POOL-IN-WHARFEDALE, CALEY, AND OLD POOL BANK

From the Bar House, Old Pool Bank “one of the most wonderful panoramas in Wharfedale such scenery at any other place would be considered famous.”

Edmund Bogg, “2,000 Miles through Wharfedale. “ 1904.

THE MAKE UP OF THE VILLAGES

When the last ice age retreated a large shallow lake was left which stretched from Otley to Arthington pastures. Pool-in-Wharfedale developed on the Wharfedale valley floor whilst Pool Bank and the stone crags of the Chevin towered above. When tests were carried out round the Shell garage in 2016 after 9 feet it was considered, by the engineer, to have reached the alluvial layer when the river appeared to have a bow at this point. River stones of both limestone and sandstone were recovered. Prehistoric flint stones have also been found.

Pool was in the ancient Celtic Kingdom of Elmete with many local names showing their Celtic origins. Chevin (ridge) and Wharfe (from Saxon Guerf – swift), Caley (bare), rother (chief river). According to records in Leeds City Library in 1030 Pool was spelt “Pofl”. This is from the old English word “pofel” which means a low lying place. Pol was the Anglo-Saxon word for large pond or marsh.

Throughout our history there is often reference made to the wetness of the land. A grant of property in Pool in 1279 shows that it included “2 parts of the marsh”. In 1459 a meadow in Pool was known as Dipe-Ker, which means deep fen or bog, 1674 Toad Hole a portion of land owned by Thomas Thornhill, Lord of the Manor of Pool.

The word “ing” means meadow usually on wet ground, as in the wetland wildlife area of Fairburn Ings near Ferrybridge. The Tythe map of 1849 shows many of our ancient field names containing the word Ing. Long Pasture Ing, nearby Rough Ing, (all run down from Old Pool Bank to the area at the back of Pool Hall.) Sym Ing is the field on which the school, cricket and football grounds are built. Poole Doles of 1727 records two other fields, Rice Brigg Ing, near Pool Bridge and Ruff Ings Field. Other ancient field names in Pool are Whet Syke in the Rushmere Lodge area of Arthington Lane. Water Croft is the field where skate board park now stands, Toad Mire Close, again running down from Old Pool Bank, all suggesting wet land.

The track running alongside Church Lane has been known as “Sludge Lane” and Lodge Lane. On a map of 1756 roughly in the area of Church Close, was a field called Rise Bridge which means a road through marshland prepared with brushwood. In this area on the map of 1847 is shown a well. Incidentally some other lovely old field names on the Tythe map of 1849 are Far Corkleg, opposite Pool Crookes Farm and Dog Kennel Close, near Caley Hall, also Sparrow Croft is shown at the Bar House, Arthington Lane, with land stretching down to the old corn mill.

The crossing of the River Wharfe was made at various nearby fords. Haslin Furr and Knotforth Furr (c.1650) (Knotford Nook) from Fawkes land to Otley Road. Leathley Ford (medieval name Haldwadford) and Castley Furr crossed from Arthington to Castley. (Harewood Estate map of 1710) The ford crossing from Pool north over the river seems to have been Rother Ford. This is suggested by the ancient name of Rotherford given to the field between the Wharfe and Castley Lane. A road, built as a raised track, in order to avoid flooding, is shown on several O.S. maps. This joins Castley Lane with a paved road in Riffa Wood, once the old pack horse route from Otley to Knaresborough. A lower route to Wetherby was via Castley.

In Riffa Wood an interesting carved Red Indian stone can be found. Edmund Bogg is described in his obituary of November 1931 as “A Great Lover of Yorkshire”. He wrote many books of his walks through the Dales. His friends were artists, ramblers, musicians, journalists and others with Bohemian leanings.  As founder in 1891 of the Leeds Savage Club, he was known as “T’owd Chief”. He was an imposing figure in war paint, feathered head-dress and Indian robe. Pow-wow were held at “the chimes at midnight”. At Castley he invited his friends to stay in a  deserted old manor house, last used by railway navvies when building the nearby Arthington Viaduct in 1846. He and his friends would hold these pow-pows in Riffa Wood.  

