In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Wooler like this:
WOOLER, a small town, a parish, and a sub-district, in Glendale district, Northumberland. The town stands on a branch of the river Till, under the Cheviots, 9½ miles SW by W of Belford r. station; was anciently called Willover; was given, by Henry I., to R. de Muscamp; passed to the Scropes, the D'Arcys, the Percys, the Greys, and the Earl of Tankerville; was much injured by fire in 1722 and in 1863; is a seat of petty-sessions and county courts, and a polling place; presents an appearance partly poor, and partly much improved: and has a post-office‡ under Alnwick, a banking office, a good inn, a mechanics' institute, with library and reading-rooms, a church rebuilt in 1765 and enlarged in 1835, four dissenting chapels, a Roman Catholic chapel, a public school, a dispensary, the Glendale workhouse, a weekly market on Thursday, and fairs on 4 May and 17 Oct.—The parish includes Fenton township and several hamlets, and comprises 4,852 acres-Real property, £8,002. ...
Pop. in 1851, 1,911; in 1861, 1,697. Houses, 322. Traces of an old castle of the Muscamps are on a round hill. Many ancient entrenchments are in the vicinity. Humbledon Heugh, connected with the battle of Humbledon, and about a mile NW of the town, is the most remarkable of the entrenchments; and a pillar, commemorative of Earl Percy's victory, is in the plain beneath. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Durham. Value, £478.* Patron, the Bishop of Chester.—The sub-district contains 6 parishes and 2 parts. Acres, 82,531. Pop., 6,378. Houses, 1,194.
Wooler through time
Wooler is now part of Berwick upon Tweed district. Click here for graphs and data of how Berwick upon Tweed has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Wooler itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Wooler, in Berwick upon Tweed and Northumberland | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/9799
Date accessed: 18th April 2024
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