Calver Hill is a fell in the

Yorkshire Dales National Park The Yorkshire Dales National Park is a national park in England which covers most of the Yorkshire Dales, the Howgill Fells, and the Orton Fells. The Nidderdale area of the Yorkshire Dales is not within the national park, and has instead ...

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 ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It is composed of

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

''"The Rivers, Mountains and Sea Coast of Yorkshire"'', John Phillips, States that Calver Hill is composed of limestone. and is situated at grid reference , near where the valleys of

Swaledale Swaledale is a valley in North Yorkshire, England. It is one of the Yorkshire Dales, which are part of the Pennines, and within the Yorkshire Dales National Park. It is named after the River Swale, which runs through it. Swaledale is the mo ...

and

Arkengarthdale Arkengarthdale is a dale, or valley, on the east side of the Pennines in North Yorkshire, England. Running roughly north-west to south-east, it is the valley of the Arkle Beck, and is the northernmost of the Yorkshire Dales. It is a subsidiary ...

meet, the village of

Reeth Reeth is a village west of Richmond, North Yorkshire, Richmond in North Yorkshire, England, in the civil parish of Reeth, Fremington and Healaugh. Historic counties of England, Historically part of the North Riding of Yorkshire, it is the p ...

is located on its lower south-eastern slopes, it reaches an altitude of and is a distinguished feature in mid Swaledale. Calver Hill is an area of

grouse Grouse are a group of birds from the order (biology), order Galliformes, in the family (biology), family Phasianidae. Grouse are presently assigned to the Tribe (biology), tribe Tetraonini (formerly the subfamily Tetraoninae and the family Tetr ...

shooting and the fell is dotted with grouse butts. Most of the drainage from the fell goes north and easterly to join the Arkle Beck in lower Arkengarthdale which eventually joins the River Swale just south of Reeth.

History

Evidence exits on the slopes of Calver Hill that point to use during the Neolithic Period and the Bronze Age. Finds of arrowheads, flints, and field patterns also point to possible areas of habitation. The whole area of Calver Hill is sometimes referred to as ''Reeth Low Moor'', and in some older texts, the name of the hill is recorded as either ''Mount Calvey'', or ''Calvey Hill''. Another alternative name of ''Mount Calva'' persists into the modern day. Swaledale-web

Older versions of the 1:25,000

Ordnance Survey The Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see Artillery, ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of ...

map show a

trig point A triangulation station, also known as a trigonometrical point, and sometimes informally as a trig, is a fixed surveying station, used in geodetic surveying and other surveying projects in its vicinity. The station is usually set up by a map ...

at the summit of Calver Hill but all there is now is a pile of rubble and mining spoil to form a summit

cairn A cairn is a human-made pile (or stack) of stones raised for a purpose, usually as a marker or as a burial mound. The word ''cairn'' comes from the (plural ). Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes. In prehistory, t ...

. The fell is littered with signs of Calver Hill’s industrial past; there is a large disused

quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mining, open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock (geology), rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some juri ...

north-west of the summit cairn, there are also disused tips, pits and shafts from former

lead Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...

mines. Lead mining reached its heyday in the 19th century in this area and they were some of the most productive mines in Yorkshire. Calver Hill was a

Bole hill A bole hill (also spelt bail hill) was a place where lead was formerly smelted in the open air. The bole was usually situated at or near the top of a hill where the wind was strong. Totley Bole Hill on the western fringes of Sheffield consisted ...

a place where the lead from the mines was

smelted Smelting is a process of applying heat and a chemical reducing agent to an ore to extract a desired base metal product. It is a form of extractive metallurgy that is used to obtain many metals such as iron, copper, silver, tin, lead and zinc. Sm ...

in an open air furnace which used the prevailing wind to increase the heat. Burnt stones and a scattering of

slag The general term slag may be a by-product or co-product of smelting (pyrometallurgical) ores and recycled metals depending on the type of material being produced. Slag is mainly a mixture of metal oxides and silicon dioxide. Broadly, it can be c ...

show the locations of these furnaces.''"Industry in the Landscape 1700 - 1900"'', Marilyn Palmer & Peter Neaverson, Gives information on lead smelting.''"Ordnance Survey Outdoor Leisure Map 30 (Yorkshire Dales North & Central)"'', Gives information on quarrying and mining locations. In January 1868, the disposal of some nitro-glycerine on top of the hill caused some worry in nearby Reeth and Arkengarthdale as the local population were not informed of the impending explosion. The blast caused debris to extend over out from the centre, and local people thought they were under attack.

Walks

Calver Hill can be climbed from Reeth,

Langthwaite Langthwaite is one of the few villages in Arkengarthdale, North Yorkshire, England. It is north of Reeth and sits above sea level. It is the main settlement in the dale and is one of the most northerly settlements in the whole of Yorkshire Da ...

, and

Arkle Town Arkle Town is a hamlet in Arkengarthdale in the county of North Yorkshire, England. It is situated to the south of Langthwaite and north-west of Reeth. History "Arkel" is a Norse personal name and probably arrived with settlers during t ...

in Arkengarthdale, and from Healaugh in Swaledale. From Arkengarthdale, the Arkle Town to Healaugh

bridleway A bridle path, also bridleway, equestrian trail, horse riding path, ride, bridle road, or horse trail, is a trail or a thoroughfare that is used by people riding on horses. Trails originally created for use by horses often now serve a wider ...

can be used to attain the western ridge at a height of .

References

Sources

* * *{{cite report, title=Swaledale and Arkengarthdale, date=2002, url=https://archive.yorkshiredales.org.uk/about-the-dales/landscape/landscapecharacterassessment/lca_swaledale-arkengarthdale.pdf, format=PDF, website=archive.yorkshiredales.org.uk, access-date=1 October 2021, ref={{harvid, SAA, 2002 Peaks of the Yorkshire Dales