A BOOK documenting historic houses of Addingham has been published by the village’s civic society.
Addingham Civic Society launched Addingham Houses 1750 – 1850, by local historian Arnold Pacey, at its last speaker meeting. In The first part of the book includes, Mr Pacey has written chapters about the main property owners of the era, particularly the Cunliffes and the Cockshotts.
He describes the houses that they owned, with detailed pen and ink drawings – many drawn by himself – of architectural features, and photographs of some of the houses.
The second part of the book is devoted to the builders, stonemasons and other craftsmen who built the houses, their design sources, and their distinctive working methods which left their mark and show who built which house.
Particularly featured here are generations of the Breare family. Don Barrett, who worked with Mr Pacey on the book, said: “Before 1750 Addingham was a small farming community but during the next 100 years, the period covered by this book, the village was transformed by the coming of the textile industry and the construction of substantial textile mills and related enterprises.
“This expansion produced wealthy mill owners who needed suitable housing for themselves and their families but also needed lesser properties for their workers. It is very fortunate that so many old houses still exist in Addingham – which has over 100 listed buildings – and, indeed, much of Main Street is lined by original buildings from this period, even though some of the workers’ cottages have been demolished.”
Addingham Civic Society has already published a book by Mr Pacey on Manor Garth as well as A View from the Moorside, written with Alison Armstrong and Malcolm Birdsall, and Kate Mason’s history of the village, From Brigantes to Bypass.
Its other publications include an anthology of photographs of old Addingham, a book of country walks, and a video copy of a historic film made in 1952, showing work at at the village’s sawmill.
The society has also published a leaflet of Addingham’s architectural highlights and an A3 poster of the village, and a set of greetings cards or notelets featuring drawings of scenes from the village.
Addingham Houses 1750 – 1850 will be available at civic society meetings, to order at Addingham Newsagents, by emailing the society at: info@addinghamcivicsociety.co.uk and also from Amazon in paperback and Kindle versions. Paperback: £3.50, Kindle: £1.53. All proceeds are kindly donated to the Civic Society.