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Gale Bank Farm
Gale Bank Farm was farmed by Alfred Farndale and later by Geoff Farndale
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Hyperlinks to other pages are in dark blue.
Headlines are in brown.
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Context and local history are in purple.
This webpage is divided into the
following sections:
- The Farndale
association with Gale Bank Farm
- The
History
of Gale Bank Farm
- Notes on the Kirk Family
- Martin’s research notes
The Farndale Association with Gale Bank Farm
Gale
Bank Farm was leased by the Farndale family from 23 January 1943 to 30
September 1998, a period of 55 years. This was the longest tenancy in its
history and by then the farm had grown to 401 acres.
Alfred
Farndale (FAR00683) took the tenancy at Gale Bank Farm on
23 January 1943 and farmed there until about 1972 when his son Alfred Geoffrey
Farndale (FAR00922) continued to farm at Gale Bank until 1
October 1998.
Martin
Farndale recalled: Towards the end of 1942, I came home from school one day
to be told by mother that it looked as if we had got a farm near Wensley in
Wensleydale. I had never been there, but I knew some children at school who
came from up there. It had always seemed a strange a remote land to me. However I was to cycle out to quickly give the message to my
father as he was wanted for an interview. Apparently
the existing farmer was not up to the standard demanded in war time by the War Agricultural
Committee and he was being turned off the farm. My father was to be interviewed
by the “War Ag” and by the Bolton estate on which the farm lay. I remember to
this day the excitement he showed saying in his quiet way, “that’s splendid
news”. It was indeed the best farm he had bid for and the one he wanted most,
some 450 acres between Wensley and Middleton, called Gale Bank Farm. He knew it
well and had already done some work on it. A few days later we heard that he
had got it, which was indeed wonderful news. It meant a lot of changes. Anne
and I were both at Northallerton Grammar School aged 13 and 212 respectively,
Geoff was at Welsey House School aged ten, and Margot at home but about to
start school.
We
moved to Gale Bank on 28 January 1943. I remember it all very well. The
furniture van came and everything was packed up. The
rest of us went in our heavily overloaded Standard 12. I remember it over
heating just outside Bedale and my father going into a farm and helping himself
to a bucket of water! I remember our arrival well, the house, and the buildings
were quite empty and we children raced throughout the
empty house. There were strange smells everywhere, particularly that of smoked
bacon, which our predecessors had done for years. We raced through all the farm
buildings which were big and extensive compared to anything we had known
before. It must have been cold in January and apart from a fire in the drawing
room and kitchen in daytime only there was no heat. But I don’t remember it
being cold. With great excitement we all chose our bedrooms and then the
furniture van arrived and we all helped move our
things into the house. The beds were made – the same ones we had got out of
that morning in Crosby Road, and we were ready for bed in our new house. Little
did we know what a major step in our lives this day was to be for us all. Gale
Bank was to become our home, and a firm base for us all, for many years to
come. Geoff and Margot started at Wensley school. Anne and I started at Yorebridge Grammar School straight away. This meant a three
mile walk or cycle across the fields and roads to Wensley station, a 15 mile train journey, and then s short walk to the school,
then a return in the evening. It meant an early rise, leaving the house in the
dark at 7.15am and getting home about 5.15pm.
The History of Gale Bank Farm
1086
The
Domesday Book: To this manor (West
Witton) belongs these berewicks: 2 caracutes at Whitton, 5 caracutes
at Wendreslage (Wensley), 4 caracutes to be taxed together, 14 caracutes,
and there may be ten ploughs. The whole 2 miles long and 2 broad.
The
Victoria County History – Yorkshire, A History of
the County of York North Riding: Volume 1 Parishes: Wensley, 1914: In
1086 there were two berewicks in WENSLEY, one of 4
and another of 3 carucates, each attached to Count Alan's manor of East Witton,
the overlordship subsequently following the descent of the honour of Richmond.
1184
Leyburn was named after Michael de
Leyburn, son of Robert, Lord of Downhole, who owned the land in 1884.
1199
The
church at Wensley was first mentioned.
Towards
the close of the twelfth century the lord of Wensley was Niel son of Alexander.
He was succeeded by a son Osbert, who from 1203 to about 1207 was engaged in
disputes concerning Wensley Church with Hugh Malebiche.
