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Bedale
Historical and geographical information
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Introduction
Dates are in red.
Hyperlinks to other pages are in dark blue.
Headlines of the history of Bedale are
in brown.
References and citations are in turquoise.
Contextual history is in purple.
The Farndales of Bedale
Whilst there is no line of Farndales
associated with Bedale, there are Farndales who lived or are otherwise
associated with the town: William Farndale (FAR00366); William
Farndale (FAR00499);
William Farndale (FAR00502A); James
Farndale (FAR00521);
Tom Farndale (FAR00536);
Hannah Farndale (FAR00628);
Ronald Farndale (FAR00925);
Alfred Farndale (FAR00683)
was married at Bedale Church shortly before he emigrated to Alberta.
Bedale
Bedale has been a market
town since 1251. It was mentioned in the Domesday Book. The town was
recorded as Bedell or Bedhal and derives from
'Beda's Halh' which means the corner or place of Beda.
Its Georgian heyday is reflected in the elegant buildings lining the historic
market square.
In the 18th century,
Bedale was a centre of horseracing. It was the place where three-year-old
races were first introduced in England, since previously horseracing was
limited to older horses.
Before the Harrying
of the North, Bedale was held by Torpin (Thorfinn), a
patronym retained by the infamous Dick Turpin.
The 12th century church,
St Gregory’s, has been named as one of Britain’s best. The original 9th century
church escaped destruction in the Harrying of the North and was recorded in the
Domesday Book.
The recent discovery of
the Bedale Hoard provides further evidence of
high-status Anglo-Saxon and Viking age activity in the
area.
Bedale Church taken in December 1986