Westmorland Dales Landscape Partnership


The Westmorland Dales Landscape Partnership Scheme finished in early 2024 with projects successfully delivered by a wide range of project partners, community groups and individuals. Over the coming months, we’ll be updating this site to highlight what’s been achieved, so please keep checking back.

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
 Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority
Yoredale, Bainbridge, Leyburn, North Yorkshire DL8 3EL
Main Telephone:  01969 652300

‘Our Common Heritage’ Exhibition Update

Over the last few weeks, from 27th May until 18th June, we have been displaying the Our Common Heritage Exhibition at the Old Courthouse in Shap. This has now moved to the Tourist Information Centre in Appleby-in-Westmorland, and will be on display there until 16th September.

The exhibition is in celebration of the ‘Common Land’ of the Westmorland Dales; an intrinsic part of its farming heritage and underpinning the farming economy for centuries.

Common Land is privately owned land that also has ‘Rights of Common’ over that land, often for the grazing of animals. At one time nearly half of the land in Britain was Common Land, but it now accounts for 3% of England, including large tracts of upland in the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales National Parks.

The exhibition summarises the results of research into the history of Common Land across the Westmorland Dales using oral history interviews undertaken with commoners and representatives of the farming community. Visitors have the opportunity to listen to some of these interviews and learn more about our changing relationship with Common Land in the Westmorland Dales.

In advance of the exhibition starting we held a preview evening on 26th May in Shap, to which we invited everyone who had been involved in the project. Attendees had the chance to be the first to see the exhibition, we put on a buffet tea, and then there was a talk that included some clips from the interviews.

The following Saturday morning saw the monthly Farmers and Markers Market in Shap. This included demonstrations of rugmaking and spinning, a display from the local knit and natter group, a honey/bee observation stand, along with small pens of sheep. Nicola Estill, our Community Engagement Officer, was there with a ‘Make a Sheep’ craft for children.

We are in discussion with another location about moving the exhibition there after Appleby. Some of the display material has been created with our partners, and they will be given to them at the end of the exhibition. However, parts of the exhibition will be looking for a permanent home.

We want to thank everyone who has contributed to both the project and the exhibition. It has been a team effort.

The Appleby-in-Westmorland exhibition runs until Saturday 16th September. Entry is free and you'll find more information here>

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