Commondale today is a quiet farming-based village. Before 1947, it possessed a brickworks, which explains why some of the houses, the church and the school are, unusually for this area, built of this material. The Esk Valley Railway freight services played a vital role in transporting the bricks and tiles beyond this locality.

John Crossley, who owned the brick, clay pipe and pottery works is commemorated by an inscripton on the prominent brick built village institute building. The Crossley works closed in 1947.

The first railway station, built in 1880, is on the other side of the railway bridge

The Cleveland Inn
In the centre of the village
Tel: 01287 660214

Walking

East to Castleton

A 2½-mile walk to the next station Castleton, along a clearly waymarked bridleway, along a ridge, beside open moorland, with fine views across the dale. To start the walk, leave the station by a minor path and through a gate, then turn right onto the major track.

Moorland Magic walk

A 9-mile circular walk from Commondale station. A long but relatively gentle walk over undulating moorland and across fields.

• Download a pdf of the Moorland Magic walk (A walk in the Esk Valley produced by the North York Moors National Park Authority, from NYMNP website)

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