Wark, Northumberland

Historical Description

Wark, a village and a parish in Northumberland. The village stands on the North Tyne river, 4½ miles SSE of Belllngham, and has a post, money order, and telegraph office (R.S.O.), and a station on a section of the North British railway. The parish comprises the three former townships of High and Low Shitlington and Warksburn. Acreage, 23,413 of land and 122 of water; population, 731. There is a parish council consisting of seven members. The Duke of Northumberland is lord of the manor. A seat of the Ratcliffes was at Mote Hill. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Newcastle-on-Tyne; net value, £231 with residence. Patron; Greenwich Hospital. The church was built in 1818 by the governors of Greenwich Hospital, and was reseated, redecorated, and the chancel rebuilt in 1883-84, when a reredos was erected. It is in the Gothic style, and consists of chancel, nave, and an embattled western tower. There are English Presbyterian and Wesleyan chapels, two banks, a mechanics' institute, containing reading-room, library, and lecture hall, presented in 1875 by Mr Hugh Taylor of Chipchase Castle, and a school, founded in 1679, with an endowment of £150 per annum. A bridge over the North Tyne, connecting this parish with Chollerton, was widened, and iron substituted for the old wooden upper portions in 1878.

Administration

The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.

Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.

Directories & Gazetteers

We have transcribed the entry for Wark from the following:

• Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Wark)

Land and Property

The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Northumberland is available to browse.

Maps

Online maps of Wark are available from a number of sites:

• Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
• Google Streetview.
• National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
• OpenStreetMap.
• old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
• Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
• A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)

Newspapers and Periodicals

The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following newspapers related to Northumberland online:

• Morpeth Herald
• Berwickshire News and General Advertiser
• The Berwick Advertiser
• Alnwick Mercury
• Illustrated Berwick Journal