Wharfedale ( ) is the valley of the upper parts of 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.
...
and one of the
Yorkshire Dales
The Yorkshire Dales is an upland area of the Pennines in the Historic counties of England, 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 ri ...
. It is situated within the districts of
Craven and
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 ...
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 ...
, and the cities of
Leeds
Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...
and
Bradford
Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...
in
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...
. It is the upper valley of 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.
...
. Towns and villages in Wharfedale (downstream, from west to east) include
Buckden,
Kettlewell
Kettlewell is a village in Upper Wharfedale, North Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it lies north of Grassington, at the point where Wharfedale is joined by a minor road (Cam Gill Road) which leads north ...
,
Conistone
Conistone is a small village in the Craven district of North Yorkshire, England. It lies north of Grassington, south of Kettlewell and north of Skipton beside the River Wharfe, in Upper Wharfedale.
History
Conistone is mentioned in the Do ...
,
Grassington
Grassington is a market town and civil parish in the Craven district of North Yorkshire, England. The population of the parish at the 2011 Census was 1,126. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is situated in Wharfedale ...
,
Hebden,
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 Henry ...
,
Addingham
Addingham (formerly Haddincham , Odingehem 1086)Mills, A.D. (2003). ', Encyclopedia.com is a village and civil parish in the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, England. It is situated near the A65, south-east of Skipton, west of Ilkley, ...
,
Ilkley
Ilkley is a spa town and civil parish in the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, in Northern England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Ilkley civil parish includes the adjacent village of Ben Rhydding and is a ward within the ...
,
Burley-in-Wharfedale
Burley in Wharfedale is a village and (as just Burley) a civil parish in the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, England. It is situated in the Wharfedale valley.
The village is situated on the A65 road, approximately north-west from Leeds, ...
,
Otley
Otley is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish at a bridging point on the River Wharfe, in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically a part of the West Ridi ...
,
Pool-in-Wharfedale
Pool-in-Wharfedale or Pool in Wharfedale, usually abbreviated to Pool, is a village and civil parish in the Lower Wharfedale area, north of Leeds city centre, north-east of Bradford, and east of Otley. It is in the City of Leeds metropolitan ...
,
Arthington
Arthington is a small village in Wharfedale, in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. It is a civil parish which, according to the 2011 census, had a population of 532 and is in the LS21 postcode district with Ot ...
,
Collingham and
Wetherby
Wetherby () is a market town and civil parish in the City of Leeds district, West Yorkshire, England, close to West Yorkshire county's border with North Yorkshire, and lies approximately from Leeds City Centre, from York and from Harrogat ...
. Beyond Wetherby, the valley opens out and becomes part of the
Vale of York
The Vale of York is an area of flat land in the northeast of England. The vale is a major agricultural area and serves as the main north–south transport corridor for Northern England.
The Vale of York is often supposed to stretch from the R ...
.
The section from the river's source to around Addingham is known as ''Upper Wharfedale'' and lies 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 ...
and in the
Yorkshire Dales National Park
The Yorkshire Dales National Park is a national park in England covering most of the Yorkshire Dales. Most of the park is in North Yorkshire, with a sizeable area in Westmorland (Cumbria) and a small part in Lancashire. The park was designat ...
. The first or so is known as
Langstrothdale
Langstrothdale is a scenic valley in the Yorkshire Dales in North Yorkshire, England. The uppermost course of the River Wharfe runs through it, but Wharfedale does not begin until the Wharfe meets Cray Gill, downstream of Hubberholme. The name ...
, including the settlements of
Beckermonds
Beckermonds is a small hamlet in the Craven district of North Yorkshire, England. The hamlet lies at the western end of Langstrothdale, at the confluence of Green Field Beck and Oughtershaw Beck, which join to form the start of the River Whar ...
,
Yockenthwaite
Yockenthwaite is a hamlet in the Craven district of North Yorkshire, England. It lies in the Langstrothdale valley in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Yockenthwaite is north of Skipton and ...
and
Hubberholme
Hubberholme is an old village in Upper Wharfedale in the Yorkshire Dales, North Yorkshire, England, at the point where Langstrothdale meets Wharfedale. It is quite secluded and the nearest village is Buckden.
The village was a favourite place ...
