A guided tour of the Dog Kennel Lane Circuit will take place on Saturday, 23 May 2015. Meet on Skelton Road under the A1M flyover at 2pm. The walk takes about two-and-a-half hours. The following day (Sunday, 24 May), Newby Hall’s Estates Manager, Peter Greenwood, will open an exhibition on the Dog Kennel Lane Project’s work in the Coronation Hall at Langthorpe, Boroughbridge, at 11.15am. The exhibition continues until 4.30pm.

David Barley, chairman of the study group, which was funded by a Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) grant, said: “I am delighted that an area, which I knew as a boy, has now been researched and that the information we gathered is recorded for future generations.”

Fiona Spiers, Head of Heritage Lottery Fund Yorkshire and the Humber, said: “The Dog Kennel Lane project has enabled the local community to develop new skills, share their memories and learn more about the history of their local area. The exhibition and trail will share these stories with the wider community and bring the area’s history to life.”

The Dog Kennel Lane Project was set up by Boroughbridge and District Historical Society and has involved 15 months of research. Members have consulted archives, examined maps and aerial photographs, including digital imagery; gathered oral history, carried out field walking and geophysics.

In 2014 HLF awarded the society £10,000 for an archaeological research project covering a small area in the parishes of Langthorpe and Newby-with-Mulwith north of the River Ure and west of the A1M.

The study group worked under the guidance of professional Community Archaeologist Kevin Cale. You can visit the Dog Kennel Lane website to view the research.

The Dog Kennel Lane Project – named after dog kennels which stood beside the original carriage drive to the 16th-century Brampton Hall – discovered Neolithic finds, ancient river crossings, researched Roman remains and properties with historic connections on the Newby Hall Estate. They even found links to the Battle of Culloden in 1745.

Historic properties included Brampton Hall, once the home of the Tancred family, who were implicated in the 1569 rebellion against Queen Elizabeth I. They suffered persecution as Catholics in Protestant Elizabethan England and were arrested in 1579 and their lands were confiscated by the Crown.

Mulwith was the home of Mary Ward, born in 1585. She was a Catholic, who founded religious institutions across Europe. One of the institutions established the Bar Convent in York.  Her maternal uncles, John and Christopher Wright, were involved in the Gun Powder Plot led by Guy Fawkes.

One of the aims of the project was to create a heritage trail which will now be known as the Dog Kennel Lane Circuit. The five-mile walk was made possible by a permitted footpath granted by Newby Hall Estates, which links existing rights of way between Langthorpe and Skelton-on-Ure.

After Mr Greenwood has opened the exhibition – representing the Compton family who own Newby Hall – Kevin Cale, the archaeologist who has led the project, will give a short illustrated presentation. Admission is free and everyone is welcome. There will be a children’s quiz and refreshments will be available.

Pupils from Skelton Newby Hall Church of England School have been involved in the project, looking at the wildlife of the area, exploring their heritage and learning new skills.

Notes to editors

Boroughbridge and District Historical Society

The society was founded in 1994 to encourage and develop an interest in the heritage of the area. The society holds an archive of photographs and related material from Boroughbridge and surrounding villages. Its members stage exhibitions and meet monthly for a programme of talks by visiting speakers.

Yore Vision Walks Through Time

The Dog Kennel Lane Circuit is the latest in a series of 'Walks Through Time' promoted by Yore Vision, a community organisation for Boroughbridge and the Lower Ure Valley, which receives funding from Harrogate Borough Council.

For further information contact David Barley, project chariman on david.barley224@btinternet.com or Linda Dooks, Secretary on 01423 322 988.