Sheriff Hill

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Sheriff Hill
County Durham

Sheriffs Highway, Sheriff Hill
Location
Grid reference: NZ265605
Location: 54°56’20"N, 1°35’10"W
Data
Population: 5,051
Post town: Gateshead
Postcode: NE9
Dialling code: 0191
Local Government
Council: Gateshead
Parliamentary
constituency: 		Gateshead

Sheriff Hill is a County Durham village which has become a mere suburb of Gateshead in the north-east of the county. The village is to be found on the B1296 road two miles south of Gateshead (and two and a half miles south of Newcastle upon Tyne). The county town, Durham, is twelve miles to the south. The 2001 census recorded the village's population as 5,051.

The principal landmark of the village is St John the Evangelist Church, one of three Grade II listed buildings in the area and one of two remaining churches. The southern end of Sheriff's Highway, the main road through the suburb, climbs to above 500 feet above sea level, making it the highest point in the Gateshead area.

Sheriff Hill was the site of a battle between William the Conqueror and Malcolm III of Scotland in 1068, during the latter's campaign to annex Northumbria. The name of the village is later though, coming from the main road through the village, the Sheriff's Highway, which in turn is named from a biennial procession known as the Sheriff's March which took place on the road in 1282 and continued until the 1830s.

The village was created by the enclosure of the commons in 1809. It grew up around a coal mine and a quarry, and was busied with the industry attendant upon both. The mine closed though at the beginning of the twentieth century, brining decline. In the latter half of the century the council built a large housing estate at Sheriff Hill to alleviate dangerous overcrowding in Gateshead, effectively turning the area into a residential suburb.

Today the suburb is economically disadvantaged compared with other areas of Gateshead and nationally, with high levels of unemployment.

The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, the largest hospital in the area, is in Sheriff Hill. Outside is a small wooded dene and a small park.

History

Early history

Until the 19th century, Sheriff Hill was part of Gateshead Fell, a "windswept, barren and treacherous heath" that took its name from the town of Gateshead and the fell or common land contiguous with it.[1][2]

In 1068, Malcolm III of Scotland marched across the Scottish border to challenge the authority of William the Conqueror. Malcolm, accompanied by native insurgents and foreign supporters,[2] was met by William's men in the area of Sheriff Hill and was decisively beaten.[3]

In the 13th century, a road through Gateshead Fell became the main trade route between Durham and Newcastle[4] and as its importance grew, two public houses – the Old Cannon and The Three Tuns, were built along with a small number of houses.[5]

The settlement's name derives from the Sheriff's March; an ancient, biennial procession first held in 1278.[6] The origin of the procession in 1278 was from an inquisition at Tynemouth which declared that the King of Scotland, the Archbishop of York, the Prior of Tynemouth, the Bishop of Durham and Gilbert de Umfraville, Earl of Angus should meet the justices before they entered Newcastle from the south.[7] A procession of these notables therefore began before the meeting;[8] on the appointed day the company started in Newcastle, crossed the River Tyne to Gateshead and made its way up the steep road.[9] The meeting place was initially at Chile Well but subsequently the procession came to "light and go into the house".[10] The house was the Old Cannon public house, where drink was served at the sheriff's expense.[11] When the judges arrived, the procession returned to Newcastle.[5]

In 1647, Gateshead Fell was surveyed and was found to consist of 1,300 acres of land. A number of small, isolated settlements had developed around the road at modern-day Deckham, Wrekenton, Low Fell and Sheriff Hill.[12] The few cottages and properties at Sheriff Hill were of such poor quality that in 1713, the total of ninety-one cottages returned only £8 9s 6d in rent.[13] The rental rate declined over the years and eventually, poverty rates were so high that several tenants paid no rent. The houses were extremely unappealing; many were essentially mud huts roofed with sod. The length of the road that ran through Sheriff Hill was called Sodhouse Bank.[14] By the middle of the 18th century, the area had become a wild and frightening placeand when theologian John Wesley arrived in 1785, he found a "pathless waste of white".[15]

Industrial growth and enclosure

The workforce at Fanny Pit, Sheriff Hill in 1921

The road through Gateshead Fell was turnpiked by the Durham to Tyne Bridge Road Act in 1747.[16] Although it had brought some early settlers to the area, the development of industry allowed the formative settlement to grow.[17] In 1740, John Warburton opened a pottery at Carr Hill which is credited with introducing white earthenware to Tyneside.[18] Encouraged by Warburton's success, Paul Jackson established the Sheriff Hill Pottery in 1771 at the northern end of the turnpike road[19] and by 1775 was advertising his earthenware in the Newcastle Journal.[20] Jackson's pottery, which became a local centre of pottery production,[19] attracted settlers to the area and became a source of pride to local residents.[21]

