Did you know ...
- Eskdaleside-cum-Ugglebarnby Parish consists of 4,500 acres of land
- The lovely avenue of limes down to Esk Hall is said to be haunted. If a member of the family rode down this avenue it was said there would be a death in the family so the entrance was walled off and a road made down the side which is still in use today
- The small horse drinking trough on the side of the road opposite Sleights Village Hall is called ‘Cobbler’s Dish’ on old maps of the area
- Before the road which runs the length of the village was known as Coach Road, the portion of the road running from Esk Hall down to the bridge was called Coates Road, named after William Coates who occupied Esk Hall in 1777
- Sleights had two corn mills. One of these was where the present dam known as the ‘Salmon Leap’ is and was called ‘Groves Mill’. This was burnt down in 1822. The second was in Briggswath, where the current Methodist Chapel now stands
- Outside the main entrance to Briggswath Methodist Chapel, on the small garden bed, is a large boulder of Shap granite brought down by the glaciers of the ice age from Shap Fell. This boulder was uncovered when digging the foundations of the chapel
- Briggswath had an ironstone mine in 1850 and a tannery in 1870
- One of the oldest highways in England, Featherbed Lane, exits on to the main road in Briggswath
- The village pump of 1859 was last used in 1930 when the ‘Great Flood’ washed away the water mains
- The village stocks were located behind the land that the village pump stands on
- Eskdale chapel, built in 1300, was situated down the fields on Eskdaleside and was the place of worship for residents of Sleights until 1750. This is the chapel where the legend of the planting of the Penny Hedge originated
- Sleights old school still stands and is now a private house called ‘Inkwells’. The school was built by public subscription in 1833 and closed around 1970
- Iburndale, mentioned in the ‘Domesday Book’, had one of the oldest corn mills built there around 1400. This operated until 1900
- Iburndale had its own small chapel where local preacher Nightingale of Zetland House preached. This is the house where it is said Florence Nightingale stayed as a young girl
- Hemsyke, near Littlebeck, is the site of the famous ‘Lions Head’ drinking fountain made by John Allan of Hemsyke in 1856
Compiled by Cllr E Preston, Eskdaleside-cum-Ugglebarnby Parish Council 2012
Page last updated: 1 March, 2014
