The Knott Memorial Hall was given to the village of Heddon by Sir T. Garbutt Knott, in memory of his parents, Sir James and Lady Margaret Annie Knott.

Initially the hall was to be a more elaborate construction, the initial plans of 1935 included higher wings at the north east and south west corners to provide a news and games room at one end and a caretakers flat at the other.

In view of the relatively small size of the village, at that time, and the existing news and games room at the Men's Institute, and the availability of other meeting rooms, it was decided to scale down the plans and use the money saved to create an endowment fund to assist with the future upkeep of the hall. This suggestion was agreed to by Sir Garbutt and his legal advisers, and the Hall in its present form was subsequently built in 1936.

The site upon which it was built formed part of the Church Banks, this had been for many years previous an unofficial playground for the village children.

Mr. L.Walton-Taylor of Heddon and Newcastle was the architect and the Hall was built by Messrs. Lowry of Newcastle. The original official opening ceremony was to have taken place on Saturday the 18th July, 1936 at 3pm by Lt.Col. Sir Alexander Leith, Bart, M.C; D.L, and the dedication service by the Venerable Archdeacon of Northumberland, a tea to be provided for all invited guests.

The tragic death of the vicar, The Rev. Harold Nixon, in a motoring accident whilst on holiday in Wales,  brought a sudden cancellation of these plans. It was later officially opened by Mrs. G.E. Wilkinson of Wylam and dedicated by the Lord Bishop Billrough, of Newcastle, on the 24th October, 1936.

Program for original opening ceremony planned for 18th July 1936.

 The With thanks to Caroline and Lawence Scott for drawing my attention to this photo.

The view of the church is from within the Old Vicarage garden, approximately where the modern Vicarage now stands. The direction pointed by the camera is to the south-east and would now be blocked by the Knott Memorial Hall on Towne Gate which was built in 1936.

The path up to the church-yard from behind the hall appears to have been paved. It is still there but now a grass sward. The map below shows the side door from the Vicarage garden (probably that shown in the photo) directly opposite the track which descends from the church. Where the track meets the road (Towne Gate) is the present location of the Knott Memorial Hall which was built in 1936.

I quote the following story about one of the Upper Coquetdale landowners at the time of the Ordnance Survey in the early 1860s as it fits with a project on transcribing the OS Name Books for Northumberland that I am involved with at the moment.

The story is part of a short biography of Mr. Carr, in a regular section called Men of Mark ‘twirt Tyne & Tweed in The Monthly Chronicle of North-Country Lore and Legend Vol. 3 (1887-1891)’, p. 385-387.

You can read this, and other works during the life of Ralph Carr for yourself here.
 
RALPH CARR-ELLISON (1805-1884, originally Ralph Carr) was the eldest son of John Carr, Esq. of Dunston Hill and Hedgeley.
 
Mr. Carr, 'landowner, antiquary and naturalist', was one of the few men who ever made the Ordnance Survey officials admit an error in topographical nomenclature.

He owned the estate of Makenden at the head of Coquet, which runs up to what is locally known as "the Scotch Edge," where it "marches" with the property of the Duke of Roxburgh. In this district the boundary line between England and Scotland usually follows the water shed (or, as Dandie Dinmont [a character in Guy Mannering by Sir Walter Scott, 1815] expressed it, "the tap o' the hill, where win and water shears") between the valleys of the Teviot and Bowmont on the Scotch side, and those of the Rede, Coquet, and Breamish on the English.

But in various places the Scotch, like "Jock o' Dawston Cleugh", have encroached over the crest of the hills. These encroachments are usually marked on old maps as "batable" i.e., debatable ground. One such plot of "batable" land lay between the properties of Mr. Carr and the Duke of
Roxburgh, where, according to the contention of the Scotch, the march leaves the "tap o' the hills and bauds down by the Syke" in which the Coquet rises, thus cutting off the Plea Shank, which, like Dandie Dinmont's ground, "lying high and exposed, may feed a hogg [a sheep up to the age of one year; one yet to be sheared], or aiblins twa [perhaps two] in a gude year."

The spot is familiar to antiquaries, for the ancient Roman Camp, "Ad Fines", now known as Chew Green, lies just below it, and the Roman Road of Watling Street [Dere Street] here crosses the moors into Scotland.

For the sake of peace it had been arranged, at some former time, between the owners and occupiers, that half the Plea Shank should be pastured by each party. But when the Ordnance Survey came to be made, the Scotch revived their claim to the whole, and by some means or other contrived to win over those who were conducting the survey.