One local of Castley tells of how when a boy living at Castley Farm, he often heard noisy singing at night as Edmund Bogg and his friends returned to spend the rest of their nights in the old, since demolished, Castley Manor House.

Although Pool-in-Wharfedale was originally a farming community, the abundance of water saw the establishing of the medieval corn mill on Mill Lane powered solely by water from the land. Reference to the mills of Pool is made in 1279. High Mill, also known as Walk Mill on Otley Road, was used for fulling cloth which appears to have arrived around 1600, finally demolished in 1920. The paper mill or Low Mill was running in the mid 1600’s with stone being removed from Pool Bank in evidence in 1673. These, together with the medieval route passing through the village along the Wharfe valley ; Fish breeding ponds are mentioned in Pool in documents of the late 12^th century, situated alongside what was “possibly the major route along the southern side of the Wharfe valley connecting Skipton with Harewood via Ilkley and Otley” .(WYAS, Leeds Library AD 1500) The 1754 bridge crossing the river, plus the arrival of the railway in 1865, all made for a busy and thriving village. (See Mills, Pool Bank Quarry, Railway & Public Services)

Caley Hall was probably the only survivor of an ancient hamlet whose name derived from John de Caylli de Poule

The Hall was demolished in 1964 by owner William Whiteley of Pool paper mill, against instructions given by The Ministry of Housing issued in 1952. Full details of Caley Hall in “Living

Pool Bank is grit stone rock. Manor Court Rolls for Pool show stone was being extracted here in 1673. In 1846 stone was extracted for the building of Arthington Viaduct. The quarry to the south of the A660 road began further developments after the sale of land by Aysgouth Fawkes on 30^th Aug. 1872, which stated “This lot contains moreover, important Beds of Free stone”. A combination of three quarries became known as Pool Bank Quarries.(see Pool Bank Quarries)

The lands to the south of the A660 were owned by Henry Fawcett, Miss Dawson, Nicholson (Pool paper mill owner from 1809 to 1886) and Aysgouth Fawkes of Farnley Hall. The quarry off Old Pool Bank road was in operation in 1774 as the Award map shows. The village of Old Pool Bank, originally known as Pool Bank, expanded due to the need to house quarry workers, as prior to this there had only been a farm and few cottages. Several rows of cottages were built around 1880 to house quarry workers when the quarries were owned by Benjamin Whitaker & Sons Ltd. Around 1810, whilst guest at Farnley Hall, the artist J. M. W. Turner drew a pencil sketch of the upper quarry. (see “Houses pre1850”)

POPULATION FIGURES

Year	1379	1801	1821	1841	1891	1911	1921	1971	1991	2001
Pool	c.60	182	294	363	554	608   (1901)	844	1,670	1,800	*2,150
Leeds	300   (1086)	53,162	83,796	152,054	–	–	–	–	727,400	*715,402
Otley	250	2,332	3,065	3,445	7,838	9,844	9,536	–	13,600	*24,496   (Otley & W’dale)
Arthington	–	360	329	336	–	–	–	–	600	–
Bramhope	–	261	366	350	389	–	517	–	3,200   & Carlton	–

In 1891 there were 108 dwellings and by 1971 these had risen to 580

The release of *census figures for the year 2001 have enabled a population figure for the parish of Pool-in-Wharfedale, which includes Old Pool Bank and Caley, to be extracted. The exact figure has been made difficult because of recent voting boundary changes. The figure, sourced from the *2001 census, appears to be around 2,150, whilst the total for the Otley and Wharfedale district, which includes Pool parish, is 24,496.

