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The Village Atlas in Action

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THE FERRYHILL VILLAGE ATLAS: A SUMMARY

THE HISTORY, GEOLOGY & WILDLIFE OF A LIMESTONE LANDSCAPES COMMUNITY

Edited by Alan Rushworth with text and illustrations by Alan Rushworth and Marc Johnstone (The Archaeological Practice Ltd), Ivan Dunn, and Ian Kille

Front cover: main picture – upper right – lower right – Back cover: – ’ Title Page: left to right –

© Ferryhill Village Atlas Study Area

0 400 800 1200 1600 2000 m = Village Atlas Study Area = Historic Township of Ferryhill 1.

The Ferryhill Village Atlas

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Landscape township civil parishes

Village Atlas Study Area, ’

Limestone Escarpment Ridge East Durham Limestone Escarpment Durham Magnesian Limestone Plateau Geology of the Magnesian Limestone area Bedrock geology PERMIAN (MAGNESIAN LIMESTONE)

Newcastle South Shields Formation upon Tyne Jarrow Seaham Residue Anhydrite Ferryhill and the Roker Formation

Gateshead Ford Formation (Reef) Ford Formation Magnesian Limestone

Washington Sunderland Raisby Formation Yellow Sands Formation Plateau and Escarpment CARBONIFEROUS ROCKS

Coal Measures, Chester-le- undivided - Landscape & Geology Street Seaham Houghton -le-Spring

Durham North Sea

Spennymoor Hartlepool

Bishop Auckland

Permian era fossil fish from the marl Looking across quarry rock face slate deposit in Thrislington Quarry on the edge of Ferryhill Gap

Ferryhill Gap glacial meltwater channel now containing Looking across Thrislington Quarry

Section in Thrislington Quarry showing the sand dune deposits of the Permian era desert at the bottom with the darker band of fossil rich marl slate above overlain by magnesian limestone associated with the Zechstein Sea

Introduction

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The Ice Ages ’

