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21. Yorkshire Dales
• Large scale upland landscape of high, exposed moorland dissected by often deep dales.
• Striking contrasts between wild, remote moors and sheltered dales, each with its own distinctive character.
• Marginal agriculture arising from relatively high altitude and poor climate, creating a landscape of little or slow change.
• Visible evidence of historic land use arising from conservation of features from all periods.
• Millstone Grit plateaux of high moorland in the east contrasting with the Yoredale Series of alternating limestone, sandstone and shales in the north and west, the latter forming typically stepped profiles to dalesides.
• Great Scar Limestone in the south and west giving rise to classic glacio-karst landscape with cave systems, outcrops, scars, gills, gorges and pavements.
• Pattern of bleak sweeping moorlands of heather or extensive blanket bog on plateaux, with rough grazing on upper slopes, permanent pastures on dales sides and fields cut for hay or silage on more fertile land in the bottom of the dales.
• Very strong patterns of drystone walls, with very large rectilinear enclosures on most fell tops, much smaller enclosures in dales, and often older, irregular patterns around settlements.
• Numerous small stone field barns in all the dales, but most notable in Swaledale, Wensleydale and upper Wharfedale.
• Vernacular character of gritstone and limestone buildings including also scattered farmsteads, particularly in the north and west, and small nuclear villages on valley floors, related to river crossing points and transport routes.
• Very limited tree cover, confined to villages, sycamore clumps around farmsteads, streamsides, and steep slopes.
• Sparse, ancient broadleaved woodlands on steep gill and dale sides.
• Widespread remains of historic mineral working, especially lead mining.
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.
