Finghall, historically spelt Fingall,[2] is a village and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England.[3][4] It is in lower Wensleydale south of the A684 road, about 6.2 miles (10 km) west of Bedale and about 5 miles (8 km) east of Leyburn.[5]

Finghall
Finghall is located in North Yorkshire
Finghall
Finghall
Location within North Yorkshire
Population140 [1]
OS grid referenceSE181895
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townLeyburn
Postcode districtDL8
PoliceNorth Yorkshire
FireNorth Yorkshire
AmbulanceYorkshire
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Yorkshire
54°18′05″N 1°43′19″W / 54.30148°N 1.72205°W / 54.30148; -1.72205

The population of the parish was estimated at 140 in 2016.[1]

History

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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]

 
Looking towards Finghall from the south-east

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,[2] 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 18-imperial-gallon (82 L; 22 US gal) metal beer barrel over a distance of 3,300 feet (1,000 m).[13]

Culture and community

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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

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Population Estimates". North Yorkshire County Council. 2016. Retrieved 28 April 2020. In the 2011 census the population was not counted separately but included the civil parish of Akebar
  2. ^ a b Page, William, ed. (1914). Parishes: Fingall, in A History of the County of York North Riding. Vol. 1. London: Victoria County History. pp. 232–236. Retrieved 17 June 2024 – via British History Online.
  3. ^ Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 99 Northallerton & Ripon (Pateley Bridge & Leyburn) (Map). Ordnance Survey. 2013. ISBN 9780319231593.
  4. ^ "Ordnance Survey: 1:50,000 Scale Gazetteer" (csv (download)). www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk. Ordnance Survey. 1 January 2016. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
  5. ^ "FINGHALL Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Plan" (PDF). richmondshire.gov.uk. p. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 May 2019. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
  6. ^ "Fingall | Domesday Book". opendomesday.org. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
  7. ^ Mills, A. D. (2011) [first published 1991]. A Dictionary of British Place Names (First edition revised 2011 ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 189. ISBN 9780199609086.
  8. ^ "History of Finghall, in Richmondshire and North Riding | Map and description". www.visionofbritain.org.uk. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
  9. ^ Speight, Harry (1897). Romantic Richmondshire : Being a complete account of the history, antiquities and scenery of the picturesque valleys of the Swale and Yore. London: E Stock. p. 20. OCLC 252008733.
  10. ^ "Genuki: Finghall, Yorkshire (North Riding)". www.genuki.org.uk. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
  11. ^ "Nowt tekken out". The Northern Echo. 26 August 2000. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
  12. ^ Hoole, Ken (1985). Railway stations of the North East. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. p. 164. ISBN 0-7153-8527-5.
  13. ^ Chapman, Hannah, ed. (17 May 2019). "Little Alf star guest at barrel push". Darlington & Stockton Times. No. 20–2019. p. 5. ISSN 2516-5348.
  14. ^ "The Queen's Head, Finghall | Home page". queensfinghall.co.uk. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
  15. ^ "Review: The Queen's Head, Finghall, Leyburn". Darlington and Stockton Times. 25 September 2015. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
  16. ^ Speight, Harry (1897). Romantic Richmondshire : Being a complete account of the history, antiquities and scenery of the picturesque valleys of the Swale and Yore. London: E Stock. p. 341. OCLC 252008733.
  17. ^ Gleeson, Janet (8 January 2019). "History Day to gather information". The Northern Echo. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
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