Skirwith conservation area
Designation of Skirwith conservation area
The central area of Skirwith village was designated as a conservation area on 16 November 2000.
A revised Conservation Area Character Appraisal and Management Plan (see below) was adopted on 16 June 2020.
Description of Skirwith
Skirwith lies at the foot of the fells in an undulating landscape of grazing land set against the dramatic backdrop of the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The name of the village is believed to mean 'a wood in common use' deriving from Old English or Old Norse. The buildings sit around a wide central village green either side of Skirwith Beck. The layout has some typical characteristics of a medieval village. The present buildings of Skirwith date from the 17th century onwards and are constructed almost exclusively of brownish/red sandstone with graduated Westmorland Green slate roofs. St John the Evangelist is a stone church erected in 1859 in the Decorated Gothic style and is a Grade II* listed building. Skirwith Abbey was erected in the late 18th century on what is said to be the site of a religious house supposed to have belonged to the Knights Templars.
Conservation area character appraisal and management plan
Read the Skirwith Conservation Area Character Appraisal (PDF: 1,911Kb / 48 pages).
Map of Skirwith conservation area boundary
View the Skirwith conservation area boundary on Your Area online mapping.