A nursery rhyme, an ancient stoop and a lot of barns... Long Preston is an edge-of-the-Yorkshire-Dales village on the A65, a passing-through place on route to the Lakes and yet it is worth a wander and dawdle to try and piece together the historical jigsaw posed by the ancient houses and land.
Much of the history has been unearthed comprehensively by the Long Preston Heritage Group. With the moors and fells of the Yorkshire Dales on one side and the lower wetlands of the Ribble Valley on the other, there is an ‘edginess’ to Long Preston which derives its name from Prestune, recorded in 1086, meaning the priest’s farmstead or town, with the Long added later referring to its linear development.
Stroll from the village green (one of two) opposite the Maypole Inn and you come to a small garden where, standing in pride of place, is an ancient stone pillar engraved with hands pointing in the direction of Skipton and Settle. This guide-stone, or stoop as they were known, came before milestones which began springing up in the Turnpike, or toll road, era.
It’s worth sitting a while looking at the Maypole Green and imagining how it was once an important hub for livestock droving. At that time, local man John Birtwistle of Skipton was responsible for organising many of the livestock fairs and the movement of animals from Scotland down to England. Long Preston became a popular stopping point and the surrounding land went from being arable to pasture. On the village green there were livestock fairs aplenty including the autumn sheep fair where more than 10,000 animals would gather. Nearby Langber Lane which now offers a beautifully peaceful route to Scaleber Force Waterfall near Settle, was once one of the busiest droving routes between Skipton and Lancaster.
One of the characteristics of Long Preston is the number of barns, mostly now homes, that presumably sprang up to help feed, and house the livestock as the village’s reputation as a drover’s hub took hold. If you take the path round the back of the houses and join the road towards the station, there is still one barn being used as it was intended!
Back in the village, another barn, called Guys Villa, was once owned by the Prior Moone family. Prior Moone was in fact the last prior of nearby Bolton Abbey and the story goes that he, and his Catholic priory were swindled, or diddled, by a local farmer called Hey. From then on a nursery rhyme was created which you might recognise… Hey Diddle Diddle, the Cat and the Fiddle (the Cat refers to the Catholic faith)!
Words & photos thanks to Amanda Brown
