Reeth
North Yorkshire
The historic village is at the meeting point of the two northernmost and perhaps most beautiful of the Yorkshire Dales, Swaledale and Arkengarthdale.
Lead mining, hand-knitting and farming have all played a part in the history of the village economy.
Reeth is arranged around a large attractive village green.
Three inns overlooking the green date back to the late 1600s and 1700s and have many original features including a cosy atmosphere, fine food and roaring log fires.
From the end of May to the beginning of June each year, Reeth becomes a centre of the Swaledale Festival, bringing together music, arts and walking.
The village also hosts a traditional Yorkshire Dales one-day agricultural show at the end of August each year. The event includes the Great Fremington Edge Fell Race up the hillside which overlooks Reeth and Arkengarthdale.
Village features
Reeth is in the Yorkshire Dales National Park.
The village is on the River Swale and Arkle Beck.
Reeth is on the Coast to Coast walk, a mostly unmarked 192-mile walk from St Bee's in Cumbria to Robin Hood's Bay in North Yorkshire, created from the guide book of renowned hill-walker Alfred Wainwright.
Reeth has local traders and craft shops. Reeth offers bakery goods, antiques, books, crafts, gifts and other goods.
The village has a Post Office branch.
Reeth has a choice of pubs.
Cafe and pub food is available in Reeth.
The village has a community library.
Reeth has a museum - Swaledale Museum.
Reeth has a community centre and 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.(20p entry)
Place of worship: other. (Reeth Evangelical Congregational Church)
Reeth has tourist information.
Places to stay in Reeth include hotel, guest house, inn accommodation.
Reeth was formerly in the North Riding of Yorkshire.
Travel
Bus travel
The village has an infrequent bus service.
Road travel
Reeth can be reached via the B6270 . Reeth has a garage with fuel.
Places to visit
Richmond Castle
Tower Street, Richmond, North YorkshireOne of the finest and most complete Norman castles in Britain, around which the town of Richmond developed. Its vast square keep, 100ft (30 metres) high, is a dominant feature of the town with magnificent views. The castle was built for the Count of Brittany, Alan Rufus, high above the River Swale in 1071, just 5 years after the Battle of Hastings and Norman conquest. There are substantial remains of 11th century walls and its domestic hall. This was added around the 1150s by Conan, Duke of Brittany and Earl of Richmond, the great-nephew of Alan Rufus. After Conan's death in 1171 the castle came under the control of King Henry II. Many years on, a Victorian addition to the castle was an armoury which was later used in World War I to imprison conscientious objectors who became known as the Richmond 16. A Victorian barrack block built at castle in 1855 was demolished in 1931. The castle is managed by English Heritage.
More information at these
English Heritage - Richmond Castle Find on map:
Richmond Castle
Middleham Castle
Castle Hill, Middleham, North YorkshireMiddleham has substantial remains of a castle built in stages between the 12th and 15th centuries, including a late 12th century keep which is one of the largest hall keeps in the country. Ditch and timber defences were not replaced with the low stone curtain wall until the early 14th century. It is notable as the place where, in the 1460s, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, who later became King Richard III, spent several years of his youth under the guardianship of his cousin Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick. During the War of the Roses, King Edward IV was imprisoned at Middleham Castle for a short time in 1469. The castle is managed by English Heritage.
More information at these
English Heritage - Middleham Castle Find on map:
Middleham Castle
Bolton Castle
Castle Bolton, near Redmire, North YorkshireOne of Britain's best-preserved medieval castles was built as one of the finest homes in the land and is still in the ownership of a descendant of the castle's original owner. With a commanding view over Wensleydale, the castle is situated near Redmire, about 5 miles west of Leyburn and 6 miles east of Askrigg . Although partially slighted by Oliver Cromwell during a Civil War siege it has been preserved in excellent condition. The castle is opened to visitors daily except on dates when weddings are being held. Visitors can access much of the castle and its gardens and daily displays include birds of prey, archery and wild boar feeding. Full details can be found on the owner's website.
More information at the
Bolton Castle website.
