The Colsterdale towers are a set of sighting towers in and around

Colsterdale Colsterdale is the valley of the River Burn, a tributary of the River Ure, in the Yorkshire Dales in North Yorkshire, England. It gives its name to a hamlet and civil parish in the upper part of the dale, about west of Masham. The population ...

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 ...

. These sighting towers were used to conduct surveys during the construction of

Leighton reservoir Leighton Reservoir is a reservoir which drains via the River Burn to the River Ure in North Yorkshire, England. It neighbours Roundhill Reservoir and is about west of Masham. It takes its name from the nearby village of Leighton. Work on t ...

and

Roundhill reservoir Roundhill Reservoir is situated near Leighton Reservoir in North Yorkshire, England. It was constructed by Harrogate Corporation early in the 20th century. Water from the reservoir is fed into Yorkshire Water's grid. Roundhill reservoir is o ...

, other proposed reservoirs and accompanying pipelines. Visible from

Roundhill Reservoir Roundhill Reservoir is situated near Leighton Reservoir in North Yorkshire, England. It was constructed by Harrogate Corporation early in the 20th century. Water from the reservoir is fed into Yorkshire Water's grid. Roundhill reservoir is o ...

and

Leighton Reservoir Leighton Reservoir is a reservoir which drains via the River Burn to the River Ure in North Yorkshire, England. It neighbours Roundhill Reservoir and is about west of Masham. It takes its name from the nearby village of Leighton. Work on t ...

above Arnagill Crags is a stone sighting tower built over an aqueduct near a water pumping station. The similar Carle Tower is situated southeast just above Wandley Gill, Carlesmoor Sighting Tower is a further east and another sighting tower to the north is long since gone having been constructed of wood. The Greygarth Monument is also in the area, commemorating

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

's Diamond Jubilee in 1897.

Erection

The sighting towers were erected to conduct surveys (the steep-sided valley of

Dallowgill Dallowgill (historically also Dallaghill) is a village in Harrogate district in North Yorkshire, England. It consists of a number of scattered settlements in the western part of the civil parish of Laverton, North Yorkshire, Laverton. Histor ...

was once a proposed reservoir site) and as references for construction of the pipeline over hill and dale toward

Harrogate Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Harrogate in North Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist destination and its visitor at ...

. The pipe begins at the bottom of a small catchments reservoir above Spout Gill Farm and flows to

, where it meets with the dam overflow pipe that runs to Carlesmoor and empties into the

River Laver The River Laver is a tributary of the River Skell, itself a tributary of the River Ure in North Yorkshire, England. The name is of Brittonic languages, Brittonic origin, from ''labaro'', meaning "talkative", i.e. a babbling brook. The Afon Lla ...

Reservoirs

The reservoirs were built by the Harrogate Water Corporation between 1895 and 1911. The

Leeds Corporation Leeds City Council is the local authority of the City of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. It is a metropolitan district council, one of five in West Yorkshire and one of 36 in the metropolitan counties of England, and provides the majority of l ...

explored construction of another reservoir to the north-west in

but the proposal was rejected due to concerns over

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 ...

and

coal mine Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

s in the area. The

narrow-gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structur ...

Colsterdale Waterworks Light Railway built in 1901 as a supply line from

Masham Masham ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Harrogate district of North Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 1,205 at the 2011 census. Etymology In Wensleydale, on the western bank of the River Ure, the name derives from the An ...

closed in 1926 and was removed in 1932 (after being used during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

for troop transport to the

Leeds Pals The Leeds Pals were a First World War Pals battalion of Kitchener's Army raised in the West Yorkshire city of Leeds. When the battalion was taken over by the British Army it was officially named the 15th Battalion (1st Leeds), The Prince of Wal ...

camp at Breary Banks just north of Leighton) but is still evident on the south side of the dale.

References

External links

{{commonscat inline, Colsterdale Towers
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with markers, photos and 3D sketchups Buildings and structures in North Yorkshire Tourist attractions in North Yorkshire Towers in North Yorkshire