Littondale

It comprises the main settlements of Hawkswick, Arncliffe, Litton, Foxup and Halton Gill, and farmhouses that date from the 17th century.

Like neighbouring Wharfedale, Littondale comprises mainly Great Scar Limestone and Yoredale rock.

Two minor roads lead out of the dale to the south and west, one from Arncliffe to Malham and one from Halton Gill past Pen-y-Ghent to Stainforth in Ribblesdale.

After the Conquest, the Normans turned it into a hunting chase before the land was granted to the monks of Fountains Abbey in the 13th century, and became extensively used for sheep farming.

In 1866 it was divided into the civil parishes of Hawkswick, Arncliffe, Litton and Halton Gill,[6] and in 1974 became part of the district of Craven in the new county of North Yorkshire.

[7][8] Arncliffe is the second, and largest, settlement reached travelling from the B6160, lies at the confluence of Cowside Beck and the River Skirfare.

[13] Littondale lies within the Mid Craven electoral division of North Yorkshire County Council.

[14] Littondale lies within the Craven District Council ward of Upper Wharfedale and as of 2020 is represented by Sue Metcalfe of the Conservative Party.