Westend cottages, a row of very well kept terraced cottages in Wolsingham
Wolsingham is a small market town in Weardale, County Durham, England. It is situated by the River Wear, between Crook and Stanhope in North West Durham. Wolsingham sits at the confluence of the River Wear and Waskerley Beck. It is a Saxon settlement and one of the first market towns in County Durham, deriving its name from Waelsingas, or Sons of Wael, an ancient Saxon family that once lived there. The earliest known record of the town is to be found in Reginald of Durham's Life of Godric where it is stated that the Saint lived there for almost two years about 1120 AD with Elric the hermit. Wolsingham was then a thriving community, holding land by servile tenure. There were shepherds, plough-makers, beekeepers, forest keepers, wood turners, carters, etc. They toiled for two purposes - producing corn and other foodstuffs for themselves and supplying the larder of the Bishop's Castle. The Bishop and his friends indulged in hawking, but hunting for red deer in the parks of Wolsingham and Stanhope was their principal pastime. The bishops' hunting forest in Weardale was the second largest in England after the New Forest. It is traditionally reported that Edward III on returning from his unfruitful encounter with the Scots in Weardale in April 1327 rested at the Pack Horse Inn, then situated in the High Street. In 1615, a market charter was granted to the bailiff and inhabitants of Wolsingham, and in 1667 the charter was confirmed with the appointment of a piece of land to hold the market and fairs. This market was of considerable importance and offered many facilities to the surrounding districts. There were several looms in the town; table linens, draperies, weaving materials and clothes were always in demand. Drapers from Yorkshire and Newcastle upon Tyne frequented the market, as did hatters from Hexham and Barnard Castle.
Size: 4000px × 2131px
Location: Westend cottages, Wolsingham
Photo credit: © Louisa E Taylor / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: beck., cottages, county, crook, day, durham, england, horse, houses, inn, market, north, pack, penine, pretty, river, row, saxon, settlement, small, stanhope, sunny, sunshine, terrace, terraced, town, towns, trail, waskerley, wear, weardale, west, wolsingham