In 1793, Sheriff Hill Colliery, or "Ellison Main Colliery", opened at the summit of Gateshead Fell on the boundary between Sheriff Hill and Low Fell.[22] The colliery had two shafts - the Fanny and Isabella Pits - and provided employment for over 100 men and boys.[22][23] In 1809, an Act ordered the enclosure of Gateshead Fell. Commissioners were appointed to settle claims and apportion Gateshead Fell accordingly. Plans were laid for the requisition and construction of wells, quarries, drains, roads and watering places, including a well at Blue Quarries. New roads, today known as Blue Quarries Road, Church Road and Windy Nook Road, were built.[15] The last allotment land disputes were settled in 1830 and Gateshead Fell was entirely enclosed, formally creating the villages of Sheriff Hill, Low Fell, Deckham, Carr Hill and Wrekenton.[23] After the enclosure, Sheriff Hill was a rural settlement[17] before becoming a village.[24]

In 1819, an explosion tore through the Sheriff Hill Colliery killing thirty-five people.[25] Other industries were flourishing in the area; in 1823 "Heworth Windmill" or "Snowden's Mill", a mill worked by around thirty employees, was built[26] and "Blue Quarries", a sandstone quarry, was opened in 1820 and provided employment for stonemasons, quarrymen and their apprentices. While not as extensive as Kell's Quarries at Windy Nook, Blue Quarries produced "Newcastle Grindstones" of excellent quality and world renown.[15]

Modernity

Housing in the Egremont Estate

In the 1890s the Old Mill closed,, as did Sheriff Hill Pottery in 1909.[27] In the 1920s Blue Quarries was filled in[28] Sheriff Hill Colliery, the longest surviving industrial operation, closed in 1926. The only surviving reminders of the suburb's industrial past are street names such as "Pottersway" and "Blue Quarries Road".

The industries that had disappeared were replaced by tracts of housing. While most of the sod cottages were torn down after enclosure,[29] the remaining dwellings were in such poor condition that in 1883, Gateshead's Medical Health Officer described their standard as one of abject squalor.[30] Some private housing estates were built in Sheriff Hill around 1900, including the Egremont Estate, a distinctive estate dating from around 1910 where the houses have flat roofs with steps leading to them as an architectural feature,[31] and also at Sourmilk Hill, where there are some irregularly arranged vernacular houses built from locally quarried stone and slate which give the area "the character of a small, rural farmstead".[31][32] These developments did little to alleviate the unsanitary conditions and the chronic overcrowding in the village and across the borough.[33] In light of these problems Gateshead Council, after having previously refused in 1911 and 1917,[34] decided to purchase sixty-five acres of land in Carr Hill and Sheriff Hill,[35] to build the borough's first council housing estate.

Churches

Sheriff Hill Methodist Church
The Church of St John

There are two churches in the village today:

  • Church of England: St John's Church, on Church Road
  • Methodist: Sheriff Hill Methodist Church at the junction of Kells Lane and Sheriff's Highway

St John's Church was built as a result of the Inclosure Act of 1809 which created the village, a provision of which required that a church be built for the village. The church was completed on 30 August 1825[36] at a cost of £2742.[37] It is a neat, plain, Gothic structure[38][39] built from ashlar and slate.

The tower and spire rise to 148 feet.[40] Coupled with the natural terrain of the land, the top of the spire reaches over 500 feet above sea level, making it the highest point in area, visible for several miles in all directions, making it a prominent landmark and sea mark.

Sights about the village

The Old Cannon inn, Sheriff Hill
Field House from Windy Nook Road

Part of Sheriff Hill was designated a Conservation Area in 1999.[41] The village has three Grade II listed buildings:

  • The Church of St John[42][43]
  • Field House on Windy Nook Road, built in the 19th century[44] It has been described as a remnant of Sheriff Hill's rural past[41]
  • Thornlea on Church Road, one of the oldest buildings in the village[45]

The elevation of Sheriff Hill affords dramatic views of the surrounding landscape across the Team Valley to the west and the Cheviot Hills in Northumberland to the north.[41]

Outside links

 ("Wikimedia Commons" has material
about Sheriff Hill)

