Ribblehead

54.215°N 2.340°W / 54.215; -2.340

Ribblehead excavation 9th century (North Yorkshire)

The domestic kitchen found during the excavation

Ribblehead is the area of moorland at the head of the River Ribble in the area known as Ribblesdale, in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, England.

Ribblehead is most notable for Ribblehead railway station and Ribblehead Viaduct on the Settle to Carlisle railway. It is in North Yorkshire with its nearest town being Ingleton. It has some accommodation catering mainly for hikers and a small local population. It is also a point on the Dales Way and Yorkshire Three Peaks walks, in sight of major local peaks including Ingleborough and Whernside.^[1]

History

Roman road

The Roman road across Batty Moss crosses the railway line just north of Ribblehead station, just before the viaduct begins and past the Station Inn. The modern B6255 road follows its line.^[1][2]

Plans to update Cam High Road, a smaller Roman road, to allow for commercial forestry are being opposed.^{[3][needs update]}

Viking farmstead

Archaeological research revealed the presence of a Scandinavian farmstead, with three large buildings around a paved farmyard, including a longhouse and a smithy, and suggesting that the present weathered conditions date from later than this farmstead of around the 9th century.^[4][5]

Settle and Carlisle Railway

Main article: Ribblehead Viaduct

The viaduct across Batty Moss was constructed between 1870 and 1874 by the Midland Railway as part of the Settle-Carlisle Line.^[6]

Community

The area is part of the civil parish of Ingleton.

The ecclesiastical parish is St. Leonard, Ingleton, and there is a small church dedicated to St. Leonard at Chapel-le-Dale.^[7]

The area is served by Ribblehead railway station, and Summer Sunday DalesBus routes 830, 831, 832 from Darlington or Morecambe stop at the station.^[8][9]

References

1. Yorkshire Dales - Southern & Western Area Whernside, Ingleborough & Pen-y-ghent (Map) (A2 ed.). 1:25000. Outdoor Leisure. Ordnance Survey. § OL2. ISBN 9780319240687.
2. B6255 crosses the railway line, Geograph project
3. Fletcher, Terry (12 November 2012). "The fight to save the Roman Cam High Road in the Yorkshire Dales". Yorkshire Life. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
4. "Settlement on Gauber High Pasture Rock". MYD3669. Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority. Retrieved 25 August 2013.
5. King, A (1976). "Gauber high pasture, Ribblehead—an interim report" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 November 2013. Retrieved 25 August 2013.
6. Williams, Frederick Smeeton (26 April 2012) [1876]. The Midland Railway: Its rise and progress. Cambridge University Press. pp. 490–498. ISBN 978-1-108-05036-4.
7. "Chapel-le-Dale: St Leonard, Ingleton". A church near you. Church of England. Retrieved 25 August 2013.
8. "Bus Services in York". Retrieved 26 August 2013.
9. "Service 831: Ingleton - Ribblehead - Hawes". Dalesbus. Retrieved 26 August 2013.

• Hamerow, Helena (2012). Rural Settlements and Society in Anglo-Saxon England. pp. 4, 5, 9, 32. ISBN 9780199203253.

External links

• Ribblehead, at the head of Ribblesdale on the Settle Carlisle Railway