Littondale is a dale in the Craven

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

of the

non-metropolitan county A non-metropolitan county, or colloquially, shire county, is a county-level entity in England that is not a metropolitan county. The counties typically have populations of 300,000 to 1.8 million. The term ''shire county'' is, however, an unoffi ...

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 comprises the main settlements of

Hawkswick Hawkswick is a hamlet and civil parish in the Craven District, Craven district of North Yorkshire, England. Situated in the Yorkshire Dales, it lies in Littondale on the River Skirfare. The population of the civil parish was estimated at 70 i ...

, Arncliffe, Litton,

Foxup Foxup is a hamlet (place), hamlet in the Yorkshire Dales in the Craven District, Craven district of North Yorkshire, England. The hamlet is near Halton Gill and Litton, North Yorkshire, Litton and is north west of Grassington. Foxup is in the c ...

and

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 ...

, and farmhouses that date from the 17th century. The main waterway in the dale is the

River Skirfare River Skirfare is a small river in North Yorkshire, England, that flows through Littondale and ends where it joins the larger River Wharfe. The source is the confluence of Foxup Beck and Cosh Beck at the hamlet of Foxup. The name is of Old N ...

which is fed by many small gills and becks. The dale, first recorded by name as ''Littundale'' in 1198, is one of the few dales named from its main settlement rather than its river (

Wensleydale Wensleydale is the dale or upper valley of the River Ure on the east side of the Pennines, one of the Yorkshire Dales in North Yorkshire, England. It is one of only a few Yorkshire Dales not currently named after its principal river, but th ...

is the best known example). Historically the dale was also known as Amerdale. The village of Arncliffe was the original setting for the TV series ''

Emmerdale ''Emmerdale'' (known as ''Emmerdale Farm'' until 1989) is a British soap opera that is broadcast on ITV1. The show is set in Emmerdale (known as Beckindale until 1994), a fictional village in the Yorkshire Dales. Created by Kevin Laffan, '' ...

'', which is believed to take its name from Amerdale.

Geography

Littondale is a side dale to the west of

Wharfedale Wharfedale ( ) is the valley of the upper parts of the River Wharfe and one of the Yorkshire Dales. It is situated within the districts of Craven and Harrogate in North Yorkshire, and the cities of Leeds and Bradford in West Yorkshire. It is ...

and follows the

. The nature of the dale and its characteristic smooth form was the result of many ice ages, especially the one 20,000 years ago. As the glacier for that age receded it left retreat moraine, an example of which can be found at Skirfare Bridge. Like neighbouring Wharfedale, Littondale comprises mainly Great Scar Limestone and

Yoredale Wensleydale is the dale or upper valley of the River Ure on the east side of the Pennines, one of the Yorkshire Dales in North Yorkshire, England. It is one of only a few Yorkshire Dales not currently named after its principal river, but t ...

rock. The dale has a number of

shake holes A sinkhole is a depression or hole in the ground caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer. The term is sometimes used to refer to doline, enclosed depressions that are locally also known as ''vrtače'' and shakeholes, and to openi ...

and sink-holes that lead to cave systems such as at Boreham Cave. At the head of the dale is

Pen-y-ghent Pen-y-ghent or Penyghent is a fell in the Yorkshire Dales, England. It is the lowest of Yorkshire's Three Peaks at ; the other two being Ingleborough and Whernside. It lies east of Horton in Ribblesdale. It has a number of interesting geologi ...

, one of the

Yorkshire Three Peaks The mountains of Whernside (), Ingleborough () and Pen-y-ghent () are collectively known as the Three Peaks. The peaks, which form part of the Pennine range, encircle the head of the valley of the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales National ...

. A narrow road leads up the dale from the B6160 near

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 ...

as far as Foxup. Two minor roads lead out of the dale to the south and west, one from Arncliffe to

Malham Malham is a village and civil parish in the Craven district of North Yorkshire, England. Before 20th century boundary changes, the village was part of the Settle Rural District, in the historic West Riding of Yorkshire. In the ''Domesday Book' ...

and one from Halton Gill past Pen-y-Ghent to Stainforth in

Ribblesdale Ribblesdale is one of the Yorkshire Dales in England. It is the dale or upper valley of the River Ribble in North Yorkshire. Towns and villages in Ribblesdale (downstream, from north to south) include Selside, Horton-in-Ribblesdale, Stainfo ...