Osbert followed the barons in their rising against John, and was taken
prisoner, but liberated in 1217. He is last mentioned in 1231, and four years
later his son Roger de Ingoldsby was in possession. In 1246 he sub-enfeoffed
Wischard de Charron of 3 carucates in Ulshaw, Thomas
son of Hugh holding a mesne lordship and granting to Roger 60 acres of land in
Wensley
(The Victoria County History – Yorkshire, A History
of the County of York North Riding: Volume 1 Parishes: Wensley, 1914).
1220
The
land at Leyburn was transferred to Michael de Leyburn’s son Richard in 1220, to
Richard’s son Wymar in 1236 and to Wymar’s son William in 1286.
1240
The
present Wensley Church dates from 1240. The south chancel is intact from that
date. The Flemish brass is of Simon de Wensley, the Rector 1361 to 1394. The Scrope pew was built in the seventeenth century.
(from
the Victoria County History – Yorkshire, A History
of the County of York North Riding: Volume 1 Parishes: Wensley, 1914)
1246
The
mill at Castle Bolton on Apedale Beck dates from
1246.
1285
The
name of Peter son of John de Wensley occurs in 1285, and it is said to have
been as guardian of his son, but probably as trustee for the Scropes, that Geoffrey Luttrell of Irnham
paid the subsidy here in 1301, and was returned as
joint lord in 1316. John Wychard paid subsidy here in
1327–8, his assessment of the same sum as that of Henry le Scrope
being possibly for land in Ulshaw (The Victoria
County History – Yorkshire, A History of the County of York North Riding:
Volume 1 Parishes: Wensley, 1914).
1307
James
de Wensley obtained a market at Wensley in 1307 and a fair was held at the Feat
of the Holy Trinity from 1318 on the village green.
1316
Leyburn
was in the name of Cecily de Leyburn when it was transferred to Agnes de
Leyburn in 1316. Agnes married Thomas de Yarem in
1325 who passed the land on to William de Swinithwaite
ion 1334.
1379
Bolton
Castle was built in 1379 by Richard Scrope, 1st Baron
Scrope of Bolton (1327 to 1403) an English soldier and courtier, serving
Richard II who fought under the Black Prince at the Battle of Crecy in 1346.
The chapel of St Anne was added in 1399.
1420
Leyburn
passed to the manor of the Scropes.
There
was a bridge over the Ure at Wensley in the fifteenth century. It may have been
built by Richard, the First Lord of Scrope for £40
(see above). It was repaired in the seventeenth century and widened in 1812.
1459
In
about 1459 Henry le Scrope obtained from John Wensley
a third of certain tenements and 16 oxgangs here in exchange for the office of
bailiff of Eston. The whole of Wensley, thus acquired from divers
sources by the Scropes, followed the descent of the
manor of Castle Bolton, Lord Bolton being the present owner (The Victoria
County History – Yorkshire, A History of the County of York North Riding:
Volume 1 Parishes: Wensley, 1914).
1568
Mary
Queen of Scots was imprisoned at Bolton Castle for six months from July 1568 to
January 1569.She escaped and was recaptured at Queen’s Gap, Leyburn.
1645
During
the Civil War, Lord John Scrope, a Royalist, was
besieged at Bolton Castle in 1645. The castle was defended by the Richmondshire Militia, commanded by Colonel Scrope and Colonel Chaytor. After
a vigorous attack the garrison surrendered for lack of food on 5 November 1645.
1647
In
1647 an order was given to make Bolton Castle untenable.
1684
Leyburn
market started on Tuesdays.
1723
A
Field Map dated 1723 of Wensley in the Bolton
Estate Papers covers the area to the south of the river Ure and shows
several fields called Gale Bank but there is no farm on the map where Gale Bank
Farm stands today. The ownership of the fields is given
and it is clear from the parish register that they lived in the village. The
map (see traces A and A1 below), shows that:
·
Plot
504 called Gale Bank just over 9 acres was owned by William Lodge;
·
Plot
505, also called Gale Bank, of 3.5 acres, was owned by John Foss;
·
Plot
506 also called Gale Bank of 15 acres was owned by Matthew Humphrey; and
·
Plot
507 also called Gale Bank of 2 acres was also owned by Matthew Humphrey.
