Ovingham
| Ovingham | |
| Northumberland | |
|---|---|
 Ovingham Bridge | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | NZ087634 |
| Location: | 54°57’58"N, 1°51’54"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 1,222 (2011) |
| Post town: | Prudhoe |
| Postcode: | NE42 |
| Dialling code: | 01661 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Northumberland |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Hexham |
Ovingham is a village in south-eastern Northumberland, in the valley of the River Tyne. The village stands on the bank of the Tyne, ten miles east of Hexham and its nearest neighbours are Prudhoe, Ovington, Wylam and Stocksfield.
The River Tyne provided an obstacle between Ovingham and Prudhoe until 20 December 1883, when a toll bridge, Ovingham Bridge, was opened, taking the place of the ferry.[1][2] The steel tubes are marked 'Dorman Long, Middlesbrough', the firm which designed and built the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Tyne Bridge.
Economy
There was a dyehouse at Ovingham, and in 1828 William Bullock was the foreman. Both Thomas Bewick and George Stephenson had relatives who were dyers. One of Bewick's woodcuts is entitled the Dyers of Ovingham. Two men are carrying a large tub on a pole. Mabel Stephenson, George's mother, was a daughter of an Ovingham dyer named Richard Carr. There were weavers in Ovingham, as well as a local tidewaiter, or customs inspector.[1]
Sights about the village
The vicarage was, in mediæval times, a cell for three Augustinian canons of Hexham, and was rebuilt in the seventeenth century. It is now [1991] the residence of Frank Atkinson, who did so much to establish the Beamish Museum and also the Bewick Trust at Cherryburn. Thomas Bewick received his education in the vicarage and the church.[1]
The Ovingham pack-horse' bridge over the Whittle Burn consisted of two segmental arches with a width of five feet between the parapets, so that it could not be used for wheeled traffic. It is likely that the Ovingham mill dam on the Tyne raised the level of the water. There was a great fire at Ovingham in 1697 and the bridge fell down. So the bridge which previously stood was repaired or rebuilt in 1698. There is also a concrete bridge over the water for traffic, which in time of flood becomes a ford.[1] The bridge was destroyed in flooding on the 5th December 2015.
Whittle dean is a deep woody dell which stretches southwards and joins the Tyne east of Ovington.
"The waters of this dean (peculiarly soft & clear) are the most celebrated in the north of England for whitening linen cloth. Mr. William Newton's bleach green, situated on this stream at the confluence of the Tyne is known and famed throughout all these northern parts.[3]
The Whittle Burn can be traced back to the present day Whittledean Water Works on either side of the Roman Wall near Welton Hall.
Church
The parish church of St Mary has a tall, slender Anglo-Saxon tower. There are fragments of an Anglo-Saxon cross in the church, which was much enlarged in the 13th century — wider, loftier and with long lancet windows. The nave with aisles is only two bays long, as the north and south transepts, each with a west aisle, take up the space of two more bays. There is a long chancel with very little ornament. The churchyard has a number of gravestones in memory of prominent villagers.[1] In the porch is a stone slab commemorating Thomas Bewick who is buried in the churchyard.
Markets and fairs
Ovingham had a charter for a market and two annual fairs on 26 October and 26 April. There was also a monthly tryst for cattle and sheep, which was discontinued in 1823. The ceremony for the Fair was similar to Stagshaw. A procession moved to the principal alehouse for the 'riding of the fair', led by the Duke of Northumberland's pipers, dressed in light blue and adorned with the Duke's sign of a crescent moon. The procession included the Duke's agent, bailiff, constable with many farmers and tenants. The fair was proclaimed and then they beat the bounds, returning to the tavern to drink the Duke's health from punch provided by him. After this men, women and children alike went to enjoy the amusements — stalls, Punch and Judy and performers such as fire-breathers. The custom was discontinued in time, but it has been revived in recent years as the 'Goose Fair', since in the days of the old Fair geese would play an important part in the sale. Quill pens were made in Ovingham from goose feathers.[1]
See also
Outside links
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Ovingham) |
- Ovingham Parish Council
- Information on Ovingham from GENUKI
- Northumberland Communities: Ovingham
- Schools:
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Rowland, T. H. (1994). Waters of Tyne (Reprint ed.). Warkworth, Northumberland: Sandhill Press Ltd. ISBN 0-946098-36-0.
- ↑ Fraser, Constance; Kenneth Emsley (1989). Northumbria. Chichester, Sussex: Phillimore & Co. Ltd. ISBN 0-85033-723-2.
- ↑ Mackenzie 1825