Danby High Moor

About Danby High Moor

Overlooking the deep glacial trenches of Great and Little Fryup Dale, this expansive plateau offers a quintessential upland experience. Its heather-clad summit, classified as a Tump, is a place of wide horizons and ancient tracks, providing an airy sense of isolation despite the proximity of the Esk Valley.

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Did You Know?

• •The name derives from the Old Norse 'Danir' (Danes) and 'by' (farmstead), marking it as a Viking-era settlement. The 'High Moor' refers to the extensive common land rising above the village that was historically used for grazing and peat cutting.
• •The summit area is marked by Botton Howe, a significant Bronze Age round barrow. This ancient burial mound suggests the high ground has held ceremonial importance for over 3,000 years, long before modern parish boundaries were established.
• •The moor is dotted with historic boundary markers and wayside crosses, many of which are Grade II listed. These stones were once vital navigational aids for packhorse travellers and marked the limits of various manorial estates across the high ground.
• •From the 432m high point, the views are exceptionally specific to the North Yorkshire landscape; on clear days, the distinctive conical profile of Roseberry Topping is visible to the northwest, while the North Sea can be spotted beyond Whitby to the east.
• •Navigating the summit plateau during a heavy 'sea fret'—the thick coastal mist that often rolls in from the east—is a reliable way to discover that 400 metres of elevation is more than enough to get one thoroughly turned around.