Witton-le-Wear

Witton-le-Wear

School Street , Witton-le-Wear
Witton-le-Wear
 Witton-le-Wear shown within County Durham
Population 690 (2011)[1]
OS grid referenceNZ150320
Unitary authorityCounty Durham
Ceremonial countyCounty Durham
RegionNorth East
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post town BISHOP AUCKLAND
Postcode district DL14
Dialling code 01388
Police Durham
Fire County Durham and Darlington
Ambulance North East
EU Parliament North East England
UK ParliamentDurham North West
List of places
UK
England
County Durham

Coordinates: 54°40′36″N 1°46′24″W / 54.676734°N 1.773391°W / 54.676734; -1.773391

Witton-le-Wear is a small village in County Durham, England. It is situated on the north bank of the River Wear, 6 km (3.7 mi) to the north-west of Bishop Auckland.

Geography and administration

The Weardale Ward is represented on Durham County Council by Anita Savory (Independent)and John Shuttleworth (Independent). Witton le Wear is part of the Durham North West Parliamentary constituency which is represented by Pat Glass (Labour) and is also in the North East Region which serves as a constituency for the European Parliament. Witton le Wear also has an eight-member Parish Council to serve its residents.

The local police force is Durham Constabulary. Witton-le-Wear is in the Wear and Tees division.

Location

History

Etymology

The place name Witton or Whitton is fairly common in the north of England. The name sometimes derives from "white farm" but in the case of Witton-le-Wear, as with many others, Witton refers to a farm (Anglo-Saxon: ton) in or near woodland (Anglo-Saxon: widu). Witton-le-Wear's name is attested as Wudeton from 1104, but had become Wotton in Werdale by 1313. This subsequently evolved to the present form.[2]

Origins

The then farming hamlet of Witton-le-Wear was part of the Witton Castle estate, which was bought in 1816 by Sir William Chaytor for £78,000 from the Stobart family. He redeveloped the Castle, and in 1819 developed the Jayne Pitt as part of the large Witton Park Colliery complex. This brought about the development of transport into the area, including the Etherley Incline Railway by George Stephenson, that connected to his Stockton and Darlington Railway at Shildon, and hence onwards via Stockton to Newport on the River Tees.

After the S&DR was extended into Bishop Auckland, the railway was able to access the limestone deposits within the upper River Wear valley. This brought employment to the valley through both mining, as well as production of both pig iron and cement, which was distributed by the railway to all parts of the United Kingdom.

Weardale Railway

However, as the price of road haulage dropped, the line fell into disuse and carried its last train in the early 1990s. Over recent years the Weardale Railway has been reinstated by BARRS and again used to transport locally mined opencast coal to Scunthorpe and Ratcliffe Power Station.

The line is also run as a heritage railway, operating on many weekends and holidays by Weardale Railway Trust in conjunction with BARRS, and provides a tourist route in and out of Weardale. A railway halt has been provided at Witton le Wear since early 2013, (though it eventually re-opened in March 2016).

Amenities

Witton-le-Wear's last village shop was closed in 1998 leaving the village with only two public houses, 'The Dun Cow' and the 'Victoria'. There are two churches, the Parish Church of St Philip and St James Church of England and the Methodist Chapel. A small, but active congregation, attend Sunday services alternate weeks in each building. The original Board School erected in 1874, was replaced in 1968 with a new primary school in St James Gardens, which has around 100 pupils attending form Witton le Wear and surrounding villages. The original school now provides a Community Centre for the village which is used most days by a variety of groups and organisations.

Witton Castle Country Park is situated over the River Wear from the village and consists of a majestic 15th-century castle and grounds, which is rapidly gaining a good reputation.

Landmarks

In the village is Witton Tower, a medieval pele tower with later additions.[3] The village green has been a major feature of the village for over 200 years. The trees along the top were planted to celebrate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897. Further trees have been added to celebrate Queen Elisabeth's Silver and Golden Jubilees and other important occasions.

Notable residents

References

  1. "Parish population 2011". Retrieved 21 July 2015.
  2. Simpson, David. "Place names and their meanings". North East England History Pages. Retrieved 27 June 2005
  3. Witton Tower at British Listed Buildings Online

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Witton-le-Wear.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, March 25, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.