Finghall Explained

Country:England
Static Image:Finghall church.jpg
Static Image Width:240px
Static Image Caption:St Andrews Church, Finghall
Coordinates:54.3015°N -1.7221°W
Official Name:Finghall
Population:140
Unitary England:North Yorkshire
Lieutenancy England:North Yorkshire
Region:Yorkshire and the Humber
Constituency Westminster:Richmond
Post Town:Leyburn
Postcode District:DL8
Postcode Area:DL
Os Grid Reference:SE181895

Finghall, historically spelt Fingall,[1] is a village and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England.[2] [3] It is in lower Wensleydale south of the A684 road, about 10km (10miles) west of Bedale and about 8km (05miles) east of Leyburn.[4]

The population of the parish was estimated at 140 in 2016.[5]

History

The village is mentioned in Domesday Book as Fingall, when it belonged to Count Alan and had 13 villagers.[6] The origin of the place-name is the Old English words Fin, inga and hall meaning a nook of land of the family or followers of a man called Fina. The place-name appears as Finegala in Domesday Book of 1086 and as Finyngale in 1157.[7]

Finghall was a large ancient parish in the wapentake of Hang West in the North Riding of Yorkshire. The parish included the townships of Finghall, Constable Burton, Akebar and Hutton Hang, all of which became separate civil parishes in 1866.

In the 1820s Finghall had a population of 126, which had dropped to 111 by 1872 and 99 by 1897.[8] [9] The 12th-century church is dedicated to St Andrew[10] and is adjacent to the beck and quite near the A684 road. It is thought that the Medieval village of Fingall was clustered around the church but was abandoned during a plague.[11]

The village had a railway station on the Wensleydale Railway, which opened in the 1850s and closed in 1954.[12] It was reopened on the heritage Wensleydale Railway in 2004. The village has an annual Spring Bank Holiday Barrel Push, which sees competitors push an 18impgal metal beer barrel over a distance of 1000m (3,000feet).[13]

Culture and community

The village public house is the Queen's Head.[14] A local legend maintains that the willows that line the beck to the north of the village, of which there is a good view from the dining room and terrace of the pub, inspired Kenneth Grahame to write The Wind in the Willows.[15] The village to the east is Newton-le-Willows.[16]

Famous residents

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Parishes: Fingall, in A History of the County of York North Riding . 1. William . Page . London . . 1914 . 232–236. 17 June 2024 . British History Online.
  2. Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 99 Northallerton & Ripon (Pateley Bridge & Leyburn). 9780319231593 . Ordnance Survey. 2013.
  3. Web site: Ordnance Survey: 1:50,000 Scale Gazetteer . csv (download) . 1 January 2016 . Ordnance Survey . www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk . 18 February 2016.
  4. Web site: FINGHALL Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Plan . richmondshire.gov.uk . 26 May 2019 . 1 . 26 May 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190526205641/https://www.richmondshire.gov.uk/media/9751/finghall-caa-web.pdf . dead .
  5. Web site: North Yorkshire County Council. Population Estimates. 2016. 28 April 2020. In the 2011 census the population was not counted separately but included the civil parish of Akebar
  6. Web site: Fingall Domesday Book . opendomesday.org . 26 May 2019.
  7. Book: Mills, A. D.. A Dictionary of British Place Names. Oxford University Press. Oxford. first published 1991. 2011. First edition revised 2011. 9780199609086. 189.
  8. Web site: History of Finghall, in Richmondshire and North Riding Map and description . www.visionofbritain.org.uk . 26 May 2019.
  9. Book: Speight . Harry . Romantic Richmondshire : Being a complete account of the history, antiquities and scenery of the picturesque valleys of the Swale and Yore . 1897 . E Stock . London . 20. 252008733.
  10. Web site: Genuki: Finghall, Yorkshire (North Riding) . www.genuki.org.uk . 26 May 2019.
  11. News: Nowt tekken out . 26 May 2019 . The Northern Echo . 26 August 2000.
  12. Book: Hoole . Ken . Railway stations of the North East . 1985 . David & Charles . Newton Abbot . 0-7153-8527-5 . 164.
  13. News: Chapman. Hannah. Little Alf star guest at barrel push . Darlington & Stockton Times . 20–2019 . 17 May 2019 . 5. 2516-5348.
  14. Web site: The Queen's Head, Finghall Home page . queensfinghall.co.uk . 26 May 2019.
  15. News: Review: The Queen's Head, Finghall, Leyburn . 26 May 2019 . Darlington and Stockton Times . 25 September 2015.
  16. Book: Speight . Harry . Romantic Richmondshire : Being a complete account of the history, antiquities and scenery of the picturesque valleys of the Swale and Yore . 1897 . E Stock . London . 341. 252008733.
  17. News: Gleeson . Janet . History Day to gather information . 26 May 2019 . The Northern Echo . 8 January 2019.