Malham is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

in the Craven district of

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by national parks, including most of the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors. It is one of four co ...

, England. Before 20th century boundary changes, the village was part of the

Settle Rural District Settle Rural District was an administrative district in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. The rural district was named after the town of Settle and included the civil parishes of Bentham, Clapham cum Newby, Malham, Settle, Stainforth, Au ...

, in the historic

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...

. In the ''

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

'', the name is given as Malgun, meaning "settlement by the gravelly places". In 2001 the parish had a population of approximately 150. Malham parish increased in size geographically (to include Malham Moor) and so at the 2011 Census had a population of 238. Malham lies at the upper end of the valley of the

River Aire The River Aire is a major river in Yorkshire, England, in length. The ''Handbook for Leeds and Airedale'' (1890) notes that the distance from Malham to Howden is direct, but the river's meanderings extend that to . Between Malham Tarn and Ai ...

, known above

Airton Airton (also known as Airton-in-Craven) is a small village and civil parish in the Craven district of North Yorkshire, England, situated north-west of Skipton. The village had a population of 175 according to the 2001 Census, increasing to ...

as Malhamdale, in the

Yorkshire Dales The Yorkshire Dales is an upland area of the Pennines in the historic county of Yorkshire, England, most of it in the Yorkshire Dales National Park created in 1954. The Dales comprise river valleys and the hills rising from the Vale of York w ...

. The surrounding countryside is well known for its

limestone pavement A limestone pavement is a natural karst landform consisting of a flat, incised surface of exposed limestone that resembles an artificial pavement. The term is mainly used in the UK and Ireland, where many of these landforms have developed dis ...

s and other examples of

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms w ...

scenery. Tourist attractions include Malham Tarn,

Malham Cove Malham Cove is a large curved limestone formation north of the village of Malham, North Yorkshire, England. It was formed by a waterfall carrying meltwater from glaciers at the end of the last Ice Age more than 12,000 years ago. Today it is a ...

, Gordale Scar,

Janet's Foss Janet's Foss is a small waterfall in the vicinity of the village of Malham, North Yorkshire, England. It carries Gordale Beck over a limestone outcrop topped by tufa into a deep pool below. The pool was traditionally used for sheep dipping, an ...

and the Dry Valley. In the 1950s the village gave its name to a

Ham class minesweeper The Ham class was a class of inshore minesweepers (IMS), known as the Type 1, of the British Royal Navy. The class was designed to operate in the shallow water of rivers and estuaries. All of the ships in the class are named for British place nam ...

, HMS Malham.

Governance

Malham has a joint parish council, Kirkby Malhamdale Parish Council, with the parishes of Malham Moor,

Kirkby Malham Kirkby Malham is a small village and civil parish in the Craven district of North Yorkshire, England. Situated in the Yorkshire Dales it lies east of Settle. The population of the civil parish as taken in the 2011 Census (including Hanlit ...

and Hanlith.

Tourism

Malham is a popular walkers' destination. The rise in tourism over Malham's history has led to some deterioration of the area's surrounding paths as tourists wander off the paths and cause pockets of erosion, a process often called "footpath erosion". The footpaths in the area are maintained by the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority. In the village there is a

National Park A national park is a natural park in use for conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual ...

Information Centre and a large car park. The

Pennine Way The Pennine Way is a National Trail in England, with a small section in Scotland. The trail stretches for from Edale, in the northern Derbyshire Peak District, north through the Yorkshire Dales and Northumberland National Park and ends at Kir ...

long-distance path passes through the village. Nearby natural landmarks include

, Malham Tarn, Gordale Scar and

. The Malham Show Fell Race course runs over the nearby Cawden. In May 2006, it was reported that a

covert listening device A covert listening device, more commonly known as a bug or a wire, is usually a combination of a miniature radio transmitter with a microphone. The use of bugs, called bugging, or wiretapping is a common technique in surveillance, espionage ...

was discovered hidden in the local

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

hall, leaving the villagers baffled. The electronic transmitter was found in a wall socket during a safety inspection at Malham village hall. Part of ''

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1'' is a 2010 fantasy film directed by David Yates from a screenplay by Steve Kloves. The film is the first of two cinematic parts based on the 2007 novel ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallow ...

'' was filmed around the Malham Cove limestone pavement. '' All Creatures Great and Small'' TV series was largely filmed within the Dales, including some scenes shot in and around Malham Lings and at Janet's Foss waterfall on the ''Malham Landscape Trail''.

Climate

Malham has an

Oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ...

, but is generally colder and wetter than most settlements in

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

. It has a relatively low altitude of around 200 metres, but is partly surrounded by fells. This exposed position means the temperature range is limited, due to little pooling of cold air. Extremes of temperature (since 1960) range from during August 1990, down to during March 2001.

Village events

The village hosts an annual

agricultural Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled peopl ...

and horticultural show on the Saturday before the August Bank Holiday. Known as the Malham Show, it has competitions for everything from

Lego Lego ( , ; stylized as LEGO) is a line of plastic construction toys that are manufactured by The Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. The company's flagship product, Lego, consists of variously colored interlocki ...

models to

fell running Fell running, also sometimes known as hill running, is the sport of running and racing, off-road, over upland country where the gradient climbed is a significant component of the difficulty. The name arises from the origins of the English sport o ...

. Another major annual event is the Malham Safari, when the villagers and particularly the local school build sculptures around the village. This event attracts many tourists and stalls are put up on the green.

Places of worship

Malham Methodist Church is located in Chapel Gate and is part of the Skipton and Grassington Circuit of the

Methodist Church Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

. St Helen's Chapel was an ancient religious foundation mentioned in monastic charters from the twelfth century. It was demolished during the

reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

Archaeological dig In archaeology, excavation is the exposure, processing and recording of archaeological remains. An excavation site or "dig" is the area being studied. These locations range from one to several areas at a time during a project and can be condu ...

s at the site have been supported by the

Ingleborough Ingleborough () is the second-highest mountain in the Yorkshire Dales, England. It is one of the Yorkshire Three Peaks (the other two being Whernside and Pen-y-ghent), and is frequently climbed as part of the Three Peaks walk. A large part o ...

Archaeology Group.

Picture gallery

Image:Malham countryside.jpg, Malham is surrounded by stone-walled pastures Image:Ford in Malham.JPG, Ford Image:Malham Beck small bridge.JPG, Small bridge Image:Malham store.JPG, Sweet shop and Post Office Image:Malham Beck bridge.JPG,

Malham Beck Malham Beck is a stream some long, running southwards through the valley beneath Malham Cove in the Yorkshire Dales, England. It originates in a cave beneath Malham Cove, and flows through Malham before joining Gordale Beck to become the River ...

References

External links

Village and area web site
{{authority control Villages in North Yorkshire Civil parishes in North Yorkshire Craven District