1775
Wensley
Church, 26 April 1775, Sam Hooper
1778
A
map dated 1778 in the Bolton Estate Papers shows
a similar situation to that in 1723, with no sign of a farm at the place where
Gale Bank Farm now stands. By this time:
·
Robert
Ward was tenant of Plots 504 and 505; and
·
Alice
Humphrey was tenant of Plots 506 and 507,
all still called Gale Bank (see Traces B
and B1)
1790
The
tenant at Gale Bank Farm from 1790 to 1810 was John Humphrey (Bolton Papers).
The
buildings of Gale Bank Farm were probably built around 1790, at the time of the
Enclosure Awards for Wensley.
1797
The
map in 1797 showed the farm buildings in the same shape as they were during the
early Farndale era. The Field Book notes with the map show that John Humphrey
was tenant and had 106 acres including five fields bearing the name Gale Bank.
The fields around had many tenants – Thomas Ward had 50.8 acres; Anthony Willis
had 57 acres; Widow Fletcher had 2 acres; Francis Tasker had 1.3 acres; Thomas
Glenton had 4.5 acres; William Scott had 7.2 acres; Thomas Bulmer had 3.1
acres; Henry Pierson had 0.5 acres; and Andrew Bell had 27.1 acres.
1810 to 1815
It
appears that Gale Bank Farm was returned to the estate at this stage (Bolton Papers). The papers refer to “Gale Bank
returned – 28th April 1810”.
1815
Ottiwell
Wood was the tenant at Gale Bank Farm from 1815 to 1826 (Bolton Papers). Ottiwell was born in 1781, so
would have been 34 when he took the tenancy.
When
Thomas John Hutton Wood, the son of Ottiwell and Jane Wood was baptised on 27
February 1814, they were described as being of
Wensley, so this was presumably just before they moved to Gale Bank. On 21
March 1815, when their daughter Ann was born and on 22 February 1817 when their
daughter Jane was born, both daughters were described as ‘of Gale Bank’.
So presumably the Wood family moved to Gale Bank between 27 February 1814 and 21
March 1815.
1816
There
is reference in the Bolton Papers to “Gale
Bank was being finished in 1816.” This could have referred to the
completion of the new building or the end of a refurbishment. The record continues: “Three farms on the
estate are very similar, West Bolton, Castle Bank and Gale Bank. They are all
late Georgian style, plain but substantial and all well sited with magnificent
views. A central front door leading into a passage is flanked by the windows of
the rooms on either side with at the rear, kitchen premises and at the front a
curved garden as depicted by Tuke.”
The
Field Book shows that Gale Bank Farm was 283 acres in 1816.
1821
The
old market cross at Leyburn was destroyed by a fallen elm tree.
1826
Stephen
Bell was the tenant of Gale Bank Farm from 1826 to
1829 (Bolton Papers). Stephen Bell may have
left Gale Bank in 1829 due to illness. There is an entry in the Wensley Parish
Register: 1830, Stephen Bell of Bellerby, aged 75, buried.
1829
Mrs
Bell, the widow of Stephen Bell, was the tenant of Gale Bank Farm from 1829 to
1830 (Bolton Papers).
1830
Thomas
Kirk was the tenant of Gale Bank Farm from 1830 to 1851 (Bolton Papers and census records). The records
show that in 1830 Mrs E Bell (presumably this was Stephen’s widow), handed
the farm over to Mr Thomas Kirk, 281 acres, 2 rods and 21 perches, value £465.
1838
The
York Herald, 22 December 1838: FATAL
ACCIDENT. As Mr. John Calvert, of Masham, was passing along Wensley Lane, on
Saturday night last, he heard the cries of some person in distress, on the
opposite side of the river. Having mentioned the circumstance at the White Swan
in Middleham, it was soon ascertained that a man named Kitty Bell was missing,
and as the night was uncommonly dark, the bellman went round to muster a number of the inhabitants to go in search of him. Nearly
all the lanterns in the place were put in requisition, and an anxious, yet
fruitless search, was made during the night. About nine o’clock the following
morning the poor fellow was discovered in a stell on the Gale Bank Farm, quite
dead, although the water was not sufficiently deep to cover the body. The
corpse having been removed to Wensley, an inquest was
held there on Monday. The deceased was an idiot, about 64 years of age, and it
is thought that he had sunk under the combined influence of terror and cold. He
had formed a strong attachment to everything connected with the parish church
at Middleham, and was particularly fond of ringing the prayer bell, which he
has been in the habit of doing every Sunday for a great number of years.
