{{Short description|Valley in the North York Moors, England}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}} {{Use British English|date=February 2020}} {{Infobox landform |name = Hole of Horcum |type = [[Valley]] |location = [[North Yorkshire]], England |pushpin_map = United Kingdom North Yorkshire |map_caption = Location in [[North Yorkshire]] |image =Hole of Horcum.jpg |caption = Hole of Horcum from the north, with flowering heather in the foreground, August 2017 |grid_ref_UK = SE845935 |coordinates = {{coord|54.331266|-0.701168|type:mountain_region:GB|display=inline,title}} }} The '''Hole of Horcum''' is a section of the valley of the Levisham Beck, upstream of [[Levisham]] and [[Lockton]], in the [[Tabular Hills]] of the [[North York Moors]] National Park in northern [[England]].

==Etymology== Early forms of the name include ''Hotcumbe'', ''Holcumbe'', ''Horcombe'' and ''Horkome''. The first element of the name is Old English ''horh'', meaning "filth", while the suffix, ''cumb'', means "bowl-shaped valley", and is of [[Celtic Britons|Brittonic Celtic]] origin.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Horcum, Hole of Horcum |url=http://epns.nottingham.ac.uk/browse/id/53286b0ab47fc40bc60001d2}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Urra|url=http://epns.nottingham.ac.uk/browse/North+Riding+of+Yorkshire/Helmsley/53286b0ab47fc40bc6000166-Urra}}</ref>

==The Hole== The hollow is {{convert|400|ft|m}} deep and about ¾ mile (1.2&nbsp;km) across. The Hole was created by a process called [[spring-sapping]], where water welling up from the hillside gradually undermined the slopes above, eating the rocks away grain by grain. In this way, over thousands of years, a once narrow valley widened and deepened into an enormous cauldron. The process continues today.<ref name="North York Moors">{{Cite web |url=https://www.northyorkmoors.org.uk/activity-details?id=56890251#dmdtab=oax-tab2 |title=Levisham Moor & Hole of Horcum|website=North York Moors National Park |accessdate=29 October 2025}}</ref>

==Legend== Local legend has it that the "[[Devil's Punchbowl]]"-type feature, the amphitheatre, was formed when [[Wade (folklore)|Wade the Giant]] scooped up a handful of earth to throw at his wife during an argument.<ref name="North York Moors"/><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2009/jun/10/walk-guides-hole-of-horcum |title=The hero's hole, Hole of Horcum, North Yorkshire |date=10 June 2009 |website=The Guardian |accessdate=22 August 2017}}</ref>

==Panoramic view== {{wide image|Devils_punchbowl_north_yorkshire.jpg|1500px|A panorama of Hole of Horcum in early evening light, looking west}}

==References== {{reflist}} {{commons category|Hole of Horcum}}

[[Category:Valleys of the North York Moors]]

{{NorthYorkshire-geo-stub}}