Potted History

Oswalds at Sowerby, as the names suggests, is located in the centre of the sleepy parish of Sowerby. The Hotel was formerly a dairy (known as Church Farm) with origins dating from the 16th century. Church farm was converted to a hotel and restaurant in 1982 and fully refurbished in 2007/8 to a very high standard by the present owners.

The name Oswalds has been adopted from St Oswalds parish church Sowerby, which is almost directly facing the Hotel. St Oswalds was King of England and ruled from York. The church itself is of special interest being Norman in origin with later additions. Our claim to fame! Church farm was a working farm,the local vet being a Mr Alf Wight, who was based in Thirsk and often frequented Church farm on a weekly basis.

Mr Wight was the famous author and vet who created the fictional character James Herriot. He wrote several books including, "It Shouldn't Happen to a Vet" and "All Creatures Great and Small" from which a number of television series were created.

Amongst one of his many jobs at the farm was castration of bulls! These operations were carried out to the rear of the farm, which is now the car park for Oswalds. I am not aware of any reference to church farm in any of his books, however it's not inconceivable that it is mentioned in a different guise.

Any information to any other link to the above would be greatly appreciated!

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