Official census statistics cannot be released for 100 years without special permission of the Controller of HMSO. This was obtained for the 2001 figures. Other figures have been compiled from various sources and therefore may not be completely accurate. Source: 2001 Census, [Key Statistics for Local Authorities]. Crown copyright 2004. Crown copyright material is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of HMSO

SPELLING OF “POOL”

The spelling of the village name has taken many forms over the last thousand years.

Pouelle (pre Norman Conquest);

Pofl (1030);

Pouele (1086 Domesday Book);

Povele (1086);

Pouile (c.1152);

Pouilla (1164);

Pouela (1166);

Poule (1191);

Povell (early 13c.);

Pouill (1254);

Poel (1307);

Poyll (1523);

Powle (1566);

Pooile (1660)

Pool (1767);

Poole (1847);

Pool-in-Wharfedale (1865 – to today)

One of the earliest reference to the name Pool-in-Wharfedale found so far has been in newspaper dated 1877. The railway station of Pool became Pool-in-Wharfedale in 1927. Pool Parish Council received notification that as from January 1929 the name “Pool-in-Wharfedale” would be used for postal and telegraph purposes. Again in September 1968 the address was to be “Pool-in-Wharfedale, Otley, Yorkshire”.

THE MANOR OF POOL

At various times lands in Pool have been owned by the Arthington Nunnery, Kirkstall Abbey and Fountains Abbey. A number of families have also been owners of the Manor of Pool, namely Goldsburgh, Wentworth, Thornhill (through marriage to a Wentworth), Armitage and Pullein.

In 1166 the Manor of Pool was owned by Serlo de Povel who married Agas de Vavasour of Weston. He was son of Peter de Arthington, founder of the Arthington Clunic Nunnery in 1166. In 1293 Richard de Goldsburgh took over all the land in Creskeld and Pool from William de Povel to live in Creskeld Hall until around 1378, when becoming head of his house, he moved to his manor of Goldsborough, near Knaresborough.

William Gascoigne, (the Gascoignes owned Caley Hall in 1550) was the last male descendant of the House of Gawthorp (Near Harewood). Around 1570 his only daughter and heiress Margaret married Thomas Wentworth of Wentworth Woodhouse. In 1589 the Manor of Creskeld and Pool was sold by the Goldsborough family to Michael Wentworth of Wentworth Woodhouse. The sale was not straightforward.

In 1563 William Goldsborough died leaving a young daughter Anne. Her uncle Richard Goldsborough then quietly claimed almost the whole of the family property. When Anne married Edmund Kighley of Newhall, Otley, a litigatation followed. Anne claimed her rights to the manors of “Goldsburgh, Kryskelde and Powle, etc.” (Goldsborough, Creskeld and Pool). The dispute was bitter and protracted between her and her uncle, Richard.

During the 1580’s there was much internal disagreement within the Goldsborough family as to which of them owned the Manors. The Huntingdon Archives reveal that in 1584 Creskeld Park was broken into. This resulted in “the stripping of growing woods, etc. at Pool worth £30.”

Eventually in 1586 the property at Goldsborough was judged to be owned by Anne and Edmund Kighley. The hall and estate was then let to Raynold Jake. Soon afterwards Richard Goldsborough and others entered the property and ejected Jake and his family burning down and completely destroying Gouldisborough Hall and all barns, stables, dovecotes, brewhouses and kilns and a new building called Aldborough Parlour. They then pulled down the park palings, attacked the park keeper Thomas Waid, who died after being stabbed.

Although the Manor of Creskeld and Pool was sold to Michael Wentworth in 1589 arguments still continued and it was not until 1596 that Richard Goldsborough and his wife Elizabeth finally agreed to the sale. Edmund Kighley, husband of Anne Goldsborough, appears to have left Newhall, Otley to live in Pool where he died in 1602. A de Kighley member is mentioned in “The Extent of Otley 1307”, later one was to become Lord of the Manor of Otley. (Huntingdon Archives)

Michael Wentworth lived in Creskeld Hall until 1599 when he purchased Woolley Park near Wakefield, which then became his home. On his death in 1631 the property and land passed to his son *George. In 1660 on the death of the now Sir George Wentworth, part of his land, which included Pool, was left to his daughter Everild who in 1650 had married John Thornhill of Fikesbie (Fixby), near Huddersfield.

