Wooler

infobox UK place

country = England
official_name= Wooler
latitude= 55.5461
longitude= -2.0166
population = 1,857
shire_district= Berwick-upon-Tweed
shire_county = Northumberland
region= North East England
constituency_westminster= Berwick-upon-Tweed
post_town= WOOLER
postcode_district = NE71
postcode_area= NE
dial_code= 01668
os_grid_reference= NT989280

Wooler is a small town in Northumberland, England. It lies on the edge of the Northumberland National Park, by the Cheviot Hills and so is a popular base for walkers, so called the "Gateway to the Cheviots", possessing a youth hostel (now operated by the Glendale Gateway Trust) and many hotels and campsites. The main A697 runs by the town linking Morpeth to Coldstream on the Scottish Border.

Close by is Yeavering Bell crowned by a large iron-age fort, a stronghold of the Votadini.

History

Wooler was not recorded in the Domesday Book, probably because in when the Book was written in 1086, northern Northumbria was not fully under Norman control. However, by 1107, at the time of the creation of the 1st Baron of Wooler, the settlement was described as "situated in an ill-cultivated country under the influence of vast mountains, from whence it is subject to impetuous rains". Wooler subsequently enjoyed a period of prosperity and with its expansion it was granted a licence in 1199 to hold a market every Thursday. The Saint Mary Magdalene hospital was established around 1288.

Wooler is close to Humbleton Hill the site of a severe Scottish defeat at the hands of Harry Hotspur in 1402. This battle is referred to at the beginning of Shakespeare's play "Henry IV, part One" - of which Hotspur is the dashing hero.

Wooler also used to have a Drill Hall that used to be the local "Picture House" that children were evacuated to in world war two. There also used to be a fountain situated at the top of Church Street in the town. [http://www.wooler.org.uk/history.htm]

Alexander Dalziel of Wooler (1781-1832) was the father of the celebrated Dalziel Brothers. Seven of his eight sons became artists, and as engravers in London there was no one to touch them. Their sister Margaret was also an engraver.

Meaning of place-name

Wooler may be from Old English "wella" "well, spring" and "ofer" (ridge, hill). A record of the name as "Welnfver" in 1186 seems to suggest this origin. The well or spring referred to is the River Till). The Wooler Water, (part of which is also known as `Happy Valley'), is a tributary of the River Till and is formed by a confluence of the Harthope and Carey Burns which rise in the Cheviot Hills, to the south of Wooler.The other origin may be "Wulfa's hillside", from the Old English personal name "Wulfa" "wolf" and "őra" "hillside, slope", although this word in place-names usually means "river mouth, shore". A record of the name as Wulloir in 1232 may suggest this origin.It is not certain which is the 'proper' origin.

External links

* [http://www.wooler.org.uk/ Community website]
* [http://www.gefrin.com/ Gefrin.com... A look at the immense wealth of prehistory waiting to be discovered and explored in north Northumberland with a bias toward the Wooler area.]
* [http://www.tankervillehotel.co.uk Tankerville Arms]
* [http://www.northumbrian-railways.co.uk/cornhill.html Northumbrian Railways]
* [http://www.northeastengland.talktalk.net/AlnwickandWooler.htm#WOOLER]