Gisburn

Gisburn is first named in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it takes the form Ghiseburne. The name is next attested in the twelfth century, as Giselburn. The name is thus thought to originate in the reconstructed Old English word *gysel ('gushing') and the common Old English word burna ('stream'). It is possible, however, that the first element was originally an Old English personal name *Gysla. Thus the name once meant either 'gushing stream' or 'Gysla's stream'.A. D. Mills, A Dictionary of British Place Names (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011), s.v. Gisburn, {{ISBN|9780199609086}}, {{doi|10.1093/acref/9780199609086.001.0001}}.

The former spelling of Gisburne was phased out after the introduction of railways in the parish. Gisburn railway station was closed under the Beeching Axe in 1962. Gisburne and similar spellings were also sometimes used for Guisborough, also in Yorkshire (now in North Yorkshire), leading to Gisburn often being referred to as "Gisburn in Craven".

Gisburn lies within a rural area, surrounded by hilly and relatively unpopulated areas, with Bowland Forest to the west, Pendle Hill to the south, and the Yorkshire Dales and Pennines not far to the north and east. The relatively flat Ribble valley runs through the parish with the A59 running parallel.

File:Gisburn between counties.png territory which has been administered as part of Lancashire. Lancashire's ancient boundaries are in red, and administrative boundaries are in green.]]

The old Roman road from Ribchester to Ilkley passes to the south of the modern civil parish, with the remains of a 4th-century Romano-British farmstead known as Bomber Camp located just over the boundary with Bracewell and Brogden.{{NHLE| num=1013817| desc=Bomber Camp Romano-British farmstead| access-date=17 March 2016}}

The layout of this linear village, with properties facing the main street and tenement plots running down to a back lane, is common of many established in the tenth century.{{cite web |url=https://www.ribblevalley.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/3685/gisburn_conservation_area_appraisal.pdf |title=Gisburn Conservation Area Appraisal |date=October 2005 |publisher=Ribble Valley Borough Council |pages=5–6 |access-date=27 March 2016}}

The manor of Gisburn was part of the Percy Fee which was listed under Craven in the Domesday Book.{{citation |last=Whitaker |first=Thomas Dunham |title=The history and antiquities of the deanery of Craven 3rd ed. |date=1878 |publisher=Dodson (Leeds) and Cassell, Petter & Galpin (London) |url=https://www.skiptoncastle.co.uk/craven-history/05_Parish-of-Gisburne.pdf |pages=44, 51–52 |oclc=504073084 |access-date=27 May 2024}} In the 1140s, William de Percy II, granted the Dudland area, in the southwest of the parish, to the Cistercian monks who founded Sawley Abbey.{{Cite book |editor1=Charles Travis Clay |editor2=William Farrer |title=Early Yorkshire Charters: Volume 11, The Percy Fee |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2013 |pages=26–28}} And in 1242, William de Percy, 6th Baron Percy donated the manor.{{citation |last=McNulty |first=Joseph |title=The Chartulary of the Cistercian Abbey of St Mary of Sallay in Craven |edition=2 |date=2013 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=200 |isbn=9781108058797}} By 1571, the manor was among the former monastic lands owned by Henry Darcy, the son of Sir Arthur Darcy. He sold it to William Lister.

Gisburn was the centre of a large ancient parish, which also included the townships of Gisburn Forest, Paythorne, Newsholme, Horton, Rimington, Middop, Nappa and Swinden.[http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/YKS/WRY/Gisburn/more.html GENUKI: Yorkshire, West Riding - Gisburn]

In 1612 a village resident, Jennet Preston, was tried at the Lancashire witch trials, accused of causing the death of Thomas Lister by witchcraft. Her trial took place in York as the village then lay within Yorkshire. Preston was found guilty and was hanged at York Knavesmire.

Markets were held on Main Street until 1911, when the livestock market moved to its present site at the western end of the village next to the former railway station.

The Pennine Bridleway National Trail and Ribble Way pass through the parish, with former crossing Gisburne Park and the latter following roads through the village.

{{cite web |author=MKH Computer Services Ltd. |url=https://www.ldwa.org.uk/ldp/members/show_path.php?path_name=Pennine+Bridleway+National+Trail |title=Pennine Bridleway — LDWA Long Distance Paths |publisher=Ldwa.org.uk |access-date=7 April 2016}}{{cite web |author=MKH Computer Services Ltd. |url=https://www.ldwa.org.uk/ldp/members/show_path.php?path_name=Ribble+Way |title=Ribble Way — LDWA Long Distance Paths |publisher=Ldwa.org.uk |access-date=7 April 2016}}

Gisburn was historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, within the Deanery of Craven, and Wapentake of Staincliffe. All these townships became separate civil parishes in 1866, and all except two became part of Bowland Rural District when it was formed in 1894.{{cite web |url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10427952/relationships |title=Gisburn AP/CP through time |publisher=GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth |work=visionofbritain.org.uk |access-date=22 March 2016}} Gisburn and the other parishes of Bowland Rural District were transferred from Yorkshire to Lancashire in 1974. Nappa and Swinden became part of Settle Rural District in 1894,{{cite web |url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10166883/relationships |title=Settle RD through time |publisher=GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth |work=visionofbritain.org.uk |access-date=22 March 2016}} and remained in Yorkshire in 1974 as part of the new county of North Yorkshire.