Little more was heard of the matter till the maps were issued, showing the boundary between England and Scotland drawn along the English side of the debatable ground. Then the English tenant was politely invited by his Scotch neighbour to keep his sheep on his own side of the new boundary.

On hearing this, Mr. Carr took steps to obtain all possible evidence from ancient maps and documents in the British Museum and elsewhere ; and instructed his tenant to turn a few sheep on to the disputed land in the meanwhile.

Meeting the farmer shortly afterwards, Mr. Carr said, "Well
Thompson, I suppose you put half-a-dozen sheep or so on
to the Plea Shank?" "Oh, no, sir," was the answer, "I just wysed on [used] fifty score!"

The result of Mr. Carr's investigations was to show that the land had been either English or debatable for centuries. This was brought to the notice of the officials in charge of the Ordnance Survey, the already issued maps were recalled and cancelled, and new ones restoring the Plea Shank to its
old " batable" character were published.

The name 'Plea Shank' doesn't appear to have made it onto the 1st edition map although there is a 'Plea Knowe' on the border further away to the north-east, and another 'Plea Shank' near the line of Dere Street (formerly recorded as Watling Street) but on undisputedly Scottish land in the Borders, much further north.

A life-size sculpture of a Roman Centurion carved from the trunk of a diseased and dying horse chestnut tree by Consett tree sculptor, Tommy Craggs. It is situated opposite the shops, Dingle Dell cafe and the children's nursery at Taberna Close. The carving took place in October and November 2018, with money for the project raised by a local group, 'Heddon Branches'.

The name comes the Fourth Cohort of the Twentieth Legion, Valeria Victrix (Valiant and Victorious), who are known to have built part of Hadrian's Wall in the Heddon area about 121AD as shown on a building stone found in 1807 in the vicarage at Heddon but now lost.
Twentieth Legion Valeria Victrix

Hexham Courant 1st November 2018

The official unveiling of the statue, hosted by Dingle Dell cafe, was held on 22nd November 2018. On a wet afternoon, the ribbon was cut by local resident Emily Taylor who had painted an inspirational picture featuring a Roman soldier in a tree.

Hexham Courant 28th November 2018

The most interesting place name that appeared on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of Heddon on the Wall is 'Haddocks Hole'.

On the 6" map of Northumberland LXXXVII surveyed in 1860 and published in 1865 the name is shown along the Hexham Road. The Name Book entry (kindly supplied by Prof. Diana Whaley of Newcastle University) written at the time of the survey reads:

As part of the name survey task, the correctness of the name was authorised by three local men, recorded as:
                      Mr Armstrong
                      Mr Charlton
                      Mr Hogg

Without the draft map we can't be sure which houses the name actually refered to but later oral memories indicate that it was certainly applied to the cottages just west of the Three Tuns Inn between the Hexham Road and Military Road. They were demolished in the mid 1950s, creating the small car park at the side of the pub, open onto both roads. The Co-op building, formerly a smithy, adjoining the south side of the inn, was reduced to a short stub at the same time.

The authorities for the place-name can however be identified.

A directory of 1855, for instance, tells us that John Armstrong was the farmer at Bay's Leap, whose farmhouse was originally to the north of the Three Tuns. He died on January 21st 1886 aged 65 years.

There were several families with the surname, Charlton in the village at the time of the survey. John Charlton, a Joiner & Cartwright, died April 12th 1870 aged 59 years.

In 1855, Jane Hogg is shown as victualler at the Three Tuns Inn; her husband, Thomas Hogg was a blacksmith and took over the Three Tuns when she died in 1860. He died on August 5th 1863 aged 60 years.

The larger scale map (25" to a mile) moved the name to the west of the Vicarage on the south side of the Hexham Road.
Later editions ommited the name altogether.

We only have a single photo of Haddocks Hole showing a short row of single storey cottages.

Having taken part in the pilot study of the Hadrian's Wall Stone Sourcing & Dispersal Project I thought I would try to find out a little more about the Roman stone shown above.

Along with two other carved stones (probably not Roman), it sits on the inside window-ledge of the window at the west end of the north aisle, inside the little meetings room divided by glass panels from the bulk of the church.

It appears not to have an inscription but its size and moulding bears much resemblance to other stones found along Hadrian's Wall which record the particular centurial unit involved with building or maintaining a specific length of the Wall's fabric.

