General

Earlier in the year I was asked to write an article about Dr Ethel Williams, Newcastle’s first female GP and suffragist, who retired to Stocksfield in 1924.  I was keen to continue learning more about the life of this remarkable lady and some of her friends and associates, in particular once the office re-opened exploring the resources available at Northumberland Archives.  Whilst there are many areas of Ethel’s life I am keen to explore, I decided to find out about her final resting place first. 

Newspaper articles and obituaries at the time of her death in January 1948 indicated that Ethel had died at home.  The Newcastle Journal reported that the funeral was to be held at Hindley Churchyard, Stocksfield.  The will of Mabel Annie Burnip, Ethel’s private secretary and main beneficiary, set aside a sum of money for the upkeep of Ethel’s grave at the burial ground at Hindley, Stocksfield.  So, on a sunny Sunday afternoon in September that is what I set off to find.   

Now I must admit, I’m not very familiar with that part of Northumberland, and without a postcode to put into the satnav I was just hoping that I would find it based on loose sense of direction with a little bit of luck thrown in.  Hindley itself is a couple of miles outside of Stocksfield, the churchyard about quarter-mile from Hindley in the Bywell St. Peter parish.  Exploring the country roads, I could see why Ethel had returned to Newcastle during World War Two; the temptation to explore the beautiful open countryside must have been strong, but perhaps not wise when petrol was rationed…I decided I better put some fuel in just in case! 

What do we know about the church and cemetery?  The balance sheet of the ‘Building Fund of St. Margaret’s Mission Room, Hindley, in Bywell St. Peters’ dated February 1891 indicates that building was underway at this time [EP 45/80].  The second edition Ordnance Survey map for the area (1895) shows St. Margaret’s Mission Chapel not far from Broomley.  Minutes taken at the parish meeting of the Broomley and Stocksfield Parish Council in October 1930 ask that additional land is purchased at Hindley Church for a burial ground [PC 7/2].  By May 1931 this piece of land which was 3,383 and one-ninth yards squared had been fenced, drained and considered to be in a ‘fit and proper state’ for burials; a petition was raised for the land to be consecrated.  The land was consecrated the following month [DN/E/4/1/27/1].  By 1979 the Chapel was in decline; “St. Margaret’s Church has not for some years been used for regular services, but only for occasional funeral services, and constitutes a potential liability for maintenance and repair”, the decision to sell the building was made.  A stained-glass memorial window was removed and relocated to Bywell St. Peter and the building subsequently sold [DN/E/8/2/2/3848]. 

The building itself is now a private residence, the burial ground is accessible by a gate from the roadside.  It looked small, neat and ordered.  It didn’t take long to find Ethel’s grave, although it is hard to read as the stone is worn, some of the words illegible, but it is undoubtedly her final resting place.  Continuing to look around, I also found the grave of Mabel Burnip, her will was instrumental in taking me to this peaceful corner of Northumberland.  Mabel died in 1984, if anyone recalls her and would like to share their memories, we would love to hear from you. 

Listening to the oral history testimonies allows your mind to drift to an earlier time, one that may seem very different but somewhat familiar at the same time.  The interview with Mr. Robson begins with Robin Gard, Archivist at the time of the recording in 1974, asking Mr. Robson to generally chat about his memories of the Felton and Swarland area (Northumberland Archives reference number T/56 and T/57).  And that he does. 

Mr. Robson tells the listener that his father and grandfather had been mole-catchers in the area, his father working on the farms between Coal Houses at Acklington and up to the Felton area.  He remembers his school days, being taught reading, writing and arithmetic using a slate and pencil to write with.  His first job, aged 14, delivering milk from a pony and trap, pouring it into jugs or basins from a large can with a tap.  He had always wanted to be a miner, he joined his first pit, Widdrington Colliery six-months later.  He worked at the Isabella Pit and Bullocks Hall bore hole before beginning to work on the roads and helping with the first tarred stone surface on the A1.  He also recalls his time in France during World War One as part of the Royal Artillery protecting the barrage balloons from attack. 

Mr. Robson also reminisces about life in an agricultural village; the majority of people worked on the farms, although he chose not to.  A horse-drawn machine would work the field, one man would stand on it reaping the corn using a hand scythe whilst another would use a rake to sweep it off the blades for the men on the ground to tie it into a sheaf.  Between the Wars new machinery was introduced which put the corn into the sheaf, all the men in the fields had to do was ‘stook it up’ or stand it on its ends.  The sheaves would be left in the fields for a couple of weeks, depending on the weather, before being taken to the farmstead.  The corn would be stacked in round or square stacks first before being taken to the ‘gin-gang’ to be threshed.  A gin-gang was a horse-engine house, usually a round building, attached to a threshing barn.  A threshing machine in the barn was connected to the gin-gang and powered by horse walking round and round inside the building (https://co-curate.ncl.ac.uk/gin-gang/).  Nearly every farm one; Mr. Robson had observed a gin-gang using eight horses, four sets of two, being used.  Horse-power was later replaced with a steam boiler.  After threshing, grain would be taken to the nearby windmill to grind into corn flour. 

