Yorkshire Cheese: Yorkshire Wensleydale, Yorkshire Blue and the Dales Cheeses

The county also makes Yorkshire Blue and Swaledale, and a handful of smaller Dales cheeses.

Most of what US shoppers see as "Wensleydale with cranberries" is a mild cheese that was once a blue one. Yorkshire's story is of monks, wartime rationing, a near closure and a cartoon rescue.

Yorkshire cheese at a glance

This table of Yorkshire cheese shows the milk and the style of each cheese named in this guide. All are cow's milk.

Where Yorkshire cheese comes from

Yorkshire cheese began with French Cistercian monks who came from the Roquefort region, settled in northern England and later moved to Jervaulx Abbey in Lower Wensleydale. They brought a recipe for sheep's milk cheese, and by the 14th century cow's milk had gradually replaced it, though some ewes' milk stayed in the mix.

After the monastery was dissolved in 1540, local farmers carried on. The first commercial creamery opened in Hawes in 1897. During World War II milk was diverted to government cheddar, and cheesemaking did not return to pre-war levels even after rationing ended in 1954. The Wensleydale page tells the Hawes creamery story in more detail.

Yorkshire Wensleydale: the protected name

Yorkshire Wensleydale is a PGI, a protected geographical indication, so the name can be used only for cheese made in Yorkshire to the traditional recipe. GOV.UK lists the EU registration as December 21, 2013, and the UK registration as December 31, 2020. A press release at the time gave December 19, 2013 as the date the protection was announced.

Plain "Wensleydale" with no "Yorkshire" can be made elsewhere. The PDO and PGI guide explains what each seal promises, and what it leaves open.

What Yorkshire cheese tastes like

Yorkshire cheese tastes of the dale: fresh, lightly sweet and moist, with a subtle honey aroma. Wensleydale is medium-textured and crumbly. It is not aged for sharpness, so it suits people who find cheddar too strong.

Yorkshire pairs the cheese with something sweet. It is traditionally eaten with Christmas cake in Yorkshire and the North East, and the common partners are apples, cranberries and fruit cake. Wensleydale with cranberries is the best-known fruit version. The cheese and fruit guide covers more matches, and the pairing guide lists drinks.

Yorkshire Blue and Swaledale

Yorkshire Blue is the county's blue cheese, a cow's milk blue listed in the sources used here with no further detail, so this page makes no claims about its aging or flavor. For a blue with a protected name and published rules, look at Stilton, made in nearby Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire.

Swaledale has an odd history. It was listed as a PDO, with an original EU registration of June 21, 1996, but GOV.UK shows it canceled on August 29, 2022 and says it is "no longer protected under the UK GI scheme." It is a full-fat hard cheese made in Richmond.

How Wensleydale used to be blue

Wensleydale used to be blue, and that fact surprises most readers. In the cheese's early centuries it was almost always blue, and the white variety was almost unknown. The mild white cheese is now the standard.

The modern revival owes a lot to cartoons. Wallace and Gromit references began with the 1995 film A Close Shave, and after the 2005 film The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, sales of Wensleydale cheeses increased by 23%.

Buying and serving Yorkshire cheese in the US

Buying Yorkshire cheese in the US usually means Wensleydale, found at cheese counters and some supermarkets, often as the cranberry version around the holidays. Check the pack for "Yorkshire Wensleydale" to get the protected cheese. The PGI allows raw or pasteurized milk, so people who avoid raw-milk cheese, including during pregnancy, should read the label and follow FDA advice.

To serve it, take Wensleydale out of the fridge about 30 minutes ahead, crumble it over a salad with pears or beets, or put a slice on apple pie. If you cannot find it, Lancashire is the closest swap, and the Caerphilly page covers another crumbly cheese. For the wider picture, see British and Irish cheeses and the United Kingdom page.

Questions about Yorkshire cheese

These questions about Yorkshire cheese come up often.

What is Yorkshire cheese famous for?

Yorkshire cheese is famous for Wensleydale, the crumbly, mild cheese of the Yorkshire Dales.

Is Yorkshire Wensleydale protected?

Yorkshire Wensleydale is protected as a PGI, registered with the EU on December 21, 2013, per GOV.UK.

What is Yorkshire Blue?

Yorkshire Blue is a cow's milk blue cheese made in Yorkshire.

Is Yorkshire cheese made from sheep's milk?

Yorkshire cheese was made from sheep's milk by the Cistercian monks, but cow's milk replaced it by the 14th century, and Wensleydale today is cow's milk.

Is Swaledale still a protected cheese?

Swaledale is no longer protected, because its PDO was canceled on August 29, 2022.

Yorkshire cheese and a famous film

Yorkshire cheese owes part of its fame to a famous film. Wensleydale was a local favorite long before the cartoons, but the 1995 film made the name known abroad, which is why many US shoppers first meet it as the cheese Wallace loves. Treat that as a reason to try it, not a promise of flavor: the cheese itself is mild and gentle, built for fruit cake and apples, and it rewards a simple plate more than a clever recipe.

A small Yorkshire plate works well: Wensleydale, a second crumbly cheese for comparison, a sweet element such as fruit cake or chutney, and plain crackers. Keep the portion near 2 ounces a person as an appetizer.

Try Yorkshire cheese first

To try Yorkshire cheese, buy a small wedge of plain Yorkshire Wensleydale, eat it with an apple, and then try the cranberry version at the holidays. Compare it with a Lancashire to taste how close the Dales and Lancashire crumbles are.