The Nidderdale AONB is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in North Yorkshire, England, bordering the Yorkshire Dales National Park to the east and south. It comprises most of Nidderdale itself, part of lower Wharfedale, the Washburn valley and part of lower Wensleydale, including Jervaulx Abbey and the side valleys west of the River Ure. It covers a total area of . The highest point in the Nidderdale AONB is Great Whernside, above sea level, on the border with the Yorkshire Dales National Park. The area is said to contain "remains from over 6,000 years of human activity"; there is evidence of "almost continuous settlement over this time with the exception of the Roman period for which evidence is scanty". According to the AONB, the area "is home to a diverse range of wildlife, important habitats and over 16,000 people". The only town within the AONB is Pateley Bridge in Nidderdale, one of the Yorkshire Dales. Otley and Ilkley lie just to the south of the AONB, and Masham and Ripon are just to the east. History In 1947, when the Hobhouse Report recommended the creation of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, it proposed that Nidderdale should be excluded and given a different conservation status. Accordingly, Nidderdale was not included in the National Park when it was designated in 1954. In 1963 the then West Riding County Council proposed that Nidderdale should be added to the National Park, but the proposal met with opposition from the district councils which would have lost some of their powers to the county council. The West Riding National Park Committee, and its successor the Yorkshire Dales National Park Committee, did not entirely abandon the idea until 1988, when the alternative AONB designation was proposed. The eastern boundary of the National Park had been set at East Witton, as recommended by the Hobhouse Report. The section of Wensleydale below East Witton had not been considered for national park status, but was added to the new AONB. Similarly, the new AONB also included the Washburn Valley and the area of lower Wharfedale between the Washburn Valley and the National Park, which had not been considered for national park status. The AONB was designated in 1994 with its current boundaries. Geography Nidderdale The AONB includes all of Nidderdale except a small area in the lower dale around Hampsthwaite. In the lower dale, below Pateley Bridge, attractions include