Farnhill Village Web Portal

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, produced over the next few months, we will tell the story of the owners of Kildwick Hall and the Kildwick Estate
 

If you were in Kildwick on the afternoon of Saturday 3rd June you may have heard the bells of St. Andrew's church ringing a Quarter Peal of Plain Bob Triples. This wasn't for a posh wedding but was to commemorate the death of William Mosley, of Farnhill, a former bell-ringer who was killed in action on 3/6/1917.

We've put together a short biography of William Mosley as part of the Farnhill WW1 Volunteers Project.

We've discovered another anecdote about the years, just after WW2, when Roberts' Brothers circus used to over-winter near Kildwick. We also have information about other circuses in the area, dating from as early as 1908.

Read the updated article.

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

Originally one of our "Short Pieces" you can now read a full article on Haworth Currer's driveway and what became of it.

We've updated our piece on John Rycroft and the Winter Silver Charity with additional information provided by Lancaster Herald at the College of Arms concerning the "Rycroft Window" in St. Andrew's church and the connection between the Kildwick man John Rycroft, the Clifford family, and Henry VII. There's also information on how the Rycroft Charity helped to fund early education in the parish and how the charity was restructured in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Mrs. Nancy Rycroft has kindly provided us with the final draft of her late husband's Rycroft family history notes.
 

From the dissolution of the monasteries in the 1530s to the restoration of the monarchy in 1660 religious life in England was in an almost permanent state of upheaval. Inevitably Kildwick parish became involved in this and, between the 1580s and 1660, the church was home to a succession of radical Protestant churchmen.

We have updated our original article with more information on how the radical tradition was reversed just as the English monarchy was re-established in 1660.

From the Romans to the present day, the road from Keighley to Skipton has changed considerably. The route you would have taken depends on when you were travelling.

This update on the development of the road between Keighley and Skipton provides a contemporary news report on the opening of the Kildwick to Snaygill section of the Keighley to Kendal Trunk Road. We also pose the question whether Kildwick might have become a major hub for road traffic travelling between Leeds and the industrial towns of East Lancashire in the mid-18th century ?
 

In this update, Graham Taylor considers whether the Brigg family - founder members of the Bronte Society - might have promoted the idea that Charlotte Bronte came to Kildwick. Read the updated article.

To accompany this update, Bronte expert and good friend of the History Group, Isobel Stirk, has written a short piece of fiction imagining how it might have been if Charlotte really had visited the village when she was governesss at Stone Gappe. Read Kildwick’s 1839 visitor – maybe ?.

Another update to our piece on the Kildwick and Farnhill Brass Band.

We've been given some wonderful photographs by the great grand-daughter of Charles Jeffrey, who was the band's conductor in their hey-day. We also have a little more information about the band after WW1.