High Court showdown over future of Yorkshire Dales school - after Church and village charity both claim to own it

Legal teams representing the Diocese of Leeds and the three trustees of the Rathmell Old School charity appeared at the Leeds Business and Property Court on Wednesday to set out a timetable for settling what the district judge called a ‘fascinating’ case.

The dispute concerns the school in the village of Rathmell, near Settle – which was founded in 1716 with surviving buildings dating back to the 1870s. After it closed when pupil numbers fell in 2017, the site was taken over by a charity set up with funds bequeathed by a local landowner in the 18th century. The three trustees rented out the old schoolmaster’s house and turned the school itself into a community centre with business space.

All seemed well until 2020, when the Church of England began negotiating with the charity for the site’s return, claiming ownership based on the fact that the Diocese of Leeds had granted the school Voluntary Aided status in the 1950s, meaning it was then entitled to Church financial support.

The trustees argued that the buildings and land had never been part of the diocesan estate, as the benefactor who had issued the deeds had made no mention of religious affiliation at the time.

Earlier this year the dispute culminated in the trustees – who include a farmer’s wife and a bus driver – being served with legal papers by the Diocese.

At a brief hearing before District Judge Kelly Bond, it was decided that both sides’ lawyers would be granted three weeks of discussions to avoid an application to strike out the claim. The defendants, the charity, were asked to submit further evidence by a deadline of November 8.

The Church’s counsel, Matthew Smith, said the case would centre on whether the land is subject to a reverter and if the claim for the reverter has been accepted by the trustees.

A High Court deputy judge is likely to oversee the trial, which will take place next spring with ‘some limited cross-examination’ of parties. The trustees are represented by David Forsdick KC.

An interesting aspect of the case is that both sides will rely on centuries-old documents to prove and defend the claim. The Rathmell Old School charity will produce deeds dated 1868 and written by benefactor Christopher Geldard, who stipulated that the local vicar and farmers were to run the school for the education of boys in reading and writing. A further document, from the National Archives, refers to the original schoolhouse’s replacement in 1874 with the present building under the trust’s ownership, with no mention of a Church contribution.

The Diocese’s evidence includes a memorial document from 1842, which refers to the Geldard family’s founding of a Sunday school to teach home crafts to girls, and a deed from 1857, when they granted money for a property for the parish curate.

The trustees say the Sunday school was held in the chapel and never the school, while the property deed refers to the large vicarage rather than the schoolmaster’s house.

The case has ended up in the civil courts because the trustees did not accept an offer by the Diocese to sign over the site and lease it back from them.

A spokesperson for the Diocese of Leeds said: “Numerous attempts to resolve this matter have been met with antagonism and so, regrettably, the Diocese has been left with no option but to seek clarification in law. This will ensure the issues are fully considered and any proof provided. As this legal process is underway, it is not appropriate to comment further at this stage.”