Little Asby
Encyclopedia
Little Asby is a small village in Cumbria
, England
. Its name is said to be derived from the Norse
words askr, meaning "ash", and by, meaning "farm". A chapel at the site (St Leonard’s Chapel), of which little remains, is the main reason that the village was built.
Just outside the village, to the west, is Little Asby Common, which is a Site of Special Scientific Interest
and a Special Area of Conservation
because of the plant species that inhabit the limestone pavement
areas, as well as the limestone
geology of the area.
Cumbria
Cumbria , is a non-metropolitan county in North West England. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local authority, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumbria's largest settlement and county town is Carlisle. It consists of six districts, and in...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Its name is said to be derived from the Norse
Old Norse
Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....
words askr, meaning "ash", and by, meaning "farm". A chapel at the site (St Leonard’s Chapel), of which little remains, is the main reason that the village was built.
Just outside the village, to the west, is Little Asby Common, which is a Site of Special Scientific Interest
Site of Special Scientific Interest
A Site of Special Scientific Interest is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom. SSSIs are the basic building block of site-based nature conservation legislation and most other legal nature/geological conservation designations in Great Britain are based upon...
and a Special Area of Conservation
Special Area of Conservation
A Special Area of Conservation is defined in the European Union's Habitats Directive , also known as the Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora...
because of the plant species that inhabit the limestone pavement
Limestone pavement
A limestone pavement is a natural karst landform consisting of a flat, incised surface of exposed limestone that resembles an artificial pavement. The term is mainly used in the UK where many of these landforms have developed distinctive surface patterning resembling block of paving...
areas, as well as the limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
geology of the area.