Farnhill Village Web Portal

It's March 1863 and invitations to wedding celebrations are being distributed. Are you on the list ?

Click here.

The History Group archive contains a number of scans of paintings and drawings of the two villages – some of them quite old, others more recent. Many are unsigned and/or undated. This slideshow contains a selection of them, in approximate chronological order.

Click the image opposite to view.
 

A recent addition to our "Group Photos Project", a 1964 photograph of Kildwick School pupils and staff.

Click on the image opposite to view details.

The recreation ground opposite Kildwick School is known as the Peggy Wilson field. But who was Peggy Wilson and why does the field bear her name.

This update includes information on the subsequent donation of a gazebo.

Read here.

This month, with the 80th anniversary of VE-Day approaching, we thought you might like to see all of the articles. etc. we have in our archive relating to Farnhill and Kildwick in WWII.

• The names that appear on the War Memorial
• The Great Escape - The Farnhill Connection
• Home Guard Scrapbook
• WWII Evacuees and POWs
• Anne Paton - WWII recollections
• The Kildwick and Farnhill Welcome Home Fund

The History Group will be putting on a WWII exhibition later in the year.
 

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

You can look at all the items or just read what we've just added - extracts from local almanacs.

Ever since August 2013, when we posted a short piece in our "Mysteries" section, we've been trying to work out where the building known as "Farnhill Wood Cafe and Cyclists Rest" was to be located. Many times we've thought we'd said the final word on the subject so this time we're going to be a little more cautious.

Read our current thoughts on Farnhill Wood Cafe and Cyclists Rest.

As we descend into deepest winter we thought it might be nice to look forward a few months to when snowdrops will grace the verges again.

Click here.
 

There are a number of interesting graves in the graveyard of St. Andrew's Church but perhaps the most impressive, although by no means the largest, is the so-called "Organ Grave".

In this article we provide answers to three questions about this grave:

• Why does the grave have an organ on it ?
• Who carved it ?
• Does the organ still exist and, if so, where is it ?

You can also read a short memoir, written in 1889, about John Laycock the organ-builder and view a video of the 1851 Laycock organ in Cowling Hill Chapel.

In our most recent update to this article we have included an appendix about Dr. John Laycock who has done much of the research on his family's grave.

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.

Click here.
 

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.