Ravenstonedale is a village five miles south-west of Kirkby Stephen, and formerly a market town. The dale is surrounded by hills, with the Howgill fells to the south-west and the Wild Boar Fell rising to over 2,300 feet to the south-east.
The village is virtually within hailing distance of Yorkshire, and is almost hidden among the magnificent fell country of the Pennines and in this land of high hills and delightful valleys are the streams of the young Eden and Lune. Through the village, Scandal Beck flows over a pavement of tilted limestone, and on the side of the valley near by ancient man has left traces of his earthworks and dykes.
The village has been occupied,literally, since prehistoric times as witnessed by the many dykes and mounds (known locally as 'giants graves').
The church of St Oswald erected in 1744 (on the site of an earlier church). It has a fine three-decker pulpit, complete with a seat for the parson's wife. The church has a window in memory of Elizabeth Gaunt who was burnt at Tyburn in 1685 for sheltering a fugitive from Monmouth's rebellion...she was in fact the last woman in England to die for their Protestant faith.
A few fragments of the original church, which had a separate tower with a 'refuge bell' have been incorporated in the fabric of the present building. The interior has a number of surprises. Dark oak pews face the central aisle, a feature seen in only four other parish churches, and Robert Mounsey who was the vicar for over half of the 18th century must have got used to the idea of seeing his congregation facing each other instead of looking east as in most churches.
In bygone days local affairs in the village were controlled by the 'Peculiar Court'. Sessions were held in the parish church, the steward of the Lord of the manor presided over a jury of 24 local men, and Gallows Hill in Wharton Park is a reminder of their power, and where up until the early part of the last century, felons were hanged for a variety of crimes as well as murder.
About the year 1200, Gilbertine Monks came from the priory of Watton in Yorkshire, and settled in Ravenstonedale. They built a small establishment adjacent to the old church from whence they administered the area. It is only recently that the ruins of this monastery have been excavated from the church's graveyard, and subsequently re-dedicated in 1989 by the Archdeacon of Carlisle.
Beside the Black Swan hotel at the corner of Main Street note the spinning gallery which is still excellently preserved, and is mute testimony to the days when the village was renowned for its knitting at the early part of the last century, much as it was for butter towards the end of the last century.
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