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Ryton is a village in
Tyne and Wear Tyne and Wear () is a metropolitan county in North East England, situated around the mouths of the rivers Tyne and Wear. It was created in 1974, by the Local Government Act 1972, along with five metropolitan boroughs of Gateshead, Newcastl ...
, England. It is in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead, formerly governed under the
county of Durham The County Palatine of Durham and Sadberge, commonly referred to as County Durham or simply Durham, is a historic county in Northern England. Until 1889, it was controlled by powers granted under the Bishopric of Durham. The county and Northum ...
. In 2011, the population of the Ryton, Crookhill and Stella ward was 8,146. It is 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 ...
.


Location

Ryton lies midway between
Crawcrook Crawcrook is a semi-rural village close to the western border of the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear in England. Traditionally an independent village in County Durham, it was incorporated into the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead on 1 April ...
and Blaydon, both in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead. Nearby settlements include Stargate,
Clara Vale Clara Vale is a village situated on the south bank of the River Tyne in Tyne and Wear, England. Once an independent village in County Durham it became incorporated into the new metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear in 1974 as part of the Metropol ...
, Greenside, Stella and Hedgefield. Stargate is located on the outskirts of Ryton en route to Blaydon. It has a children's park, a fish shop, a quarry and allotments. In the neighbouring town of Crookhill there is a primary school and a general store, which can also be used as a post office. Ryton is located within Gateshead's
Green Belt A green belt is a policy and land-use zone designation used in land-use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighboring urban areas. Similar concepts are greenways or green wedges, which hav ...
which mainly contains areas west and southwest of
Gateshead Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Millennium Bridge, Sage ...
Town because the area of South Tyneside to the east is largely urbanised.


History

Traditionally, Ryton's economy was built upon agriculture and coal mining. Some think that coal mining was taking place in the area as early as
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 ...
times, however it was not until 1239 when Henry III granted that coal could be mined outside the walls that mining became extensive. There are records of coal being shipped from Winlaton to London as early as 1367. The agricultural industry in Ryton was mixed and included both
pastoral farming Pastoral farming (also known in some regions as ranching, livestock farming or grazing) is aimed at producing livestock, rather than growing crops. Examples include dairy farming, raising beef cattle, and raising sheep for wool. In contrast, ar ...
and
arable farming Arable land (from the la, wikt:arabilis#Latin, arabilis, "able to be ploughed") is any land capable of being ploughed and used to grow crops.''Oxford English Dictionary'', "arable, ''adj''. and ''n.''" Oxford University Press (Oxford), 2013. Al ...
. Ryton's position south of the
Scottish Borders The Scottish Borders ( sco, the Mairches, 'the Marches'; gd, Crìochan na h-Alba) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Dumfries and Galloway, East Lothian, Midlothian, South Lanarkshire, West Lothi ...
and
Hadrian's Wall Hadrian's Wall ( la, Vallum Aelium), also known as the Roman Wall, Picts' Wall, or ''Vallum Hadriani'' in Latin, is a former defensive fortification of the Roman province of Britannia, begun in AD 122 in the reign of the Emperor Hadrian. R ...
made it a target for Scottish attacks in the area, and it is said to have been burned by
William Wallace Sir William Wallace ( gd, Uilleam Uallas, ; Norman French: ; 23 August 1305) was a Scottish knight who became one of the main leaders during the First War of Scottish Independence. Along with Andrew Moray, Wallace defeated an English army a ...
in 1297. A further attack by
David II of Scotland David II (5 March 1324 – 22 February 1371) was King of Scots from 1329 until his death in 1371. Upon the death of his father, Robert the Bruce, David succeeded to the throne at the age of five, and was crowned at Scone in November 1331, becom ...
was recorded in 1346, during which the church was plundered. As well as its coal industry, Ryton formerly contained the lead-smelting
reverberatory furnace A reverberatory furnace is a metallurgical or process furnace that isolates the material being processed from contact with the fuel, but not from contact with combustion gases. The term ''reverberation'' is used here in a generic sense of ''re ...
s of the ''Ryton Company'', whose mines were on
Alston Moor Alston Moor, formerly known as Alston with Garrigill, is a civil parish and electoral ward in Cumbria, England, based around the small town of Alston. It is set in the moorlands of the North Pennines, mostly at an altitude of over 1000 feet. T ...
. By 1704, this business had been amalgamated into the
London Lead Company The London Lead Company was an 18th and 19th century British lead mining company. It was incorporated by royal charter. Strictly, it was The Company for Smelting Down Lead with Pitcoal. Origins The company was chartered in 1692 to investors who i ...
. In 1800 the Stargate Pit (Towneley Main Colliery) was opened and on 30 May 1826, a coal dust and methane (
firedamp Firedamp is any flammable gas found in coal mines, typically coalbed methane. It is particularly found in areas where the coal is bituminous. The gas accumulates in pockets in the coal and adjacent strata and when they are penetrated the releas ...
) explosion there killed 20 men and 18 boys. This became known as the "Stargate Pit Disaster". There is a memorial marker at Ryton's Holy Cross Church, and another memorial stone at the pit itself. The Stargate Pit was reopened in 1840 and not closed until 1961. Ryton soon became a place of migration for the wealthy, who wanted to escape the
urban sprawl Urban sprawl (also known as suburban sprawl or urban encroachment) is defined as "the spreading of urban developments (such as houses and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a city." Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted growt ...
of the
Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...
in
Gateshead Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Millennium Bridge, Sage ...
and
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 als ...
. A reminder of Ryton's affluent past is found in some of the large mansions at Old Ryton Village, a place rich in rural qualities because of its proximity to Ryton Willows on the banks of the
River Tyne The River Tyne is a river in North East England. Its length (excluding tributaries) is . It is formed by the North Tyne and the South Tyne, which converge at Warden Rock near Hexham in Northumberland at a place dubbed 'The Meeting of the Wate ...
. The most notable mansion in the village is The Grove, formerly known as Ryton Grove, a 12,000 sq ft brick building in the symmetrical Queen Anne style, believed to have been constructed for the Surtees family in 1742, and later substantially extended and remodelled in 1919. This was originally at the centre of a 350-acre estate that encompassed many houses within Ryton Village and much of Ryton Willows down to the banks of the river Tyne, including a large lake that was later divided in to two by a railway embankment. A large part of the estate became a nature reserve in 1964, with The Grove remaining in private ownership standing in 7 acres. After the decline of the coal industry during the second half of the twentieth century Ryton became increasingly suburbanised and is now a commuter village for people working in the more urban areas of
Tyneside Tyneside is a built-up area across the banks of the River Tyne in northern England. Residents of the area are commonly referred to as Geordies. The whole area is surrounded by the North East Green Belt. The population of Tyneside as publishe ...
.


