Booze, Arkengarthdale: The history behind Yorkshire Dales hamlet with a quirky name that surprisingly has no pubs and where the name comes from
Despite the unusual name of Booze this Yorkshire Dales hamlet has no pubs and its history spans centuries.
This small hamlet tucked away in the Yorkshire Dales was originally a community that depended on hill farming and mining.
There are only 11 households that reside there and a riding school nearby.
While the area is called ‘Booze’, there are no pubs or bars located there, although it is just one mile east of Langthwaite where the historic Red Lion Inn is.
Where did the name ‘Booze’ come from?
It doesn’t mean what you think it means.
The earliest record of the name is from 1473 and was called ‘Bowehous’.
The name is derived from the Old English boga ‘bow’ and hus ‘house’, and therefore means ‘house by the bow or curve’.
The reference is thought to be from the curved hill above Slei Gill and Arkle Beck, on which the hamlet is located.
Over the years it evolved from ‘Bowehous’ to ‘Booze’.
Early years of Booze in Arkengarthdale
The hamlet overlooks Slei Gill which has a history of lead mining and following the industry’s collapse in North Yorkshire, at the end of the 19th century one of the mines, the Booze Wood Level, continued to be in use as a slate mine until the start of the First World War.
Chert was mined on Fremington Edge, south of Booze, until the beginning of the Second World War.
In 1851 there were 41 houses in the hamlet.
A local tragedy took place during the 18th century when a group of miners working underground near Boldershaw blasted into an underground lake when 24 miners and two pit ponies drowned in the flood that followed.
18 of those who died came from Booze and the vein was known as the Water Blast Vein.