Weardale is a dale, or valley, of the east side of the Pennines in County Durham, in England. In Geology, a valley (also called a vale, dale, glen or strath and near or in Appalachia, a draw) is The Pennines are a low-rising Mountain range in Northern England and southern Scotland. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland The upper valley is surrounded by high fells (up to 2454 feet O. D. at Burnhope Seat) and heather grouse moors. Before climate change its winters were harsh and prolonged with regular snow, taken advantage of by ski-ers using a ski-run at Swinhope Head.
Wildlife includes an important population of Black Grouse along with the more usual upland birds. Sea-trout and salmon run the River Wear. Adders are encountered on the moors.
Past occupation or activity by man is attested by evidence such as the Heatheryburn Bronze Age collection of gold and other objects, now in the British Museum; altars placed by Roman officers who took hunting trips out from forts in present-day County Durham; and the use from Norman times onwards of "Frosterley Marble", a black fossiliferous layer of limestone occurring near that village, as an ornamental material in Durham Cathedral and many other churches and public buildings.
The dale's principal settlements include St John's Chapel and the small towns of Stanhope and Wolsingham. St John's Chapel is a village in County Durham, in England. It is situated in Weardale, on the south side of the River Wear on the A689 Stanhope (pronounced in the regional dialect "Stanup" or "Stan'ope" is a small market town in County Durham, in England. The River Wear flows through Weardale before reaching Bishop Auckland and then Durham, meeting the sea at Sunderland. The River Wear (wɪə("wee-er" is a river in North East England, rising in the Pennines and flowing eastwards mostly through County Durham, Bishop Auckland is a Market town in County Durham in North East England. Durham (ˈdʌrəm in RP, locally ˈdʏrəm is a small city and main settlement of the City of Durham district of County Durham, England Sunderland (, or /ˈsʌn(dlən/ is a City in Tyne and Wear, England. Running roughly parallel to Weardale to the south is Teesdale. There is a separate article for the local government district of Teesdale. The Wear Valley local government district covers much of the valley. Wear Valley is a local government district in County Durham, England. From 1894 to 1974 there was a Weardale Rural District. Weardale was a Rural district in County Durham, England from 1894 to 1974 Upper Weardale lies within the parliamentary constituency of North West Durham.
In the c18 John Wesley visited the dale on a number of occasions and the valley became a Methodist stronghold. High House Chapel near Ireshopeburn is said to be the Methodist chapel with the longest history of continuous use in the world, and contains the Weardale Museum (not to be confused with the Lead Mining Museum at Killhope) which includes a room devoted to Methodist and Wesley memorabilia.
As a youth between the World Wars the poet W. H. Auden walked amid the wild countryside and the relics of the lead mining industry in and around Weardale and found these a lifelong source of inspiration. One place he visited, Rookhope, is also the setting of a ballad called "The Rookhope Ryde" which describes in some detail how in 1569 Weardale men drove out a party of cattle-raiders who had come down from the Roman Wall area . Rookhope is a former lead and Fluorspar mining village in County Durham, in England.
Among contemporary works, Helen Cannam's "The Last Ballad" is a lively historical novel set in the dale in the early 1800s.
Mining History
Weardale was historically important for lead mining, and there is a lead mining museum incorporating the preserved Park Level Mine at Killhope [1] (pronounced "Killup"). Mining is the extraction of valuable Minerals or other geological materials from the earth usually (but not always from an Ore body Characteristics Lead has a dull luster and is a dense, Ductile, very soft highly A museum is a "permanent institution in the service of society and of its development open to the public which acquires conserves researches communicates and exhibits the Killhope Wheel is a huge working Water wheel within the North of England Lead Mining Museum, at Killhope in Weardale, County Durham
The first documented evidence of mining in the Northern Pennines dates from the 12th century, and records the presence of silver mines in the areas of what are now Alston Moor, just west of Weardale, and Northumberland. Silver (ˈsɪlvɚ is a Chemical element with the symbol " Ag " (argentum from the Ancient Greek: ἀργήντος - argēntos gen Weardale was, at this time a forested area, and belonged to the Bishops of Durham, who used it as a hunting preserve. The villages of Eastgate and Westgate mark the former entrances to this forest preserve (King, 1982).
Lead mining in Weardale reached its greatest levels during the 18th and 19th centuries, when the London Lead and Beaumont Companies dominated mining throughout the region. During the 1880’s the declining prices for lead forced both companies to give up their leases in the area, though the Weardale Lead Company continued lead mining and smelting until 1931. According to Dunham (1990), 28 separate lead smelting operations were active in the region during the height of mining in the 19th century, but by 1919 the last major commercial mine had closed.
At the North of England Lead Mining Museum at Killhope one can see a huge working water wheel, known as the Killhope Wheel. Killhope Wheel is a huge working Water wheel within the North of England Lead Mining Museum, at Killhope in Weardale, County Durham Killhope Wheel is a huge working Water wheel within the North of England Lead Mining Museum, at Killhope in Weardale, County Durham This was installed in the 1870s to power the crushing of grit in tanks in an adjacent building, so as to complete the separation of lead ore from worthless stone. The Museum also exhibits a fine collection of local minerals, as well as "spar boxes" - display cases made by miners to show crystal specimens they had themselves found.
Not only lead, silver and fluorspar were extracted from Weardale. Large amounts of ironstone were taken especially from the Rookhope area during the Industrial Revolution to supply ironworks at Consett and Tow Law. Local deposits of other minerals were also found on occasion.
Economy
After the closing of the lead mines, there were few sources of income for the local population left. However, in the lower dale round Stanhope and Frosterley carboniferous limestone was quarried on a large scale from the 1840s, when rail links created with Teesside and Consett enabled it to be carried to these places for use in the iron and steel-making processes there. This industry continued into and beyond the 1960s, its last and probably largest working quarry serving the Blue Circle cement works near Eastgate, set up in the 1960s. This site has now been decommissioned and the major industry in Weardale is now cattle and sheep farming. Only one mine, The Rogerley, is currently being prospected on a very small scale for mineral specimens.
Weardale had a railway open as far as Wearhead for a brief period from the 1890s, but the section of the line above Eastgate soon closed due to the decline of the lead industry. "Railroad" and "Railway" both redirect here For other uses see Railroad (disambiguation. Wearhead is a village in County Durham, in England. It is situated at the top of Weardale between Cowshill and Ireshopeburn. The remaining line was kept open by cement traffic until the 1990s, after which it was taken over by the Weardale Railway. The Weardale Railway preservation project In 1993 British Rail announced its intention to close the line following the loss of the line's last significant commercial Passenger services recommenced briefly in 2004, but in 2005 the project went into administration. Administration is a procedure under the Insolvency laws of a number of Common law jurisdictions which functions as a rescue mechanism for insolvent companies Trains began running again in 2006, under a new ownership structure.
Currently there is a regular daily bus service from Bishop Auckland and Crook to Cowshill at the head of the dale; it is possible at certain times of day to take the bus further on to the Killhope Lead Mining Museum at those times of the year when the latter is open.
References
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