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Landmarks & Viewpoints in Harrogate & District
This is an area of BIG countryside with views for miles. Amid deep valleys, rolling green hills and extensive heather moorland, great structures suddenly appear against the skyline.
In this designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), both nature and man have left their mark on the landscape, leaving behind a wealth of fascinating landmarks, unique beauty spots and breath-taking viewpoints.
During the 18th century, the wealthy developed a penchant for building architectural follies as part of their garden design. These extravagant displays of wealth provided work to local people during times of hardship.
Romantic ruins, monuments, temples and towers decorated elegant gardens, woodland and parkland. Hackfall Woods, the Druids Temple and Studley Royal are just some of the many places where these curious features can be seen.
By contrast, North Yorkshire also has a long history of rural industry and pioneering projects across the hills and valleys around Harrogate, Ripon and Nidderdale. Remaining are intriguing structures, mysterious ruins and left over reminders of a once heavily worked landscaped. From the drowned village of Westend, submerged beneath Thruscross Reservoir, to the silhouetted sighting towers on the ridge at Colsterdale or the dramatic sculpture of the Coldstone's Cut created atop a vast limestone quarry, a layer of industrial history is mapped onto the landscape.
Even before man ever quarried, mined or built in the area the cumulative effects of thousands of years of ice and wind had already shaped some breath taking formations and features which can form the centre piece to a walk, picnic or adventure. Brimham Rocks, Plompton Rocks and Almscliffe Crag are just some of the weird geological wonders that invite exploration and inspire the imagination.
Remote as many of these iconic places may seem, you are never far from a village pub or tea-room where you can sample local produce, often farmed from the very land you have been exploring.
Discover the landmarks and viewpoints scattered across our district, and the fascinating stories behind them.
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Number of items: 22
Brimham Rocks
Type
Natural Feature
Pateley Bridge
The Wonder of Nidderdale
Brimham Rocks is an amazing collection of weird and wonderful rock formations, sculpted over centuries by ice, wind and rain. It makes a great day out for families, climbers, walkers and those wanting to enjoy the simple pleasures of fresh air and magnificent views.…
How Stean Gorge
Type
Natural Feature
Pateley Bridge
A Natural Wonder. Carved out over thousands of years by waterflow, the Gorge is a spectacular limestone ravine in the Yorkshire Dales. Now with a stunning new glass floored building that hangs out over the gorge. Experience the hieght, and the beauty of this place as has never been possible…
St. Mary's - The Old Church of Pateley Bridge
Type
Historic Site
Pateley Bridge
Built in the late 13th Century, the remains of this Parochial Chapel sits high above the town amidst a small woodland area.
The church was reconstructed in the 17th Century and the tower was built, which is opened to the public during the annual Heritage Open Days events.
The church fell into…
Pillars Past
Type
Sculpture
Pateley Bridge
As part of art project ‘Travelling Histories’, creating sculptures and installations along the length of the Way of the Roses this trio of pieces celebrates the heritage of Nidderdale.
Created by stone mason Joseph Hayden each pillar represents a key part of the history of the area with the…
Thruscross Reservoir
Type
Dark Sky Site
Pateley Bridge
Thurscruss Reservoir is highest of the four reservoirs in the Washburn Valley, and as such has a more remote and desolate feel. The dam itself is a dramatic concrete structure that stretches across the steep sided valley.
Thruscross reservoir is also known as West End, after the village that…
Knaresborough Windows
Type
Free
Knaresborough
Knaresborough’s “Town Windows” - a collection of public art works illustrating characters and events from the town’s long and rich history can be seen around the town centre on various buildings. The art works use the technique of trompe l’oeil - a painting style that sets out to ‘fool the eye’…
Fewston Reservoir
Type
Dark Sky Site
Pateley Bridge
Fewston Reservoir lies in the Washburn Valley, and offer a choice of walks and nature watching for visitors. Easily accessible from the A59 Fewston Reservoir sits directly above Swinsty Reservoir, and at the lower end the two share a car park.
Fewston supplies water to Leeds, and the remains…
Almscliffe Crag
Type
Natural Feature
Harrogate
Almscliffe Crag is a large outcrop of Millstone Grit which stands above the Lower Wharfe Valley to the south of Harrogate.
Created by the erosion of softer surrounding stone the distinctive shape of Almscliffe Crag with a large groove running through the middle can be seen for miles around, and…
The Coldstones Cut
Type
Viewpoint
Pateley Bridge
The sculpture functions as an array of platforms from which visitors can view both the spectacular quarry hole and limestone quarrying operation, and the landscape of the Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Beauty and beyond.
