The Bridge c1881, Ruswarp

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The Bridge c1881
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The large building on the left edge of the photograph is Ruswarp Mill. A mill has been here since Saxon times and the first written record of this mill appears in the Domesday book.
The name Ruswarp may have originated from the mill. The mill was water powered and the river would have been dammed to make a mill race. Dams in this area are known as 'scarps' and if the dam was made of wood, the brushwood was called 'rise'. Hence 'Risescarp' - brushwood dam.
Alternatively, it may have arisen from the use of brushwood to divert fish in to fish traps known as 'salmon hecks'. The old local term 'warp' describes a bank of mud deposited by a river as the flow slows down after coming down from the high moors. Some of these mudbanks sprout vegetation - brushwood from seed and twigs carried down by the river. Hence 'Risewarp'.
The present mill building shown in this... Read more