Arthington - Leeds District - West Yorkshire

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Arthington, Leeds District, West Yorkshire

Introduction

This is the fourth in my series of articles about civil parishes. Initially this is a study based on maps and whatever information can be gathered from books and websites, illustrated by geograph photographs. I have not cluttered the text with credits, as the photographer's name can be seen when the mouse hovers over the thumbnail. Eventually I hope to explore the parish, find more information and take many more photographs. Meanwhile I hope that others might do the same.

Notes

Maps consulted:

• Thomas Jeffrys's map of Yorkshire at 1/mile, published in 1775
• The OS 6/mile map that can be seen on Link ('the 1851 map')
• The OS 2nd series 1:25000 map SE24/34 published in 1974 (surveyed 1953 to 1965) ('mid-20C map')
• The OS 'Explorer' 1:25000 map Sheet 289.

For a map showing the boundary of Arthington see Link. I have shown the 20C boundary in violet and and the boundary of the hamlet of West Brearey in magenta. Part of West Brearey was transferred to Bramhope CP at some time after 1851, perhaps when civil parishes were formed in 1866. East Brearey was a hamlet of Adel cum Eccup township. This article includes only the part of West Brearey that is in the modern civil parish of Arthington.

Architectural information is for listed buildings is from the ImagesofEngland website. Links to the latter are provided where there is a photograph that does not duplicate one on the geograph site. These are identified by 'IoE link'.

History

Arthington was listed in Domesday Book, held by Richard de Surdeval from the Count of Mortain.
It was divided into smaller holdings at an early date. West Breary was a hamlet (but see note 2 above), and Creskeld might have been, as it was a separate manor described as a vill in the 13C and in the 15C. There were two forges in the park of Creskeld in 1352, but in Pool township; Pool and Creskeld manors were in the same ownership in 1508, so the park might have extended over the township boundary. In a later agreement of 1395 permission was given to use trees in Creskeld Wood, presumably for the making of charcoal as fuel for the forges, and a channel was to be made to convey water to a water-wheel. (Faull and Moorhouse 1981). It would seem likely that the forge was adjacent to the watercourse that runs along the parish boundary to the west of Creskeld Hall. The 1851 map gives Kirkskil instead of Creskeld, and Jeffrys's map shows 'Kers Kilns'. Could this name be from 'kilns' meaning furnaces?

Arthington was a township of the ancient parish of Adel, in Skyrack wapentake. It became a civil parish in the West Riding of Yorkshire in 1866, and part of Leeds Metropolitan District (in West Yorkshire) in 1974.

Geography

Arthington consists of the south side of Wharfedale between the civil parishes of Pool and Harewood. The underlying rock of the Millstone Grit series, which is quarried at Arthington Bank and Black Hill, the latter in West Brearey. There are large areas of flat farmland on the alluvium beside the river; some of this is washland, and subject to periodic flooding. There might once have been a lake here, dammed by a moraine following the last glacial period.

The A659 road from Otley to Tadcaster forms the spine of the road system, following the river on the south side. The village is not nucleated, but is strung out along the main road. The Leeds to Harrogate railway cuts across the valley at right-angles, joined by the abandoned branch to Otley, which continued to Burley-in-Wharfedale where it joined the Bradford to Ilkley line.

The population in 2001 was 561.

Bibliography

Ed. M.L.Faull and S.A.Moorehouse, West Yorkshire: and Archaeological Survey to AD 1500, West Yorkshire MCC 1981
Nikolaus Pevsner and Enid Radcliffe, The Buildings of England – Yorkshire, West Riding, 1967

List of Routes

Arthington is explored in this article by following routes as follows:

1. The A659 Arthington Lane (west to east)

2. Creskeld Lane

3. Part of West Breary

4. Warren Lane

5. Black Hill Road

6. Rawden Hill, Bedlam Lane, Allums Lane

#1 Arthington Lane

Arthington Lane was part of the medieval road from York to Otley, important because the manor of Otley belonged to the Archbishop of York. A turnpike trust was formed to improve the highway from Tadcaster to Otley in 1752-3. The road has generally kept its medieval twists and turns, but at some time after Thomas Jeffrys surveyed Yorkshire for his map of 1775, a new road was built from the foot of Rawden Hill to Harewood Bridge, bypassing Weardley and the Harewood estate.

