Arncliffe is a small village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

Littondale Littondale is a Dale (landform), dale in the non-metropolitan county of North Yorkshire, England. It comprises the main settlements of Hawkswick, Arncliffe, North Yorkshire, Arncliffe, Litton, North Yorkshire, Litton, Foxup and Halton Gill, and f ...

, one of the

Yorkshire Dales The Yorkshire Dales are a series of valleys, or Dale (landform), dales, in the Pennines, an Highland, upland range in England. They are mostly located in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, but extend into C ...

in the county of

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...

, England. Littondale is a small valley beside Upper Wharfedale, beyond

Kilnsey Kilnsey is a small village in Wharfedale, North Yorkshire, England. It lies on the B6160 road, between the villages of Grassington and Kettlewell, near Arncliffe and just across the River Wharfe from Conistone. The village is north of Skip ...

and its famous

crag Crag may refer to: * Crag (climbing), a cliff or group of cliffs, in any location, which is or may be suitable for climbing * Crag (dice game), a dice game played with three dice * Crag, Arizona, US * Crag, West Virginia, US * Crag and tail, a ...

. The population of the civil parish was estimated at 80 in 2015.

Overview

Situated on a gravel delta above the flood-plain of the

River Skirfare River Skirfare is a small river in North Yorkshire, England, that flows through Littondale and ends where it joins the larger River Wharfe. The source is the confluence of Foxup Beck and Cosh Beck at the hamlet of Foxup. The name is of Old N ...

, Arncliffe's houses, cottages, and other buildings face a large green, and green hillsides etched with limestone scars. A barn to the north of the green is a good example of the local style, with an unusual entrance, and a datestone of 1677. Behind the village buildings are several small crofts, nearly one to each house, and beyond these, limestone walls climb the surrounding hills separating higher fields. St Oswald's Church lies close to the river a little north of the village, and the road up the dale crosses the river past Bridge End where

Charles Kingsley Charles Kingsley (12 June 1819 – 23 January 1875) was a broad church priest of the Church of England, a university professor, social reformer, historian, novelist and poet. He is particularly associated with Christian socialism, the workin ...

stayed, and Old Cotes, built in 1650, whose gabled porch has a 3-light window somewhat characteristic of late 17th century houses in this area of the dales. A narrow, winding road climbs steeply southwards from the village, across the fells towards

Malham Malham is a village and civil parish in the county of North Yorkshire, England. In the ''Domesday Book'', the name is given as Malgun, meaning "settlement by the gravelly places". Until 1974 it was part of the Settle Rural District, in the ...

. Paths also go towards

Kettlewell Kettlewell is a village in Upper Wharfedale, North Yorkshire, England. It lies north of Grassington, at the point where Wharfedale is joined by a minor road (Cam Gill Road) which leads north-east from the village over Park Rash Pass to Cov ...

and Starbotton. Arncliffe was the original setting for the fictional village of ''Beckindale'' in the ITV

soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...

Emmerdale Farm ''Emmerdale'' (known as ''Emmerdale Farm'' until 1989) is a British television soap opera that is broadcast on ITV. The show is set in Emmerdale (known as Beckindale until 1994), a fictional village in the Yorkshire Dales. Created by Kevin ...

'', from its inception in 1972 until moving to

Esholt Esholt is a village and former civil parish in the metropolitan district of the City of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. It is situated east of Shipley town centre, south-west of the A65 in Guiseley, north of Bradford City Centre, and n ...

in 1976. Some scenes for the 2020 TV series '' All Creatures Great and Small'' were filmed in Arncliffe. The village pub, The Falcon Inn, has appeared in both shows. The village is the birthplace of ''

Up Series The ''Up'' series of documentary films follows the lives of ten boys and four girls in England, beginning in 1964, when they were seven years old. The first film was titled ''Seven Up!'', with later films adjusting the number in the title to m ...

'' participant Nicholas Hitchon.

History

Arncliffe was first mentioned in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

of 1086. The toponym is of

Old English Old English ( or , or ), 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 developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

origin, meaning "eagles' cliff" (from ''earn'' "eagle"). The

ancient parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

of Arncliffe was part of

Staincliffe Wapentake Staincliffe, also known as Staincliff, was a wapentake of the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. The wapentake was named from a place called Staincliffe, now lost, in Bank Newton, not to be confused with Staincliffe near Dewsbury. Staincliff ...

in the West Riding of Yorkshire. The parish also included the townships of Hawkswick, Litton, Halton Gill and Buckden. All these places became separate civil parishes in 1866. From 1974 to 2023 it was part of the district of Craven, it is now administered by the unitary

North Yorkshire Council North Yorkshire Council, known between 1974 and 2023 as North Yorkshire County Council, is the local authority for the non-metropolitan county of North Yorkshire, England. Since 2023 the council has been a unitary authority, being a county coun ...

References

External links

*
Photos
* {{authority control Villages in North Yorkshire Civil parishes in North Yorkshire Craven District Littondale

Overview

History

See also

References

External links