Malham Cove
Malham Cove in the Yorkshire Dales is one of the most dramatic natural features in England, a curved limestone cliff 80 metres high and approximately 300 metres wide that was formed as a waterfall at the end of the last Ice Age when meltwater cascading over the limestone edge of the Craven fault created the massive curved face visible today. The stream that once fell over the lip of the cove now disappears underground at the top of the cliff and re-emerges at the base through the cave system within the limestone, and the dry cliff face and the limestone pavement at its summit create a landscape of stark and powerful beauty that is entirely unlike the pastoral character of the surrounding Dales.
The limestone pavement at the top of the cove is one of the finest examples in Britain, its surface of large flat slabs called clints, separated by deep fissures called grykes, extending for some distance back from the cliff edge. The grykes provide a sheltered and humid microclimate in which ferns, rare limestoneloving plants and wood-land species grow in conditions quite different from the exposed pavement surface, creating a botanical diversity compressed into a small area. The pavement is a protected landscape feature and walking on it is permitted only on designated routes.
The approach to Malham Cove from the village of Malham follows the dry valley of Malham Beck through classic Yorkshire Dales limestone scenery, and the cliff face itself provides a high-quality rock climbing venue whose routes include some of the finest limestone climbs in the north of England. The natural amphitheatre formed by the curved cliff concentrates sound and creates a particular acoustic quality noticeable even in moderate wind conditions.
The broader Malham landscape, including Malham Tarn above and Gordale Scar nearby, provides one of the most concentrated collections of outstanding limestone features available within a single short walking circuit in Britain.