Editing Ilkley (section)

==History==
{{Main|History of Ilkley}}
[[File:Cup and Ring markings above Ilkley.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Bronze Age markings at Hangingstone Quarry, above Ilkley]]
The earliest evidence of habitation in the Ilkley area is from flint arrowheads or [[microlith]]s, dating to the [[Mesolithic]] period, from about 11,000&nbsp;BC onwards.<ref name="Prehistory">{{cite web |url=http://www.timetravel-britain.com/articles/country/ilkley.shtml
 |title=Discovering Prehistory on Ilkley Moor |publisher=TimeTravel-Britain.com |first=John |last=Abraham |year=2006 |access-date=11 June 2009 }}</ref> The area around Ilkley has been continuously settled since at least the Neolithic, around 3000&nbsp;BC; more than 250 [[cup and ring mark]]s, and a curved [[swastika]] carving possibly dating to the period have been found on rock outcrops,<ref name=Beckensall>{{cite book|last=Beckensall|first= S.|year= 2009|title=Prehistoric Rock Art in Britain|location=Chalford|publisher=Amberley Publishing|isbn= 978-1-84868-626-7}}</ref> and archaeological remains of dwellings are found on [[Ilkley Moor]]. A small [[stone circle]] (possibly a burial monument), known as the ‘Twelve Apostles’, was constructed 4,500 years ago, during the Early Bronze Age.<ref name="Prehistory"/> Serious interest in the rock art of Ilkley began after the publication  of the "Prehistoric Rock Sculptures of Ilkley" in 1879 by Romilly Allen in the ''[[British Archaeological Association|Journal of the British Archaeological Association]]''.<ref name=Beckensall/>

The remains of a [[Roman Britain|Roman]] fort occupy a site near the town centre. Some authorities believe it is [[Olicana]],<ref>{{cite book|last=Shaw|first= Thomas|year= 1830|url=https://archive.org/details/historywharfdal00shawgoog |title=The History of Wharfedale|location=Otley|publisher= William Walker| page=[https://archive.org/details/historywharfdal00shawgoog/page/n79 70]}}</ref> dating to 79&nbsp;AD, but the identification is not settled. A number of Roman altars have been discovered from the reigns of [[Antoninus Pius]] (138 to 161), and [[Septimius Severus]] and his son [[Caracalla]] (211 to 217).<ref>{{cite book|last=Shaw|first= Thomas|year= 1830|url=https://archive.org/details/historywharfdal00shawgoog |title=The History of Wharfedale|location=Otley|publisher= William Walker| pages=[https://archive.org/details/historywharfdal00shawgoog/page/n81 72]–5}}</ref> [[Ilkley Manor House]] stands on part of the site in Castle Yard and is home to various Roman artefacts, including an original altar dedicated to [[Verbeia]], the goddess of the [[River Wharfe]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Babb |first=Nick |date=26 February 2022 |title=Re-telling the story of the Verbeia altar stones |url=https://www.ilkleychat.co.uk/post/re-telling-the-story-of-the-verbeia-altar-stones |access-date=19 January 2023 |website=Ilkley Chat |language=en}}</ref>

Three [[Anglo-Saxons|Anglo-Saxon]] crosses from the 8th&nbsp;century that stood in the churchyard of All Saints' Church have been moved inside to prevent erosion. The church site, as a centre for Christian worship, extends to 627&nbsp;AD, and the present mainly [[Victorian architecture|Victorian]]-era church incorporates [[Medieval architecture|medieval]] elements.<ref name="AllSaintsChurch">{{cite web |url=http://www.ilkleypc.co.uk/History2/history-of-the-building |title=Brief History of All Saints – Ilkley |access-date=7 May 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120322193624/http://ilkleypc.co.uk/History2/history-of-the-building/ |archive-date=22 March 2012  }}</ref>

