Yockenthwaite

Yockenthwaite is a hamlet in the Craven district of North Yorkshire, England. It lies in the Langstrothdale valley in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Yockenthwaite is 20 miles (32 km) north of Skipton and 8 miles (13 km) south of Hawes. The name of the hamlet is said to derive from Eoghan's clearing in a wood.[1][2]

Yockenthwaite
Yockenthwaite
Yockenthwaite Location within North Yorkshire
OS grid reference	SD905790
Civil parish	Buckden
District	Craven
Shire county	North Yorkshire
Region	Yorkshire and the Humber
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Police	North Yorkshire
Fire	North Yorkshire
Ambulance	Yorkshire
UK Parliament	Skipton and Ripon

Yockenthwaite lies on the north bank of the River Wharfe. It is better known than may be expected because a children's television character from The Rottentrolls takes its name from the hamlet.[3]

The hamlet is connected to the road that winds up and down Langstrothdale by a grade II listed bridge from the early 18th century.[4] This is the only route into and out of the hamlet via road transport.[5]

Yockenthwaite stone circle

Yockenthwaite Stone Circle

Just to the west of the village by Yockenthwaite Cave, are some ancient stones arranged in a circle.[6][7] The stones, which are now a scheduled monument, are 25 feet (7.6 m) in diameter and believed to be Bronze Age in origin.[8][9] The overall size and layout of the stones gave rise to the nickname of the Giant's Grave. Some of the stones have been taken and re-used for drystone walls and buildings.[10]

Speight refers to the site as a "druid's circle" and whilst it has been described as a stone circle,[11] it is believed to be a ring cairn. Whilst 23 stones remain extant, there are spaces for three to four more stones in the circle, which have been removed.[12]

References

1. "A wildlife walk in Upper Wharfedale, North Yorkshire | Great British walks". The Guardian. 12 May 2012. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
2. Rowe, Mark (3 October 2017). "Great winter walks: Upper Wharfedale". The Telegraph. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
3. Burn, Chris (7 October 2019). "How children's TV show gave Yorkshire Dales hamlet a quirky claim to fame". The Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
4. Historic England. "The Bridge  (Grade II) (1132216)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
5. "OL30" (Map). Yorkshire Dales - Northern & Central Area. 1:25,000. Explorer. Ordnance Survey. 2016. ISBN 9780319263358.
6. "Discover Langstrothdale". National Trust. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
7. David Raven (2004). "Yockenthwaite - Stone Circle". The Megalithic Portal. Retrieved 3 July 2007.
8. Historic England. "Yockenthwaite small stone circle (1008772)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
9. "Out of Oblivion: A landscape through time". www.outofoblivion.org.uk. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
10. Marsh, Terry (2018). The Dales Way : from Ilkley to the Lake District through the Yorkshire Dales (3 ed.). Kendal: Cicerone. p. 88. ISBN 978-1-85284-943-6.
11. Speight, Harry (1900). Upper Wharfedale : being a complete account of the history, antiquities and scenery of the picturesque valley of the Wharfe, from Otley to Langstrothdale. London: E Stock. p. 496. OCLC 1079273371.
12. Barnett, John. "The Design and Distribution of Stone Circles in Britain; a Reflection of Variation in Social Organization in the Second and Third Millennia BC," (PDF). etheses.whiterose.ac.uk. p. 78. Retrieved 12 January 2020.

External links

Media related to Yockenthwaite at Wikimedia Commons