Rosedale is a valley located almost in the centre of the

North York Moors The North York Moors is an upland area in north-eastern Yorkshire, England. It contains one of the largest expanses of Calluna, heather moorland in the United Kingdom. The area was designated as a national parks of England and Wales, National P ...

national park in

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 nearest town is

Kirkbymoorside Kirkbymoorside () is a market town and civil parish in the Ryedale district in North Yorkshire, England. It is north of York, It is also midway between Pickering and Helmsley, on the edge of the North York Moors National Park. It had a populat ...

, some to the south. Rosedale is surrounded by moorland. To the north-west sits Blakey Ridge at over above sea level. At Dale Head is the source of the

River Seven The River Seven is a river in North Yorkshire, England. It rises on Danby High Moor, in the middle of the North York Moors, and flows south for about to meet the River Rye, at Brawby. After leaving Danby High Moor, the river flows through ...

,which flows down the valley to join the River Rye at Little Habton near Malton. At its southern end Rosedale is squeezed between Spaunton Moor and Hartoft Rigg, where the river flows out through

Forestry Commission The Forestry Commission is a non-ministerial government department responsible for the management of publicly owned forests and the regulation of both public and private forestry in England. The Forestry Commission was previously also respon ...

woodland before passing the village of

Cropton Cropton is a village and civil parish in the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire, England. It is on the border of the North York Moors National Park, north-west of Pickering. History The village is mentioned in the Domesday Book as having th ...

to reach the plains of the

Vale of Pickering The Vale of Pickering is a low-lying flat area of land in North Yorkshire, England. It is drained by the River Derwent. The landscape is rural with scattered villages and small market towns. It has been inhabited continuously from the Mesolithic ...

The view towards Rosedale Abbey - geograph

Few inhabitants of Rosedale work in farming. The majority of houses are bought as second homes and as such the permanent local population has been significantly reduced. In the late 19th century the valley quickly became a major centre for iron-ore extraction, which gave rise to the modern village of

Rosedale Abbey __NOTOC__ Rosedale Abbey is a village in the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire, England. It is approximately north-west of Pickering, 8 miles south-east of Castleton and within Rosedale, part of the North York Moors National Park. Histor ...

, built around the site of a former

Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...

Priory A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or nuns (such as the Dominicans, Augustinians, Franciscans, and Carmelites), or monasteries of mon ...

and now the only settlement in the valley. Mining took place from 1857 to 1928. The ore was pre-processed by

calcination Calcination refers to thermal treatment of a solid chemical compound (e.g. mixed carbonate ores) whereby the compound is raised to high temperature without melting under restricted supply of ambient oxygen (i.e. gaseous O2 fraction of air), genera ...

, for which special kilns were built. The mines were served by the freight-only Rosedale Railway from Battersby, which closed in 1929 after the last of the calcine dust extracted from the kiln waste had been sold.

Rosedale Chimney Bank Rosedale Chimney Bank or just Chimney Bank is a hill pass that carries a minor road between Rosedale Abbey and Hutton-le-Hole in the Ryedale district of the North York Moors National Park, North Yorkshire, England. The tarmacked highway shar ...

, one of the steepest roads in the United Kingdom, provides a popular entrance point into the valley. A row of disused kilns and a former

Royal Observer Corps The Royal Observer Corps (ROC) was a civil defence organisation intended for the visual detection, identification, tracking and reporting of aircraft over Great Britain. It operated in the United Kingdom between 29 October 1925 and 31 December ...

Underground Monitoring Post are both situated yards from its summit. In the adjacent

Farndale Farndale is a valley and community in Ryedale district, North Yorkshire, England, which is known for the daffodils which flower each spring along a stretch of the River Dove. The valley is in the North York Moors National Park, some nor ...

Valley wild daffodils bloom around Easter time. In mid-August Rosedale Show is held at Rosedale Abbey and attracts some 5,000 people from all parts of Britain. The show dates back to 1871 and is one of the oldest in North Yorkshire. The

Frank Elgee Frank Watson Elgee (born 8 November 1880 in North Ormesby (Middlesbrough) Yorkshire, England) was a published archaeologist, geologist and naturalist. He wrote several books on the North York Moors such as ''The Moorlands of North-Eastern Yor ...

memorial was erected in 1953 at Blakey Ridge on The North York Moors, overlooking Loose Howe at Rosedale Head.

References

External links

*
The iron mining and railway community of Rosedale
Abandonedcommunities.co.uk (personal web site)

Walkingenglishman.com Valleys of the North York Moors {{Ryedale-geo-stub