Sarkless Kitty, A Tale of Murder & Mystery From The Yorkshire Moors

There are several versions of the story of Sarkless Kitty, over the years as each person wrote about her a bit was added or changed. I have tried to bring you a report as concisely as possible, but I encourage you to see what you can find out about Kitty and her tale for yourselves. I went to the village with my husband Mark and on that visit we did meet the owner of the mill where Kitty's body was placed and she verified that the story was indeed true. The mill was bought from the original owners just 7 years after Kitty's death and it has been in the family since that time. I wonder why the original owner sold it. Did they have paranormal activity at home. Or were they involved in the death in some way. For all it is hard for a corpse to walk away? And what about the deaths of 16 other men?

Kitty Garthwaite, a servant girl who came from Gillamoor, a village a short walk away uphill. The legend claims Kitty has haunted the North Yorkshire Moors for several centuries now after throwing herself into the ford at the crossing place. Kitty Garthwaite was engaged to Willie Dixon who lived in the hamlet of Hutton-le-Hole. (depending on the source her beaus name changes to Herbert or Henry) we will use Willie for continuity reasons.

Due to gossip, rumours swirled around the village about Kitty's as many of the wives believed she was with child, around 7 months in fact. The spiteful woman although said to be godly also spread the word that Willie had no real interest in marrying her. Kitty waited at the ford for Willie to return with a marriage licence. But sadly Willie never turned up. Heading back to the village Kitty heard rumours that Willie had been seen that day with the daughter of a wealthy farmer in Castleton, over the moors buying a marriage licence. The next time Kitty saw Willie he was evasive about where he had been and with whom?

On May 29, 1787 it is said the pair met again by the ford for the fateful last time. A quarrel ensued and ended with Willie riding off, leaving the distraught Kitty standing alone, by her tree. There were no witnesses to this and Kitty was seen alone there. The present bridge at Lowna was built in 1825. Before that the river had to be forded. On that afternoon the River Dove was in flood. A severe storm had turned the river into a torrent. Kitty had to cross the river to get back home. The next morning Kitty's body was found, her white sark, a kind of shirt or smock, was found in the pool below the ford. Her other garments were strewn across four fields. Aware of the trouble between Kitty and Willie, villagers concluded that the jilted girl had set off back for Gillamoor but had decided to drown herself on the way. Distraught, she had cast off her clothes as she ran to the ford, where she plunged in naked except for her sark.

Kitty's body was laid out in a barn at Lowna Mill, situated near the ford. The miller's wife, Mrs Agar saw to Kitty and she removed and washed the sark and hung it by the body to dry. Kitty was carefully covered up with clean sacks. Later that day Willie went to see Kitty's. But he discovered Kitty's body and her sark had completely vanished. Only the sacks remained, neatly folded in a corner.

Willie spent the rest of the day searching for Kitty. On his horse, he called for her everywhere. At dusk he was seen riding along the old bridleway between Low Mill and Lowna. But by the next morning his horse was found grazing near Lowna Mill. His body when found was laying in the same pool in which Kitty had been drowned. 'Sarkless Kitty', as she was henceforth called, had claimed her first man. 

A few weeks later two Hutton-le-Hole children arrived home breathless, claiming to have just seen Kitty at the ford - and she was 'stark naked'. The children said Kitty was sitting on her usual tree, she smiled down at them and waved her sark as if to beckon them closer. Accused of being dishonest the parents stated that the children were no doubt 'liars', so the children were scolded and sent up to bed. In October of that same year, the horse of a well-known traveller who was often seen across the moors trotted riderless up to the Royal Oak Inn, Gillamoor. The poor man's body was found in the morning floating in Kitty's pool.

Over the next few years 16 more men in total, all but two of them strangers, were drowned in the same spot at the pool. Locals were convinced that Kitty's ghost was startling the men's horses, which reared up and threw the riders. Several local men claimed to have seen Kitty's ghost as they were crossing the ford'. The men said Kitty was always clutching her white sark, the naked figure of Kitty was sometimes seen sitting on her tree, sometimes running on the bank, and sometimes in the ford itself. Not wanting to be one of Kitty's victims, the local men turned back and fled. Each year a new victim would be pulled from the ford.

But it was the death of the final victim, Kitty's 16th victim that caused the most upset, for he was not a stranger travelling across the moor, this lad was a popular and hardworking young farmer, his death persuaded people something must be done. So they ordered a priest to bless the ford and the young man's body. The vicar conducted the blessing with the assistance of two choristers, one holding a lighted candle, the other ringing a bell. Kitty's ghost has never reappeared.

Kitty's body was found less than 400 metres from the salon where the orbs were captured. The buildings are new, and were built in 2006 using the local stone and built in the traditional way, the same way that some of the existing homes in the village were built before 1650.  The Quaker Meeting Hall for example was built in 1690. The village has changed very little and although there are now cars parked up once you leave the village green the area is very rural and one of the most amazing places to visit in the UK.

At that time of year in spring all of these water sources would be full and flowing fast as the Moors are set amongst the Pennine Mountains. Any crossing place would have been dangerous, but if this was true Kitty's body should have been found much further downstream not floating where she fell. There should have been signs of injuries as her body moved down the river hitting an obstacle in its way. There is no mention of marks on Kitty's body or I am sure the mill owner would have mentioned them. It was said Kitty's mother refused to pay for her burial, blaming Kitty for bringing shame on the family.

The Moors have been the last resting place for humans for at least 10.000 yrs. They have a strange energy to them and many a traveller has vanished trying to cross them. At night the moors are a treacherous place. Darkness comes quickly and many a person has been caught out by this. And in the rapid change of weather, the mist can roll in from seemingly nowhere. 

I am curious as to why the men's drowning deaths stop? If they were accidental in nature it seems strange that no more accidents were ever recorded at the ford after the church's blessing of the area. And what happened to Kitty? Where did she go? Did Kitty survive and hide until she was able to trick Willie and other male travellers in revenge for her death? Was she taken when the mill owner went up to the village to inform Kitty's family and if so why would her body be moved from the Mill? And why were her clothes spread out in the fields? 

So who killed the 18 men that followed? I don't believe it was Kitty.  Who would wait for travellers to come close to the ford and push the bodies into the water? 

A short walk across the moor from where the dog salon sits is the slightly larger village of  Kirkbymoorside which was no doubt visited by Kitty and the fly by night Willie at some point in their lives. It is the closest marketplace to their home village. Kirkbymoorside was known as a trading hub even before 1254. It was on that date the area was officially recorded as a market town. People from all of the neighbouring villages and farms from far and wide would have attended the market and the fairings that were held there. Farmers, Tinkers, Merchants, Landowners, Pedlars, Craftsmen and women would sell their wares, shop for goods, meet friends and loved ones and also to find employment or your future love. For some working class people they would only be able to attend the market on their one afternoon off each month.  

Whilst researching Kitty's case I came across a landlord who was based at one of the village pubs who explained he and one fellow inn keeper saw small footprints form on the wet stone floor.

Little Wet Footprints - "Many years ago when I was a landlord of the White Horse Kirkbymoorside, I would sometimes go over to see Steve, my friend who was the landlord of the Black Swan to see how his night had gone. We would normally just chat about the night in general. One night when I went over he was mopping the floor behind the bar when I arrived. 

We were standing there chatting for a few minutes when Steve noticed some small footprints that had started to show up on the wet stone floor. The footprints were the size of a small child's foot. Whatever was leaving them walked right up to where we were both stood talking and then they walked away again. It was very strange indeed."