“Weariness of the world, and a longing desire to merit transference to a better, through a persistent course of austerity and sacrifice, have disposed many pious individuals, in all ages and countries, and of every rank in life, to retire from the neighbourhood of their fellow-men, and take up their solitary abode in desert places” **
Whilst self-isolation may be a new phenomena to many, people have chosen to take themselves off to remote corners of Northumberland and live as hermits or recluses for centuries. Some of these stories have been captured in ‘The Monthly Chronicle of North-Country Lore and Legends’.
Cuthbert, monk and later saint, was a seventh-century hermit, who built himself a walled ‘cell’ on the Farne Islands so that all he could see was heaven.
The Hermitage in the parish of St John Lee near Hexham was a retreat for John of Beverley, one time bishop of Hexham and then York, when he retired from ‘his apostolic labours of evangelising the Anglican pagans’.
It was believed that following the Reformation there were no hermits living in Northumberland, although there were instances of recluses:
William Pettigrew was employed at Walbottle Colliery in the mid-eighteenth century. He built a hut using brushwood in Walbottle Dene near the turnpike road running from Newcastle to Carlisle. He lived there with his family, and was nicknamed ‘Willie of the Wood’. Curiosity led to many people visiting and he welcomed them, especially on Sundays and holidays. He sold bread, cheese and refreshments; the income allowed him and his family to live more comfortably. As a result, his sons were able to maintain a better position in society; one joined the army and reached the rank of lieutenant, the other became a Methodist preacher.
Macfarlane, a Scottish besom-maker, made brooms which he sold to the local gentry for their stables. He sought permission from Mr Bryan Burrell of Broom Park for some land near Lemmington Burn in Rimside Moor to build a shed where he could make his brooms. This was agreed, he slept there overnight and built a small garden with flowers and vegetables. Passing gentry would listen to his tales and he was always happy to help passer-bys with directions. After a while he asked for more land to build a lumber yard which he fenced off; with the addition of some pigs he became self-sufficient. He lived like this for twenty-one years ‘squatting’. When a contested election occurred, he travelled down to Alnwick to vote. No objections to his vote were received “and so, from that day till his death, the besom-maker of Rimside Moor was virtually a freeholder of Northumberland”.
** quote taken from The Monthly Chronicle of North-Country Lore and Legend Vol 5, 1891, p.302