Читать книгу Walking in the Yorkshire Dales: South and West. Wharfedale, Littondale, Malhamdale, Dentdale and Ribblesdale онлайн

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Looking back past Winterburn Grange to the tiny hamlet (Walk 23)

The early years of the seventh century saw the arrival of Angle settlers, who continued a tradition of arable farming along the dales, reserving the higher, less productive ground of the valley sides for woodland and grazing. The lynchets (ridges) of their open field systems, created by ploughing with teams of oxen along the slopes of the valley side, survived through the medieval period and are still visible above Malham and around Clapham. The process of sporadic settlement continued throughout the Dark Ages as further waves of successive immigration brought the Vikings, their presence reflected in place names such as Yokenthwaite, Hawkswick, Appletreewick and indeed the word ‘dale’ itself.

The next millennium heralded the new age of the invading Normans. After he had won the day, William the Conqueror consolidated his position by beating the northern part of his kingdom into submission with a heavy and cruel hand. The overlords ruled from peripheral fortress towns such as Skipton, Richmond and Barnard Castle, exploiting the remoter reaches of the Dales as hunting forests and establishing markets that thrived to serve the larger centres of population. During the succeeding centuries much of the region was gradually encompassed within vast monastic estates. Fountains Abbey and the priory at Bolton Abbey became the greatest landowners, but houses such as Furness on the Cumbrian coast and Bridlington far to the east also held significant tracts of land here. Under the careful administration and watchful eyes of the abbots and priors, the farms made their money from wool as well as growing a range of staple crops. The monasteries also exploited the mineral resources of the region, mining for coal, lead and other metals.