Trollers Gill
Trollers Gill is a limestone gill or gorge in North Yorkshire, England, close to the village of Skyreholme and 4.7 miles (7.5 km) south-east of Grassington in the Yorkshire Dales (grid reference SE068619).[1] The gorge, which is 0.5 miles (0.8 km) in length, is also known as Trollerdale.[2]
Name[edit]
The name Trollers is from troll and ears 'arse', so the gill means "the troll's arse", presumably after the supposed existence of trolls here. Arse is commonly used for a buttock-shaped hill.[3] The present name was first recorded only in 1812. A survey conducted in the reign of Edward II listed the gorge as Gordale in Appletreewick. Speight suggests that this is of Danish influence from the word geir; a triangular piece of land that ends in a chasm.[4]
Description[edit]
Skyreholme Beck flows through the gorge,[5] but for most of the year the streambed is dry with the water flowing underground.[6] The beck is the continuation of Dry Gill, an intermittent stream which emerges from the Stump Cross Caverns system 1.4 miles (2.3 km) north-east of the head of Trollers Gill.[7]
There are several caves in the gorge. The largest is a pothole known as Hell Hole, which is 55 metres deep and has 210 metres of passages.[7] The cave was first explored in 1896.[4] The gill is also the location of an old lead and later fluorspar mine which was last worked in the 1960s.
Legends[edit]
Legend has it that the gill is the home of the mythical monstrous black dog Barghest who can turn one to stone with a look.[6] It has also been suggested by some that the Barghest story was a major influence on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle when he was penning The Hound of the Baskervilles.[8][9]
Local folklore declared that trolls lived in the gorge (hence its name) and would push stones down from the deep sides to people travelling up and down the gorge.[10]
Roger and the Rottentrolls is a fictional children's television program which takes the name of its setting from Trollers Gill; however, filming took place at Brimham Rocks, a short distance away.[11]
Gallery[edit]
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Entrance to Trollers Gill dry -
Entrance to Trollers Gill in spate
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References[edit]
- ^ "98" (Map). Wensleydale & Upper Wharfedale (B1 ed.). 1:50,000. Landranger. Ordnance Survey. 2002. ISBN 0-319-22698-0.
- ^ Pauling, Keith (2010). Discovering the Dales Way. Keith Pauling. p. 52. ISBN 978-1-4466-3705-0.
- ^ Smith, A. H. (1961). The Place-names of the West Riding of Yorkshire. Vol. 6. Cambridge University Press. p. 80.
- ^ a b Speight, Harry (1900). "31. Up the Dale to Burnsall". Upper Wharfedale. Being a complete account of the history, antiquities and scenery of the picturesque valley of the Wharfe, from Otley to Langstrothdale. London: Eliot Stock. p. 384. OCLC 7225949.
- ^ Davies, Carey (5 January 2015). "Where the miniature meets the magnificent". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
- ^ a b "Troller's Gill". Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
- ^ a b Long, Harry. "Caves from Greenhow Hill to Cracoe". Caves and Karst of the Yorkshire Dales. p. 28.7. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.694.9852.
- ^ "Forget Dartmoor - did The Hound of the Baskervilles take its inspiration from this Dales village?". The Yorkshire Post. 18 September 2010. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
- ^ Hazan, Sophie (4 January 2006). "Trail of the Hound of the Baskervilles may lead to a Yorkshire moor". Yorkshire Evening Post. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
- ^ Reid, Mike. "Burnsall & Trollers Gill" (PDF). Northern Echo. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
- ^ "Harrogate and Distict [sic] In Film and Television : Pt1". Visit Harrogate. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
External links[edit]
Media related to Trollers Gill at Wikimedia Commons