• A brass plate in Otley Parish Church shows that Sir George Wentworth’s first wife Anne died in 1624 and was a daughter of Thomas, Lord Fairfax who, together with Cromwell, defeated Charles I at Naseby.

As with many landowning families the Thornhill family had other estates. Some were in Huntingdonshire at Offord Darcy, Southoe, and Dunloe. They also had property in Calverley, Yorkshire, Riddlesworth, Norfolk, in Cambridgeshire at Boxworth, in Lincolnshire at Downdyke Hall, and in London in Bread Street, Holloway and Angel, Islington. Some family members were rectors and High Sheriffs of the County. One member of the family moved from Fixby to Diddington, Huntingdonshire around 1730. The family records are now housed in the Huntingdon Record Office

The Thornhill family still own Fixby Hall which is now used by Huddersfield Golf Club (2006). Everild Thornhill died in 1708 and is named Lady of the Manor of Kirskill (Creskeld) and Poole in 1674. The extent of property in Pool owned by Thomas Thornhill is shown on a map of 1756, the original of which is in Creskeld Hall.

It was in 1674, during the ownership of the Manor of Poole by the Thornhills, that a description of the boundaries of the Manor of “Kirskill and Poole” was produced. The northern boundary was the River Wharfe starting at the western boundary of “Lock Yate near the river Wharfe” continuing south to Caley Crag, eventually reaching Yorke Gate and Carlton Slack. The boundary then continued east over Carlton, Pool and Bramhope Moors to Black Hill then towards Eccup where it turned north towards Arthington Nunnery and back along the river Wharfe to where it began. (Full description in “Events”)

In May 1805, for the sum of £21.000, the estates for “Poole and Kirskill”(Creskeld) passed from George Thornhill, of Diddington, Huntingdonshire, to Edward Armitage of Farnley Hall, Leeds, ironmaster, of Farnley Iron Co. (Armitage & Co) iron and coal masters.

On 3^rd of August 1829 John Pullein, miller, agreed to purchase for the sum of £6,000, the “Manor of Poole” from Edward Armitage, which included farms, cottages, the water corn mill, fields and closes. John Pullein was from Follifoot and lived from 1800 to 1866, his wife Fanny, was a Mallorie. Their sons were Mark, Thomas and John. The Manor of Pool with its land, property and title was broken up by the Pulleins in the sale of The Manor House Estate which was held in 1902.

i.e. When Guy Fawkes (of Nov. 5th fame),was living in York he went to St. Peter’s school later marrying a Pullein.(Pulleyn)

As can be seen, from as early as 1293 Creskeld Hall has been the home to various Lords of the Manor of Pool and Creskeld.

The connection to the Lords of Manor of Pool continued when Elizabeth Rhodes, born 1788, married James Armitage, brother of Edward, of Farnley Hall, Leeds. As mentioned above, Edward Armitage sold the Manor of Pool to John Pullein in 1829.

The Dyneley estate was sold in 1797 to Christopher Smith, a Leeds merchant, who died in 1846. Through his only child Ann (nee Smith) who by marrying William Rhodes, brought into the Rhodes family Bramhope Hall and the Puritan Chapel at Bramhope, which contains many family graves including those of the Dyneley and Rhodes families. William was living in Bramhope Hall in 1825. Their son Francis (born Rhodes) assumed the surname and arms of Darwin after his marriage in 1849 to Charlotte Maria Cooper Darwin who was related through her ancestors Francis Dawin of Lichfield, grandfather of Charles Darwin the naturalist.* Francis remained in Creskeld Hall until his death in 1919 aged 91. Creskeld Hall owned in 2024 by David Stoddard Scott.

* Charles Darwin published “The Origin of the Species” in 1859.