Follifoot is a large village and civil parish

Civil parish

In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...

 in the Harrogate district

Harrogate (borough)

Harrogate is a local government district and borough of North Yorkshire, England. Its council is based in the town of Harrogate but it also includes surrounding towns and villages...

 of North Yorkshire

North Yorkshire

North Yorkshire is a non-metropolitan or shire county located in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England, and a ceremonial county primarily in that region but partly in North East England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972 it covers an area of , making it the largest...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. It is situated on the A658 road and 2 miles (3.2 km) south east from the town centre of Harrogate

Harrogate

Harrogate is a spa town in North Yorkshire, England. The town is a tourist destination and its visitor attractions include its spa waters, RHS Harlow Carr gardens, and Betty's Tea Rooms. From the town one can explore the nearby Yorkshire Dales national park. Harrogate originated in the 17th...

.

History

The name of the village is derived from Norse translating as "Place of the Horse Fight" with the village having a long association with horse sports. Follifoot is not listed in the Domesday Book

Domesday Book

Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...

and the earliest known record of Follifoot is as Pholifet (12th century). Anglo-Saxon remains have been discovered in and near to the village with the most obvious being an Anglian Cross prominently displayed in the middle of the crossroads at the top of the village.

By the time of the 19th century the village was a thriving community supporting such commerce as the flax industry, tanners, tailors, joiners, a wheelwright, cordwainer and blacksmiths.

Rudding Park Estate

The village has long been associated with the Rudding Park Estate with the South Gatehouse to the estate standing at the top of the village. The estate was originally purchase by Lord Loughborough in 1788, engaging the landscape designer Humphry Repton

Humphry Repton

Humphry Repton 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 the 19th century...

 to to improve the grounds and surrounding landscape.

The Estate was purchased by the Hon. William Gordon in 1805 and he was responsible for the initial construction of the present house. However by the time the Estate was purchased by Sir Joseph Radcliffe nineteen years later house was still unfinished. In 1972 the House and 2000 acre estate was acquired by the Mackaness family.

St. Joseph and St. James Church

The St. Joseph and St. james Church was opened on 22 October 1848 when Sir Joseph Radcliffe, 2nd Baronet (1799-1872), the owner of Rudding Park Estate, gave part of the Longlands Field for the church site. The church contains three stained glass windows dedicated to the memory of Sir Joseph Radcliffe

External links

• The Ancient Parish of Spofforth at GENUKI
  GENUKI
  GENUKI is a genealogy web portal, run as a charitable trust. Its aim is "to serve as a "virtual reference library" of genealogical information that is of particular relevance to the UK & Ireland"...
  
  : Follifoot was in this parish