Gainford or Gainford on Tees is a village on the north bank of the
River Tees
The River Tees (), in Northern England, rises on the eastern slope of Cross Fell in the North Pennines and flows eastwards for to reach the North Sea between Hartlepool and Redcar near Middlesbrough. The modern day history of the river has bee ...
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 â€About North East E ...
, England. It is half-way between
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 ...
and
Darlington
Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town.
In the 19th century, Darlington underw ...
Anglo-Saxon
The Anglo-Saxons were a cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo-Saxons happened wit ...
times, Gainford was the centre of an estate, part of the Northumbrian Congregation of
Cuthbert of Lindisfarne
Cuthbert of Lindisfarne ( – 20 March 687) was an Anglo-Saxon saint of the early Northumbrian church in the Celtic tradition. He was a monk, bishop and hermit, associated with the monasteries of Melrose and Lindisfarne in the Kingdom of Nor ...
. Later, this area was occupied by
Viking
Vikings ; non, vĂkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden),
who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...
s. Archaeologists have found Viking sculptures at Gainford and several examples of these have been put on display in the ''Open Treasure'' exhibition at
Durham Cathedral
The Cathedral Church of Christ, Blessed Mary the Virgin and St Cuthbert of Durham, commonly known as Durham Cathedral and home of the Shrine of St Cuthbert, is a cathedral in the city of Durham, County Durham, England. It is the seat of t ...
. Many sculptures found at Gainford show both Northumbrian and Viking influence. Despite the Viking settlement, Northumbrian Angles remained major landowners along the banks of the Tees in Viking times.
In the nineteenth century Gainford village had its own spa. Today its main features are an unspoilt village green, a Jacobean hall and a Georgian street called High Row. The village church of St Mary's, Gainford, stands on the site of an Anglo-Saxon monastery built by Bishop
Ecgred of Lindisfarne
Ecgred of Lindisfarne (or Egfrid) was Bishop of Lindisfarne
Lindisfarne, also called Holy Island, is a tidal island off the northeast coast of England, which constitutes the civil parish of Holy Island in Northumberland. Holy Island has a ...
in the early 9th century.
In 1904 the family of a deceased Joseph Edleston owned a plot of land next to the
churchyard
In Christian countries a churchyard is a patch of land adjoining or surrounding a church, which is usually owned by the relevant church or local parish itself. In the Scots language and in both Scottish English and Ulster-Scots, this can also ...
of St. Mary's in Gainford.Lloyd, Chris (January 5, 2005). "Echo Memories - Of feuds and fiefdoms in little Gainford", ''The Northern Echo'', Darlington. p. 8. The children asked to erect a monument in the
churchyard
In Christian countries a churchyard is a patch of land adjoining or surrounding a church, which is usually owned by the relevant church or local parish itself. In the Scots language and in both Scottish English and Ulster-Scots, this can also ...
in memory of Joseph's 41-year tenure at the church. The church refused permission, asserting that the churchyard was full, but that the family could donate their land to the church and then build a monument on part of it. Feeling slighted, the family immediately set about building themselves a house on their land with a 40-foot column erected next to the churchyard so it towered over the trees and pointed a huge V-sign in stone towards the church authorities. The Edleston Spite House is still standing and occupied and has MCMIV (1904) over the front door. While the 40-foot column is still standing, the 'V' sign is now gone.
House styles
The houses around the green are mostly Georgian with some rubble-built houses on the north and south sides of the green. When they were built, the rubble-built houses would have been rendered, but the present fashion is to reveal the stonework with the rendering removed. Roofs are mostly red pantiles, and tend to be finished with a line of split-stone along the eaves. Some of the larger buildings have blue slate roofs, the slate probably brought by the railway. The older cottages in the village have steep pitched roofs in a style that suggests earlier heather thatching.
Village cross
Torwards the western end of the village green, there is a stone cross on a square base. The base is thought to be medieval in origin, but the cross itself is Victorian. It is dated 1897 and commemorates Queen Victoria's
Diamond Jubilee
A diamond jubilee celebrates the 60th anniversary of a significant event related to a person (e.g. accession to the throne or wedding, among others) or the 60th anniversary of an institution's founding. The term is also used for 75th anniver ...
. The Cross was made by Isaac Charge and Son, of Gainford. The cross has a slightly battered shaft and Saxon-type head. There is an inscription on the west face of the shaft which states: ''In thankful commemoration of the sixtieth anniversary of the accession of Queen Victoria on June 20th 1897. This cross was re-erected and trees planted on the green by the inhabitants of Gainford''.British Listed Buildings website - citing: English Heritage - Gainford, Village Cross /ref>