Tidkinhow

The moorland farm of a family of twelve

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Tidkinhow Farm is located four miles southeast of Guisborough in the County of Cleveland. It consists of grassland and moorland.

Tidkinhow Farm is a holiday cottage today. It is on the Whitby Road, the A171, to the east of Guisborough, signposted just before a steep turn in the road.

There is a footpath which passes through the woods to the west of Tidkinhow and a higher moorland track to its south, from which you can view the countryside. To visit Tidkinhow itself, you should contact the owner. It is a fantastic place to stay, and very cosy, an idea base from which to visit the North York Moors and the ancestral lands of the Farndales.

This page should be read together with the Farndales of Tidkinhow.

A deep history

The name Tidkinhow is probably derived from an old Saxon word describing ownership of the hill upon which the house now stands. How meant hill or mound and it probably belonged to Tydi and his kin. So it meant Tydi's How.

There are prehistoric remains on the moors edge at Tidkinhow. There is a stone alignment of probable Bronze Age date at Grid NZ645127, about 2 kilometres south of the house, incorporated in a cross ridge dyke. The monument extends from Tidkinhow Slack on the north side of the ridge to North Ings Moor. From the north the first 275m is only visible as a slight outer scarp. The next 410m section is the best preserved with a bank 5m wide and 1.2m high and a line of standing stones on its east side and a ditch 3m wide and 1m deep on its west side. The stones are about 1m high. For the last 85m the rampart and ditch have completely disappeared with only a few standing stones marking its course. Most of the elements were mapped from air photographs.

Tidkinhow Stack Hob Cross at Tidkinhow Head

On 28 May 1422, at Westminster, an order was given to William Nevyll and Joan his wife, seisin of the castles, manors, lands, saltworks, knights fees, herein after mentioned, relating to a long list of places, which included a close called Tydkinhowe.

There is a boundary stone at NZ646133, which is listed.

Nineteenth century

On 3 September 1836, there was to be peremptory sold, pursuant to the orders of the High Court of Chancery, made in a cause Harker v Brigham, with the approbation of William Braham Esquire, one of the masters of the said court, at the Buck Inn, Guisborough, in the county of York, on Tuesday the 27th day of September 1836, at 3 o’clock in the afternoon, in one lot, a freehold consisting of two farmhouses, and requisite outbuildings, and 272 acres 2r 3p of arable pasture, meadow, and woodland, called Aysdale Gate and Tidkinhow, situate in the parish of Skelton, in Cleveland, in the county of York, late the estate of John Harker deceased. Printed particulars may be had at the said masters chambers, in Northampton buildings; of Messrs Perkins and Frampton, Greys Inn square; Messrs Bell, Broderick, and Bell, Bow church yards, London; Of John Page Sowerby, solicitor, Stokesley, at whose office a plan may be seen; Messrs Garbett, Blackett and Fawcett, solicitors, Stokesley and Yarn; And Messrs Thomas Simpson and sons, land agents, Nunthorpe, at whose office is also a plan may be seen; and at the place of sale.

This had clearly followed a court case regarding a disputed will. There are papers relating to the case Harker v Brigham in which the plaintiffs were Thomas Harker, Mary Harker, Rebecca Salome Harker, Benjamin Willis Harker and Ellen Elizabeth Harker, infants by said Thomas Harker their father and guardian and the defendants were George Brigham and Robert Brigham. The dispute related to the estates of William Powell, testator in Didderhow at Stokesley and Middleton St George, Durham and the estate of John Harker, testator in Tidkinhow, Aysdale Gate. There was a list of tenants and rents, receipts and disbursements. The Receiver was Thomas Simpson. The Chancery Master was William Brougham.

John Farndale gave an account of wild celebrations at Brotton after the battle of Waterloo in 1815. Robert Stevenson, a local merchant built Stephenson’s Hall in Brotton and provided barrels of ale and a band of musicians, headed by John Farndale, who then sang and danced till dawn. When Robert Stevenson died in 1825, his estate passed to his daughter, Mary, who had previously married Thomas Hutchinson, a master mariner from Guisborough. Mary and Thomas settled in Stephenson’s Hall which soon became Brotton Hall and over the years they bought various properties in Brotton.

Thomas was a close friend of John Walker Ord, the historian and poet of Cleveland, and in 1843, Thomas invited Ord to join him on a picnic to Tidkinhow which was then part of Hutchinson’s dispersed property. Ord composed a poem in honour of that day, which was titled Tidkinghow.

The lines were written to commemorate a Fete Champetre furnished to his friends by Thomas Hutchinson of Brotton Hall, and his amiable lady, on Monday, 18 September 1843. A Fete Champetre is an outdoor entertainment such as a garden party.

Of Tidkinhow he wrote of scenes that uplift me on an angel’s wing.

By 1857, a map showed the area of Tidkinhow.

There is a plan of two farms in December 1862 called Aysdale Gate and Tidkinhow in the parish of Skelton, with a section showing the depth of ironstone, drawn by Richard Cordner Stanhope. There was a draft memorandum of agreement between John Bainbridge of Aysdale Gate Farm, Slapewath, farmer, and W.H.A. Wharton of Skelton Castle.

