Photographs Of Newcastle: Riding Mill

Riding Mill is a village near Hexham in Northumberland, England. It is part of the civil parish of Broomhaugh and Riding. It is served by Riding Mill railway station and by a frequent bus service on the route from Hexham to Newcastle.

Riding Mill is notable as the location of Riding Mill pumping station. Up until here the water released from Kielder Water uses the River Tyne but at Riding Mill it is pumped to parts of Tyne and Wear and over the hills to Teesside.

Leaving the village towards Hexham, Hollin Hill Terrace is situated on the left. Very little information is available on these eight dwellings but they are an example of Victorian architecture. This terrace was not shown on maps of the area prior to 1850, but appear on a map dated between 1850/1894.

History

Mackenzie (1825) wrote — The Riding Mill is built upon a mountain brook called Dipton Burn – which it was often hazardous to pass, but in 1822 a good bridge was built across it. It is 80 feet (24 m) in length and 28 feet (8.5 m) in breadth. In recent times the road from the south coming into Riding Mill was a notorious traffic hazard because of the steep slope and the bends. A safety pit of small stones was constructed to halt vehicles that got out of control. The hill was also difficult to climb the other way, but a new road bypasses Riding Mill.

Landmarks

The corn mill existed in mediæval times and was granted to the monastery at Blanchland. It was a good source of profit because all the tenants had to bring their corn to be ground here and hand mills were forbidden by law. Since crossing the burn was difficult a pack horse bridge was constructed 1599-1600. In recent times the mill has been converted into a residence, but its appearance has been kept. The 18-foot (5.5 m) water wheel was of the overshot type and a dam 500 yards (460 m) above the mill retained the water for its use.

The large house opposite became the Wellington Hotel. It is a handsome structure and carries the date 1660 above the door. The letters are considered to be the initials of Thomas Errington and his wife Ann Carnaby. T.B. has come about by the Boultflour family living here; they were millers and probably altered the E into a B. The house gained some notoriety by its association with witchcraft. Anne Armstrong, the witch finder, lived at Birchesnook. In 1673 she accused Anne, wife of Thomas Baites of Morpeth, a tanner, of frequenting witches' meetings at Riding Bridge-end, where she danced with the devil. She also claimed to have seen Anne Forster of Stocksfield, Anne Dryden of Prudhoe and Lucy Thompson of Mickley, supping with theire proctector which they called their god in the Riding house. But the charges were dismissed at the Morpeth Quarter Sessions, the magistrates not being impressed with the evidence.

Other significant buildings include Oaklands Manor, Wentworth Grange, Underwood Hall, and former vicarage The Glebe.

Transport

Riding Mill is linked to Newcastle and the A1 by the A695 which passes through the village. The A68 road lies about 0.5 miles (0.80 km) to the east, linking it to Jedburgh and Darlington.

The village is served by Riding Mill railway station on the Tyne Valley line. The line was opened in 1838, and links Newcastle with Carlisle in Cumbria. The line follows the course of the River Tyne through Northumberland.

Passenger services on the Tyne Valley Line are operated by Northern. The line is also heavily used for freight.

Public services

The only remaining village pub is 'The Wellington' as the two others have closed (The Railway and The Broomhaugh).

Sporting Clubs

Riding Mill Cricket Club have been established in the village since 1880 and currently compete in the Northumberland and Tyneside and West Tyne Senior Cricket Leagues.

Riding Mill FC formed in 2017 and compete in the Hexham and District Sunday Football League.

Riding Mill Tennis club is based on Millfield Road and is affiliated with the Northumberland Lawn Tennis Association.

Text courtesy of Wikipedia.

23rd May 2010

The River Tyne at Riding Mill.

The Parish Church of St James.

St James' is the parish church in Riding Mill, Northumberland. It was designed by Matthew Thompson of Newcastle and built on land gifted by Joseph Wilson. It was originally a Chapel of Ease for the parish Church of St Andrew, Bywell, and was consecrated by the Rt. Revd. Langley, the Bishop of Durham, on the 22nd of April 1858. In 1975 St James' became the Parish Church of Riding Mill when St Andrew's Church in Bywell became redundant.

Grade 2 listed. Source: Co-Curate.

Riding Mill Railway Station.

The station opened in March 1835, following the commencement of passenger trains between Blaydon and Hexham. Riding Mill was reduced to an unstaffed halt in 1967, along with most of the other stations on the line that escaped the Beeching Axe. The original station buildings on the westbound platform remain as a private residence.

Source: Wikipedia.

The Wellington Hotel, Main Road.

Inn, formerly house, dated 1660 with initials T.B. on lintel. Altered late C18 and extended to east c.1812. Stone, mostly rendered, with raised quoins and dressings; slate roof. 3 storeys, 4 bays.

Earlier 3-bay part to left has right-of-centre panelled double doors in hollow-chamfered surround; dated lintel with arms of Errington impaling Carnaby, hollow-chamfered hoodmoulds. Flanking C20 casements in old openings with similar hoodmoulds. Upper floors have 12-pane sashes with raised lintels and sills. Right (east) bay has margined sash with blocked door to left; similar window above and paired 8-pane sashes to 2nd floor, all windows in raised and tooled surrounds. Coped gables, stepped and corniced left end and ridge stacks. 4-step mounting block to left of door. C20 single-storey extension to far right, not of interest.

2-storey outshut to rear, altered fenestration. Interior much altered. 2 C17 fireplaces on 1st floor; flat-pointed arches in square frames, wave-moulded surrounds. Built as The Riding House by Thomas Errington, postmaster of Newcastle under the Commonwealth (initials on door lintel recut by Thomas Browell, a later tenant). In 1673 the scene of alleged witches' gatherings.

Grade 2 Listed. Source: Historic England.

Footbridge over Riding Mill Burn.

Packhorse Bridge, probably C17 but incorporating earlier fabric. Roughly squared stone with tooled stone parapet. Single segmental arch, chamfered parapet of large blocks clamped together. The more widely splayed south abutment has a drain with a stone spout on the west. Known locally as the 'Roman Bridge', and sited on the line of Dere Street. The arch and north abutment may be C17 (1603 : OS record card) with parapet rebuilt in C18 or C19, but the south abutment incorporates at least 2 phases of medieval or earlier masonry.

Grade 2 Listed. Source: Historic England.