I was contacted recently by Marian Rowley asking if I knew the date of an old photo on this web site - a black and white version of that shown above. It is a postcard of the Royal French Arms, a former pub on the Hexham Road. It's actually in Heddon on the Wall (despite the postcard caption) but right next to its eastern boundary with Throckley. She was interested as she had seen the name of Alexander Waters, the licensee, over the doorway.

A relative of Marian's of the same name, Alexander Waters, had been landlord of the Engine Inn / Locomotive Inn in Walbottle for many years. His son in law, John Armatage, was landlord, of the Three Tuns in Heddon on the Wall, as also was his father.

Alexander Waters died in 1911 and Marian told me that records showed that he was at the Engine Inn at that time as he had been since about 1871. She was wondering if the licencee of the Royal French Arms was another Alexander Waters or the same man as her relative. A date for the photo might help.

The 1901 Census does show that John Armatage (born 1866 (was innkeeper at the Three Tuns, living with wife Mary (b.1871) and two children, Alex (b.1893) and Annie (b.1901). They had two servants.

However, in 1911, the Census shows that Richard Thompson (68, Burnopfield) had succeeded John Armatage (b.1866) as publican of the Three Tuns Inn.

John Armatage (now 46) was at that time at The Royal French Arms at Frenchman's Row. He is described as Manager of the Licensed House.

His brother, George Armatage (b.1852 in Wylam) was working as a blacksmith and horseshoer and lived with his family in a property identified on the 1911 Census as Quarry House, Houghton. 1901 has them living in Common House which was probably the same property (on the edge of Heddon Common). His son, George (23, Heddon) was in the same business. Another son, Robert Armatage (19, Heddon), a postman, was to be a casualty of the First World War.

The Royal French Arms was built in 1897 close to the site of a former beer-house which stood at the east end of the terrace known as Frenchmen's Row. The new inn was built much closer to the Hexham Road and the postcard photo must be later than that year. The public house has now been converted into apartments with the name 'Royal French Court'.

Matthew Auty who founded Auty Ltd. died in 1895 but some postcards in the Auty Series seem to date from early 1900s, even up to 1910 or later. The initials G.H. and W.B. refer to Godfrey Hastings who took over the business in Whitley Bay.

Auty Ltd. claimed to have been the first to introduce the continental idea of picture postcards to the north of England and his views familiarised prospective visitors with the charms of the area. Source: vetraio50 on Collectors Weekly

Prior to 1899, British postcards were commonly 4.75 x 3.5 inches (115 x 89mm), known as court cards. A standard size of 5.5 x 3.5 inches (140 x 89mm) was introduced in 1899. The postcard shown above is standard size, although of course the photo itself could have been taken earlier as Auty's original plates were re-printed.

Marian kindly provided the following information.

Alexander Waters Snr., born in 1813, was the brother of my great-great grandmother, Jane Waters.

He married Hannah Nesbitt in 1838. They lived in Walbottle and had five children [known of] that survived into adulthood.
Alexander Snr. died in 1887 and in 1901 Hannah was living at Mount Pleasant in Throckley.

Their son, Alexander Jnr., was born in 1849 and in 1869 he married Jane Maughan who was born in 1852 in Newburn.
 
According to census information:
In 1871 Alexander, Jane and daughter Mary Hannah were living at 20 New Row in Walbottle.  Alexander was a coal miner.

In 1881 Alexander, Jane and Mary Hannah (aged 11) were living at the Engine Inn where Alexander was the Innkeeper.

Mary Hannah Waters married John Armatage in 1890.
 
The original pub was called the Engine, being associated with the nearby colliery stationary engine. The name changed to Locomotive Inn during the 1870's. Evidently the original pub building was demolished in 1907 with a new building being erected next door. At that stage the 'new' pub was named Locomotive Inn. In 1948 W.B. Reid acquired the pub from the Duke of Northumberland's Estate and it was renamed Engine Inn. It was taken over by Scottish & Newcastle Breweries in 1959 and became the Original Masons in 1991. Source: Steve Ellwood.
 
In 1891 Alexander, Jane, son Edward and daughter Anne were living at the Locomotive Inn where Alexander was the Innkeeper.

In 1901 Alexander, Jane and son Edward were still living at the Locomotive Inn.

Jane Waters nee Maughan died in 1910.
Alexander Jnr. died 12 Feb 1911.