On 14 February 1863 in the parish of Skelton, near Guisborough, in the Ironstone District of Cleveland there was to be sold at auction, that the House of Mr Henry Watson, the Buck Inn, in Guisborough, on Tuesday, the third day of March 1863, at 2 o’clock in the afternoon, Mr Henry Watson, auctioneer, all that valuable freehold estate, consisting of two farm houses and requisite outbuildings, and 273 acres 3 Roods and 2 Perches of arable, meadow, pasture and woodland, called “Aysdale Gate” and “Tidkinhow”, situated in the parish of Skelton, in the county of York, and now in the occupation of Mr Elisha Pegg. The celebrated Cleveland Ironstone has been proved in this Estate, and there is a valuable quarry of freestone. The ironstone mines of J T Wharton and T Chaloner, Esquires, immediately adjoining the above a state, are now in full operation. The estate is 3 miles from the market town of Guisborough, and within 700 yards of the Cleveland Railway. All the above premises are subject to a tithe rent charge of twenty shillings, variable according to the Tithes Commutation Acts, and also the annual payment of 13s 6d for land tax. The tenants will be shown the premises, and further information, with printed particulars and lithographed plans may, after the 5th of February next, be obtained on application.

A history of the Aysdalegate Mine Shaft records that William Barningham took out a lease on Aysdalegate Farm and Tidkinhow Farm in 1864. Progress was very slow with the 268 feet deep shaft still being sunk in March 1868. Production started in 1877 and ended in 1880. William Barningham died in 1882.

Anne Weatherill of Guisborough wrote a diary between January and September 1863, when she was 22 years old, in a small notebook. It was written twenty years before the Farndales moved to Tidkinhow. She began the diary soon after returning from a visit to London. Back at home in Guisborough, she recorded attending impromptu dances and invitation balls, she visited Redcar and stayed with friends in Stockton and Carlton-in-Cleveland. She took part in a choir festival and lent a hand in local festivities. She also wrote of the changing seasons and the beauty of the countryside. Anne lived in Northgate in Guisborough with her family. Her father was Thomas, a prosperous brewer, landowner and businessman, and she also lived with her mother Margaret, her 20 year old sister Kate, and her brothers William and Herbert, aged 18 and 14. On Friday 14 August 1863 she wrote about Mr Morgan's picnic. Mr Atkinson opened a tumulus in the moor near Tidkinhoe and found two urns, the date at least one thousand five hundred years before Christ. Canon Atkinson of Danby was a natural scientist and archaeologist, who was working on the Skelton and Guisborough moors that summer.

On 19 June 1876 there was timber for sale from Tidkinhow. Tidkinhow Farm, near Guisborough - To timber merchants, mine owners etc. Messrs Hodgson and Farrow are favoured with instructions to sell by auction, on Thursday, June the 22nd, 1876, at the house of Mr G Storey, the Fox and Hounds Inn, Slapewath, at Two O’clock in the afternoon, the following timber in three lots, comprising 152 prime larch trees, 40 prime ash trees, 80 prime oak trees, new standing marked in the above named wood. The Wood Agent will attend at the Tidkinhow Farmhouse, to show the timber, on the 20th of June. If required, part of the whole timber can remain standing until next February. For further particulars apply to the auctioneers, Stokesley. On 22 February 1876 at Tidkinhow Farm, near Guisborough - To timber merchants, mine owners etc. Messrs Hodgson and Farrow are favoured with instructions to sell by auction, on Thursday, March the 10th, 1881, at the house of Mr G Storey, the Fox and Hounds Inn, Slapewath, at Two O’clock in the afternoon, the following timber, comprising 400 larch trees, felled and laid in lots of 20 each, 316 oak trees, new standing marked in the above named wood. Terms cash. Mr Jacon Russell, of the Tidkinhow Farm will show the timber. If required, part of the whole timber can remain standing until December 24th, 1881. For further particulars apply to the auctioneers, Stokesley.

On 17 March 1882 there was offered for sale large quality quantity of seed potatoes, Magnum Bonums, Myatts and Scotch Roughs, Jacob Russell, Tidkinhow Farm, Guisborough.

Then on 28 November 1885: Aysdalegate and Tidkinhow Farms at Slapewath, near Guisborough were advertised. The Trustees of the late Wm Barningham are prepared to receive tenants for the letting of the whole of these valuable Old Grass Land Farms, comprising together about 2300 acres, with all their buildings. A grand opportunity either for sheep farmers or dairy keepers. Immediate possession can be given. For particulars apply to John Woodfield, Springfield, Darlington.

The Farndale Era

Martin Farndale and his family moved into Tidkinhow in 1885 to take on the tenancy. Thus started the Farndale era at Tidkinhow. It was at Tidkinhow that seven further children were born. James Farndale was born at Tidkinhow Farm, 22 December 1885. William Farndale was born at Tidkinhow Farm in September 1887. In 1889 William, their seventh child, died aged two on 19 July 1889. He was buried at Skelton on 21 July 1889. Mary Francis Farndale was born at Tidkinhow Farm, 22 January 1889. William Farndale was born at Tidkinhow Farm, 29 January 1892. Grace Alice Farndale was born at Tidkinhow Farm, on 21 April 1893. She was named after her mother's sister and her mother's mother, Alice Lindsay. Dorothy Annie Farndale was born at Tidkinhow Farm in June 1895. Alfred Farndale was born at Tidkinhow Farm on 5 July 1897.

