Urra Moor is the highest moor in 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 ...
,
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 ...
. At above sea level it is the highest point in
Hambleton District
Hambleton is a local government district in North Yorkshire, England. The administrative centre is Northallerton, and the district includes the outlying towns and villages of Bedale, Thirsk, Great Ayton, Stokesley, and Easingwold.
The dist ...
and the
North York Moors National Park
North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography.
Etymology
The word ''north'' is ...
, and the fourteenth most
prominent hill in England. The name is a mix of
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 settlement of Britain, Anglo ...
and
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 ...
(''horh'' and ''haugr'') which means ''The Dirty Hill''. The name of Urra Moor applies to the
moor
Moor or Moors may refer to:
Nature and ecology
* Moorland, a habitat characterized by low-growing vegetation and acidic soils.
Ethnic and religious groups
* Moors, Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, Iberian Peninsula, Sicily, and Malta during ...
as a whole; the summit itself is known as Round Hill.
The summit is crowned by a
trig point
A triangulation station, also known as a trigonometrical point, and sometimes informally as a trig, is a fixed surveying station, used in geodetic surveying and other surveying projects in its vicinity. The nomenclature varies regionally: they a ...
, and a track passes about to the south of this point. This track forms part of the route of both the
Lyke Wake Walk
The Lyke Wake Walk is a challenge walk across the highest and widest part of the North York Moors National Park in North Yorkshire, England. The route remembers the many corpses carried over the moors on old coffin routes and the ancient burial ...
and the
Cleveland Way
The Cleveland Way is a National Trail in the historic area of Cleveland in North Yorkshire, northern England. It runs between Helmsley and the Brigg at Filey, skirting the North York Moors National Park.
History
Development of the Clevela ...
,
and also forms the most commonly used route of ascent for Urra Moor. It is from the car park at Clay Bank to the summit via this route; total ascent is just under .
Urra Moor is noted for its
prehistoric
Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use of ...
remains. There are a number of
barrows, and several carved rocks, including some
cup and ring carvings. Probably the most striking relic is the Face Stone, a carved stone about in height into which has been carved the shape of a
face
The face is the front of an animal's head that features the eyes, nose and mouth, and through which animals express many of their emotions. The face is crucial for human identity, and damage such as scarring or developmental deformities may aff ...
.
References
Marilyns of England
Mountains and hills of North Yorkshire
North York Moors
Moorlands of England
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