Ilkley West Yorkshire | Yorkshire guide - information, travel, places to go, things to do

West Yorkshire

The Grove, IlkleyCow and Calf Rocks, Ilkley MoorOld Ilkley BridgeSwastika Stone, Ilkley MoorIlkley is a town in Wharfedale in the Bradford metropolitan district of West Yorkshire, some 10 miles north-north-west of the city of Bradford.

High above the town of Ilkley is Ilkley Moor, immortalised in the Yorkshire anthem "On Ilkla Moor Baht 'at", and featuring a rocky outcrop and large boulder known as the Cow and Calf Rocks.

All Saints' Church, IlkleyEvidence of settlement at Ilkley dates from at least the early bronze age and there are still stone carvings to be found from that age.

A Roman fort controlling a crossing point on the River Wharfe occupied a site close to the town centre and stone from it is believed to have been used in the building of the town's parish church, later extensively rebuilt in Victorian times.

Another historic river crossing in the town is the old Ilkley Bridge. The stone bridge with its three large arch spans was built in the late 17th century and is a Scheduled Ancient Monument.

The Manor HouseThe Manor House, also known as The Castle, is another historic building in Ilkley largely dating from the 17th century, although its origins date back to the 14th. It was built on part of the site of the Roman fort. A short section of ruins of the roman wall are nearby. The Manor House was saved from demolition in 1955 when it was donated to the community and converted in 1961 to be Ilkley's art gallery and museum. It passed to the council of the City of Bradford metropolitan district, which closed it in 2015 with a plan to sell it. After a long campaign by Ilkley residents, the Ilkley Manor House Trust was established and took over the building in 2018 to be run as a community asset.

IlkleyIlkley's growth came as a Victorian spa town when tourists flocked to the area to take its waters, bathe in its spring and try treatments at a number of hydrotherapy establisments. The arrival of the railway in 1865 helped to make Ilkley more accessible and brought an influx of tourists from West Riding mill towns and beyond. The railway once continued via Addingham and Bolton Abbey to Skipton , although the town is now a railway terminus.

White Wells House, Ilkley MoorIlkley had already become well-known for its waters in the 18th century and through the Georgian era. Today, White Wells House on the side of the moor survives as the earliest spa building in the area. Bathing started nearby from at least the beginning of the 1700s and there is still a Roman-style plunge pool dating from the latter part of the 18th century.

Riverside Gardens, IlkleyIlkley Town Hall and libraryYorkshire Day street art at The Grove, IlkleyPeople still go to Ilkley to bathe, but today it is usually at its outdoor lido pool, first developed in the 1930s. The town's wide Victorian spa town shopping streets and gardens beside the River Wharfe can also still be enjoyed.

Town features

Ilkley is close to the Nidderdale National Landscape.

Ilkley is on The Dales Way, a signposted 80-mile walking route with Ilkley in West Yorkshire and Bowness-on-Windermere at its end points.

The town is on the River Wharfe.

The town has a range of shops and supermarkets. Ilkley offers bakery goods, butchers, books, clothes, jewellery, an outdoor market (Food and local produce - 1st Sun in month except Jan).

The town has a Post Office.

Ilkley has bank and building society branches.

The town has pharmacies.

Ilkley has a number of pubs to choose from.

The town offers a choice of inns, bistros, cafes, restaurants and take-aways.

Takeaway food outlets in the town include fish and chips, chinese, curries, pizzas, sandwiches.

The town has a library.

Ilkley has a museum.

The town has a cinema.

Ilkley has a theatre.

The town has a leisure centre with swimming pool.

Ilkley has a community centre.

There are public toilets in the town.

Places of worship: Anglican, Catholic, Methodist, Baptist, United Reformed.

The town has a historic Manor house and old bridge.

Ilkley has tourist information.

Places to stay in Ilkley include hotel, guest house, inn accommodation.

Travel

Ilkley station Station Plaza

Ilkley Station1 2
Ben Rhydding 2 - Burley in Wharfedale 7 - Menston 11 - Guiseley 14 - Leeds 28
Ben Rhydding 2 - Burley in Wharfedale 7 - Menston 11 - Guiseley 14 - Baildon 20 - Shipley 23 - Frizinghall 26 - Bradford Forster Square 3232 - typical fastest journey times in minutes.
Red - stations in West Yorkshire ticket area.

Station managed by: NORTHERN. Operator/s: NORTHERN.

NATIONAL RAIL - Departure and station info

External link to National Rail live departure board for services at this station (opens in new tab).

Ilkley bus station

Ilkley bus station Station Road

Ilkley bus station is at bus shelters adjoining the railway station. There are also street stops on routes into and out of the town.

