Chapel-le-Dale is a hamlet in the civil parish of Ingleton,

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. It is 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 ...

in a valley of the same name, and was previously in the

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, lieu ...

History

The hamlet is situated on the B6255 road between Ingleton and

Ribblehead Ribblehead is the area of moorland at the head of the River Ribble in the area known as Ribblesdale, in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, England. Ribblehead is most notable for Ribblehead railway station and Ribblehead Viaduct on the S ...

near to the

Ribblehead Viaduct The Ribblehead Viaduct or Batty Moss Viaduct carries the Settle–Carlisle railway across Batty Moss in the Ribble Valley at Ribblehead, in North Yorkshire, England. The viaduct, built by the Midland Railway, is north-west of Skipton and s ...

. The name derives from Old French and literally means ''Chapel in the valley''. It was first recorded as ''Chappell ith Dale'' in 1677. Historically, the hamlet, and its parish, were both in the

Wapentake A hundred is an administrative division that is geographically part of a larger region. It was formerly used in England, Wales, some parts of the United States, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway, and in Cumberland County in the British Colony of ...

of Ewcross and up until 1974, they were in the West Riding of Yorkshire. In 1892, the hamlet was recorded as having a population of 150. Modern-day population statistics are recorded within the Civil Parish of Ingleton. The hamlet is in close proximity to

Ingleborough Ingleborough () is the List of peaks in the Yorkshire Dales, 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 ...

and

Whernside Whernside is a mountain in the Yorkshire Dales in Northern England. It is the highest of the Yorkshire Three Peaks, the other two being Ingleborough and Pen-y-ghent. It is the highest point in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire Mickle F ...

and there are several potholes in the vicinity, the best known being Great Douk Cave. There is a pub in the village, ''The Old Hill Inn'', which is used as a starting and ending point for various walks on Whernside or Ingleborough. The source of the River Doe is nearby. St Leonard's Church, Chapel-le-Dale is a

grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

building. It was used as a burial plot for the navvies, and their family members, who died whilst constructing the nearby Ribblehead Viaduct between 1869 and 1876. In all, over 200 people died during the construction from accidents and outbreaks of

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by Variola virus (often called Smallpox virus), which belongs to the genus '' Orthopoxvirus''. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (W ...

. A plaque was erected in the church to their memory. Prior to the railway's construction, deaths and burials in the dale numbered between two and four people each year on average. A survey of the parish records from 1876 showed the average of 44 burials per year between 1870 and 1875.

References

External links

Chapel-le-Dale
{{Authority control Hamlets in North Yorkshire Ingleton, North Yorkshire