Windy Nook

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Windy Nook
County Durham

The Church of St Alban's, Windy Nook Road
Location
Grid reference: NZ272609
Location: 54°56’18"N, 1°34’15"W
Data
Population: 3,165  (2011)
Post town: Gateshead
Postcode: NE10
Dialling code: 0191
Local Government
Council: Gateshead
Parliamentary
constituency: 		Gateshead

Windy Nook is a village in County Durham, which has become a barely distinguishable suburb of Gateshead, and contiguously within its conurbation. Windy Nook is bordered by Carr Hill to the west, Leam Lane Estate to the east, Felling to the north and Sheriff Hill to the south. It stands on steep, sloping land two and a quarter miles south of Gateshead, and just under three miles south of Newcastle upon Tyne, while its county town, Durham, is twelve miles to the south.

In 2011, the Windy Nook and Whitehills ward had a population of 9,781.

Windy Nook has a long industrial history, with evidence of milling and pottery in the area. The principal industry, however, was stone quarrying, and the initial settlement grew as this industry flourished. By the turn of the 19th century, several quarries operated in Windy Nook and the largest, Kell's Quarry, provided the sandstone and grindstone used to build St Alban's Church.

The decline in industry in the 20th century saw the population fall to pre-industrial levels. Though today an urban suburb, there are no large commercial areas and the new Tesco store is the largest employer. There remains large areas of green space, however, and it is a popular and high-demand place to live. Residents compare favourably with others in the Gateshead area in terms of income, employment levels and educational qualifications.

Windy Nook Nature Reserve is a protected wildlife area, as well as one of the largest environmental sculptures in Europe.

Joseph Hopper, founder of the aged mineworkers scheme, and John Oxberry, a prominent historian, hailed from the village. Less pleasantly, so did Mary Elizabeth Wilson, a serial killer known as 'The Merry Widow of Windy Nook'.

History

Quarrymen working at Kell's Quarry in its day

The name Windy Nook derives from "the lofty and exposed nature of the situation it occupies".[1] In 1784, Richard Kell began quarrying at Heworth Shore. His business expanded quickly and, by the turn of the 19th century, Kell and his family had established a second quarry at Windy Nook which was known as Kell's Quarry.[2] This, along with a number of pre-existing, smaller quarries, provided work for the early settlers and by 1820 there existed a "modern but populous village".[3] The quarries of Windy Nook became renowned, described as equally important to the more vaunted quarries of Yorkshire and producing sandstone and 'Newcastle grindstone' of sufficient quality that stones from Kell's Quarry were used to build St Alban's Church and other local buildings.[2][4]

As the quarries prospered, the village continued to grow. In 1834 an account described Windy Nook as "a populous hamlet ... chiefly inhabited by workmen employed in the adjoining quarries. Here are three public houses, one farmstead, a corn-mill and several mechanics".[5] In 1842, a National school was built by subscription, and within six years the building of two more mills and a pottery saw the population increase to around 2,009 inhabitants.[6] The quarries continued to produce high quality grindstone; in 1860 stone from Kell's Quarry was used to build the Exchange Building in Newcastle upon Tyne.[2]

In spite of this industrialisation, residents were still able to enjoy "wildly romantic scenery".[6] Ordnance Survey maps of 1862 show that Windy Nook remained isolated from the neighbouring villages at Carr Hill and Sheriff Hill. The principal road, Windy Nook Road, had been established and at the junction between this road and Carr Hill Road, the church of St Alban and the national school are evidenced among a cluster of residential dwellings but there was little else save the quarries which dominated during those formative years.[7] By 1870 there were 430 houses for 2,653 inhabitants[8] which by 1887 had increased again to 3,554.[9]

However, by the turn of the 20th century, the quarries slowly fell into disuse and by the 1960s all of the remaining industrial areas had closed and the quarries infilled, though the sandstone properties at St Alban's Place and Co-Operative Terrace stand as a reminder to Windy Nook's industrial history.[2] The decrease in employment opportunities led to a steady decline in population and although some housing developed along Stone Street and Coldwell Lane, the urban sprawl that enveloped most of the outlying settlements of Gateshead during the early 20th century never reached Windy Nook, so that in 1945 it remained largely unchanged in location and size.[10] Despite some terraced housing being built in at Crossfield Park and Coltsfoot Gardens in the 1970–80's, the character of the suburb today remains suburban; the land is split 50/50 between residential properties and open green space and only 11.3% of the residential properties today are council housing. The result is that Windy Nook is a high-demand area for privately owned and social housing.

Churches

Ebenezer Chapel

The Church of St Alban (designed by Thomas Liddell and built between 1841 and 1842.[11][12] Built in locally quarried sandstone and named for the first martyr of Britain,[12]

St Alban's is described as a "neat structure in the early English style"[13] with a Welsh slate roof and "satisfactory interior and decoration".[12] The church was extended in 1888 and is today a Grade II listed building.[11] The gates, gate piers and overthrows, also designed by Liddell and built at the same time as the church, are tall sandstone structures with wrought iron adornments.[14] These are also Grade II listed buildings.

