Clapham

North Yorkshire

Clapham is a village in the Craven former district of North Yorkshire.

ClaphamThe tranquil heritage village lies at a bridge over the Clapham Beck between the Yorkshire Dales National Park and the Forest of Bowland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

It is situated just off theA65road 19 miles north-west of Skipton and 6 miles north-west of Settle.

The village is about 3 miles to the south of Ingleborough, the second highest of the famous Yorkshire Three Peaks, and is a popular place for walkers and also for cavers. Clapham is the base of the Cave Rescue Organisation which has a team of more than 80 volunteers assisting in mountain and cave rescue.

Since Victorian times, access to some of the Dales underground wonders has been made more easy at the Ingleborough Cave, a show cave which is about a mile walk along the Clapham Beck from the centre of Clapham (see below).

A Yorkshire Dales National Park car park is situated in the village, which has a selection of places to eat and drink and a well-stocked shop run by community volunteers.

Clapham was historically a market place and the three-step base of the market cross, situated just opposite the Old Manor House, is a scheduled monument. A new cross was added to the plinth in 1897.

The small village school which had served the village since 1864 was closed in 2020 after a fall in the number of pupils there.

St James, ClaphamThe parish church of St James has a tower dating from the 15th century but mostly dates from the early 19th century when it was rebuilt by the family owners of Ingleborough Hall. The hall, a Regency period country house, has in recent years has become an Outdoor Education Centre run by the City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council.

Clapham also has another place of worship, the Bethel Chapel. The independent Evangelical Church is one of the more recent additions to the village, built less than 50 years ago, in 1976, by its founding members.

Find out more about Clapham at the

Clapham village website run by the Clapham Development Association.

Village features

Clapham is at the edge of the Yorkshire Dales National Park.

Clapham is at the edge of the Forest of Bowland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

The village is at a bridge over the Clapham Beck.

Clapham has a village store. Clapham offers clothes, crafts and other goods.

Clapham has an inn.

Inn dining can be found in Clapham.

Cafe and pub food is available in Clapham.

Clapham has a village hall.

There are public toilets in the village.
Locations of toilets and opening times can be found at this North Yorkshire Council - Public toilets web page.

Places of worship: Anglican, other.

Places to stay in Clapham include guest house, inn, caravan, camping accommodation.

Clapham is on the Pennine Bridleway long-distance trail.

Travel

Clapham station

Station managed by: NORTHERN. Operator/s: NORTHERN.

NORTHERN - Departure and station info
Link to Northern - external website providing information on all services at this station.
Clapham station is about a mile from the village centre.

Bus travel

The village has buses to neighbouring towns and villages.

Road travel

Clapham can be reached via the A65 B6480

Places to visit

Yorkshire Dales National Park

Much of the Craven district is within the Yorkshire Dales National Park. The National Park offers mountain peaks, beautiful river valleys, attractive villages with country inns, ruined abbeys and some of the finest limestone scenery in the UK with limestone pavements, dry valleys, potholes and underground caves. The area offers excellent hiking and walking territory with paths and trails for people of all abilities. It is a centre for potholing and caving, has mountain bike routes and offers plenty of opportunity to study its rich wildlife. For more information see our page dedicated to the Yorkshire Dales.

Malham Cove

Malham

Malham is a small village in a hill farming community in the Yorkshire Dales National Park which has for many years attracted tourists, walkers and geographers as the location of some of the country's most magnificent limestone scenery. Find out more about Malham.

Bolton Priory and River Wharfe at Bolton Abbey

Bolton Priory

Bolton Abbey, North Yorkshire
The beautiful setting at Bolton Abbey in the Yorkshire Dales National Park is one of the most visited monastic sites in Yorkshire. Beside the River Wharfe are the ruins of Bolton Priory, where the nave of the priory church still survives as a parish church. The Augustinian priory was founded in 1154 and continued until the dissolution in 1539. The abbey has been carefully managed by the Devonshire family since 1755 and now has day-fee car parking (£15 a car or £12.50 pre-booked, as at July 2022), also gift shops, tea rooms, restaurants and facilities for weddings and corporate events. There is an extensive network of footpaths around the estate and one ancient right of way is the 60 stepping stones across the River Wharfe. Other paths lead into the ancient Strid Wood beside the river. Bolton Abbey is 5 miles east-north-east of Skipton (7 miles by road) and 5 miles north-west of Ilkley.

More information at

Bolton Abbey visitor website and at the

Priory Church website.
Find on map:

Bolton Abbey

Skipton Castle

The Bailey, Skipton, North Yorkshire
Skipton Castle is one of England's best restored medieval castles, standing between the town of Skipton and the top of a rocky cliff over the Eller Beck. The castle was first built as a Norman fort at the end of the 11th century, but was replaced in stone and in the early 14th century turned into a formidable stronghold after being granted to the Clifford family by King Edward II. Inside, the castle reveals how it was modified over the centuries, including a charming early Tudor courtyard with a yew tree growing at its centre. The castle was the scene of a Royalist last stand in the north during the English Civil War when it withstood a three-year siege until 1645. After the castle yielded, it was ruined by the Parliamentarians in the winter of 1648-9, but between 1657 and 1658 Lady Anne Clifford saw it carefully restored. The castle is open daily.

