Hesleden is a
hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
in
Littondale
Littondale is a dale in the Craven district of the non-metropolitan county of North Yorkshire, England. It comprises the main settlements of Hawkswick, Arncliffe, Litton, Foxup and Halton Gill, and farmhouses that date from the 17th century. ...
in the
Yorkshire Dales
The Yorkshire Dales is an upland area of the Pennines in the historic county of Yorkshire, England, most of it in the Yorkshire Dales National Park created in 1954.
The Dales comprise river valleys and the hills rising from the Vale of York w ...
in England. It lies within the civil parish of
Halton Gill
Halton Gill is a hamlet and civil parish in Littondale in the Yorkshire Dales in North Yorkshire, England. It is situated up Littondale from Litton. A minor road leads south west to Silverdale and Stainforth in Ribblesdale.
The name of t ...
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 ...
. Nether Hesleden is west of
Litton, and Upper Hesleden is a further west, on the road from Halton Gill to
Stainforth.
The name is first recorded (as ''Eseldene'') in a charter of
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 ...
in about 1206. The name means "hazel valley", from the
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 settlers in the mid-5th c ...
''hæsel'' and ''denu''.
References
Villages in North Yorkshire
{{NorthYorkshire-geo-stub