SE256448 A boundary stone marks the entry into Arthington, as the road crosses a stream.

SE257448 The entrance to Arthington House Farm.



SE258448 Arthington Garth, a late 20C development.

SE259448 The Wharfedale Inn, perhaps built here because it is opposite Station Road.



Station Road leads to the site of the former Arthington Junction Station which was at the southern fork of a triangular junction. Station Road has a row of houses along it, and is a public footpath leading to Staircase Lane, Bramhope.

SE260448 The railway bridge, called, for some reason, Pool Bridge. Built c.1845. In 1850 the station was here, on the south side of the main road and presumably accessed by steps.




SE261447 Creskeld Lane (#2) to the south, Warren Lane (#4) to the north. On the NW corner of the crossroads a chapel was shown on the mid-20C OS map.

SE262447 The Post Office is on the north side, if it hasn't been closed.

SE267447 The school is on the north side ('Parochial School' on the 1851 map). Driveway to Mill Farm (SE 268 450), shown as 'Mill' on Jeffrys's map, 'Arthington Mills (Corn)' on the 1851 map. A view of Mill Farm from Arthington Lane:



SE269446 On the south side, Crag View and Ivy Cottage, Holme View, are a pair of cottages, built of coursed squared sandstone with quoins and a stone slate roof,.as an eye-catcher, in the 19C. The central two-storey part is Crag View, and the wings are single-storey with screen walls at first-floor level, topped by an open pediment and battlements. IoE link

SE269446 On the south side Nos. 5 to 10 is a row of six cottages, built in the early to mid-19C of coursed squared sandstone with quoins and dressings of the same, and a Welsh slate roof. All have a wide recessed arch at first-floor level, merging into the eaves. The row of cottages was originally symmetrical, with the ones next to the end slightly recessed, but No.5 on the right has been extended in a similar style, but without the blank arch.
IoE link

SE273446 Black Hill Road (#5) to the south, and to the north he driveway to Arthington Hall (SE 273 449) This is a country house, mostly an early to mid-18C rebuilding of an earlier house, altered again and extended in the later 19C (designed by Waterhouse). Built of coursed dressed sandstone, with a slate roof. The main block is a rectangular range of nine by five bays, in Classical style. A balustraded parapet is carried round the block. The former porch has been replaced with a conservatory, with ashlar pilasters separating very large windows which fill each bay. The west front has two additional parts to the rear, the first of one storey with a large bay-window, and dormer windows lighting the roof space. The second addition is of two storeys with a balustrade matching that of the main block. Inside there is an oval stairwell with an unusual wooden 'flying staircase' mounting in two flights and returning in one. The third photograph is of the rear of the house.



There are a few interesting features in the grounds: an 18C stone dog kennel, c.50m SE of Arthington Hall. This is built of of stone slabs, on a plain plinth, with a slab roof; it has a round-headed doorway in the south end.

The former 18C stable block is c.50m east of Arthington Hall, and is now a house. This is of two storeys and seven bays, with a pedimented three-bay centre projecting forwards slightly.

The ha-ha to the east of the east drive to Arthington Hall is also probably 18C. This is a low retaining wall of dry-jointed coursed squared sandstone, with a flat coping. Ha-has keep the cattle out of the garden without obstructing the view.
IoE link

SE274446 On the south side, The Grange (Arthington Grange on the 1851 map) was built in the mid to later 18C, with a 19C addition at the rear. It is of three storeys, built of coursed squared sandstone with quoins and a stone slate roof with prominent kneelers at the ends of the coping.
IoE link

There is a (probably) 18C cold store c.20m south of "The Grange" This has sandstone walls and a turf roof, and is built into a bank. It has a plain doorway with a rectangular lintel, and an arch-vaulted roof inside.

