ADDINGHAM Civic Society’s 10th blue plaque is to be at Farfield Meeting House.

Members of the Society and friends have been invited to attend the unveiling which will take place on Saturday, June 2 at 3pm. Gabby Robertshaw of Farfield Hall has agreed to perform the unveiling as the Meeting House was built by a previous owner of the Hall, Anthony Myers.

Don Barrett will be leading a walk from the village to the Meeting House that afternoon as there is restricted parking space at Farfield. As well as being shown round the Meeting House and hearing something of its history, there will be an opportunity to view the recently installed art work - ‘There but not there’.

This consists of transparent figures, representing soldiers killed in the First World War, and a version of it was first shown in Penshurst Church, East Sussex in 2016. A national charity, Remembered, has now been set up to encourage the use of the figures (which in the case of Farfield have been kindly lent by Gabby Robertshaw) to support initiatives in 2018 to mark the end of the First World War.

Although the Society of Friends (Quakers) has always opposed war, maintaining that international disputes should be resolved by peaceful means, a considerable number of Quakers were involved in the First World War both as members of the Friends Ambulance Unit and as soldiers. It therefore seemed appropriate to host ‘There but not there’ in the peace of Farfield Meeting House.

Farfield Friends Meeting House was built in 1689, the year of the Act of Toleration which allowed Quakers and other nonconformist groups religious freedom and which meant that they could build their own places of worship. The Meeting House is owned by the Historic Chapels Trust which, along with a small local committee, undertakes the care and maintenance of the building.

The building is open in daylight hours and is visited by many walkers from all over the world who are walking on the Dales Way in the Yorkshire National Park. Some walkers come across the Meeting House unexpectedly and the moving comments in the visitors book reflect the impact it has on them: “What a wonderful place, quiet, away from the stress of life”, “Peaceful and spiritual”, “A hidden gem”. It is used monthly for Quaker Meetings for Worship and remains a place for quiet, unhurried contemplation.

Farfield Meeting House was recently chosen by Historic England as one of the 10 faith and belief places in their campaign ‘A History of England in 100 Places’.