1M1 



YORKSHIRE. 



YORKSHIRE. 



1->03 



It ia a most singular geological scene which is presented in the vicinity 

 of Ingletou and Horton, for there slaty rocks of extremely various 

 qualities, with vertical cleavage and inclined beds, are covered for 

 many miles by a horizontal cap of mountain limestone 500 feet thick. 

 Orthocerota and other fossils occur in the dark thin flags of Horton in 

 Ribblesdale. 



Diiturbancea of Strata. 



Such is the series of Yorkshire strata, much thicker, more complete, 

 and more varied than belongs to any other county of the empire. It 

 will be found that three cases of general conformity have been noted : 

 the oldest is between the Silurians and the mountain limestone ; the 

 next between the Coal and the Magnesian series ; the last between the 

 Oolitic series and the Chalk. The prevailing dip of the strata is east- 

 ward ; indeed, except in the western parts of Craven and in the line 

 of great faults, this general dip is very little modified. In the district 

 of Craven several anticlinal axes of limited extent, mostly ranging 

 north-east, make elliptical elevations about Qreenhaw Hill, Skip ton, 

 Lotheradale, and in Bowland Forest. These are often connected with 

 the production of metallic veins. A slight broad anticlinal axis 

 affects the oolitic strata beneath the chalk. 



Some of the dislocations, which occasion great vertical movement of 

 the strata, are very striking. The Great Craven Fault, which ranges 

 nearly east and west from Wharfedale to near Kirkby Lonsdale, and 

 is in part of this course double, causes a downthrow to the south of 

 from 1000 feet to more than 1000 yards, and is accompanied by a 

 grand and character!*! ic change of physical geography. North of this 

 line the country ri.-e to the height of 2400 feet, and south of it sinks 

 to a few hundred* of feet. Where this fault turns to the north from 

 near Kirkby Lonsdale, and receives the name of the Pennine Fault, 

 it* effects are equally extraordinary, and the western border of York- 

 (hire derive* iu peculiar bold escarpment from Wharnside to Mickle 

 Fell from the operation of this fault 



There are several curious faults visible in the oolitic and lias strata 

 of the coast near Whitby and Scarborough, and the coal-field is full 

 of them. The magiie-ian limestone is dislocated near Robin Hood's 

 Well and in a few other place*. These and many other fractures of 

 the earth's crust are wholly or principally unconnected with great 

 msssBi of igneous rock, and devoid of such rocks along the line of 

 nature. Under Ingleborough however a curious red felspatbic dyke 

 U seen to coincide with tlm Craven Fault, and a very Urge and 

 remarkable greenstone dyke, accompanied by a dislocation of strata, 

 traverses thu northern part* of this county, and the southern part of 

 Durham, from near Middleton in Teesdale to near tho High Peak, 

 south of Whitby. Along the line of this great 'whindyke' the 

 argillaceous straU are bleached and the sandstones indurated. It is 

 geographically related to the east end of the great ' wbiu sill,' as it has 

 been called, which fills a considerable space on the York-hire side of 

 the Tees, and causes the great waterfalls of Caldron Snout and the 

 Hub Force. This mass is in places 200 feet thick, and in others only 

 24 feet thick. It is a sort of ' interposed bed,' which was formed 

 from lava poured out on the ant-bed with some local violence and 

 rending of the strata. It ii in a few places subcolumnar, and varies 

 in crystallisation. The limestones have been altered by its heat to 

 white crystalline ma***, the randstones hardened, and the shales 

 locally changed, so as to yield in one spot garnet*. No particular 

 dislocations appear to mark its course, and its relation to the local 

 richness in lead of the mining district of Tee*dale and Alston Moor is 

 obscure. Lead-veins traverse it in the mines about Hilton and 

 Dufton, sod yield ore, a circumstance in which it appears to differ 

 from the toadstone of Derbyshire, which is also interposed in the 

 limestone serin. 



Climate, Soil, and Agriculture. The great extent of the county 

 :k*hin, snd the variety of surface, occasion considerable differ- 

 ence* in the climate in various districts. Tuke, in his ' General View 

 of th* Agricul'ure of the North Hiding of Yorkshire,' published in 

 the year 1800, observes, that the climate of the coast is, from its 

 situation, cold and bleak, hut that in some of the vales near it, which 

 an sheltered from the westerly winds and from the sea-air, the climate 

 is such as to favour the ripening of corn. The Vale of Cleveland, 

 near the Tee*, ia very cold, being open to the sea on the north and 

 east, and to the cold wind* from the central mountains on the west. 

 The Eastern Moorlands, from their great altitude, have a climate so 

 severe as to present a icriou* impediment to agricultural improve- 

 ments. The Howardian Hills partake, though in a less degree, of the 

 coldness and severity of the Eastern Moorlands ; and the Wolds of 

 the East Riding are subject to cold winds from the sea, though their 

 diminished elevation and the different character of the soil make 

 them more favourable to cultivation. Ryedale has a mild climate, 

 which greatly promotes the perfection of crops. The districts 

 between the Wolds and the coast are liable to cold winds and fogs 

 from the sea and the Mumber. In the Vale of York the climate is 

 gntrrelly mild and temperate, but the northern part is subject to cold 

 wind* from th* adjacent moorlands, while the extensive levels in the 

 southern part* of the county, though comparatively mild in conse- 

 quence of being sheltered from easterly winds by the Wolds, are very 

 liable to a damp and foggy atmosphere. The climate of the West 

 Hiding generally appear* to be tolerably healthy. The V. 