SE275447 On the north side, just before the church, the house on the left was called 'Old Bedlam' on the 1851 map. (See #6 for 'New Bedlam')

SE276446 On the south side, St. Peter's Church was built in 1864, designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott (Pevsner and Radcliffe 1967). It is built of rock-faced sandstone, in the Gothic style, with a slate roof.. It has a nave with a north-west tower topped by a short spire, north and south transepts, and a chancel. Inside are various brass wall monuments to members of the Sheepshanks family of Arthington Hall; the first vicar was Thomas Sheepshanks. The church has one bell hung for full circle ringing. It is dated 1864, is 29 in dia., weighs 5cwt and its pitch is Eflat. There is a two-train clock by Potts of Leeds, 1910, which drives a single dial on the north side of the tower. It strikes the bell on the hour with a side-hammer. bell link



The vicarage is behind the church, and across the road on the north side there is a cricket ground.

SE279447 Holt Farm on the north side. This is on the 1851 map.

SE280446 Ingfield Farm on the south side. This is on the 1851 map, and also the milestone 'Otley 5, Harewood 3'. Here is a view of the farmland:



SE283447 Junction with Rawden Hill, the old turnpike road (#6).

SE288451 The Nunnery is a house dated 1585, built on the site of Arthington Priory, a house of Cluniac nuns founded by Peter de Arthington c.1155. At the dissolution it was surrendered on 26 November 1540. The Nunnery incorporates some fabric of the former priory, of which there is said to be the remains of a moat. The datestone is in the spandrel of the doorway, and is also inscribed TB and IB. The house is built of coursed squared sandstone with quoins, with a stone slate roof. It has been extended at the rear by an outshot at some time, and also by central wing at the rear. The front has two storeys, with a two-storey oriel window above the doorway. Inside, to the right of the doorway, there was a spiral staircase in the thickness of the wall, which also housed the hall fireplace. The staircase might have been part of a tower of the Priory. The former through passage is indicated by massive round-headed doorways at front and rear. There are various Tudor-arched fireplaces and doorways in the house, and also moulded plaster ceilings. (Pevsner and Radcliffe 1967) (IoE) For information about the priory, see
link



Also IOE link

A short distance NW of The Nunnery there is a dovecote built, probably in the late 18C, of coursed squared sandstone with a stone slate roof, It is a rectangular building of three low storeys. Between two square windows on the ground floor, there is a flight of stone steps at right-angles leading to a doorway on the first floor, and above this is another doorway. At the level between these doorways there is a continuous stone ledge around the building for the birds to perch on. The south gable has a square opening (now glazed) on the second floor, with a semicircular perching ledge below it. The gable copings have scrolled ends, and there is a weathervane on the south gable.
IOE link

SE291450 The boundary with Harewood is reached. There is a boundary stone on the south side of the road

SE291451 A short distance into the field on the north side, on the west side of the field boundary, is Nun Well. This is shown on the 1851 map.

#2 Creskeld Lane

SE261446 Creskeld Grange Farm – There were buildings here in 1851, and an 'engine' by the stream.



SE261445 Creskeld Grange Farmhouse, built after 1851.

SE259443 Creskeld Hall is a large house on the west side of the lane. It was mostly built in the 19C, but the kitchen wing and the chapel may be late medieval in origin, although much altered. The house is set around a small courtyard with the kitchen wing forming the west range and the former chapel, converted to a billiard room, the north range, which also has a 19C two-storey porch in Jacobean style. Former chapel, altered as billiard room and now of less interest. In 1240 Hugo de Creskeld granted the manor to the Abbots of Kirkstall, which is why is was called 'Kirkskill Hall' on the 1851 map. There is part of a moat behind the house.

SE261443 The former settlement of Creskeld was at Hassocks, north of Hezicar Wood. The mid-20C map shows a roadside well here.

SE260439 At a sharp bend, a bridleway leads eastwards to Arthington Bank, passing along the north side of Crag Wood. The 'crag' is Har Rock, at SE 263 437, and it might be possible to visit it as maps show footpaths through the wood.

SE257437 Another bridleway leads westwards down into a valley, along the northern side of Coats's Wood. There are boundary stones on the eastern bank of the stream, in Long Baulk Wood The bridleway led to the former Bramhope Corn Mill, just over the boundary.

