Church Houses

Farndale was arable and pasture land during the late Middle Ages; monks from Rievaulx held the rights to keep cattle in the valley.{{cite book |last1=Waites |first1=Bryan |title=Moorland & vale-land farming in North-east Yorkshire: the monastic contribution in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries |date=1967 |publisher=St Anthony Publishing |location=York |page=8|oclc=1150797583}} Church Houses is one of three hamlets in the valley (the other two being Lowna and Low Mill), but there is no settlement named Farndale.{{cite book |last1=Walker |first1=Peter N. |title=Murders and mysteries from the North York Moors |date=1988 |publisher=Hale |location=London |isbn=0709035101 |page=41}}{{cite news |last1=Barnett |first1=Ben |title=Daffodil dale celebrates as route to increased tourism is repaired |work=The Yorkshire Post |date=15 October 2018 |page=14|issn=0963-1496}} Church Houses lies to the east of the River Dove in Upper Farndale at a height of {{convert|150|m}} above sea level, and the roads through the hamlet serve as a central point with lanes radiating out of the valley in four directions.{{cite map|title = North York Moors - Western area|map =OL26 |year =2018 |scale =1:25,000 |series =Explorer |publisher =Ordnance Survey |isbn =978-0-319-24265-0 }}{{cite book |last1=Elgee |first1=Frank |title=The moorlands of north-eastern Yorkshire : their natural history and origin |date=1912 |publisher=A. Brown & Sons |location=London |page=16|oclc=11432454}} The extant buildings at High Mill, just to the south of Church Houses, are grade II listed. The building used to have a waterwheel which was used to grind corn. A mill was recorded on this site as far back as 1276.{{cite web |title=High Mill, Church Houses, Farndale East – The Mills Archive |url=https://new.millsarchive.org/mills/index/?which=4077 |website=new.millsarchive.org |access-date=30 December 2024}}{{NHLE|desc=High Mill and Attached Mill House |num=1240991 |grade=II|access-date=30 December 2024}}

The hamlet is best known for being the starting/finishing point of the daffodil walks that people undertake in the valley in late March/early April.{{cite news |title=Wild Daffodils In A Yorkshire Dale |work=The Times |issue=47949 |date=22 March 1938 |page=20|issn=0140-0460}} Farndale is renowned for its daffodils which grow in the valley in their thousands.{{cite book |last1=Bagshaw |first1=Mike |title=Slow Yorkshire Moors & Wolds: including York & the coast |date=2014 |publisher=Bradt |location=Chalfont St Peter |isbn=9781841625485 |page=40}} The hamlet has a pub, the Feversham Arms which dates back to the 19th century,{{cite news |title=Feversham Arms, Church Houses, Farndale. |url=https://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/7867365.feversham-arms-church-houses-farndale/ |access-date=28 December 2024 |work=York Press |date=26 March 2005}} and whilst the low number of dwellings in Church Houses provided little custom, the pub is popular will hill-farmers and visitors from the surrounding areas.{{cite news |last1=McGhie |first1=Caroline |title=Homes - Pub for sale at Church Houses |url=https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=AWGLNB&t=continent%3AEurope%21Europe/country%3AEngland%21England&sort=YMD_date%3AA&hide_duplicates=2&fld-base-0=alltext&maxresults=60&val-base-0=%22Church%20Houses%22&docref=news/0F92588973F9A559 |work=The Sunday Times |date=22 December 1985|url-access=subscription}} The pub used to be the recreational meeting point of the Farndale Hunt, one of the oldest established hunts in England (pre-dating 1835), but which disbanded in 2015.{{cite news |title=Hunt dinner at Farndale |work=The York Herald |date=20 November 1882 |location=Column C |page=8}}{{cite book |last1=Fairfax-Blakeborough |first1=J. |title=England's oldest hunt: being chapters of the history of the Bilsdale, Farndale and Sinnington Hunts, collected during several years |date=1907 |publisher=Fox House |location=Calton-in-Cleveland |page=143 |chapter=XII: The Farndale}}

