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Arkengarthdale is a dale, or valley, on the east side of the Pennines in North Yorkshire, England. Running roughly north-west to south-east, it is the valley of the Arkle Beck, and is the northernmost of the Yorkshire Dales. It is a subsidiary dale to Swaledale, which it joins at Reeth. On its way up the dale from Reeth the unclassified road crosses many other small streams and their catchments, such as Great Punchard Gill, Roe Beck, Annaside Beck, and William Gill. It passes through several small settlements: Raw, Arkle Town, Langthwaite (where a narrow back road leads to Booze), Eskeleth and Whaw. At Eskeleth Bridge another unclassified road forks north-east (towards Barnard Castle); this also joins a minor road running along the northern side of the dale to Whaw. Beyond Whaw is the most sparsely populated upper part of Arkengarthdale, which here runs roughly west–east. This area is one of the most northerly parts of the Yorkshire Dales National Park. Eventually the dale ends and the road reaches the Tan Hill Inn, the highest in England, just outside the Park, near the Pennine watershed. Beyond Tan Hill, the road divides again, heading westward to Brough, south to Keld and south-west to Kirkby Stephen. The moors on both sides of Arkengarthdale are used for the annual Scott Trial, a cross-country motorcycle endurance event. The Dale cuts through the eastern half of a major lead mining field and lead was extracted from the area for over a thousand years.〔Raistrick, Arthur (1955) ''Mines and Miners of Swaledale''. Atkinson & Pollitt, Kendal. Pages 15-18.〕 Most of the mining structures have now disappeared leaving only the spoil heaps and the line of a 1100 metre long chimney from the site of the smelting mill. The current economy of the Dale depends on hill farming, grouse shooting and tourism. ==Population and land ownership== In the 19th century a lead ingot with the name Hadrian stamped on it was found, at Hurst, east of the dale. This find, which has been lost at the British Museum, as well as records of the Romans at Richmond using Brigantian slaves digging for lead, has led to the assumption that the Romans were mining lead in Arkengarthdale in the 2nd century.〔Batty, Margaret (1982) ''A View of Arkengarthdale''.: no evidence.〕 The large proportion of Viking names, Fagger Gill, Kitley Hill, Langthwaite and Whaw, indicates Viking settlement during the 10th century, probably arriving from the west. Arkil is a Viking name which leads to speculation that he was a local leader.〔Batty. p.4.〕 Following the Norman conquest in the 11th century a large part of North Yorkshire was given to Count Alan, a member of William's family. He kept Arkengarthdale and neighbouring New Forest as a hunting "forest" which was policed by forest rangers. In the 14th century there were eight gamekeepers employed preventing game being hunted in the dale.〔Batty. p.4.〕 Towards the end of the 13th century there were 30 cottages in the Parish, but there followed a period lasting over a century of depression and de-population, with plague and war with France.〔Batty. p.5.〕 By the end of the 16th century the Earls of Richmond had died out and Arkengarthdale and New Forest reverted to the Crown. Attempts by Crown agents to change the leases of the 55 tenants of small-holdings in the area led to protracted disputes. In 1628 the Crown, in an attempt to clear its debts, sold Arkengarthdale as well as other estates to the City of London. In 1656 the valley was bought by Charles Bathurst, who was Oliver Cromwell's doctor.〔Batty. p.8.〕 The estate remained in the Bathurst family for four generations, John, Theodore & Charles, until in 1740 it was inherited by Charles' three great-granddaughters. At that time married women were not allowed to own property so the estate belonged to their husbands.〔Batty. p.7.〕 In 1770 the highway to Brough via Tan Hill was opened.〔Batty. p.8.〕 Between 1808 and 1811 a London banker, George Brown of Stockton, bought all three parts of the estate. Before his death in 1814 Brown had rebuilt the school and laid plans for a new church. The estate was inherited by his sister and his second sister's husband Rev John Gilpin, vicar of Stockton.〔Batty. p.9.〕 The early 19th century was a time of growth in the dale. In 1801 there was a population of 1186. In 1811 it had risen to 1529. In 1798 there were 34 miners and 1 farmer; in 1820 there were 9 farmers, 5 innkeepers, 4 mining agents, 2 flour dealers, a curate, a schoolmaster, a clogger, a shoemaker and a shopkeeper. In 1831 there were 285 males over 25 years old working as miners.〔Batty. p.4,9,10.〕 But with the decline of the price of lead from £33 a ton in 1801 to £13 10s in 1831 a depression followed during which people left the dale in search of work; some to the factories in Derbyshire and Lancashire, others to the mines in County Durham, a significant number also emigrated to America.〔Raistrick. p. 26.〕〔Batty. p.9.〕 The average age of death of miners between 1835 and 1841 was 54 years 5 months. Typhus was common in the dale.〔Batty. p.12.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Arkengarthdale」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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