Tidkinhow was a small farm, but it had large tracts of moorland for sheep grazing. It produced most of what the family needed while money was made from the sheep, their wool and lambs, together with a small milk round. The house was small in those days. It comprised a kitchen, a dining room, a sitting room and four bedrooms. The children all went to school at Charltons, a small hamlet about a mile away towards Guisborough.

As the elder children grew up, they went away to work on neighbouring farms or in the mines. Later, seven of the twelve were to go to western Canada and USA to make their lives there.

Martin's two brothers lived nearby. John the next lived at Loftus and worked on the London and North Eastern Railway and Matthew farmed at Craggs Hall near Brotton. There is a story that, while living at Tranmire, Martin asked Matthew to go and take Craggs Hall for him. On his return Matthew said that he had taken it, but for himself. Martin however always spoke highly of his brother who helped him to get to Tidkinhow, a farm which was then, like Kilton, on Wharton estate.

On 26 September 1891 there was an important stock sale in Cleveland. The first of what is intended to be an annual sale of sheep at Kildale in Cleveland was held yesterday afternoon, and proved a great success. The farmers of this important sheep breeding district have hitherto sent their sheep to Goathland, near Whitby, but, owing to the great distance between the two places, it was decided at a meeting of farmers two months ago to start a sheep sale at Kildale. No fewer than 1,200 sheep were entered, the drafts being from the following farmers who included Farndale, Tidkinhow.

The freehold of Tidkinhow was sold in October 1900. To be sold by auction by Messrs Robert Imeson and son at the Grand Hotel, Middlesbrough, on Tuesday, the 23rd day of October 1900 All that Freehold Estate, consisting of two farm houses, with the requisite outbuildings and 273 ¾ acres, or thereabouts, of arable, meadow, pasture and woodland, called Aysdalegate and Tidkinhow, situate in the parish of Skelton in Cleveland, in the county of York. The celebrated Cleveland Ironstone underlies the estate, and two well finished shafts have already been sunk to the main scene at a depth of 50 fathoms each, and of respective diameters of 13 1-3 and 10 feet, and competent authorities estimates that the seam will yield an output of about 4 ¾ millions tonnes of Ironstone. There is also a serviceable bed of clay for brick making, and a free stone quarry on the estate, also a spring from which a free and ample supply of excellent water can be obtained for the boilers and other purposes. The buildings consist of engine house, containing 18 inch cylinder winding engine, with drum complete, and an 8 inch cylinder winding engine; boiler house, blacksmith’s and joiner’s shops, containing machinery for Smith’s Earths etc; store rooms, cottage, offices etc. The mine has been opened out to the extent of about 192 yards by the said William Barningham to prove the ore, several hundred tonnes of which are now lying in adjoining heaps, which, however, do not belong to the Vendors. For a comparatively small additional expenditure operations for working the iron ore could be commenced at a very early period. The property is 3 miles from the town of Guisborough, within about 750 yards from the North East Railway Company’s mainline to Middlesbrough, with which it is connected by a railway track over adjoining land belonging to the trustees of Lady Hewley’s Charity, of which the vendors have agreed to take a lease for a term of 21 years from the 1st July, 1899, at a fixed wayleave rent of £100 per annum, a further rent of ½ d per ton for each ton carried over the said railway track beyond 48,000 tonnes.

Tidkinhow Farm, near Guisborough in about 1900 - Kate, Catherine, Alfred and Elizabeth (Lynn)

Grace Farndale’s diary touched on Tidkinhow in 1927, before her emigration to Alberta.

Martin’s eldest son, John Farndale and his wife Elsie continued to farm at Tidkinhow until the 1960s.

John and Elsie Farndale at Tidkinhow in about 1937

Memories of Tidkinhow

A biography of a musician, Graeme Miles (born 1935) tells that as a boy, he found recreation on the Tees marshes and in the wild, lovely moorlands of the Cleveland hills. As a young man he and friends would spend weekends camping at the ruined Tidkinhow Farm. There was no late-night bus to Guisborough from Middlesbrough in those days, hence Graeme’s song Along The Guisborough Road. They would get off at Nunthorpe and walk the several miles to Guisborough and then another three to Charltons and along to Tidkinhow.

Tidkinhow in 1954

The Farndale Era at Tidkinhow came to an end in the 1960s.

Tidkinhow in 1987 during the visit of George and Margery Kinsey of Alberta Canada

There was a reunion of the descendants of Alfred Farndale, the youngest of the Tidkinhow family, in 2016 at Tidkinhow.

Martin Farndale’s descendants

Martin Farndale’s grand children, Margot Atkinson, Anne Shepherd and Geoff Farndale.

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