The old school house, which was built in 1833 and is a grade II listed building, has now been converted into a private dwelling, and just east of the hamlet, is the Church of St Mary, which is also grade II listed.{{cite book |last1=Rushton |first1=John |title=The Ryedale story: a Yorkshire countryside handbook |date=1986 |publisher=Ryedale District Council |location=Malton |page=139|oclc=62171506}}{{NHLE|desc=The Old School House|num=316061|grade=II|access-date=7 January 2025 }}{{cite news |last1=Somerville |first1=Christopher |title=20 winter walks: coastal routes and countryside trails |work=The Times |issue=71079 |date=28 December 2013 |page=157|issn=0140-0460}} The ecclesiastical parish of Farndale East Side used to have a chapel of ease, a daughter church of the parish church in Lastingham, which was built in 1638, but St Mary's Church was built on the site in 1831, and extended between 1907 and 1914.{{cite book |last1=Rushton |first1=John |title=The Ryedale story: a Yorkshire countryside handbook |date=1986 |publisher=Ryedale District Council |location=Malton |page=143|oclc=62171506}}{{cite web |title=Genuki: Lastingham Supplementary, Yorkshire (North Riding) |url=https://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/YKS/NRY/Lastingham/more |website=genuki.org.uk |access-date=29 December 2024}}{{cite book |last1=Wilson |first1=John Marius |title=The imperial gazetteer of England and Wales : embracing recent changes in counties, dioceses, parishes, and boroughs volume 1 |date=1869 |publisher=Fullarton |location=Edinburgh |page=694|oclc=810601960}}{{NHLE|desc=Church Houses Church of St Mary |num= 1296492|grade=II|access-date=29 December 2024}} A survey of the churchyard in 1990 determined that it contained the graves of 225 people.{{cite book |last1=Sampson |first1=Alex |title=Monumental inscriptions St. Mary's churchyard, Farndale |date=1990 |publisher=Cleveland, North Yorkshire and South Durham Family History Society |location=Redcar |page=5|oclc=1443819104}} The church has a "...chancel, nave, vestry, large porch, a western bell gable with one bell, and sitting for 300 people."{{cite book |title=Kelly's Directory of the North and East Ridings of Yorkshire (with the cities of York and Hull) |date=1905 |publisher=Kelly's |location=London |page=49|oclc=1015436172}}

The village hall, which was re-built in 2019, replacing a structure that had acted as the village hall for 70 years previously, is considered eco-friendly, and the annual Farndale Show is held at the showfield in Church Houses.{{cite web |title=Farndale {{!}} NYMNP |url=https://www.northyorkmoors.org.uk/places-to-go/farndale |website=northyorkmoors.org.uk |access-date=28 December 2024}}{{cite web |title=The Old Hall – Farndale Village Hall |url=https://farndalevillagehall.org.uk/the-old-hall/ |website=farndalevillagehall.org.uk |access-date=30 December 2024}} The show in 2024 was the 115th show.{{cite web |title=Farndale Village Hall – Farndale Village Hall & Community Centre |url=https://farndalevillagehall.org.uk/ |website=farndalevillagehall.org.uk |access-date=28 December 2024 |date=19 October 2024}}{{cite web |title=Farndale Agricultural, Horticultural & industrial Society 115th Annual Exhibition |url=https://www.farndale.community/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/FARNDALE-SCHEDULE-2024-website.pdf |website=farndale.community |access-date=28 December 2024}}{{cite news |last1=Darley |first1=Karen |title=Schedules for the 114th Farndale Show are now available |url=https://www.gazetteherald.co.uk/news/23599085.schedules-114th-farndale-show-now-available/ |access-date=28 December 2024 |work=Gazette & Herald |date=19 June 2023}} The showfield also doubles as the pitch for High Farndale Cricket Club, who play in the Feversham League alongside five other teams. The Feversham League is considered to be one of the smallest cricket leagues in Yorkshire.{{cite web |last1=Wilkinson |first1=Alastair |title=Feversham League: Yorkshire's smallest cricket league? |url=https://cricketyorkshire.com/feversham-cricket-league-2023/ |website=cricketyorkshire.com |access-date=28 December 2024 |date=16 July 2023}}{{cite news |last1=Berry |first1=Chris |title=Why Farndale will always be home |work=The Yorkshire Post |date=26 August 2023 |location=Country Post |page=20|issn=0963-1496}} The flat pitch is in a field which has a 1-in-6 drop, and has been described as the "..only flat 22 yards in the dale.."{{cite news |last1=Amos |first1=Mike |title=Fans go grazing at Church Houses |work=The Northern Echo |date=8 June 2007 |page=8|issn=2043-0442}} There are no shops in Church Houses, but there is a local store in the nearby hamlet of Low Mill.{{cite news |last1=Darley |first1=Karen |title=Farndale Estate opens new village shop |url=https://www.gazetteherald.co.uk/news/23666896.farndale-estate-opens-new-village-shop-low-mill/ |access-date=7 January 2025 |work=Gazette & Herald |date=20 July 2023}}