1840
The
Tithe Records in 1840 shows Gale Bank was a
farm of 316 acres.
1841
The
Census Return for 1841 for Gale Bank, Wensley
listed Thomas Kirk, 55, farmer; Elizabeth Kirk, 35; Charles Kirk, 13; Robert
Kirk, 9, Ellen Kirk, 11; Elizabeth Kirk, 2; and Henry Kirk, 3 months plus 6
servants: Joihn and William Heslop, Robert Runcifs, James Nesham, Elizabeth Brisby and Ellen Grayson.
1851
The Census
return for 1851 for Gale Bank Farm, Wensley
listed Thomas Kirk, married, 70, farmer of 350 acres employing 4 women and
1 man, born at Rasklif, Yorkshire; Elizabeth Kirk,
54, his wife, born at Gathale, Yorkshire; Richard
Kirk, 26, unmarried, his son, employed on the farm, born at Morton Palms,
Durham; Charles Kirk, 23, unmarried, his son, employed on the farm, born at
Morton Palms, Durham; Jane Kirk, 20, unmarried, his daughter, employed on the
farm, born at Morton Palms, Durham; Elizabeth Kirk, 11, his daughter, born at
Gale Bank; Henry Farndale, son, 10, born at Gale Bank; and 5 servants: Margaret
Bennison, Elizabeth James, Thomas Hall, George Carmion
and Robert Kirkbride.
Charles Kirk, the son of Thomas Kirk,
was the tenant of Gale Bank Farm from 1851 to about 1870 (Bolton Papers and census records).
1857
Leyburn
Town Hall was built.
Wensley
in 1857
Gale Bank Farm in 1857 Leyburn in 1857
1861
The Census
return for 1861 for Gale Bank Farm, Wensley listed:
·
Charles
Kirk, married, 32, farmer of 400 acres employing 6 men, Elizabeth Kirk, 22, his
wife, plus 5 servants (Sarah and George Alderson, John Wisby, William Lambert
and John Calvert);
·
Richard
Kirk, married, 40, farmer of 200 acres employing 3 men, Jane Kirk, 28, his
sister plus 3 servants;
·
At
Gale Bank Cottage: James and Jane Kirkbride with their children Bernard, Jane, James and Mary.
1870
Richard Kirk, the son of Thomas Kirk,
was the tenant of Gale Bank Farm from about 1870 to 1881 (Bolton Papers and census records).
1871
The Census
return for 1871 for Gale Bank Farm, Wensley listed Richard Kirk, head, 47,
unmarried, farmer of 400 acres; Jane Kirk, 40, his sister; Thomas Kirk, 88, retired
farmer; Elizabeth Kirk, 74; Elizabeth Kirk, 30 and John Kirk, 43. The Kirkbride
family continued to live at Gale Bank Cottage.
1868
The
present Leyburn Church was built.
1879
The
Richmond & Ripon Chronicle, 15 March 1879:
GALE BANK, WENBSLEY, NEAR LEYBURN: Important sale of splendid dining and
drawing rooms suites in rosewood and mahogany, equal to new, 8 prime feather
beds and good bedroom appointments, carpets, rich tone cottage pianoforte,
blankets, cut glass, china, plated goods, cutlery,
dairy utensils and kitchen requisites. Mr. A Urwin
begs to announce that he is favoured with the instructions from Mr Richard Kirk
who is leaving the neighbourhood, to sell by public auction, at Gale Bank
aforesaid, on Thursday the 20th March 1879, the whole
of his very costly household furniture, horses, and other effects...
1881
John O Trotter was the tenant of Gale
Bank Farm (Bulmer’s and Keelys Directories and census
records).
