The Priests House Barden Tower Wedding Photographer
Hello there,
I’m Dave from Dave Waller Photography, and if you’ve found this page you’re probably planning your wedding at The Priests House at Barden Tower.
It is, without much argument, one of the most atmospheric places to get married in Yorkshire. A Grade I listed building from 1513, sitting in the shadow of the ruins of Barden Tower, high in Wharfedale with the whole valley laid out below you. There is nothing else quite like it in the Dales.
I’ve photographed weddings here and it is a venue that rewards knowing it. The light, the stone, the ruins next door and the fact that you have the whole place to yourselves all add up to a day that photographs like nowhere else.
Real Weddings at The Priests House
VIKKI & DANIEL | THE PRIESTS HOUSE WEDDING
My Wedding Photography Approach
Every couple, every wedding, every venue is different, and that is how I approach your day.
When I photograph a wedding at The Priests House I’m there to tell the story of the day rather than to direct it. Natural, documentary photography for the parts that happen on their own, and relaxed portraits that feel like you rather than a pose you’ve been put in.
And this is a venue that gives you a lot to work with. Stone, candlelight, open fires, a ruined tower next door and a whole valley behind it. We don’t have to go far to find something remarkable.
The Priests House at a Glance
Photographing a Wedding at The Priests House
Knowing a venue well changes what you come away with. Here is how a day at The Priests House tends to run from behind the camera.
The ruins are the shot. Barden Tower stands right next to the House, and there is nowhere else in Yorkshire where you can step out of your ceremony and be photographed in front of a 15th century tower. It’s a two minute walk, so it costs you almost nothing in time.
The valley does the rest. The site looks out over Wharfedale, so on a clear evening the light coming up the valley is worth planning a few minutes around.
It is candlelit inside. The Chapel and the Oak Room are dark stone with open fires and candles, which is beautiful and which is exactly the kind of light that separates photographers. It’s worth knowing your photographer can handle it.
You have the place to yourselves. Only one event runs a day, so there are no other guests wandering through the background and no rush to be out by a certain hour of the afternoon.
A Short History of The Priests House
The Priests House dates from 1513, built for the private chaplain of Henry Clifford, the tenth Baron Clifford, known as the Shepherd Lord. Barden Tower next door had gone up a little earlier, around 1485, as his hunting lodge in the Forest of Barden.
The Cliffords are the thread running through it. Lady Anne Clifford, born in 1590, restored the tower and the buildings around it in the 1650s after Civil War damage. The Chapel was still in use for Anglican worship into the 1960s.
All three buildings were listed Grade I in 1954, and the Tower is still part of the Bolton Abbey estate. The Chapel you get married in was brought back into use after twelve years of planning and two years of building work, reopening in 2016.
Location of The Priests House
The Priests House sits at Barden Tower on the Bolton Abbey estate, in Wharfedale between Skipton and Grassington. It’s about twenty minutes from Skipton and around forty from Ilkley or Keighley, and the drive up the valley is part of the day.
The Priests House, Barden Tower, Bolton Abbey, Skipton, North Yorkshire BD23 6AS
If you’re planning your wedding at The Priests House and looking for a photographer who knows the place, I’d love to hear from you. Have a look through my wedding photography packages, see the other Yorkshire venues I cover, and if the style feels right, let’s have a chat.