IN the centre of the village of Evenwood, there is a hulking, brooding presence. It makes up one side of what should be a picturesque village green, but because of its dereliction it destroys any atmosphere.

It also seems to be destroying the peace – the fire brigade have been called to it six times in the last five months.

Everyone calls it Kayshall Farm, but we guess that in the distant past it was more grandly named Kay’s Hall.

This week, as The Northern Echo reported on Monday, there has been a public meeting in the village to see how its demolition – which would be popular – can be progressed. It is, though, an elderly place – in 2000, villagers posed outside it for a millennium picture because it was the oldest building in Evenwood.

We have consulted all of our sources and as many of our people as would answer the phone, but we can’t find even so much as a rough date for Kayshall, let alone an answer to the tantalising question of who Kay might have been.

Before the derelict old buildings disappear, it would be great if we could tell their story.

Evenwood is usually considered to be a classic coalmining sort of a place, and indeed its church, chapel and many of its terraces date back to the second half of the 19th Cent u r y when the mines – principally Randolph – opened.

However, the name Evenwood dates back to 1040 – more than a thousand years – when it was Efenwuda, an Anglo-Saxon name meaning “the wood on flat ground”.

And then there is the Evenwood Agreement of 1300. There was a bitter dispute between the Bishop of Durham, Anthony Bek, and the Prior of Durham, Richard Hoton, over who had the greatest power.

King Edward I, on his way to attack the Scots, stopped in Durham on June 18 and made a speech outside the cathedral demanding peace, and summoning the two men to attend him the next day when he was staying in Evenwood.

The Northern Echo:
Kayshall Farm is truly derelict – but what was its history?

Edward told them how torn he was: the bishop was a long-standing friend and advisor; the prior represented St Cuthbert, who had helped the king in battle on many occasions.

This caused the two to reach an agreement – the Evenwood Agreement – and everyone left the village happily.

It may even be that this historic conciliation took place in a large stone tower surrounded by a moat that was in Edward I’s day the main building in Evenwood. A section of the moat still visibly remains – the road to Cockfield past St Paul’s Church goes over the top of it – but the tower itself is completely lost.

For all its dereliction, it would be a shame if Kayshall disappeared before anyone noted its past.

BUT despite the big build up, the Evenwood Agreement of June 19, 1300, was a flop. The feud continued.

It became so bad that on August 20, the bishop took 300 archers and attacked the prior who holed up in Durham Cathedral with 46 monks.

They were stuck in there for days, without any food and without any toilets. Consequently, they were forced to relieve themselves inside the cathedral – something, apparently, that no Christian had ever done before.

On August 24, the bishop’s men burst into the cathedral, dragged the prior out of the pews, forced him to resign and imprisoned him in the castle.

The Northern Echo:
Randolph Colliery in Evenwood worked from 1836 to 1912 and in its heyday employed hundreds of men

In December, the prior’s friends helped him escape from the castle, and the dispute rumbled on until Edward I died in 1307.