Simon's Seat is a peak 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 northern England. It is a prominent outcrop of
millstone grit on the eastern side 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 i ...
. Although only high, the extensive views from the summit make it a popular destination for walkers.
Simon's Seat is on private land of the
Bolton Abbey
Bolton Abbey in Wharfedale, North Yorkshire, England, takes its name from the ruins of the 12th-century Augustinian monastery now known as Bolton Priory. The priory, closed in the 1539 Dissolution of the Monasteries ordered by King He ...
Estate. There are no
public footpaths to the summit, but the summit is on
access land. It is usually reached by a
permissive route which leads north from Bolton Abbey across the
River Wharfe
The River Wharfe ( ) is a river in Yorkshire, England originating within the Yorkshire Dales National Park. For much of its middle course it is the county boundary between West Yorkshire and North Yorkshire. Its valley is known as Wharfedale.
...
up the Valley of Desolation. The route leads across Barden Fell, which is a
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 ...
, sometimes closed to the public during the shooting season. The summit can also be reached by shorter but steeper paths from Howgill or
Skyreholme
Skyreholme is a hamlet in Wharfedale in the Yorkshire Dales, North Yorkshire, England. It lies east of Appletreewick, in the small side valleys formed by Skyreholme Beck and Blands Beck, which meet in the hamlet to form Fir Beck, a short trib ...
, one mile north of the summit.
Name
There are several explanations of the origin of the name. It was first recorded in 1771, and may have been named after an owner of the estate in a similar way to the nearby crags named Lord's Seat and Earl Seat.
A traveller in 1838 recorded a local tale that the crag was named after an infant found there by a shepherd, who named the child Simon.
The 19th-century
antiquarian Henry Speight thought that it was a
high place
"High place", or "high places", (Hebrew במה ''bamah'' and plural במות ''bamot'' or ''bamoth'') in a biblical context always means "place(s) of worship". This rendering has etymological justification, as appears from the poetical use of the ...
of
Druidic
A druid was a member of the high-ranking class in ancient Celtic cultures. Druids were religious leaders as well as legal authorities, adjudicators, lorekeepers, medical professionals and political advisors. Druids left no written accounts. Wh ...
worship, named after the legendary Simon Druid or
Simon Magus
Simon Magus (Greek Σίμων ὁ μάγος, Latin: Simon Magus), also known as Simon the Sorcerer or Simon the Magician, was a religious figure whose confrontation with Peter is recorded in Acts . The act of simony, or paying for position, is ...
.
References
External links
{{ commons category-inline, Simon's Seat
Peaks of the Yorkshire Dales
Wharfedale