The Wessenden Valley is a

moorland Moorland or moor is a type of Habitat (ecology), habitat found in upland (geology), upland areas in temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands and the biomes of montane grasslands and shrublands, characterised by low-growing vegetation on So ...

valley in the

Dark Peak The Dark Peak is the higher and wilder part of the Peak District in England, mostly forming the northern section but also extending south into its eastern and western margins. It is mainly in Derbyshire but parts are in Staffordshire, Cheshire ...

, immediately south of Marsden in

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

, England. The name Wessenden derives from Old English and means the 'valley with rock suitable for whetstones'. The valley was formed by retreating glaciers at the end of the last ice age and continues to be cut by the Wessenden Brook a

tributary A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream (''main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which they ...

of the River Colne with a catchment of . The valley is in the

Marsden Moor Estate The Marsden Moor Estate is a large expanse of moorland in the South Pennines, between the conurbations of West Yorkshire and Greater Manchester in the north of England. It is named after the adjacent town of Marsden, and is owned and administ ...

and occupied by four reservoirs, namely Wessenden Head, Wessenden, Blakeley and

Butterley Butterley is a village in the civil parish of Ripley, in the Amber Valley district, in the county of Derbyshire, England. The area is dominated by the now disused site of the Butterley Company and the Butterley Reservoir. It is the headquarte ...

, the largest. The Kirklees Way and

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 footpaths follow the valley. The upper part of the valley near Wessenden Head is managed by the National Trust as part of the Marsden Moor Estate. Butterley Reservoir's spillway, the only one of its kind in England, was a Grade II Listed structure until Yorkshire Water renovated it using concrete after winning a case on appeal.

References

{{authority control Valleys of England