, famous for its church, the resting place of the writer
J. B. Priestley
John Boynton Priestley (; 13 September 1894 – 14 August 1984) was an English novelist, playwright, screenwriter, broadcaster and social commentator.
His Yorkshire background is reflected in much of his fiction, notably in ''The Good Compa ...
. As it turns southwards, the Wharfe then runs through a green and lush valley, with
limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
outcrop
An outcrop or rocky outcrop is a visible exposure of bedrock or ancient superficial deposits on the surface of the Earth.
Features
Outcrops do not cover the majority of the Earth's land surface because in most places the bedrock or superficial ...
s, such as
Kilnsey Crag, and woodland, generally quite unusual in the Dales.
Below Addingham, the dale broadens and turns to the east. This section is shared between North Yorkshire and
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...
and includes the towns of Ilkley, Otley and Wetherby. The northern side of Lower Wharfedale, opposite Ilkley, Burley-in-Wharfedale and Otley, is in the
Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
The Nidderdale AONB is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in North Yorkshire, England, bordering the Yorkshire Dales National Park to the east and south. It comprises most of Nidderdale itself, part of lower Wharfedale, the Washburn valley an ...
.
The
Yorkshire Dales Rivers Trust
The Yorkshire Dales Rivers Trust was formed in 2004 with a remit to improve, restore and conserve the rivers Swale, Ure, Wharfe and Nidd whose headwaters lie within the Yorkshire Dales National Park and the Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Nat ...
has a remit to conserve the ecological condition of Wharfedale,
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 ...
,
Swaledale
Swaledale is one of the northernmost dales (valleys) in Yorkshire Dales National Park, located in northern England. It is the dale of the River Swale on the east side of the Pennines in North Yorkshire.
Geographical overview
Swaledale runs ...
and
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 ...
catchments from their headwaters to the
Humber
The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal rivers Ouse and Trent. From there to the North Sea, it forms part of the boundary between th ...
Estuary.
History
![Otley Panorama](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/Otley_Panorama.jpg)
The Wharfedale valley was cut into the shape we know today during the last ice age (the
Devensian Glaciation). The valley was transformed into its classic U-shaped state between 18,000 and 12,000 years ago by the Wharfedale Glacier, though this was cutting through a channel that had already had a river draining water away to the east through what is now Wharfedale, and also to the north through what is now
Bishopdale and then
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 ...
.
Evidence of human settlement has been found dating back to
Neolithic
The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...
times and the valley has plenty of artefacts relating to the
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
* Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Fo ...
,
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
and
Anglo-Saxon
The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...
periods. The Romans built a road over Stake Moss into what is now the village of
Bainbridge in Wensleydale.
The Anglo-Saxon influence remains in modern times, with most settlements in Upper Wharfedale having Anglo-Saxon derived names.
The name of the valley is derived from the principal river that flows through it: the Wharfe, which comes from the
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 ...
''Weorf'' or
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 ...
''Hverfr'', with both taken as meaning ''winding river''. The River Wharfe starts at the confluence (at the hamlet of Beckermonds) of the Oughtershaw Beck and the Green Field Beck, each of which originates at the Pennine watershed, some north-east of
Ribblehead
Ribblehead is the area of moorland at the head of the River Ribble in the area known as Ribblesdale, in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, England.
Ribblehead is most notable for Ribblehead railway station and Ribblehead Viaduct on the Settl ...
. The valley roughly follows a south-easterly direction, providing a border between West Yorkshire (on the south side) and North Yorkshire.
Between Oughtershaw Moss and Wetherby, the valley runs for .
The uppermost part of the valley is known as Langstrothdale. Below Beckermonds the river is known as the River Wharfe. Wetherby is traditionally seen as the foot of Wharfedale, even though the river continues on through the
Vale of York
The Vale of York is an area of flat land in the northeast of England. The vale is a major agricultural area and serves as the main north–south transport corridor for Northern England.
The Vale of York is often supposed to stretch from the R ...
.
The valley has been used largely for agriculture, and is now criss-crossed with stone walls and stone barns that evidence its use down the centuries.
