Wooler ( ) is a town in

Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...

, England. It lies on the edge of the Northumberland National Park, near the Cheviot Hills. It is a popular base for walkers and is referred to as the "Gateway to the Cheviots". As well as many shops and pubs, the town has a youth hostel, many hotels, and campsites. It lies on the St. Cuthbert's Way long-distance footpath between Melrose Abbey and

Lindisfarne Lindisfarne, also known as Holy Island, is a tidal island off the northeast coast of England, which constitutes the civil parishes in England, civil parish of Holy Island in Northumberland. Holy Island has a recorded history from the 6th centu ...

. The main A697 links the town with Morpeth and

Coldstream Coldstream () is a town and civil parishes in Scotland, civil parish in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. A former burgh, Coldstream was where the Coldstream Guards, a regiment in the British Army, originated. Description Coldstream li ...

on the Scottish Border. Wooler has two schools; Wooler First School (including Little Acorns Nursery) and Glendale Community Middle School. The schools and nursery share a single campus on Brewery Road (from September 2015) providing education for children in the Glendale area from 2 years old to 13 years old. Close by to the west is Yeavering Bell, crowned by a large

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

fort, a stronghold of the Votadini. The remnants of many stone huts can be seen on its summit, which is surrounded by a collapsed stone wall. At the northern base of the hill is the site of Yeavering (known as Ad Gefrin in

Bede Bede (; ; 672/326 May 735), also known as Saint Bede, Bede of Jarrow, the Venerable Bede, and Bede the Venerable (), was an English monk, author and scholar. He was one of the most known writers during the Early Middle Ages, and his most f ...

's Ecclesiastical History of the English People), which was the summer residence of the early

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

kings of

Northumbria Northumbria () was an early medieval Heptarchy, kingdom in what is now Northern England and Scottish Lowlands, South Scotland. The name derives from the Old English meaning "the people or province north of the Humber", as opposed to the Sout ...

History

Wooler was not recorded in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

, because when the book was written in 1086, northern

was not under Norman control. However, by 1107, at the time of the creation of the 1st Baron of Wooler, the settlement was described as "situated in an ill-cultivated country under the influence of vast mountains, from whence it is subject to impetuous rains". Wooler subsequently enjoyed a period of prosperity and with its expansion it was granted a licence in 1199 to hold a market every Thursday. The St. Mary Magdalene Hospital was established around 1288. Wooler is close to Humbleton Hill, the site of a severe Scottish defeat at the hands of Harry Hotspur in 1402. This battle is referred to at the beginning of

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's play ''

Henry IV, Part 1 ''Henry IV, Part 1'' (often written as ''1 Henry IV'') is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written no later than 1597. The play dramatises part of the reign of King Henry IV of England, beginning with the Battle of H ...

'' – of which Hotspur is the dashing hero. After the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the patronage and tithe income from the parish church passed from the

Bishop of Durham The bishop of Durham is head of the diocese of Durham in the province of York. The diocese is one of the oldest in England and its bishop is a member of the House of Lords. Paul Butler (bishop), Paul Butler was the most recent bishop of Durham u ...

to the Earl of Tankerville. Wooler also used to have a drill hall that was the local "picture house" which children were evacuated to in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. There also used to be a fountain situated at the top of Church Street in the town. Alexander Dalziel of Wooler (1781–1832) was the father of the celebrated Dalziel Brothers. Seven of his eight children were artists, and became celebrated wood-engravers in London. Their sister Margaret was also a wood-engraver. Between 1887 and 1965 the town was served by Wooler railway station on the Alnwick to Cornhill Branch.

Places of worship

Wooler has several places of worship including: * St Mary's Parish Church (

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

, 1765), Church Street, a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. (There has been a building on the site for over 700 years.) * Wooler United Reformed Church (1784), Cheviot Street, a Grade II

. (Before the union that formed the

United Reformed Church The United Reformed Church (URC) is a Protestant Christian church in the United Kingdom. As of 2024 it had approximately 44,000 members in around 1,250 congregations with 334 stipendiary ministers. The URC is a Trinitarian church whose theolog ...

in 1972, this was Wooler Presbyterian Church.) * St Ninian's Catholic Church (1856), Burnhouse Road, a Grade II

. * Wooler Evangelical Church ( Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches, 2003), Cheviot Street. At one time, there was also a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

congregation in Wooler. The old Methodist chapel on Cheviot Street is now the Glendale Hall.

Meaning of place-name

Wooler may be from Old English ''wella'' "well, spring" and ''ofer'' (

ridge A ridge is a long, narrow, elevated geomorphologic landform, structural feature, or a combination of both separated from the surrounding terrain by steep sides. The sides of a ridge slope away from a narrow top, the crest or ridgecrest, wi ...

, hill). A record of the name as ''Welnfver'' in 1186 seems to suggest this origin. The well or spring referred to is the River Till. The Wooler Water, part of which is also known as Happy Valley, is a tributary of the River Till and is formed by a confluence of the Harthope and Carey Burns which rise in the Cheviot Hills, to the south of Wooler. Another possible origin is "Wulfa's hillside", from the Old English personal name ''Wulfa'' "wolf" and ''őra'' "hillside, slope", although this word in place-names usually means "river mouth, shore". A record of the name as Wulloir in 1232 may suggest this origin. It is not certain which is the actual origin.

Governance

An electoral ward in the same name exists. This ward stretches from the Scottish Border south-east to Ingram with a total population taken at the 2011 Census of 4,266.

Media

Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC North East and Cumbria and ITV Tyne Tees. Television signals are received from the Chatton TV transmitter and the local relay transmitter situated south west of the town. Local radio stations are BBC Radio Newcastle, Heart North East, Capital North East, Hits Radio North East, and Lionheart Radio, a community based station which broadcast form

Alnwick Alnwick ( ) is a market town in Northumberland, England, of which it is the traditional county town. The population at the 2011 Census was 8,116. The town is south of Berwick-upon-Tweed and the Scottish border, inland from the North Sea ...

. The town is served by the local newspaper, ''

Northumberland Gazette The ''Northumberland Gazette'' is a weekly newspaper published in Alnwick, Northumberland, England. It serves Alnwick, Amble, Seahouses, Rothbury, Wooler and List of places in Northumberland, outlying districts. The ''Gazette'' typically covers ...

''.

Freedom of the Parish

The following people and military units have received the Freedom of the Parish of Wooler.

Individuals

* Anthony Murray: 27 May 2021. * Rev Cuthbert Allen of Wooler 1730-1779 http://cullenproject.ac.uk/case/1/

References

External links

Community website
*

{{authority control Towns in Northumberland Civil parishes in Northumberland