Lofthouse is a small village in

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 ...

in the

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 ...

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 about a mile south of Middlesmoor. It is the principal settlement in the civil parish of Fountains Earth. Lofthouse has a primary school, memorial village hall and public house, the ''Crown Hotel''. The post office in the village closed in August 2014, and was replaced by a post office in the cafe at nearby

How Stean Gorge How may refer to: * How (greeting), a word used in some misrepresentations of Native American/First Nations speech * How, an interrogative word in English grammar Art and entertainment Literature * ''How'' (book), a 2007 book by Dov Seid ...

, also now closed. The toponym is from the

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...

''lopt hús'', meaning "houses with lofts". The

Nidderdale Caves The Nidderdale Caves are a series of caves in Upper Nidderdale in North Yorkshire, England. There are two cave systems and most of the caves are in some way linked with one or the other. The smaller system is the Eglin cave system in the valley of ...

lie just north of the village. 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 ...

runs underground through the caves and emerges at Nidd Heads, just south of the village. The normally dry surface bed of the river passes the village to the west. Between 1907 and 1929 Lofthouse had a railway station, the public passenger terminus of the

Nidd Valley Light Railway Nidd Valley Light Railway was a light railway in upper Nidderdale in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. It was owned by Bradford Corporation Waterworks Department and the corporation also operated its public passenger services. Power & Tract ...

. The station was named Lofthouse-in-Nidderdale railway station to avoid confusion with Lofthouse and Outwood railway station, also 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 ...

References

External links

Villages in North Yorkshire Nidderdale {{Harrogate-geo-stub