Kirkby Stephen - Scenic Highlights

Scenic Highlights

Stenkrith Park is south of the town on the B6259 road to Nateby. The river scenery here marks the change from limestone at the head of the Eden Valley in Mallerstang, to the red sandstone which is characteristic further along the Eden Valley. The main rock, from which most houses in Kirkby Stephen is built, is brockram, composed of fragments of limestone in a cement of red sandstone. The river at Stenkrith has carved this rock into many fantastic shapes, collectively known as the Devil's Grinding Mill or Devil's Hole. This spectacular natural scenery has been supplemented, in recent years, by three (human) additions.
The ‘Poetry Path’ has 12 stones which were carved by the artist Pip Hall, with poems by Meg Peacock, depicting a year in the life of a hill farmer.
Eden Benchmarks: Beside the river there is a sculpture by Laura White, entitled ‘Passage’, one of the ten "Eden Benchmarks", a series of sculptures that have been placed at intervals along the River Eden from its source in Mallerstang to the Solway Firth.
The Millennium Bridge was opened in 2002, and provides pedestrian access from the park to a walk along the old south Durham railway track.

Among many other scenic features in the area are: Nine Standards Rigg, to the northeast, Pendragon Castle and Wild Boar Fell, to the south.

Unlike neighbouring Brough, there is no evidence of any Roman settlement, but there are many traces of even more ancient settlements in the area, including the remains of a large Iron Age earthwork or hill fort, "Croglam Castle", on the southeastern edge of the town.