Peter Hardcastle was a leading local Quaker in the mid 17th century who was jailed at York for refusing to pay his tithes and who also wrote a pamphle entitled 'The Quakers' Plea' defending the views of the Soviety of Friends. Restrictive legislation was repealed by Charles II in 1689 by the Act of Toleration, which allowed Quakers and other dissenting groups the right to worship freely. Immediatetley, three local houses, including that of Peter Hardcastle at Hardcastle Garth were licensed. Despite the subsequent construction of the Meeting House at Darley in 1696, worship continued at Hardcastle Garth for well over a century. The first recorded burial at Hardcastle Garth was in 1658, eight years before the date carved into the lintel of the farm and eleven years before the farm was licensed for worship.
The burial ground is in the corner of a field above the farm itsel on sloping ground and now shaded by tall trees.
The interior of the cemetary is open to grazing sheep and there are now no traces of its former use.
Hardcastle Garth is located by Hartwith Mill, across the Nidd from the Birstwith/Darley Road. 'A History of Nidderdale', edited by Bernard Jennings was the source of this material and contains excellent passages on the history of religion in the Dale.