The name of a district of the North Riding of Yorkshire, used attrib., and hence ellipt. as sb., to designate a. A breed of long-woolled sheep originally raised here; b. A local variety of blue-mould cheese.
1881. J. P. Sheldon, Dairy Farming, 250. Though the Wensleydale cheese are so small.
1893. J. Wrightson, Sheep, 39. The Wensleydale is a large, high standing sheep, with a characteristic blue in the skin of the face and ears.
1896. J. Benson & J. Long, Cheese, 105. The Stilton-shaped Wensleydales are … classed as British blue mould cheeses.
