Fowl green farm has been farmed by the Muir family for over one hundred years. It formed part of the ancient manor of Danby which was important in Norman times. In 1655 Sir John Danvers who owned the manor fell on hard times and the farms were sold off to sitting tenants who became freeholders with certain rights. These rights included the grazing of sheep on the moor.

Mr John Dawnay (later Viscount Downe) bought the lordship and castle and his descendants own Danby manor still.

The name "fowl" was on early maps "Foul" which was a corruption of "full". The land was in the area of the fulling green which was an essential process in the production of linen. The ruins of a bleach mill can still be seen.

Most of the existing stone farmhouse and buildings are thought to be built in the style of a long house, which is where the family lived in one end and the animals in the other. There was usually a central passage between the two as there is in the farmhouse. Upstairs in the house the old cruck beams can still be seen and this dates the house as probably having been built before the 17th century. More recent additions have been built of red brick stamped "Commondale".

Laying the road

Calves in the yard

Building the road