Geology
The geology of the valley is split, with Upper Wharfedale consisting of
carboniferous limestone
Carboniferous Limestone is a collective term for the succession of limestones occurring widely throughout Great Britain and Ireland that were deposited during the Dinantian Epoch of the Carboniferous Period. These rocks formed between 363 and ...
of the
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 ...
series. In the lower part of Wharfedale, around
Ilkley
Ilkley is a spa town and civil parish in the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, in Northern England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Ilkley civil parish includes the adjacent village of Ben Rhydding and is a ward within the ...
and
Otley
Otley is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish at a bridging point on the River Wharfe, in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically a part of the West Ridi ...
, the underlying stone is mostly millstone grit, which can be seen best at the Cow and Calf rocks on the south side of the valley on
Ilkley Moor
Ilkley Moor is part of Rombalds Moor, the moorland between Ilkley and Keighley in West Yorkshire, England. The moor, which rises to 402 m (1,319 ft) above sea level, is well known as the inspiration for the Yorkshire "county anthem" ...
. The Bramley Almanac for 1931 lists 'Earthquake in Wharfedale' for 15th December 1859
Wharfedale Ward
As an
electoral
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated ...
subdivision Wharfedale is a
ward
Ward may refer to:
Division or unit
* Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward
* Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...
in the north east of the
City of Bradford
The City of Bradford () is a local government district of West Yorkshire, England, with the status of a city and metropolitan borough. It is named after its largest settlement, Bradford, but covers a large area which includes the towns and v ...
metropolitan borough
A metropolitan borough (or metropolitan district) is a type of local government district in England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, metropolitan boroughs are defined in English law as metropolitan districts within metropolitan ...
. It consists of the settlements of
Burley-in-Wharfedale
Burley in Wharfedale is a village and (as just Burley) a civil parish in the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, England. It is situated in the Wharfedale valley.
The village is situated on the A65 road, approximately north-west from Leeds, ...
,
Burley Woodhead
Burley Woodhead is a hamlet in the City of Bradford, in West Yorkshire, England. The hamlet is to the south-west of Burley in Wharfedale and is approximately from the spa town of Ilkley. Burley Woodhead comprises chiefly of a small cluster of ...
and
Menston
Menston is a village and civil parish in the City of Bradford in the county of West Yorkshire, England. Along with Burley in Wharfedale, most of Menston is within Wharfedale Ward in the metropolitan borough of Bradford. The remainder of Men ...
along with surrounding moorland. The population of the ward taken at the 2011 Census was 11,836.
Deanery of South Craven and Wharfedale
In 2017, in consideration of
regional geography
Regional geography is a major branch of geography. It focuses on the interaction of different cultural and natural geofactors in a specific land or landscape, while its counterpart, systematic geography, concentrates on a specific geofactor at the ...
, the
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
changed its subdivisions and re-grouped the
Deanery
A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residenc ...
of Wharfedale with that of
South Craven, in order that the similar regions can work together more effectively.
[West Yorkshire Dales Anglican News.](_blank)
Retrieved 6 May 2017
Wharfedale in culture
![John Atkinson Grimshaw - Wharfedale 1872](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/00/John_Atkinson_Grimshaw_-_Wharfedale_1872.jpg)
One of the most renowned painters of the Victorian era,
John Atkinson Grimshaw
John Atkinson Grimshaw (6 September 1836 – 13 October 1893) was an English Victorian-era artist best known for his nocturnal scenes of urban landscapes.Alexander Robertson, ''Atkinson Grimshaw'', London, Phaidon Press, 1996 H. J. Dyos and ...
, portrayed the area in his piece, "Moonlight, Wharfedale" (1871 – oil on card ). He is known as one of the best and most accomplished nightscape and townscape artists of all time, and this painting is a prime example of his mastery.
J. M. W. Turner
Joseph Mallord William Turner (23 April 177519 December 1851), known in his time as William Turner, was an English Romantic painter, printmaker and watercolourist. He is known for his expressive colouring, imaginative landscapes and turbulen ...
also visited and painted scenes around Otley and Ilkley. Turner was commissioned to paint
Kilnsey Crag, which he created as an oil painting in 1816.
The valley was featured in episode three of the
BBC Two
BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...
series, ''The Yorkshire Dales''.
References
External links
Upper Wharfedale School WebsiteKilnsey Crag by JMW Turner
{{authority control
Valleys of North Yorkshire
Valleys of West Yorkshire
River Wharfe