 In the 17th century the village was an important Wensleydale centre of Quakerism, and its biggest building even today is the classically styled Friends' Meeting House of 1864.In 1810, the western end of the village supposedly suffered from a fire which destroyed 12 thatched cottages.Whilst there is no documentary evidence of this, it is a locally believed legend and mapping from 1819 and 1856 does show at least nine dwellings as having been removed.