Destinations include Addingham 8, Silsden 21, Otley 24, Skipton 28, Keighley 43, Leeds 1hr 17min 1hr 17min - typical fastest bus journey times in hours/minutes.
Red - places in West Yorkshire ticket area.

Metro - Ilkley Bus Station

Link to Metro - external web page with details of services and buses at this bus station.

Road travel

Ilkley can be reached via the A65 .

Places to visit

Bolton Priory and River Wharfe at Bolton Abbey

Bolton Priory

Bolton Abbey, North Yorkshire
The beautiful setting at Bolton Abbey in the Yorkshire Dales National Park is one of the most visited monastic sites in Yorkshire. Beside the River Wharfe are the ruins of Bolton Priory, where the nave of the priory church still survives as a parish church. The Augustinian priory was founded in 1154 and continued until the dissolution in 1539. The abbey has been carefully managed by the Devonshire family since 1755 and now has day-fee car parking (£15 a car or £12.50 pre-booked, as at July 2023), also gift shops, tea rooms, restaurants and facilities for weddings and corporate events. There is an extensive network of footpaths around the estate and one ancient right of way is the 60 stepping stones across the River Wharfe. Other paths lead into the ancient Strid Wood beside the river. Bolton Abbey is 5 miles east-north-east of Skipton (7 miles by road) and 5 miles north-west of Ilkley .

More information at

Bolton Abbey visitor website and at the

Priory Church website.
Find on map:

Bolton Abbey

Skipton Castle

The Bailey, Skipton, North Yorkshire
Skipton Castle is one of England's best restored medieval castles, standing between the town of Skipton and the top of a rocky cliff over the Eller Beck. The castle was first built as a Norman fort at the end of the 11th century, but was replaced in stone and in the early 14th century turned into a formidable stronghold after being granted to the Clifford family by King Edward II. Inside, the castle reveals how it was modified over the centuries, including a charming early Tudor courtyard with a yew tree growing at its centre. The castle was the scene of a Royalist last stand in the north during the English Civil War when it withstood a three-year siege until 1645. After the castle yielded, it was ruined by the Parliamentarians in the winter of 1648-9, but between 1657 and 1658 Lady Anne Clifford saw it carefully restored. The castle is open daily.

Find out more at

Skipton Castle website.
Find on map:

Skipton Castle

Embsay station

Embsay and Bolton Abbey Steam Railway

1903 Electric Autocar at EmbsayBolton Abbey station Embsay , near Skipton , to Bolton Abbey station
Operates from Embsay, about 1.5 miles from Skipton, to Bolton Abbey station about a mile away from the attractive priory ruins and beauty spot beside the River Wharfe at Bolton Abbey. The railway runs trains on most days during the summer and at weekends at other times of year, except January. It also has a range of special weekend events, dining trains and footplate and signal box experience courses. Tank engines are the mainstay of steam operations on the line, but the railway also has a collection of historic diesel locomotives. Also running on the line some days is a restored hybrid electric railcar, which was way ahead of its time when built in York in 1903.

More information at the

Embsay and Bolton Abbey Steam Railway website.
Find on map:

Embsay Station

Ilkley Toy Museum

Whitton Croft Road, Ilkley
The museum features one of the finest private collections of toys with exhibits dating from 350BC to the present day. It includes early English wooden dolls and dolls houses, teddy bears, fairground models, tin-plate toys and die-cast vehicles, toy soldiers and cowboys and indians, and toys based on more modern TV characters. The museum opens on weekend afternoons and by appointment to weekday school visits.
Further details at the

Ilkley Toy Museum website.

East Riddlesden Hall

East Riddlesden HallBradford Road, Riddlesden
The attractive 17th century home of a cloth merchant includes an array of needlework from the era. The house is set in colourful and peaceful gardens with an outdoor discovery garden and children's play area. The property, around 1.5 miles to the north-east of Keighley , has a car park, accessed through its narrow entrance. The property is managed by The National Trust.
Find out more at the

National Trust - East Riddlesden Hall web pages.
Locate on map:

East Riddlesden Hall

Shipley Glen Tramway

Off Higher Coach Road, Baildon

The Shipley Glen Tramway is a renovated Victorian cable funicular tramway which operates for about 400 metres up a wooded hillside in Shipley Glen between Baildon and Saltaire . The Tramway is now run by volunteers and a charitable trust. The tramway dates from 1895 and at that time it accessed a range of fairground attractions at Shipley Glen. There is a small exhibition of the tramway's history at the bottom station and an old-fashioned sweet shop at the top. The tramway is just a short walk across the road from Roberts Park at Saltaire and is only about 500 metres from the nearest railway station at Saltaire, just opposite the Salt's Mill gallery and visitor attraction. Baildon town centre is about 1.5 miles from both the top and bottom of the tramway and Shipley town centre a similar distance from the bottom station. The tramway opens in the early afternoon on Saturdays and Sundays through the year.