Bolton Castle Find on map:
Bolton Castle
Bolton Castle
Easby Abbey
Easby, near RichmondSituated about 1.5 miles from the centre of Richmond beside the River Swale, Easby Abbey has some magnificent and quite substantial stonework remaining from its refectory, gatehouse and canon's dormitory. The abbey was founded in 1152 and was of the Premonstratensian order. As with most monasteries it was a target of Henry VIII and soon after its supression in 1536 most of its buildings were stripped for stone or demolished. Within the abbey complex is the Parish Church of St Agatha, founded before the abbey and still in use as a church today. Inside are 13th century wall paingtings and a fragment of 12th century glass. The abbey church, however, was mostly demolished after the supression. The abbey is managed as a free entry site by English Heritage.
Find out more at the
English Heritage - Easby Abbey Find on map:
Easby Abbey
The Wensleydale Railway
Scruton - A heritage railway service into Wensleydale running from Scruton and Leeming Bar, near the
Further information at the
Wensleydale Railway website.
Wensleydale Railway
Aysgarth Falls
AysgarthAysgarth Falls have been a much-visited Wensleydale beauty spot and a tourist attraction for more then two centuries. The River Ure falls down a series of rocky steps near to the village of Aysgarth . The falls provided a dramatic film location for the 1991 film "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves", starring Kevin Costner. A woodland nature reserve alongside the falls is run by the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, which also runs a National Park Centre, cafe and car park there. Nearby is the Yore Bridge across the river and the Yore Mill, a grade II listed watermill on the site of a medieval fulling mill. The present mill dates from 1854 and was built to produce both woollen textiles and corn. It replaced an earlier 18th century cotton mill which was damaged by fire. There is now a tea shop and craft shop at the mill.
Find
Aysgarth Falls
Richmondshire Museum
Ryder's Wynd, RichmondThe museum is just a short walk from the Market Place in Richmond and tells a fascinating story of the Richmond area from the Stone Age to the present day. It also has a treasure trove of other exhibits such as a history of toys, how lead was mined in the Yorkshire Dales, a transport gallery with historic model of Richmond Station, shop reconstructions, including Grinton Post Office, a chemist shop from Catterick and a grocer and chandler from Richmond and the Herriott Set from the film All Creatures Great And Small.
Website
Yorkshire Dales National Park
The western half of Richmondshire is all within the Yorkshire Dales National Park. Richmond is at the gateway to some of its most remote and peaceful areas of the National Park in Swaledale. Leyburn is the gateway to the Wensleydale area of the National Park, the wide and beautiful upper valley of the River Ure into which many tributaries flow. Find out more on our
Emergency services
North Yorkshire Police
North Yorkshire Police North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service
North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust
Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust
Local government
Civil parish council
Reeth Parish CouncilProvides some local services in the area.
Link to council website:
Reeth Parish Council Unitary authority
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 3,109 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 serving a population of around 615,500*.
Councillors were elected to the County Council in 2022 and continue as councillors of the new North Yorkshire Council unitary authority. There have been a few by-elections to fill councillor vacancies since then.
Places in
North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire Link to council website:
North Yorkshire Council
North Yorkshire Council
Open Government Licence v3.0 Political composition:
CI = Conservative & Independent NY Ind = North Yorkshire Independents group LC = Labour & Cooperative
Composition and groupings - source North Yorkshire Council (February 2024)
Strategic authority
York and North Yorkshire Combined AuthorityThe York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority was created in December 2023 combining the unitary authority of York and the unitary authority of North Yorkshire — that created in April 2023 after the abolition of the county authority and its seven district authorities. The combined authority will run some functions under the new mayor elected in May 2024 as part of the government's so-called "Devolution deal" which ties the availablity of funding to the new governance arrangements. As well as having powers over housing development, transport and boosting skills and education across the 3,214 square miles of York and North Yorkshire, the elected mayor also takes on the role and functions of the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner across the area.
Elected mayor:
York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner
Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner North YorkshireCovers the county of
City of York
Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner North Yorkshire Parliamentary constituency
Richmond and NorthallertonElected MP: