The Farndales of Craggs Hall Farm

Mary Ann Farndale in front of Craggs Hall in about 1920

The story of the family of Matthew Farndale and the Farndale interest in Craggs Hall Farm from 1882 to 1965

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Moving to Craggs

There is a family story that in about 1882, Martin Farndale asked his younger brother Matthew to go to make a bid for him for Craggs Hall Farm, near Brotton. The story goes that Matthew returned saying that he'd taken the farm for himself. It was said that when Matthew told Martin what he had done, they both walked back to Kilton Thorpe without saying a word. Martin however always spoke highly of his brother who later helped him to get to Tidkinhow, a farm on Wharton estate. It is said that Matthew later lent Martin some money to acquire Tidkinhow Farm and that Martin took this in part as repayment of his previous loan and for the rest, Matthew used to come to Tidkinhow each year for many years to claim the three best lambs as part repayment.

True or not, Matthew took the tenancy of Craggs and Martin went to Tranmire, a farm some ten miles along the road to Whitby

Matthew Farndale was born at Skelton on 25 June 1850 and by the age of 22, in 1871, he was working at the Hall Farm at Kilton. It was when he was in his early thirties, that he took the tenancy of Craggs Hall Farm.

Craggs Hall Farm is a Farmhouse which was probably built in the late seventeenth century with adaptations and alterations through the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It was built from longhouse tradition, now referred to as false longhouse. The construction of yeomen farmsteads followed a medieval longhouse tradition, where animals and people once shared the roof of a linear building range, and the tradition continued on the North York Moors up until about the mid eighteenth century. Longhouse farmsteads were often adapted as the needs and the wealth of the farmers changed over time. Craggs Hall Farm is an example of the continuation of the North York Moors vernacular tradition of longhouse construction. The series of modifications that are still identifiable. It is this succession of alterations which make Craggs Hall Farm of particular special architectural and historical interest, showing how adaptable the longhouse tradition was to changing tastes and circumstances.

Craggs Hall Farm in 2016

Craggs Hall lies on Carlin How, the hill of witches, near to the place where a Saxon Princess lay undisturbed for thirteen centuries until she was later discovered in 2005.

Soon after talking the tenancy at Craggs Hall Farm, Matthew Farndale, married Mary Ann Liverseed in 1884 in Stockton.

Matthew Farndale of Craggs Hall in the mid 1880s

Life at Craggs

Robert Farndale (1885 to 1972) was born at Craggs Hall Farm on 20 August 1885. Ruth Farndale (1886 to 1974) was born there on 14 December 1886. Ernest Farndale (1889 to 1913) was born in 1889. In 1891, Matthew was farming at Craggs, aged 40, with Mary aged 34, Robert aged 5, Ruth aged 4 and Ernest aged 2, with Matthew’s eighty year old widowed mother, Elizabeth (granddaughter of the smuggler, John Andrew) and a domestic servant, Annie Mitchel.

In July 1891, the Wesleyan picnic, which had been postponed from Wednesday, was held on Saturday last in a field near Craggs Hall, kindly leant by Mr M Farndale. The children were regaled with milk and the provisions that remained from the tea held on the Wednesday. A number of games were indulged in until dusk.

Herbert Farndale (1892 to 1971) was born on 30 March 1892. William Farndale (1894 to 1974) was born on 14 July 1894. Edwin Farndale (1898 to 1983) was born on 23 July 1898.

Matthew Farndale and his wife Mary Ann (nee Liverseed) at Craggs Hall in about 1900 Matthew and Mary Ann at Craggs Hall with, left to right, William, Robert, Herbert and Edwin (front), Ruth and Ernest

By 1901, the family were all living at Craggs Hall Farm and Robert, aged 15, had started to assist his father on the farm. By 1911, Robert had left. Matthew was farming aged 60, and the rest of the family were living at home.

In December 1911 the Carlin How and Skinningrove District has grown very rapidly during the last few years, and, in order to cope with the increasing demand for accommodation, the friends of the Wesleyan body have decided to build a new Wesleyan Church at Carlin How. The cost of the church will be £850, £500 of which has already been raised or promised. Mr T C Hutchinson, managing director of the Skinningrove iron works, has generously given the site. The buildings will be of brick, and will accommodate about 250 people. Mr. A Farndale is the architect, and Mr J K Wilson is superintending the work of erection. The foundation stone laying ceremony took place on Wednesday, in the presence of a good company. The Rev W Powell, Loftus conducted the ceremony, and stones were placed by Mrs M Moore, Westfield, Loftus, C Farndale, M Farndale, Craggs Hall. Mr E Lofthouse laid a stone in memory of the late Mr. A Murray weather, a prominent Brotton Wesleyan. The Rev J C Adelard (Saltburn) gave an address and a public tea took place in the preaching room, which has, for many years, done duty as a place of worship, but is now totally inadequate to meet the demands made-up on it.

