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A brief overview of The Yorkshire Dales

Welcome to TheYorkshireDales.org and our Yorkshire Dales information, useful online links, local villages to visit and holiday cottages for a relaxing stay in this wonderful part of the north of England. Here you can find a brief introduction to the region in our overview.

The area of the Yorkshire Dales is a region of great beauty, with wild fells and mountains riven by rushing rivers and streams gouging out the green valleys that are so characteristic of this region.The importance of preserving Its splendour and the historically significant sites that have been found was recognised and, in 1954, led to the formation of the Yorkshire Dales Natonal Park, encompassing almost 700 square miles. The backbone of the Dales is the Pennines, straddling Yorkshire and Cumbria. The National Park stretches from as far to the west as Sedburgh and Settle, north to about 4 miles south of the A66, east as far as Castle Bolton and almost as far as Richmond, and south as far as Skipton. The Yorkshire Dales, themselves, also take in a slightly greater area around the National Park.

Man has lived in the Dales since the early Stone Age, evidence of which was found in Victoria Cave, near Settle, in Craven. Later, and more permanent settlers, left their mark on the dales with the burial mounds, and rings and ditches, which can be seen in the landscape. As the centuries passed new groups arrived and settled, either peacably or otherwise, bringing new blood, culture, skills and beliefs from the Roman Empire, Anglo-Saxon incursions, Vikings and Normans. Each contributed to defining the nature and heritage of what we find in the Dales today.