Garsdale, 1848

GARSDALE, a chapelry, in the parish and union of Sedbergh, W. division of the wapentake of Staincliffe and Ewcross, W. riding of York, 6 miles (E.) from Sedbergh; containing 681 inhabitants. It comprises 8,599 acres, of which only 20 are arable, and 200 woodland; about 5,000 acres are mountain moor, rising on each side of the dale. Some coal-mines are in operation, employing about 40 hands; and there are quarries of marble, a grey fossil of superior quality, but not at present worked. The river Clough, which has its source on Baugh fell, runs through the valley, and falls into the Rothay or Rathay, a little above Sedbergh. The living is a perpetual curacy, endowed with £4 yearly by Edward VI. in 1552, and in the patronage of the Crown, with a present net income of £77: the tithes have been commuted for £51. 19. 6. payable to Trinity College, Cambridge, and £6. 19. 9. to the vicar, who has a glebe of 16 acres. The chapel, dedicated to St. John the Baptist, is a small ancient building. There are places of worship for Independents, Methodists, and the Society of Friends; and a school partly supported by an endowment of £9 per annum. A former monastic cell, belonging to Coverham Abbey, near Middleham, is now a farmhouse. On a hill which separates Dent from Garsdale, is a fine chalybeate spring.