Old Byland to Nettledale and Scawton
8 miles Overcast and warm
In The Walker's Guide to the Hambleton Hills, Tom Scott Burns describes this walk as embodying all the charm of Ryedale as it passes through the villages of Old Byland, Scawton and Cold Kirby.
We approached Old Byland from the B1257 Bilsdale road via Rievaulx village and parked our cars in the village, at the roadside close to the green.
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Today's walk from The Walker's Guide to the Hambleton Hills |
TSB relates that in 1143 the Norman Baron Roger de Mowbray granted land in Ryedale to some wandering monks from Furnace Abbey in Lancashire. They moved about the dale for a few years before finally settling on a site they called Bellalanda, or Byland.
We walked through the pretty village and saw the C12th Church of All Saints almost hidden from view behind houses in the north- west corner of the village. The church was unlocked so we went inside for a look around.
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House in Old Byland |
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All Saints Church |
The church dates to the 12th century and is very much as it would have been at that time. On the porch walls are a pair of early Norman winged dragons.
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Early Norman carvings |
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Looking towards the altar |
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Saxon Font |
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Early Norman head with rams horns |
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Looking towards the rear of the church |
Leaving the church we walked through the village green which is dominated by huge sycamore trees, and just as we exited Old Byland we turned left through a gate into the woods of Low Gill. The track here is very overgrown and slippery with a dangerous drop of 100' or so to the right. We proceeded with a great deal of caution until we dropped down to Ashberry Pasture.
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Old Byland green |
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Dominated by huge sycamores |
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Old Byland Hall |
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Entrance to Low Gill |
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Glad we didn't wear shorts |
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Steep drop to the right |
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We reach the safety of Ashberry Pasture |
Ashberry Pasture is a wild-flower sanctuary maintained by the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and is a lovely unspoilt valley to walk through, almost 2 miles without a road or buildings.
Leaving Low Gill Wood behind we entered the grassy bottom of the pastures, which appeared to be unwalked. We soon came upon the sad sight of a dead baby fawn and wondered at the circumstances as it appeared uninjured. Possibly something had happened to its mother or perhaps it had become lost, we'll never know.
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We wondered what had caused this tragedy |
We walked through the lovely valley and eventually emerged onto the Rievaulx to Old Byland road just below Ashberry Hill and followed it to a junction next to picturesque Ashberry Farm.
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Walking through Ashberry Pasture |
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Bluebells and garlic |
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Hoof fungus, usually found on Beech and Silver Birch |
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Leaving Ashberry Pastures |
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Ashberry Farm |
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Ashberry Farm pond |
We turned right over the bridge at Ashberry Farm and followed Scawton lane past Hagg Hall. We left the lane at Bradley Bank to follow a woodland track that meanders through Nettle Dale. Three large man-made lakes are to the right stretching along most of the track through Nettle Dale.
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Bringing in the stragglers near Hagg Hall |
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Looking over towards Nettledale |
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Hagg Hall |
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Turning off Bradley Bank into Nettledale |
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Walking through Nettledale.. |
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.. and its lakes |
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Nettledale |
Just past the third lake we reached a footbridge and Cleveland Way sign on our right. We turned left here and walked uphill into Spring Wood where a steady half mile climb took us to tarmac and the road into Scawton.
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Nettledale |
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Climbing alongside Spring Wood |
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Old Inn Way sign |
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Follow the road... |
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... into Scawton |
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Pretty houses in Scawton |
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The bench on the village green makes a good coffee stop |
After enjoying our coffee and scones we decided to look around St Mary's Church, which was almost opposite. The church was unlocked and open to visitors.
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St Mary's Church Scawton |
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'We loved her yes we loved her, But Jesus loved her more, He hath sweetly called her, To yonder happy home' ( shore would definitely scan better..) |
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War memorial in church porch |
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Norman carving |
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For washing sacred vessels |
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Lavatorium, possibly brought from Rievaulx |
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Looking towards the altar |
The church was built by the Cistercians of Byland Abbey, 'owing to the divers perils and fatigue which the parishioners underwent in coming from Scawton to Byland.'
Leaving the church we returned to the village green and crossed the grass to an overgrown path behind the village telephone box. The box isn't operational and is in poor repair. A couple of years ago, being curious to discover why the box has a wooden door we googled for further information and discovered it to be an early K6 model which always had a teak wood door. It is a shame the village hasn't made arrangements for cleaning and painting the box.
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Entering Cold Kirby via the Church of St Michael |
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The unusual purple interior |
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The purple paint scheme matches the windows |
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Cold Kirby |
We looked into the village briefly and then followed the Cleveland Way sign to rejoin our path for the steady descent back to Nettle Dale. As we walked into Nettle Dale we were impressed by the clubhouse for shooters that includes a bar and archery butts as well as stands for clay pigeon shooting.
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Leaving Cold Kirby and looking over towards Old Byland in the distance |
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Nettledale once more |
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Shooters' club house |
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Clay Pigeon Butts |
At Nettle Dale we parted from the Cleveland Way as we reached the lakes, turning left into a field and crossing to a gated bridge over a stream. We now had a steep climb out of Nettle Dale through Calister Wood, until we reached fields on the other side. The path now runs straight across these field boundaries to Old Byland, first descending and crossing Low Gill's woods again.
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The lakes of Nettledale |
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Over the bridge.. |
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.. to climb through Calister Wood |
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Across field boundaries |
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This pheasant led us across the field |
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Someone watches us pass by.. |
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All Saints Church on the horizon |
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Back into Low Gills Wood |
This is a lovely walk but the paths in Low Gill are not maintained and are slippery with considerable drops and require care. The paths between Scawton and Cold Kirby are unwalked but yellow way marks are on the field bounderies.
There is no pub in Old Byland so we stopped at the Buck in Chop Gate for a post walk pint and debrief.
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To Nettledale! |
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