The Landscape

Ferryhill Carrs

Schools Involvement

Thrislington Thrislington National Nature Reserve

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Keys to the Past

Atlas activities: Walks, Talks and Visits: G schools programme test-pitting FERRYHILL VILLAGE ATLAS = Prehistoric = Romano-British - Selection from the Historic Environment Record - = Early Medieval = Medieval H3923 : Roman Pottery at Strawberry Lane H1337 : Ferryhill, Andrew Mill's Stob = Post Medieval A large mortarium sherd was found on a track H2982 : Ferryhill, Iron works "About half a mile north of Ferryhill, a portion of a gibbet H412 : Roman Pottery at Thinford Site, slag and tar remains of = Multiple Periods known as Strawberry Lane. remained on what was common by the roadside. The spot A Scatter of Roman pottery. Ferryhill Iron Works. is now ploughed and enclosed". It is named after a youth H3922 : Roman Brooch at Red Hall Farm executed for murder in 1683 Metal detector find of a Roman Trumpet Brooch. H254 and H1340 : Inhumations at Ferryhill Four human skeletons found during quarrying operations. The bones lay in a rift in the limestone formation. Believed to be, "three adult boys H3927 : Spindle Whorl at Red Hall Farm and one female." The skulls are in good condition. Well stratified. Medieval lead spindle whorl found by metal detectorist. These burials were only recorded as a short note in the Proceedings of the Newcastle Society of Antiquaries in 1912. Possibly of Bronze- Age origin. H3928 : Post Medieval Coins at Red Hall Farm Metal detector find of coins of James I, quantity unknown. H1110 : Cist, Spearhead and Burial at Stob Cross Field In July 1822, in Stobcross Field on the Thrislington Estate a workman Finds from the East of Durham Road: uncovered at c.18in. below the surface, a cist containing a human H3925 : Roman Coin skeleton and the nearly 8in. long iron head of a lance or javelin with Copper alloy coin. some wood adhering. A second skeleton with an iron spearhead 7in. H3926 : Spindle Whorl long was found 20 yards. to the northwest. Later, 8 or 9 other inhumation Medieval lead spindle whorl burials were found, without grave-goods, around the crown of the field. 'The graves were not dug east and west, but in various directions'. The burials are believed to be pagan Anglo-Saxon. The field is now covered H376 : An Enclosure at Ferryhill, Bridge House by a housing estate. Rectilinear ditched enclosure. The source also identifies one or possibly two circular features east of the main road. The site is most likely to be a farmstead of the late Iron-Age or Romano- British period within a ditched enclosure. H1105 : Medieval Road/Trackway at Thrislington The paved pathway across the marsh from Thrislington Hall to Ferryhill is mentioned in an agreement of 1262. Perambulation of the area revealed what is probably the remains of the pathway, a track now partly H1342 : Chilton, Little Chilton overgrown and used as a footpath. Many large stones are visible on the The old manor house of Little Chilton stands on ground that surface and in some places form a rough paved area. It continues as a slopes gently eastward towards the Skerne valley. The house covered way with an average width of 7m and with banks on each side did not arouse any antiquarian interest prior to the re-listing up to 2m high. Large stones are visible in the banks. The low ground is survey of the 1980s, when it was recognised as a medieval crossed by a causeway 10m wide with a maximum height of 1. building. Although we do known that It is mentioned in 1271, Large stones are visible on the surface. and in 1619 when the house passed from the Emersons to Edward Cropley. Little Chilton is clearly a medieval house, doubtless with a wealth of features concealed beneath its external roughcast H2987 : Ferryhill, and internal plaster and stoothing. Its date remains uncertain; Bridge abutments and traceable track of 1830 the arch of the main doorway might indicate a 13th or 14th Byers Green Branch of the Clarence Railway. century date, and the truncated principal roof (and hall ceiling beams) a remodelling in the later 15th or even early 16th century; dendrochronology could help here. H1101 : Ferryhill, Swan House A farmstead at Ferryhill is still called Swan House. The ruins of the Swan House of the Medieval swannery occupy the southeast corner of the hill H2136 : Chilton, Lithic Working Site above the marsh between the Ferryhill-Thrislington and the Ferryhill- Small, later Mesolithic flint scatter including two delicate Mainsforth roads. It is described as, "a sort of troglodyte building, half end scrapers and a core trimmer. Retained by the practised in the rock." In 1262 the marsh was granted to the Prior and landowner. It also includes waste material. Convent of Durham, probably to increase their swannery. A former two- storey building, it is now in gross disrepair, built into a rock-face. The lower courses of the structure are of stone slabs, the upper of brick of H240 : Bronze Spear at Chilton Quarry various periods, giving a patchwork appearance. The roof and internal A bronze socketed spear head discovered in timberings, where remaining, are modern. There are no indications of a Cleveland in soil brought from either Chilton chimney, nor of domestic status. The latter use has been as a barn. Quarries or Redworth, . Soil analysis No dateable architectural feature has been observed. locates it at the former. An ogival spearhead with socket loops dated to 1600-1800 BC. H1330 : Medieval Village Site, Great Chilton The probable remains of a deserted Medieval village. The earthworks H15777 : Enclosure, Great Chilton H4679 : Broom Colliery (maximum height 0.5m) consist of low, wide banks dividing the land This colliery site marked as already disused on the 2nd Edition Ordnance Survey into plots, some of which contain rigg and furrow. There is no definite (Site of Community-Based Archaeological Excavation). An aerial photograph shows a but not appearing on 1st Edition. Visible earthworks now apparently used as = Village Atlas Study Area trace of buildings but the broken ground at grid reference NZ29953032, pasture. A wagonway appears to have lead south, and joined the mineral railway and irregularly shaped platforms and small level areas in other places, number of rectilinear enclosures including = Historic Township of Ferryhill a large enclosure and a smaller one inside, running east to Ferryhill Station. Two shafts were sunk, both 8 ft wide - one at suggest building steadings. No reason has been discovered for the NZ 29355 31986 (186 ft deep), and one at NZ 29845 31962 (141 ft deep). depopulation, or information regarding date. No existing building shows which could be Iron Age or Roman. There is also two small circular enclosures inside. Broom Cottages, to the north of the site, may well have been connected to the 0 400 800 1200 1600 2000 m any trace of antiquity. A confusing andinchoate site. mine. View of Historic Buildings in Ferryhill Village Core

