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Winlaton


Winlaton is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead, adjacent to Blaydon. Winlaton was established in the 12th Century as a farming community. In the 14th Century coal mining began to supplement agriculture. Winlaton then became the centre of the local steel industry; Ambrose Crowley moved to Winlaton in 1691 and established Crowley's Iron Works in Winlaton, Winlaton Mill and Swalwell. These sites combined made the Crowley works one of the largest industrial centres in Europe at that time. The gates for Buckingham palace were forged in Winlaton. One small forge c.1690 is still remains.

Winlaton is a village situated in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead, Tyne and Wear. Once an independent village in County Durham, it became incorporated into the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear and Borough of Gateshead in 1974. By 2011 the village had been absorbed into the Gateshead MBC ward of Winlaton and High Spen. The population of this ward at the 2011 census was 8,342.

Winlaton was once at the centre of the local steel industry. Ambrose Crowley, a Quaker nail-manufacturer, moved in 1691 to Winlaton. He set up furnaces and forges there and on the River Derwent at Winlaton Mill. The river was ideally suitable for tempering steel, as the sword-makers of Shotley Bridge also found. Crowley not only produced high-quality nails, but also iron goods such as pots, hinges, wheel-hubs, hatchets and edged tools. He could also make heavy forgings, such as chains, pumps, cannon carriages and anchors up to four tons in weight. The Crowley works were regarded as the largest manufactory of the kind in Europe. The gates for Buckingham palace were also forged in Winlaton.

It still has one of the oldest forges remaining in existence, built c1690.

Winlaton's front street is the village's forefront for shopping, as it has a variety of shops, public houses and takeaways. The Winlaton Centre, a local events venue, was built in 1973, and is host to events such as youth clubs and fitness classes.

There is an Anglican church dedicated to St Paul; St Paul's church was built in the 19th–century. There is also a Roman Catholic church, dedicated to St Anne and built in 1962. "Coffee Johnny", a local Blaydon celebrity (1829-1900), is buried at St Paul's church graveyard. He "...would be an outstanding figure in any crowd. Not only was he over six feet six inches and well made (he was a blacksmith at Winlaton), but he was quite a dandy and on special occasions wore a tall white hat."

Text from Wikipedia, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License (accessed: 29/12/2016).
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Gateshead Ambrose Crowley (1658 - 1713) Blaydon Burn (area) Blaydon Winlaton Mill Church of St Anne Church of St Paul Winlaton at War Winlaton Forge Winlaton Parish, 1848 Winlaton War Memorial
from Newcastle libraries (flickr)
013152:Back St. Winlaton C. 1850

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from Newcastle libraries (flickr)
012592:Winlaton County Durham 1888

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from Newcastle libraries (flickr)
025818:Winlaton Tyne and Wear c.1900

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from Newcastle libraries (flickr)
025819:Winlaton Tyne and Wear c.1900

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from Newcastle libraries (flickr)
028885:Blaydon Local Government Council Winlaton Ward 1907

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from Newcastle libraries (flickr)
013672:Winlaton County Durham C.1930

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from Newcastle libraries (flickr)
013202:Commercial Square Winlaton 1961

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from Newcastle libraries (flickr)
014012:Church Street Winlaton County Durham 1963

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from Newcastle libraries (flickr)
014015:Hood Square Winlaton County Durham 1963

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from Newcastle University (youtube)
Miner Dancers (1926)

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from IllustratedChronicles (flickr)
Juvenile Bill Posters at Blaydon

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Blaydon
  Co-Curate Page
Blaydon
- Overview About Blaydon History Map Street View Blaydon-on-Tyne is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead. Blaydon is locaed on the south banks of the River Tyne; the Scotswood Bridge crosses the …
from http://www.winlatonhistorysoc…
Winlaton & District Local History Society
- "The society was formed in 1970 by a group of twelve members with the aim of researching and promoting the history of the local area. It has since evolved into …

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Simon Cotterill
from Geograph (geograph)
Commercial Hotel, Winlaton

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from Newcastle libraries (flickr)
014027:Parliament Street Winlaton County Durham C.1960

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from Newcastle libraries (flickr)
014013:The Vulcan Inn Winlaton County Durham 1963

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