  • Church of England: St Alban's
  • Methodist: Ebenezer Chapel

A New Connexion chapel is evidenced in Windy Nook in 1855 though the chapel at Stone Street was opened in 1865; one year later than the "beautiful little Gothic church" opened by the Primitive Methodists at Albion Street at a cost of £340.[15][16][17] The New Connexion amalgamated with the Primitive Methodists in 1942 and services were held in Ebenezer until 1963 while the Albion Street chapel hosted Sunday School. By 1976, a new building was erected alongside the old chapel and that new building still stands as the Windy Nook Methodist Church.[16]

Places of interest

'The Windy Nook'

Cole's The Windy Nook

'The Windy Nook' is the title of a local landmark created by sculptor Richard Cole at Whitehill Drive.[18] The sculpture appears at first glance to be an old fortification of interlinked walls and pathways sitting atop Windy Nook Pit Hill; local children refer to the artwork simply as 'the Fortress'[19] In fact, the hill is a former slag heap and the 'ruins' are made from 2,500 tons of granite blocks salvaged from the old Scotswood Bridge.[19] It was unveiled in 1986 during Gateshead Sculpture Week.[19]

Today, the 'Windy Nook' is a popular installation much used for walking and recreation and which is some 590 feet in height and covers 59,201.5 square feet (5,500.0 m²) in area. It remains one of the largest environmental sculptures in Europe. As it has matured it has become home to various plant- and animal life and is now considered an ordinary part of the landscape.[18]

Windy Nook Nature Reserve

Windy Nook Nature Park was opened in 1981 and is at the north west corner of Windy Nook.[20] It is a collaborative enterprise between local conservation volunteers and Gateshead Council, seeking to turn five acres of unattractive wasteland into an urban nature park. Many of the trees were planted by local school children[21] and today the reserve is a large open space offering the same panoramic views as most other parts of the area, with acid-heath grassland, scrub woodland and a small spring-fed pond.[22] The reserve is also a 'Site of Nature Conservation Importance'.[23]

  • The spring-fed pond at Windy Nook Nature Reserve.
    The spring-fed pond at Windy Nook Nature Reserve.
  • A man and young girl wander through the nature reserve.
    A man and young girl wander through the nature reserve.
  • Some wooden steps lead to an elevated section of woodland.
    Some wooden steps lead to an elevated section of woodland.
  • Trees act as a natural gateway to woodland in Windy Nook Nature Park.
    Trees act as a natural gateway to woodland in Windy Nook Nature Park.

References

  1. ↑ MacKenzie and Ross, 1983: 26
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 [Steam Truck, Windy Nook Quarry': Gateshead:Visual Heritage Revealed
  3. ↑ Surtees, 1820: 66
  4. ↑ Watson, 1911: 135
  5. ↑ MacKenzie & Ross, 1834: 26
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Lewis, 1848: 613
  7. ↑ 'England - Durham: 007', Ordnance Survey 1:10,560 - Epoch 1 (1862)
  8. ↑ J.M. Wilson, 1870–72: 522
  9. ↑ Bartholomew, 1887 - A Vision of Britain
  10. ↑ Ordnance Survey of Great Britain New Popular Edition, Sheet 78 - Newcastle upon Tyne, 1945
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Pevsner, 1983: 271
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Cox, 1842–3: 59
  13. ↑ National Heritage List 1299810: Church of St Alban
  14. ↑ National Heritage List 1355089: Gate piers, Gates and Overthrow to the east of Church of St Alban
  15. ↑ Whellan, 1855: 389
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Author unknown, Windy Nook Methodist Church - Archives and Museums (retrieved 3 July 2012)
  17. ↑ Antliff, 1864: 554
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Author unknown, Windy Nook– Richard Cole, Gateshead Council (retrieved 3 July 2012)
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 Author unknown, Windy Nook , Public Monuments and Sculpture Association (retrieved 3 July 2012)
  20. ↑ NPE, 2008: 9
  21. ↑ Author unknown, Domesday, the BBC, 1986 (retrieved 3 July 2012)
  22. ↑ Ross, Windy Nook Nature Park Local Nature reserve, Gateshead Council (retrieved 3 July 2012)
  23. ↑ Author unknown, Appendix 8: Sites of Nature Conservation Importance (SNCIs), Gateshead Council (retrieved 3 July 2012)
  • Antliff, W (1864). the Primitive Methodist Magazine. Richard Davies, London. 
  • Bailey, Brian (1988). Almshouses of England and Wales. Robert Hale Ltd. ISBN 0-7090-3292-7. 
  • Bartholomew, John (1887). Gazetteer of the British Isles. 
  • Cox, Charles (July 1842 – June 1843). The Ecclesiastical Gazette or Monthly Register of the Affairs of the Church of England and of its Religious Societies and Institutions. Bodleian Library Society. 
  • Lewis, Samuel: 'A Topographical Dictionary of England' (S. Lewis and Co., 1848) ISBN 978-0-8063-1508-9
  • Oxberry, John (1924). Gateshead District Aged Mine-Workers' Homes. The birth of the movement. A tribute to the memory of Joseph Hopper, etc. With illustrations, including a portrait. unknown. 
  • Oxberry, John: 'Windy Nook; its inhabitants and their Co-Operative Store: a jubilee tribute and historical sketch 1874–1924' (Co-operative Wholesale Society's Printing Works, 1924)
  • MacKenzie and Ross (1834). An Historical, Topographical and Descriptive View of the County Palatine of Durham. McKenzie and Ross. ISBN 1-150-79679-0. 
  • Nikolaus Pevsner: The Buildings of England: County Durham, 1953; 1983 Penguin Books ISBN 978-0-300-09599-9
  • Surtees, Robert: 'The History and Antiquities of the county Palatine of Durham: vol.2, Chester ward' (London Institute of Historical Research, 1820)
  • Watson, J.: 'British and Foreign Building Stone' (Institute of Civil Engineers, 1911) ISBN 978-0-7277-5068-6
  • Whellan, William: 'Whellan's History, Topography and Directory of Northumberland' (Whellan & Co, 1855)
  • Wilson, John Marius: Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (A. Fullerton & Co., 1870)
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