The sculpture also functions as an interpretive medium for the…
Hackfall Woods
Type
Forest
Masham
Hackfall is a stunning woodland site near Masham, with lakes, waterfalls, follies and an intricate network of paths to explore stretching along the banks of the River Ure.
There is something about the wild splendour of Hackfall Woods that simply inspires creativity.
Nineteenth century writers…
Toft Gate Lime Kiln
Type
Historic Site
Pateley Bridge
Toft Gate Lime Kiln is a largely intact piece of Nidderdale’s industrial heritage which sits two miles out of Pateley Bridge on Greenhow Hill.
The Toft gate Lime Kiln structure visible from the car park is not the kiln itself, but the flu stack, which sits some way from the kiln to keep the…
Crimple Valley Viaduct
Type
Landmark
Harrogate
The Crimple Valley Viaduct carries the Harrogate to Leeds railway line across Crimple Beck, and its Valley. The structure which is Grade II listed has 31 arches each spanning over 15.5 meters making for a total length of over half a kilometre.
The Viaduct was completed in 1848 by the York and…
St Robert's Cave
Type
Natural Feature
Knaresborough
The remains of St Robert’s Cave and chapel are a rare example of a medieval hermitage, cut out of magnesium limestone bedrock & consists of the Cave, a domestic area and a small chapel which contains the grave and altar platform.
St Robert of Knaresborough was born Robert Flower in York to a…
The Druid's Temple
Type
Historic Site
Masham
The Druid’s Temple in Ripon is in fact not a real temple, but a nineteenth century folly.
Styled after stone circles and well known prehistoric monuments such as Stonehenge.
The Druids Temple was built to alleviate local unemployment, allowing William Danby, a wealthy landowner of the time to pay…
Old Magnesia Well Pump Room
Type
Landmark
Harrogate
The Old Magnesia Well Pump Room is situated in the Town's famous Valley Gardens. Dating from 1858 for the dispensing of mineral waters rich in sulphur, iron and other elements deemed of value, it was used for the treatment of gout, rheumatism, digestive disorders and anaemia, this Gothic-style…
Nidd Gorge
Type
Natural Feature
Knaresborough
Nestling between Harrogate and Knaresborough, the woodland, which dates back to at least 1600, is actually made up of five woods, Coalpits Wood, Bilton Banks, Spring Wood, Scotton Banks and Gates Wood.
A local conservation site, the valley woodlands and the surrounding agricultural land are a…
The Stray, Harrogate
Type
Landmark
Harrogate
One of Harrogate’s best known landmarks, the Stray, is 200 acres of grass parkland that encompasses the town centre on the southern half, as well and giving the town a uniquely green and spacious feel, it provides a public space for games, walks and relaxation.
With so many great food and…
Colsterdale Towers
Type
Tower
Masham
The Colsterdale Towers are a set of three sighting towers in Colsterdale, at the North of the NIdderdale AONB. They were constructued to help engineers cunduct surveys during the construction of the Leighton and Roundhill Reservoirs around the turn of the Century by the Harrogate Water Corporation…
Scar House Reservoir
Type
Dark Sky Site
Pateley Bridge
This stunning reservoir built in the 1930 from over 1 million tons of masonry stands 55 metres tall above the River Nidd and is a popular spot for walkers, cyclists and sightseers.
Building the reservoir in such a remote spot necessitated not only the building a railway up the valley, but also…
Yorke's Folly (Two Stoops) & Crocodile Rock
Type
Landmark
Pateley Bridge
Yorke's Folly & Crocodile Rock are a popular pair of landmarks for short walks on the hill above Bewerley nr. Pateley Bridge.
Yorke's Folly, now known locally as 'Two Stoops' is a pair of stone pillars styled to appear as if part of a ruined arch, though in truth they remain almost fully intact…
Harrogate Heritage Plaques
Type
Walking Attraction
Harrogate
Discover the history and story through its significant buildings and sites. Eighty-four heritage plaques mark the sites that played a formative role in Harrogate’s development to the popular spa town and visitor destination that it is today.
From the town’s original railway station to the…
Devil's Arrows
Type
Historic Site
Boroughbridge
Reach back in time and wonder at the mysterious Devil’s Arrows, three huge standing stones on the western outskirts of Boroughbridge that cast their shadow over the surrounding landscape! These mighty pillars of rock are among the least understood and most neglected historic monuments in Britain…
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