The River Skell is a tributary of the

River Ure The River Ure in North Yorkshire, England, is about long from its source to the point where it becomes the River Ouse. It is the principal river of Wensleydale, which is the only major dale now named after a village rather than its river. ...

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. Its source is in boggy ground on moorland north of

Pateley Bridge Pateley Bridge (known locally as Pateley) is a market town in the civil parish of High and Low Bishopside, in Nidderdale, in the county and district of North Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it lies on the ...

. For its first the river is known as Skell Beck. Descending from the moor the river enters Skell Gill, a narrow wooded valley. The river valley gradually broadens, but remains well wooded, passing the village of Grantley and the 17th century Grantley Hall. The river enters Studley Royal Park and flows past

Fountains Hall Fountains Hall is a English country house, country house near Ripon in North Yorkshire, England, located within the World Heritage Site at Studley Royal Park which include the ruins of Fountains Abbey. It belongs to the National Trust and is a ...

and the ruins of

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 ...

. Below the abbey the river was dammed in the 18th century to form an ornamental lake and water garden. Downstream from the park the river bed is porous rock that allows some or all of the flow to disappear underground. After this, the river re-emerges on the surface and enters the city of

Ripon Ripon () is a cathedral city and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. The city is located at the confluence of two tributaries of the River Ure, the Laver and Skell. Within the boundaries of the historic West Riding of Yorkshire, the ...

, and on the outskirts receives its largest tributary, the

River Laver The River Laver is a tributary of the River Skell, itself a tributary of the River Ure in North Yorkshire, England. The name is of Brittonic origin, from ''labaro'', meaning "talkative", i.e. a babbling brook. The Afon Llafar in Wales share ...

. The Skell enters the River Ure east of the centre of Ripon. The name is from the

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

''skjallr'', meaning "resounding", from its swift and noisy course. In the Middle Ages the river was known as "Heaven Water", presumably from its association with Fountains Abbey. The flow of the River Skell has been measured at Alma Weir in Ripon, near to its confluence with the Ure since 1984. The thirty year record shows that the

catchment A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, th ...

of to the

gauging station A stream gauge, streamgage or stream gauging station is a location used by hydrologists or environmental scientists to monitor and test terrestrial bodies of water. Hydrometric measurements of water level surface elevation ("stage") and/or vo ...

yields an average flow of . In June 2007 the highest river level was recorded of over the weir, which was estimated to have a flow of .

References

External links

{{authority control Skell Skell