Thornton-in-Craven: what to know before moving day
The village is small and has no shops or pubs, so plan food and supplies for moving day in advance. It does have St Mary's Church, a primary school, a village hall and a retirement home. The church, with a tower in the Perpendicular style dated 1510, stands to the west of the houses on Church Road, the B6252, and near it is Church Well, a holy well covered by an octagonal wellhouse of 1764.
Much of the housing lines the A56 and the lanes off it: Thornton Heights, Queens Garth, Sycamore Court, Booth Bridge Lane and Stockbridge Lane. Among the older buildings, the almshouses of 1815 are a single storey of eleven bays and still house five single people, while Elm Tree House and The Grange, a former rectory of 1754, are listed stone houses. The village playing field, home of the cricket club, is at the bottom of Booth Bridge Lane.
How the van gets to Thornton-in-Craven
The A56 runs through the village between Colne and Broughton, where it meets the A59 west of Skipton. From Bradford that means the A629 to Skipton, the A59 west and then the A56 south into Thornton. Church Road, the B6252, leaves the A56 in the village and heads west past the church, and Booth Bridge Lane and Cam Lane also turn off the main road.
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 Thornton-in-Craven
Each service below links to its Colne page, which covers how the job works in and around Colne.
Thornton-in-Craven: questions before you book
The old Skipton to Colne line ran through here. Does Thornton-in-Craven have trains?
No. Its station closed in 1970 when passenger trains between Skipton and Colne were withdrawn. A campaign to reopen the line got a feasibility study in 2018, but for now the move is by road.
I am moving from Earby. Is Thornton-in-Craven a different council?
Yes. Earby is in Lancashire, while Thornton-in-Craven is in North Yorkshire and was part of Craven District until 2023. The two are only about a mile apart, but council tax and bins differ.
Where the local details on this page come from
Checked on 28 September 2026 against:
- Postcode lookup (postcodes.io, ONS data): BD23 3TR is in Skipton West & West Craven ward, North Yorkshire, parish of Thornton in Craven
- Thornton-in-Craven (Wikipedia): village and civil parish, about 530 m from the Lancashire border, 1 mile north of Earby, Pennine Way and A56, St Mary's Church, primary school, retirement home, no shops or pubs, almshouses for five single persons, holy well west of the village with an octagonal structure of 1764, station closed 1970 with Skipton to Colne trains, 2018 feasibility study, playing field and cricket club at the bottom of Booth Bridge Lane, Craven District until 2023
- Listed buildings in Thornton in Craven (Wikipedia, from the National Heritage List for England): St Mary's Church 1510 with Perpendicular tower, Church Well 1764, The Almshouses 1815 (one storey, eleven bays), Elm Tree House, The Grange (former rectory, 1754)
- A56 road (Wikipedia): north of Colne through Foulridge and Earby to the A59 west of Broughton
- A59 road (Wikipedia): meets the A56 before Broughton and the Skipton bypass
- Earby (Wikipedia): town in the Borough of Pendle, Lancashire
- OpenStreetMap: Church Road (B6252) from the A56 Colne and Broughton Road west past St Mary's; Booth Bridge Lane, Cam Lane, Stockbridge Lane, Thornton Heights, Queens Garth, Sycamore Court; village hall, primary school, Thornton Hill care home