- This article is about the fictional farm. For information about the soap itself, see Emmerdale.
Emmerdale Farm was the main farm in Beckindale for a number of years, originally built in the 1800s. It was featured in the show from the first episode in October 1972 to February 1993.
History[]
Until 1972[]
Emmerdale Farm was owned by the Miffield Estate who began leasing the farm to the Sugden family at some point in the 1800s. By the 1930s, Jacob Sugden had taken over the lease from his father, Joseph Sugden. Jacob married Annie Pearson in 1945 and the couple raised their three children, Jack, Peggy, and Joe, on the farm.
Jacob was an alcoholic and he spent more time propping up the bar of The Woolpack than he did working, and as a result, he ran the farm into the ground. Most of the work fell to Jack who barley got paid enough to buy himself a pint for his efforts. Jacob and Jack often clashed over how Jacob was running the farm and things came to a head between the pair in 1964 when Jack objected to Jacob's plans to start farming battery hens. It was the final straw for Jack and he packed his bags and moved to London without a backwards glance.
Joe left school aged fifteen and began working on the farm. Peggy's boyfriend Matt Skilbeck also helped out on occasion when the farm was busy - mostly during haymaking - as there wasn't the money to take on a paid man as Jacob would drink away the profits. After Matt and Peggy married, Matt began working at Emmerdale Farm full time.
1972-1973[]
When Jacob died in October 1972, Jack inherited the residue of the lease which forced him to return to the farm for the first time in eight years. Jack believed Jacob left him the lease to control him and he viewed the farm as a ball and chain. During his time away from Emmerdale Farm, Jack had written a bestselling novel which made him a lot of money so he used his wealth to begin paying Joe and Matt a fair wage. He also employed Tom Merrick to do his share of the work although workshy Tom didn't last long.
The lease to the farm included the ruins of an old millhouse which nobody had lived in in living memory and also had a preservation order on it. The millhouse featured in Jack's book and he had a great affection for the place so he planned to restore it to live in. Jack also wanted to buy Jameson's Farm as the land bordered the millhouse. However, Henry Wilks was also interested so Harry Jameson tried to play the pair off against each other in an attempt to create a bidding war but both Jack and Henry realised what Jameson was doing. In January 1973, Henry purchased the freehold of Emmerdale Farm from the Miffield Estate which gave him the upper hand in the bidding war as Jack would require his permission as the freeholder to do any work to the millhouse. Jack refused to be blackmailed so he told Jameson to sell his farm to Henry. Jack also made over the lease of Emmerdale Farm to Annie, Peggy, Joe, and his grandfather Sam Pearson although he reluctantly agreed to take a fifth share for himself as a sleeping partner. Sam didn't want his share so he sold it to Henry for £500. Emmerdale Farm Ltd. was formed with Henry as the managing director and the company bought the 50 acre Jameson's farm.
1973-1993[]
In 1986, Mowlam's Farm was bought by Emmerdale, and it became Emmerdale land.
In January 1993, Jack's tractor fell into a sinkhole and doors at the farm would not open properly. A surveyor was bought in and said the farmhouse and nearby land was suffering from subsidence, so he told Jack and his family to move out of the farmhouse as soon as possible. They did so in February 1993 and moved into Hawthorn Cottage. Much of the original Emmerdale Farm land would still be farmed on. Annie was shocked when she returned from holiday in March 1993 to find the farm abandoned. The Sugdens visited the farm again in May 1993 for one final look around.
The farm appeared to stand as a ruin from May 1993 onwards.
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List of owners and residents[]
Owners[]
- Miffield Estate - Until 1973
- Henry Wilks - 1973
- Emmerdale Farm Ltd. - 1973-1993
Residents[]
- Jacob Sugden - 1915-1972
- Annie Sugden - c.1945-1994
- Sam Pearson - c.1945-1984
- Jack Sugden - 1947-1964, 1972-1973, 1976, 1980-1988, 1989-1993
- Peggy Skilbeck - 1948-1973
- Joe Sugden - 1949-1983, 1986-1994
- Matt Skilbeck - c.1969-1989
- Rosemary Kendall - 1975-1976
- Dolly Skilbeck
- Samuel Skilbeck
- Pat Sugden
- Jackie Merrick
- Sandie Merrick
- Robert Sugden - 1986-1988, 1989-1993
- Kate Sugden - 1989-1990
- Rachel Hughes - 1989-1993
- Marc Hughes - 1989-1993
- Sarah Connolly - 1990-1993
- Henry Wilks - 1991
- Michael Feldmann - 1992
Trivia[]
- According to Alison Gibbons, the farm was a "couple of miles [from Beckindale] up Langfold Road".[1] Jack Sugden said one of the boundaries of the farmland runs along the Connelton Road, between Stony Lane and Verney's Oak.[2] Matt Skilbeck stated that the farm is "the other side of the village" to Home Farm. [3]
- The farm was stated to have about 280 acres of land.[4]
- In early 1993, the original farmhouse had to be written out because farmer Arthur Peel retired, and the new owners of the real-life farm, Lindley Farm, did not want filming to continue on their land. Therefore a storyline was written where Jack Sugden's tractor fell down a hole, also the bathroom door jammed, and when a surveyor was called in he said the farm was suffering from subsidence, leading to the farmhouse having to be vacated as it was too dangerous to live in.
- Arthur Peel died in 1994 aged 71, and was said to have appeared as an extra in Emmerdale Farm in the background.
- Episode 1768 (27th May 1993) was the last episode to feature interior scenes in the original farm.
- Three characters have died on the property; Peggy Skilbeck in 1973, Sam Pearson in 1984 and Denis Rigg in 1989.
References[]
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