Crummackdale

Last updated

Crummackdale
View from Thwaite over Crummackdale - geograph.org.uk - 1249926.jpg
View from Thwaite over Crummackdale
Floor elevation520 ft (160 m) [1]
Geology
TypeGlacial
Age Ordovician
Silurian
Geography
LocationNorth Yorkshire
CountryEngland
Coordinates 54°08′28″N2°20′35″W / 54.141°N 2.343°W / 54.141; -2.343   [2]
Traversed by Dales High Way
RiverAustwick Beck

Crummackdale, (sometimes Crummack Dale), is a small valley north of the village of Austwick in the Craven District of North Yorkshire, England. The Valley is drained by Austwick Beck, which flows into the River Wenning, which in turn heads westwards to empty into the Irish Sea. Crummackdale is a narrow south west facing dale, at the south west corner of the Yorkshire Dales National Park.

Contents

History

The valley is "sparsely populated" and runs in a north–south direction with the village of Austwick at the southern valley end. [3] Whilst evidence of human habitation can be dated to the third century, widespread population use did not occur until Anglo-Saxon farmers arrived in the dale c. 7th century, and they partitioned the land, which is still visible with the scarring of the landscape in strip lynchets. [4] These strips were used to grow oats in and around Austwick village. [5] Though Crummackdale has not seen as much human interaction with its landscape as other Yorkshire Dales, its recorded history in documents, extends as far back as 1190, when the landowner, Richard de Morevill, granted some of the fields to Furness Abbey for 300 marks. [6]

Sheep farming dominates the Dale, with some dairy farming occurring on the lower slopes towards Austwick. [7] Austwick Beck used to have what was known locally as a Washdub. The farmers would get together and dam a low-lying section of the beck, so that they could clean the wool whilst still on the sheep before the sheep were sold. The introduction of chemical sheepwashes, ceased this activity. [8] The great scar limestone at the north eastern end of the dale is quarried at Horton lime quarry on the other side of the hill in Ribblesdale. [9]

To the west of Austwick village, along Thwaite Lane towards Clapham, is the site of a former tarn, Thwaite Tarn, which was drained around 1811. [10] Much of the dale is inaccessible to motor vehicles, but there are many paths and green lanes that criss-cross the dale. [11]

The name of the valley derives from Middle English Crumb-oke; a Crooked oak-tree. [12]

Geology

Crummackdale is noted for the presence of silurian gritstone boulders on a plateau at Norber. [13] The boulders are known as the Norber Erratics ; erratics being a phrase indicating they are out of place. It is thought that glaciers deposited the blocks on the plateau when they retreated. [14] The Silurian boulders sit atop small carboniferous limestone columns (about 50 centimetres (20 in) in height), which have been progressively worn down by weathering. This has left the boulders looking like they have been 'perched' on small stones. [15] The Norber Erratics were 'swept up' from the valley floor by the glaciers, and deposited some 340 metres (1,120 ft) on the ridge above the valley. [16] Geological studies have shown that a glacier moved south from Ribblesdale into Crummackdale, coercing the Silurian rocks to the upper sides of the valley. [17] The presence of the Norber Erratics has led the dale to be described as "one of the most entrancing of Yorkshire's small dales". [18]

The small valley is bounded on three sides by limestone outcrops. [19] Towards the east, where a narrow gap caused by glaciation affords the space for a road from Austwick to Helwith Bridge, lies Moughton Fell. Ingleborough lies to the north, and Clapdale to the west. The south of the Crummackdale opens out into the valley of the upper reaches of the River Wenning. [1] [20] Moughton (pronounced Moot'n) and Moughton Nab at the north-east of the valley, rises to 1,401 feet (427 m), and leads over into the quarries of Ribblesdale, Horton, Dry Rigg and Arcow. [21] [1] The north eastern edge of Crummackdale, which is underlain by Great Scar Carboniferous limestone, is fringed with a south-facing limestone pavement. The lower part of the valley lies on Ordovician rocks, [22] which have been exposed by weathering. [23] The North Craven Fault runs east west across the valley floor just north of Austwick village, and the valley floor is overlain with a glacial till, which makes the ground slightly acidic. [24]

Austwick Beck

Austwick Beck below the rising Austwick Beck Head - geograph.org.uk - 60030.jpg
Austwick Beck below the rising

Austwick Beck drains the valley, which stretches for 4.8 miles (7.7 km) before flowing into the River Wenning near Clapham railway station. [25] Two clapper bridges span the river which are listed structures; Flascoe Bridge [26] and Pant Bridge. [27] The beck emerges from a cave near the top of the dale, Austwick Beck Head, but it has been demonstrated that the source of the water is from the limestone plateau above. [28] Water draining from Simon Fell sinks into a number of caves including Long Kin East Cave and Juniper Gulf at the limestone boundary, resurging from Austwick Beck head at the base of the limestone. The cave has been penetrated for 100 metres (330 ft) by cave divers. [29] The water then runs down Crummackdale before disappearing into the ground near to the village of Wharfe, leaving just a trickle of water above ground. [30] [31] However, many springs from both sides of the dale feed water into the beck, and as it meanders past Austwick village and the A65, it joins with Clapham Beck and Kettles Beck to form the River Wenning. [32] [33]