The civil parish previously had a detached area on the western side of Sawley, with a larger part of that parish on the southern side of Gisburn. In 1938 these areas were joined with the respective parishes.

Along with Rimington, Middop, Gisburn Forest, Paythorne, Newsholme and Horton, the parish forms the Gisburn, Rimington ward of Ribble Valley Borough Council.

{{cite web |publisher=Lancashire County Council |title=Gisburn, Rimington |website=MARIO |url=http://mario.lancashire.gov.uk/agsmario/default.aspx?categ=boundaries&wardcode=30ULGM&layeron=Ward%20Boundary&layeron=Parish%20Boundaries |access-date=22 March 2016}}{{cite web |publisher=Ordnance Survey |title=Gisburn, Rimington |website=Ordnance Survey Linked Data Platform |url=http://data.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/doc/7000000000004720 |access-date=22 March 2016}} The ward had a population of 1287 in 2001,{{cite web |url=http://www.lancashireparishcouncils.gov.uk/documents/information/Parish_headcount.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061210214612/http://www.lancashireparishcouncils.gov.uk/documents/information/Parish_headcount.pdf |title=Parish headcount |access-date=22 March 2016 |archive-date=10 December 2006 |publisher=Lancashire County Council}} rising to 1405 in 2011.{{cite web |url=http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=13693077&c=Gisburn&d=14&e=62&g=6442393&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&m=0&r=1&s=1458406147266&enc=1 |title=Gisburn, Rimington ward population 2011 |access-date=22 March 2016 |publisher=Office for National Statistics |work=Neighbourhood Statistics}} The ward elects a single councillor, who currently is Richard Sherras of the Conservative Party.{{cite web |title=Councillors by Ward: Gisburn, Rimington |url=https://www.ribblevalley.gov.uk/councillors/specificWard/11/gisburn_rimington |publisher=Ribble Valley Borough Council |access-date=23 March 2016}}

File:Gisburne Park Lodges.jpg

{{main|Gisburne Park}}

To the north of the village, between it and the River Ribble is a {{convert|68|ha|acre|0}} 18th-century former deer park and country house, today used as a private hospital, equestrian centre and the Ribblesdale Holiday Park.

The present Grade I listed house, was originally constructed between 1727 and 1736 by Thomas Lister and has been since extended. The Lister family produced a number of Members of Parliament for Clitheroe and later Barons Ribblesdale, and had been previously based at Arnoldsbiggin (Westby Hall). Although the manorof Gisburne was first acquired by the Lister's in 1614, the family only moved to this site, then called Lower Hall, in 1706. In the mid-18th century, the park was roamed by wild white cattle and deer, and the estate continues outside it, with an unusual tree nursery enclosure known as the ‘Great Nursery' situated on Coppy Hill to the west. The park is listed in Register of Historic Parks and Gardens and contains a number of notable buildings including the gate lodges at the principal entrance from the village which are listed Grade II*.{{National Heritage List for England|num= 1400674|desc= Gisburne Park|access-date= 27 March 2016|mode=cs2|fewer-links=x}}

File:St Mary the Virgin, Gisburn - geograph.org.uk - 412112.jpg

In the graveyard lies buried one of England's greatest writers of hymn tunes, Francis Duckworth (1862–1941). His most famous tune is "Rimington", to which several hymns including Jesu Shall Reign Where'er the Sun may be sung. The opening lines of the tune are inscribed on his gravestone.[http://www.gisburn.org.uk/rimington/francisduckworth.htm "The Life of Francis Duckworth (1862-1941)" at gisburn.org.uk]

The church is a Grade II* listed building. The south porch has a wide outer entrance with moulded round arch and moulded imposts. The inner door, probably C13th, has a pointed arch with two orders of sunk quadrant moulding. The porch roof has two short king posts rising from collars.{{National Heritage List for England|num= 1164472|desc= Church of St. Mary, Gisburn|access-date= 9 August 2015}}

In May 2015 it was announced that a rare King James Version of the Bible, printed in 1611, had been found at the church.{{cite news |title=Rare 1611 'Great She Bible' found in Lancashire church |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-32705720 |date=12 May 2015 |publisher=BBC News |access-date=23 March 2016}}

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• Richard Wright (1877–1942), cricketer and educator, was born in Gisburn

{{portal|Lancashire}}

• Listed buildings in Gisburn

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{{Commons category|Gisburn}}

• [http://www.gisburn.org.uk/ Gisburn Village Website]
• [http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/YKS/WRY/Gisburn/index.html Gisburn at GENUKI]
• [https://www.ribblevalley.gov.uk/downloads/file/3685/gisburn_conservation_area_appraisal Gisburn Conservation Area Appraisal]

{{Borough of Ribble Valley}}

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Category:Villages in Lancashire

Category:Civil parishes in Lancashire

Category:Geography of Ribble Valley