Probate states:
WATERS Alexander of The Engine Inn, Walbottle, N'land, publican, died 12 Feb 1911. Probate Ncle/Tyne 15 May to John Armitage publican. Effects £6992. 2s. 8d. Re-sworn £8127. 2s. 8d.
 
John Armatage lived at the Three Tuns all of his life with his parents and when he married Mary Hannah he became the 'publican' and remained there until at least 1901.
 
There are several other ‘Alexanders’ in my family named after Alexander Snr. but I can find no other Alexander Waters that could have been the publican at the Royal French Arms. Alexander Jnr. may have taken over the RFA after 1901, had his name inscribed above the door and then at some time before 1911 returned to the Engine Inn leaving John Armatage, his son in law, to manage the pub. Marian speculates that this might have taken place in 1907 when the Engine Inn was demolished.

I've attached a photo of the Engine Inn with Alexander Jnr. and Hannah in the doorway.

John Armatage and Mary Hannah Armatage were living at Elm Lea House on Hexham Road at the time of the pre-war census in 1939. Also living there was their daughter, Annie Armatage, and nephew, Edward Waters. John was described as a retired blacksmith and Edward was working as a screener at one of the collieries. John Armatage died in 1946 and Mary Hannah Armatage (nee Waters) survived until 1958 (aged 89). Edward Waters died in 1949. Annie Armatage, still living in Elm Lea, died a spinster in 1994 at the age of 93.
 
Probate for Mary Hannah states:
Armatage Mary Hannah of Elm Lea, Hexham Road, Throckley, widow, died 14 Dec 1958. Probate Ncle upon Tyne 17 Feb to Annie Armatage, spinster, and John Matthew Tingate, colliery bath attendant. Effects £3127. 12s.

Incidentally, Joseph Waters Spence, Mary Hannah's cousin and another Throckley lad, was a superstar who played for Manchester United.  He was known as Joe Spence, born in 1898 and died in 1966.  There is a lot of info about him on the internet and he ended his days coaching and scouting under Sir Matt Busby.

Our current best guess for the date of the Auty Series G.H. W.B. #4505 postcard of the Royal French Arms, Throckley is around 1900. Please let me know if anyone has a more accurate date.

Some photos from Bowes Railway Museum and the Springwell 1940s weekend.

The illustration above of Wylam Bridge by R P Leitch was made for the 3rd edition of Samuel Smiles’ book, The Life of George Stephenson, published in 1868. It shows an industrial village with a coal mine and iron works along the northern riverbank and few buildings higher up in the village, including the colliery school built in 1854. Between the colliery pumping engine and the blast furnace stand the buildings of Wylam Mill, with another tall chimney.
 
Smiles described the village at he saw it.
“The colliery village of Wylam is situated on the north bank of the Tyne, about eight miles west of Newcastle. The Newcastle and Carlisle Railway runs along the opposite bank; and the traveller by that line sees the usual signs of a colliery in the unsightly pumping-engines surrounded by heaps of ashes, coal-dust, and slag, while a neighbouring iron-furnace in full blast throws out dense smoke and loud jets of steam by day and lurid flames at night. These works form the nucleus of the village, which is almost entirely occupied by coal-miners and iron-furnace-men. The place is remarkable for its large population, but not for its cleanness or neatness as a village; the houses, as in most colliery villages, being the property of the owners or lessees, who employ them in temporarily accommodating the work-people, against whose earnings there is a weekly set-off for house and coals.”
 
“There is nothing to interest one in the village itself.”
 
An article in The Newcastle Courant of 17 January 1874 entitled 'Our Colliery Villages' still described the village as “...  the very worst colliery village that we have yet beheld …'
 
The late 18th century had been a period of prosperity for Wylam – the colliery was thriving and an iron works, a lead-shot manufactory and a brewery were all established in the village. In the mid 1750s, Blackett, the colliery owner had had the Wylam Waggonway constructed to transport coal from the Haugh Pit to Lemington, originally using horse-drawn wagons, but in the early 1800s using some of the earliest steam locomotives including Puffing Billy and Wylam Dilly.
 
Benjamin Thompson established the Wylam Iron Works in 1835; one of its blast furnaces can be seen on the right, close to the location in Falcon Terrace where the school was built in 1909-10 (now the library and railway museum). Few remains of this industry can still be found, although many of the garden walls in Wylam’s Main Road are built of slag.
 
