Topics > Northumberland > Hedley on the Hill

Hedley on the Hill


Hedley on the Hill is a village in Northumberland, located about 2½ miles south-west of Prudhoe, to the south of the River Tyne. The village is located high on the hills with views over the Tyne Valley. At one time Hedley was situated further down the hill, but the village was ravaged by the Black Death in 1666; those who survived abandoned the old settlement and founded a new village at the top of the hill.[1] The main road through Hedley is named Lead Road, in the 17th and 18th centuries this was the old route for transporting lead from Dukesfield Smelt Mill to Blaydon, where it was then loaded onto keel boats and taken to Newcastle for onward distribution. In the 19th century there was large-scale coal mining in the area; Hedley Colliery, owned by William Walker in the 1860's, was located roughly half a mile west of the village (not to be confused with Hedley Hill Colliery in County Durham).[2] A Wesleyan Methodist chapel was built in Hedley in 1837 and a school in 1847. Both buildings are now converted to private residences; the old chapel is Grade II listed on the National Heritage List for England.[3] Today, the Feathers Inn is a focal point of the village. Its airy location by the hill has made it a base for local gliding enthusiasts. Hedley on the Hill is also on the 40 mile circular Lead Road Cycle Route.

Hedley on the Hill is a village in Northumberland, west of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is located between the valley of the River Derwent, and the watershed to the River Tyne.

Despite being close to a major city, Hedley is typically Northumbrian and rural in character. Situated close to the villages of Stocksfield and Chopwell as well as to the rural market town of Hexham it is a small, placid village offering stunning views across the Tyne valley.

Hedley is not typical of Northumberland in many respects. Firstly, it appears to have escaped rather unscathed in the wars between England and Scotland that occurred before the union. There are no records of any battles in the area. Similarly, there is no record of any activity involving border reivers (tribal leaders and outlaws that fought across the Scottish/English border) in the village. This has enabled it to develop in relative isolation, with mining and quarrying being the prominent industries since the eighteenth century.

The village holds numerous events including the annual barrel race in which contestants, usually in pairs, run up the hill to the pub with a barrel of beer. It is also popular with gliding enthusiasts, being the closest village to the Northumbria Gliding Club in Leadgate.

Hedley on the Hill is also close to Hadrian's Wall a World Heritage Site and located in the far south of "Hadrian's Wall Country".

The village is said to have once been home to a bogle known as The Hedley Kow.

Barrel Race is run every bank holiday Monday, and organised by The Feathers Inn. Competitors carry an empty nine-gallon beer barrel, over a 1.5-mile course.

The Feathers Inn, in Hedley-on-the-Hill, Northumberland was named the Great British Pub of the Year 2011

Governance

Hedley is in the parliamentary constituency of Hexham.

Text from Wikipedia, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License (accessed: 27/05/2020).
Visit the page: Hedley on the Hill for references and further details. You can contribute to this article on Wikipedia.

Northumberland Hedley Civil Parish Hedley Township, Northumberland, 1848 Hedley Woodside Township, 1848
from Geograph (geograph)
Village green in Hedley on the Hill

Pinned by Simon Cotterill
from Geograph (geograph)
The Feathers Inn, Hedley on the Hill

Pinned by Simon Cotterill
from Geograph (geograph)
Footpath leaving Hedley on the Hill

Pinned by Simon Cotterill
from Geograph (geograph)
Hedley on the Hill

Pinned by Simon Cotterill
from Geograph (geograph)
Hedley East Farm farmyard

Pinned by Simon Cotterill
from Geograph (geograph)
T-Rex, Hedley on the Hill

Pinned by Simon Cotterill
from Geograph (geograph)
Old School House, Hedley on the Hill

Pinned by Simon Cotterill
from Geograph (geograph)
Old cottages in Hedley on the Hill

Pinned by Simon Cotterill
from Geograph (geograph)
Hedley Park Farm

Pinned by Simon Cotterill
from Geograph (geograph)
Entering Hedley on the Hill from the east

Pinned by Simon Cotterill
from Geograph (geograph)
Hedley on the Hill village limits and Millennium Stone

Pinned by Simon Cotterill
from Geograph (geograph)
Interpretive panel and memorial plaque by the Millennium Stone, Hedley-on-the-Hill

Pinned by Simon Cotterill
from IllustratedChronicles (flickr)
R. Cragie - Hedley on the Hill- wounded

Pinned by Simon Cotterill
from http://www.dmm.org.uk/collier…
Hedley Colliery [NBL]

Added by
Simon Cotterill
from Youtube (youtube)
Juvenile Hunt At Hedley-On-The-Hill, Northumberland (1938)

Pinned by Simon Cotterill
from https://historicengland.org.u…
METHODIST CHAPEL - Hedley on the Hill - List Entry
- "Methodist chapel, dated 1837 on porch. Front coursed roughly-squared stone with tooled-and-margined quoins and tooled dressings, other elevations rubble; Welsh slate roof with red tile ridge. Simple rectangular plan with …

Added by
Simon Cotterill
from http://www.visitoruk.com/Cons…
Hedley on the Hill
- Extract from: The Northumberland Village Book. "A few miles north of Consett, Hedley on the Hill stands on the western end of a high ridge, close to the Durham border, …

Added by
Simon Cotterill
from https://www.dukesfield.org.uk…
The Lead Road Cycle Route - A bike ride with a difference
- "The Lead Road Loop. Some 18 miles of the southern, eastbound section of this very pleasant route follows the ‘Lead Road’. In days gone by horses and carts carried pieces …

Added by
Simon Cotterill

Comments

Add a comment or share a memory.

Login to add a comment. Sign-up if you don't already have an account.



ABOUT US

Co-Curate is a project which brings together online collections, museums, universities, schools and community groups to make and re-make stories and images from North East England and Cumbria. Co-Curate is a trans-disciplinary project that will open up 'official' museum and 'un-officia'l co-created community-based collections and archives through innovative collaborative approaches using social media and open archives/data.

LATEST SHARED RESOURCES