Old Bewick Village

Walking around the beautiful Holy Trinity Church at Old Bewick we came across a short pamphlet talking about the history of the area.

The Church itself dates from at least 1695 but in all reality is probably much older.

The village itself is described as follows

"Quiet and isolated with a few cottages nestling under the surrounding hill it scarcely is large enough to be called a hamlet.Yet back in the medieval ages it was a thriving market town. In 1253 Henry III granted a charter to hold a weekly market. There was also a Pele tower, described by Sir Robert Bowes, in 1550, as in need of some repair. Only the foundations remain.

Appropriately it goes on to speculate that the name comes from

Beau ( norman french for beautiful) and wick ( saxon for a village)

If true then there is a certain irony that the Norman invaders could have joined with the Saxons to leave us a name which is truly beautiful.

Nearby is the market town of Wooler.