The history of human activity in Nidderdale AONB goes back more than 6,000 years.  People have settled, farmed, quarried for stone and minerals, practiced their religion and developed distinct cultures.  All of these activities have left their mark as archaeological features andinclude the Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal World Heritage Siite near Ripon, vernacular buildings and other structures contained in the AONB's 14 conservation areas, 126 Scheduled Monuments, 545 listed buildings and 3 registered Historic Parks and gardens.

These resources, in English Heritage's words, 'represent the investment of centuries of skills and resources that can never be replaced. It explains the development of the landscape and gives each place a unique character. It is valuable for its own sake, but also generates jobs and attracts people to live in an area. It encourages businesses to invest and tourists to visit. It is a resource that we need to use carefully and sustainably: we squander or degrade it at our peril'.

Features of the historic environment, including old buildings, field systems, the remains of former settlements, and designed landscapes are part and parcel of the contemporary landscape. In an attempt to represent this relationship between past and present phases of the development of landscape, the AONB is involved, alongside English Heritage, North Yorkshire County Council and the Yorkshire Dales National Park, in a Historic Landscapes Characterisation study.

The results will be available at the end of 2006. It will help us to put in context the extensive knowledge that has been developed over many years by local historians who have been carrying out painstaking and detailed field studies of farms, villages and other parts of the landscape more more than 30 years. 

To find out more about Nidderdale's rich history visit the Nidderdale Landscape and History website.