. Littondale is home to

Scoska Wood Scoska Wood is an IUCN protected area categories#Category IV – habitat or species management area, IUCN Category IV – habitat or species management area, a British national nature reserve (United Kingdom), national nature reserve (NNR), and ...

National Nature Reserve.

History

Littondale is rich in Bronze Age and Iron Age settlements, and has been a sheltered fertile valley for 5,000 years or more. Anglian cultivation terraces (lynchets) can be seen in the valley. After the Conquest, the Normans turned it into a hunting chase before the land was granted to the monks 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 the 13th century, and became extensively used for sheep farming. All of Littondale was historically in the

ancient 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. ...

of Arncliffe 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 ...

. In 1866 it was divided into 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 ...

es of Hawkswick, Arncliffe, Litton and Halton Gill, and in 1974 became part of the district of Craven in the new county of North Yorkshire.

Settlements

is the first settlement reached travelling from the B6160. The name is derived from the Middle English ''Hauk'' meaning someone who trained Hawks and ''wick'', meaning ''dairy farm''. Arncliffe is the second, and largest, settlement reached travelling from the B6160, lies at the confluence of Cowside Beck and the River Skirfare. The name derives from the Old English, ''earna-clif'', meaning ''eagles cliff''. It is now a conservation area and is centred on its village green and has one public house. The church was built in the 16th and 18th centuries to replace the stone 11th century building, which probably superseded a wooden Anglo-Saxon church. Litton is the third settlement reached travelling from the B6160. The name has the meaning ''village on a roaring stream''.

is the fourth settlement reached travelling from the B6160. The name is derived from the Anglo-Saxon ''haugh'' meaning ''Valley'' and ''tun'' meaning farm. Gill is a derivation of the Olde Norse 'gil', meaning ''ravine'', therefore the whole name means ''valley farm by the ravine''.

is the last settlement reached travelling from the B6160. The name means ''fox valley''.

Governance

Littondale lies within the Mid Craven electoral division of North Yorkshire County Council. The county councillor in 2020 is Gill Quinn of the Conservative Party. Littondale lies within the Craven District Council ward of Upper Wharfedale and as of 2020 is represented by Sue Metcalfe of the Conservative Party. There are four civil parishes in Littondale. Arncliffe has a parish council. Hawkswick, Litton and Halton Gill have

parish meeting A parish meeting, in England, is a meeting to which all the electors in a civil parish are entitled to attend. In some cases, where a parish or group of parishes has fewer than 200 electors, the parish meeting can take on the role of a parish cou ...

s but no parish councils.

Gallery

Littondale - geograph.org.uk - 591156.jpg, Littondale. Seen from above Hawkswick on the path from Kettlewell. View down Littondale - geograph.org.uk - 189412.jpg, View down Littondale View up Littondale - geograph.org.uk - 10824.jpg, View up Littondale. Looking north-westwards from footpath corner at MR: SD916739. View up Littondale - geograph.org.uk - 1372553.jpg, View up Littondale. Looking up dale from the Monks Road in a north-westerly direction. Stone pillar, Littondale - geograph.org.uk - 1776824.jpg, Stone pillar, Littondale near Hawkswick Bridge. Littondale (N Yorkshire) - geograph.org.uk - 432719.jpg, Littondale (N Yorkshire).View from near the Hawkswick to Malham footpath. Hawkswick.jpg, Hawkswick Arncliffe - geograph.org.uk - 125093.jpg, Arncliffe The Queen's Arms - geograph.org.uk - 379937.jpg, The Queen's Arms, Litton Halton Gill Signs - geograph.org.uk - 302804.jpg, Halton Gill Foxup Beck - geograph.org.uk - 314631.jpg, Foxup

References

External links

{{commons category-inline, Littondale Valleys of North Yorkshire Yorkshire Dales