Local politics

In local government, Ryton is located in the Ryton, Crookhill and Stella ward, which is in the outer west of the borough. The ward is served by three councillors, who represent
Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...
. Gateshead Council is Labour controlled. Ryton is located within 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 Blaydon. Its current MP is Labour's
Liz Twist Mary Elizabeth Twist (born 10 July 1956) is a British Labour Party politician. She has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Blaydon since the 2017 general election. Before her parliamentary career, she was the head of health in the Nort ...
.


Geography

The neighbouring village of Crawcrook is a nexus of coal mining nostalgia also. Remnants of several old pits across Ryton and Crawcrook, including Emma, Clara and Addison can still be found. Within a couple of hundred metres of both Crawcrook and Ryton main street there is rich countryside. Perhaps the most impressive section of this countryside is Ryton Willows Local Nature Reserve located on the banks of the Tyne, just past Old Ryton Village. It consists of 43 hectares of
grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur natur ...
, ponds, woodland and locally rare species of
flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''. E ...
and
fauna Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is '' funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as '' biota''. Zoo ...
. Because of this it has been designated as a
site of special scientific interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...
. Other areas of countryside include nearby Stargate pond and Addison and Hedgefield woods.
Alexander Graham Bell Alexander Graham Bell (, born Alexander Bell; March 3, 1847 – August 2, 1922) was a Scottish-born inventor, scientist and engineer who is credited with patenting the first practical telephone. He also co-founded the American Telephone and Te ...
made one of his pioneering telephone calls at Addison woods. Further up the Tyne Valley, past the village of Crawcrook and into the border of
Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land on ...
, there are rural market towns such as
Prudhoe Prudhoe ( ) is a town in south Northumberland, England, about west of the city of Newcastle upon Tyne and just south of the River Tyne. Situated on a steep, north-facing hill in the Tyne valley, Prudhoe had a population of 11,675 at the 201 ...
,
Corbridge Corbridge is a village in Northumberland, England, west of Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle and east of Hexham. Villages nearby include Halton, Northumberland, Halton, Acomb, Northumberland, Acomb, Aydon and Sandhoe. Etymology Corbridge was kno ...
and
Hexham Hexham ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Northumberland, England, on the south bank of the River Tyne, formed by the confluence of the North Tyne and the South Tyne at Warden, Northumberland, Warden nearby, and ...
.


