Greenhow: what to know before moving day
The village was founded for miners around 1600, after Sir Stephen Proctor bought the manor of Bewerley with its mineral rights, and an agreement of 1613 let cottages be built for miners on the common. Before that the only settlement on the hill was Kell House, where Fountains Abbey's monks watched over its lead. The oldest listed house is Duck Street Cottage, a row of gritstone cottages and outbuildings dated 1673.
St Mary's is reputed to be the highest parish church in England still in use. To the east is Coldstones Quarry, worked by Heidelberg Materials for limestone, and Stump Cross Caverns lie beneath Greenhow Hill. Joseph Kipling, grandfather of Rudyard, was minister at the Methodist chapel. The western end of the village, past Kell Dyke, known as Craven Cross, is in Appletreewick parish rather than Bewerley.
At that height, winter can look very different from the valley floor, so keep a second date in mind for a move between November and March.
How the van gets to Greenhow
The B6265 runs through the village as Hebden Road. Eastbound it drops into Pateley Bridge down Greenhow Hill, a descent of between 16 and 19 per cent with a record of accidents; westbound it crosses the summit, the watershed between Nidderdale and Wharfedale, for Grassington. From the south the route data leaves the A59 on Meagill Lane and follows Greenhow Hill Road past Thruscross to Duck Street Lane.
The drive from Bradford is roughly 50 to 60 minutes. That is an estimate from route data, not a timed run, and traffic changes it.
Services for Greenhow
Each service below links to its Harrogate page, which covers how the job works in and around Harrogate.
Greenhow: questions before you book
Which parish is a Greenhow Hill address in?
Mostly Bewerley, the same parish as the village near Pateley Bridge. Houses west of Kell Dyke, called Craven Cross, are in Appletreewick parish. The van works from the postcode, so quote that rather than the parish.
Nearby areas
Where the local details on this page come from
Checked on 28 September 2026 against:
- Postcode lookup (postcodes.io, ONS data): HG3 5JH is in Pateley Bridge & Nidderdale ward, parish of Bewerley
- Greenhow (Wikipedia): Greenhow Hill, three miles west of Pateley Bridge, altitude 1,310-1,380 ft, Bewerley and Appletreewick parishes at Kell Dyke (Craven Cross), Proctor and the 1613 agreement, Kell House, Kipling, St Mary's, Coldstones Quarry, B6265 descent 16-19 per cent, summit between Nidderdale and Wharfedale
- Listed buildings in Bewerley (Wikipedia, from the National Heritage List): Duck Street Cottage, 1673, gritstone row
- Stump Cross Caverns (Wikipedia): the caverns lie beneath Greenhow Hill
- OpenStreetMap: Hebden Road (B6265), Duck Street Lane, St Mary church, old lead mine workings
- OSRM route estimate from Bradford (OpenStreetMap road data, checked 2026-09-28): A59, Meagill Lane, Greenhow Hill Road, Duck Street Lane, Hebden Road
- HG postcode area (Wikipedia, from Royal Mail): HG2 and HG3 post town Harrogate, HG4 Ripon, HG5 Knaresborough