Shap
| Shap | |
|---|---|
| Village and parish | |
 Shap Market Cross | |
  Shap Location in the former Eden District, Cumbria  Shap Location within Cumbria | |
| Population | 1,264 (2011)[1] |
| OS grid reference | NY563150 |
| Civil parish |
|
| Unitary authority | |
| Ceremonial county |
|
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | PENRITH |
| Postcode district | CA10 |
| Dialling code | 01931 |
| Police | Cumbria |
| Fire | Cumbria |
| Ambulance | North West |
Penrith and the Border | |
Shap is a
Location
The village lies along the
Shap is on the route of the Coast to Coast Walk.
Etymology
Early (12th and 13th century) forms such as Hep and Yheppe point to an
History
Although Shap is geographically a small village, it is legally a
Climate
| Climate data for Shap, Elevation: 255 m (837 ft), 1991–2020 normals | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 5.7 (42.3) |
6.2 (43.2) |
8.2 (46.8) |
11.1 (52.0) |
14.2 (57.6) |
16.7 (62.1) |
18.4 (65.1) |
17.9 (64.2) |
15.6 (60.1) |
12.1 (53.8) |
8.5 (47.3) |
6.2 (43.2) |
11.8 (53.2) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 3.0 (37.4) |
3.2 (37.8) |
4.6 (40.3) |
6.8 (44.2) |
9.4 (48.9) |
12.3 (54.1) |
14.1 (57.4) |
13.7 (56.7) |
11.6 (52.9) |
8.6 (47.5) |
5.5 (41.9) |
3.2 (37.8) |
8.0 (46.4) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 0.3 (32.5) |
0.1 (32.2) |
1.1 (34.0) |
2.4 (36.3) |
4.6 (40.3) |
7.8 (46.0) |
9.7 (49.5) |
9.5 (49.1) |
7.5 (45.5) |
5.1 (41.2) |
2.4 (36.3) |
0.2 (32.4) |
4.3 (39.7) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 233.5 (9.19) |
189.5 (7.46) |
141.4 (5.57) |
93.4 (3.68) |
98.6 (3.88) |
100.3 (3.95) |
106.7 (4.20) |
133.5 (5.26) |
131.1 (5.16) |
184.9 (7.28) |
205.0 (8.07) |
245.2 (9.65) |
1,862.9 (73.34) |
| Source: Met Office[4] | |||||||||||||
Shap today
The village has three
Major employers in the area are
Some of the scenes in the feature film Withnail and I were filmed around Shap. Sleddale Hall, the filming location for Uncle Monty's cottage Crow Crag, is located near Wet Sleddale Reservoir.
On 22 October 1999, a
Attractions
Shap Summit is located on the motorway at NY583120 and the railway at NY570110. Shap Fell used to be notorious for the difficult and dangerous stretch of A6 for drivers, and it includes a well-known section of the West Coast Main Line. It has a 1:75 gradient for trains heading north, and in the days of steam locomotives banking engines from Tebay were often used to assist trains. It has been popular with railway photographers and there have been many pictures published taken in the area, most notably at Scout Green which lies on the southern approach to the hill.
Shap Fell NY530088 is known for Shap granite,[5] a pink rock rich in orthoclase, quartz and biotite; Shap Pink Quarry NY557083 takes its name from this.
Shap Abbey NY547151 is nearby in the secluded valley of the river Lowther. Now impressive ruins dating from 1199, the Abbey was one of the last abbeys to be dissolved by Henry VIII in 1540.
Shap Wells has a
In literature
A scene in Robert Neill's historical novel Crown and Mitre is laid in Shap. In 1659 the book's protagonist Hal Burnaby, a young Royalist, rides through the village on a clandestine mission connected with the restoration of King Charles II. Shap also appears in Anthony Trollope's novel Can You Forgive Her? as the nearest village to Vavasor Hall, the ancestral home of the heroine Alice Vavasor.
Governance
The civil parish of Shap (formerly Shap Urban Parish) includes the hamlet of Keld and parts of the granite works and limestone works, and has a population of 1,221,[6] increasing to 1,264 at the 2011 Census. The parish shares a joint parish council and an electoral ward with Shap Rural. The total population of the electoral ward taken at the 2011 census was 1,394.[7] [8][9]
Shap is in the
Prior to
For local government purposes the village is in Westmorland and Furness. Until 2023 it was in the Shap Ward of Eden District Council and the Eden Lakes Division of Cumbria County Council.
Transport
The Lancaster and Carlisle Railway (now part of the West Coast Main Line), opened on 17 December 1846, and runs along the eastern edge of the village. Shap railway station was closed in 1968, though there have been calls for its re-opening.[10] Penrith is the closest railway station and is situated on the West Coast Main Line.
Dialect
Though the majority of the village's inhabitants speak standard English, some of the people of Shap and the surrounding area speak a variant of the Penrithian dialect, which is itself a variant of the
Notable people
- Sir Charles Richardson (1769-1850), Royal Navy officer was born in the village
See also
References
- ^ Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
- ^ UK Census (2001). "Local Area Report – Shap Parish (16UF059)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
- ISBN 0904889726.
- ^ "Shap Climate". Met Office. Retrieved 8 April 2024.
- ^ "Shap granite".
- ^ Office for National Statistics : Census 2001 : Parish Headcounts : Eden Archived 9 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 21 November 2009
- ^ "Ward population 2011". Retrieved 22 June 2015.
- ^ "Shap Parish Council". 7 October 2013.
- ^ "councilportal.cumbria.gov.uk - Shap Parish Council". 30 November 2022.
- ^ "Plea to reopen Shap and Tebay rail stations". Cumberland & Westmorland Herald. 21 September 2012. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
External links
- Cumbria County History Trust: Shap (nb: provisional research only – see Talk page)
- Shap Community Website – Maintained by the Parish Council
- Shap Air Crash Anniversary
- Rail Worker's Monument, Shap
- Video footage and history of Keld Chapel
- Video footage of the Shap Wells Spa and Hotel
Places adjacent to Shap | |
|---|---|
