Bolton Hall, North Yorkshire

Bolton Hall is a country house near Preston-under-Scar, Richmondshire, North Yorkshire, England, in Wensleydale, some 3 miles (5 km) west of Leyburn. It was built in the late 17th century and rebuilt after a fire in 1902. It is a grade II listed building, as is an 18th-century folly tower in the grounds. It is built in three storeys of roughcast brick with ashlar dressing and a hipped slate roof. The layout is H-shaped with a central block of 5 bays and an overall frontage of 9 bays. In the 1960s the estate covered 12,000 acres, much of it moorland and woodland, and included Bolton Castle.

Nearby Places View Menu

Wensley railway station

Wensley railway station is a disused railway station on the Wensleydale Railway, in North Yorkshire, England. It was opened by the North Eastern Railway on 1 February 1877, and served the village of Wensley. The station was host to camping coach from 1936 to 1939 and may have had a coach visiting in 1934 and 1935. The station closed on 26 April 1954. The station buildings and platforms survive as a private residence. The railway through the station was reopened as the Wensleydale Railway.

Landmark Train

Keld Heads Mine

Keld Heads Mine is a closed lead mine in Preston-under-Scar, a village in North Yorkshire, in England. Lead is first recorded as having been mined at Keld Heads in the 12th century. By 1823, the mine was nearing exhaustion, but several long adits were dug into the hillside, greatly increasing production. In 1851, a smelt mill was constructed, replacing the need to transport ore to Preston Mill. Local farmers were concerned about pollution from its fumes, leading to its flue being extended to reach 3.3 kilometres (2.1 miles), joining up with the flue of Cobscar Mill. Silver was also refined at the site. The mine owners installed updated equipment later in the century, and it was regarded as the most advanced lead mine in the country. However, it appears that the mill closed in about 1884 after the price of smelted lead fell, and flooding in the lower levels of the mine increased pumping costs, leading to the closure of the entire complex in 1888. The mine buildings were then converted for the use of a nearby quarry, with the chimney serving a coal-fired electricity generating plant. The mine is a scheduled monument, while the main complex of buildings and the peat store are separately grade II listed. The mine buildings are built of stone and are now derelict. They include a chimney with a square plan, about 12 metres (39 ft) in height, with a circular hole at the base and a cornice at the top. There is a large pumping house with round-arched openings, and an adjacent stable and stores building with a timber roof structure. The former peat store is built of stone with quoins and a corrugated sheet roof. It has two storeys and four bays. On the ground floor are four cart openings with semicircular arches and voussoirs, and the upper floor contains plain openings.

Industrial Landmark

Preston-under-Scar

Preston-under-Scar is a village and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It is situated approximately 2 miles (4 km) west of Leyburn. The village population was 120 at the 2001 census, increasing to 170 by the 2011 census. The village is mentioned in the Domesday Book as belonging to Thorfin of Ravensworth, but the tenant-in-chief being Count Alan of Bedale. The name of the village derives form a mixture of Old English and Old Norse and was originally prēost tūn sker, which translates as Priests farm (or settlement) under rock (or cliff). The village used to be in the Wapentake of Hang West and in the parish of Wensley. From 1974 to 2023 it was part of the district of Richmondshire, it is now administered by the unitary North Yorkshire Council. Traditionally, worship was undertaken at the church in Wensley as there was no church in the village save for a small Methodist chapel, but the village does have the small St Margaret's Church that was constructed in 1862 and is now a grade II listed building. However, services are only held twice-monthly. The Wensleydale Railway passes just to the south of the village. Previously, the village and that of neighbouring Wensley were served by Wensley railway station on the line and whilst the line has been re-opened as a heritage railway, the station is in private hands and has not been opened up to passengers. The village is mostly contained in a conservation area that was designated in 1989. It is just outside of the Yorkshire Dales National Park due to quarrying and a military firing range which lie just to the north of the village. Besides quarrying (which is still ongoing in the modern era) the area was also known for its iron ore and lead industries. These were documented as far back as the early 14th century though may have been explored earlier. There are remains of the old lead mining industry in the nearby Condenser Wood. Some of the old lead processing buildings of Keld Heads Mine are still standing and are now listed buildings, including the peat store that would house a years' worth of peat to be used in smelting lead. Various chimneys were built to vent the fumes from the smelting process, but these were quite low in the valley and would cling to the surroundings rather than disperse. Because of this, a flue was constructed that extended for 2 miles (3 km) in a northerly direction and fed into a chimney at Cobscar Mill above Preston-under-Scar at 1,250 feet (381 m) above sea level.

Church Historic Site

St Margaret's Church, Preston-under-Scar

St Margaret's Church is a parish church in Preston-under-Scar, a village in North Yorkshire, in England. Preston-under-Scar was in the parish of Holy Trinity Church, Wensley. In 1862, a mission room was built in the village. The church in Wensley was declared redundant in about 2006, and St Margaret's then became the parish church. The church has been grade II listed since 1986. In 2025, the church raised more than £20,000 to restore its bellcote, vestry and north window. The church is built of stone and has a Welsh slate roof with stone copings and shaped kneelers. The church consists of a nave, a small chancel with a vestry and a bellcote above, and an outbuilding at the rear. In the centre is a doorway with a fanlight, and it is flanked by windows; all have round-arched heads and quoined surrounds, the fanlight and windows containing Y-tracery. Inside, there is an octagonal portable font in the Perpendicular Gothic style, and a mural by Muriel Metcalfe.

Church