Lay by 160.0m 165.7m

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159.2m 162.6m

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161.7m

161.2m

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0 40 80 120 160 200 m Historic Buildings of Chilton

Large medieval roof timbers over the hall of the medieval manor house at Little Chilton

The 17th-century farmhouse at Great Chilton General view of Little Chilton Hall from the south-east from the south

The rear of Great Chilton Hall showing possible earlier parts of the building

The early 19th-century facade of Great Chilton Hall ’

Examining the remains of the Swan House with Atlas participant Michael Ord providing scale Buildings archaeologist Peter Ryder describing the late medieval hall at Little Chilton to the village atlas group

Exploring the medieval layout of Ferryhill behind North Row

Old farming equipment discovered inside a barn at Bridge House Farm, Ferryhill

Agricultural historian Ian Roberts talking to a farmer at Thrundle Farm

Possible remains of the original Swan House identified Atlas School Activities

‘The Classroom Dig’

Archaeological Testpitting at The Manor House

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the idea of test-pitting is to gather a representative selection of finds reflecting local settlement going back through time. The more recent finds should lie nearer the surface and the older ones further down

based on what we've found, it looks as though generations of people living at the Manor House have been burning their rubbish and throwing the remains into the back garden

– Mesolithic – Neolithic – Bronze Age –

Iron Age – community excavation

Romano-British ‘’

Iron Age / Romano British Settlement around Ferryhill

Aerial photograph showing the cropmarks of a probable Iron Age / Romano British settlement near Bridge House Farm, viewed from the south- east.

Aerial Photograph of the Iron Age settlement near Great Chilton.

Children from Primary School working enthusiastically on the archaeological dig at Great Chilton Iron Age settlement. –

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township vill ’ parishes

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coal mining swannery – – Cleves Cross Evidence for the Medieval Village Layout

Extract from The Dean & Chapter Estate Plan, 1765 (DCD/E/AA/17/1), reproduced by permission of the Chapter of Durham Cathedral.

‘’ The layout of Ferryhill tenements according to the 1411 survey (DCD Bursars Book E ff 1-22; Campey 1987, 178-81)

Extract from the Tithe Plan of Ferryhill, 1838 (Durham County Record Office EP/Mer 41/1), reproduced by permission of Merrington Parish and Durham County Record Office. ’

1. Late 11th / early 12th century 0 200 2. Mid 12th century Metres

3. Mid-late 12th century 4. C.1200 The Swan House

Views of the ruined brick and stone swan house built into the summit of the hiilside

Swan House depicted on 1765 Dean and Chapter estate plan (DCD E/AA/17/1). Reproduced by permission of the Chapter of Durham Cathedral

Earthworks of the possible original swan house

Swans in the pool below Swan House

A nesting Mute Swan in the reedbeds below Swan House Cleves Cross

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’ ’ The Manor House, Market Street, Ferryhill

1989 images courtesy of Ferryhill History Society (FHS) Ferryhill Township in 1765

Pre-enclosure (i.e. pre- 1637) land-use indicated by fieldnames

Open arable fields

Ox & Cow Pasture

Moor

Uncertain

Field use transposed on the Dean and Chapter Estate Plan of Ferryhill, 1765, (DCD/E/AA/17/1), reproduced by permission of the Chapter of Durham Cathedral.

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Coal, Rail and Road in the 19th Century

Colliery and railway development around Ferryhill shown on Bell's Map of the Great Northern Coalfield Auckland District,1852 (CCB/MP/508/1). Reproduced by permission of Durham University Library Archives and Special Collections.

The abandoned embankment of the turnpike improvement works with the cut in the distance. Courtesy of Ferryhill History Society. Farms and Farming

Harvest time at Rough Lees Farm, Ferryhill - cutting corn with a Hornsby Self Binder. Courtesy of Harry Walker, FHS.

