Lodge, North Yorkshire

Lodge
Hamlet
Remains of Lodge hamlet, Nidderdale
Lodge
Location within North Yorkshire
OS grid referenceSE048773
Civil parish
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom

Lodge was a hamlet in upper Nidderdale, North Yorkshire, England. The hamlet was dedicated to farming and was a monastic grange owned by the monks of Byland Abbey. Lodge was 6 miles (9.7 km) east of Kettlewell, 10 miles (16 km) south of Leyburn, and 4 miles (6.4 km) north of Middlesmoor. The hamlet was depopulated after the Bradford Corporation, who were building the reservoirs in the area, bought the land and required the occupants to leave so that their farming activities would not pollute the water being gathered in Scar House Reservoir, which was built below the hamlet in the same valley.

History

The hamlet of Lodge was mentioned in 1198, along with the settlements of Angram, Westhouse and Haden Carr, as belonging to the monks of Byland Abbey.[1] Before the arrival of the reservoir builders, the hamlet was on a busy packhorse route that connected Middlesmoor and Lodge in Nidderdale, with Horsehouse in Coverdale, and beyond into Wensleydale.[2][3] The old packhorse route across the valley has now been lost under the waters of Scar House Reservoir.[4] It is thought that the hamlet's name derived from the placement of a hunting lodge in the area when it was part of the forest of Nidderdale, although some older maps state the place name to be Lodge Howses,[5][6] and it is also recorded in documents as Lodg(e)houses in 1577.[7] After the Dissolution of the monasteries, the farming rights of the area and the hamlet fell into private hands.[8] These farmers kept their farms within their families, and records as far back as the 17th century show people gifting their farmsteads to relatives: " In 1623, Thos. Smith, of Lodge in Netherdale, bequeaths his property to his son, named after my own name."[9]

The hamlet was located on Carle Fell Road, an east/west running road that connected with the road to Coverdale just to the west of the hamlet, and also a road which went westwards the 6 miles (9.7 km) to Kettlewell.[10] The road to Coverdale connected it with Leyburn, 10 miles (16 km) northwards, and Middlesmoor, 4 miles (6.4 km) southwards.[11] It is thought that Lodge, along with other smaller settlements, were built on the north side of the valley as it afforded some protection from the elements having a large ridge behind them, but also they were facing south, and so could take advantage of the sun.[12] A Methodist chapel was built in Lodge in 1858, although it only served twelve people, and the minister was located at Middlesmoor.[13] The chapel building itself was an extension of a cart shed that already existed in the village.[14] A map of the area from 1890 shows around ten buildings in the hamlet, with the Methodist chapel at the east end of the settlement.[15] A description of the hamlet by Speight in 1906 details it as having "three farms and a cottage".[16]

Lodge was abandoned in 1929 when the Bradford Corporation bought the land and asked the farmers to vacate the land to prevent the water entering the reservoir from becoming polluted;[17][18] the corporation actually bought up all the land it needed, including at Lodge, in 1904.[19] Until it was depopulated, Lodge had the highest farm workings in the valley, which were about 460 metres (1,500 ft) above sea level, but the settlement itself was slightly lower at 360 metres (1,180 ft).[20][21] Lodge was one of the few settlements in the upper Nidderdale valley which was not abandoned due to the reservoir's waters; Haden Carr, Angram, and West Houses were all flooded and so had to be evacuated.[22] As the hamlet was depopulated within living memory and the relatives of the last known occupant still live in Nidderdale, the site of the settlement has been the subject of archaeological studies to provide more context on farming communities in upper Nidderdale.[23]

Close to the hamlet on the north side of the valley is Dead Man's Hill (546 metres (1,791 ft) above sea level). The hill is so named after the discovery of three headless bodies buried there in 1728.[i] It is thought that they were Scottish pedlars who were robbed and murdered whilst travelling the packhorse route between Coverdale and Nidderdale.[25] Previous to the discovery of the bodies, the hill was known as Nidderhow.[26]

Administrative history

Historically in the Wapentake of Staincross, the hamlet was in the parish of Kirkby Malzeard until 1866, when it became part of the parish of Stonebeck Up which was in the Wapentake of Lower Claro.[27][28] The hamlet used to be under the township of Settle, in the West Riding of Yorkshire,[ii] for administrative and postal responsibilities,[30] and up until 1974, it was in the Pateley Bridge Rural District.[29] A map from 1948 shows lodge at SE049773 and in the parish of Stonebeck Up,[31] and the location remains within the same parish today.[32]

Notes

  1. ^ An entry in the township books for Middlesmoor dated 30 may 1728 states that "three murder'd Bodies were found burr'd on Lodge End without heads.. [sic]."[24]
  2. ^ Up until 1974, the area was in the West Riding of Yorkshire. It was moved into North Yorkshire in 1974.[29]

