Ryton is a village in
Tyne and Wear
Tyne and Wear () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England. It borders Northumberland to the north and County Durham to the south, and the largest settlement is the city of Newcastle upon Tyne.
The county is ...
, England. It is in the
Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead
The Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead is a metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear, England. It includes Gateshead, Rowlands Gill, Whickham, Blaydon, Ryton, Tyne and Wear, Ryton, Felling (UK), Felling, Birtley, Tyne and ...
,
historically part of
County Durham. In 2011, the population of the Ryton, Crookhill and Stella ward was 8,146. It is west of
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...
.
Location
Ryton lies midway between
Crawcrook and
Blaydon, both in the
Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead
The Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead is a metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear, England. It includes Gateshead, Rowlands Gill, Whickham, Blaydon, Ryton, Tyne and Wear, Ryton, Felling (UK), Felling, Birtley, Tyne and ...
. Nearby settlements include Stargate,
Clara Vale,
Greenside,
Stella and Hedgefield. Stargate is on the outskirts of Ryton, towards 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 which mainly contains areas west and southwest of
Gateshead 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 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 and
arable farming.
Ryton's position south of the
Scottish Borders
The Scottish Borders is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It is bordered by West Lothian, Edinburgh, Midlothian, and East Lothian to the north, the North Sea to the east, Dumfries and Galloway to the south-west, South Lanarkshire to the we ...
and
Hadrian's Wall
Hadrian's Wall (, also known as the ''Roman Wall'', Picts' Wall, or ''Vallum Aelium'' in Latin) is a former defensive fortification of the Roman province of Roman Britain, Britannia, begun in AD 122 in the reign of the Emperor Hadrian. Ru ...
made it a target for Scottish attacks in the area, and it is said to have been burned by
William Wallace in 1297. A further attack by
David II of Scotland was recorded in 1346, during which the church was plundered.
As well as its coal industry, Ryton formerly contained the
lead-smelting reverberatory furnaces of the ''Ryton Company'', whose mines were on
Alston Moor. By 1704, this business had been amalgamated into the
London Lead Company.
In 1800 the Stargate Pit (Towneley Main Colliery) was opened and on 30 May 1826, a coal dust and methane (
firedamp) 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 ...
of the
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...
in
Gateshead and
Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...
. 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, Northumberland, Warden near Hexham in Northumberland at a place dubbed 'The ...
. 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 effectively a suburb of Gateshead.
Local politics
In local government, Ryton is 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. Gateshead Council is Labour controlled.
Ryton is located within the
parliamentary constituency of
Blaydon and Consett. Its current MP is Labour's
Liz Twist.
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 dominance (ecology), dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes such as clover, and other Herbaceo ...
, ponds, woodland and locally rare species of
flora
Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...
and
fauna
Fauna (: faunae or faunas) is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding terms for plants and fungi are ''flora'' and '' funga'', respectively. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively ...
. 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 ...
.
Other areas of countryside include nearby Stargate pond and
Addison and Hedgefield Woods.
Alexander Graham Bell 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, there are rural market towns such as
Prudhoe,
Corbridge and
Hexham.
Ryton today
Ryton is a largely residential 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, coöperative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomy, autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned a ...
supermarket and a small selection of independent businesses and shops, a dentist and various hair and beauty salons. Ryton has several restaurants and
public houses, one of which is located in Ryton Old Village, the community-owned ''Ye Olde Cross''.
Ryton has a large
Edwardian park, Ferndene Park, which includes children's playing equipment, Tennis Court and a
bowling green.
Ryton is home to three schools, Ryton Infants School, Ryton Junior School and
Thorp Academy, all of which occupy the same site in the village. Nearby Crawcrook offers two more primary schools. Crookhill Primary is nearby.
Sport plays a role in the local community. Apart from the two local golf courses and Ferndene park's facilities, Ryton has a
football club,
Ryton & Crawcrook Albion F.C., who play at Kingsley Park in Crawcrook, a
rugby union
Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...
team, Ryton Rugby Football Club at nearby Barmoor, and a cricket club, situated opposite Thorp Academy.
Ryton's public transport is limited to bus services. The R3/R4 links locally to
Winlaton, Blaydon and
Rowlands Gill via Stargate, while the 10, 10A and 10B service route runs to Crawcrook, Greenside, Prudhoe and Hexham to the west and the
MetroCentre and Newcastle to the east. Despite being in the Metropolitan borough of Gateshead, no direct services run there.
Other features of Ryton
Both
John Wesley
John Wesley ( ; 2 March 1791) was an English cleric, Christian theology, theologian, and Evangelism, evangelist who was a principal leader of a Christian revival, revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism. The societies ...
and
Charles Wesley preached at Ryton's
village green, 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 object manipulation, manipulation of objects for recreation, entertainment, art or sport. The most recognizable form of juggling is toss juggling. Juggling can be the manipula ...
,
dancers and local stalls.
The old
pinfold 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 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 79 years. It offers a variety of music and drama including choral singing and
mime
A mime artist, or simply mime (from Greek language, Greek , , "imitator, actor"), is a person who uses ''mime'' (also called ''pantomime'' outside of Britain), the acting out of a story through body motions without the use of speech, as a the ...
.
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, furniture designer
*
Howard Kendall, 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 association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...
appearances
*
Charles Algernon Parsons, engineer and inventor of the
steam turbineiSee Gateshead
* Stan Ramsay, footballer
* Thomas Secker, Archbishop of Canterbury
The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the Primus inter pares, ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop ...
1758–68, one-time Rector of Holy Cross Church, Ryton
* Charles Thorp, founder of Durham University
* Robert Thorp, clergyman
* Liz Twist (born 1956), Labour MP Blaydon
* Rachel and Becky Unthank, folk singers, grew up in Ryton
* Sir Angus Watson (1874–1961), businessman, grocer, and philanthropist
* Nicholas Wood, civil and mining engineer
References
External links
Census 2001 Summary of the Ryton, Stella and Crookhill ward. Provided by Gateshead Council.
History of the Parish of Ryton
William Bourn, 1896
Ryton Methodist Church
Ryton Annual Christmas Carol event
{{authority control
Unparished areas in Tyne and Wear
Former civil parishes in Tyne and Wear
Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead