Keld, North Yorkshire

Keld is a village in the English county of North Yorkshire. It is in Swaledale, and the Yorkshire Dales National Park. The name derives from the Viking word Kelda meaning a spring and the village was once called Appletre Kelde – the spring near the apple trees. From 1974 to 2023 it was part of the district of Richmondshire, it is now administered by the unitary North Yorkshire Council. Keld is the crossing point of the Coast to Coast Walk and the Pennine Way long-distance footpaths at the head of Swaledale, and marks the end of the Swale Trail, a 20 km mountain bike trail which starts in Reeth. At the height of the lead-mining industry in Swaledale in the late 19th century, several notable buildings – now Grade II listed – were erected: they include the Congregational and Methodist chapels, the school and Keld Literary Institute. A tea room and small shop operate at Park Lodge from Easter to autumn. Out of season, local volunteers provide a self service café for visitors in the village’s Public Hall. Keld’s Youth Hostel closed in 2008 and has since reopened as Keld Lodge, a hotel with bar and restaurant. There is a series of four waterfalls close to Keld in a limestone gorge on the River Swale: Kisdon Force, East Gill Force, Catrake Force and Wain Wath Force.

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Keld United Reformed Church

Keld United Reformed Church is a historic building in Keld, North Yorkshire, a village in England. John Leland recorded a chapel in Keld in 1540. It was disused by 1695, when it was walled up, and was in ruins by 1706. In 1789, the congregationalist Edward Stillman resolved to build a new church on the site, which was enlarged in about 1820. In 1861, the chapel was rebuilt and enlarged, at a cost of £306 10s. The chapel joined the Congregational Union of England and Wales, which later became part of the United Reformed Church. The building was grade II listed in 1986. In 2009, the Keld Resource Centre converted the attached manse into holiday accommodation. The chapel and manse are built of stone, with rusticated quoins, and a stone slate roof with stone copings. The chapel to the right has a single storey, and contains two round-arched sash windows. In the centre is a two-storey gabled porch with a round-arched gabled bellcote. The porch contains a round-arched doorway with a quoined surround, voussoirs and a moulded arris, above which is a sundial. Over this is a round-arched opening with a keystone, containing a window and an inscribed and dated panel. The manse has two storeys and two bays, and contains a round-arched doorway with a keystone and sash windows. In front, there is a low wall with saddleback coping and wrought iron railings. The gate piers to the manse have pointed caps, and those to the chapel have pyramidal caps. Inside the chapel is a west gallery, a recess with a reading desk, a carved minister's seat, a decorative case iron dais and two memorial slabs, one to Stillman.

Keld Old School Museum

The Keld Old School Museum is a museum in a historic building in Keld, North Yorkshire, a village in England. The school was built in 1847, on the initiative of James Wilkinson, minister at the Keld Congregational Church. It closed in the 1970s, and was used as a bunkhouse, then as a storeroom. The building was grade II listed in 1986. In 2022, it was restored by the Keld Resource Centre, and opened as a museum of life in Upper Swaledale. The building is constructed of stone, with quoins, and a stone slate roof with stone copings. There is a single storey and three bays. On the front is a projecting gabled porch with the entry in the right side. In the porch is a sash window, and the other windows are casements. On the left gable is a bellcote with heart-shaped openings, an inscription and the date 1847.

Keld Literary Institute

The Keld Literary Institute is a historic building in Keld, North Yorkshire, a village in England. James Wilkinson became the minister at Keld Congregational Church in 1838. In 1854, he founded a Mutual Improvement Society, and in 1861 arranged for the construction of a building for its meetings. The chapel had just been rebuilt, and Wilkinson saved money by reusing the old chapel roof on the new building. It became the Literary Institute, with a library and reading table, and opened in 1862. The building was grade II listed in 1986. In 2011, the Keld Resource Centre converted the ground floor stable and carriage room into the Countryside and Heritage Centre, a local museum. The upper floor, which was derelict for some years, was in 2017 converted into an events and conference space. The building is constructed of stone, with rusticated quoins, and a hipped stone slate roof. There are two storeys, and fronts of two and five bays. The entry is on the left side, and steps lead up to a gabled porch and a round-arched doorway with a quoined surround. This in flanked by narrow round-arched windows with keystones. At the rear is a window with three stepped round-arched heads and keystones, and elsewhere there are sash windows.

East Gill Force

East Gill Force is a waterfall in Swaledale, 330 yards (300 m) east of the hamlet of Keld, in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, North Yorkshire, England. The falls are located on East Gill at grid reference NY896012, just before its confluence with the River Swale at the point where the Pennine Way and the Coast to Coast Walk intersect. The falls are a popular spot for visitors, not just long-distance walkers but also families and picnickers because of the proximity of the road. East Gill Force has two main torrents: the upper falls have an impressive 15-foot (4.5 m) drop whilst the lower section is a series of stepped cascades that fall 9.8 feet (3 m) as East Gill enters the River Swale. East Gill Force is one of four waterfalls in the Keld area, the others being Kisdon Force, Catrake Force and Wain Wath Force that occur where the river cuts a gorge through the carboniferous limestone between the hills of Kisdon and Rogan's Seat. The falls in this area are called "forces" after the Norse word foss, meaning waterfall. The falls are surrounded by deciduous broadleaved woodland. East Gill Force is sometimes mistaken for the nearby Catrake Force (on the River Swale proper), perhaps because the latter is marked on the Ordnance Survey map but is less prominent and less easily accessible.