Bilsdale is the most westerly of the steep sided dales of the North York Moors. It stretches from the Cleveland escarpment some ten miles south to Newgate Bank. The valley was sculpted out of the landscape by melt water from the last Ice Age some 13,000 years ago.
There is evidence of iron working in the dale in medieval times. Itinerant smiths would practice the "mysteries" of smelting and iron working. Generally the ironstone deposits are of poor quality but a famous plough maker, John Wood, after studying the craft in other places. set up a foundry in Fangdale Beck in the late 19th century.
Jet was also mined extensively in the latter half of the 19th century and the jet shale tips still scar the hillsides today. Jet, a fossilised wood, was fashioned into jewellery and became popular after Queen Victoria wore it as a sign of mourning on the death of Prince Albert in 1861. There are many other rock carvings in the surrounding quarries, some ancient some not so.