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Littlethorpe lies two miles to the southeast of the city of Ripon and from many points in the village excellent views of Ripon Cathedral can be seen. At its heart lies its church (built in 1876) and village hall, but the village stretches for almost one and a half miles in all directions. The village is well known for its Pottery, established in 1831, when over one hundred people were employed making bricks, pantiles, chimney pots and drainage pipes. The terracotta clay is still dug by hand and the site is now a Working Heritage Centre, hand making garden pottery and is open for visitors to come and see how pots are made and the old machinery works.
Apart from the city of Ripon, with its beautiful Cathedral and Market Square, nearby is found Fountains Abbey, founded in 1132 by Benedictine monks and now owned by the National Trust, and across the river Ure from the village is Ripon Racecourse, a flat racing venue. Harrogate is only twelve miles away and the ancient city of York thirty miles. Ripon is often considered the gateway to the Dales.
In recent years much restoration work has taken place on the Ripon Canal, which runs through Littlethorpe, and is now much used by boating enthusiasts who can now cruise right into the heart of Ripon. By the canal in Littlethorpe is the Ripon Motor Boat Club, founded in 1931 with four members and now with over two hundred and fifty members and well over one hundred boats.
As in many villages modern life has bough about closures. The village school closed in 1936 and until 1969 the Harrogate to Ripon railway line passed through the centre of the village.
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