Visit Hebden, North Yorkshire Places

Welcome to Visit Hebden, North Yorkshire Places
The Walkfo guide to things to do & explore in Hebden, North Yorkshire

  

Hebden, North Yorkshire Places Overview: History, Culture & Facts about Hebden, North Yorkshire

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Hebden, North Yorkshire history

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The name Hebden may be derived from either heope, Old English for a rose-hip or heopa, Old English for a bramble, and dene, Old English for a valley, or from the Scandinavian Hebban, a topographical description of a ridge forming an elevated site above a small valley. Two Bronze Age stone circles and remnants of huts on the moors above the village show that the area has been settled since earliest times, and a hoard of 33 silver dinari dating from 30 to 170 AD found in a local field indicates that the Romans had a presence. The hoard is now on display at the Craven Museum & Gallery. An Iron Age or Romano-British settlement has been tentatively identified on the banks of Gate Up Gill on the moors to the north-west of the village. Place names such as Scale Haw indicate the Norse left their influence. There is no documentary record of the area until a mention in the Domesday Book of 1086, in which the settlement was referred to as Hebedene held by Osbern d’Arques, of Thorpe Arch. At the time of the Conquest the land was held by Dreng, which is a Nordic name. During medieval times, an important east–west droving route used to move sheep between winter pastures around Fountains Abbey and summer pastures around Malham, crossed the Hebden Beck at Hebden. It broadly followed the line of the North Craven Fault avoiding the moorland peat bogs, and became a busy packhorse route for traders. Although no property in the village is older than the early 17th century, its layout reflects its development in medieval times as a planned village. Eight toft compartments are discernible to the west of Main Street, and the outline of the four surrounding common fields, now divided, may be identified from the pattern of dry stone walls. The fields were largely arable, providing the village with most of its food requirements, but are now farmed exclusively for pasture and hay. The village manor house was on land now occupied by Hebden Hall at the south end of Main Street. The moors to the north-west of the village were enclosed in 1857. The last stretch of Hebden Beck before it reaches the River Wharfe was used to power a corn mill in the Middle Ages, and corn milling survived into the middle of the 19th century. In the 14th century Fountains Abbey had a fulling mill in the village. In 1791 a three-storey textile mill was built a little way above the corn mill. It housed 54 spinning frames and was productive until 1870 when it was driven out of business by the more efficient stream-driven machinery of the industrial revolution. At its peak, the mill employed more than 70 men, women, and children. The building was used for other purposes including a roller skating rink until it was demolished in 1967. Lead mining on Grassington Moor became important in the 18th century, and as a result of the mines’ success, a number of the mine owners promoted the provision of the Grassington to Pateley Bridge turnpike road, which was begun in 1760 and provided an all-weather route across the moors for wagons. From the early 19th century Hebden was a dormitory village for some miners, contributing to the population rising to more than 500 in the 1830s. In the early 1850s profitable mines were established in the parish to the north of the village on veins associated with Grassington Moor, which helped sustain the population. Although activity continued sporadically into the last decade of the century, the accessible ore was largely exhausted by 1865, and the population declined to a low of 199 in 1901. As the Hebden Trust Lords shared the mineral royalties, the mines brought prosperity which gave rise to the remodelling and redevelopment of much of the village. Green Terrace, which includes the old post office, was built in the 1870s, and Main Street was transformed from a back lane into the high street. The village school, with working clock and bell tower, was built by the community in 1874, and the Methodist Chapel was rebuilt in 1876 to front onto Main Street. The stone-built Ibbotson Institute, now the community hall, was completed in 1903. The coming of the Yorkshire Dales Railway to Threshfield in 1902 opened up Hebden as a destination for day visitors and holiday makers. A purpose-built timber guest house was opened in 1909 at the south end of the village by the Co-operative Holiday Association, founded by Thomas Arthur Leonard. It passed into private hands in 1960, and continued as a holiday centre until 1990, mainly catering for school parties. It was demolished in 2016 and replaced with a private residence. The village stores and post office shut at the end of 2013 after 100 years of trading. The gold painted George V Type E wall post box was removed from the outside wall of the post office (now an exhibit in the Postal Museum), and replaced with a modern gold painted lamp box a few metres away; and the K6 Tudor Crown phone box was decommissioned, and set up at the cross-roads as a street ornament. Although it now has a number of second homes, holiday cottages and commuters, with eight working farms, a fish farm, coach and haulage companies, Hebden remains a working and thriving community.

Hebden, North Yorkshire landmarks

Hebden is a centre for walking and cycling in Upper Wharfedale. Within walking distance are the Dales villages of Appletreewick, Burnsall, Thorpe, Linton and Grassington. Grimwith Reservoir used for wind surfing, dinghy sailing and bird watching is 2 miles (3.2 km) further is Stump Cross Caverns – a show cave.

Hebden, North Yorkshire geography / climate

The south-east boundary of Hebden parish is the River Wharfe, 500 feet (150 m) above sea level. The north-east border runs along the Wharfedale-Nidderdale watershed, reaching a height of 1,770 feet (540 m) The geology is dominated by rocks Carboniferous in age but varied.

You can visit Hebden, North Yorkshire places with Walkfo Hebden, North Yorkshire to hear history at Hebden, North Yorkshire’s places whilst walking around using the free digital tour app. Walkfo Hebden, North Yorkshire has 14 places to visit in our interactive Hebden, North Yorkshire map, with amazing history, culture & travel facts you can explore the same way you would at a museum or art gallery with information audio headset. With Walkfo, you can travel by foot, bike or bus throughout Hebden, North Yorkshire, being in the moment, without digital distraction or limits to a specific walking route. Our historic audio walks, National Trust interactive audio experiences, digital tour guides for English Heritage locations are available at Hebden, North Yorkshire places, with a AI tour guide to help you get the best from a visit to Hebden, North Yorkshire & the surrounding areas.

“Curated content for millions of locations across the UK, with 14 audio facts unique to Hebden, North Yorkshire places in an interactive Hebden, North Yorkshire map you can explore.”

Walkfo: Visit Hebden, North Yorkshire Places Map
14 tourist, history, culture & geography spots

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Hebden, North Yorkshire historic spots	Hebden, North Yorkshire tourist destinations	Hebden, North Yorkshire plaques	Hebden, North Yorkshire geographic features
Walkfo Hebden, North Yorkshire tourism map key: places to see & visit like National Trust sites, Blue Plaques, English Heritage locations & top tourist destinations in Hebden, North Yorkshire

  

Best Hebden, North Yorkshire places to visit

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Hebden, North Yorkshire has places to explore by foot, bike or bus. Below are a selection of the varied Hebden, North Yorkshire’s destinations you can visit with additional content available at the Walkfo Hebden, North Yorkshire’s information audio spots:

Visit Hebden, North Yorkshire plaques