In June 1915 a successful picnic for the Brotton Wesleyan Sunday School was held at Craggs Hall on Wednesday, by permission of Mr and Mrs M Farndale. The event was attended by a number of parents, scholars and others. Tea was provided and games were indulged in by young and old.

In September 1916, during the weekend, the Wesleyans at Carlin How held their harvest festival services. On Sunday, the Rev H Mortimer, Staithes, preached twice, and on Monday evening a public meeting was held. The Rev H Mortimer addressed the meeting, and gave a helpful and inspiring address. Mr Arthur Garnett presided. The sale of fruit and vegetables took place at the close of the meetings. Collections were taken at all the services, which were well attended, and the total proceeds, which amounted to £7, will be devoted to the Trust Funds. The vote of thanks to all helpers and those who had given fruit etc, was proposed by Mr Hutchinson, and seconded by Mr M Farndale. Miss Pearson, “Mount Pleasant,” presided at the organ, and the chapel was tastefully decorated for the occasion.

In December 1917, a lecture entitled “Life amongst tramps and social outcasts,” was given in the Carlin How Wesleyan Church, last week, by the Rev Harry Mortimer, Staithes. The lecture, which was very interesting, was a descriptive account of work in Manchester Wesleyan Mission, with which Mr Mortimer was for some time identified. Mr M Farndale, Craggs Hall, presided.

Matthew Farndale, Ann Farndale, Robert Farndale and Ruth Farndale, in front of Craggs Hall, about 1920

The adopted daughter of Matthew Farndale’s niece, Mary Ann Farndale, Nora Bovill, of the Bishop Auckland Line had vivid memories of holidays at Cragg Hall Farm. She was adamant that she knew it is Cragg and not Craggs. Matthew Farndale, affectionately called Mattha by Mary Ann and Nora Bovill, was an elderly man by then and he appeared to enjoy her fussing over him. Nora remembered a beautiful rose garden hidden at the back of the farm seen only by those at the farm, with fruit bushes dripping with berries, and she remembers taking the farmworkers lunches out to the fields at midday, and being allowed to go shopping on her own to Carlin How or Brotton when she was only 5 or 6 at the time. She remembered reading Pilgrims Progress in the rarely used front room. A special treat was to be taken for rides in the side car of Herbert Farndale’s motor bike. Herbert, Matthews’ son was perhaps running Craggs farm by this stage.

In June 1923, Herbert Farndale bought the farm which his family had leased up to that point. At Loftus on Wednesday, Mr T S Patch, auctioneer, offered for sale the Craggs Hall Farm, situated between Brotton and Carlin How. The purchase would only buy one half the revenue derived from the estate. Mr H Farndale, son of Mr M Farndale, tenant of the farm, became the purchaser for £1,500. The solicitor for the vendor was Mr Julius Bertram, of London.

Four years later, Matthew Farndale, aged 76 died in 1927. The funeral of Mr Matthew Farndale, of Craggs Hall, Carlin How, took place at Brotton, yesterday afternoon, in the presence of a considerable number of mourners. The chief mourners were Miss Farndale, daughter, Eastbourne; Mr Robert Farndale, Leeds, Mr William Farndale, Northallerton, Mr E Farndale, Walbottle, sons; Mr M Farndale, Tidkinhow, Boosbeck, brother; Mr R Liverseed, Loftus, Mr A Liverseed, Stockton, brothers in law. There were in the cortege farmers and representatives of the agricultural interests from all parts of Cleveland. The Rev John Hunt, Wesleyan Minister, Loftus conducted the burial service in Brotton Wesleyan church.

The death has taken place at Craggs Halll, Carlin How, of Mr Matthew Farndale, a well known Cleveland farmer, who was 76 years of age, and had lived at Craggs Hall 44 years. Mr Farndale, who had been in failing health for some time, had the reputation of being one of the best cultivators of land and hedges in the district.

Matthew was buried on 2 March 1927 at Brotton Old Churchyard. His gravestone reads In loving memory of Ernest, beloved son of Matthew and Mary A Farndale of Craggs Hall who died 30 November 1913 aged 24 years. Also the above named Matthew who died 27th February 1927 aged 76 years. Also the above named Mary Ann who died 4th November 1933 aged 77 years.