Mr. Robson also recalled seeing the women working in the fields, they were known as ‘bondagers’.  Typically used in the north-east of England and southern Scotland, these were women supplied to the farm owner by the tenant to undertake work on the farm.  They would wear what Mr. Robson described as ‘rough clothing’ as well as a straw hat to protect themselves from the weather.  Through the ever-changing weather, the introduction of more modernised machinery over the decades, the harvest still gets done, the same but different. 

Hexham High Street Heritage Action Zone (HSHAZ) – Heritage Working Group
(HWG)

Aims
(HSHAZ) The aim of the Hexham HSHAZ scheme is: ‘to revitalise Hexham’s historic town centre making it a more attractive, engaging and vibrant place for people to live, work, invest and visit’. This will be achieved through the local objectives below, which all link into national programme outcomes:

1. Deliver improvements that lead to the removal of the ‘at risk’ status of the Conservation Area, including building repairs, increasing custodianship and maintenance of Hexham’s heritage assets
2. Revitalise the HSHAZ area by increasing occupancy, reducing voids & bringing floorspace back into use
3. Enhance the physical condition, distinctiveness and attraction of the town centre through improved quality of streetscape & public realm
4. Support economic recovery post Covid-19 by encouraging footfall, dwell time and spend in the town centre enhancing long-term sustainability & protecting jobs
5. Stimulate and accelerate commercial investment to create economic growth in the town centre
6. Engage the local community to shape, participate and deliver plans & activities
7. Increase knowledge, interest & appreciation of the town’s heritage & culture

(HWG) The aim is to create a working group (or groups) to draw together a wide cross section of local people who have enthusiasm, knowledge and skills that can guide the development of key heritage activities that will encourage participation and engagement in revitalising and maintaining the town centre.

They will undertake historical research about the high street to enrich our understanding of it, to foster a sense of civic pride and to create a legacy for the scheme. This will serve to meet outcomes 5 and 6 of the HSHAZ programme.

Method
There are a number of activities which the HWG could support. In particular;

Activity One – Developing a resource library (digital and physical) including documents, images, collections, artefacts and records relating to the town centre, particularly Priestpopple, Market Street and Cattle Market, key trading families (if applicable) and buildings listed under task three.

The physical resources will be made available to the public via displays, possibly in Queens Hall and/or the Abbey and in vacant shop fronts along the high street. They will create a legacy for the HSHAZ and be held in perpetuity by the library or Northumberland Archives. The digital resources will be made available to the public by becoming part of the HLHS digital records.

Activity Two – Imaginative temporary displays in empty shop windows and local facilities. Further to the displays resulting from Task One, displays on specific imaginative themes are to be created and displayed for public consumption.

The only specified theme is ‘The Changing Streetscape of the High Street’ and we are open to suggestions for other themes and would suggest ‘Transport on the high street throughout the 20th century’ as an example.

Activity Three – Enrich the List
This task serves to improve the listed entries and records held by Historic England on all listed buildings and non-designated heritage assets on the high street. The listed buildings and NDHAs are:

4a Battle Hill	Grade 2 listed building 1042603
4 Battle Hill	Grade 2 listed building
1 & 1a Battle Hill	Grade 2 listed building 1370772
3-5 Battle Hill	Grade 2 listed building
9 Battle Hill	Grade 2 listed building
24-26 Priestpopple	Grade 2 listed building
23 Priestpopple	Grade 2 listed building
31 Market Place	Grade 2 listed building
33 Market Place	Grade 2 listed building
2 Battle Hill	Grade 2 listed building
Priestpopple House	Grade 2* listed building
27 Priestpopple	Grade 2 listed building
22 Priestpopple	Grade 2 listed building
10-12 Battle Hill Excelsior Building	NDHA
1 Battle Hill	NDHA
8 Battle Hill	NDHA 1370775

Historic England are offering direct support on this task, and we will have further details shortly on how our research is best added to the details already held.

Nevertheless, Historic England’s records are in the public domain and work to enhance them can be undertaken now. However, individual researchers are requested not to create their own account and upload to the HE site until further advice is received as this may result in our consolidated HSHAZ input not being acknowledged.

Activity Four – Develop a Digital Heritage Trail
We will commission a digital media specialist to create an app and web based digital heritage trail of the high street and the wider Hexham conservation area based on the heritage knowledge of the HWG. The target for completion of this task is March 2022.

Activity Five – Working with Schools Across all Project Areas
Engaging young people in the heritage of their town will enhance the legacy of the HSHAZ. The HSHAZ Senior Programme Officer will speak to the heads of the local schools to create an engagement programme best suited to their students and curriculum.

It is anticipated that setting activities following on from a talk/lecture from someone with local history knowledge will give the best results.

Current intention is to ask primary age students to design the high street of 2122 and to ask secondary age learners to write a 500-word story based in Hexham in 1922.