History

Looking at them now, you could be forgiven for thinking that the Yorkshire Moors have always been remote, isolated from the events of history. Nothing could be further from the truth. Across the moors you will find evidence of man's activities across thousands of years.

Early man was here, leaving tumuli, ditches and dykes scattered across the moors.

The Romans left their mark, including what may be an amazingly well preserved piece of road.

Medieval man left his mark in the castles that surround the moors and the monasteries that helped to tame it. (see map of castles and map of monasteries)

Industrial man has been here too. His railways can still be traced (even still run in one case!), while his mine workings, once a dramatic scar on the landscape, have mellowed into interesting features on the remote hills.

The open moorland itself is the creation of man, originally created for the shoot.

Even the cold war has left its mark, with the radar base at Fylingdale a reminder of tensions only recently gone.