In many parts of Swaledale and Arkengarthdale are various interesting old farm structures, some still in use, others abandoned, mainly built in the Post-Medieval or Modern period, i.e., from around 1550 to the present day, but mostly built no later than circa 1900.
Contributors to the SWAAG database have often been interested in these old structures, ranging from complete abandoned farmsteads to isolated stone water troughs. Perhaps the most fascinating example is record-no. 905 in the Vernacular category, of an abandoned cottage between Fremington and Castle Farm, known as Boxer Peacock’s Cottage. No-one seems to know who he was or when he lived there, but nearby, Tim Laurie found and photographed Boxer’s amazing outdoor washbasin, sited under a spring providing continuous fresh, clean water.
More about Boxer Peacock and the source of his story is contained in record-no. 905, which can be seen, along with several other records of Post-Medieval farm structures, by clicking the links below:
Vernacular 1 category PDF:
Farmhouses and cottages – see records 28, 146, 193-94, 441, 475.
Cow houses – see record 461.
Sheep creeps and folds – see records 36-37, 164, 607.
Millstones – see record 45, 216.
Orthostatic wall – see record 35.
Dew pond – see record 39.
Stone water-troughs – see records 29-32, 34, 461.
Vernacular 2 category PDF:
Farmhouses and cottages – see record 905.
Stone Structures category PDF:
Sheep fold and wash dub – see record 823.
Spring-site structure – see record 732.
Photographic category PDF:
Storthwaite Farm, Arkengarthdale – see record 483, images 18-19.
Cow houses – see record 483, images 23-26.
Gamekeeper’s hut – see record 979, images 13-14.
Geographic category PDF:
Abandoned farmstead at Winter Ings – see record 452.
Washfolds – see records 764 and 883.
Trees & Shrubs
Hog house – see record 652.
