Cracoe: what to know before moving day
Cracoe is a very small place: the parish counted just 32 houses when its size was last recorded. Its eight listed buildings are gritstone with stone slate roofs. Toppan House carries a 1622 date, Baxter's Fold is a mid 17th-century house with a barn attached, and Cracoe House is a five-bay house of the early 18th century. Doorways with chamfered stone surrounds and mullioned windows are typical, so send a photo of the way in with anything bulky.
The village has a hall, a cafe, The Devonshire Arms and the Cracoe and Rylstone Church of England primary school, which also serves Rylstone next door. Cracoe is also where the original Calendar Girls came from. To the north, Swinden Quarry sits at the end of the old Yorkshire Dales Railway line from Skipton, and the circular earthworks by Fell Lane are wartime searchlight emplacements.
How the van gets to Cracoe
The B6265 carries the Skipton to Grassington traffic straight past Cracoe; OpenStreetMap calls it Lauradale Lane near the village. Rylstone is the next village south on the same road, and Swinden Quarry lies just north. In the village, Back Lane, Fell Lane and Thorpe Lane are the side roads. Coming from Bradford, the run is to Skipton first and then north on the B6265.
The drive from Bradford is roughly 40 to 50 minutes. That is an estimate from route data, not a timed run, and traffic changes it.
Services for Cracoe
Each service below links to its Skipton page, which covers how the job works in and around Skipton.
Cracoe: questions before you book
Are Cracoe and Rylstone the same parish?
No. They are neighbouring villages on the B6265 and share a primary school, but Cracoe is its own civil parish. Use the Cracoe address and BD23 postcode on the booking so nothing gets sent to Rylstone.
What are the hills around Cracoe?
They are the Cracoe Reef Knolls, limestone hills that are the remains of an ancient coral reef. Barden Fell rises behind the village, and Rylstone Cross and Cracoe Pinnacle stand on its skyline.
Where the local details on this page come from
Checked on 28 September 2026 against:
- Postcode lookup (postcodes.io, ONS data): BD23 6LA is in Wharfedale ward, North Yorkshire, parish of Cracoe, inside the Yorkshire Dales national park
- Cracoe (Wikipedia): village and civil parish near Rylstone, 5.5 miles north-west of Skipton, Barden Fell, Rylstone Cross and Cracoe Pinnacle, population about 160, parish of 32 houses, village hall, searchlight battery earthworks seen from Fell Lane, Cracoe Reef Knolls, Calendar Girls, Swinden Quarry branch
- Listed buildings in Cracoe (Wikipedia, from the National Heritage List): eight Grade II buildings in gritstone with stone slate roofs, Toppan House 1622, Baxter's Fold, Cracoe House
- Swinden Quarry (Wikipedia): 0.6 miles north of Cracoe, at the northern end of the old Skipton to Grassington line built by the Yorkshire Dales Railway, beside the B6265
- OpenStreetMap map view (checked 2026-09-28): Lauradale Lane (B6265), Back Lane, Fell Lane, Thorpe Lane, Cracoe Village Hall, Cracoe Cafe, The Devonshire Arms, Cracoe and Rylstone VC CE Primary School
- Rylstone (Wikipedia): on the B6265 very near Cracoe; its nearest primary school is in Cracoe, to the north