How Stean Gorge is a limestone gorge in Nidderdale in North Yorkshire, England. It forms a unit of the Upper Nidderdale Site of Special Scientific Interest.[1] The gorge lies between the villages of Stean and Lofthouse and extends for about a kilometre along the course of How Stean Beck, a tributary of the River Nidd.
The limestone here is an inlier in the millstone grit, which prevails on the surface in Nidderdale. It is a subaerial gorge, some 15 to 20 metres deep, to which a series of vadose caves drain, a reversal of the usual pattern of underwater capture in a karst landscape.[2]
One of the side caves, Tom Taylor's Cave, is said to be named after a local highwayman who sought refuge there. It leads from the north side of the gorge and emerges in a nearby field.[3]
The gorge and Tom Taylor's Cave have been operated as a tourist attraction since the 19th century.[4] The attraction now offers gorge walks and access to the cave, and also canyoning and a via ferrata.
- ^ "Upper Nidderdale citation sheet" (PDF). Natural England. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
- ^ "Nidderdale Caves". Geological Conservation Review. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
- ^ "Tom Taylor's Cave". The Yorkshire Dales website. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
- ^ Speight, Harry (1894). Nidderdale and the Garden Of The Nidd, A Yorkshire Rhineland. pp. 487–489. ISBN 978-1104454869.