Gayle, North Yorkshire facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Gayle |
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 Gayle Beck |
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 Gayle
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| OS grid reference | SD870893 |
| Civil parish | |
| District |
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| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | HAWES |
| Postcode district | DL8 |
| Police | North Yorkshire |
| Fire | North Yorkshire |
| Ambulance | Yorkshire |
| EU Parliament | Yorkshire and the Humber |
Gayle is a small village, called a hamlet, in North Yorkshire, England. It's located just 0.4 miles (0.64 km) south of a town called Hawes, in a beautiful valley known as Wensleydale. Gayle is famous for the stream, or 'beck', that runs through it, and for its old mill. This mill even appeared on a BBC TV show called Restoration!
Contents
A Glimpse into Gayle's Past
Gayle started as a simple farming village. But in the late 1700s, it grew quite a bit! About 350 people lived there, working in local stone quarries, digging for coal in a nearby valley called Sleddale, and at a water-powered cotton mill. The mill used the fast-flowing Gayle Beck for power. This beck is also known for the beautiful Aysgill waterfall, which is about 1 mile (1.6 km) upstream from the village.
Over time, the number of people living in Gayle became smaller. Today, the population of Gayle is counted as part of the nearby town of Hawes. Long ago, Gayle was part of a different area called the Parish of Aysgarth. Hawes used to be a very small village too, but it grew much bigger after a main road was built through it in the late 1790s. This road helped Hawes become the main town in the area.
Ancient Connections: Roman Times
To the east of Gayle, you can find what's left of what people think was a Roman camp. It was probably a small outpost connected to a larger Roman camp in nearby Bainbridge. An old Roman road, called the Cam High Fell road, also passed close to Gayle. It's possible that Gayle itself was a place where people could cross Gayle Beck, either by a bridge or by wading through the water. Even today, there's still a place to cross the beck by wading, just west of the old Gayle Bridge. This bridge is a Grade II listed building, meaning it's an important historical structure.
The main road through Gayle used to run east to west. The road connecting Gayle to Hawes wasn't built until 1829.
Village Charm and Buildings
A famous writer named Nikolaus Pevsner once described Gayle as being "almost as intricate as an Italian stone village." This means it has a complex and interesting layout, much like old villages in Italy. The oldest part of Gayle, built before the 1900s, was made a special "conservation area" in 2001. This helps protect its historic look. Most of the newer houses are located on the road leading north into Hawes.
Gayle also had a Methodist Church, built around 1755. There was once a different group of Methodists in the village, but only their graveyard remains today. The old chapel building was later turned into a community center, and it is now also a Grade II listed building.
Local Industries and the Famous Mill
Gayle Mill: A Historic Landmark
Gayle Mill was built in the 1780s. It's a very important building, listed as a Grade II* listed building and also a scheduled monument. It even came third in the BBC's Restoration TV show in 2004!
The mill was first used for spinning cotton. But in 1878, it was changed into a sawmill to cut wood. It's amazing because it's the oldest cotton mill that still looks mostly the same as when it was built. Plus, its special water turbine, built in 1878, is thought to be the oldest working water turbine in the world that's still in its original spot!
Today, Gayle Mill has been carefully fixed up and is open for people to visit. Water from Gayle Beck flows into the mill through a special channel called a leat, which is about 100 metres (330 ft) long. This leat is covered with wood, so it's known as a "pentrough." There was also a millpond built nearby. This pond helped the mill work even when the beck didn't have much water. Water could be collected overnight and then released when needed to power the mill the next day.
Resources from the Land
The hills and the Sleddale valley, located south and west of Gayle, provided important resources. People used to dig for coal and peat there. These were used by local people for heating their homes. Many of the buildings in Gayle and Hawes were built using a type of stone called carboniferous sandstone. This stone was dug out of quarries like Scar Head and East Shaw, which are south of the village.
