Though only a tiny place, Keld has a many-layered history.
In April 2022 we completed another major restoration project on the Old School building. This is now the home of the Old School Museum with many artefacts donated by local people. In October 2022 the collection grew when the Swaledale Museum in Reeth kindly donated their collection to us. The Swaledale Museum collection had been started in the 1960’s by Erica and Donald Law and was a wonderful addition to our growing Keld collection.
We hold an extensive local history archive collection in our Archive Office in the Old School Museum. These include historical documents, family history, maps, chapel records and an large image library. Lead mining, traditional farming, handcrafts, cheese and butter making are some of subjects covered in our extensive online archive which we are continually adding to. We hope to digitise many more records to make them available to the public.
You can see the full collection and browse the material online here:
You may also like to join the “Old Pictures of Swaledale & Arkengarthdale” group on Facebook to view the huge collection of old photographs which have been uploaded by members of the public.
With over 3000 members the group is strictly private. To join the group you will need to have a FaceBook account, and also gain approval to become a member by answering a qualifying question.
We continue to transfer the Chapel and Institute archives to online and searchable formats.
The most recently completed work is the transcription of burial records to the Find a Grave genealogy website. Volunteer David Pemberton shares what he’s learned: