Farnhill Village Web Portal

The History Group has researched the retailers and the crafts-people in the two villages and have found that for over 100 years, between the mid-19th and the mid-20th century, almost all of life’s needs were catered for.

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Many local people will have seen the monument to Robert de Stiveton (Robert of Steeton) in the north-west corner of St. Andrew’s Church, Kildwick. Some may even have deciphered the Latin inscription: Robertus de Styveton obiit A.D. Mcccvii - which translates as Robert de Stiveton, died 1307.

But what if the inscription is a case of mistaken identity and the monument was intended to commemorate someone else ?

This update examines the removal of the monument from the floor of the nave to its present location.
 

A short piece on one of Kildwick's less-celebrated national champions.

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In 1738, Haworth Currer had the idea of creating a grand tree-lined driveway to link Kildwick Hall with the centre of the village.

This update has more information on the driveway plan including evidence of compensation paid by Haworth Currer for loss of pasture due to the trees.

Once the Kildwick estate was broken up, in 1949, Kildwick Hall passed through a number of private hands and was used for a number of commercial ventures. This article tells the story of the later owners of Kildwick Hall. It also investigates some of the people who were tenants of the Hall when it was still part of the Kildwick estate.

This update provides a large amount of new material resulting from our recent researches.
 

The 1846 tithe commutation document provides a lot of information about what Farnhill was like in the middle of the nineteenth century. We've used it to produce two articles:

The owners and tenants.
and
The tithe map (1845)
 

By the end of the 19th century Kildwick Church was in a bad way. At least one beam had fallen from the roof, smashing one of the pews below, and an architect reported that the building could fall down at any time. This article continues our researches into the work carried out to save "the Lang Kirk of Craven", and looks at how services were conducted while the church organ was out of action.

We've updated our piece on the bells at St. Andrew's church with details of the first-ever "History of the Lang Kirk", a booklet produced to raise funds for the new bells in 1914.

Perhaps and perhaps not - but if wasn't, then what was going on with all the peanuts ?.

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The Institute was founded in 1911 and was the gift of the Brigg family.

We've researched how the Institute came into being using newspaper reports of the period. We've also recently found out more information about the building before it became the Institute.

Read the full story here.

We thought you might to take a look at what other people have written about the history of Farnhill and Kildwick:

"The Villages of Craven - Farnhill" (an article from the Craven Herald of April 26th 1876)

"Kildwick Hall - Historical Sketch" by J.J. Brigg

"John Barritt obituary" (1809 – 1897)

"A History of Kildwick" notes for a lecture given by Will Cowling in 1951

Some "Notes on Farnhill" written by George Bottomley in 1950.

From the 16th to the middle of the 20th centuries, the village of Kildwick was owned by the Lord of the Manor. In a series of short articles, we tell the story of the owners of Kildwick Hall and the Kildwick Estate.

The updates made to our articles, originally published in 2017, revise the old texts and prepare for the story of the recent tenants and owners of the Hall, to be published next month.