In 1825, he became a director of the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway and surveyed the route for the line, supervising the later stages of its construction between 1833 and 1835. At the iron works, locomotives were built for several years and in 1836 he was responsible for the erection of Wylam Bridge to link the village (and his works) to the new railway. It was originally a combined road and railway bridge with a timber deck supported on stone piers. It was funded by public subscription and tolls. This replaced a small ferry boat and earlier, often hazardous ford.
 
In 1864 the iron works closed. Four years later the colliery was closed, Haugh Pit below the river flooded for the last time. The brewery ceased to operate sometime in the 1870s. In 1876 Wylam Mill was modernised and converted into a steam mill. In 1931, most of its buildings including its chimney were destroyed by fire although the former Mill Stables is now the new Co-op store.
 
In 1876 the Scotswood, Newburn and Wylam Railway was completed with its arch-rib designed bridge at Hagg Bank, too late for much of Wylam’s industry. The track of this railway, serving a new station at North Wylam, was built along much of the course of the old waggonway.

The timber decking of Wylam Bridge was replaced with steel in 1897 when the bridge was no longer in use by rail traffic. It was again replaced in 1946. In 1960 the bridge still had an old tollhouse at the south end where the station car park entrance is today, although the company had erected a new one at the north end in 1899. The house sports a Puffing Billy weather vane on its dormer window.

Pedestrians were charged one penny to cross but an agreement between the landowner and the bridge company allowed free passage to some of the well-off residents. Opposition to the tolls led eventually to its acquisition by Northumberland County Council and it was freed from toll in 1936.

In 1942 strengthening and widening was carried out by the Ministry Of Transport so that it could be used by tanks. Flood damage and erosion forced replacement of two piers in the 1950s and the bridge was widened in 1959 to 24 feet, including a 6 foot wide path. A weight restriction of 9 tons was imposed in 1960, later raised to 10 tons. Following concerns over the safety of the railings following impact by cars, the bridge was closed for several weeks in 2007 for safety improvements.

The decline of industry in the 19th century led to a substantial change in the character of the village. By the 20th century Wylam was almost entirely a residential settlement, its transport well served by two railway stations.

The length of river bank east of Hagg Bank is known as Wylam Scars and it was here that work on the Newcastle-Carlisle railway began in 1831. The scene was delightfully illustrated by J.W. Carmichael in one of his famous views of this railway. This was the first cross-country line to be built and the first section, between Blaydon and Hexham, opened on March 9th 1835.

LINKS
Wylam History Walk on ViewRanger, free navigation app for mobile phone.

I was re-reading the leaflets from last year's Tales of the Frontier which reminded me of another 'Little Man' located in the Tyne valley, potentially much older than 'Heddon Man', the subject of my, tongue in cheek, April 1st post.

The sandstone sculture was found in 1970 at Waters Meet, where the North and South Tyne Rivers converge, and is something of a mystery.

Believed to be of Romano-British origin, the stone represents a rare, previously unrecorded style. The figure, possibly ‘Hercules’, carries a club in right hand. The carving was kept in Acomb House for 30 years, then spent 5 years in a barn. It now stands just off the bridleway at the edge of the village.

The carved sandstone block about 86cm high bearing the figure of 'Acomb Man' was installed in 2011 where the bridle path joins The Green in the village of Acomb, Northumberland.

It was found in 1970 at Water's Meet (Howford), where the Rivers North & South Tyne join west of Hexham and remained at Acomb House for 30 years until the house was sold.

Stan Beckensall compiled a report on the carving and sent it to English Heritage. He said experts at the Museum of Antiquities and the Vindolanda and Arbeia Forts on Hadrian’s Wall had confirmed the carving was probably made during the Roman occupation in the 2nd or 3rd century.

"Paul Bidwell, an expert at Arbeia Fort in Wallsend, says it’s in a native style and therefore very unusual and very rare – perhaps unique,” said Stan.

“The carving is obviously meant to be Hercules; he’s holding a club across his chest in one hand and a round object in the other that might be a purse or a dish."

Dr Sharpe remembers being intrigued by the ‘Little Man’ of Acomb, which appears in leaflet ‘No. 7 The Tyne Valley: Old Stones and New Faith’.

“It’s a carved figure of a man with a very sweet smile on his face. There is still some debate as to whether it’s actually Roman,” she says. “It was found at the Tyne Waters Meet in 1970 and was kept in a barn for many years before it reappeared. The villagers wouldn’t let it go to the museum – it’s now on a concrete plinth at the edge of the village."