Leven Vale and its Wayward River

The 1856 Ordnance Survey 6-inch map labels this ruin as a sheepfold¹NYM NP HER No: 9698 Sheep fold at Warren Moor. I remain unconvinced. It looks too small, for a start. But what would I know.

This view looks down into Leven Vale, where the River Leven begins its oddly ambitious journey. It starts here in the upper reaches flowing east, then pulls off a dramatic U-turn, becoming the only river north of the Humber that spends most of its course flowing west. It weaves through the lowlands south of Middlesbrough before swinging north to meet the Tees below Yarm.

This upper Leven, above Kildale, hints at a different past. Once, it likely flowed into the Esk system. Then came the glaciers. A lake formed, blocked by the Tees ice at Kildale. When the ice finally retreated, the Leven took a sharp turn and cut a new route into the Cleveland plain.

Below Kildale, it gathers a set of tributaries coming down from the Cleveland Hills. The watershed here is narrow. On one side, water runs north to the Leven; on the other, south to the Rye. Most of the Leven’s upland catchment therefore lies here, concentrated on these moors around Kildale.

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  NYM NP HER No: 9698 Sheep fold at Warren Moor