SKIPTON  , a

market town in the Skipton parliamentary division of the West Riding of Yorkshire, England, 26 M . N.W. of Leeds by the Midland railway, served also by the Lancashire and Yorkshire railway . Pop. of urban district (1901) 11,986 . It is picturesquely situated in the hilly district of the upper valley of the river Aire, the course of which is followed by the Leeds and Liverpool canal . The strong castle built by Robert de Romille in the time of the Conqueror was partly demolished in 1648, but was restored by the countess of Pembroke . Of the ancient building of de Romille all that remains is the western doorway of the inner castle . In the castle grounds are the remains of the ancient chapel of St John . The church of the Holy Trinity, mainly Perpendicular, was also partly demolished during the Civil War, but was restored by the countess of Pembroke . The free grammar-school was founded in 1548 by William Ermysted, a canon of St Paul's, London . There are also science and art schools . There are extensive woollen and cotton factories, .and, in the neighbourhood, a large limestone quarry . Skipton was the capital of the ancient district of Craven .

At the

Norman accession it became part of the possessions of Earl Edwin, and was granted to Robert de Romille . Subsequently it went to the Albemarle family, but .was.again vested in the Crown, and Edward II. bestowed it on,Piers de Gaveston . In 1311 it came into the possession of the Cliffords . The castle xxv . 7was taken by the parliamentary forces in 1645 after a desultory siege of three years .