This film, together with several more of a similar nature, were made by John Howarth of Sheriff Hutton, and donated by his nephew, Robert Howarth, a film archivist and producer based in Huddersfield, who has deposited a sizeable collection of films with the YFA. John Howarth was at first an accountant in insurance before he took over his father-in-law’s farm at Sheriff Hutton in 1952. He made a number of family films from the 1940s to the 1960s, now deposited with the YFA.  His father-in-law,...

This film, together with several more of a similar nature, were made by John Howarth of Sheriff Hutton, and donated by his nephew, Robert Howarth, a film archivist and producer based in Huddersfield, who has deposited a sizeable collection of films with the YFA. John Howarth was at first an accountant in insurance before he took over his father-in-law’s farm at Sheriff Hutton in 1952. He made a number of family films from the 1940s to the 1960s, now deposited with the YFA.  His father-in-law, Wilfred Wagstaff, rose from being a mill worker from the age of 13 to becoming the Managing Director of a large textile company in the West Riding, before buying the farm in 1940. It was a fairly large 400 acre mixed farm, with 300 dairy cattle and other animals, such as hens and pigs, as well as growing corn and sugar beet. The mixed farming in the area meant that both before and after the Second World War the whole village was self-sufficient in food.

 

Robert Howarth came from Malcolm in Huddersfield, where during the 1940s the family ran the tractor making business, David Brown. This company developed their own design of tractors to meet the different tasks ploughing, cultivating, drilling and road hauling.  Robert got involved in making films and  helped to film these different models as they were made available for the public. The YFA has a small collection of promotional films on David Browns.

 

Coming from the textile industry John Howarth was keen on keeping up with the latest technological developments, and was one of the first in the area to have a combined harvester. The Massey Harris harvesting machine seen in the film was of Canadian origin, with the Massey company winning two gold medals for its threshing machine when representing Canada at the International Exposition in Paris in 1867.  They teamed up with Harris in 1881, and later in 1953 with Ferguson, becoming Massey Ferguson in 1958 – one of the family, Raymond Massey, became a well-known actor (Dr Kildare, East of Eden).  Yet, given the family connection to David Brown, one would expect their machinery to be evident.

 

Robert’s cousin and John’s son, Richard Howarth, interviewed for the ITV programme The Way We Were, states that his father treated his cows with great respect, and it is interesting to note in this connection that in all the film he took of his cattle – of which there is a lot – they are always outside and not cooped up in sheds, even in the snow. Another family member, Richard’s mother, is driving the Land Rover through the flooded field, and Richard notes that despite the rescuing of the hay shown in the film, it was nevertheless ruined and had to be burnt. Although, according to the Environment Agency website, Sheriff Hutton is not itself in a flood area – the River Foss, just to the south west, is the nearest area shown as liable to flooding ­– Richard remarks that there is 90 acres of low lying land prone to flooding after very heavy rain.

 

The ruins which act as a background in much of the film betrays a rich and fascinating history. Where cows can be seen grazing was the site of a famous castle, or fortified house, in the film being hemmed in by farm buildings. At the time children used it as a playground, but in fact during the latter stages of the Wars of the Roses, and for some time afterwards, it was the scene of a good deal of scheming behind closed doors.

 

As with many of the villages in this area, Sheriff Hutton has a long history, with the remains of dwellings evident from the Roman times and well before this. It is actually named as Hotun or Hoton in the Domesday book of 1086 – Old English for a town on a hill – before adding the name ‘Sheriff’ after Bertram de Bulmer was appointed Sheriff of Yorkshire there in 1139 by King Stephen – during the so-called ‘Anarchy of Stephen’.  As with many landowners, he acquired his land from the Norman William the Conqueror after he had taken what land he wanted, or was able to take. Bulmer built a castle here in 1141 of which some still remains. But this is not the same castle for which Sheriff Hutton is most famous for, which is actually on Howarth’s farm and which provides a backdrop for much of the film. This is the castle built by John Neville between 1382 and 1398 – also described as a ‘fortified manor house’.  Reid describes it as, “the most princely house in the North” (References). The Neville family moved to the area in 1331 after being given the overlordship of Sheriff Hutton. Richard II granted a license to crenellate – to build fortifications – in 1382, and the Castle has had a colourful, and murky, history since (anyone interested in the fascinating topic of crenellation might want to visit the Gatehouse website, References).

 

This was an interesting time in the history of Sheriff Hutton, it being near to York and close to the centre of the dying days of the York rule of England under the last of the Plantagenet’s, Richard III. Before making himself King in 1483 – after somewhat controversially disposing of the two young sons, and supposed heirs, of Edward IV – Richard was Governor of the North. As such he took over the lands of Richard Neville when Neville was killed at the Battle of Barnet, one of the key battles in the War of the Roses. Formerly a friend of Richard, the Duke of York (Richard III’s father), Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick (and Salisbury), clashed with Edward IV and so died fighting on the side of Lancashire – personal power counting for more than any regional allegiance, especially for Neville, who was not known as the ‘Kingmaker’ for nothing. The future King of England did have family connections though, having married Cecily Neville in 1425 when he was fourteen years old and Cecily just ten.

 

On becoming King, Richard III created the Council of the North which often met at Sheriff Hutton, and although his reign didn’t last long – his death and defeat at the Battle of Boswell in 1485 to Henry Tudor's Lancastrian forces led to the transfer of power to the Tudors – the Council continued to meet in Sheriff Hutton for some time. After being owned by eight kings and queens, the Castle passed out of royal hands in 1620, when James I gave it to the Ingram family, before being acquired by the Howarths. Richard Howarth cleared away the farm buildings from the site, obtained money from English Heritage to help keep it standing, and, at the time of writing (November 2009), it is up for sale.

 

The film also reflects the popularity of gymkhanas after the Second World War, as can be seen also in a film made shortly before this just a bit further north, Coxwold Gymkhana (1951)– for more on gymkhanas see the Context for this film. At the time this film was made the farm employed six men full-time, four for milking the cows, and several part-time, with Richard himself helping out from an early age, especially driving tractors. Richard cites the difficulty of getting farm workers as a reason that his father gave up farming in 1973, selling up much of the land. This reflects the change in rural demographics, with most people living in Sheriff Hutton in the 1940s and 50s working in agriculture, whereas today hardly any are.

 

References

 

David Cook, Lancastrians and Yorkists: The War of the Roses, Longman, 1984.

North Yorkshire Federations of Women’s Institutes, The North Yorkshire Village Book, Countryside Books, Newbury, 1991.

Rachel Reid, The King’s Council in the North, Longman, 1975.

Gatehouse: a comprehensive gazetteer and bibliography of the medieval castles, fortifications and palaces of England and Wales.

Sheriff Hutton History