Ryton today

A relatively affluent area of Gateshead, Ryton has become a suburb in recent years and is now used as a dormitory town by workers in the more urban areas of
Tyneside Tyneside is a built-up area across the banks of the River Tyne in northern England. Residents of the area are commonly referred to as Geordies. The whole area is surrounded by the North East Green Belt. The population of Tyneside as publishe ...
. Ryton is a vibrant area with a variety of local amenities. In the more central part of Ryton these include a
Cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-control ...
supermarket, a
Sainsbury's Local Sainsbury's Local (a trading name of Sainsbury's Supermarkets Ltd) is a chain of 770 convenience shops operated by the UK's second largest supermarket chain Sainsbury's. History In 1998, Sainsbury's piloted its first Local shop in Hammersmith. ...
store and a selection of independent businesses and shops such as The Lane Head micro-pub, Coffee Johnny's, a dentist and various hair and beauty salons. The former Ryton Hotel public house has closed and been converted into three shops, currently to let. There is a community library. North East Falconry is based in Ryton with over 45 birds of prey. Ryton has several restaurants and
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 ...
, two of which are located away from Ryton Main Street, in Ryton Old Village, the community-owned ''Ye Olde Cross'' and the ''Half Moon'' Inn and restaurant. The nearby village of Crawcrook offers more services, including a doctor's surgery, two
veterinary Veterinary medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, management, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, disorder, and injury in animals. Along with this, it deals with animal rearing, husbandry, breeding, research on nutri ...
surgeries, a chiropodist, another dentist, three pubs and a restaurant. Ryton has a Mens Shed open two days a week, where local men like to meet and learn and share their skills. Ryton has an extensive
Edwardian The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victori ...
park which includes children's playing equipment and a
bowling green A bowling green is a finely laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of turf for playing the game of bowls. Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding of Thrupp, near Stroud, UK, invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep ...
. Away from the town centre there are two
golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". Th ...
s, Tyneside golf club at Ryton and Ryton golf club in nearby Clara Vale. Both are situated in tranquil areas near the banks of the Tyne. Ryton is home to three schools, Ryton Infants School, Ryton Junior School and
Thorp Academy Thorp Academy is a large 11–18 secondary Academy in Ryton Tyne & Wear, England. The academy was established in the 19th century by Charles Thorp who went on to found Durham University. The site that Thorp Academy now stands on is the site of ...
, all of which occupy the same site in the town. Nearby Crawcrook offers two more primary schools. Crookhill Primary is nearby. Sport plays a role in the local community. Apart from the golf courses and the Edwardian park, Ryton has a
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
club, Ryton & Crawcrook Albion F.C., who play at Kingsley Park in Crawcrook, a
rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...
team, Ryton Rugby Football Club at nearby Barmoor, and a cricket club, situated opposite Charles Thorp. Ryton benefits from good public transport with regular bus services. A good example of this is the R3/R4 to
Winlaton Winlaton is a village situated in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead, Tyne and Wear. Once in County Durham, it became incorporated into the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear and Borough of Gateshead in 1974. In 2011 the village was absorbe ...
, Blaydon and
Rowlands Gill Rowlands Gill is a town situated along the A694, between Winlaton Mill and Hamsterley Mill, on the north bank of the River Derwent, in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, England. Within Gateshead's greenbelt, the town has a ...
via Stargate, and there are services to Crawcrook, Prudhoe and Hexham to the west and the MetroCentre, Gateshead and Newcastle to the east.


