Dallowgill: Vicarage

The history of The Old Vicarage, Dallowgill

From a presentation by Chris Floyd 29th January 2013

Dallowgill Vicarage Today
The house today

The house was built in the 1700s; the first mention we can find is from 1793, when it was owned by Mrs. Allanson
In 1838, the farmhouse and land were owned by Elizabeth Lawrence of Studley and rented by Philip Raper (or Roper?)
The farmhouse plus 70 (or 74) acres (7 for the house and the rest for glebe farm income) were sold to the Bishop or Ripon for £200 in November 1842
St. Peters Church was built on part of this land in 1843 and became a separate chapelry in July 1844 (the school had been built on adjoining land, also belonging to Elizabeth Lawrence in 1834)
In 1847, the house was extended by adding a vicar’s study and receiving room, with two bedrooms above. About this time, a drive was added linking the house with the church
1842 map of the land sold to the church by E. Lawrence

The fields

Dallowgill Vicarage Land Map
1842 map of the land sold to the church by E. Lawrence

Most of the vicars liked living in Dallowgill

1843-1864 Henry Prior – £100/yr =~ £75,000 today – Wife, four children, one niece, governess, three servants
1865-1867 John Dale Wawn
The only one who didn’t stay long, and we know little about him
1867-1897 John Shaw – £143/yr in 1870 =~ £77,000 today – Wife and two children
1899-1911 Reuben Vardy – £130/yr in 1896 = ~£53,000 today
1911-1922 Owen Jones Davies

The late 1800s and early 1900s

In 1899, Rev. Reuben Vardy drew up plans to add a farmhouse wing to the vicarage (called Parsonage House on the plans), but these weren’t implemented.
A kitchen and extra bedrooms were added about this time
In March 1906, Rev. Vardy rented out the 70 acres of land with buildings to William Weatherhead for £35/yr, but kept the vicarage and pasture
In 1908, Leeds Corporation acquired the bulk of the farmland, but not the Vicarage.
Rev Vardy was still active in 1910, commissioning windows for the church
In 1918, there was a campaign to stop Dallowgill and Kirkby merging, but in 1922 the parishes merged anyway and Owen Davies moved to Kirkby becoming vicar of combined parish
In 1923, Leeds Corporation acquired the Vicarage and 6 acres from Rev. Owen Jones Davies for £850

Window sketch plan
Drawing of memorial window 1910

The mid 1900s to present day

It is thought Robert and Edith Hall moved in as tenants when Rev. Davies moved out; but this has not been confirmed.
An electric generator was installed in 1926
The Halls were certainly resident in 1937
After WW2, Robert and Edith Hall ran the house as a B&B, until leaving in 1958. Miss Dobson, the schoolmistress, lodged at the house in the 1950s
Property was then empty for about three years
Leonard and Isobel Chandler moved in ~1961 as tenants, and then bought the property from Leeds Corporation in 1978
The property passed to their children and was sold to the Floyds in July 2000

Downloads
Vicaragetimeline.rtf
vicarage_fields.rtf

Dallowgill