Photographs of the village of Shap on the A6 and neighbouring hamlets, Keld and Rosgill in Cumbria.
Askham and Lowther - Hardendale - Wet Sleddale and Longsleddale - Orton
Keld Chapel, near Shap in Cumbria, UK.
Keld Chapel was built in the 14th century by the monks of Shap Abbey as a Chantry (a place where prayers were chanted for the souls of the departed). It became a private house in the late 17th century and was given to the National Trust in 1917. Free entry.
The 14th century Keld Chapel in the hamlet of Keld near Shap inCumbria.
Keld Chapel was built in the 14th century by the monks of Shap Abbey as a Chantry (a place where prayers were chanted for the souls of the departed). It became a private house in the late 17th century and was given to the National Trust in 1917.
Free entry.
A 1920s cast iron George V1 lamp box on a house wall in Keld near Shap in the Eden District of Cumbria.
Lamp boxes were the smallest of all postboxes and were originally designed to be attached to lamp posts, but many have been inset into walls.
Leyland Motors Clock at the Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal, Cumbria.
This is one of eight Leyland Clocks that were located at prominent positions on major UK roads in the 1930s by Leyland Motors Limited. This clock was originally located on the A6 at Shap in Cumbria to mark the half-way point between Lands End and John O’Groats. This clock was restored and repositioned in the grounds of the Brewery Arts Centre in 1973.
Mardale Burial Ground, St Michael's Church, Shap in Cumbria.
Holy Trinity Church at Mardale only got its own cemetry in the 1700s. Prior to that, bodies had to be carried over the fells to Shap for burial. With the flooding of the valley in the 1930s, all the bodies that had been buried at Holy Trinity Church were exhumed and moved to new burial grounds. One hundred and four bodies were moved to this site at St Michael's Church in Shap.
It was in 1919, that the people of Mardale Green learnt that Manchester Water Corporation had just secured the long awaited Haweswater Act, a compulsory purchase agreement of the day, which granted them permission to build a dam and drown the hamlet.
Rosgill Bridge, Rosgill, in the Lake District, Cumbria.
This 17th century bridge spans the River Lowther at Rosgill. The Lowther, formed from the overspill of Wet Sleddale Reservoir, flows on to join the Eamont and then the Eden. The river is mainly home to brown trout but provides the main spawning waters for Eden spring salmon.
The River Lowther, Rosgill in the Lake District, Cumbria.
The Lowther, formed from the overspill of the West Sleddale Reservoir, flows on to join the Eamont and then the Eden. It is mainly home to brown trout but provides the main spawning waters for Eden spring salmon.
The confluence of Swindale Beck with the River Lowther at Rosgill in the Lake District, Cumbria.
This 17th century narrow packhorse bridge built over Swindale Beck carries a track from Rosgill to Rayside in Cumbria.
This 17th century narrow packhorse bridge built over Swindale Beck carries a track from Rosgill to Rayside in Cumbria.
Fairy Crag, Rosgill in the Lake District National Park, Cumbria.
The crags lie close to Parish Crag Bridge, an old packhorse bridge which is also known as Fairy Bridge. Fairies were believed to love fast flowing becks and were often be seen around stone bridges!
A wintry view to the Lakeland Fells from the minor road from Shap down to Shap Abbey.
Kidsty Pike and High Raise can be seen to the left of the photograph.
Kidsty Pike, High Raise
Shap Abbey, Shap in Cumbria.
Shap Abbey was dedicated to St Mary Magdalene of the French order of Premonstratensian or ''White'' Canons (due to the colour of their habits) and relocated to Shap around 1201. Acquiring land from local farmers in exchange for a place in heaven, the monks went on to become wealthy landowners! It was the last Abbey to be built in England, and the last to be dissolved by Henry VIII in 1540. The prominent west tower was not added until the 16th century.
The early 13th century Shap Abbey, Shap in Cumbria.
Shap Abbey was dedicated to St Mary Magdalene of the French order of Premonstratensian or ''White'' Canons (due to the colour of their habits) and relocated to Shap around 1201. Acquiring land from local farmers in exchange for a place in heaven, the monks went on to become wealthy landowners! It was the last Abbey to be built in England, and the last to be dissolved by Henry VIII in 1540. The prominent west tower was not added until the 16th century.
Praying monks bronze panel waymark beside Shap Abbey in the Eden Valley, Cumbria.
This is one of 84 etched bronze panel waymarks designed by Pip Hall, which have been sited along Eden Valley walking routes. Rubbings can be taken from the bronzes, with wax crayon and paper.
Monk with sheep bronze panel waymark beside Abbey Bridge at Shap Abbey, Eden in Cumbria.
This waymark is close to the small walled track leading down to the river, along which sheep were.once driven into the river to wash their fleeces.