Evidence at Austwick Beck head points to human habitation in and around the second and third centuries. It is thought that the freshwater spring provided the reason for the settlement. [34] The beck remains listed with the Environment Agency as not designated artificial or heavily modified; [25] however, the use of the beck to wash sheep to prepare their fleeces for market, prompted the widening of the beck in the 1780s. This allowed for the water flow to be slowed and to prevent flooding in the washing area. [6]

The beck has a natural population of salmon, brown trout and sea trout in the Austwick area. However, in the 1980s, a programme to encourage salmon spawning further up beck nearer to the hamlet of Wharfe was developed. [35]

Woodland

Oxenber Wood Oxenber Wood - Spring flowers - geograph.org.uk - 842540.jpg
Oxenber Wood

In the east of the valley, lie Feizor Wood, Oxenber Wood, and Wharfe Wood, a combined Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). [36] The woodland covers areas where quarrying by local people (mainly from Austwick), has pockmarked the woodland floor. [37] The trees inside the wood are mostly ash, hawthorn and hazel, with dog's mercury and wood sorrel flowering on the woodland floor. [38] The wood sits on a "dome of limestone", covering 89 acres (36 ha) and was originally four separate woods, bordered by Austwick, Wharfe and Feizor, with each wood being named after the nearest settlement, apart from the one closest to Austwick, which was known as Oxenber. [39] At the western edge of the wood is a limestone pavement on which lesser meadow-rue (thalictrum minus), green spleenwort (asplenium viride), northern bedstraw (galium boreale), mountain melick (melica nutans) and bloody crane's-bill (geranium sanguineum) grow. This is notified in the SSSi statement as being of national importance. [40]

The eastern edge of the wood is trailed by the Dales High Way, which heads north through Wharfe and exits Crummackdale westwards past Simons Fell. [1]

Settlements

Some writers maintain that the hamlet of Wharfe is the only settlement in Crummackdale, [41] though Austwick and Feizor are on its southern and eastern sides respectively. All of Crummackdale is within the parish of Austwick, which had a population of 476 at the 2001 census, [42] 463 at the 2011 census, [43] and an estimated population of 440 in 2015. [44]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River Wharfe</span> River in Yorkshire, England

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wharfedale</span> Valley in Yorkshire, England

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 is the upper valley of the River Wharfe. Towns and villages in Wharfedale include Buckden, Kettlewell, Conistone, Grassington, Hebden, Bolton Abbey, Addingham, Ilkley, Burley-in-Wharfedale, Otley, Pool-in-Wharfedale, Arthington, Collingham and Wetherby. Beyond Wetherby, the valley opens out and becomes part of the Vale of York.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yorkshire Dales</span> Upland area of the Pennines in Northern England

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ingleborough</span> Mountain in the Yorkshire Dales, England

Ingleborough is the second-highest mountain in the Yorkshire Dales, England. It is one of the Yorkshire Three Peaks, and is frequently climbed as part of the Three Peaks walk. A large part of Ingleborough is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest and National Nature Reserve and is the home of a new joint project, Wild Ingleborough, with aims to improve the landscape for wildlife and people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pen-y-ghent</span> Mountain in the Yorkshire Dales, England

Pen-y-ghent or Penyghent is a fell in the Yorkshire Dales, England. It is the lowest of Yorkshire's Three Peaks at 2,277 feet (694 m); the other two being Ingleborough and Whernside. It lies 1.9 miles (3 km) east of Horton in Ribblesdale. It has a number of interesting geological features, such as Hunt Pot, and further down, Hull Pot. The waters that flow in have created an extensive cave system which rises at Brants Gill head.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grassington</span> Market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England

Grassington is a market town and civil parish in 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, about 8 miles (10 km) north-west from Bolton Abbey, and is surrounded by limestone scenery. Nearby villages include Linton, Threshfield, Hebden, Conistone and Kilnsey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clapham, North Yorkshire</span> Village in North Yorkshire, England

Clapham is a village in the civil parish of Clapham cum Newby in the Craven district of North Yorkshire, England. It was previously in the West Riding of Yorkshire. It lies within the Yorkshire Dales National Park, 6 miles (10 km) north-west of Settle, and just off the A65 road.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Austwick</span> Village and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England

Austwick is a village and civil parish in the Craven district of North Yorkshire, England, about 5 miles (8 km) north-west of Settle. The village is on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales National Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wharfe, North Yorkshire</span> Hamlet in North Yorkshire, England

