Swalwell

For the hamlet in Alberta, Canada, see Swalwell, Alberta.
Swalwell
Swalwell
 Swalwell shown within Tyne and Wear
OS grid referenceNZ203622
Metropolitan boroughGateshead
Metropolitan county Tyne and Wear
RegionNorth East
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post town NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE
Postcode district NE16
Dialling code 0191
Police Northumbria
Fire Tyne and Wear
Ambulance North East
EU Parliament North East England
UK ParliamentBlaydon
List of places
UK
England
Tyne and Wear

Coordinates: 54°57′14″N 1°41′02″W / 54.954°N 1.684°W / 54.954; -1.684

Swalwell is a village in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, England, in the United Kingdom.

History

Holy Trinity Church, Swalwell

On 27 August 1640, an encampment of soldiers was gathered in the fields north of Whickham church on the slope down to Swalwell. This was part of the Royalist army of King Charles I preparing to fight the Scots. Information was soon received that the Scots led by General Leslie were crossing the river at Newburn to attack the English at Stella, after which the Whickham contingent would be threatened, and so orders were given to burn the camp at Whickham rather than let it fall into enemy hands. Many of the villagers of Whickham joined in the retreat which followed. The fire at the camp ignited a seam of coal which apparently burned for several years in various places including the Coaly Well. On 7 September 1648 a burial took place at Whickham churchyard of a soldier in Cromwell's army which was then camped north of the church. Cromwell is supposed to have stayed in Whickham for two days before marching to Scotland down Clockburn Lane on 25 July 1650 on his way to the battle of Dunbar, crossing the Tyne at Newburn and using the ancient route of the cattle drovers. Other famous memories include Harry Clasper, a rowing legend in mid-19th century.

Notable people

The following notable people were either born in Swalwell or lived there for a significant period:

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Swalwell.


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, January 24, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.