William Dewsbury, Christopher Taylor and Gervase Benson preached in the area around Bolton-in-Craven in the early 1650s and convinced Anthony Myers. He began to hold meetings at his home, Farfield Hall, Catgill, and in 1666 gave part of the estate to Friends for a burial ground. A settled Meeting is recorded under the name of Beamsley in 1665, as part of Skipton Monthly Meeting, and in 1669, as part of the newly formed Knaresborough Monthly Meeting. The Meeting drew in Friends from Bolton and Addingham, as well as Beamsley, and its leading members included Charles Walmsley, Richard Smith, John Moore, Thomas Smithson and Thomas Tennant. In 1689, Anthony Myers gave an adjoining plot of land for a Meeting House, and it is likely that the Meeting changed its name at this point to Farfield. The Meeting House was in use until 1816, when, due to declining local strength, Friends rented a room in Addingham instead. After its transfer to Brighouse Monthly Meeting in 1853, Addingham Meeting closed in 1862.
From the guide to the Records of Addingham Preparative Meeting of the Society of Friends, 1689-1931, (GB 206 Leeds University Library)
