Conistone is a small village in the Craven district of

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. It lies north of

Grassington Grassington is a market town and civil parish in the Craven district of North Yorkshire, England. The population of the parish at the 2011 Census was 1,126. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is situated in Wharfedale ...

, south of

Kettlewell Kettlewell is a village in Upper Wharfedale, North Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it lies north of Grassington, at the point where Wharfedale is joined by a minor road (Cam Gill Road) which leads north ...

and north of

Skipton Skipton (also known as Skipton-in-Craven) is a market town and civil parish in the Craven district of North Yorkshire, England. Historically in the East Division of Staincliffe Wapentake in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is on the River Air ...

beside the

River Wharfe The River Wharfe ( ) is a river in Yorkshire, England originating within the Yorkshire Dales National Park. For much of its middle course it is the county boundary between West Yorkshire and North Yorkshire. Its valley is known as Wharfedale. ...

, in Upper Wharfedale.

History

Conistone is mentioned in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

as ''Cunestune'' and belonging to Ketil. The name derives from a mix of

Old Danish The Danish language developed during the Middle Ages out of Old East Norse, the common predecessor of Danish and Swedish. It was a late form of common Old Norse. The Danish philologist Johannes Brøndum-Nielsen divided the history of Danish into ...

(''Kunung'') and

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

(''tūn''), which means King's farm or Settlement. The village is set in characteristic limestone scenery, including

Mossdale Caverns Mossdale Caverns is a cave system in the Yorkshire Dales, England. It is about north of Grassington, and east of Conistone, where Mossdale Beck sinks at the base of Mossdale Scar. It lies at an altitude of on the eastern flank of Wharfedale, ...

, the dry

gorge A canyon (from ; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), or gorge, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosion, erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tenden ...

of Conistone Dib and the limestone

outcrop An outcrop or rocky outcrop is a visible exposure of bedrock or ancient superficial deposits on the surface of the Earth. Features Outcrops do not cover the majority of the Earth's land surface because in most places the bedrock or superficial ...

of Conistone Pie. Above the Dib the

Dales Way The Dales Way is an long-distance footpath in Northern England, from (south-east to north-west) Ilkley, West Yorkshire, to Bowness-on-Windermere, Cumbria. This walk was initially devised by the West Riding Ramblers' Association with the 'leadi ...

path connects

, to its north, and Grassington, to its south, providing distant views over Wharfedale. From the

B6160 road New B roads are numbered routes in Great Britain of lesser importance than A roads. See the article Great Britain road numbering scheme The Great Britain road numbering scheme is a numbering scheme used to classify and identify all roads in ...

, the Wharfe is crossed at Conistone by a stone-arch bridge, which is within easy walking distance of

Kilnsey Kilnsey is a small village in Wharfedale, North Yorkshire, England. It lies on the B6160 road, between the villages of Grassington and Kettlewell, near Arncliffe and just across the River Wharfe from Conistone. The village is north of Skipton ...

, with its Crag. The parish church, St Mary's Church, dates from the 11th or 12th century, and is a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. Conistone was historically in the large ancient parish of

Burnsall Burnsall is a village and civil parish in the Craven district of North Yorkshire, England. It is situated on the River Wharfe in Wharfedale, and is in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. The village is approximately south-east from Grassington ...

, in

Staincliffe Wapentake Staincliffe, also known as Staincliff, was a wapentake of the West Riding of Yorkshire. The wapentake was named from a place called Staincliffe, now lost, in Bank Newton, not to be confused with Staincliffe near Dewsbury. Staincliffe was pres ...

in the

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...

. It became part of the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

Conistone with Kilnsey Conistone with Kilnsey is a civil parish in Wharfedale in the district of Craven, North Yorkshire, England. It contains the villages of Kilnsey and Conistone. The population of this civil parish at the 2011 Census was 124 with an estimated pop ...

in 1866, and was transferred to North Yorkshire in 1974. The population of the parish in the 2001 census was 117, rising to 124 at the 2011 census. In 2015,

North Yorkshire County Council North Yorkshire County Council (NYCC) is the county council governing the non-metropolitan county of North Yorkshire; an area composing most of North Yorkshire in England. The council currently consists of 90 councillors. The council is current ...

had estimated the population to be 110. Immediately to the east of the village lies Conistone Moor and Riggs Moor. The moorland here was known for its lead mines, and also as being the furthest point in England from a road. Known by the

Ordnance Survey , nativename_a = , nativename_r = , logo = Ordnance Survey 2015 Logo.svg , logo_width = 240px , logo_caption = , seal = , seal_width = , seal_caption = , picture = , picture_width = , picture_caption = , formed = , preceding1 = , di ...

as ''Pile of Stones'', the point is on Riggs Moor and is found at .

Gallery

image:St Mary's Church, Conistone.jpg, St Mary's Church, Conistone, from the south-east Image:Conistone_bridge_1.jpg, Stone arch bridge over Wharfe Image:sweet curve.jpg, Meadowsweet along B6160, toward Kilnsey Image:Conistone Dib wall.jpg, Wall across Dib Image:Conistone_Dib_lookback.jpg, View down Dib from top, at Dales Way path Image:Conistone Dib.jpg, Conistone Dib

References

External links

{{authority control Villages in North Yorkshire Wharfedale