Causey

Type

Moor, Path

In Calderdale a causey is a footpath made of stone slabs across fields and open moorland. They are a very distinctive feature of the local landscape. They link farms, or led down to mills in the valleys ( called cloughs here), and many were packhorse trails across the moors. Some are monastic routes going back at least to the middle ages, although they are essentially undateable. [J.W.]

Etymology

Possibly a version of ’causeway’? (ie they provided safe tracks across boggy moorland?) [J.W.]

Example locations

  • Shackleton
    West Yorkshire

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Entry contributors:

Judith Wilson