Westmorland Dales Landscape Partnership

The Westmorland Dales Landscape Partnership Scheme ran from March 2019 to February 2024. Its vision was to unlock and reveal the hidden heritage of the Westmorland Dales, enabling more people to connect with, enjoy and benefit from this inspirational landscape.

Download the Westmorland Dales Landscape Partnership Scheme Summary Report for an overview of the Scheme's successes.

Welcome …

… to the Westmorland Dales website.

The Westmorland Dales Landscape Partnership Scheme aimed to unlock and reveal the hidden heritage of the Westmorland Dales, enabling more people to connect with, enjoy and benefit from this inspirational landscape. Specifically, its objectives were to:

Reveal the area’s hidden heritage.
Conserve what makes the area special.
Engage people in enjoying and benefitting from their heritage.
Sustain the benefits of the scheme in the long-term.

This was achieved through a programme of projects developed and delivered through the Westmorland Dales Landscape Partnership, led by Friends of the Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, and mainly funded through the National Lottery Heritage Fund. It ran over a five-year period from March 2019 to February 2024.

Here you can discover what makes the area so special, find out about the scheme’s projects, and view and download resources produced.

The Westmorland Dales

The Westmorland Dales is a beautiful area of Cumbria lying north of the Howgill Fells and within the north-west corner of the Yorkshire Dales National Park. It stretches from Tebay in the south-west to Kirkby Stephen in the east and to Maulds Meaburn in the north-west. At its heart are the limestone fells above Orton and Asby, rich in natural and cultural heritage, and with magnificent views to the Pennines, the Howgills and the Lakeland fells. It drains into the Lune river catchment to the south and the Eden river catchment to the north. Relatively overlooked compared with its better-known neighbours, our projects have aimed to reveal its heritage for more to enjoy without detracting from its unique qualities. (Click on map for larger image)

Contact information

Friends of the Lake District

Murley Moss, Oxenholme Road, Kendal, Cumbria LA9 7SS

Main Telephone: 01539 720788

Email: [email protected]

Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority
Yoredale, Bainbridge, Leyburn, North Yorkshire DL8 3EL

Main Telephone: 01969 652300

Email: [email protected]

2.8 Our Common Heritage

An oral history project engaged volunteers in recording the memories of local farming families of the commons and how they were farmed, resulting in an archive of recordings and an exhibition that has toured the area.

Project lead: Hannah Kingsbury, Amanda Walters, Westmorland Dales Landscape Partnership, Friends of the Lake District.

Many of our projects have focussed on the survey of physical elements of the farming landscape, which are in danger of being lost. This project aimed to complement these surveys by recording the oral histories of those who have farmed the land in times gone by, with a particular, although not exclusive, focus on the Commons.

Volunteers were trained in undertaking and recording oral histories with the help of the Kendal Oral History Group and farmers and commoners recruited to give the interviews. 28 interviews were recorded and transcribed. Together with research, and previous recordings which have been digitised, these were used as a basis for an exhibition which toured the area in 2023 with stops at the Old Courthouse (Shap), Appleby Tourist Information Centre and Rheged.

The exhibition has now been dismantled and shared amongst partners, with the main displays going to the Auction Mart café in Kirkby Stephen.

The oral histories and transcripts have been deposited at Kendal Archives and Dales Countryside Museum.

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2.1 Great Asby Scar Archaeology Survey

An archaeological survey of the upland area between Orton and Great Asby, involving consultants Northern Archaeological Associates, volunteers and Lunesdale Archaeology Society, recording hundreds of features from prehistoric times to the 20th Century.
2.2 Little Asby Through the Keyhole

A project on Little Asby Common stretching over two seasons involving Oxford Archaeology North and volunteers, which saw the excavation of keyhole trenches on different sites in the first year, and a focus on one longhouse site and a peat core sample from near Sunbiggin Tarn in the second year.
2.3 Digging the Past

Led by the YDNPA historic environment team, assisted by Eden Heritage, the project involved the digging of test pits by volunteers in the village of Ravenstonedale, giving an insight into the medieval and post-medieval development of the village.
2.4 Gamelands Stone Circle

The project comprised the undergrounding of a significant length of overhead wires by Electricity North West; the associated creation of a small car park; and an archaeological survey of the stone circle by YDNPA and volunteers.
2.5 Dry Stone Walls

A project with several parts, the principal one being a volunteer survey of drystone walls in Asby parish, led by David Johnson; the restoration of walls at Pendragon, Raisbeck and Asby; training; and hedge-planting and hedge-laying.
2.6 Traditional Farm Buildings

A volunteer survey of traditional farm buildings, mainly but not exclusively barns, an important part of the area’s rich built heritage; and the conservation of two typical barns, one at Pendragon, the other at Raisbeck.
2.7 Small-scale Heritage Features

A cultural heritage trainee led a survey of all the key settlements, engaging local volunteers to record features like churn stands, gate stoops, and date stones, which help to give the area its distinctive character.
2.9 Monuments at Risk

The project, led by the YDNPA historic environment team, focussed on two local monuments. It saw the excavation of a sow kiln at Pendragon castle, dating back to when the castle was first built, and a major conservation project on the 19th Century limekilns at Smardale, stabilising the structure and removing it from the “At Risk” register.
2.10 A Way Through (from Roman Roads to M6)

An interpretive project looking at the way people have travelled through and left their mark on the area from prehistoric times to the present day, with a series of website blogs, a pack of village heritage walks leaflets and posters.

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