Chapel-le-Dale is a hamlet in The Yorkshire Dales, very near Ribblehead Viaduct.

The hamlet is in close proximity to Ingleborough, and on the other Whernside – two of the famous Three Peaks of Yorkshire.
In the area are several potholes, the best known being Great Douk Cave & Gaping Gill.

The 17th century church of St Leonard, whose tiny interior measures only 48' x 22', hides in a wooded dell in the hamlet of Chapel-le-Dale in the Yorkshire Dales. Perhaps the most interesting feature of the church is a Dent fossilised-marble plaque. It is in memory of the men who died during the construction of the scenic Settle/Carlisle railway, which is 72 miles in length and was almost entirely hand-built with a labour force of 6,000 men.

It was at Ribblehead that shanty towns grew to accommodate workers and their families whilst the line was being constructed from 1869-76. A large number of men, women and children died through epidemics and illnesses caused by the harsh living conditions and these poor souls were also buried at Chapel-le-Dale in unmarked graves. The omission of a memorial for them was put to rights at the Millennium when one was erected in the graveyard.

A chapel of ease is recorded in Chapel le Dale from the late 16th century when it was known as the ‘chaple of Wiersdale’. By the 18th century it was known as the chapel of Ingleton Fells or Fell Chapel. The dedication to St Leonard didn’t come about until the 1940s when a supposed ancient dedication was found in a 16th century document. It later turned out to have been referring to the parish church in Ingleton.

The present building mostly dates to the late 17th century although some parts may be older. There are 18th century alterations and it was restored in 1869. It is built from squared limestone rubble coated with ‘slobbered’ (thickly applied) lime mortar. It has stone dressings and a stone slate roof. Inside there is a mid-17th century wooden altar rail. A white marble memorial on the west wall of the nave reads: “To the memory of those who through accidents lost their lives, in constructing the railway works, between Settle, and Dent Head. This tablet was erected at the joint expense, of their fellow workmen and the Midland Railway Company 1869 to 1876”. The burial register contains the names of over two hundred people from the railway construction camps, many of them women and children. The churchyard apparently had to be extended when smallpox broke out in the camps.

Location: Chapel Le Dale

Photographer: D B Flynn