Follifoot is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in the county of

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...

, England. It is situated on the A658 road and south-east from the town centre of

Harrogate Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and civil parish in the North Yorkshire District, district and North Yorkshire, county of North Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist de ...

History

The village name is derived from

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

translating as "place of the horse fight" and the village has a long association with horse sports. Follifoot is not listed in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

of 1086, and the earliest known record is as ''Pholifet'' in the 12th century. Anglo-Saxon remains have been discovered in and near to the village, and an Anglian cross is displayed at the crossroads at the top of the village. In the 19th century the village was a thriving community supported by such commerce as the

flax Flax, also known as common flax or linseed, is a flowering plant, ''Linum usitatissimum'', in the family Linaceae. It is cultivated as a food and fiber crop in regions of the world with temperate climates. In 2022, France produced 75% of t ...

industry, tanning, tailors, joiners, a wheelwright,

cordwainer A cordwainer () is a shoemaker who makes new shoes from new leather. The cordwainer's trade can be contrasted with the cobbler's trade, according to a tradition in Britain that restricted cobblers to repairing shoes. This usage distinction is ...

and blacksmiths. Until 1974 it was part of the

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, lieu ...

. From 1974 to 2023 it was part of the

Borough of Harrogate The Borough of Harrogate was a local government district with borough status in North Yorkshire, England, from 1974 to 2023. Its council was based in the town of Harrogate, but it also included surrounding settlements, including the cathedral ...

; it is now administered by the unitary

North Yorkshire Council North Yorkshire Council, known between 1974 and 2023 as North Yorkshire County Council, is the local authority for the non-metropolitan county of North Yorkshire, England. Since 2023 the council has been a unitary authority, being a county coun ...

Amenities

The village has two pubs the Radcliffe Arms and the Harewood Arms, both Sam Smiths. The village has one shop and post office and opposite a small school. There is one Anglican church, St. Joseph and St. James situated on Plompton Road. The village is served by one bus service, the X70 operated by

Connexionsbuses Harrogate Coach Travel operates local and regional bus services in North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire, England. History Harrogate Coach Travel was established in February 2002 by Craig and Julie Temple. Initially, the company operated local bu ...

and links the village with

, Spofforth,

Wetherby Wetherby ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is close to West Yorkshire county's border with North Yorkshire and lies approximately from Leeds city centre, from ...

and

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

Rudding Park Estate

The south gatehouse of the Rudding Park Estate stands at the top of the village. The estate was bought by Lord Loughborough in 1788, and he engaged the landscape designer

Humphry Repton Humphry Repton (21 April 1752 – 24 March 1818) was the last great designer of the classic phase of the English landscape garden, often regarded as the successor to Capability Brown. His style is thought of as the precursor of the more intric ...

to improve the grounds and surrounding landscape. The estate was purchased by the Hon William Gordon in 1805 and he was responsible for the construction of the present house. At the time the estate was purchased by Sir Joseph Radcliffe, 2nd Baronet 19 years later, the house was still unfinished. In 1972 the house and 2000-acre estate was acquired by the Mackaness family. Today the estate compromises a hotel, caravan and camp site, a restaurant and golf course. The main part of the estate is now separated from the village by the A658 Harrogate bypass.

St Joseph and St James Church

St Joseph and St James Church was opened on 22 October 1848 after Sir Joseph Radcliffe, 2nd Baronet (1799–1872), owner of Rudding Park, gave part of ''Longlands Field'' for the church site. The church, now

grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

, contains three stained glass windows dedicated to his memory.

References

External links

The Ancient Parish of Spofforth
at

GENUKI GENUKI is a genealogy web portal, run as a charitable trust. It "provides a virtual reference library of genealogical information of particular relevance to the UK and Ireland". It gives access to a large collection of information, with the emphas ...