The Land of the Lune - Drakkar Press

active area long ago – long before the Norber erratics
coincidentally added further geological interest. This
is the line of the North Craven Fault that we met at
Thornton Force above Ingleton. After the Silurian period
the layers of sandstone were crumpled and subsequently
eroded to leave steeply bedded, folded strata that are
now exposed in places. After the Carboniferous period
the area was raised above sea level with the greatest and
most irregular movements along the Craven Faults.
Austwick Beck passes the ancient village of
Austwick, the old core of which is surrounded by modern
houses, indicating that a legendary practice failed to
achieve its purpose. According to tradition, the residents
of Austwick used to pretend to be simpletons in order to
discourage outsiders from moving in. Harry Speight’s
Craven Highlands (1895) gives several examples of
Austwickian stupidity – but with no suggestion that this
was feigned. Today, Austwick revels in its reputation as
the ‘Cuckoo Town’. It would do better to revel in the
magnificent scenery with which it has been blessed.
There are man-made, as well as geological,
features to be seen in the landscape. Across the beck
from Austwick, Oxenber Wood is pockmarked with
old quarries, and common rights still permit Austwick
parishioners to gather stones there. Oxenber Wood and
the adjacent Wharfe Wood are old wood pastures that
are CRoW land. The dominant trees are
ash and hazel, with some hawthorn and
rowan, and, at the northern end, birch and
holly. The ground flora includes various
herbs such as wild thyme, salad burnet,
dog’s mercury and wood sorrel.
Also visible, especially in a low sun,
to the west and east of Austwick are the
stripes of ancient strip lynchets. These
are terraces up to 10m wide that were
created by Anglo-Saxons from the 7 th
century onwards as they ploughed along
contours. These are the first lynchets we
have met and indicate how far west the
Anglo-Saxons colonised. Sometimes the
characteristic stone walls of the Dales
cross the lynchets, telling us that the
former are younger. Originally, a farmer
owned several strips of land but they
were distributed about different fields
in order to be fair to all. The need to
improve efficiency led to the creation of
The Top 10 dales in Loyne
1. Crummackdale
2. Dentdale
3. Kingsdale
4. Borrowdale
5. Roeburndale
6. Barbondale
7. Grisedale
8. Bretherdale
9. Littledale
10. Bowderdale
(Does Chapel-le-Dale count as a dale?)
Austwick Beck 161
individually owned enclosures, in a complex process
that began informally in the 12 th century and became
enforced by parliamentary acts in the 18 th century. The
stone walls were built to delimit the enclosures.
Below Austwick, Austwick Beck passes the old
and new Harden Bridge, a name that reminds us of
Austwick’s weaving industry that survived until the
late 19 th century, harden being a kind of coarse linen
made from the hard parts of flax. By Harden Bridge is a
campsite that uses buildings that until the 1980s formed
an isolation hospital for people with infectious diseases.
A Norber erratic
This is Chapter 10 of The Land of the Lune (2nd edition), http://www.drakkar.co.uk/landofthelune.html, Copyright © 2010 John Self