Bywell
| Bywell | |
| Northumberland | |
|---|---|
 Bywell Castle | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | NZ045615 |
| Location: | 54°56’53"N, 1°55’48"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 451 (2011) |
| Post town: | Stocksfield |
| Postcode: | NE43 |
| Dialling code: | 01661 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Northumberland |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Hexham |
Bywell is a village in Northumberland, in the south of the county on the north bank of the River Tyne, opposite Stocksfield. It stands between Hexham and Newcastle upon Tyne.
Bywell Hall is an imposing house of 1766 by James Paine.
Bywell Castle is a gatehouse tower built in the early 15th century for Ralph Neville, Earl of Westmorland.
Lord and Lady Allendale own much of the land surrounding Bywell and also own a goodly part of Bywell itself.
Name
Bywell means bend in the river. Bywell is situated on a bend on the River Tyne. That is how the village got its name.
Churches
There are two churches in Bywell, both of the Church of England
St Andrew's Church, near Bywell Hall. It has a fine tower of the Anglo Saxon period, considered to be the best in the county —55 feet high and about 15 feet square. Part of a cross is another reminder of the early period, when the church then had narrow nave, chancel and apse.
The church was very much enlarged in the thirteenth century in a time of local prosperity. In the nineteenth century it was extensively restored, and a lot of mediæval grave covers were built into the walls of the church very attractively. The thirteenth century font was where Robert Surtees, the sporting novelist was baptized. He was born at the Riding on August 26, 1806. There are monuments to Fenwicks of Bywell and Bacons of Styford. St Andrew's Church is now redundant to requirements and is preserved as part of our heritage.[1]
The vicarage was demolished in 1852, and Mr Beaumont gave land for building another at Riding Mill.
St Peter's Church, among the trees and close to the river. It has a square mediæval tower, and the church was extended in the thirteenth century. A close examination of the stonework will reveal features of the Saxon period, and there is evidence of more extensive buildings. There is a canonical sundial on the south wall. The north chantry or chapel was for many years used as a school. One lancet window is a memorial to the curate Henry Parr Dwarris, who was drowned in the Tyne. There is a monumental brass to Wentworth Canning Blackett Beaumont, Viscount Allendale, born at Bywell Hall in 1860. He presented the Seal and Priory grounds to the people of Hexham. Another inscription commemorates William Wailes (1881), artist in stained glass.[1] The church is also partly 8th century in date and it is possibly the building in which Bishop Egbert of Lindisfarne was consecrated in AD 802.
The high garden wall to the south-west of the old vicarage is known locally as the "spite wall". It was built to hide the vicarage from the view of the Hall. When the village of Bywell was cleared, the vicar could not be made to leave.
Events
- Each year Lord and Lady Allendale hold a hunter trial course in aid of the Charlotte Straker Project. It is held each year in May.
- The Northumberland County Show, from 27 May 2013, is held around Bywell Castle.
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Bywell) |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Rowland, T. H. (1994). Waters of Tyne (Reprint ed.). Warkworth, Northumberland, England: Sandhill Press Ltd. ISBN 0-946098-36-0.