is mountainous. Three of the chief summits, Gathornelingow, Oxenburgh, and Castlefolds, have altitudes of respectively 1,538, 1,620, and 1,700 feet. Asby-Scar is a ridge of rock extending about 2 miles from N to S, and 4 miles from E to W. A cavern called Pate Hole, about a ¼ of a mile S of the hamlet of Great Asby, runs 430 yards in one direction, and 230 yards in another, and has, at the end of its first gallery, a pool 20 yards long and a lofty dome. Some striking scenery occurs among the mountains. Freestone, limestone, and copper ore, are worked. Several tumuli, various in form, exist at Sayle Bottom; and two, which were found to contain human remains, are at Gathorne Hall. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Carlisle, Value, £205. Patroness, Miss Hill. The church was rebuilt in 1866 at a cost of £2,000; and is in the decorated English style. There are an endowed school, with £41 a year, an alms-house, with £18, and other charities, with £20.
Asby through time
Asby is now part of Eden district. Click here for graphs and data of how Eden has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Asby itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Asby, in Eden and Westmorland | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/5341
Date accessed: 19th April 2024
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