Wharfedale: History of Yorkshire Dales valley where All Creatures Great and Small is filmed and where the name derives from

Wharfedale valley is located in North Yorkshire and flows into West Yorkshire and forms the upper valley of the River Wharfe.

The towns and villages that make up the valley include Buckden, Kettlewell, Conistone, Grassington, Bolton Abbey, Burley-in-Wharfedale, Arthington, Hebden, Otley, Pool-in-Wharfedale, Collingham, Addingham and Wetherby.

It has been the setting for a variety of TV shows and films including the Channel 5 adaptation of All Creatures Great and Small and Kay Mellor’s drama The Syndicate.

History of Wharfedale

The Wharfedale valley was created into the U shape it is today during the last ice age, Devensian Glaciation, between 18,000 and 12,000 years ago by the Wharfedale Glacier.

There is evidence of human settlement dating back to the Neolithic period and the valley has many artefacts relating to the Celtic, Roman and Anglo-Saxon eras. A road was built over Stake Moss by the Romans into what is now the village of Bainbridge in Wensleydale.

The structure of the valley is split, with Upper Wharfedale consisting of carboniferous limestone of the Yoredale series.

In the lower part of the valley, around Ilkley and Otley, the underlying stone is mostly millstone grit, which can be viewed best at the Cow and Calf rocks on the south side of the valley on Ilkley Moor.

The Anglo-Saxon influence exists in modern times, with most settlements in Upper Wharfedale having Anglo-Saxon derived names.

The name Wharfedale is derived from the main river that flows through it: the Wharfe, which comes from the Old English Weorf or Old Norse Hverfr, with both meaning ‘winding river’.

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The valley runs for 50 miles between Oughtershaw Moss and Wetherby and the uppermost part of the valley is called Langstrothdale.

It has been used predominantly for agriculture and is now criss-crossed with stone walls and stone barns that, based on evidence, have been used throughout centuries.

During the medieval period, miners used to lease small blocks of land following lead ore veins, known as meers. This system is commonly referred to as customary mining law.

Evidence of this type of mining can be seen in the form of closely spaced mounds on Grassington Moor.

You can learn all about this part of history at the Grassington Folk Museum.