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Bolton Abbey remains; still an impressive building

There are two possible explanations for how this came about, although there is no evidence for either being correct. Firstly, in medieval times priories were not as important or as rich as abbeys, and so it is possible that a canon, wanting to make a better impression in London or York, spoke of the ‘abbey’ rather than the ‘priory’. The second possible explanation is simpler, namely, that when the railway first came to the region, a mistake was made on the London–Midland Railway timetable, and the name Bolton Abbey has stuck ever since.

Cross the footbridge spanning the Wharfe at Bolton Abbey (there are stepping stones nearby, but they are precarious and rarely passable) and immediately go left, taking the lower of two paths. The lower route cuts across riverside pasture – our first taste of the Wharfe’s true left bank – and follows the base of a slope and a line of oak trees to a gate. Beyond, a path continues more clearly, directly above the river, to which it shortly diverts, and then heads upriver.