Farfield Mill

Overview

About Farfield Mill

Why stop

Working looms, artists’ studios and changing exhibitions under one roof
Riverside tea room and makers’ work on display

Heads up

The cafe and galleries are an indoor attraction, not a scenic walk
Dogs are restricted to designated areas rather than the full mill

A solid stone woollen mill from 1836 that could easily have been left empty instead holds four floors of art, craft and mill heritage. It is an easy, rewarding hour or two when you want something other than a fell walk, and the mix of changing exhibitions, artists' studios and historic machinery means no two visits look quite the same.

Parkwolf’s verdictWhy stop here

Map

Where it is

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SightFarfield Mill54.32190, -2.49795

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Plan your stop

Before you go

Best time to visit

Weekdays are generally the quieter bet, with visitors more often reporting a straight walk in; weekend arrivals have sometimes faced a wait of half an hour or more. A wet or blustery day is when the mill earns its keep as a dry, warm alternative to the fells, and because exhibitions turn over through the year, a return visit usually brings new work on the walls even though the mill story stays the same.

Access and dogs

Access is unusually good for a historic industrial building: a ramp at the entrance, a lift to every level and no steps on any floor, plus level-access toilets on each floor, seating dotted around the mill and free accessible parking adjacent. Dogs are welcome in the tea room and gift shop only, not elsewhere in the mill, so plan around that if you are travelling with one. Assistance dogs are welcome.

1 active Yorkshire Dales alert

ClosureTemporary closures on public rights of wayAvoid the listed sections of public rights of way while their temporary closures or pedestrian prohibition are in force. - Public Bridleway No. 52 (05.Official details

Yorkshire Dales alerts

A park ranger sits on a dash-mounted phone, talking, as Parkwolf’s Tour Guide plays “Army Cutworm Moths: A Grizzly Bear Buffet” on Grand Loop Road below Dunraven Pass in Yellowstone — Parkwolf Tour GuideThe highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.

Yorkshire Dales Tour Guide

Your drive to Farfield Mill, narrated.

Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Yorkshire Dales National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.

Recorded for this place

Farfield Mill

0:00 / 0:34

“You're approaching Farfield Mill, a former Sedbergh woollen mill where the machines tell more than a wall of dates. It opened in 1836 and kept making textiles for 156 years.”

Plays as you drive up to Farfield Mill in the Parkwolf Yorkshire Dales Tour Guide.

More about Farfield Mill

The heritage sideTextile production ran here for 156 years before ending in the early 1990s, and the building…

Textile production ran here for 156 years before ending in the early 1990s, and the building still reads as a working mill. Displays across the floors cover water-powered machinery and the story of the mill, and the machines themselves do the heavy lifting: a Dobcross loom, a 300-year-old Witney blanket loom and a 1936 warp mill, with historic and working looms that make the local wool trade far more vivid than a panel of dates.

Art, craft and studiosThe galleries carry changing exhibitions alongside a craft gallery and mill shop.

The galleries carry changing exhibitions alongside a craft gallery and mill shop. Studios sit within the building rather than in a separate wing, so you may see artists at work and fall into conversation about what they are making, which visitors consistently rate as the best part. That depends on who is in on the day.

Practical tipsFree parking on site for cars, motorcycles, minibuses and coaches, with overnight parking not…

Free parking on site for cars, motorcycles, minibuses and coaches, with overnight parking not permitted.
Follow the brown tourist signs rather than your sat nav, which is the official advice for finding the mill.
The tea room does drinks, cakes, light lunches and snacks, with riverside and outdoor seating plus shelter.
Public toilets and baby changing are available on site.

Honest drawbacksThis is an indoor attraction, not a scenic outing, so pair it with a walk if you want views and…

This is an indoor attraction, not a scenic outing, so pair it with a walk if you want views and distance. Anyone hoping for a full day out may find the scale modest, and the dog rule means one of your party could end up waiting in the tea room while the rest head upstairs.

Wildlife

Wildlife in Yorkshire Dales

All Yorkshire Dales wildlife maps

10 sightingsEurasian OtterMost seen around 7 PMSighting map

11 sightingsAtlantic SalmonMost seen around 7 AMSighting map

12 sightingsShort-eared OwlMost seen around 7 PMSighting map

22 sightingsWestern Barn OwlMost seen around 6 AMSighting map

27 sightingsTawny OwlMost seen around 7 PMSighting map

34 sightingsCommon KingfisherMost seen around 7 AMSighting map

Sighting maps show where each species has been reported across Yorkshire Dales. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.