The village is strategically placed at the junction of the rivers
Kent and
Gowan, at the mouth of the
Kentmere Valley. Three hills overlook the village;
Reston Scar on the north side on which much of the village is built, Piked Howe to the northeast known to the locals as Craggy Wood and Lily Fell to the south in the direction of the village of
Crook on the opposite side of the
A591 bypass. Piked Howe and Reston Scar sit either side of the opening into the Kentmere Valley. Both mark the beginning of a larger horseshoe chain of hills known as the Kentmere Round. The nearest village to the west is
Ings, a small settlement which now shares schools and parish minister with Staveley. To the south of the village is Crook, and to the north
Kentmere which can only be accessed by road via Staveley village centre, meaning that the two villages have had a close relationship with each other for many centuries. But the village which had the strongest links to Staveley in more recent years is arguably
Burneside which is the next stop on the railway line to the east on the way to
Kendal.
National Cycle Route 6 and the
Dales Way footpath run through Burneside and Staveley. The village got its name from the woodworking industry that thrived in the area due to the forests that originally covered the surrounding hills, and the close proximity of two rivers for processing the wood. Staveley means literally the '
field of staffs' (from the
Middle English plural
stave for
staf OE
stæf and the ME
leye meaning
pasture from
Old English leah; akin to
Old High German loh thicket,
Latin lucus grove). Woods in the area include: • Beckmickle Ing (3.58
ha). A semi-natural wood with
wet woodland adjacent to the River Kent. It is managed by the
Woodland Trust • Craggy Plantation, which is mainly deciduous. This area was used in the 1990s for testing various measures to control the spread of North American
grey squirrels into the native
red squirrel habitats. In 2016 the Lake District National Park Authority announced its decision to sell Craggy Wood. After a successful appeal to raise the necessary funds, ownership was transferred to the
Cumbria Wildlife Trust who intend to manage it as part of a larger
nature reserve by linking it to Dorothy Farrer's Spring Wood. • Dorothy Farrer's Spring Wood (4.6 ha). This wood is managed by the Cumbria Wildlife Trust. There is a tradition of
coppicing, which the trust continues in the interests of biodiversity. Birdlife includes the
pied flycatcher. • Mike's Wood (3 ha) native woodland planted in the 1990s by the organisation Friends of the Lake District.
River Gowan The Gowan, a tributary of the Kent, comes into the village from the west after passing through the village of Ings. There is sometimes flooding at the confluence. There are two road bridges and also pedestrian bridges over the River Gowan in the village. As a result of the
Storm Desmond flood both the road bridges were closed because of damage to their structures, cutting the village in two for vehicular traffic. The Station Road / Abbey Square bridge was reopened after minor repairs. Gowan Old Bridge, a twin arch stone bridge with attached concrete footbridge near the confluence of the rivers, had severe damage to its central pier and remained closed. It was demolished in June 2016, after the re-routing of the gas main. A new single-span concrete beam bridge was constructed to replace it and opened on May 18, 2017. ==History==