Witton Gilbert is a village and
civil parish in
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.
Geography
Witton Gilbert is situated about to the north-west of
Durham.
River Browney passes to the south of the village, while Dene Burn, one of its tributaries, runs through it. Parts of the
Prior of Durham
The Prior of Durham was the head of the Roman Catholic Durham Cathedral Priory, founded c. 1083 with the move of a previous house from Jarrow. The succession continued until dissolution of the monastery in 1540, when the priory was replaced with a ...
's Park of
Beaurepaire are within the bounds of Witton Gilbert.
The village once had a
railway station on the
Lanchester Valley Line
The Lanchester Valley Railway was an English railway line that was developed by the North Eastern Railway to run between to . Extending along the valley of the River Browney, it opened on 1 September 1862. Closed under the Beeching Axe, it ha ...
, but this was closed in the early 1960s, with passenger service withdrawn in the late 1930s. However, the station building survives as a private residence, along with one of the platforms. The former railway line has been turned into a foot and cycle path and is part of
National Cycle Route 14
National Cycle Route 14 forms part of the National Cycle Network in North East England. It connects Darlington in County Durham with South Shields on the River Tyne. The route has currently (2016) a length of . Much of it uses paths along di ...
.
History
There is archaeological evidence of the area having been populated in the late
Neolithic and in the
Bronze Age periods. A small
Roman settlement at Crookton across the River
Browney
Browney is a village in County Durham, England. It is situated to the south-west of Durham, England, Durham and adjoins Meadowfield. It is part of the parish of Brandon and Byshottles.
The Browney Wesleyan Chapel was built in 1887, to seat 270, ...
existed as a settlement until the 13th century.
[
Witton Gilbert is a medieval town of ]Saxon
The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic
*
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peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...
origin. Witton was originally spelled ''Witun'' (''Wit'' meaning white house and ''Tun'' meaning fortified place). The designation "Gilbert" was added later and could refer to the Norman lord Gilbert de la Ley, a major landowner in the 12th century, or a later lord Gilbert de la Latone. In medieval times Witton Gilbert was very important to the churchmen of Durham and became the place of a retreat or residence of the latter. Other occasional occupants included visiting royalty such as King Edward III and Queen Philippa and also King Edward I.
In the early 14th century, coal mining
Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...
started in the parish from bell pit
A bell pit is a primitive method of mining coal, iron ore, or other minerals lying near the surface.
Operation
A shaft is sunk to reach the mineral which is excavated by miners, transported to the surface by a winch, and removed by means of a b ...
s, however, the deposits were soon worked out. The first school in the village is known from the 1660s, a schoolhouse was built on Front Street in 1720. In 1875, the Wesleyan Methodist Chapel was built. From 1894 to 1937 Witton Gilbert and neighbouring Sacriston
Sacriston is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in County Durham, England, situated north of the city of Durham, England, Durham.
Although the area has been populated since the Bronze Age, the first recorded settlement dated ...
formed a joint civil parish. Nearby collieries employed numerous workers, many of whom settled in Witton Gilbert, so that the population reportedly increased to about 4,400 people in 1896. Coal was again extracted in a small drift mine from after World War I until shortly after the nationalisation of the coal industry. Some of England's first council houses were built at the beginning of the 20th century, further housing estates were constructed in the 1960s and 1970s. A road bypass to the south of the village was opened in 1996.[
]
Beaurepaire Priory
The manor house of Beau Repaire (French for 'beautiful retreat') was built near Witton Gilbert in the mid-13th century and became a retreat for the priors and monks of Durham Cathedral
The Cathedral Church of Christ, Blessed Mary the Virgin and St Cuthbert of Durham, commonly known as Durham Cathedral and home of the Shrine of St Cuthbert, is a cathedral in the city of Durham, County Durham, England. It is the seat of t ...
. The name was later corrupted to Bearpark, which is also the name of the village south of Witton Gilbert. During the following centuries the mansion fell in and out of repair. After Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries it was still occasionally used by the deans of Durham, but during the English Civil War it suffered major damage by Scottish troops.
Since then, it has fallen into ruin, although it attracted antiquarian attention. Beaurepaire was the centre of a large hunting park. Tenants built walls to keep the game off the fields.
Leper Hospital
Around 1175, Gilbert de la Ley, Lord of the Manor and tenant of the Bishop of Durham, financed the building of a leper hospital. The hospital originally took in five lepers, their number later increased to eight. Wealthy lords often funded hospitals for the lepers out of Christian concern for their suffering and as an act of piety.
The hospital had its own chapel for worship and continued to operate until the dissolution of the monasteries when the inmates were dispersed to fend for themselves. Afterwards, the hospital was converted to a farmhouse and is still in use. A medieval window frame carved out of stone can still be seen from Coach Lane, and the original entrance is now a doorway inside.
St. Michael and all Angels parish church
Hugh Pudsey
Hugh de Puiset ( c. 1125 – 3 March 1195) was a medieval Bishop of Durham and Chief Justiciar of England under King Richard I. He was the nephew of King Stephen of England and Henry of Blois, who both assisted Hugh's ecclesiastical ca ...
, Bishop of Durham in the late 12th century, felt the need for a church in Witton because St. Oswalds in Durham was too far away. The church was built around 1175 AD[ and still retains some of its medieval features. It was later extended so that it offered room for about 70 people. Originally priests travelled to Witton church once a fortnight to hold services, however after the Reformation the church became independent and conducted its own services.
]
Notable people
* The 1980s sophisti-pop band Prefab Sprout were based around Witton Gilbert.
References
External links
Community website
Subterranea Britannica entry on Witton Gilbert station
{{authority control
Villages in County Durham
Civil parishes in County Durham