References

  1. ↑ Manders, 1973: 308
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lewis, 1848: 284
  3. ↑ Lewis, 1831: 354
  4. ↑ Manders, 1973: 116
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Manders, 1973: 311
  6. ↑ Marshall, 1991: 130, para 3
  7. ↑ Mackenzie, 1827, 746 at fn 1
  8. ↑ Marshall, 1991: 127, para 1
  9. ↑ Marshall, 1991: 128, para 1
  10. ↑ Marshall, 1991: 128, para 2
  11. ↑ Marshall, 1991: 129, para 2
  12. ↑ Manders, 1973: 307
  13. ↑ Manders, 1973: 308, para 1.
  14. ↑ Manders, 1973: 308, para 2
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 Manders, 1973: 309
  16. ↑ English Turnpike Table (Alan Rosevear on 'turnpikes.org.uk')
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 "Sheriff Hill Conservation Area Management Plan". Gateshead Council. 5 January 2007. http://online.gateshead.gov.uk/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-18474/Item+11d+-+Conservation+Area+Management+Plan+-+Sheriff+Hill.doc.doc. Retrieved 20 September 2012.  at p.3
  18. ↑ Manders, 1973: 63, para 1
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Carlton, 1974: 78
  20. ↑ Manders, 1973: 63
  21. ↑ Harrison, 1979: 8–9
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 "Sheriff Hill Colliery". Durham Mining Museum Online. http://www.dmm.org.uk/colliery/s020.htm. Retrieved 20 August 2012. 
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 Manders, 1973: 310
  24. ↑ Harrison, 1979: 1
  25. ↑ "Pit Disasters". The Northern Echo. http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/history/mining/disasters/. Retrieved 21 September 2012. 
  26. ↑ Carlton, 1974: 74
  27. ↑ Carlton, 1974: 79
  28. ↑ Manders, 1973: 312
  29. ↑ Manders, 1973: 309–10
  30. ↑ Manders, 1973: 313, para 2
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 "Sheriff Hill Conservation Area Management Plan". Gateshead Council. 5 January 2007. http://online.gateshead.gov.uk/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-18474/Item+11d+-+Conservation+Area+Management+Plan+-+Sheriff+Hill.doc.doc. Retrieved 20 September 2012.  at p.12
  32. ↑ "Interim Policy Advice 17, Conservation Area Character Statements, Strategies and Policy Guidelines" (pdf). Gateshead Council. March 2006. http://www.gateshead.gov.uk/DocumentLibrary/Building/PlanningPolicy/IPA/IPA17-ConservationAreaCharacterStatements.pdf. Retrieved 21 September 2012. 
  33. ↑ Manders, 1973: 172, para 3
  34. ↑ Manders, 1973: 172, para 2
  35. ↑ Manders, 1973: 172–3
  36. ↑ Mackenzie, 1834: 107
  37. ↑ Lewis, 1831: 217
  38. ↑ Mackenzie, 1834: 108
  39. ↑ National Heritage List 1277868: Church of St John, Gateshead Fell
  40. ↑ Mackenzie, 1834: 107–8
  41. ↑ 41.0 41.1 41.2 "Sheriff Hill Conservation Area Management Plan". Gateshead Council. 5 January 2007. http://online.gateshead.gov.uk/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-18474/Item+11d+-+Conservation+Area+Management+Plan+-+Sheriff+Hill.doc.doc. Retrieved 20 September 2012.  at p.8
  42. ↑ National Heritage List 430259: Chuch of St John
  43. ↑ National Heritage List 430191: Church of St John
  44. ↑ National Heritage List 1249077: Field House
  45. ↑ National Heritage List 1248672: Thornlea
  • Carlton, Ian Clark (1974). A Short History of Gateshead. Gateshead Corporation. 
  • Hair, T.H (1844). A Series of views of the Collieries in the Counties of Northumberland and Durham. London. 
  • Harper, Charles George (2009). The Great North Road, the Old Mail Road to Scotland. BiblioLife. 
  • Harrison, John (1979). Sheriff Hill: My Village. Gateshead Central Library. 
  • Lewis, Samuel: 'A Topographical Dictionary of England' (S. Lewis and Co., 1848) ISBN 978-0-8063-1508-9
  • Manders, Francis William David (1973). A History of Gateshead. Gateshead Corporation. 
  • Marshall, T (1991). Gateshead Place Names and History:Miscellaneous Notes. Gateshead Central Library. 
  • Mackenzie, Eneas (1827). Historical Account of Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Including the Borough of Gateshead. Mackenzie and Dent. 
  • Mackenzie and Ross (1834). An Historical, Topographical and Descriptive View of the County Palatine of Durham. Mackenzie and Ross. 
  • Slater, I (1848). Royal National Commercial Directory and Topography of the Counties of Durham. 
  • Tegg, Thomas (1829). The London Encyclopedia. London. 
  • Whellan, William (1855). Whellan's History, Topography and Directory of Northumberland. Whellan & Co, Manchester. 
  • Whitehead (1782). Newcastle and Gateshead Directory. 
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