Find out more at the Shipley Glen Tramway website.

Salt's Mill, Sailtaire

Saltaire

Near Shipley
About 4 miles north-north-west of Bradford, Saltaire village on the River Aire is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The huge Salt's Mill, a former textile mill, is at the centre of a late 19th century village of stone houses which were built for the mill workers by architects employed by mill owner Sir Titus Salt. More information on our page about Saltaire .

Yorkshire Dales National Park

The Yorkshire Dales National Park starts just north of Addingham . The National Park offers mountain peaks, beautiful river valleys, attractive villages with country inns, ruined abbeys and some of the finest limestone scenery in the UK with limestone pavements, dry valleys, potholes and underground caves. The area offers excellent hiking and walking territory with paths and trails for people of all abilities. It is a centre for potholing and caving, has mountain bike routes and offers plenty of opportunity to study its rich wildlife. For more information see our page dedicated to the Yorkshire Dales .

Nidderdale National Landscape

Extending across an area of 232 square miles (600 sq km), the Nidderdale National Landscape starts 4 miles from Harrogate and 2 miles from Ripon . It covers an area between those towns and the Yorkshire Dales National Park, just a few miles further away. At its centre is the small town of Pateley Bridge . The area has a beautiful and varied landscape including rolling heather-topped moorland, stone-walled agricultural fields and farms, small villages, lake-like reservoirs and some outstanding geological features, the best known of which are Brimham Rocks. For more details see our Nidderdale page.

Emergency services

West Yorkshire Police

West Yorkshire Police website.

West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service

West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service website.

Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust

Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust website.

Local government

Civil parish council

Ilkley Town Council
Provides some local services in the area.
Link to council website:

Ilkley Town Council

Metropolitan district council

City of Bradford

The City of Bradford authority covers an area extending many miles beyond the city itself, including areas of moorland of The Pennines and Ilkley Moor, parts of Wharfedale and Airedale and the Worth Valley.

The area includes many separate small towns and villages, among them Addingham , Baildon , Bingley , Burley in Wharfedale , Haworth , Idle , Ilkley , Keighley , Saltaire , Shipley and Silsden .

Councillors are elected across 30 wards with three councillors per ward.

One councillor per ward is elected for a four-year term on each of three years out of four.

Link to City of Bradford MDC website.

Political composition after May 2026 election:

29 18 17 9 9 YBI41 3
90 members YBI = Your Bradford Independent group Vac = Vacancies
Since these results for the election on May 7, 2026, one of the elected Reform UK councillors is no longer in the council's Reform UK group.
The postponed election of three councillors in the Idle and Thackley ward will take place on 18 June 2026.

Political composition after May 2024 election:

49 131310 5
90 members

See our Yorkshire.guide Gazetteer for more about the

Bradford metropolitan district and places within it.

County strategic authority

West Yorkshire Combined Authority
Covers some combined services of the five metropolitan district councils of West Yorkshire - Bradford , Calderdale , Leeds , Kirklees and Wakefield — which were at one time provided by a West Yorkshire metropolitan county council, with the addition of the non-contiguous unitary authority area of the City of York council as well as the unelected Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership. Since 2021 it has operated with an elected mayor as chairman and decision-maker for some responsibilities. These include transport, housing and planning and finance powers. The responsibilities also include those of Police and Crime Commissioner, a role substantially delegated to an appointee deputy mayor.

Elected mayor: ❚ Tracy Brabin Labour & Cooperative

West Yorkshire Combined Authority website.

Police and Crime Commissioner

The Police and Crime Commissioner for West Yorkshire
This role has become one of the many responsibilities of the West Yorkshire elected mayor since May 2021.

West Yorkshire Combined Authority website.

Fire Authority

West Yorkshire Fire Authority
The fire authority is made up of elected members of each of the five metropolitan district councils of West Yorkshire - Bradford, Calderdale, Leeds, Kirklees and Wakefield.

West Yorkshire Fire Authority web pages.

Parliamentary constituency

Keighley and Ilkley
Elected MP: ❚ Robbie Moore Conservative

National government region

Yorkshire and the Humber

Ceremonial county

West Yorkshire

Historic

-1974 Within the West Riding of Yorkshire.

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