Description edited from Langdale's Yorkshire
Dictionary (1822) and Baine's Directory of the County of York (1823)
ASKRIGG, in the parish of Aysgarth, wapentake of Hang West, and liberty of
Richmondshire; 5 miles ENE. of Hawes.
Askrigg is a place of great antiquity, and is situated in the centre of
Wensleydale, near the northern bank of the Ure, in a district abounding with
romantic and beautiful scenery. The church which is dedicated to St. Oswald, is
a very ancient structure, there is an ash tree growing out of the roof of the
vestry. The living is a curacy in the patronage of the vicar of Aysgarth.
There are in the township six alms-houses for the comfort of six poor widows,
with an allowance of 4s. per week to each. These houses are situated about one
mile from Askrigg, and were erected in pursuance of the will of Christopher
Alderson, late of Hommerton, in Middlesex. The market day is on Thursday.
About half a mile from Askrigg is a water-fall, called Millgill Force, which
makes one grand vertical fall of about twenty or thirty yards, and then rushes
down the rocky bed of the ravine. One mile further is Whitfield's Force, a
spectacle highly gratifying to the lover of picturesque scenery; and about five
miles up the Dale from the town is Hardraw Force, a cascade, where the water
falls, in one vast sheet, from a ledge of rocks 99 feet in perpendicular
height. The ravine or chasm, which extends below the fall, is bounded on each
side by huge masses of rock, and is about three hundred yards in length. Behind
the fall is a deep recess, whence a good view of it may be obtained with
safety.
During the hard frost, in the year 1740-41, a prodigious icicle is recorded to
have been formed here, of the whole height of the fall, and nearly equal in
circumference.
Market, Thursday.
Fairs, May 11, and first Thursday in June, for woollen cloth, &c. October
28 and 29, for horned cattle, sheep, &c.
Principal Inn, King's Arms.
Population, 765.