Find out more at

Skipton Castle website.
Find on map:

Skipton Castle

Embsay station

Embsay and Bolton Abbey Steam Railway

1903 Electric Autocar at EmbsayBolton Abbey stationEmbsay, near Skipton, to Bolton Abbey station
Operates from Embsay, about 1.5 miles from Skipton, to Bolton Abbey station about a mile away from the attractive priory ruins and beauty spot beside the River Wharfe at Bolton Abbey. The railway runs trains on most days during the summer and at weekends at other times of year, except January. It also has a range of special weekend events, dining trains and footplate and signal box experience courses. Tank engines are the mainstay of steam operations on the line, but the railway also has a collection of historic diesel locomotives. Also running on the line some days is a restored hybrid electric railcar, which was way ahead of its time when built in York in 1903.

More information at the

Embsay and Bolton Abbey Steam Railway website.
Find on map:

Embsay Station

Ingleborough Cave

Near Clapham

This show cave about a 1-mile walk from the centre of Clapham village is one of the natural wonders of the Yorkshire Dales which has been attracting visitors over a period of 180 years. Underground tours along concrete paths in floodlit passages reveal a world of stalactites and stalagmites. The cave is open daily from mid-February to the end of October. Not to be missed if visiting the cave is Trow Gill, a short walk further up the valley from the cave entrance. The spectacular ravine was carved by the melt waters of the ice age.

More information at the

Ingleborough Cave website.
Find on map:

Ingleborough Cave

Kilnsey Park

Kilnsey Park Estate, off B6160 at Kilnsey
The scenic Kilnsey Park Estate has a cafe, local produce shop and an activity centre centred around its trout farm, offering fly fishing and family fun fishing lakes. It also offers an insight into nature through its trout raceways, reserve of wildflowers, red squirrel enclosure, butterfly gardens and bee observation hive and has farm animals and children's play areas.

More information at the

Kilnsey Park Estate website.
Find on map:

Kilnsey Park

Stump Cross Caverns

On B6265 Hebden Road, near Greenhow Hill

Situated around 5 miles west-south-west of Pateley Bridge, Stump Cross Caverns are show caves with some impressive stalactites and stalagmites among the limestone features reached by steps leading beneath the ground. A cafe with fine views across the nearby hills is also situated at the show cave entrance.

Find on map: Stump Cross Caverns

Emergency services

North Yorkshire Police

North Yorkshire Police website.

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service website.

Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust

Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust website.

Local government

Civil parish council

Clapham-cum-Newby Parish Council
Provides some local services in the area.

District authority Abolished

Craven District Council

Craven District Council ceased from April 1, 2023. From 1974 it was a shire district covering more than 450 square miles of the western area of North Yorkshire with its administrative centre in Skipton. Much of the area is within the Yorkshire Dales National Park.

The North Yorkshire Council unitary authority takes over services previously operated by Craven District Council. These included local planning, waste collection, street cleaning, parks and car parks, housing and markets.

Places in the former

Craven district.

Unitary authority New

North Yorkshire Council

The North Yorkshire Council is a new unitary authority formed from the previous County Council from April 1, 2023. It covers the existing county duties including highways, schools, libraries and transport planning over an area of around 3,085 square miles while also taking over the responsibilities of the seven huge district authorities also created in 1974 — Craven, Hambleton, Harrogate, Richmondshire, Ryedale, Scarborough and Selby — these including local planning, waste collection, street cleaning, parks and car parks, housing and markets.

Councillors were elected to the County Council in 2022 and continue as councillors of the new North Yorkshire Council unitary authority. In that election, the Conservatives gained a slim majority gaining 47 of the 90 seats.

Places in North Yorkshire

Link to council website: North Yorkshire Council

Political composition:

4613119 NY Ind5411E

90 members

NY Ind = North Yorkshire Independents group E = By-election in Eastfield division pending on May 25, 2023.
Composition and groupings as at May 4, 2023

County authority Abolished

North Yorkshire County Council

North Yorkshire County Council was a shire county authority which existed between 1974 and April 1, 2023, covering duties including highways, schools, libraries and transport planning. It was transformed into the North Yorkshire Council unitary authority on April 1, 2023, while the seven huge district authorities within — Craven, Hambleton, Harrogate, Richmondshire, Ryedale, Scarborough and Selby — were also abolished.

Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner

Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner North Yorkshire
Covers the county of North Yorkshire and City of York.

Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner North Yorkshire website.

National government region

Yorkshire and the Humber

Ceremonial county

North Yorkshire

Historic

- 1974: Within the West Riding of Yorkshire.
1974 - 2023: In the Craven shire district of the North Yorkshire county.

Also in Yorkshire.guide

New Places to visit Gazetteer