This is one of 84 etched bronze panel waymarks designed by Pip Hall, which have been sited along Eden Valley walking routes. Rubbings can be taken from the bronzes, with wax crayon and paper.
A view down the River Lowther from Abbey Bridge towards the road bridge at Shap Abbey, Cumbria.
The Market Hall, Shap in Cumbria.
Shap Market Hall was built in the 17th century from stone taken from the ruins of Shap Abbey. Originally the arches were open to allow easy access to the market stalls.
St Michael's Church, Shap in Cumbria.
There has been a church on this site since 750 A.D. The present church dates from 1140, but in 1898 it underwent an almost total rebuild, just retaining the interior Norman pillars and lower parts of the walls and windows on the north side.
The Goggleby Stone, Shap, in Cumbria.
The Googleby Stone is a huge Shap granite boulder. This stone, together with the other visible boulder in the adjacent field, Asper's Field Stone, are believed to have been part of a prehistoric processional stone avenue linking Kemp Howe Stone Circle with Skellaw Hill burial tumulus.
Kemp Howe lies close to Shapfell Lime Works.
Asper's Field Stone at Shap in Cumbria.
This stone and the Googleby Stone in the next field are believed to have been part of a prehistoric processional stone avenue linking Kemp Howe Stone Circle with Skellaw Hill burial tumulus.
A murmuration of starlings can be seen in the late afternoon skies above the trees.
Kemp Howe Stone Circle, Shap in Cumbria.
Sadly only a few stones remain of this pink Shap granite stone circle whiich was destroyed for the building of the West Coast Main Line Railway. Shap Limeworks lies in the distance.
Skellaw Hill - Hill of Skulls: Shap, Cumbria.
Skellaw Hill is a Bronze Age burial tumulus. In the wall just below the hill is a large boulder which is perfectly aligned with the stone in Apser's Field and the Goggleby Stone, suggesting that a processional Stone Avenue from the Kemp Howe Stone Circle may have led here.
NY 55649 15473.
Shap Summit Memorial by the side of the A6 at Shap Fell paying tribute to the drivers who (prior to the building of the M6) had to endure the difficult winter driving conditions on Shap Fell and the locals who helped stranded drivers.
The plaque reads, "This memorial pays tribute to the drivers and crews of vehicles that made possible the social and commercial links between north and south on this old a difficult route over Shap Fell before the opening of the M6 motorway. Remembered too are those who built and maintained the road and the generations of local people who gave freely of food and shelter to stranded travellers in bad weather."
Shapbeck Bridge spanning Shap Beck, Shap in the Eden District of Cumbria.
An old narrow packhorse bridge, later widened for agricultural use.
Lime kiln, Shap in Cumbria.
Lime kilns, built from the 17th to 19th centuries, were furnaces designed for the burning of limestone. This burning process produces quicklime which was used as agricultural fertiliser and for the production of building mortar. Kilns are set into the side of low hills so that carts could deliver and easily drop limestone and firewood into them. To prevent the kilns themselves from burning, they had to be lined with sandstone. It was a gruelling and dangerous job with many fatalities.
Shap Beck Quarry, Shap in Cumbria.
Shap Beck Quarry produces crushed limestone which is converted into lime for the steel making industry at the Shap Fell lime processing plant.
Shapfell Lime Works at Shap in Cumbria.
Limestone from Shap Beck Quarry is used in these works for the large scale production of lime to be used in steel making. There are four Maerz kilns at Shapfell.
A view of Shapfell Lime Works from Hardendale Nab in Cumbria.
Limestone from Shap Beck Quarry is used in these works for the large scale production of lime to be used in steelmaking.
The Greyhound Hotel, Shap in the Eden district of Cumbria.
Built in 1680 as a coaching inn with mounting block.
Shap Wells Hotel, Shap, Cumbria.
Mineral waters (calcium, sodium chloride and magnesium sulphate) were discovered here in the 18th century, and people visited the area to take the waters of the spa well, hoping to purge the body of ailments. The hotel opened in 1833, and in 1885, pipes were laid from the spa to carry the waters to the hotel. The vile waters, a mixture of Epsom Salts and sulphur, were available from the bar until 1963.
During WW11, the hotel was a prisoner of war camp for German naval and Luftwaffe officers.
The Britannia Monument, near the Shap Wells Hotel, Shap, Cumbria.
The monument was built to commemorate the accession of Queen Victoria to the throne on 20th June, 1837. It was erected in 1842 to a design by Mawson of Lowther, with sculptural work by Thomas Bland of Reagill. The octagonal shaft is surmounted by a life-size figure of Britannia holding the remains of metal trident in her right hand and a shield in her left.
The Galloway Stone near the Shap Wells Hotel, Shap, Cumbria.
This large Shap granite erratic boulder probably had significance for drovers using one of the drove roads of the Galloway Gate that linked Galloway in Scotland with northwest England.
There is an OS bench mark on top of the stone.