Startforth Rural District was a rural district in the

North Riding The North Riding of Yorkshire is a subdivision of Yorkshire, England, alongside York, the East Riding and West Riding. The riding's highest point is at Mickle Fell with 2,585 ft (788 metres). From the Restoration it was used as ...

of the historic county of

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

in the Pennines of northern

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It was formed in 1894 under the

Local Government Act 1894 The Local Government Act 1894 (56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales outside the County of London. The Act followed the reforms carried out at county level un ...

. It constituted the part of the Teesdale Rural Sanitary District that was in the North Riding (the rest being in County Durham). In 1974, the district was abolished and formed part of the

Teesdale Teesdale is a dale, or valley, in Northern England. The dale is in the River Tees’s drainage basin, most water flows stem from or converge into said river, including the Skerne and Leven. Upper Teesdale, more commonly just Teesdale, falls b ...

district of the

non-metropolitan county A non-metropolitan county, or colloquially, shire county, is a county-level entity in England that is not a metropolitan county. The counties typically have populations of 300,000 to 1.8 million. The term ''shire county'' is, however, an unoffi ...

of County Durham. It comprised the area south of the River Tees between Cow Green Reservoir and Gainford, and north of the modern administrative border between County Durham and

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

. The area is hilly and fairly sparsely populated. Places within it included;

Village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred ...

s * Barningham * Boldron *

Bowbank Bowbank is a village in Lunedale, a side valley of Teesdale Teesdale is a dale, or valley, in Northern England. The dale is in the River Tees’s drainage basin, most water flows stem from or converge into said river, including the Skerne an ...

Bowes Bowes is a village in County Durham, England. Located in the Pennine hills, it is situated close to Barnard Castle. It is built around the medieval Bowes Castle. Geography and administration Civic history Bowes lies within the historic coun ...

* Brignall *

Cotherstone Cotherstone is a village and civil parish in the Pennine hills, in Teesdale, County Durham, England. Cotherstone lies within the historic county boundaries of the North Riding of Yorkshire, but along with the rest of the former Startforth R ...

* Gilmonby * Grassholme * Greta Bridge * Hutton Magna *

Holwick Holwick is a small village in Teesdale, north-east England. Located in the Pennine hills, it consists of a few houses spread along a road in the pattern of a linear settlement. As the population taken at the 2011 Census was less than 100, details ...

* Hunderthwaite * Hury * Lartington * Mickleton * Ovington *

Romaldkirk Romaldkirk is a village in Teesdale, in the Pennines of England. The village lies within the historic boundaries of the North Riding of Yorkshire, but has been administered by County Durham since 1974. It is thought that the name might be deri ...

* Scargill * Startforth *

Thringarth Thringarth is a hamlet in Lunedale, in the Pennines of England. It is traditionally located in the North Riding of Yorkshire but along with the rest of the former Startforth Rural District it was transferred to County Durham for administrat ...

* Wycliffe Dales * Baldersdale *

Deep Dale Deep Dale is a short steep-sided gorge near Buxton, Derbyshire, in the Peak District of England. It is distinct from another Deep Dale, near Sheldon, to the east. The dale is cut into a plateau of farmland and lies just south west of the haml ...

Lunedale Lunedale is the dale, or valley, of the River Lune, on the east side of the Pennines in England, west of Middleton-in-Teesdale. Its principal settlements are Grassholme, Thringarth and Bowbank. Lunedale is also the name of a civil parish w ...

(south side only)

Reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

s and

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

s * Balderhead * Blackton * Fish Lake * Grassholme * Hury * Selset

Fell A fell (from Old Norse ''fell'', ''fjall'', "mountain"Falk and Torp (2006:161).) is a high and barren landscape feature, such as a mountain or moor-covered hill. The term is most often employed in Fennoscandia, Iceland, the Isle of Man, pa ...

s and

moors The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a distinct or ...

* Barningham Moor *

Bowes Moor Bowes Moor is a Site of Special Scientific Interest in the County Durham district in south-west County Durham, England. It is an extensive area of moorland, most of it covered by blanket bog, which supports significant breeding populations ...

* Cotherstone Moor * Cronkley Fell * Holwick Fell * Hope Moor * Hunderthwaite Moor * Lune Moor *

Mickle Fell Mickle Fell is a mountain in the Pennines, the range of hills and moors running down the middle of Northern England. It has a maximum elevation of . It lies slightly off the main watershed of the Pennines, about south of Cross Fell. After Cro ...

* Scargill High Moor * Sleightholme Moor

Forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

s *

Lune Lune may refer to: Rivers *River Lune, in Lancashire and Cumbria, England *River Lune, Durham, in County Durham, England *Lune (Weser), a 43 km-long tributary of the Weser in Germany * Lune River (Tasmania), in south-eastern Tasmania, Australia P ...

Stainmore Stainmore is a remote geographic area in the Pennines on the border of Cumbria, County Durham and North Yorkshire. The name is used for a civil parish in the Eden District of Cumbria, England, including the villages of North Stainmore and South ...

River A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of w ...

s and becks *

River Balder The Balder is an English river that rises on the eastern slope of Stainmore Common in the Pennine Chain and flows eastwards for about 13 miles (21 km) to the River Tees at Cotherstone. The River Balder is in County Durham. The head of ...

* Deepdale Beck * River Greta

Road A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of ...

s * A66 * A67 * B6276 * B6277 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 ...

also passes through the area.

External links

A Vision of Britain Through Time : Startforth Rural District
History of County Durham History of North Yorkshire Districts of England abolished by the Local Government Act 1972 Districts of England created by the Local Government Act 1894 Rural districts of the North Riding of Yorkshire