Westgate is a village in the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

of Stanhope, in

County Durham County Durham, officially simply Durham, is a ceremonial county in North East England.UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne an ...

, England. It is situated in

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. The u ...

between St John's Chapel and

Eastgate Eastgate may refer to: Places Canada * Eastgate, Alberta, Canada * Eastgate, British Columbia, Canada United Kingdom * Eastgate, Bourne, Lincolnshire * Eastgate, Chester, a gate through the Roman walls, with a clock above * Eastgate, County Du ...

. In the 2001 census Westgate had a population of 298. Westgate is also the entrance to Slitt wood and an old abandoned lead mine. Other features of the village include a caravan site and a football and basketball court. Westgate Castle was a

peel tower Peel towers (also spelt pele) are small fortified keeps or tower houses, built along the England, English and Scotland, Scottish Border country, borders in the Scottish Marches and North of England, mainly between the mid-14th century and ab ...

-cum-hunting lodge, probably built in the 14th century, and forming the western gatehouse (hence the name) of Stanhope Deer Park owned by the

Bishop of Durham The bishop of Durham is head of 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 (bishop), Paul Butler was the most recent bishop of Durham u ...

. In 1442 the building was granted to Lord Lumley and used for forest courts and administration, but later served as a residence. By 1647 the 'castle' had become ruinous and was 'now demolished' although the 'crumbling walls of an old castle at Westgate' are mentioned in 1791. There is a Primitive Methodist chapel built 1871 and incorporating an earlier chapel built in 1824. The Anglican parish church of St Andrew was built in 1864 by Robert Jewell Withers (1824–1894).

Weardale Railway

The village was once served by a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

on the

Weardale Railway The Weardale Railway is an independently owned British Single track (rail), single-track branch line heritage railway between and Stanhope. The railway began services in July 2004. The line was purchased by the Auckland Project in 2020 with a ...

that ran up the valley to Wearhead. The line has been preserved and runs between

Bishop Auckland Bishop Auckland ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish at the confluence of the River Wear and the River Gaunless in County Durham, England. It is northwest of Darlington and southwest of Durham, England, Durham. M ...

and nearby Eastgate-In-Weardale; the former Westgate station is closed and under different use.

References

External links

{{authority control Villages in County Durham Stanhope, County Durham