Farnhill Village Web Portal

In 1764 the Archbishop of York went on a "tour" of his diocese - known as a Visitation.

Prior to this, a questionnaire was sent out for the clergy of each parish to complete and return. In Kildwick, the questions were answered by the vicar, Rev. John Dehane. His responses give us an interesting snapshot of the parish in 1764.

In this article we give the full text of the 12 questions asked, and Rev. Dehane’s responses to them.
 

Between 1909 and 1914, the last Saturday in July would see up to 5000 people gather on both banks of the river Aire, below the bridge, to watch the annual swimming carnival. Click to view an updated slideshow or read our article.

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

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

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

At the start of WW1, as German troops overran their country, over 250,000 Belgians came to Britain as refugees. It was the single largest influx in the country's history.

Some of them came to this area and this article, updated with photographs and information about the refugees in Crosshills, tells their story.

In the later years of the 19th century and the early part of the 20th, most employment was provided by the very many local mills.

The loss of two mills in Farnhill at the end of 1905 and early in 1906 - see below - had a devastating effect on local people: they no longer had work on their doorstep they had to bicycle or walk to work; some chose to move to other townships.

One of the nearby mills that continued to provide work was Woodrow's at Junction.

Charles Alexander Hargreaves, known as Alec, left school at the age of 13, in 1906, and - apart from serving abroad during WW1 - was at Woodrow's Mill for all his working life, a total of 49 years.

Towards the end of this time he wrote a memoir of his period there: A working life at Woodrow's Mill.
 

Two destructive mill fires in Farnhill, one in December 1905 and the other in March 1906, effectively ended industrial development within the village, as well as causing significant unemployment and hardship. We've updated our slideshow of photographs of the mill fires - including the only known image of Farnhill Mill before it burned down - and some of a third mill in Farnhill which, although it closed in 1906, is still in use today.

View a slideshow of photographs taken at the time.

You can also read our article about the devastating fires of 1905 and 1906.
 

Chartism was a Victorian era working class movement for political reform in Britain between 1838 and 1848.

We've updated our article on the impact of the Chartist Movement in Farnhill and Kildwick with information recently discovered about two men from the village who fought in WW1 and who were members of former Chartist families.

Part 1 - 1815 to 1845
Part 2 - 1848...a turning point in history when history refused to turn (A J P Taylor) - Updated 30/06/2018 - with new Appendix
 

Another update to our piece on the Kildwick and Farnhill Brass Band. This update includes information about the sad decline of the band in the 1920s and, on a more positive note, recollections from a man who was part of the band when it won the 1905 Crystal Palace contest.