Wain Wath Force is a waterfall on the River Swale in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, North Yorkshire, England. [1] The falls are at grid reference NY883015, 0.6 miles (1 km) upstream from the hamlet of Keld which has three other waterfalls in its vicinity ( Kisdon Force, East Gill Force, and Catrake Force). The names of waterfalls in the north of England often contain "force" after the Old Norse word foss, which means "waterfall". [2]
Its name derives from the ford above the fall, wath being the Anglo-Saxon word for a ford. Wain may denote that it was passable for a cart or wain.
Wain Wath Force is not a substantial waterfall: it has a drop of only around 1.5 metres as the river flows beneath the limestone cliffs of Cotterby Scar. Despite its modest height it is popular with visitors; the Coast to Coast long-distance footpath passes the falls on the north bank of the River Swale while the main motor road up Upper Swaledale passes on the south bank.
References
- ^ Kelsall, Dennis (2015). "24". Walking in the Yorkshire Dales: North and East (Second ed.). Cicerone. p. 151. ISBN 978-1-85284-798-2.
- ^ Skeat, William W. (2005). A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. New York: Cosimo Classics. p. 194. ISBN 1-59605-092-6.
Waterfalls of Yorkshire | ||
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| West Yorkshire | ||
54°24′32″N 2°10′54″W / 54.40882°N 2.18176°W
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