SE259436 A third bridleway goes eastwards to Arthington Bank Top; here also is the driveway to Wood Top Farm. The 1:10000 map does not show a track along the central part of the bridleway, so perhaps it is just an 'invisible' route across pasture like many field paths. Past this point we enter the hamlet of West Breary, still in Arthington although the surburban development is contiguous wtth the built-up area of Bramhope.

#3 Part of West Breary

SE257432 Creskeld Drive is a suburban road within West Breary.

SE257431 Creskeld lane reaches the Arthington / Bramhope boundary at Breary Lane.

SE261433 (?) High Ridge Farmhouse, Nos 73 and 75 Breary Lane East, was in a group of buildings named 'West Breary' on the 1851 map. It has the date 1626 in raised lettering on the lintel of a Tudor-arched former doorway on the single-storey rear wing. The house is built of coursed squared sandstone, with a slate roof with gable copings and kneelers. Link[IoE link

#4 Warren Lane

SE261447 Crossroads with Arthington Lane and Creskeld Lane. SE261448 A row of houses has been built on the west side. The lane was called Sandbed lane in 1851, Sand Bed being the name of the field within the meander of the river.

SE262449 Warren Farm is on the east side. The farmhouse was rebuilt in the early 18C. The front is of this period, with a doorway not quite centrally placed with a circular window above and a window on each side on each floor. It is built of of coursed sandstone with quoins, with a Welsh slate roof. At one side there is a lintel with the date 1623 and initials W.M. At the rear there are mullioned windows, possibly of the 17C. There is a barn with attached stable adjacent to the house.
Link

SE262453 There is a water pumping station on the east side. The wagon house, now used as a store, is an unusually complete survival. It was probably built in the later 19C (after 1851), of red brick in Jacobean style, with sandstone dressings and a slate roof. It has a two-span roof with a wagon doorway under each gable. Link

SE262454 The lane then turns to the west, under the Wharfedale Railway Viaduct. This carries the Leeds to Thirsk Railway over the River Wharfe, and was built of sandstone blocks in 1845-9. The Engineer was Thomas Grainger. There are twenty semicircular arches carried on very high rectangular piers, following a line curving towards the north-east. The piers have rounded-nose cutwaters, and the arches have rusticated stepped voussoirs.



The lane originally led to Castley Ford, across the River Wharfe, but now stops at the gateway to the sewage works.

#5 Black Hill Road

SE273476 Junction with Arthington Lane. The term 'Road' rather than 'Lane' and the straightness of Black Hill Road as it climbs the hillside suggest that it might have been set out as part of an enclosure award.

SE272441 At Bank Foot Farm the road turns abruptly to the south-west in order to reduce the gradient. This steep hill is called Arthington Bank.

SE269437 A bridleway leads westwards, next to the entrance to Arthington Quarry.



SE270434 Above the quarry, another bridleway leads westwards.

SE272433 Bank Top Farm hides behind a screen of trees alongside the road. This is a photograph of the road at the entrance to the farm.

#6 Rawden Hill, Bedlam Lane, Allums Lane

SE283447 Junction with Arthington Lane. Rawden Hill was part of the medieval main road, which was improved as a turnpike road in 1752-3 but superseded when the new road was constructed past The Nunnery in the 19C.

SE285446 On the north side, just past the first bend, the 1851 map shows a well

SE288455 Hewland House Farm existed in 1851.

SE289446 In 1851 there was a house called Rawden Hill in the land to the north, now a wood.

SE290445 At the road junction, Bedlam Lane goes off to the south, and the parish boundary is along the western side.

SE290444 Tinker Close is just in Arthington. It was built after 1851.

SE288431 In 1851 'New Bedlam' was where Hillside Cottages are now.

SE288440 At this junction, Allums Lane goes to the west.

SE285440 There was a building on the north side of the lane here in 1851.

SE282438 A track (private?) leads down to North View, in the corner of a wood called Bog Plantation.

SE280437 Bank Side Farm is beyond the end of the tarmac. The lane is unfenced past here, and changes name to Bank Top Lane, leading to Black Hill Road. It is shown on the 1851 map and is now indicated on the OS map as an 'other route with public access'.

SE272433 Bank Top Farm is shown on the 1851 map, and the lane curved to the south around it just as it does today.

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