Prior Hall
Prior Hall
Prior hall was one of the most important buildings in Malham from the 11th to the 14th century. At that time Malham was divided by the beck, Bolton Priory owning the eastern side with Prior or Priors Hall as its main dwelling, and Fountains Abbey owning the land and property west of the beck with Malham hall as its centre. In the 1600s a stone house was built on the site with a mullioned window in the sitting room, now a dining room, and a good stone porch. Later two rooms were added with stone lintels round the windows but no mullions. There is a two foot thick wall between the present dining room and a dairy, now pantry, which was built at a later date. The dairy has a deep flagged floor and stone and slate banks or shelves. The dining room has the original punch faced inglenook fire surround and stone hearth. The end room, at one time a parlour, has an original exposed stone fire surround and chimney breast with a stone flagged hearth. There is also a very old and attractive window in this east facing room. In living memory there was evidence of a staircase going from the kitchen to the room above. In the early days of the house the Manor Court sat here to sort out any disputes over straying animals and various crimes. The latest alteration was the conversion of a hay barn into a large sitting room with galleried landing and inglenook style fire surround with wood burning stove. This was built by Maurice Blades in the 1990s. The large barn window and original barn doors have been retained as has the door to the rear of the house which was opened to blow away the chaff from the corn through the big barn doors. This was a working farm and there still remains a sheep wash in the garden, a shippon for twelve cows and the original milking parlour where the cooling of the milk took place
John Geldard, a previous occupant, was the supplier to the village of milk and eggs and was the second generation to own Prior Hall. Mr Geldard senior rented the house in 1919 from his father-in-law, James Lawson who had bought it from Mr Walker for £570. John Geldard and Margaret Nelson married in 1949 and lived at Prior Hall as tenant farmers to Mr T.H. Geldard, his father. In 1960 John became the owner of Prior Hall. His parents, then living in King House, died in 1971. From 1912, possibly earlier, to the 1940s Prior Hall served as the Malham branch of the Yorkshire Penny Bank. One resident of Malham remembers going in the 1930s and 40s to pay money in to Thomas Geldard. The present owners are Alan and Gillian Cooper, previous owners of Sparth House, now known as River House Hotel.
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