ANGER has been expressed following strong indications that the Field Studies Centre at Malham Tarn is to close.

It is understood that the Field Studies Council (FSC) is to close the centre, based at Malham Tarn House, at the end of October - ending its 75-year lease with the National Trust.

Tarn House, the long term home of former Skipton MP, Victorian philanthropist, Walter Morrison - the ‘Grand Old Man of Craven’ was passed on to one of his relatives following his death in 1921. It later failed to sell at auction, was gifted to the National Trust in 1946, and leased soon after to the Field Studies Council.

The estate included Malham Tarn House, the home farm, woodlands and grass, and the 153 acre tarn - the second largest lake in Yorkshire.

In a statement, the FSC , which claims to ‘offer opportunities for people to engage with the outdoors for their benefit’ and has more than 20 centres across the country, said it is currently consulting with staff and that no decision will be made until the consultation has ended; but a source has claimed a decision has already been made and the centre will close.

The person, who wishes to remain anonymous, said the first indication that changes were being made was late last year when properties at the site previously used by FSC staff were rented out for holiday lets.

“The Field Studies Centre is remembered fondly by thousands of schoolchildren and students, teachers, lecturers and others. It’s closure in October is short sighted, unnecessary and barbaric,” they said.

They said despite bosses saying a consultation was underway, staff -believed to be five, plus casual staff, had seen paperwork making it clear that the centre was to close on October 31 and that the proposals had been made clear at a Zoom meeting with staff.

“FSC Malham is a special and unique venue with tremendous legacy value. Generations of the same families have visited, with some coming back year, after year, it is an unforgettable experience.

“The FSC cites access and water supply issues as the basis for their decision, plus low profitability and what in their words is ‘an incredibly unhelpful landlord’. But it is the inaccessibility of the field studies centre that makes it so special. Kids go there from an urban environment and absolutely love it.”

In a letter to staff, seen by the Craven Herald, the FSC says it 'can no longer justify continuing operations at Malham Tarn due to the considerable constraints of its physical location and the lease, coupled with rising costs, all of which mean the centre is becoming less financially viable each year.

It says: “This proposal would lessen the burden on FSC’s financial situation post-Covid, help to ensure the future security of the charity and allow us to focus our limited resources on delivering our charitable objectives elsewhere in the charity.”

A spokesperson for the Field Studies Council said: “FSC is currently consulting on a proposal with staff to hand back the lease of FSC Malham Tarn and no formal decision will be made until that consultation process is complete.”

The National Trust was contacted for a comment but a spokesperson said the organisation did not want to supply a comment at this time.

When the estate was handed over to the National Trust in 1946, the Craven Herald reported how its previous owners, Captain and Mrs Bernard Hutton Croft, had said how they had gifted the estate because they wished it to be preserved for the nation. They wished the estate, which was handed over to the NT minus the sporting rights, to be preserved for the public and for its ‘natural beauty to remain unspoilt’.

It was felt certain at the time that Tarn House would become a field centre for the ‘promotion of field studies’ and that ‘professional biologists’ had said there was ‘nowhere better’.

A Professor W H Pearsall of London University said at the time if Malham Tarn was to become the site of a field centre, it would ‘possess a place of unique value where both young and old could acquire and develop first hand knowledge and interests.’