Picturing Malhamdale's Past

Malham Tarn from Hurtley's "Natural Curiosities of Malham" Published in 1786
It was painted by Anthony Devis (1729-1816) and engraved by William Skelton.

Before the advent of photography in the mid 19th century, recording Malhamdale had been the province of the artist. The natural beauty of the area, particularly the dramatic scenery of Gordale Scar and Malham Cove, has attracted artists since the 18th century. Many, such as Ruskin, Turner and Girtin are well known for their depictions of the area, others not so famous have painted it too. There are many paintings and prints, particularly of Malham Cove and Gordale Scar. The scenery still draws both professional and amateur artists and photographers to the area, we have our own resident professional artists; David Cook, the artist and printmaker who created the image of St Michael's church on our logo, and the landscape painter, Katharine Holmes, whose work is inspired by the Dales. Pictures of Malhamdale appear in all sorts of places.

William Shackleton (1872-1933) : Lived at Hill Top Cottage Malham in his later years. You can see examples of his work at the Cecil French Bequest Gallery including the "Landlord's Funeral" painted in 1916. Undertakers load a coffin into a horse-drawn hearse at the door of the Lister's Arms at Malham while mourners and villagers look on. This probably depicts the funeral of landlord Bernard Swinbank, who died the 5th August 1916 and who was buried at Horton in Ribblesdale. The picture on the right shows another funeral, that of John Chester of Low Trenhouse, buried 7th August 1910.
James Ward (1768-1859) : He painted this very atmospheric vision of Gordale Scar which is in the Tate Britain collection titled "Gordale Scar (A View of Gordale, in the Manor of East Malham in Craven, Yorkshire, the Property of Lord Ribblesdale)"  It was first exhibited in 1815. You can also view 5 preparatory sketches for this painting, drawn in on a visit in 1811.  1     2     3     4     5	©Image courtesy of Web Gallery of Art
Thomas Vivares (1735-1821) : A French Huguenot, Vivares came to London in 1711. He is considered to be one of the founders of the English school of landscape engraving. He mainly engraved the work of other artists and this view of Malham Cove after his own design is an experiment he never seems to have repeated despite the obvious quality. It is titled: "A view of Amazing Rock in Craven Yorkshire, with a Rivulet flowing from the bottom call'd Malham Cove, in the Lordship of Thomas Lister Esqr." Francois Vivares published 1753 in London.	©Image courtesy of Donald Heald Prints, New York
Joseph Mallord William Turner  (1775-1851) : He probably visited Malham more than once and again Tate Britain has the definitive Turner online collection where you will find 18 sketches of Malham, Gordale, Cove and Tarn from his sketch books (search the Collections for images). A fine watercolour "Malham Cove" painted in 1810 shows the dam and sluice for Malham mill and there is an oil and pencil "Gordale Scar" dated 1816.
Thomas Girtin (1775-1802) : A water colourist and friend of Turner, Girtin visited Malhamdale about 1800 shortly before his untimely death aged only 27. He painted "Kirkby Malham Church" from the bridge, a watercolour which was sold by Sotheby's in 1974. The whereabouts of the original are unknown but there is a copy, but not by Girtin, in Blackburn Art Gallery. The British Museum is the home to his rendering of "Gordale Scar" and a watercolour titled "Kirkby Priory" the location of which has so far evaded identification, as it doesn't appear to be anything to do with Malham Priory. His sketchbook version of the scene in the Whitworth Gallery, Manchester is inscribed "near Malham, Kirkby"and it is thought it may have stood on the site of the Kirkby Malham Church Hall.	©Image courtesy of Sotheby's London
William Rock & Co Topographical Vignettes : In their extensive collection of images from around the British Isles is an interesting engraving of Malham Tarn, which appears to be hosting a regatta, and one of Malham Cove, both dated 1857.
William Wild (1904-1983) : Bill Wild was the Malham village blacksmith from about 1946 until his death in 1985 and an authority on the natural history of the area. He was also a master craftsman and artist, working in many different mediums, such as wood carving, wrought ironwork; beaten and chased copper work and wood engraving; his work was widely acclaimed not only locally but as far afield as America. He was also a fine watercolour artist and a clever cartoonist and satirist, and famed for his rams' horn walking sticks, the horns usually carved in the form of animals.	Moonlit Malham scene
Sydenham Edwards (1768-1819) : Welsh botanical and natural history artist and Fellow of the Linnean Society. He had an enormous output, producing over 1,700 water colour drawings for Curtis's Botanical Magazine alone, during the period 1787-1815, as well as many illustrations for other publications. His work was also the inspiration for ceramic decoration by major 19thC potters such as Spode.	Foot of Malham Cove
William Westall (1781-1850) : Born in Hertford, William was admitted to the Royal Academy in 1799. He is probably better known for his part in recording the Mathew Flinders 1801 expedition to Australia, aboard The Investigator. You can read a short biography of William Westall here. This depiction of Gordale is included in Views of the Caves in Yorkshire near Ingleton Goredale and Malham Cove published in 1818, which also includes a view of Malham Cove.	Approach to Gordale

After the 1850s, the new process of photography became a very popular medium and the area continued to inspire an ever growing range of images, captured by both professional and amateur photographers. Leonard Lister set up his studio in Malham and was responsible for some early images of the area and the delights of Malhamdale have been famously captured in a range of postcards produced by numerous companies including the well known Walter Scott of Bradford.

Bertram Unne (1913 - 1981) : Georg Henry Bertram Unné was born in 1913 of a Swedish family and was an established photographer in Harrogate from around 1940, with studios at 47 Oxford Street and later in Victoria Avenue. He specialised in people and scenes of the Yorkshire Ridings, documenting folk activities and the landscapes of farming and coastal communities. In particular he recorded the way of life in the Dales and the Yorkshire countryside between 1940 to 1979 and his work featured regularly in The Dalesman. He died in May 1981, as a result of a fall at Malham Cove, a favourite spot that he had often photographed.
Shortly before his retirement in March 1979, Unné sold his entire photographic collection to North Yorkshire County Council for £5,000. The Victoria and Albert Museum contributed half of the total purchase price and a supplementary grant was donated by the British Library.
One thousand of the 7,500 images in the collection have been digitised and put online and this selection contains over 100 images of Malhamdale. The Unnetie online archive will eventually hold over 10,000 images by various photographers from collections in the various North Yorkshire libraries.

Ellis House, Airton	Townhead Farm, Malham	Sheep sale - 1964

     These images are © Unnetie Project and North Yorkshire County Council and are reproduced with permission. The images are linked to the Unnetie search page where you can enter a query for Malham and find all the Malhamdale images and browse the results.