There has been a farm at Abbots Reading for centuries; its name suggests a link with Furness Abbey which farmed large areas of South Lakeland from the 12th Century. The name may indicate that the land was farmed directly by the Abbey. ‘Reading’ simply means a woodland clearing. After the dissolution of the monastery in the 16th Century, much of the Abbey lands eventually passed into the hands of individual farmers. Most of the farm buildings are modern or modern conversions dating probably from the late 19th or 20th Centuries, although the farmhouse itself may be older but keep your eyes open as you walk through the fields because there is abundant evidence of earlier activity.