Bolton Abbey

Bolton Priory, with its magnificent Priory church (still the Parish Church) and ruins in its gloriously beautiful riverside location, was once the home and workplace of Augustinian or Black Canons, whilst the village itself has assumed the more generalised name of Bolton Abbey.

For centuries the village has been the focal point of the great hunting estate of the Dukes of Cumberland, and in more recent times the Dukes of Devonshire. The great Gateway to the Priory was converted more than two centuries ago into a handsome lodge where for generations Kings and Prime Ministers stayed when they came to Yorkshire in the grouse shooting season.

The public have also long been warmly invited to enjoy Bolton Abbey Estate by the Trustees of the Chatsworth Estate. There are fine riverside and woodland walks, past the Cavendish Pavilion (refreshments) through the Strid Woods past the awesome Strid (a narrow rocky chasm through which the whole river flows with great force) to the great medieval hunting lodge of Barden Tower and perhaps on to Burnsall along the Dales Way.

Strid Woods now offer a choice of waymarked nature and woodland trails, some suitable for people with disabilities. Keen walkers can follow paths across the Barden Fell Access land through the Valley of Desolation and up to Simon's Seat returning via Howgill, Appletreewick, Burnsall or even Grassington, onto Barden Moor as far as Rlystone, Cracoe or Embsay.

Not only is Bolton Abbey easily accessible by bus throughout the week, and even by steam train on the Embsay & Bolton Abbey Railway (it is about a one mile walk from Bolton Abbey station by footpath), but the Wharfedale bus services allow you to follow the Dales Way path along the riverside upstream and return from a choice of places served by bus along the route.

Bus times can be checked on the Dalesbus website.

Local Services: pub, café, shops, toilets, Park Information Point (PIP)