Grave hunting in Kildwick

Ok, so family history research - grave hunting is difficult with 2 littlies in tow but I attempt it the other week with my 2 year old & my 7 month old. 

This is Kildwick Parish Church in West Yorkshire...

It is a very historical church dating back to 950AD (Kildwick Parish Website, accessed 6th April 2016) and the Leeds-Liverpool canal cuts through the grave yard.

My ancestors didn't live in the village of Kildwick but in other the villages lying within the parish  boundaries, ie Cononley, Cowling, Glusburn etc. I have many ancestors who were baptised & buried here in the 1700s and early 1800s.

Sadly, I did not get enough opportunity to have a good look at many graves because my 2 year old kept running off in the opposite direction and they both fought against taking naps & I forgot the double pram! But we had a nice picnic in the sunshine in the grave yard :) 

Here is the evidence with a picnic selfie with my toddler beginning to feed me the babies food when I was concentrating on taking the photo - he missed my mouth & plastered it on my face instead!

Next time, I will drag my husband along to watch the kids while I peruse some of the old graves & fathom out their old, worn inscriptions.

Some of the beautiful grave stones...

My ancestors lived at . . . Gill Bottom, Cowling

My great x4 grandfather, David Binns, was born in Cowling in West Yorkshire c1816.

In the 1851 census he is listed as living at Gill Bottom, Cowling, as a widower with his children, Ann, John (my great x3 grandfather), Sarah, Isabelah and Jane. I was intrigued and wanted to know where Gill Bottom was in Cowling. I decided to search for it on Google maps but accidentally clicked the search the web, so instead I got lots of images and web links. There was quite a lot of interesting stuff coming up...

I discovered that Gill Bottom was on Shop Lane in Cowling and that it is currently a Grade 2 listed building, it was listed in 1984. It was a c1800 farmhouse with 3 cottages.

There was a mill at Gill Bottom also known as the "weaving shop" which was sadly lost to a fire in November 1870.

I also found some images on the Cowling Web website, which I have included the direct links for the images below:
Beckside (Gill Bottom Cottages) 1961 - I wonder if it was one of the cottages on this photo in which my ancestor lived in 1851
Old Mill at Gill Bottom 1911
Gill Bottom, Cowling


Information from:
British Listed Buildings - Gill Bottom, Cowling
Moon-Rakers
Moon-Rakers - Gill Bottom Mill Fire