Stone troughs are still a common feature in the Dales landscape but because many are moveable they are vulnerable to being taken for use as ornaments and features in private gardens. They are becoming much sought after for this purpose. Due to the portable nature of some troughs, we are not publicising the detailed locations of troughs on this website.
Troughs were commonly made from gritstone or sandstone, often being carved from a single block of stone. They could also be constructed out of sheets of much thinner slate, bound together with iron staples to make them watertight: troughs made from Helwith Slate can be found in many parts of the south west area of the National Park.
Most troughs were built for watering stock and are found both within and along the edges of fields. They can also be found in the enclosures attached to field barns where they held water for over-wintering cattle. Many troughs are set into field walls so that they can serve stock in two fields; these often have a sandstone divider or bars across the middle, as with the trough pictured.
Stone trough nearThreshfield
Troughs are also found alongside roads and tracks, often fed by a natural stream or spring, and sometimes by a piped or culverted supply. Roadside troughs will also have served moving stock but were primarily intended for horses.
Some troughs originally associated with other agricultural and industrial uses still survive in the Dales. Very large troughs were sometimes used in the process of retting hemp and flax (retting is literally rotting of the plant stems in order to help separate the fibres from the other parts of the stem).
As mentioned above, stone troughs are becoming increasingly vulnerable to removal for use as garden features; some are also vulnerable to damage through clipping by vehicles. The seals on many Helwith Slate troughs seem to have failed and there are large numbers of disused or dismantled slate troughs. Sometimes a divider or bars will be present in a wall, sometimes the stone trough will have been replaced by a galvanised one, a plastic one, or even a bathtub!. Our aim is to create a record of all troughs, no matter what condition they are in, along with locations where troughs have been in the past but are no longer present.
