A Day Out to Kirkdale

By using our blog page, we can highlight to visitors to Rosedale a range of things to do and days out in the North York Moors which are a short-distance away from Rosedale Abbey.

One such locale is to be found at Kirkdale which is easily reached by car or a short cycle ride across the Moors towards Kirkbymoorside.

Kirkdale valley is unique for this part of North Yorkshire because it doesn't have any roads running along the bottom of the valley.

This means it is only fully accessible by foot along the valley floor.  And there are some lovely walks and cycling opportunities.

It's a remote spot in the North York Moors and it contains only two buildings which are accessable by road.

The first is the lovely sounding  "Hold Cauldron"; an early 19th century, now grade 2 listed Mill.

Hold Cauldron is a charming place which has been restored as a private residence.

The second building in Kirkdale is St Gregory's Minister.

The Minister is famous for its Anglo-Saxon sundial dating back to about 1055AD - before the Norman Conquest and the harrowing of the North.

You'll find the sundial just above the doorway in the inner porch. It's a large and impressive affair and consists of three panels.

The centre panel is the sundial and the left and right panels are inscribed with Old English writing.  The inscription reads:

"Orm son of Gamal bought St. Gregory's Minster when it was all ruined and collapsed and he caused it to be made new from the ground for Christ and St. Gregory in the days of Edward the king and in the days of Tosti the Earl."

"Edward" refers to Edward the Confessor, and Tosti refers to Earl Tostig of Northumberland - as this part of England was then known.

Close-by the church is the old Kirkdale Quarry where you can see high-up on the rock face the famous Kirkdale Caves.

These caves were discovered by quarrymen in 1821 and they were found to contain bones of animals not found in Yorkshire for at least 70,000 - 125,000 thousand years.

These bones included rhinoceroses, bison, giant deer, hippopotamus, elephants, zebra, antelopes, other small mammals and birds and the remains of numerous cave hyenas. 

At the time of their discovery, locals thought that the bones were proof of the great flood of Noah, and that they'd been swept into the caves by the great deluge.

But Archeologists now believe that the caves must have been a hyenas den and the bones are the remains of their scavenging having been dragged in to the caves by the hyenas.

You can decide who is right!

One thing is for sure.  The bones in Kirkdale Caves, of animals now found only in Africa, highlight how the natural process of global climate change has been going on for many hundreds of thousands of years and without the influence of mankind.

You can now see the the bones in the Yorkshire Museum in York.

Rosella Luxury Holiday Cottage

Rosella Cottage is a luxurious self-catering holiday home in Rosedale Abbey.  We accommodate active couples in a village-centre location; and it's easy to walk to the local shop, cafes, gallery & village pubs with great restaurants. 

Built in 1850 but newly refurbished, Rosella Cottage has a lovely and luxurious sense of place in the heart of the North York Moors.   For availability and bookings enquiries,  just click here.