It is located just outside the Yorkshire Dales National Park, in Swaledale.

[1] It lies close to the army training camp of Wathgill in the adjoining civil parish of Walburn.

A large part of the parish consists of Ministry of Defence ranges and training areas.

It was historically a township in the parish of Downholme which was part of the Hang West wapentake, North Riding of Yorkshire.

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