Applicant Victoria Brown has been given permission by the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority for the conversion of Geslings Farm near Dent in Swaledale.

The farmhouse and barn were named after a yeoman farmer called Christopher Gosling, who was recorded as a head of household in the 1861 and 1901 censuses. The complex appears on Ordnance Survey maps as far back as 1852, but by the time the farmhouse and attached byre was listed in 1954, it was being used as a livestock shelter and thought to date back to the 17th century, with 18th-century additions. Remains of its original purpose are still present, including fireplaces, cooking ranges, cupboards, bacon hooks, ceiling racks, salt/spice box and children’s murals. The original timber studded door is still used as an entrance.

The scheme is sympathetic, with restoration of the removed upper floors and staircases, but entrances and windows retained and a similar floorplan. The council’s heritage and conservation officers supported the proposal, as the farm is currently on the Buildings at Risk register and classed as vulnerable and disused.

Dent Parish Council expressed a wish that the building was used as a full-time dwelling and not as a holiday let, though local occupancy restrictions do not apply to former houses being brought back into use. The planning officers’ report described the council as being ‘strongly supportive’ of the application because of the minor alterations to the building’s fabric.

Consent was granted with conditions attached.

Abandoned 17th-century Yorkshire Dales farmhouse to become a home again for the first time since the 1950s