Gordale Scar

Limestone ravine in North Yorkshire, England

Gordale Scar
An aerial view of the scar
Geology
Type	Limestone ravine
Geography
Location	1 mile (1.6 km) north-east of Malham, North Yorkshire, England

Gordale Scar is a limestone ravine 1 mile (1.6 km) north-east of Malham, North Yorkshire, England.^[1] It contains two waterfalls and has overhanging limestone cliffs over 330 feet (100 m) high. The gorge could have been formed by water from melting glaciers or a cavern collapse. The stream flowing through the scar is Gordale Beck, which on leaving the gorge flows over Janet's Foss before joining Malham Beck 2 miles (3 km) downstream to form the River Aire.^[2] A right of way leads up the gorge, but requires climbing approximately 10 feet (3 m) of tufa at the lower waterfall.

Notable visitors

William Wordsworth wrote in the sonnet Gordale, "let thy feet repair to Gordale chasm, terrific as the lair where the young lions couch".^[3]

James Ward created a large and imaginative painting^[4] of it that can be seen in Tate Britain. J. M. W. Turner also painted a picture of it in 1816, also to be seen in Tate Britain.^[5]

Colin Tudge references this feature and James Ward's painting in his book The Time Before History.^[6]

The waterfall was used as an exterior filming location in the 1982 film The Dark Crystal. Goredale Scar appears in the Netflix series The Witcher (S2 E3: "What is Lost").

Image gallery

The entrance to the ravine
The first hurdle..
The upper waterfall
Painting by James Ward
The valley just downstream from Gordale Scar.

References

^ Bagshaw, Mike; Mills, Caroline (2010). Alastair Sawday's Slow North Yorkshire: Moors, Dales & Coast, Including York. Alastair Sawday Publishing Co. Ltd. p. 39. ISBN 978-1-84162-323-8.
^ Fellows, Griffith (2003). The waterfalls of England : a guide to the best 200. Wilmslow: Sigma Leisure. p. 138. ISBN 1-85058-767-1.
^ Wordsworth, William (2008). The Complete Poetical Works of William Wordsworth, in Ten Volumes - Vol. VII: 1816–1822. Cosimo. p. 104. ISBN 978-1-60520-263-1.
^ Ward, James. "Gordale Scar (A View of Gordale, in the Manor of East Malham in Craven, Yorkshire, the Property of Lord Ribblesdale)". Tate Galleries. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
^ Turner, Joseph Mallord William. "Gordale Scar". Tate Galleries. Retrieved 11 July 2015.
^ Tudge, Colin (1997). The Time Before History. Touchstone. pp. 14ff.