Wharfedale, West Yorkshire
Welcome to Ilkley: moor, spa town and river
A handsome Victorian spa town on the River Wharfe, with Ilkley Moor rising behind it. Here is our guide to the rocks, the waters, the walks, the festivals and the tea rooms.
Ilkley Moor
The Cow and Calf, the Swastika Stone, prehistoric cup-and-ring rock art and Yorkshire's unofficial anthem.
Read more →White Wells
The little white spa cottage on the moor edge where Ilkley's cold-water bathing story began.
Read more →Darwin in Ilkley
Charles Darwin was taking the water cure here in 1859 when On the Origin of Species was published.
Read more →Ilkley Lido
A much-loved 1930s open-air pool beside the river, with moorland views.
Read more →Middleton Woods
Ancient woodland across the river, famous for its spring bluebells.
Read more →Stepping Stones
Hop across the Wharfe on the town's riverside stepping stones.
Read more →Events
Carnival, bonfire night, fairs and the Ilkley Literature Festival.
Read more →Shops & Food
The Grove, Bettys, independent shops and places to eat.
Read more →Getting There & Walks
Trains, parking and classic walks including the start of the Dales Way.
Read more →A short history of Ilkley
People have lived around Ilkley for thousands of years. The moor above the town is scattered with prehistoric carved rocks, generally dated to the late Neolithic and early Bronze Age. The Romans built a fort here, usually identified with the name Olicana, on the rise where the parish church and the Manor House now stand. All Saints' Church holds Anglo-Saxon carved cross shafts, and the Manor House (now a museum and arts space) sits on part of the Roman fort site.
For most of its history Ilkley was a small farming village. That changed in the 19th century, when its moorland springs and clean air drew visitors to the new craze of hydropathy, the "water cure". Grand hydros were built, the railway arrived from Leeds and Bradford in the 1860s, and the village grew into the stone-built spa town you see today, with its broad streets, glass-canopied shopfronts and villas climbing the hillside.