Scargill House is a Christian conference Centre run by the Scargill Movement and located in

Wharfedale Wharfedale ( ) is one of the Yorkshire Dales. It is situated at source in North Yorkshire and then flows into West Yorkshire and forms the upper valley of the River Wharfe. Towns and villages in Wharfedale (downstream, from west to east) includ ...

, 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 England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. Scargill House lies ¾ mile (1.2 km) from the village of

Kettlewell Kettlewell is a village in Upper Wharfedale, North Yorkshire, England. It lies north of Grassington, at the point where Wharfedale is joined by a minor road (Cam Gill Road) which leads north-east from the village over Park Rash Pass to Cov ...

and four miles (6.4 km) from

Grassington Grassington is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. The population of the parish at the 2011 Census was 1,126. The village is situated in Wharfedale, about north-west from Bolton Abbey, and is surrou ...

. The nearest market town,

Skipton Skipton (also known as Skipton-in-Craven) is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. Historically in the East Division of Staincliffe Wapentake in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is on the River Aire and the Leeds ...

, is 14 miles (22.4 km) away. The house dates from the eighteenth century and is constructed of stone, rendered and colour-washed, under a stone flag roof. The Grade II*-listed chapel was built in 1960. The woodland at Scargill is accredited by the

Forest Stewardship Council The Forest Stewardship Council GmbH (FSC) is an international non-profit, multistakeholder organization established in 1993 that promotes responsible management of the world's forests via timber certification. This organization uses a market-b ...

as a highly important conservation site.

History

The recent history of Scargill House can be summarised as follows:

As a house

Clement Holdsworth bought Scargill House from John Overend Wood in 1900 as a residence from which he shot

grouse Grouse are a group of birds from the order (biology), order Galliformes, in the family (biology), family Phasianidae. Grouse are presently assigned to the Tribe (biology), tribe Tetraonini (formerly the subfamily Tetraoninae and the family Tetr ...

on Conistone moor and fished for

trout Trout (: trout) is a generic common name for numerous species of carnivorous freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of which are members of the subfamily Salmoninae in the ...

on the

River Wharfe The River Wharfe ( ) is a river in Yorkshire, England originating within the Yorkshire Dales National Park. For much of its middle course it is the county boundary between West Yorkshire and North Yorkshire. Its valley is known as Wharfedale. ...

. It remained in the Holdsworth family for almost 57 years until William Holdsworth decided to live on his Irish estate at Bellinter House and sold the house and estate at auction to the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

in November 1957. The estate was described in the auction catalogue as an "exceptional residential, agricultural and sporting property" extending to , which included: *two stock farms each of about *about park and

afforestation Afforestation is the establishment of a forest or stand of trees in an area where there was no recent tree cover. There are three types of afforestation: natural Regeneration (biology), regeneration, agroforestry and Tree plantation, tree plan ...

land *properties in nearby Kettlewell *over a mile of trout fishing in the River Wharfe *shooting rights over of Conistone Moor *the right to Pew Sittings in the

Parish Church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

and share in the Lordship They claimed that "the invigorating air and the completely unspoilt grandeur of the surroundings make the Property a most attractive and healthy resort"; and that the grounds of the house included a tree-lined drive, stone-pillared and

wrought iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.05%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4.5%), or 0.25 for low carbon "mild" steel. Wrought iron is manufactured by heating and melting high carbon cast iron in an ...

entrance, lawns and an ornamental water garden.

As a Christian community and conference centre

The Church of England bought the estate for the establishment of a Christian Community in 1957. In 1959 Scargill became a centre for conferences and events specialising in multi-faith, youth and environmental issues. Since then, it has been largely reconstructed and extended to cater for the many groups that use its facilities. In 1960, a

chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...

was built by

George Pace George Gaze Pace, (31 December 1915 – 23 August 1975) was an English architect who specialised in ecclesiastical works. He was trained in London, and served in the army, before being appointed as surveyor to a number of cathedrals. Mo ...

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 ...

in a Scandinavian style reflecting the location's history, and is now listed. The chapel was built in

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

with a roof shingled in red cedar. It has a rectangular plan, with

aisle An aisle is a linear space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, in buildings such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, parliaments, courtrooms, ...

s and a serpentine link to the house. The roof is steeply pitched. The

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

s contain

mullion A mullion is a vertical element that forms a division between units of a window or screen, or is used decoratively. It is also often used as a division between double doors. When dividing adjacent window units its primary purpose is a rigid sup ...

ed and transomed windows of varying sizes, rising to the apex of the gable.

As part of the Scargill Movement

In 2008, it was announced that the centre would be closing on 20 July 2008 due to financial difficulties, and profits from the sale of the estate would be used to set up a foundation. It was put on the market for £2.5 million. It was sold in March 2009 to a newly formed registered charity called the Scargill Movement, who are committed to continuing and developing Scargill House in continuation of its original vision, ministry and mission as a “

Lee Abbey Lee Abbey, founded in 1946, is an ecumenical Christians, Christian community between Woody Bay, Devon, Woody Bay and Lynmouth in Devon, England. It is a Grade II listed building. The first building on the site may have been a farmhouse built by ...

of the North”. It continues as a Christian centre run by a resident community, providing “a resource for the Church, providing a safe place for individuals and groups to meet with God and one another.” The sale price of £1,295,000 was made possible by an individual donation plus a one-year loan from the Lee Abbey Movement.

References

External links