The ''[[Domesday Book]]'', of 1086, records Ilkley (''Ilecliue/Illecliue/Illiclei/Illicleia'') as being in the possession of [[William de Percy, 1st Baron Percy|William de Percy]] [[Baron Percy|1st Baron Percy]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.angelfire.com/ms/middelton/domes.html |title=Ilkley a 'Ghost Town' in 1086 |first=David |last=Carpenter |date=18 February 1993 |work=Ilkley Gazette |access-date=11 January 2007 }}</ref> The land was acquired by the Middelton family of Myddelton Lodge, from about a century after the time of [[William I of England|William the Conqueror]]. The family lost possession through a series of land sales and mortgage repossessions over a period of about a hundred years from the early 19th&nbsp;century.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.angelfire.com/ms/middelton/who.html |title=Who were the Middletons? |first=David |last=Carpenter |work=The Lords of Ilkley Manor – The Road to Ruin |year=1999 |access-date=11 January 2007 }}</ref> The agents of William Middelton (1815–1885) were responsible for the design of the new town of Ilkley to replace the village which had stood there before.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.angelfire.com/ms/middelton/biog.html |title=Middelton Mini-Biographies |first=David |last=Carpenter |work=The Lords of Ilkley Manor – The Road to Ruin |year=1999 |access-date=11 January 2007 }}</ref>

In the 17th and 18th&nbsp;centuries the town gained a reputation for the efficacy of its water. In the 19th&nbsp;century it became established as a fashionable [[spa town]], with the construction of [[Ben Rhydding Hydro]], a [[hydropathic establishment]] at Wheatley, a mile to the east, between 1843 and 1844.<ref>
{{cite book
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=27YHAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA90
|title=Ben Rhydding: the Asclepia of England: Its Beauties, Its Ways, and Its Water-Cures
|publisher=John Shuttleworth
|location=Edinburgh
|access-date=30 June 2009
|last=Thomson
|first=Rev. R. Wodrow
|year=1862
}}
</ref><ref name="ShifrinBenRhydding">{{cite web| last=Shifrin| first=Malcolm | title=Ilkley: Ben Rhydding Hydro |work=Victorian Turkish Baths: Their origin, development, and gradual decline|date=3 October 2008| url= http://www.victorianturkishbath.org/6DIRECTORY/AtoZEstab/Hydros/BenRydding/BenRhyddingSF.htm |access-date=12 December 2009}}</ref> [[Charles Darwin]] underwent hydropathic treatment at [[Wells House, Ilkley|Wells House]] when his book ''[[On the Origin of Species]]'' was published on 24 November 1859, whilst staying with his family at North View House (now Hillside Court).<ref>
{{cite web
 |url         = http://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/content/view/25/38/
 |title       = Darwin Correspondence Project – The correspondence of Charles Darwin, volume 7: 1858–1859
 |publisher   = darwinproject.ac.uk
 |access-date  = 30 June 2009
|url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20071028223832/http://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/content/view/25/38/
 |archive-date = 28 October 2007
|df          = dmy-all
}}</ref> Tourists flocked to 'take the waters' and bathe in the cold-water spring. Wheatley was renamed Ben Rhydding after the Hydro, which has been demolished.
[[File:Ilkley Manor House.jpg|thumb|Ilkley Manor House, Castle Yard]]
Development based on the Hydro movement, and on the establishment of convalescent homes and hospitals, was accelerated in August 1865 by the construction of the Otley and Ilkley Joint Railway, which linked to the [[Leeds and Bradford Railway]] and the [[North Eastern Railway (UK)|North Eastern Railway]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ilkley.org.uk/designstatement/sections/sect04.asp |title=Ilkley Design statement 2002 |publisher=ilkley.org.uk |access-date=30 June 2009 }}{{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}
</ref><ref name="butt">{{Butt-Stations|page=126}}</ref><ref name=casserley>{{cite book|last=Casserley|first= H.C. |year=1968|title=Britain's Joint Lines|location=London|publisher= Ian Allan|isbn= 0-7110-0024-7| pages =159–160}}</ref> The [[Midland Railway]] built a connection to [[Skipton railway station|Skipton]] via [[Bolton Abbey railway station|Bolton Abbey]] in May 1888.<ref name="butt"/>

Other Victorian visitors to the town included [[Madame Tussaud]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ilkley.org/iguide/hist3.htm |title=Victorian Ilkley |publisher=ilkley.org |access-date=30 June 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090829165803/http://www.ilkley.org/iguide/hist3.htm |archive-date=29 August 2009 }}
</ref> The only remaining hydro building is the white cottage known as [[White Wells]] House. The cottage can be seen and visited on the edge of the moor overlooking the town.<ref>
{{cite web
|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/bradford/sense_of_place/ilkley1.shtml
|title=BBC – Bradford and West Yorkshire – A Sense of Place
|publisher=BBC
|access-date=30 June 2009
}}
</ref>