Wolviston is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

within the borough of

Stockton-on-Tees Stockton-on-Tees, often simply referred to as Stockton, is a market town in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees in County Durham, England. It is on the northern banks of the River Tees, part of the Teesside built-up area. The town had an estimat ...

and the

ceremonial county The counties and areas for the purposes of the lieutenancies, also referred to as the lieutenancy areas of England and informally known as ceremonial counties, are areas of England to which lords-lieutenant are appointed. Legally, the areas i ...

County Durham County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly �About North East E ...

, England. The population of the civil parish as of the 2011 census was 877. It is situated in the north of

Billingham Billingham is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, England. The town is on the north side of the River Tees and is governed by Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council. The settlement had previously formed i ...

. The village has several businesses, including a florist, saddlery, international consultancy firm, riding school and post office run by former Middlesbrough footballer

Graeme Hedley Graeme Hedley (born 1 March 1957) is an English former footballer who made 107 appearances in the Football League playing as a midfielder for Middlesbrough, Sheffield Wednesday, Darlington, York City and Hartlepool United. He also played in Hong ...

and his wife. Wolviston benefits from two pubs, the Wellington Inn and the Ship. It has a traditional village green and a duck pond.

History

Wolviston can be traced back to before the Norman Conquest (1066), with name changes that appear to be related to Saxon times. In the 11th century it was known as Olverstona, in the 16th as Wulston and as Woulston in the late 17th century. In 1577 Wolviston became a separate parish. There have been two churches in the village. The first, from the 12th century and dedicated to St Mary Magdelene, fell into disrepair in the 16th century but was restored in 1716. In 1876 a new church dedicated to St Peter was built behind the High Street and the old church was demolished in 1878. The new building was renovated in 1969–1972.

The village today

Wolviston Village Community Centre - geograph

Wolviston is a community with a cricket and a

Wearside League The Wearside Football League is a non-league football competition based in northern England. It consists of three divisions which sits at steps 7 to 9 (or levels 11 to 13) of the National League System and is a feeder to the Northern League Divi ...

football team, a guides association and allotment holders' club. Near to Wolviston is Wynyard Hall, historically the family home of the Londonderry dynasty, whose fortune came from the ownership of several collieries and a port in County Durham. The present Wynyard Hall was completed in 1848 and many royal visitors were entertained there over the following hundred years. The war memorial commemorates the Wolviston casualties in both World Wars. The A19 ran through the village until it was bypassed in the 1970s to the east then in the 1980s bypassed to the west when the original bypass became gridlocked towards Billingham and Stockton during rush hours. The A689 also used to run through the village but was bypassed to the north in the 1970s.

References

* Watts, Victor. ''A Dictionary of County Durham Place-Names''. English Place-Name Society, Nottingham, 2002. {{authority control Villages in County Durham Borough of Stockton-on-Tees Places in the Tees Valley