13-482: Witton Castle is a much-altered 15th-century castle, which is the centrepiece of a holiday and caravan country park at Witton le Wear , near Bishop Auckland , County Durham. It is a Grade II* listed building . Sir Ralph Eure obtained a licence to crenellate his manor house in 1410 and created the castle. The castle was held by Royalist Sir William Darcy during the English Civil War . He compounded for
26-469: A Community Centre for the village which is used most days by a variety of groups and organisations. Witton Castle Country Park is situated over the River Wear from the village and consists of a 15th-century castle and grounds. [2] In the village is Witton Tower, a medieval pele tower with later additions. The village green has been a major feature of the village for over 200 years. The trees along
39-552: Is Durham Constabulary . Witton-le-Wear is in the Wear and Tees division. The place name Witton or Whitton is fairly common in the north of England. While the name can mean "white farm", in the case of Witton-le-Wear Witton refers to a farm ( Anglo-Saxon : ton ) in or near woodland (Anglo-Saxon: widu ). Witton-le-Wear's name is attested as Wudeton from 1104, but had become Wotton in Werdale by 1313. This subsequently evolved to
52-452: Is also run as a heritage railway , operating on many weekends and holidays by Weardale Railway Trust in conjunction with the BARS, and provides a tourist route in and out of Weardale. A weekend halt has been provided at Witton-le-Wear since early 2013. Witton-le-Wear's last village shop closed in 1998, meaning the village's only permanent amenities are its two public houses, The Dun Cow and
65-564: The Stockton and Darlington Railway (S&DR) at Shildon , and hence onwards via Stockton to Newport on the River Tees . After the S&;DR was extended into Bishop Auckland , the railway was able to access the limestone deposits within the upper River Wear valley. This brought employment to the valley through both mining, as well as production of both pig iron and cement , which
78-720: The Victoria . There are two churches, the Anglican Church of St Philip and St James, and the Primitive Methodist Chapel. The two churches share a congregation and use each building alternately for services. Witton's original Board School was erected in 1874, and replaced in 1968 with a new primary school in St James Gardens. [1] There are around 100 pupils attending from Witton-le-Wear and surrounding villages. The original school now provides
91-618: The fabric and rebuilt the interior in modern style. The estate was rich in coal and Witton Park Colliery was sunk in 1825. Sir William Chaytor served as High Sheriff of Durham in 1839. Members of the Chaytor family lived at Witton until the mid 20th century. Witton le Wear Witton-le-Wear is a village in County Durham , North East England . It is situated on the north bank of the River Wear , 6 km (3.7 mi) to
104-593: The north-west of Bishop Auckland . Witton-le-Wear is part of the North West Durham Parliamentary constituency, and is represented by Richard Holden ( Conservative ). The village is within Weardale Ward, which elects two councillors to Durham County Council . The current councillors are Anita Savory (Independent) and John Shuttleworth (Independent). Witton-le-Wear also has an eight-member Parish Council . The local police force
117-699: The present form. The farming hamlet of Witton-le-Wear was part of the Witton Castle estate, which was bought in 1816 by Sir William Chaytor for £78,000 from the Stobart family. He redeveloped the castle, and in 1819 developed the Jayne Pitt as part of the large Witton Park Colliery complex. This brought about the development of transport into the area, including the Etherley Incline Railway by George Stephenson , that connected to
130-455: The return of his confiscated estate which was sold by his descendant Henry Darcy to William Cuthbert in 1743. The castle then shortly passed to the Hopper family but was severely damaged in a fire which in 1796 destroyed most of the castle interior. In 1816 William Chaytor of Croft Hall , Yorkshire purchased the castle estate from the then owner, John Robert Hopper, for £78,000 and restored
143-462: The top were planted to celebrate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897. Further trees have been added to celebrate the Silver and Golden Jubilees of Queen Elizabeth II and other important occasions. British American Railway Services British American Railway Services (BARS) was a British locomotive and spot hire company. It was a subsidiary of Iowa Pacific Holdings . The company
SECTION 10
#1732801442759156-638: Was distributed by the railway to all parts of the United Kingdom. As the price of road haulage dropped, the railway fell into disuse and carried its last train in the early 1990s. Over recent years the Weardale Railway has been reinstated by the British American Railway Services (BARS) and is again used to transport locally mined opencast coal to Scunthorpe and Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station . The line
169-416: Was established in 2008 to acquire the rail assets of Ealing Community Transport . BARS subsidiaries included RMS Locotec , Hanson Traction , Weardale Railway and Dartmoor Railway . BARS also owned Devon & Cornwall Railways which was active from 2011 until 2017. In January 2020 BARS announced that it intended to dispose of all its UK assets. This United Kingdom rail transport related article
#758241