Eggleston

Eggleston
County Durham
Holy Trinity Church, Eggleston
Location
Grid reference:	NY984227
Location:	54°35’60"N, 2°1’33"W
Data
Population:	448  (2011)
Post town:	Barnard Castle
Postcode:	DL12
Local Government
Council:	County Durham
Parliamentary constituency:	Bishop Auckland

Eggleston is a village in County Durham. The population of the civil parish taken at the 2011 Census was 448. The village sits in Teesdale, a few miles north-west of Barnard Castle.

The B6281 road crosses the River Tees here, on the Eggleston Bridge. To the west of the village, the Eggleston Burn flows south to enter the Tees.

Name

The second element of Eggleston is Old English tun, 'enclosure, estate, settlement'. The first element could be the Old Welsh word represented today by Welsh eglwys 'church'. However, the first element could also be from the Old Norse personal name Egill or an Anglo-Saxon personal name like Ecgwulf or Ecgel, in which case the name means 'Ecgel's estate'.

Local lore notes the presence of a large stone (near Eggleston Hall) with iron eyelets affixed. The story is that eagles to be used in falconry, while in training, were tied to the stone with long leads. According to local knowledge the stone long ago was known as the Eagle Stone which over the centuries evolved into current place name Eggleston.

History

The village is first mentioned in tax records of 1196. The remains of ridge and furrow from the mediæval period can still be seen. One of the oldest structures in the village is Eggleston Bridge, which crosses into the neighbouring village of Romaldkirk. The bridge dates to the 15th century but was mostly rebuilt in the 17th century. It originally featured a chapel at the south end. Many of the cottages date from the 18th century and were built by the Society of Friends, who owned lead mines in the area. Forty men were employed as miners until 1904 when the company closed the smelting mills.

See also

• Egglestone Abbey

Outside links

("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Eggleston)