Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for Shap

Shap, market town and par. with ry. sta., Westmorland, 12 miles SE. of Penrith - par., 27,177 ae. (310 water), pop. 1416; P.O., T.O., 1 Bank. Market-day, Mondy. Shap is a place of considerable antiquity, and has endowed schools for boys and girls, and fairs in May and September; the chief features are the church of St Michael, a 13th century structure, and the ruins of Shap Abbey, founded about the close of the 12th century. The town has risen into notice as a watering-place and summer resort for invalids. A mineral spring, with suits of baths and a large hotel, is situated in a hollow of Shap Fell, 3½ miles S. of the town. Large granite quarries give employment to the inhabitants; blne slate and limestone are also worked. In the neighbourhood are some Druidical remains of great interest.


(John Bartholomew, Gazetteer of the British Isles (1887))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "market town and parish with railway station"   (ADL Feature Type: "cities")
Administrative units: Shap CP/AP       Shap CP       Westmorland AncC
Place: Shap

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