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 to the north of the Howgill Fells and located 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

Westmorland Dales Heritage Volunteers

Volunteers are critical to the success of the Heritage Lottery funded Westmorland Dales Hidden Landscape Partnership scheme.  Although the scheme is only in its development stage there are plenty of opportunities for people to volunteer, particularly with the projects focussing on the area’s archaeology and built heritage. 

Volunteer training days have already been held in undertaking archaeological surveys near Raisbeck, surveying and recording Traditional Farm Buildings in Ravenstonedale and exploring small-scale landscape features in Maulds Meaburn. And another day is planned on Dry Stone Walls in Great Asby later in October. 

But it’s not just about training, it’s about given people a chance to get out and put those new skills into practice.  So working closely with the Yorkshire Dales National Park we will have a regular day each month for heritage volunteers, normally on the second Thursday of the month. 

Contact David or Nicola at [email protected] if you’re interested.  You’ll start to see the landscape with new eyes. And when the scheme gets to the delivery phase in 2019 there should be plenty of opportunities for people to get involved with practical conservation work too.

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