History

History of Hepscott Parish

Hepscott Parish is very old indeed: prehistoric, unlike its present inhabitants!  Aerial photographs of the Parish show cropmarks, and they, together with maps and archaeological finds, mark the centuries. There are possible pre-Iron Age round dwellings and square cornered linear, possibly Romano-British remains. There are later farm buildings with inbye strip fields, rigg and furrow and more outbye moorland grazing. 

From documents in 1219 we find a feudal 'Heppescote maner', lands held by the Barons of Morpeth. There is an enclosed medieval East-West street in the village with a defensive, albeit thin-walled tower, possibly 'gainst troublesome raiders’ in troubled times. All are shown in the 1603 Howard Map. It was gentrified in the more peaceful 17th century and additionally modified in the mid-20th century (Grade II Listed). The lane passes the old Blacksmith's Smithy (Grade II), on to Field House farm and the outside world, crossing Hepscott Burn by an old stone bridge. 

There was small scale farming and growing, with increasing industrial development a plenty during the 19th century. There were sand, gravel, and clay quarries and coal mines selling all three, along with water reservoirs and pipelines feeding our burgeoning new steam-powered railways, pumps and a sawmill. The water was piped on and away to coastal towns.

A thriving combined church and school lasted for a hundred years until closure in the 1960s. It now forms the footprint, window headings and car park of what has become the modern Parish Hall. 

In the 20th century, wars robbed parishes of young men's lives, on both sides, and as the Hepscott war memorial shows, it took its share.

Housing development in the Parish mark the major changes during the last hundred years. At first business people built villas in their own grounds, attracted by the rural setting with rail and road links to town and city. Later large areas of new housing and infill form the Parish as you see it today. 

In this Jubilee year Hepscott still remains attractively wooded despite Storm Arwen, with characterful settlements, attractive walks and a high quality of life.

Hepscott Heritage Group promotes talks and discussions on local history. We need you to offer written items, with perhaps pictorial short term and long term recollections, of ‘your corner’, in order for everyone to piece together an up to date story for present and future times.