The real story behind the house in the middle of the M62

As you probably already know, there’s a farmhouse situated in the middle of the M62 when you head out of Greater Manchester towards Yorkshire.

It seems to pop up online sporadically, and whenever it does it goes viral, generating a lot of discussion about what the real story behind it is.

Everyone thinks they know the true story of the house, but do you really know why Stott Hall Farm wasn’t knocked down to make way for the motorway?

The motorway was built in the 1960s, including that particular stretch on the moors above Huddersfield where Stott Hall sat in its path, the Huddersfield Daily Examiner reports.

According to legend, the farmer who owned the house at the time, a Mr Ken Wild, stubbornly refused to sell his land when planning permission was given to the project, so they had to build around him.

A stubborn Yorkshire farmer refusing to sell his land? Sounds plausible, but the real reason is something else entirely.

Peter McDermott / Geograph

An ITV documentary from 1983 – which was only released a couple of years ago – disproved the myth, revealing that Ken, his wife Beth and the dozens of sheep they owned were actually allowed to stay in the house due to a geological fault.

This fault meant it would have been a huge job to construct anything on their land, so the motorway was just built around the farm instead.

As journalist Michael Clegg says: “A geological fault beneath the farmhouse meant it was more practical for engineers to leave it rather than blast through and destroy it… Outside the noise is relentless but inside it’s as peaceful and cosy as any farmhouse.”

Mat Fascione / Geograph

Ken, whose dad bought the farm in 1934, told the documentary he was glad they were able to stay – and so are we to be honest, as it makes that stretch of the motorway a lot more interesting.

So the next time you’re driving to Yorkshire once this is all over, and someone regales you with the story of the stubborn farmer who wouldn’t move, you can sit back smugly, as you know the truth…