625kbBreadcrumbs
22. Pennine Dales Fringe
• Side slopes of Dales uplands, predominately sloping down to east, but with locally varied topography formed by several significant river valleys running from west to east, including the Washburn, Nidd, Ure, Swale and the broad vale of the Tees.
• Transitional landscape lying between the upland, predominantly grassland landscape to the west and arable land to the east.
• Variation in enclosure patterns arising from different historic periods - small scale irregular field patterns, often of medieval origins, close to villages, elsewhere larger scale enclosures, sometimes creating very strong patterns.
• Transitions in type of field enclosure, from drystone walls in the west to hedges at lower elevations to the east.
• Moderate density of small villages and large farmsteads, linked by a network of minor roads.
• Millstone Grit predominantly used for buildings and walling, giving strong visual unity to villages, but mingling with Magnesian Limestone as a building material to the east.
• Well-wooded character, with wooded valley slopes, small woodlands, plantations and hedgerow trees.
• Generally tranquil and undeveloped, though with several notable historic market towns and with development pressures occurring in the south and east, around Harrogate and the northern fringes of Leeds.
For further details on this character area and for an introduction to the region, please see the PDF documents in the box at the top right hand side of this page.