Horse and trap near Ferryhill. Courtesy of Ferryhill, Derek Race's Prize Bull. Courtesy of John Allison, Michael Ord. FHS.

Cleves Cross Farm, Ferryhill. Photograph of Mr. Morgan. Courtesy of Ann & Robbie Morgan, FHS.

Ferryhill Village, Hepplewhite & Etherington, threshing corn, c.1920. Courtesy of John Dinning, FHS.

Cleves Cross Farm, Mr. Morgan, training a horse. Thinford, driving stock on the Great North Road, Courtesy of Ann and Robbie Morgan, FHS. c.1920. Courtesy of George Crowe, Spennymoor, FHS.

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’ ’ FERRYHILL VILLAGE ATLAS - Collieries Visible on the 3rd Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1915 - Scale: 6in to the mile for base map, 1:2500 for extracts Mining in Ferryhill

Photograph of Mainsforth Colliery, taken in c.1920.

Mainsforth Colliery, showing workshops, headgear and two chimneys.

Dean & Chapter Colliery showing workshops, offices and shaft headgear, courtesy of Ann Lake & FHS.

Dean & Chapter Colliery, Saint John's Ambulance Team in the 1940s, displaying the Dorman Long, Corona Graham and other shields. Courtesy of Tony Miner digging out a seam of coal. Nicholls & FHS. All images courtesy of Ferryhill History Society (FHS) Railways

Ferryhill Station, Station Staff c.1910. Geoff Wall, FHS.

Ferryhill Station, Platform 5a, with an ex-NER G5 0-4-4T tank engine ready to take a branch train out. Courtesy of George Lamb, FHS.

Above: Junction north of Ferryhill in 1952. A push-pull train from Spennymoor to Ferryhill has just crossed over the Ferryhill Station, the last post, 1970s. East Coast Main Courtesy of the Dick Sewell Collection, FHS. Line on the flyover from the Byers Green Branch. Courtesy of Michael Ord.

OS 6in plan of Ferryhill St ation and Yard in 1913- 1915

Waggons in the goods marshalling yard at Ferryhill Station. Courtesy of the Tweedy Collection, FHS.

Cornforth - railway bridge - south elevation The Buildings of Dean Bank Colliery Village

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The Growth of Ferryhill in the 20th Century

Allotments created 1952-1967

Allotments created 1952-1967 Allotments created post 1967

Cemetery Planned by 1952 extended by 1952 Allotments created Planned by 1923 1898-1923

Allotments created 1898-1923

Allotments created 1923-1952

Village core Buildings constructed between 1952-1967

Buildings constructed between 1861-1898 Buildings constructed between 1967-1992 Buildings constructed between 1898-1923 Buildings constructed post 1992 Buildings constructed between 1923-1952 0 250 500 m

Red outline- Ferryhill Village Atlas Study Area Dates indicate approximate time that area was developed - some re-development may have occurred. Schools and Education

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Views of Bygone Ferryhill

The Black Bull Hotel An early photograph showing the Town Hall

Mainsforth Road, Ferryhill Station, with the bridge The west end of the village. over the railway station beyond the three men.

Ferryhill Station, Railway Yard & Mainsforth Colliery Shops and shoppers on Road in the early 20th century. Images courtesy of Ferryhill History Society - The Ferryhill Village Atlas -

This booklet, a summary of the main Ferryhill Village Atlas report, explores the landscape and history of Ferryhill from its geological origins to the present day. Ferryhill has a rich and fascinating heritage, with something to satisfy every interest, whether it is the remains of Iron Age settlements beneath fields of corn and traces of its medieval origins in the modern town centre, the complex industrial history of railways, collieries and quarries, the wetland wonder of the Carrs and flower-rich grasslands of Thrislington Nature Reserve or the fossil evidence of past geological aeons preserved in quarry faces. In sum, as the community enters the 21st century, it is clear that the people of Ferryhill have good cause to be proud of their heritage.