 Moorland* are more liable to rain than the Eastern, and, owing to 



OIO* BIT. TOL. IV. 



their greater altitude and not being exposed to sea-air, tho snow 

 remains longer upon them. That part of the high lands which lies 

 in the West Riding, though tempestuous and very rainy, is considered 

 salubrious for strong constitutions, perhaps in consequence of the 

 frequent purification of the atmosphere by high winds. The quantity 

 of rain which falls annually in the vicinity of Ingleborough Hill is 

 about 48 inches ; and, though the lower tracts are very much milder 

 and less rainy, the average annual fall of rain at Sheffield is 33 inches, 

 which is 5 inches more than the general average of England. Tuke 

 attributes the almost unceasing rains which fall upon the mountain 

 district to the arresting of the clouds brought from the Atlantic by 

 the westerly winds by the mountains themselves, antl still more by the 

 violent conflict which frequently takes place between the currents 

 from opposite sides of the island. During March, April, and May, 

 the east winds are usually accompanied by a bright sun in the day- 

 time and sharp frosts at night, with frequent showers of snow and 

 sleet, the united effect of which is to parch the surface and greatly to 

 arrest the process of vegetation. 



Yorkshire is one of the most important counties in an agricultural 

 point of view ; but from its great extent, and the varieties of soil and 

 differences of climate which are found there, it is absolutely neces-ary 

 to treat of its subdivisions or Ridings separately, and consider them 

 as though they were separate counties. 



In the North Riding the soil on the coast is mostly a brownish 

 clay, or a loam incumbent on a clay or on freestone ; and in some 

 valleys west of Whitby the soil is a rich deep loam. The soil of 

 Cleveland is mostly a fertile clay or fine red sand. In the neighbour- 

 hood of Kildale there is a good deal of deep rich loam. The surface 

 is div- rsified with hills, and there are very few level fields. Near the 

 Tees, iu the valley of York, there is generally a rich gravelly loam. 

 On the whole, it may be asserted that in all the valleys and on the 

 lower hills the soil is fertile and mostly fit to bear good crops with 

 proper management. The extensive tract of high hills cnlled the 

 Eastern Moorlands, occupying a space of about 30 miles by 15 nailc^, is 

 penetrated by many cultivated valleys more or less fertile. The 

 Western Moorlands are covered with green pastures ; and even where 

 it is brown with ling there are sweet grasses interspersed with it, 

 which the cattle and sheep soon find out. The farmhouses are not 

 in general conveniently situated for the occupation of tho land, but 

 are often crowded in villages at a distance from the fields. Where 

 new building* have been erected on the iuclosures of common lands, 

 they are however much better situated. The cottages for labourer!) 

 are small and mean, and generally consist of t\v > small rooms on the 

 ground-floor, which is often damp, and consequently unhealthy. The 

 farms in the North Riding of Yorkshire, as iu the rest of the county, 

 are of every imaginable size, from 50 to 1000 acres and more. Host 

 Yorkshire farms have extensive pastures attached to them, where 

 horses and cattle are bred, for which the county is celebrated. Tho 

 Cleveland horses arc very strong and active, and many good carriage- 

 horses are bred from Cleveland mares. Threshing-machines were very 

 early introduced from Scotland, and there is scarcely a farm of any 

 extent which has not one. More modern and complicated implements, 

 such as scarifiers, drills, horse-hoes, &c., are used by gentlemen and 

 the wealthier farmers ; and every new improvement is soon introduced 

 and tried. On an average of farm*, the grass-land is two-thirds of 

 the whole farm, and the arable one-third ; in the drier portions of 

 the RiHing, as in Cleveland, the proportion of arable is greater; 

 towards the west it is less, the climate being there better adapted for 

 grass. Clean fallows were once universal on all the heavy soils, but 

 on the lighter loams turnips have entirely superseded clean fallows ; 

 aud even on the heaviest, fallows do not recur so frequently as they 

 did formerly, seldom sooner than after an interval of six years. Lime 

 and guano, aud the various other natural and artificial manures, are 

 in general use. 



The corn, when not mown, is reaped with the sickle, generally by 

 women ; the men seldom reap, but they often tie up the sheaves. The 

 best wheat is grown in Cleveland, but the crops are not so abundant 

 as those in Ryedale. Much wheat ia exported from the ports of the 

 North Riding, chiefly to the manufacturing districts, besides what 

 supplies its own population ; but till of late years oat- and rye-meal 

 were the chief food of the labourers, as well as uiesliu, that is, wheat 

 aud rye sown together, which makes good wholesome bread. On the 

 good light soils as much as six quarters of rye per acre has been grown. 

 Ryedalo is remarkable for its fine oats. Tne kind used is generally the 

 Friesland oat. and the farmers are particular in getting a change of 

 seed from Holland every four or five years. Oats are sown iu March 

 and April. Eight quarters per acre is an average crop iu Ryedale. 



Rape is sown extensively for seed on the best lands, and the pre- 

 paration is often by paring aud burning grass-lands, which it sure to 

 secure a crop. The seed is sown in July or August, aud the plants 

 are thinned out or transplanted in October. Where there ia a great 

 breadth of rape the plants are raised in seed -b'.ds, and transplanted 

 with the plough. Rape is usually ripe in July, and threshed out on 

 a cloth in the field, by which much shedding of the seed is saved. 

 These threshings are a kind of festival, like hop-picking in hop 

 c mutrien, and draw together many labourers and more idlers; but 

 the work must be finished rapidly iu HO precarious a climate, for a 

 wet day would spoil all The straw and refuse of the rape ii excellent 



4 H 