Other features of Ryton

Both
John Wesley John Wesley (; 2 March 1791) was an English people, English cleric, Christian theology, theologian, and Evangelism, evangelist who was a leader of a Christian revival, revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism. The soci ...
and
Charles Wesley Charles Wesley (18 December 1707 – 29 March 1788) was an English leader of the Methodist movement. Wesley was a prolific hymnwriter who wrote over 6,500 hymns during his lifetime. His works include " And Can It Be", " Christ the Lord Is Risen ...
preached at Ryton's
village green A village green is a commons, common open area within a village or other settlement. Historically, a village green was common pasture, grassland with a pond for watering cattle and other stock, often at the edge of a rural settlement, used for ...
, which has a rich history with religious and social significance. Like many greens in similar villages, it played host to an annual fair which included
jugglers Juggling is a physical skill, performed by a juggler, involving the manipulation of objects for recreation, entertainment, art or sport. The most recognizable form of juggling is toss juggling. Juggling can be the manipulation of one object ...
,
dancers Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoire ...
and local stalls. The old
pinfold An animal pound is a place where stray livestock were impounded. Animals were kept in a dedicated enclosure, until claimed by their owners, or sold to cover the costs of impounding. Etymology The terms "pinfold" and "pound" are Saxon in origi ...
dates back to the twelfth century. During the second half of the twentieth century the pinfold was restored. Charles Thorp set up a
savings bank A savings bank is a financial institution whose primary purpose is accepting savings account, savings deposits and paying interest on those deposits. History of banking, They originated in Europe during the 18th century with the aim of providi ...
in 1815 in a building within the old village known as the White House which still stands there today. It is thought to have been the first bank of its kind in England. The annual Ryton Music Festival, held over February and March, has been held in the village for more than 60 years. It offers a variety of music and drama including choral singing and
mime Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) is an Internet standard that extends the format of email messages to support text in character sets other than ASCII, as well as attachments of audio, video, images, and application programs. Message ...
. The Ryton Summer Festival, held at the local comprehensive school usually includes live music, sport and arts and crafts stalls. Each year on the Tuesday before Christmas Eve villagers gather on the village green to sing traditional carols accompanied by a local brass band. There are two air raid shelters in Ryton Willows, as well as other Second World War features such trenches and shower/toilet rooms with tiles, etc. still visible, next to a railway line that was apparently used to bring children up from London. A dirt road hidden under trees leading up to the bottom of the village may have been a checkpoint.


Notable residents

*
George Hepplewhite George Hepplewhite (1727? – 21 June 1786) was a cabinetmaker. He is regarded as having been one of the "big three" English furniture makers of the 18th century, along with Thomas Sheraton and Thomas Chippendale. There are no pieces of furnitu ...
, furniture designer *
Howard Kendall Howard Kendall (22 May 1946 – 17 October 2015) was an English footballer and manager. Kendall joined Preston North End as an apprentice and stayed with the club when he turned professional. He was a runner-up in the 1964 FA Cup with Preston, ...
, footballer * Mark Outterside, professional football player for Sunderland AFC who made over 39
English Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engl ...
appearances *
Charles Algernon Parsons Sir Charles Algernon Parsons, (13 June 1854 – 11 February 1931) was an Anglo-Irish engineer, best known for his invention of the compound steam turbine, and as the eponym of C. A. Parsons and Company. He worked as an engineer on d ...
, engineer and inventor of the
steam turbine A steam turbine is a machine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work on a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Charles Parsons in 1884. Fabrication of a modern steam turbin ...
iSee Gateshead
*
Stan Ramsay Stanley Hunter Ramsay (10 August 1904 – 19 July 1989) was a footballer and a member of the Norwich City Hall of Fame. Ryton-born Ramsay made 82 appearances for Norwich as a left-half and left-back between 1932 and 1934, scoring once Norwich E ...
, footballer *
Thomas Secker Thomas Secker (21 September 16933 August 1768) was the Archbishop of Canterbury in the Church of England. Early life and studies Secker was born in Sibthorpe, Nottinghamshire. In 1699, he went to Richard Brown's free school in Chesterfield ...
,
Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...
1758–68, one-time Rector of
Holy Cross Church, Ryton Holy Cross Church is a Church of England parish church in Ryton, Tyne and Wear. The church is a Grade I listed building. History The Holy Cross church is the oldest building in Ryton and dates back to 1220. The most striking feature of the churc ...
*
Charles Thorp Charles Thorp, (13 October 1783 – 10 October 1862) was an English churchman, rector of the parish of Ryton and, later, Archdeacon of Durham and the first warden of the University of Durham. Life He was born in Gateshead, County Durham, ...
, founder of Durham University * Robert Thorp, clergyman * Rachel and Becky Unthank, folk singers, grew up in Ryton *
Nicholas Wood Nicholas Wood FGS FRS (24 April 1795 – 19 December 1865) was an English colliery and steam locomotive engineer. He helped engineer and design many steps forward in both engineering and mining safety, and helped bring about the North of Englan ...
, civil and mining engineer


References


External links


Census 2001 Summary of the Ryton, Stella and Crookhill ward. Provided by Gateshead Council.

Ryton Methodist Church

An account of the local history of Ryton and its surrounding area.

Ryton Annual Christmas Carol event
{{authority control Towns in Tyne and Wear Unparished areas in Tyne and Wear Gateshead