Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

North East Heritage Library @neheritagelib.bsky.social · 2h

The original rehouses were demolished in 1962 due to them being no fit state, and were completely rebuilt by the local Rural District Council.

Historic photos: Heddon History Society

North East Heritage Library @neheritagelib.bsky.social · 2h

From there they became standard accommodation for Tyneside folk as well as poor houses for some time. The name had stuck by the 1840s and from there became a bit of a waypoint for travellers, fox hunts and the odd criminal.

1

North East Heritage Library @neheritagelib.bsky.social · 2h

They erected the sundial which has since been placed on the modern terrace, which also features the year 1802 when they left. It was restored in 1907 also.

1

North East Heritage Library @neheritagelib.bsky.social · 2h

They did only remain until 1802 after the Treaty of Amiens. However, newspaper reports from the time express their deep gratitude and happiness in staying on Tyneside for those years.

1

North East Heritage Library @neheritagelib.bsky.social · 2h

They cultivated the adjacent fields and possibly brewed their own ales given the appearance of a beer house on the corner dwelling. They will surely have made a pretty penny with the lines of travellers and pitman walking the road it lay on.

1

North East Heritage Library @neheritagelib.bsky.social · 2h

The clergymen appeared to arrive here in 1796, in 3 transport ships and were mostly reverends and such. The cottages described accommodated 30 of them and they received a good allowance from the government and were able to work.

1

North East Heritage Library @neheritagelib.bsky.social · 2h

They never ended up being occupied by miners however. Loyalist clergymen fleeing the Revolution landed on the Tyne. Though not common, there are multiple occasions this happened such as a landing of 30 French prisoners into Shields who were marched to Edinburgh in 1797.

1

North East Heritage Library @neheritagelib.bsky.social · 2h

They fulfilled a different purpose at first though - like at Heddon, pit rows were scattered along the lanes to accommodate the hewers who worked at the pits nearby.

1

North East Heritage Library @neheritagelib.bsky.social · 2h

You may very well have spotted them between Throckley and Heddon. They're named the Frenchmen's Row, with name dating back to the turn of the 19th century.

2

North East Heritage Library @neheritagelib.bsky.social · 2h

Directly on the municipal border with Northumberland lies a set of typical terraces with a very atypical history - though sadly these aren't the originals.

1 1

North East Heritage Library @neheritagelib.bsky.social · 1d

Yeah, I had no idea when I visited it! It must have been in the local news at the time or something. Not sure if there’s any others surviving in their original location.

1

North East Heritage Library @neheritagelib.bsky.social · 1d

Just as an FYI, if you enjoy these posts you can subscribe for free on Patreon and they'll be delivered to your inbox 4 or 5 nights a week! www.patreon.com/nehl

creating history content

www.patreon.com

1 2

North East Heritage Library @neheritagelib.bsky.social · 1d

The British Army got stuck at Hexham due to insufficient infrastructure and snow, so the new lane was built at a cost of £22k after an Act of Parliament.

The road was re-aligned in the 70s, but this beauty is retained as a relic of past instabilities.

1 3

North East Heritage Library @neheritagelib.bsky.social · 1d

It makes it contemporary to the construction of the military road, identified because of the failures to intercept Bonnie Prince Charlie when they marched over the border to Carlisle.

1 1

North East Heritage Library @neheritagelib.bsky.social · 1d

The '7' indicates the distance from the West Gate at Newcastle, and is one of 15 which were erected along the road between 1751 and 1757. This was thanks to a burst of investment by the army to bolster defence in the North of England as a result of the Second Jacobite Rising of 1745.

1 1

North East Heritage Library @neheritagelib.bsky.social · 1d

Just a quick one from me tonight, as I was incredibly keen to show you all this lovely milestone wedged in a now demoted section of the Military Road at Heddon.

1 8

North East Heritage Library @neheritagelib.bsky.social · 1d

Morning!

Big day today as we're sending off the Compendium to print after some finishing touches 🥳 In the meantime, I've done some catchup and added the part-Saxon Church of St Andrew to the site as its own entry.

www.northeastheritagelibrary.co.uk/features/st-...

6

North East Heritage Library @neheritagelib.bsky.social · 2d

It remains in use for worship, which is fantastic given so many of these old churches have fallen by the wayside.

I have to credit much of this info to the fantastic Heddon History society, where the c1900s photo was sourced from too: heddonhistory.weebly.com/methodist-ch...

Methodist Church

heddonhistory.weebly.com

1

North East Heritage Library @neheritagelib.bsky.social · 2d

It was opened in the May of 1877, though is fairly unrecognisable from its original days. The original porch was moved from the south wall to the west, and the schoolroom which is the building closest to my camera was adjoined instead.

1 1

North East Heritage Library @neheritagelib.bsky.social · 2d

He became Lord Mayor, such is testament to his influence. Mr Thomas Bates of Heddon Hall and John Clayton of Chesters both contributed too - agricultural and famed antiquarians respectively. Clayton will be well known to most for his work on Grainger Town with Dobson and the aforementioned.

1 1

North East Heritage Library @neheritagelib.bsky.social · 2d

Funding came from a few sources - Mr William H Stephenson of Throckley House most notably, whose family helped supplant Methodism with Wesley himself back in the 1840s. His family owned the Throckley Coal Company but was also intertwined with Spencer's Steelworks at Newburn.

1 1

North East Heritage Library @neheritagelib.bsky.social · 2d

This was rather than, say, someone's front room which was often the case. Services were actually held in the cottage owned by a Mr Guy Murray, but it got far too cramped as you can imagine.

1 1

North East Heritage Library @neheritagelib.bsky.social · 2d

There had been a Methodist society at Heddon for a decade or two prior to its construction in 1877, but the expansion of the village to accomodate local hewers and their families necessitated their own fixed presence.

1 1

North East Heritage Library @neheritagelib.bsky.social · 2d

Alongside its ancient church, Heddon also retains a Methodist presence in the form of this polite but austere stone building at the green.

Unlike its relative though, the Wesleyan church here has a much more familiar heritage - coal.

1 2

North East Heritage Library @neheritagelib.bsky.social · 2d

Ha! I’d definitely recommend walking the Sunderland to South Hylton line through to Cox Green then Washington. Great scenery and plenty of heritage.

3