Come down through the oaks on the western lane and Keldwick opens out all at once — a broad green mown close about its war memorial, a pond at the foot of it, and the grey tower of St Cuthwin's set a little apart at the top. There is a cream-fronted pub with its name in gold, rows of warm old brick, and good fields beyond. Keldwick has been here since before the Domesday Book, and we like to think it has only got tidier since.
14th June — the Summer Fete returns to the green on Saturday next. · 2nd June — Beating of the Bounds this year on Rogation Sunday; all are welcome to walk.
There has been a Keldwick for a very long time. The name is older than the spelling of it, and there are those who will tell you, over a pint at the Lantern, that the green was here before the church, and the church before the rest of us. We make no claims we cannot keep. We only say that people have lived here, and looked after the place, since before the Domesday Book thought to write us down.
St Cuthwin's stands a little apart at the top of the green, as it has for nine hundred years. The war memorial keeps the names of the village's sons. These are not grand things. They are simply ours, and we keep them.
Visitors often remark that Keldwick is uncommonly tidy, and ask how it is managed. The honest answer is that there is no managing to it. The village keeps itself, because everyone lends a hand and always has. We are a conservation village, and proud of it, but the truth is simpler and older than any conservation order: we like our home to look well, so we keep it so.
Much of village life still turns on the green and the church year — the fete in summer, the harvest supper, carols by the memorial at Christmas. Newcomers are always made welcome; you have only to walk in at the Lantern.
❞A settlement of great antiquity and uncommon order, pleasantly situate about its green, and accounted among the best-kept villages of the Riding.
— from an old county directory
Keldwick lies a few miles off the Harlsby road, west through the oaks. The lane in follows the old course of the stream into the village. There is room to leave a car along the green; please mind the verges. The bus through Fore Street runs to Harlsby and back several times a day.
A gentle half-hour: begin at the war memorial, take the path down the western edge of the green beside the stream to the pond, and follow the water along the lower lane back toward the oaks. Stout shoes after rain.
The council meets in the village hall on the first Tuesday of the month at 7.30, save in August. Meetings are open to all residents, and the agenda is posted on the board by the post office a week before.
Write to the Clerk, care of the Old Post Office, Keldwick, or leave a note in the parish box in the church porch. The clerk holds the hall diary, the burial register, and the parish minutes.
Available for hire for meetings, parties and classes. Trestle tables, a small kitchen, and a piano that is mostly in tune.
The parish keeps its own archive — council minutes, old parish registers, and papers on the history of the village. The records are held privately by the clerk. Residents and researchers may consult them on request.
Open the Parish Records →The village archive is kept privately. Please enter your access word to continue.
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