Villages & Places
Osmotherley
A tight stone village on the western escarpment where three great walking routes cross: the Cleveland Way, the Coast to Coast and the Lyke Wake Walk. It has pubs, a market cross, a reservoir in the woods above and England's finest Carthusian ruin a mile down the road.
Where it is, and getting there
Osmotherley sits just inside the western boundary of the national park, a couple of miles off the A19 between Thirsk and Teesside, one of the quickest villages in the park to reach from the motorway network, and about 40 minutes from York. Village parking is on-street and limited; the surrounding lanes are narrow and used by farm traffic.
The walking crossroads
The Cleveland Way comes north along the escarpment from Sutton Bank and passes through the village on its way to the Cleveland Hills. The Coast to Coast Path, a National Trail since March 2026, enters the North York Moors here and shares those miles east over Carlton Bank.
And at Sheepwash, above the village, the Lyke Wake Walk begins: 40 miles of high moor to Ravenscar, devised in 1955 and traditionally done inside 24 hours, named for the old Cleveland dirge sung over the dead. It is hard, boggy and genuinely serious, and its popularity has worn the peat badly, spread out, keep to firmer ground, and go properly equipped.
Cod Beck Reservoir
A mile north-east of the village, Cod Beck Reservoir sits in conifers below the moor edge, a level circuit of a mile or so, popular with families and photographers, and the easiest introduction to this corner of the park. Swimming is not allowed: it is a working reservoir, deep, cold and steep-sided.
Parking is the problem. The lane above fills by mid-morning at weekends and verge parking blocks farm and emergency access, which has caused real friction locally. If the spaces are gone, park in Osmotherley and walk up. It is fifteen minutes and a better approach anyway.
Mount Grace Priory
A mile north-west, Mount Grace Priory is the best-preserved Carthusian monastery in England. The Carthusians were hermits who lived communally: each monk had his own two-storey cell and walled garden around a great cloister, with meals passed through an L-shaped hatch so that server and monk never met. One cell has been reconstructed and furnished, which makes the whole extraordinary arrangement legible in a way no other ruin in the country manages.
It is run by English Heritage with the National Trust, with a manor house, arts and crafts garden and cafe alongside; check current opening hours before travelling. Pair it with Rievaulx and the other abbeys for a fine day of monastic Yorkshire.
The village itself
Stone cottages, a market cross with a barter table beside it, three pubs, a village shop and a well-known summer beer festival. John Wesley preached here repeatedly and the Methodist chapel of 1754 is among the oldest still in use in the country; the Lady Chapel on the hillside above, reached by a steep path, has been a place of Catholic pilgrimage since the Middle Ages and gives a fine view west over the Vale of Mowbray.
Osmotherley FAQs
- Why is Osmotherley popular with walkers?
- Because three long-distance routes meet here. The Cleveland Way passes through, the Coast to Coast enters the national park alongside it, and the Lyke Wake Walk. The 40-mile moorland crossing to Ravenscar, traditionally starts at the nearby Sheepwash. Add pubs, a village shop and beds, and it is the natural staging post for the western moors.
- Where do you park for Cod Beck Reservoir?
- There is roadside and informal parking along the lane above the reservoir, about a mile north-east of Osmotherley at Sheepwash, and it fills fast on warm weekends. Parking on the verges causes real problems for farm traffic and emergency access, if it is full, park in the village and walk up.
- Can you swim in Cod Beck Reservoir?
- No. It is a working Yorkshire Water reservoir with cold deep water, steep sides and no lifeguard, and swimming is not permitted. Paddling in the beck below is what most families do instead; for open-water swimming, head for the coast.
- What is Mount Grace Priory?
- England's best-preserved Carthusian monastery, a mile north-west of Osmotherley, run by English Heritage with the National Trust. Its unusual layout gave each monk a private two-storey cell and walled garden, one of which has been reconstructed and furnished. The clearest picture anywhere in the country of how a charterhouse actually worked.
- What is the Lyke Wake Walk?
- A 40-mile crossing of the highest moorland from Osmotherley to Ravenscar, devised in 1955 and traditionally attempted within 24 hours. It is a serious undertaking over rough peat and heather, and the route's popularity has caused erosion, so walkers are asked to spread out and stick to firm ground where possible.