CONCLUSION The valley of Chapel-le-Dale has been treated in this article as a microcosm of changing land ownership and management within the Yorkshire Dales. Given that more than half of what is now the National Park was under monastic control for over three centuries, the changes in economy, social organisation and landscape it brought about still leave an imprint on the modern scene. The vaccaries (Southerscales and Winterscales), bercaries (Weathercote) and lodges (Lodge Hall, Nether Lodge), along with other aspects of the monastic vision such as stud farms (Colt Park) and outlying farmsteads (Thorns, Brunscar, Ivescar), were all perpetuated after the Dissolution as tenements or messuages held on a customary basis. Post-monastic land management evolved to suit changing circumstances as independently minded tenants strove to protect their ancient rights while at the same time improving the quality of the land, for example by developing so many stinted pastures with agreed restrictions on how many stock could be depastured, and through enclosing ‘new’ land by encroachment and assarting. As the centuries passed, new tenements were established, not always with long-term success: Ribblehead House, Hodge Hole, Hipping House, and the four ‘lost’ farms beyond Ribblehead were either (or both) too small to be economically viable or based on poor-quality land with low stocking potential. They were long ago given up as discrete units and their lands were engrossed by more successful farming units. The deserted hamlet of Thorns, south of Gearstones, fell victim to a changing route network after the old north–south packhorse route was abandoned in