Fountains Earth is a

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 ...

Harrogate district The Borough of Harrogate is a local government district with borough status in North Yorkshire, England. Its population at the census of 2011 was 157,869. Its council is based in the town of Harrogate, but it also includes surrounding towns and v ...

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. The principal village in the parish is Lofthouse, and the parish also includes the hamlet of

Bouthwaite Bouthwaite is a hamlet in the Harrogate district of North Yorkshire, England. It is situated in Nidderdale, to the north of Pateley Bridge, close to the village of Ramsgill. The Nidderdale Way and Six Dales Trail both pass through the hamlet. T ...

and the northern part of the village of

Wath Wath may refer to: Places in England * Wath, Cumbria, a U.K. location * Wath (near Ripon), a village in Harrogate district, North Yorkshire * Wath, Ryedale, a village in North Yorkshire * Wath-in-Nidderdale, a village near Pateley Bridge in Har ...

. The population of the parish in the 2011 census was 197. The parish occupies the eastern side of upper

Nidderdale Nidderdale, historically also known as Netherdale, is one of the Yorkshire Dales (although outside the Yorkshire Dales National Park) in North Yorkshire, England. It is the upper valley of the River Nidd, which flows south underground and then ...

. It is bounded on the west by the

River Nidd The River Nidd is a tributary of the River Ouse in the English county of North Yorkshire. In its first few miles it is dammed three times to create Angram Reservoir, Scar House Reservoir and Gouthwaite Reservoir, which attract a total of aroun ...

and

Gouthwaite Reservoir Gouthwaite Reservoir is a reservoir in Nidderdale, North Yorkshire, England. It is one of many in the area, others include Roundhill Reservoir and Angram Reservoir. Gouthwaite's sole purpose is a compensation reservoir for the River Nidd, i.e. ...

, which separate the parish from

Stonebeck Up Stonebeck Up is a civil parish in Harrogate district, North Yorkshire, England. The only village in the parish is Middlesmoor. The population of the parish in the 2011 census was 119. The parish occupies the highest part of Nidderdale. It is ...

and

Stonebeck Down Stonebeck Down is a civil parish in Harrogate district, North Yorkshire, England. The main settlements in the parish are the village of Ramsgill and the hamlets of Stean and Heathfield. The population of the parish in the 2011 census was 192. ...

. In Wath, at the southern end of the parish, a stream known as Dauber Gill separates the parish from

High and Low Bishopside High and Low Bishopside is a civil parish in Nidderdale in the Harrogate district, in the county of North Yorkshire, England. It includes the town of Pateley Bridge and the villages of Glasshouses and Wilsill, the southern part of Wath and th ...

. To the north and east large areas of

grouse moor Grouse are a group of birds from the order Galliformes, in the family Phasianidae. Grouse are presently assigned to the tribe Tetraonini (formerly the subfamily Tetraoninae and the family Tetraonidae), a classification supported by mitochondria ...

extend into the neighbouring parishes of

Ilton cum Pott Ilton is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated south-east of Taunton, and north of Ilminster in the South Somerset district. The village has a population of 854. The parish includes the hamlets of Ilford and Cad Green wi ...

and Laverton. Historically Fountains Earth was a

township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...

in the ancient parish of

Kirkby Malzeard Kirkby Malzeard () is a village and civil parish in the Harrogate district of North Yorkshire, England. There has been a creamery in the village making Wensleydale cheese for almost 100 years, first owned by Mrs Mason, then Kit Calvert, of Hawes ...

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 ...

. The township took its name from

Fountains Abbey Fountains Abbey is one of the largest and best preserved ruined Cistercian monasteries in England. It is located approximately south-west of Ripon in North Yorkshire, near to the village of Aldfield. Founded in 1132, the abbey operated for 40 ...

, which owned the land in the Middle Ages and established granges at Lofthouse, Bouthwaite and other places in the township. Fountains Earth became a civil parish in 1866, and in 1974 became part of the new Harrogate district in North Yorkshire. The parish now shares the Upper Nidderdale grouped parish council with the parishes of Stonebeck Down and Stonebeck Up.Upper Nidderdale Parish Council website
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References

External links

{{Commons category inline, Fountains Earth Civil parishes in North Yorkshire Nidderdale