Wharfe is a hamlet about a mile north east of the village of Austwick, North Yorkshire, England. Its postcode is LA2 8DQ. The name means 'The bend', The hamlet is the only settlement in Crummackdale, the upper valley of Austwick Beck. Austwick Beck, which runs through Wharfe, flows into the River Wenning which in turn flows into the River Lune. Moughton Fell rises immediately behind the hamlet to a height of 1,400 ft (430 m). The upper plateau of Moughton is contained within 856 acres (3.46 km2) of common land with grazing rights. The hamlet is within the boundary of the Yorkshire Dales National Park and is close to the Norber erratics, a group of boulders moved by glaciers during the last ice age.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River Wenning</span> River in North Yorkshire and Lancashire, England

The River Wenning is a tributary of the River Lune, flowing through North Yorkshire and Lancashire. The name derives from the Old English Wann, meaning dark river.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ribblesdale</span> A valley in North Yorkshire, England

Ribblesdale is one of the Yorkshire Dales in England. It is the dale or upper valley of the River Ribble in North Yorkshire. Towns and villages in Ribblesdale include Selside, Horton-in-Ribblesdale, Stainforth, Langcliffe, Giggleswick, Settle, Long Preston and Hellifield. Below Hellifield the valley of the river is generally known as the Ribble Valley.

Littondale is a dale in the Craven district of the non-metropolitan county of North Yorkshire, England. It comprises the main settlements of Hawkswick, Arncliffe, Litton, Foxup and Halton Gill, and farmhouses that date from the 17th century. The main waterway in the dale is the River Skirfare which is fed by many small gills and becks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norber erratics</span>

The Norber erratics are one of the finest groups of glacial erratic boulders in Britain. They are found on the southern slopes of Ingleborough, close to the village of Austwick in the Yorkshire Dales. The Ordnance Survey grid reference of the boulder field is SD764698.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dales High Way</span>

A Dales High Way is a long-distance footpath in northern England. It is 90 miles (140 km) long and runs from Saltaire in West Yorkshire to Appleby-in-Westmorland, Cumbria, roughly parallel to the line of the Settle and Carlisle Railway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Horton Quarry</span> Limestone quarry in North Yorkshire, England

Horton Quarry is a limestone quarry near to Horton-in-Ribblesdale, North Yorkshire, England. The quarry, which is some 6 miles (9.7 km) north of Settle, has been operating since at least 1889, and produces limestone for a variety of purposes. Stone used to be exported from the quarry by rail, but now leaves by lorry, although there are plans to re-instate the railway sidings. The quarry used to produce its own lime by roasting the limestone in big kilns on the site, but the last of these were removed in the 1980s. Since 2000, the quarry has been owned and operated by Hanson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scaleber Force</span> A waterfall near Settle in North Yorkshire, England

Scaleber Force, is a 40-foot (12 m) high waterfall on Stockdale Beck, later the Long Preston Beck, that feeds into the River Ribble between Settle and Long Preston in North Yorkshire, England. The waterfall is the result of geological faulting and is a popular tourist attraction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Long Kin East Cave - Rift Pot System</span> Cave system in North Yorkshire, England

The Long Kin East Cave - Rift Pot system is a limestone cave system on the southern flanks of Ingleborough, North Yorkshire in England lying within the designated Ingleborough Site of Special Scientific Interest. Long Kin East Cave starts as a long meandering stream passage but then plummets down a 58-metre (190 ft) deep shaft when it meets a shattered fault into which Rift Pot also descends. At the bottom, the stream flows through some low canals and sumps, to eventually emerge at Austwick Beck Head in Crummackdale.

The geology of the Yorkshire Dales National Park in northern England largely consists of a sequence of sedimentary rocks of Ordovician to Permian age. The core area of the Yorkshire Dales is formed from a layer-cake of limestones, sandstones and mudstones laid down during the Carboniferous period. It is noted for its karst landscape which includes extensive areas of limestone pavement and large numbers of caves including Britain's longest cave network.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scoska Wood</span> National Nature Reserve in North Yorkshire, England

Scoska Wood is an IUCN Category IV – habitat or species management area, a British national nature reserve (NNR), and a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Littondale, North Yorkshire, England. It is a managed ancient woodland, known for its ash trees, grasses and moths. It was designated as an SSSI in 1975, and was awarded its IUCN status in 1992.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wether Fell</span> Peak in the Yorkshire Dales, England

Wether Fell, also known as Drumaldrace, is a mountain in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, in North Yorkshire, England. Wether Fell is mountain that divides Wensleydale in the north and Upper Wharfedale in the south. Its summit is 614 metres (2,014 ft). A Roman Road, the Cam High Road, passes along the southern edge of the summit reaching 1,900 feet (580 m).

