Walbottle is a village in
Tyne and Wear
Tyne and Wear () is a metropolitan county in North East England, situated around the mouths of the rivers Tyne and Wear. It was created in 1974, by the Local Government Act 1972, along with five metropolitan boroughs of Gateshead, Newcas ...
. It is a western suburb of
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...
. The village name, recorded in 1176 as "Walbotl", is derived from the Old English ''botl'' (building) on
Hadrian's Wall
Hadrian's Wall ( la, Vallum Aelium), also known as the Roman Wall, Picts' Wall, or ''Vallum Hadriani'' in Latin, is a former defensive fortification of the Roman province of Britannia, begun in AD 122 in the reign of the Emperor Hadrian. Ru ...
. There are a number of Northumbrian villages which are suffixed "-bottle".
Bede
Bede ( ; ang, Bǣda , ; 672/326 May 735), also known as Saint Bede, The Venerable Bede, and Bede the Venerable ( la, Beda Venerabilis), was an English monk at the monastery of St Peter and its companion monastery of St Paul in the Kingdom ...
, in his ''
Ecclesiastical History of the English People
The ''Ecclesiastical History of the English People'' ( la, Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum), written by Bede in about AD 731, is a history of the Christian Churches in England, and of England generally; its main focus is on the conflict b ...
'', refers to a royal estate called ''Ad Murum'' near the Roman Wall where, in 653 AD, the King of the Middle Angles, Peada, and the King of the East Saxons, Sigeberht, were both baptised as Christians by Bishop Finan, having been persuaded to do so by King Oswy of Northumbria. Historians have identified ''Ad Murum'' as a possible reference to Walbottle.
Ann Potter, the mother of
Lord Armstrong, the famous industrialist, was born at Walbottle Hall in 1780 and lived there until 1801.
Notable people
* Both
George Stephenson
George Stephenson (9 June 1781 – 12 August 1848) was a British civil engineer and mechanical engineer. Renowned as the "Father of Railways", Stephenson was considered by the Victorians
In the history of the United Kingdom and the ...
and
Timothy Hackworth
Timothy Hackworth (22 December 1786 – 7 July 1850) was an English steam locomotive engineer who lived in Shildon, County Durham, England and was the first locomotive superintendent of the Stockton and Darlington Railway.
Youth and early wor ...
, who can fairly be called the joint fathers of steam railways, worked at Walbottle Colliery in the early 19th century. The railway pioneer William Hedley also worked in the colliery.
* Nixon introduced wrought iron rails (rather than cast iron) with a square cross-section on the Walbottle coal Railroad in 1803.
;Born in Walbottle:
* Thomas
Tommy Browell (1892–1955), professional footballer.
*
Richard Armstrong (author)
Richard Armstrong (18 June 1903 – 30 May 1986) was an English writer who wrote for both adults and children. Most of his books were novels set at sea, or sea stories. For one of those, '' Sea Change'', he won the 1948 Carnegie Medal from t ...
(1903–1986), who wrote for both adults and children. He was the winner of the Carnegie Medal in 1948 for his book ''Sea Change''. He is also known for a biography of Grace Darling in which he challenges the conventional story: ''Grace Darling: Maid and Myth''. He is often described on the cover of his books as "author and mariner".
*
William Wilson (1809–1862). Mechanical Engineer who pioneered railways in Germany in the nineteenth century.
;Worked in Walbottle:
*David Besford, ( 1946 - ) former pupil of Walbottle Grammar School, returned to spend seven years as Head Teacher.
* William Robert Messer, ( 1948 - ) former pupil of Walbottle Grammar School (1959-1966) returned as Head of Art and Design from 1980 to 2008. Involved in the rebuild of Walbottle Campus 2006–2008.
References
External links
*
Westerhope Online: Community & Radio
Villages in Tyne and Wear
Geography of Newcastle upon Tyne
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