Mary Farndale, Matthew’s widow, died on 4 November 1933. The funeral took place this week of Mrs Mary Ann Farndale, of Craggs Hall, Brotton, widow of the late Mr Matthew Farndale, who was well known in Cleveland farming circles. A large company was present at the Wesleyan Church, where the service was held. It was conducted by the Rev F A Wenyon, of Loftus, and the Carlin How Methodist Church choir was also present. Mr William Hedley, of Kilton Thorpe, was at the organ. Internment took place that brought on churchyard.

The family who left Craggs

Robert Farndale (1885 to 1972) worked with his father at Craggs until about 1911. He married Sarah Jane Alcock at Ingleby Greenhow, south of Great Ayton, on 1 September 1910, and they moved to Wakefield shortly afterwards. He took work their initially as a horseman working on a farm. Their children were Ruth Farndale (1911 to 1918), Robert Edwin Farndale (1913 to 1976), Maurice Farndale (1915 to 2002), Ada Farndale (born 1917) and Ronald Martin Farndale (1919 to 1974), the Robert Farndale part of the Wakefield 1 Line. By 1921 Robert was a farmer and also supporting Stanley District Council, northeast of Wakefield as a horseman. By 1939, Robert was a dairy farmer at Bell’s Farm in Thornton-in-Craven, west of Skipton. Their sons, Robert Edwin Farndale and Maurice Farndale were married in a double wedding to Florence Lillian Hooper and Lena Stanley respectively in 1939. Both Robert and Maurice also became dairy farmers at Grassington and Edge House Farm at Barnoldswick, all in the Skipton area. Ada married Robert Walker in 1939, who was also a dairy farmer. Their youngest son, Ronald was captured at the Battle of Sidi Rezegh in World War 2, and later emigrated to New Zealand, and we will meet him again in Act 29. In 1941 Sarah Jane Farndale was Ronald’s next of kin when he was a prisoner of war, when Robert and Sarah were still farming at Bell’s Farm at Thornton-in-Craven. Robert’s son Alan Farndale moved to Cambridge and became an engineer and architectural designer; we met him in Act 20 Scene 5.

Robert at Craggs in about 1920 Joint Wedding. 1939, Maurice Farndale and Lena Stanley, Robert Farndale and Florence Cooper and others unknown

Ruth Farndale (1886 to 1974) went to Alberta in 1929, aged 42, and married her cousin, Martin Farndale. Their story is told in Act 27. When Martin died in Calgary aged 62 years, on 11 September 1943, Ruth returned to Harrogate and Ripon.

Ruth Farndale

William Farndale (1894 to 1974) married Mary E Coverdale at Danby-in-Cleveland Wesleyan Church on 9 December 1916. William Farndale was then still farming at Craggs Hall with his father. Mary was also from a farming family at Danby. William's younger brother, Edwin Farndale, was best man. Their bridesmaid was Miss Williamson of Castleton. They had a family of ten, the Thirsk Line, which still thrives today. William and Mary moved to Plane Tree Farm, Maunby, Thirsk in 1921 and farmed there for forty years. It was here that they brought up a family of six sons and four daughters. By 1939, William and Mary’s son Herbert Farndale (1917 to 1970) and Herbert’s wife Dorothy had taken Ash Tree Farm in Maunby. William became an active chairman of the Northallerton Branch of the National Farmer’s Union and represented the interests of farmers during the Second World War. William retired in 1960 and he died in 1974.

William Farndale in about 1920 and in about 1930 William and Mary’s wedding anniversary in 1966

Edwin Farndale (1898 to 1983) became a bank clerk with the Bank of Liverpool and Martins Limited at Middleton on Tees by 1921 and he married Mary Rogers the following year. They had a daughter, Julia, born in 1924. By the Second World War he had become a bank manager at Barnard Castle.

The family who remained at Craggs

Ernest Farndale (1889 to 1913) lived at Craggs but suffered from illness through his short life. He died in 1913, aged only 24.