The hamlet is within the civil parish of Farndale East Side, and is represented at Westminster as part of the Thirsk and Malton Constituency.{{cite web |title=E04 Civil Parish Farndale East |url=https://statistics.data.gov.uk/atlas/resource?uri=http://statistics.data.gov.uk/id/statistical-geography/E04007571 |website=statistics.data.gov.uk |access-date=28 December 2024}}{{cite web |title=Election Maps |url=https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/election-maps/gb/?x=466633&y=496628&z=7&bnd1=wmc&bnd2=cpc&labels=off |website=ordnancesurvey.co.uk |access-date=28 December 2024 |quote=On the left of the screen is the "Boundary" tab; click this and activate either civil parishes or Westminster Constituencies (or both), however, only two functions can be active at any one time.}} Until 2023, it was part of the Ryedale District of North Yorkshire, and in ancient times, was part of the wapentake of Ryedale.{{cite news |last1=Minting |first1=Stuart |title=Outrage as council dismisses Ryedale community grant scheme |url=https://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/23603865.north-yorkshire-outrage-council-dismisses-community-grant-scheme/ |access-date=10 January 2025 |work=York Press |date=21 June 2023 |quote=Former elected members of Ryedale District Council, which ceased to exist after March 31 as the unitary North Yorkshire Council was launched.....}}{{cite book |last1=Appleton |first1=Norman |title=The Ryedale District of North Yorkshire |date=1977 |publisher=Ryedale Council |location=Malton |page=i|oclc=16376502}}{{cite book |editor1-last=Page |editor1-first=William |title=The Victoria History of the Counties of England; Yorkshire, the North Riding Volume 1 |date=1968 |publisher=University of London |location=London |page=512 |oclc=878120}} In 1977, Ryedale Council estimated that the population of the hamlet was 110, however, at the 2011 census, the population statistics were included within the civil parish of Farndale West.{{cite book |last1=Appleton |first1=Norman |title=The Ryedale District of North Yorkshire |date=1977 |publisher=Ryedale Council |location=Malton |page=43|oclc=16376502}}{{NOMIS2011|id=E04007572|title=Farndale West Parish|access-date=28 December 2024}} A public bus service runs in spring in conjunction with the blooming of daffodils in the valley, otherwise, the nearest Moorsbus service runs to the east of the hamlet past the Lion Inn and Blakey Ridge.{{cite book |last1=Dillon |first1=Paddy |title=The North York Moors |date=2011 |publisher=Cicerone |location=Milnthorpe |isbn=9781849655217 |page=136}}{{cite web |title=The Moorsbus |url=https://moorsbus.org/ |website=moorsbus.org |access-date=28 December 2024}}

A pre-Second World War plan to flood Farndale to provide a reservoir was resurrected in the 1960s and 1970s.{{cite journal |last1=McDonnell |first1=John |title=Editors Note |journal=The Ryedale Historian |date=1965 |volume=1 |page=6 |publisher=Helmsley Archaeological and Historical Society |issn=1362-5365 |oclc=6798639}}{{cite web |title=Farndale Reservoir - Hansard - UK Parliament |url=https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/1969-03-03/debates/c61fc9db-4dd5-4049-9721-125c8fbb0e98/FarndaleReservoir |website=hansard.parliament.uk |access-date=28 December 2024}} The Hull Corporation installed a weir over Hodge Beck in neighbouring Bransdale (which was also planned to be flooded) to measure flow rates.{{cite web |title=MNA146712 {{!}} National Trust Heritage Records |url=https://heritagerecords.nationaltrust.org.uk/HBSMR/MonRecord.aspx?uid=MNA146712 |website=heritagerecords.nationaltrust.org.uk |access-date=28 December 2024}} If it had been approved, the dam would have been able to provide {{convert|88,000,000|impgal}} of water a day to Kingston upon Hull and Sheffield.{{cite news |last1=Faux |first1=Ronald |title=Bill may restart battle over reservoir |work=The Times |issue=58028 |date=20 November 1970 |page=3|issn=0140-0460}} The reservoir would have taken up the complete upper dale and would have seen a dam head {{convert|130|ft}} high at the northern end of Church Houses. The plan was never carried out; at a further reading of the bill in 1970, the chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee enacted a protocol barring members who had previously voted for the scheme from voting again, and the bill was refused.{{cite news |title=Call for national water authority |work=The Times |issue=58103 |date=19 February 1971 |page=3|issn=0140-0460}}{{cite journal |last1=McCulloch |first1=Christine S |title=Transparency: aid or obstacle to effective defence of vulnerable environments from reservoir construction? Dam decisions and democracy in North East England |journal=Area |date=March 2006 |volume=38 |issue=1 |page=29 |doi=10.1111/j.1475-4762.2006.00672.x |publisher=Royal Geographical Society |bibcode=2006Area...38...24M |issn=0004-0894}}

• Listed buildings in Farndale East

{{Reflist}}

{{commons Category|Church Houses, Farndale}}

• [https://colinday.co.uk/maps/RyedaleMaps/ChurchHouses.pdf Map of the hamlet]
• [https://www.northyorkmoors.org.uk/planning/policy/have-your-say-on-the-design-code/What-makes-our-villages-special/villages-c-d NYMNP What makes our villages special page]

Category:Hamlets in North Yorkshire