Doddington, Northumberland
| Doddington | |
| Northumberland | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Farm cottages in Doddington | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | NT997325 |
| Location: | 55°35’11"N, 2°0’18"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 195 (2011) |
| Post town: | Wooler |
| Postcode: | NE71 |
| Dialling code: | 01668 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Northumberland |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Berwick-upon-Tweed |
Doddington is a little village in Northumberland, inland and on the south side of the Milfield Plain. It is to be found some two miles from Wooler, which sits at the edge of the Cheviot Hills.
Doddington has a number of noteworthy buildings, including Doddington Hall, and a fine parish church, St Mary and St Michael, which was built in the 18th century on the site of an original 12th century church.
Wooler Golf Course is also found near Doddington.
History
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In 1734, the village was described in George Mark's Survey of a Portion of Northumberland [1] as remarkable for its largeness, the badness of its houses and low situation, and perhaps for the greatest quantities of geese of any in its neighbourhood.
Music
As Marks was remarking on the size of the village, William Dixon was recording the tune Dorrington, also known as Dorrington Lads, which is found in 'the William Dixon manuscript'.[1] It is the most complex and elaborate of the pieces in that early source for Northumbrian music. The last tune played, on his deathbed, by the celebrated piper Will Allan, who died near Rothbury in 1779, was Dorrington Lads. A rhyme has survived, which fits the tune:
- Dorrington lads is bonny and Dorrington lads is canny
- And I'll hae a Dorrington lad, and ride a Dorrington cuddy.
In The Denham Tracts, compiled in the mid-19th century, [2] another rhyme about the streets of the village is found:
- Southgate and Sandgate and up the Cat Raw,
- The Tinkler's Street, and Byegate Ha'!
The Tinkler's Street was where itinerant hawkers sold their wares. This association with travellers is not surprising, as Doddington is close to Kirk Yetholm, the main base of the Border Gypsies.
Economy
Besides farming, there was formerly a sandstone quarry in the area, and coal mines. A well known business currently in Doddington is the Doddington Dairy farm, a producer of organic cheeses and ice creams.[2]
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Doddington, Northumberland) |
References
- ↑ The Master Piper – Nine Notes That Shook the World, William Dixon (1733), edited Matt Seattle 1995, Dragonfly Music, ISBN 1-872277-23-3; 3rd edition, edited Matt Seattle 2011, ISBN 978-1-872277-33-2.
- ↑ Northumberland Communities: Doddington