Armstrong Cottages
In 1896 following the
demolition of the original Alms House to make way for the United
Reform Church in the centre of the village Lord Armstrong
erected a block of twelve cottages at the east end of Rothbury, on the main
road and adjacent to the old work
house.
Originally known as Alms Houses these were established as homes for aged estate workers. There is an inscription on the wall which reads:
"Erected
by
William George Baron Armstrong of Cragside
in Memory of Ann Armstrong His Much Loved Mother 1896"
Up to about 1900 the old work house stood on the north side of the main road into town and just opposite Riverside.
However in
1901 the Rothbury Board of Guardians purchased a new site on Silverton Lane (to
the south of
the town) and by the following year a new workhouse and school was erected.
This new workhouse could accommodate up to 50 inmates. and was much larger than
the original with wash house, laundry, kitchen, shed and mortuary. Master
& Matron's accommodation was central with men's day room and dormitories to the
east and women's to the west. By 1920 this workhouse was known as "Rothbury Poor
Law Institution".
Crossing the river at Scottish Ford at the stepping stones will take you to the old Auction Mart above which lay the Railway Station. No trace of the station exists today and it is now a thriving industrial estate. It is interesting to note that the stepping stones were part of the old wartime defences along the riverside. Waste not want not!
The old
sheep pens at the side of the Coquet Vale Hotel (formerly the Station
Hotel) were finally removed in 2001.
Some twenty houses are scheduled to be built on this site:
another l
ink
with the past demolished!
The Station Hotel was one of the first in the area to install the telephone. Its number was "Rothbury 5" which over the years gradually increased in length to 01669 620305. Over the years it has passed though many hands but since the demise of the railway it appears to have struggled. Even an attempt to convert to flats seems to have fallen by the wayside. It is still hoped that one day it may regain its former glory.
Pass the old girls school (also known locally as the Masonic Lodge) and now converted into holiday homes towards the Bridge and back to your starting point.
To the south of
the car park lie the Half Acres: a range of small fields. Villagers who had served in the ranks of the Percy Tenantry Volunteers,
during the Napoleonic Wars, were granted half acre strips by the Duke of
Northumberland in 1819 as a reward for their service. These half acre strips can
still be seen although, with hedgerows being grubbed out over the years, some have turned into full acres.
Incidentally an Acre is taken to be 4,840 square yards, or about 50 yards by 100
yards and it should be noted that Irish
& Scottish acres have a different measure of 7,840 and 6,150.4 square yards
respectively.
Even older traces of community cultivation have been found on the opposite side
of the river, comprising long strips of narrow fields, allotted annually to the
villagers. These fields were allocated in such a way that each man's holdings
comprised several non contiguous strips, and each person was obliged to
cultivate his strip of land in accordance with the crop rotation observed by his
neighbours.
This method of cultivation was popular in England as it forced crop rotation,
and ensured that each farmer cultivated a selection of crops rather than
concentrate on the most profitable at any given time. Does this sound familiar?
The strips were originally divided by unploughed ridges or balks, but over the
years these were levelled and the strips
started to form the complete field as they became the freehold of the
villagers. Dippie Dixon tells us that the last remaining strip exchanged
hands for a pair of leather breeches.
If you
have enjoyed this walk around the village, tell your friends.
If not tell me.
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