TAS Driffield Wolds' visit to Farnley Hall

Another welcome day out for our members who headed first of all to Ilkley for a bit of shopping and a bite of lunch then on to Otley for a guided tour of Farnley Hall.

The Fawkes family have been at Farnley since the 13th century. The current old hall was built in the late 16th Century and the larger Georgian extension on the south side, designed by John Carr, was added in the early 1790's.

The hall is in a superb location in Wharfedale looking across to Otley Chevin which became the inspiration for JMW Turner's "Hannibal Crossing the Alps".

Turner had a long association with Farnley Hall, visiting each year and many of his paintings, inspired by the area, were displayed there - some still are. The house still contains original furniture and family portraits and our guides, including the current owner Guy Horton-Fawkes, gave us an excellent account of the development of the hall.

The group photo in this article was taken by our driver who kindly launched his drone for the occasion and the one of the Georgian extension was taken by member Phil Sainter. Turner's painting of Farnley Hall is taken from the Farnley website.