References

  1. ^ Jennings 1992, p. 96.
  2. ^ Smith, Jonathan (7 January 2023). "Walks: 'Lost village' and headless bodies...reservoir walk in Nidd". Bradford Telegraph and Argus. Retrieved 19 October 2025.
  3. ^ Jennings 1992, p. 197.
  4. ^ Hannon, Paul (2014). Nidderdale & Ripon - the eastern Yorkshire Dales. Keighley: Hillside Publications. p. 39. ISBN 9781907626128.
  5. ^ Grainge, William (1863). Nidderdale: Or, An Historical, Topographical, and Descriptive Sketch of the Valley of the Nidd. London: Thomas Thorpe. p. 141. OCLC 6678669.
  6. ^ "Lost hamlet of Lodge". uppernidderdale.org.uk. Retrieved 20 October 2025.
  7. ^ Smith, A. H. (1961). The Place-Names of the West Riding of Yorkshire: Part V: Upper and Lower Claro Wapentakes. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 219. OCLC 1238333825.
  8. ^ Buglass 2011, p. 3.
  9. ^ Brightman 2016, p. 9.
  10. ^ Langdale, Thomas (1822). A topographical dictionary of Yorkshire; containing the names of all the towns, villages, hamlets, gentlemen's seats, &c. in the county of York. Northallerton: J. Langdale. p. 348. OCLC 1157359721.
  11. ^ Horsfall, Joseph Horsfall (1890). Yorkshire notes and queries volume II. Bingley: Harrison. p. 316. OCLC 866590505.
  12. ^ Buglass 2011, p. 14.
  13. ^ Jennings 1992, pp. 432, 438.
  14. ^ Brightman 2016, p. 5.
  15. ^ "View map: Ordnance Survey, Yorkshire XCIX (includes: Carlton Highdale; Upper Stonebeck.) - Ordnance Survey Six-inch England and Wales, 1842-1952". maps.nls.uk. Retrieved 19 October 2025.
  16. ^ Speight, Harry (1906). Nidderdale, from Nun Monkton to Whernside; being a record of the history, antiquities, scenery, old homes, families, and of the beautiful valley of the Nidd. London: Elliott Stock. p. 567. OCLC 6678660.
  17. ^ "Glimpse of the past revealed as lost village of Lodge is excavated". www.yorkshirewater.com. Retrieved 19 October 2025.
  18. ^ Jennings 1992, p. 347.
  19. ^ Brightman 2016, pp. 9–10.
  20. ^ Joseph, Lucas (1882). Studies in Nidderdale : upon notes and observations other than geological, made during the progress of the government geological survey of the district, 1867-1872. London: Elliot Stock. p. 113. OCLC 1157562912.
  21. ^ Buglass 2011, p. 2.
  22. ^ Brightman 2016, p. 2.
  23. ^ Brightman 2016, p. 1.
  24. ^ Wright, Geoffrey Norman (1985). Roads and trackways of the Yorkshire Dales. Ashbourne: Moorland. p. 116. ISBN 0861901231.
  25. ^ Bibby, Andrew (2006). Wharfedale and Nidderdale : the southern Yorkshire Dales. London: Frances Lincoln. p. 119. ISBN 9780711225534.
  26. ^ Grainge, William (1863). Nidderdale: Or, An Historical, Topographical, and Descriptive Sketch of the Valley of the Nidd. London: Thomas Thorpe. p. 144. OCLC 6678669.
  27. ^ "Genuki: Kirkby Malzeard Supplementary, Yorkshire (West Riding)". www.genuki.org.uk. Retrieved 19 October 2025.
  28. ^ Youngs, Frederic A. (1981). Guide to the local administrative units of England. London: Office of the Royal Historical Society. p. 570. ISBN 0901050679.
  29. ^ a b Guide No. 6: North Yorkshire Gazetteer of Townships and Parishes. Northallerton: North Yorkshire County Council. 2021 [1986]. p. 29. ISBN 0 906035 29 5.
  30. ^ Parliamentary Papers Poor Law Unions volume 49, part II. London: HMSO. 1862. p. 421. OCLC 145367615.
  31. ^ "View map: Ordnance Survey, 44/07 - A (includes: Down Stonebeck; Upper Stonebeck) - Ordnance Survey, OS 1:25,000 Great Britain, Administrative areas series (with National Trust areas) 1945". maps.nls.uk. Retrieved 19 October 2025.
  32. ^ "Election Maps". www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk. Retrieved 19 October 2025. 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.

Sources

  • Brightman, James (2016). The lost village of Lodge. Northallerton: Solstice Heritage. ISBN 978-0-9933106-2-1.
  • Buglass, John (2011). "Lodge, Upper Nidderdale. Archaeological Survey". John Buglass Archaeological Services. doi:10.5284/1025928.
  • Jennings, Bernard, ed. (1992) [1967]. A history of Nidderdale (3 ed.). Pateley Bridge: Nidderdale History Group. ISBN 1850721149.
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