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "OL2" (Map). Yorkshire Dales - Southern & Western Area. 1:25,000. Explorer. Ordnance Survey. 2016. ISBN   978-0-319-26331-0.
  2. ↑ "CRUMMACK DALE, CRAVEN (LA2 8DJ)". getoutside.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  3. ↑ Mitchinson, James, ed. (6 February 2021). "Scenic Yorkshire". The Yorkshire Post. Country Week. p. 28. ISSN   0963-1496.
  4. ↑ Self 2008, p. 161.
  5. ↑ Hartley, Marie (1991). The Yorkshire Dales. Otley: Smith Settle. p. 114. ISBN   1870071727.
  6. 1 2 Johnson 2015, p. 5.
  7. ↑ Metcalfe 1971, p. 4.
  8. ↑ "Austwick washdub". www.outofoblivion.org.uk. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
  9. ↑ Metcalfe 1971, pp. 4–5.
  10. ↑ Speight, Harry (1892). The Craven and north-west Yorkshire highlands. Being a complete account of the history, scenery, and antiquities of that romantic district. London: E Stock. p. 172. OCLC   7219082.
  11. ↑ "The Craven Dales" (PDF). archive.yorkshiredales.org.uk. p. 22. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  12. ↑ "Crummack :: Survey of English Place-Names". epns.nottingham.ac.uk. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
  13. ↑ "WALK: Just the best limestone scenery". Keighley News. 15 February 2020. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
  14. ↑ Parry, Brian (June 2020). "The provenance of the Norber erratics, North Yorkshire, UK". Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society. 63 (2): 63–75. doi:10.1144/pygs2019-008.
  15. ↑ Self 2008, p. 160.
  16. ↑ Scholes, Ron (2006). Yorkshire Dales (2 ed.). Ashbourne: Landmark. p. 57. ISBN   1-84306-209-7.
  17. ↑ Metcalfe 1971, p. 39.
  18. ↑ Hartley, Marie (1991). The Yorkshire Dales. Otley: Smith Settle. p. 115. ISBN   1870071727.
  19. ↑ Mitchell 1999, p. 5.
  20. ↑ LCA 2019, p. 3.
  21. ↑ Wright, Geoffrey N. (1986). The Yorkshire Dales. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. p. 29. ISBN   0715387022.
  22. ↑ Metcalfe 1971, p. 7.
  23. ↑ Johnson 2015, p. 7.
  24. ↑ Johnson 2015, pp. 13–14.
  25. 1 2 "Austwick beck". environment.data.gov.uk. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
  26. ↑ Historic England. "Flascoe Bridge (Grade II) (1317073)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 10 April 2021.
  27. ↑ Historic England. "Pant Bridge (Grade II) (1131649)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 10 April 2021.
  28. ↑ Carter, W.L.; Dwerryhouse, A.R. (1904). "The Underground Waters of North-West Yorkshire. Part II. The Underground Waters of Ingleborough". Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society. 15 (2): 248–304. doi:10.1144/pygs.15.2.248.
  29. ↑ Cordingley, John (August–September 2021). "Austwick Beck Head Extended". Descent. Wild Places Publishing. 281: 8. ISSN   0046-0036.
  30. ↑ Bagshaw, Mike (2010). Go slow Yorkshire dales & moors : local, characterful guides to Britain's special places. Chalfont St. Peter: Bradt Travel Guides. p. 5. ISBN   978-1-84162-323-8.
  31. ↑ LCA 2019, p. 6.
  32. ↑ "25 Crummackdale" (PDF). archive.yorkshiredales.org.uk/. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
  33. ↑ "Wenning - Upper". environment.data.gov.uk. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
  34. ↑ "Crummackdale". www.northcravenheritage.org.uk. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
  35. ↑ Locke, Liz. "JUVENILE SALMONID INVESTIGATIONS RIVER WENNING CATCHMENT 1981-86" (PDF). aquaticcommons.org. pp. 9, 30. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
  36. ↑ "Oxenber and Wharfe Woods". yorkshiredales.org.uk. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  37. ↑ "Out of Oblivion: A landscape through time". www.outofoblivion.org.uk. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  38. ↑ "Feizor circular from Austwick". Craven Herald. 24 October 2013. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  39. ↑ "Oxenber: The History of an Ancient Woodland". www.northcravenheritage.org.uk. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  40. ↑ "Oxenber and Wharfe Wood" (PDF). designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  41. ↑ Chrystal 2017, p. 88.
  42. ↑ UK Census (2001). "Local Area Report – Austwick Parish (36UB004)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics . Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  43. ↑ UK Census (2011). "Local Area Report – Austwick Parish (E04007057)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics . Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  44. ↑ "2015 Population Estimates Parishes" (PDF). northyorks.gov.uk. December 2016. p. 10. Retrieved 27 May 2021.

Sources

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.