The 1881
Census for Gale Bank listed John O Trotter, 42, married, farmer of 575
acres employing 9 men and 1 boy, born Ravensworth, Yorkshire; Eleanor Trotter,
his wife, 31, born Akbar, Yorkshire; Anne Trotter, 7, born Thornton Steward; Eleanor
Trotter, 6, Jane Trotter, 1 and 5 servants.
1883
The Yorkshire
Post and Leeds Intelligencer, 8 June 1883 reported on the Royal Agricultural
Show of England and included reference to John Outhwaite Trotter of Gale Bank,
Wensley, who had become a life member of the Show.
1884
The Boston
Spa News, 29 February 1884 included a lengthy letter to the editor from John
Outhwaite Trotter of Gale Bank, Wensley about foot and mouth disease and
allowing foreign animals to come to the country from ‘diseased countries’.
1890
Metcalf
Spensley was the tenant of Gale Bank Farm from about 1890. He was still there
in 1893. (Bulmer’s and Kelly’s Directories).
This was probably a reference to Simon Spensley (see census
records below).
Gale Bank perhaps about 1890 to 1914. If
1890 to 1901 this may be the Spensley family. If after 1901, then the Francis
Whitelock family.
1891
The 1891
Census for Gale Bank Farm, Wensley listed Simon Spensley, 28, farmer and
cattle dealer, single, born Carperby, Yorkshire with two
domestic servants, four farmn servants and a shepherd
and his uncle, Ralph Spensley who worked as a farm labourer. Simon Spensley was
the son of Simon Spensley born about 1814 and they had previously farmed at
Tullis Cote, Wensley.
1901
By 1901 Francis Whitelock was the tenant
at Gale Bank. The 1901 census for Gale Bank
listed Francis Whitelock, widower, 30, farmer (born in Harmby,
Yorkshire); with two house servants; a shepherd, two cowmen and as ploughman.
1911
The Yorkshire
Post and Leeds Intelligencer, 21 August 1911 reported on cattle entries
to the Wensleydale show by F Whitelock of Gale Bank Farm.
1913
Francis Whitelock was the tenant of Gale
Bank Farm (Kelly’s Directory).
1921
The 1921
Census for Wensley lists Francis Whitelock, 50, a farmer, now married to
Lena Whitelock, 42, with Ivy Whitelock, 18 a solicitor’s clerk, Margaret E Whitelock,
16, a solicitor’s clerk, Frances Lena Whitelock, 10 and a boarder, Emma
Pearson.
1937
John Taylor & Son was the tenant of
Gale Bank Farm (Kelly’s Directory).
1939
The 1939
Register for Riverside, Leyburn Road, Middleham, lists John C Taylor, a
dairy farmer (born 10 November 1891) with Jessie Taylor, his wife.
1943
The Yorkshire
Post and Leeds Intelligencer, 23 January 1943: A NORTH RIDING
DISPOSSESSION: Messrs Taylor Brothers, who were dispossessed of Gale Bank Farm,
Wensley, by order of the North Riding War Agricultural Executive Committee,
made a statement on the case yesterday. They said that if they had been present
at the press conference at Northallerton when the committee's decision was
explained, several statements would have been immediately challenged on the
ground of inaccuracy. Messrs Taylor brothers
maintained that it was not too late for the chairman of the executive committee
and his colleagues to meet at the farm now and inspect it, with a neutral body
of farmers. They added, “we strongly reiterate that no warning was ever given
to us by the committee of any hint that anything was wrong, and we got a shock
when, on August 4, we received a notice to terminate all possession on October
11, 1942.”
Alfred Farndale (FAR00683) took
the tenancy at Gale Bank Farm on 23 January 1943 and farmed there until about
1972 when his son Alfred Geoffrey Farndale (FAR00922)
continued the tenancy of Gale Bank Farm. The family moved there on 28 January
1943.
1972
Alfred
Geoffrey (“Geoff”) Farndale (FAR00922)
continued the Farndale tenancy of Gale Bank Farm.
Alfred
continued to work on the farm almost until he died in 1987.
Alfred (“Gran”) feeding the
stock Gran by the River Ure
Gran and the famous landrover
1990s
Gale Bank in the 1990s
1 October 1998
Gale Bank was
sold to Metcalfe Farms.
The Kirk Family
Martin Farndale’s Research Notes
