Local history

Though only a tiny place, Keld has a many-layered history.

Members of the Co-operative Holidays Association outside Keld Literary Institute. One of the subjects covered in our extensive online archive.

We have an extensive online local history archive, which we’re expanding all the time. Our key collections include material about Keld Chapel, Keld School, The Kearton Brothers, the Keld Literary Institute, the Swaledale Sheep breed and Keld and the First World War.

You can see the full collection and browse the material online here.

Made In North Yorkshire: Keld Resource Centre Trustee Helen Guy explains the extraordinary story of Richard and Cherry Kearton, pioneers of wildlife photography.

At Rest in Keld: Volunteer David Pemberton shares what he’s learned while transcribing the Chapel burial records to make them available to search online

You may also be interested in Ian Spensley’s Yorkshire Dales History website which has lots of details about Keld and Upper Swaledale.