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Dent

This charming village, the only one in Dentdale - one of Cumbria's finest dales - has a delightful cobbled main street with tall cottages lining the road. Visitors to this tranquil place will find it hard to believe that, in the 18th century, Dent was of greater importance than nearby Sedbergh. The impressive St Andrew's Church is Norman in origin though it underwent an almost complete rebuild in the early 15th century. Inside can be seen the Jacobean three-decker pulpit that is still in use and also the local marble that paves the chancel.

Farming has, for many years, dominated the local economy, but knitting, particularly in the village, has also played an important part. During the 17th and 18th centuries, the women and children, on whom this work fell, became known as the 'Terrible Knitters of Dent', which, today, sounds uncomplimentary, but the local use of the word terrible meant quite the opposite (like 'wicked' today!). At the Dent Village Heritage Centre, visitors will find a wealth of information about the working lives and social customs of the Dalesfolk. Most of the exhibits are of genuine Dales provenance, a large number of them taken from the collection of Jim and Margaret Taylor who founded the centre.

Current work by local craftspeople is on display at the Dent Crafts Centre, housed in an 18th century hay barn on the road between Sedbergh and Dent. The artefacts include wooden toys, bird sculptures, walking sticks, handmade jewellery, original watercolours and prints. Visitors can enjoy morning coffee, light lunch or afternoon tea, either outside in the garden or inside by the fire in the Tools of Yesteryear Tea Room which is adorned with antique tools.

Dent's most famous son is undoubtedly the Father of Geology, Adam Sedgwick. Born the son of the local vicar in 1785, Sedgwick went on to become the Woodwardian Professor of Geology at Cambridge University and a friend of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. The fountain of pinkish Shap granite in the village centre is Dent's memorial to this great geologist. Dent stone, with no iron pyrites likely to cause sparks, was popular for millstones used in gunpowder works.

The little valley of Dentdale winds from the village up past old farms and hamlets to Lea Yeat where a steep lane hairpins up to Dent Station, almost five miles from the village. Dent railway station is the highest in Britain, more than 1100 feet above sea level, and lies on the famous Settle-Carlisle railway line. This is a marvellous place to begin a ramble into Dentdale or over the Whernside.