Wooler in 1839
Wooler is in the east division of Glendale ward, 320 miles from London. The area of the parish is 4,620 acres, and it had in 1831 a population of 1,926. The town consists of a number of streets and lanes, with the market-place in the centre. The country round is well cultivated, but the town is ill paved and the houses are mean. The church is a neat building, erected about the middle of the least century : there are several dissenting places of worship. The market is on Thursday, chiefly for corn ; there are two yearly fairs in the town ; the latter, which is held in October, is a great sheep-fair. There are also a large sheep and cattle fair in September at Fenton in the parish ; and a large cattle and sheep fair at Westwood bank, near the town, on Whit-Tuesday. The living is a vicarage, of the clear yearly value of £478, with a glebe-house. There were in 1833, a grammar-school, partly supported by contributions, with 56 children ; a school of industry, supported by subscription, with 32 girls ; ten other day-schools, with 259 children ; and five Sunday-schools, with 324 children.
There are several entrenchments and cairns near Wooler, and the thick walls of an ancient tower, probably of Norman origin, and erected for the purposes of border warfare. On a hill called Humbleton Hugh, about a mile from the town, is a circular entrenchment, with a large cairn ; and on the side of the hill are a number of terraces rising one above another, the origin and purpose of which have excited much conjecture. In the plain beneath this hill is a stone pillar, commemorative of the battle of Humbleton, fought A.D. 1402.
|