Gordale Scar

Gordale Scar is a limestone ravine 1 mile (1.6 km) northeast of Malham, North Yorkshire, England.^[1] It contains two waterfalls and has overhanging limestone cliffs over 100 metres 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 two miles downstream to form the River Aire. A right of way leads up the gorge, but requires some mild scrambling over 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".^[2]

James Ward created a large and imaginative painting 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.^[3]

Image gallery

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  The entrance to the ravine

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  The first hurdle..

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  The upper waterfall

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  Painting by James Ward

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  The valley just downstream from Gordale Scar.

References

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. Turner, Joseph Mallord William. "Gordale Scar". www.tate.org.uk/. Retrieved 11 July 2015.

Coordinates: 54°04′19″N 2°07′51″W / 54.07194°N 2.13083°W