Dent is a village near Sedbergh (often known as Dent-Town)..originally in Yorkshire until 1974...but still within the boundaries of the Yorkshire Dales National Park.
Its major claim to fame is its best known son Adam Sedgwick...the 19th century father of modern geology in whose memory a great block of Shap granite is sited on the main street.
Adam Sedgwick was for 55 years the Woodwardian Professor of geology at Cambridge University...and was one of the greatest field geologists of his time. He was also a gifted teacher and lecturer..Charles Darwin was in fact one of his pupils (though Sedgwick was later to be a stern critic of Darwinism) a personal friend of both Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.
There is much archaeological evidence around to indicate that there was a Roman presence here at one time.
The medieval church of St Andrew which dominates the village is over 900 years old, and within the churchyard the Jacobean Grammar School still stands. This tiny two-storey building in Dent churchyard, just to the right and rear of the church is the 17th century grammar school of those days, founded originally to teach local boys to read and write and to master church Latin and some mathematics. Adam Sedgwick was a pupil here as a child being taught by his father Richard, Vicar of Dent, whose duties included teaching at the scholl. Adam continued his education at nearby Sedbergh School before going on to Trinity College, Cambridge.
In the 18th and 19th century the town had a flourishing industry - 'hand knitting'. Bringing considerable repute to the village 'The Terrible Knitters of Dent' produced vast quantities of hose and gloves. Both men and women knitted. In good weather the narrow cobbled streets and wooden galleries of the houses would be full of people talking and knitting. An indication of their output is shown in Kendal records,for during the period 1795-1801, 2,400 pairs of stockings were sent weekly to Kendal market. Regretfully the knitting trade died out when knee-breeches were no longer worn.
The parking space opposite to the Sun Inn was originally the site of a lodge for the drivers of pony trains. Next to it was the White Hat Inn. The mounting stone beside it served as a stand for any orator wishing to address the crowd. Here Adam Sedgwick stood to announce the victory at Waterloo.
Dentdale's other historic monument is the Settle-Carlisle railway with its magnificent viaducts at Artengill and Dent Head. They represent the great and heroic efforts which brough steam transport to Dent back in 1875.
Dentdale had ancient mining and quarrying industries. Bell pits on the hillsides reveal the sites of small open cast coal mines and the road from Dent Station over to Garsdale is known as the Coal road. There are still the remains of a primitive copper mine in the dale. The main mineral indistry however was 'black marble' quarried and processed at Stonehouse in upper Dentdale, where the remains of the workings can still be seen. This marble was much pprized in Victorian England for its unusual colour and the wealth of fossils. Whernside Manor hereabouts (now run by the Yorkshire Dales National Park) is reputedly not only home to three ghosts, but its 18th century slave-owning occupants...the Sill family...are suggested as having inspired Charlotte Bronte in creating the central characters in Jane Eyre, whilst Emily Bronte's Heathcliff in 'Wuthering Heights' was based on a no-good orphan boy.
At Hall Lane is a narrow lane that has changed little since the days of pack-horses and wheeled carts,and is lined with traditional tall hedgerows rich in wildflowers, typical of this part of Dentdale. High Hall Farm nearby has Tudor chimneys which are visible from the lane, is now in use as a rare breeds farm.
The existence of limestone here is responsible for another important feature of Dentdale...its underground caves. As is well known limestone is soluble in rainwater and over millions of years a complex system of caverns and underground passages has evolved. There are many skilled and experienced cavers in the dale, many of whom enjoy international reputation.
The best known cave here is Ibbeth Peril Cave, the entrance being behind a small cliff over-looking a plunge pool about 100 yards downstream from Tommy Bridge. 400 feet of crawling on hands and knees leads eventually to an enormous chamber complete with stalactites and waterfall.
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