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 below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

in the

Harrogate district The Borough of Harrogate is a local government district with borough status in North Yorkshire, England. Its population at the census of 2011 was 157,869. Its council is based in the town of Harrogate, but it also includes surrounding towns and v ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

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

Harrogate Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Harrogate in North Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist destination and its visitor at ...

History

The village name is derived from

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is 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 of Scandinavia and t ...

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 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

'' 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. Textiles made from flax are known in ...

industry,

tanning Tanning may refer to: *Tanning (leather), treating animal skins to produce leather *Sun tanning, using the sun to darken pale skin **Indoor tanning, the use of artificial light in place of the sun **Sunless tanning, application of a stain or dye t ...

, 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.

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 parish in the City of Leeds district, West Yorkshire, England, close to West Yorkshire county's border with North Yorkshire, and lies approximately from Leeds City Centre, from York and from Harrogat ...

and

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

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 English landscape designer of the eighteenth century, often regarded as the successor to Capability Brown; he also sowed the seeds of the more intricate and eclectic styles of ...

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. By the time the estate was purchased by Sir Joseph Radcliffe 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 or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

, 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 ...

: Follifoot was in this parish {{authority control Villages in North Yorkshire Civil parishes in North Yorkshire