Wessenden Valley

[1] The name Wessenden derives from Old English and means the 'valley with rock suitable for whetstones'.

[2] The valley was formed by retreating glaciers at the end of the last ice age and continues to be cut by the Wessenden Brook a tributary of the River Colne with a catchment of 6.28 square miles (16.27 km2).

The Kirklees Way and Pennine Way long-distance footpaths follow the valley.

[5] The upper part of the valley near Wessenden Head is managed by the National Trust as part of the 5,000-acre (2,000 ha) Marsden Moor Estate.

[6] Butterley Reservoir's spillway, the only one of its kind in England, was a Grade II Listed structure[7] until Yorkshire Water renovated it using concrete after winning a case on appeal.