Bowes is a village in

County Durham County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly �About North East E ...

, England. Located in the Pennine hills, it is situated close to

Barnard Castle Barnard Castle (, ) is a market town on the north bank of the River Tees, in County Durham, Northern England. The town is named after and built around a medieval castle ruin. The town's Bowes Museum's has an 18th-century Silver Swan automato ...

. It is built around the medieval

Bowes Castle Bowes Castle is a medieval castle in the village of Bowes in County Durham, England. Built within the perimeter of the former Roman fort of Lavatrae, on the Roman road that is now the A66, the early timber castle on the site was replaced ...

Geography and administration

Civic history

Bowes lies within the historic county boundaries of the

North Riding of Yorkshire The North Riding of Yorkshire is a subdivision of Yorkshire, England, alongside York, the East Riding and West Riding. The riding's highest point is at Mickle Fell with 2,585 ft (788 metres). From the Restoration it was used as ...

, but along with the rest of the former

Startforth Rural District Startforth Rural District was a rural district in the North Riding of the historic county of Yorkshire in the Pennines of northern England. It was formed in 1894 under the Local Government Act 1894. It constituted the part of the Teesdale Rur ...

it was incorporated into the non-metropolitan county of

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county *Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in No ...

for administrative purposes on 1 April 1974, under the provisions of the

Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant Acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...

. The A66 and A67 roads meet at Bowes.

History

The

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

name for Bowes was

Lavatrae Lavatrae , also known as Lavatris, was a Roman fort in the modern-day village of Bowes, County Durham, England. Roman period The Romans built a fort with wooden ramparts at Lavatrae in the early AD 70s, after an invasion of the region by Gover ...

. A Roman fort was located there, which was re-used as the site for Bowes Castle. The place-name 'Bowes' is first attested in a

charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the rec ...

of 1148, where it appears as ''Bogas''. This is the plural of the

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

''boga'' meaning 'bow', probably signifying an arched bridge. The village church is dedicated to

St Giles Saint Giles (, la, Aegidius, french: Gilles), also known as Giles the Hermit, was a hermit or monk active in the lower Rhône most likely in the 6th century. Revered as a saint, his cult became widely diffused but his hagiography is mostly lege ...

. The only pub in the village, the formerly named George Inn owned by the Railton family and now named ''The Ancient Unicorn'', is reputed to be haunted by several ghosts. This 17th-century coaching inn famously played host to

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

as he toured the local area. Dickens found inspiration in the village academy, which he immortalised as Dotheboys Hall in ''

Nicholas Nickleby ''Nicholas Nickleby'' or ''The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby'' (or also ''The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, Containing a Faithful Account of the Fortunes, Misfortunes, Uprisings, Downfallings, and Complete Career of the ...

'', and the graves of two of the people who inspired characters portrayed by the great author can be seen in Bowes churchyard to this day. William Shaw (1782-1850) was the headmaster of The Bowes Academy, and is said to have been the model for Wackford Squeers in ''Nicholas Nickleby'' – they share the same initials. And George Ashton Taylor, who died in 1822 aged 19, apparently inspired Dickens to create the character of Smike in the same novel. From 1861 to 1962, the village was served by

Bowes railway station Bowes railway station was situated on the South Durham & Lancashire Union Railway between Barnard Castle and Kirkby Stephen East. History The line was opened on 26 March 1861 when a mineral train was run, the line opened to passengers on 8 Au ...

. Just to the north of the village at Stoney Keld, is the site of the former

RAF Bowes Moor RAF Bowes Moor was a chemical warfare agent (CWA) storage site run by the Royal Air Force during and after the Second World War. The site was to the north of the village of Bowes in what is now County Durham, England. The Bowes Moor geographical ...

, a chemical warfare agent storage site between 1941 and 1947. The Bowes Loop of the

Pennine Way The Pennine Way is a National Trail in England, with a small section in Scotland. The trail stretches for from Edale, in the northern Derbyshire Peak District, north through the Yorkshire Dales and Northumberland National Park and ends at Kir ...

goes through the site. The village is also home to possibly the smallest former working men's club in the country. Now known as Bowes Social Club, it is run by volunteers and is often used as a venue to raise money for local events.

Education

Bowes has a single primary school at the centre of the village, Bowes Hutchinson's C of E (Aided) Primary School.

Notable people

Thomas Kipling Thomas Kipling (1745 or 1746 – 28 January 1822) was a British churchman and academic. He entered St John's College, Cambridge University in 1764 at age 18 and was senior wrangler in 1768. He received an M.A. in 1771, a B.D. in 1779, and ...

(bap. 1745, d. 1822), dean of Peterborough, was born in Bowes. John Bailey (1750–1819), mathematician and land surveyor was born in Bowes.

Richard Cobden Richard Cobden (3 June 1804 – 2 April 1865) was an English Radical and Liberal politician, manufacturer, and a campaigner for free trade and peace. He was associated with the Anti-Corn Law League and the Cobden–Chevalier Treaty. As a young ...

(1804–65), manufacturer and politician, was schooled in Bowes.Miles Taylor, ‘Cobden, Richard (1804–1865)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 200
accessed 2 May 2011
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References

External links

Bowes village website
* {{authority control Villages in County Durham Civil parishes in County Durham