Rookhope is a village in
County Durham, in England. A former lead and
fluorspar mining community, it first existed as a group of cattle farms in the 13th Century. It is situated in the
Pennines to the north of
Weardale
Weardale is a dale, or valley, on the east side of the Pennines in County Durham, England. Large parts of Weardale fall within the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) – the second-largest AONB in England and Wales. Th ...
. W. H. Auden once called Rookhope "the most wonderfully desolate of all the dales".
In the
2001 census Rookhope had a population of 267.
The village had two
public houses
A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...
, the Rookhope Inn and the Swallow's Rest on the fell surrounding Rookhope but now closed (May 2022), both popular with cyclists on the
coast to coast cycling route which runs from
Sunderland on the east coast to
Whitehaven
Whitehaven is a town and port on the English north west coast and near to the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England. Historically in Cumberland, it lies by road south-west of Carlisle and to the north of Barrow-in-Furness. It i ...
or
Workington
Workington is a coastal town and civil parish at the mouth of the River Derwent on the west coast in the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, England. The town was historically in Cumberland. At the 2011 census it had a population of 25,207.
Locat ...
on the
West Cumbrian coast of northern England.
Travelling by road, Rookhope is to the west 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 N ...
, to the west of
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...
, to the north west of
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area.
Until the early 1800s, the a ...
and to the east of
Carlisle.
Mining
Rookhope was once the centre of lead and fluorspar mining in the Dale. The last mine closed in 1999. The shaft head at Grove Rake was recently saved from demolition.
Rookhope Arch
![Rookhope Chimney Flue - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fb/Rookhope_Chimney_Flue_-_geograph.org.uk_-_2531657.jpg)
A local landmark is the Rookhope Arch at Lintzgarth, a few hundred yards west up the valley; one of the few remaining parts of the Rookhope Chimney. This "horizontal" chimney (parallel to the ground, which actually rises steeply to the moors) was used to carry poisonous flue gases from the Rookhope lead smelting works up onto the high moor. Periodically, lead and silver carried over in the gases and deposited in the chimney were dug out and recovered, rather than going to waste.
St John the Evangelist church
The original St John's in Rookhope was built in 1822, but at the end of the 19th century it was pulled down and rebuilt in its current position in 1905. The church closed in 2014. It is a Grade II
listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
.
Governance
Rookhope is in the
parliamentary constituency
An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other poli ...
of
North West Durham
North West Durham is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 12 December 2019 by Richard Holden of the Conservative Party.
Constituency profile
The constituency is in the north west of County Durham ...
, for which
Richard Holden is the first Conservative Member of Parliament.
For Local Government purposes it is in the ''Weardale Ward'' of
Durham County Council. For
Parish council purposes it is part of Stanhope Parish Council.
Literary references
The Rookhope Ride
''The Rookhope Ride'' is a
border ballad
Border ballads are a group of songs in the long tradition of balladry collected from the Anglo-Scottish border. Like all traditional ballads, they were traditionally sung unaccompanied. There may be a repeating motif, but there is no "chorus" as ...
rescued and noted down by
Joseph Ritson
Joseph Ritson (2 October 1752 – 23 September 1803) was an English antiquary who was well known for his 1795 compilation of the Robin Hood legend. After a visit to France in 1791, he became a staunch supporter of the ideals of the French Rev ...
from the chanting of George Collingwood of Boltsburn near Rookhope about 1785. The date of the action (a raid) is precise: 6 December 1569, when robbers from
Tynedale
__NOTOC__
Tynedale is an area and former local government district in south-west Northumberland, England. The district had a resident population of 58,808 according to the 2001 Census. Its main towns were Hexham, Haltwhistle and Prudhoe. Th ...
made a foray into
Weardale
Weardale is a dale, or valley, on the east side of the Pennines in County Durham, England. Large parts of Weardale fall within the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) – the second-largest AONB in England and Wales. Th ...
.
W. H. Auden
The poet
W. H. Auden
Wystan Hugh Auden (; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry was noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in ...
was familiar with this whole area of the North Pennines and its derelict lead mines, having visited Rookhope at the age of 12 in 1919.
NorthEastLife: WH Auden Walk – Rookhope, Weardale
(with photo gallery) In his poem ''New Year Letter'' (1941) he wrote that it was in Rookhope that he first became aware of himself as an individual:
In this poem he refers to dropping a pebble down a mine-shaft on top of neighbouring Bolt's Law.
References
External links
In and Around the former lead mining village of Rookhope; ''and'' Rookhope fields & fells: A mineral valleys project walk
{{authority control
Villages in County Durham
Stanhope, County Durham