Keasbeck Hill Farm lies in Harwood Dale, 7 miles north west of Scarborough, 10 miles from Whitby and about 3 miles from the east coast. The farm is within the North York Moors National Park, and covers 200 acres on the east side of Broadlands Beck and the southern slopes of Fylingdales Moor. Much of the area around the Dale is forestry.
For at least four generations the farm was in the hands of the Knaggs and Simpson family who were one of the oldest farming families in the Dale. The farm had been bought from Lord Derwent when parts of the Derwent Estate were sold off and peat rights had been granted by the Lord of the Manor allowing locals from the Dale to dig peat on the moors above.