It was possible to see the whole of the western end of the Hartley Valley from Templeton Towers. Sir Templeton Taylor had made sure of that fact by a combination of deforestation and demolition between 1868 and 1875, when the gargantuan castellated construction was completed. The edifice symbolized the rise of the Taylor family from humble home workers, toiling at their cottage looms, to the pre-eminent dynasty in Hartleydale. Only Ernest Riddles, of Holme Hill, could rival the Taylors of Templeton Towers and his empire was a pale imitation of Hartley’s wool magnate.

The building’s design was loosely based on the fortresses built by the Knights Templar in the Holy Land and elsewhere. Sir Templeton had even sent his architect (who also designed his other monument, St David’s Church in Hartley). At...

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