Calver Hill is a fell in the

Yorkshire Dales National Park The Yorkshire Dales National Park is a national park in England covering most of the Yorkshire Dales. Most of the park is in North Yorkshire, with a sizeable area in Westmorland (Cumbria) and a small part in Lancashire. The park was designat ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It is composed of

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

''"The Rivers, Mountains and Sea Coast of Yorkshire"'', John Phillips, States that Calver Hill is composed of limestone. and is situated at grid reference , near where the valleys of Swaledale and

Arkengarthdale Arkengarthdale is a dale, or valley, on the east side of the Pennines in North Yorkshire, England. Running roughly north-west to south-east, it is the valley of the Arkle Beck, and is the northernmost of the Yorkshire Dales. It is a subsidiary ...

meet, the village of Reeth is located on its lower south-eastern slopes, it reaches an altitude of and is a distinguished feature in mid Swaledale. Calver Hill is an area of grouse shooting and the fell is dotted with grouse butts. Most of the drainage from the fell goes north and easterly to join the Arkle Beck in lower Arkengarthdale which eventually joins the River Swale just south of Reeth.

History

Evidence exits on the slopes of Calver Hill that point to use during the Neolithic Period and the Bronze Age. Finds of arrowheads, flints, and field patterns also point to possible areas of habitation. The whole area of Calver Hill is sometimes referred to as ''Reeth Low Moor'', and in some older texts, the name of the hill is recorded as either ''Mount Calvey'', or ''Calvey Hill''. Another alternative name of ''Mount Calva'' persists into the modern day. Swaledale-web

Older versions of the 1:25,000

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map show a trig point at the summit of Calver Hill but all there is now is a pile of rubble and mining spoil to form a summit

cairn A cairn is a man-made pile (or stack) of stones raised for a purpose, usually as a marker or as a burial mound. The word ''cairn'' comes from the gd, càrn (plural ). Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes. In prehis ...

. The fell is littered with signs of Calver Hill’s industrial past; there is a large disused quarry north-west of the summit cairn, there are also disused tips, pits and shafts from former

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

mines. Lead mining reached its heyday in the 19th century in this area and they were some of the most productive mines in Yorkshire. Calver Hill was a

Bole hill A Bole hill (also spelt Bail hill) was a place where lead was formerly smelted in the open air. The bole was usually situated at or near the top of a hill where the wind was strong. Totley Bole Hill on the western fringes of Sheffield consisted ...

a place where the lead from the mines was

smelted Smelting is a process of applying heat to ore, to extract a base metal. It is a form of extractive metallurgy. It is used to extract many metals from their ores, including silver, iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from l ...

in an open air furnace which used the prevailing wind to increase the heat. Burnt stones and a scattering of

slag Slag is a by-product of smelting (pyrometallurgical) ores and used metals. Broadly, it can be classified as ferrous (by-products of processing iron and steel), ferroalloy (by-product of ferroalloy production) or non-ferrous/base metals (by-prod ...

show the locations of these furnaces.''"Industry in the Landscape 1700 - 1900"'',

Marilyn Palmer Marilyn Palmer, ( Allum; born 30 April 1943) is a British historian, archaeologist and academic, who specialises in landscape history and industrial archaeology. Having been a school teacher, she moved into academia and taught at Loughborough Col ...

& Peter Neaverson, Gives information on lead smelting.''"Ordnance Survey Outdoor Leisure Map 30 (Yorkshire Dales North & Central)"'', Gives information on quarrying and mining locations. In January 1868, the disposal of some nitro-glycerine on top of the hill caused some worry in nearby Reeth and Arkengarthdale as the local population were not informed of the impending explosion. The blast caused debris to extend over our from the centre, and local people thought they were under attack.

Walks

Calver Hill can be climbed from Reeth or from

Langthwaite Langthwaite is one of the few villages in Arkengarthdale, North Yorkshire, England. It is north of Reeth and sits above sea level. It is the main settlement in the dale and is one of the most northerly settlements in the whole of Yorkshire D ...

and Arkle Town in Arkengarthdale. From Reeth, Skelgate Lane is taken from just to the west of the village, this climbs through farmland until the open fell is reached at a height of , the western ridge is then followed to the summit of the fell. From Arkengarthdale, the Arkle Town to Healaugh

bridleway A bridle path, also bridleway, equestrian trail, horse riding path, ride, bridle road, or horse trail, is a trail or a thoroughfare that is used by people riding horses, riding on horses. Trails originally created for use by horses often now s ...

can be used to attain the western ridge at a height of ; it is then a simple walk to reach the top.

References

Sources

* * *{{cite report, title=Swaledale and Arkengarthdale, date=2002, url=https://archive.yorkshiredales.org.uk/about-the-dales/landscape/landscapecharacterassessment/lca_swaledale-arkengarthdale.pdf, format=PDF, website=archive.yorkshiredales.org.uk, access-date=1 October 2021, ref={{harvid, SAA, 2002 Peaks of the Yorkshire Dales