Ernest Farndale at Craggs Hall Ernest’s gravestone at Brotton Old Cemetery

It was Herbert Farndale (1892 to 1971) who continued to farm at Craggs. Herbert joined the Yorkshire Regiment in the First World War, was awarded the Military Medal for bravery in the field, and was commissioned as an officer. We will return to his military exploits in Act 32. He returned to Craggs after the War and in 1921, he was assisting his father with farm work duties. Then, in 1923, when the Craggs Hall Farm was offered for sale, Mr H Farndale, son of Mr M Farndale, tenant of the farm, became the purchaser for £1,500. By 1937, it was Herbert who was allowing the annual Sunday School picnic to be held on Craggs Hall Farm and in 1939 he came first in the yearling, agricultural gelding or filly class at the Cleveland Show. In 1940 he advertised for a strong youth and lad for farm work. On 3 September 1940, during the Battle of Britain the areas of the Mersey Estuary, Bristol Channel, Kent and Tyne were bombed overnight and the Craggs Hall farm house took a direct hit from a German bomb. Herbert was away, but two people were killed.

Herbert Farndale

This is Carlin How football field in 1940. The goal is the Kilton Lane end of the pitch and in the distance at the left end of the houses can be seen Lower Cragg Hall farm. To the left of that and higher can be seen Upper Cragg Hall farm buildings and house among the trees. Herbert Farndale owned this when we were youngsters. I believe one of the teams was a Skinningrove works team. I lived in that left hand house in the late 1940s and we could watch the matches over our garden fence. This was what was fondly known as Bells Huts and is behind what is now the Bullet and Bayonet on Kilton lane. The foundry now stands exactly where that row of houses was.

By 1949 Herbert stood as an independent candidate for Skelton and Brotton Urban District Council.

A group of parishioners at the Brotton Methodist Church garden fete at Cragg Hall Farm, Brotton in August 1951, includes Mr H Farndale, owner of Cragg Hall Farm, Mrs Ebdon, who opened the fete, Revs A J Merchant and A G Jessop

Herbert became a consumer member of the Skelton and Brotton Food Control Committee for 1952. He continued as an Independent Councillor and he served on the Establishment Committee. He was a manager of Brotton Church of England School and served on the Road Safety Committee. When a recommendation that five tenants of Bell’s Huts, Carlin How, should have the next available council houses was made by the Skelton and Brotton Urban Council’s Health and Housing Committee at its meeting this week, Councillor H Farndale had asked if any further progress had been made towards rehousing the tenants in the huts. Some time ago, the Council obtained a demolition order against this property, and sent a letter to the residents asking for their views on being rehoused by the council. The replies read by the clerk, Mr F Wilkinson, to the committees showed that six of the 11 tenants are not desirous of leaving Carlin How. The Council had taken the lead in condemning these buildings said Councillor G W Simpson, committee chairman, and had a moral obligation towards rehousing the people. After the recommendation had been approved for the immediate rehousing of five tenants, Councillor E Harker moved that plans for building a bungalows on the site be drawn up. In 1953 all children attending school in the Skelton and Brotton urban areas and those under school age will receive a souvenir coronation mug from the urban council, the cost of providing the gifts to be met with an approximate 1d rate. Stating that at two previous meetings he had opposed any grant to coronation activities by the Council, Councillor C Armstrong moved that no grant be made. In doing so he did not wish to be considered negative or disloyal, but finance had to be seriously considered by the Council, and he understood that the Council might have to face a further increase in county rate. Working parties had been organised in some villages to work for coronation funds with a view to keeping down the rate, and he felt that this should be the way celebrations were paid for. Opposition to this motion came from Councillor H Farndale who said “we shall be ‘mugs’ if we don't provide something for the children.” He reminded the Council that part of Carlin How village is in Loftus urban area, and part in Skelton and Brotton area. Those children in Loftus District are to receive a souvenir, declared Councillor Farndale, and if the Skelton and Brotton Council did not do anything, he would buy souvenirs for the other children in Carlin How, and those at Kilton, himself.

When Herbert Farndale’s Craggs Hall Farm, Brotton had been bombed during the war, he resolved that when it was rebuilt, he would have a large parlour where the traditional cottage meetings could be held as in the days of his father and grand father. Methodists and others from Loftus, Carlin How and the Brotton district met at the farm in 1953 for a meeting conducted by the Rev a J Marchant. About 100 people were present.

In 1965, Councillor Herbert Farndale, of Cragg Hall Farm, Carlin How, is retiring from farming. His farm is to be sold by public auction next month. Councillor Farndale, 73, was born on the farm, where his father, the late Mr Matthew Farndale, took over in 1882. Councillor Farndale, whose grand father was also a Cleveland farmer, succeeded his father on the farm in 1921. He is a member of Skelton and Brotton Urban Council, having served since 1949, and is a well known Methodist. Herbert Farndale, died at the Cleveland Cottage Hospital, Brotton of uraemia, on 23 July 1971.

The Farndale interest in Craggs Hall farm thus ended in 1965.

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