Lofthouse is a small village in

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 east from its source, the ...

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 about a mile south of

Middlesmoor Middlesmoor is a small hill village at the head of Nidderdale in the county of North Yorkshire, England. Middlesmoor is the principal settlement in the civil parish of Stonebeck Up, historically a township in the ancient parish of Kirkby Malz ...

. It is the principal settlement in the civil parish of

Fountains Earth Fountains Earth is a civil parish in the county of North Yorkshire, England. The principal village in the parish is Lofthouse, and the parish also includes the hamlet of Bouthwaite and the northern part of the village of Wath. The population ...

. Until 1974 it was part of the

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, lieu ...

. From 1974 to 2023 it was part of the

Borough of Harrogate The Borough of Harrogate was a local government district with borough status in North Yorkshire, England, from 1974 to 2023. Its council was based in the town of Harrogate, but it also included surrounding settlements, including the cathedral ...

, 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 ...

. Lofthouse has a primary school, memorial village hall and public house, the ''Crown Hotel''. The post office in the village closed in August 2014, and was replaced by a post office in the cafe at nearby

How Stean Gorge How Stean Gorge is a limestone gorge in Nidderdale in North Yorkshire, England. It forms a unit of the Nidderdale Caves, Upper Nidderdale Site of Special Scientific Interest. The gorge lies between the villages of Stean and Lofthouse, North Yo ...

, also now closed. The toponym is from the

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was 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 ...

''lopt hús'', meaning "houses with lofts". The

Nidderdale Caves The Nidderdale Caves are a series of caves in Upper Nidderdale in North Yorkshire, England. There are two cave systems and most of the caves are in some way linked with one or the other. The smaller system is the Eglin cave system in the valley o ...

lie just north of the village. The

River Nidd The River Nidd is a tributary of the River Ouse in the English county of North Yorkshire. It rises in Nidderdale at Nidd Head Spring on the slopes of Great Whernside. In its first few miles it has been dammed three times, creating Angram Rese ...

runs underground through the caves and emerges at Nidd Heads, just south of the village. The normally dry surface bed of the river passes the village to the west. Between 1907 and 1929 Lofthouse had a railway station, the public passenger terminus of the

Nidd Valley Light Railway Nidd Valley Light Railway was a light railway in upper Nidderdale in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. It was owned by Bradford Corporation Waterworks Department and the corporation also operated its public passenger services. Power & Tract ...

. The station was named Lofthouse-in-Nidderdale railway station to avoid confusion with Lofthouse and Outwood railway station, also in the

References

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Villages in North Yorkshire Nidderdale {{NorthYorkshire-geo-stub

See also

References

External links