Mastiles Lane, near

Malham Malham is a village and civil parish in the county of North Yorkshire, England. In the ''Domesday Book'', the name is given as Malgun, meaning "settlement by the gravelly places". Until 1974 it was part of the Settle Rural District, in the ...

and

Kilnsey Kilnsey is a small village in Wharfedale, North Yorkshire, England. It lies on the B6160 road, between the villages of Grassington and Kettlewell, near Arncliffe and just across the River Wharfe from Conistone. The village is north of Skip ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...

, was a Roman marching road and later an important route for the

Cistercian monks The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contri ...

leading sheep from

Fountains Abbey Fountains Abbey is one of the largest and best preserved ruined Cistercians, Cistercian monasteries in England. It is located approximately south-west of Ripon in North Yorkshire, near the village of Aldfield. Founded in 1132, the abbey operat ...

to summer pasture on higher ground. Also known as the Old Monks' Road, it is now a Dales walking track.

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with prot ...

refers to a Roman temporary camp and medieval monastic cross base located along the lane. The

National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

states that Mastiles Lane was owned by

Coverham Abbey Coverham Abbey, North Yorkshire, England, was a Premonstratensian monastery that was founded at Swainby in 1190 by Helewisia, daughter of the Chief Justiciar Ranulf de Glanville. It was refounded at Coverham in about 1212 by her son Ranulf f ...

, near

Middleham Middleham ( ; meaning "middle ''ham''", i.e. "middle village") is a market town and civil parish in the district and county of North Yorkshire, England. It lies in Wensleydale in the Yorkshire Dales, on the south side of the valley, upstream fr ...

. It has been suggested that after the dissolution of the monasteries Mastiles Lane became a droving route for cattle being brought south from Scotland.Brockhurst, M.
Kilnsey, Mastiles Lane, Malham Tarn, Cote Moor and Hawkswick
accessed 11 January 2020

References

Roman roads in England Droving roads Roads in Yorkshire {{England-road-stub