The Sheriff's March was an annual procession at

Gateshead Fell Gateshead Fell was a district in County Durham, England. It was located on the immediate border of the town of Gateshead, 2.3 miles from the city of Newcastle upon Tyne. Once described as a ''"dark, spongy moor"'', Gateshead Fell existed in some f ...

, County Durham. Medieval Britain operated under a strict

feudal Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a wa ...

system. Society was rigidly structured in a pyramidal form with the King (or Queen) at the apex as the highest authority in the land, ordinary citizens at the bottom with a variety of Lords, Bishops, Judges and other noblemen and landowners ranking variously in between. Allegiance and subservience to the Crown was required by all men and women at all times and on most occasions was demonstrated by the swearing of oaths. One such occasion occurred twice a year, when the

Sheriff of Northumberland This is a list of the High Sheriffs of the English county of Northumberland. The High Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the High Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries ...

met with the Crown Judges who came to

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 ...

and sat on the

Assizes The courts of assize, or assizes (), were periodic courts held around England and Wales until 1972, when together with the quarter sessions they were abolished by the Courts Act 1971 and replaced by a single permanent Crown Court. The assizes e ...

to hear any legal matters which required their attention. To further emphasise the importance and solemnity of these visitations, a procession was to be held prior to the official meeting of the parties. At an inquisition at

Tynemouth Tynemouth () is a coastal town in the metropolitan borough of North Tyneside, North East England. It is located on the north side of the mouth of the River Tyne, hence its name. It is 8 mi (13 km) east-northeast of Newcastle upon T ...

in 1278, it was duly declared that the King of Scotland, the

Archbishop of York The archbishop of York is a senior bishop in the Church of England, second only to the archbishop of Canterbury. The archbishop is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and the metropolitan bishop of the province of York, which covers th ...

, the Prior of Tynemouth, the

Bishop of Durham The Bishop of Durham is the Anglican bishop responsible for the Diocese of Durham in the Province of York. The diocese is one of the oldest in England and its bishop is a member of the House of Lords. Paul Butler has been the Bishop of Durham ...

and Gilbert de Umfraville, Earl of Angus should arrange to meet with the justices prior to their entry into Newcastle, provided that they came through the county of Yorkshire first. Ye Olde Cannon 1850

On the appointed day, usually a Saturday, the procession of these learned men would take place, starting in Newcastle upon Tyne before crossing 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 ...

and passing into

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 ...

. After a short refreshment break,- at Sheriff Mount, the procession then made its way slowly up the old (and remarkably steep) turnpike road until all concerned parties came to the designated meeting place. This was initially established at ''Chile Well'', but latterly the procession came to "light and go into the house". The house in question was ''Ye Olde Cannon'', located on the turnpike road at the crest of Gateshead Fell. This place was chosen because of the convenience of both the gentry 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 ...

and for the judges journeying from Durham and it was there that wine and punch were again served to the members of the precession at the expense of the Sheriffs who would wait there until the judges made their arrival. Once they had done so, all would return to Newcastle upon Tyne. It is not known for certain whether or not Chile Well was situated on the old turnpike road, but it is certainly possible that the two meeting points were one and the same place. A well was for many years situated across the road from the Cannon and this certainly lends credence to the possibility that the sites were, in fact, the same. Intriguingly, the well was inscribed:

''"As cold waters to a thirsty soul
So is good news from a far country."''

This procession took place for over five hundred years, even continuing after the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...

in the seventeenth century had effectively destroyed the feudal system as the principal means of rule in Britain. Indeed, the procession was held until 1825 when, upon the completion of the far less steep turnpike road through

Low Fell Low Fell is a suburb of Gateshead situated in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead in Tyne and Wear, England. Built predominantly on sandstone, grindstone and clay, it is bordered by Sheriff Hill/Deckham to the east, Saltwell/Bensham to the w ...

, the procession was rerouted and the meeting place became The New Cannon situated at the junction between the turnpike road and the Low Fell Road (now Beaconsfield Road and Belle Vue Bank). In 1832, miners at the

Sheriff Hill Colliery Sheriff Hill Colliery or Ellison Main Colliery was a coal mine at Gateshead Fell in County Durham, England. The colliery had two shafts and provided employment to the residents of Sheriff Hill, after it opened in 1793. There were many major ...

went on strike in protest of pay and the dangerous conditions at the colliery. When the Sheriff's March reached the area of Gateshead Fell, they were confronted by angry workers carrying a banner depicting a rat taking cheese from the working men Shortly after, a Commons bill in 1838 abolished such processions and so the tradition was halted and the travelling dignitaries had to be accommodated at the expense of their hosts. An attempt to revive the procession in 1845 by the High Sheriff, Ralph Carr Elison, was largely abortive and no further attempt was made. It is as a direct result of the "Sheriff's March" that the area around Ye Olde Cannon and the old turnpike road became known as

Sheriff Hill Sheriff Hill is a suburb in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead in Tyne and Wear, England. It lies on the B1296 road south of Gateshead, south of Newcastle upon Tyne and north of the historic city of Durham. According to the 2001 UK census ...

.Hair, 1844 at FN1. Available online at http://www.dmm-gallery.org.uk/books/votc-22.htm (retrieved 16 March 2011)

References

Bibliography

* * * * {{refend

External links

* Hair, ''View of the Collieries, 1844. Available through the Durham Mining Museu

* McKensize, ''A Descriptive and Historical Account of the Town and County of Newcastle upon Tyne including the Borough of Gateshead'', 1827. Available through google book

History of County Durham