Keld, North Yorkshire
| Keld | |
|---|---|
 Keld seen from the Pennine Way as it leaves Swaledale | |
| OS grid reference | NY8901 |
| Civil parish | |
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | RICHMOND |
| Postcode district | DL11 |
| Dialling code | 01748 |
| Police | North Yorkshire |
| Fire | North Yorkshire |
| Ambulance | Yorkshire |
| UK Parliament | |
Keld is a village in the English county of North Yorkshire. It is in Swaledale, in the district of Richmondshire and the Yorkshire Dales National Park. The name derives from the Viking word Kelda meaning a spring and the village was once called Appletre Kelde - the spring near the apple trees.[1]
Keld is the crossing point of the Coast to Coast Walk and the Pennine Way long-distance footpaths at the head of Swaledale. At the height of the lead-mining industry in Swaledale in the late 19th century the village had a population of around 6,000. During this period a series of remarkable buildings - now Grade II listed - were erected: they include the Congregational and Methodist chapels, the school and the Literary Institute.
Keld has no shop except at the campsite. There used to be a Youth Hostel but it closed in October 2008 and the building has since reopened as Keld Lodge, a hotel with bar and restaurant. There is a series of four waterfalls close to Keld in a limestone gorge on the River Swale: Kisdon Force, East Gill Force, Catrake Force and Wain Wath Force.
Keld Resource Centre
The Keld Resource Centre, a local religious charity,[2] is restoring a series of listed buildings in the village centre and returning them to community use. The first phase involved restoring the Manse, the Minister's house attached to the United Reformed Church, which was completed in 2009 and is now used as a holiday cottage, proceeds from which support the Centre's work.
In 2010 the Centre created the Keld Well-being Garden in the chapel churchyard. It provides a quiet spot for visitors to contemplate their well-being in the beautiful natural environment of Upper Swaledale.
The Centre's latest project is the Keld Countryside and Heritage Centre. The centre was opened on 14 May 2011 and provides interpretation of the countryside, buildings and social history of Keld and a small display of artefacts relevant to Upper Swaledale prepared by the Swaledale Museum in Reeth. It is open throughout the year.
Further projects involve restoring the former school, the Literary Institute and, potentially, the Methodist Chapel.
Crackpot Hall
The ruins of Crackpot Hall lie about a mile east of Keld on the northern slope of the dale at grid reference NY906008. There may have been a building on this site since the 16th century[3] when a hunting lodge was maintained for Thomas, the first Baron Wharton, who visited the Dale occasionally to shoot the red deer. Survey work by the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority has shown that the building has changed many times over the years. At one time it even had a heather or "ling" thatched roof.
Oct2003.jpg)
The current ruin is of a farmhouse dating from the mid 18th century. It was an impressive two-storey building with a slate roof and matching "shippons" or cow sheds at each end for animals. The building may also have been used as mine offices, as intensive lead mining was carried out in the area, and there were violent disputes over mine boundaries in the 18th century.
In the 1930s Ella Pontefract and Marie Hartley wrote of a wild 4-year-old child living named Alice.[4] On 7 November 2015 BBC Radio 3 broadcast a documentary in the Between the Ears strand titled Alice at Crackpot Hall about the story.[5]
The current building was abandoned in the 1950s because of subsidence. Crackpot Hall has been saved from further decay by Gunnerside Estate with the aid of grants from the Millennium Commission and European Union through the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust.
The name Crackpot is said to be Viking for "a deep hole or chasm that is a haunt of crows".
References
- ^ David Simpson. "Richmond and Swaledale". The Yorkshire History Pages. Retrieved 2007-04-09.
- ^ Keld Resource Centre
- ^ "Crackpot Hall". Stone plaque placed next to the ruins of Crackpot Hall. Retrieved 2007-04-09. [dead link]
- ^ Gordon Hatton (2007). "Crackpot Hall and Swaledale". Geograph. Retrieved 2007-04-09.
- ^ "Between the Ears: Alice at Crackpot Hall".
External links
Media related to Keld, North Yorkshire at Wikimedia Commons