Beautiful Thornton-le-Dale is one of the most visited villages in the North York Moors National Park, with its market cross and stocks on the village green and a babbling stream crossed by little bridges. It's an ancient settlement – farmed by Neolithic man, settled by the Anglo-Saxons and known to have been in existence in its present form since before the Norman Conquest. A grant for a weekly market was first made in 1281, while the stocks (not the present ones) were last used in 1874. The knitted poppies were produced by the local people and arranged around the village to commemorate the First World War armistice on 11th November 1918.



In 1670, 12 almshouses and a school were built, thanks to an endowment left by Elizabeth, Viscountess Lumley who had died years earlier; her family had owned much of the land in the area. The buildings, between the village green and the bridge, are supported by the Lady Lumleys Almshouse Trust. In 2014, a major renovation was completed on the 12 bungalows by the Trust on the Grade II listed buildings in 2014. They have been inhabited for some time as age-specific housing.



The thatched building, called Beck Isle or Thatched Cottage and Grade II listed, was built in the 17th century and modified/extended in the 20th. The building has appeared on countless calendars and chocolate boxes over the years. A new thatched roof was installed in 2014 so it remains picturesque. A stream, Thornton Beck, meanders along the streets and is crossed by several bridges. Much of the village was designated as a Conservation Area by the North York Moors National Park. Thornton-le-Dale is often regarded as one of the prettiest in Yorkshire.

Thornton Beck (below) rises on the North Yorshire Moors in the Dalby Forest area, flowing through the village and on to join the River Derwent a few miles from Thornton-le-Dale.