Low Fell
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Coordinates: 54°56′N 1°36′W / 54.93°N 1.60°W
| Low Fell | |
 Low Fell
Low Fell shown within Tyne and Wear |
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| OS grid reference | NZ2559 |
|---|---|
| District | Gateshead |
| Shire county | Tyne and Wear |
| Region | North East |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | GATESHEAD |
| Postcode district | NE9 |
| Dialling code | 0191 |
| Police | Northumbria |
| Fire | Tyne and Wear |
| Ambulance | North East |
| EU Parliament | North East England |
| UK Parliament | Gateshead |
| List of places: UK • England • Tyne and Wear | |
Low Fell is a suburb of Gateshead, England. It is bordered by Sheriff Hill/Deckham to the East, Saltwell/Bensham to the West, Harlow Green to the South and Shipcote to the North. Its approach from the south is "guarded" by the Angel of the North. It is located close to the A1 giving easy access to the motorway network. The area is a relatively affluent one, very popular for young couples starting families, and has a large percentage of elderly people[1]. Politically, inner Low Fell tends to lean towards the Liberal Democrats in local elections, while areas on the periphery traditionally support the Labour Party. The Labour Party, however, remains the dominant force in local politics[2][3].
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[edit] History
Prior to 1800, Low Fell was part of Gateshead Fell; itself a constituent part of the ancient County of Durham.[4] Once described as a "windswept, barren and treacherous heath"[5], by the middle of the 18th century, Gateshead Fell had become a place of considerable notoriety. When theologian John Wesley arrived in 1785, he found a "pathless waste of white".[4] In 1809 an Act was finally obtained ordering the enclosure of Gateshead Fell.[6] The Inclosure Act separated Gateshead Fell into High Fell/Sheriff Hill and Low Fell.
The name Low Fell derives from the meaning of 'village through the fields'
Prior to Inclosure, Low Fell was only populated by vagrants, tinkers and cloggers. Rent was cheap, in some cases even free; most lived in poverty. The first road was named Sodhouse Bank (now Old Durham Road and Sheriff's Highway), built on the same route as a historic turnpike road and so named because the houses on it were roofed with turf. The turnpike road was very steep, and plans were drawn for the creation of a new road to provide a less difficult route for travel between Newcastle upon Tyne and the city of Durham. Until 1824 there was still about a mile of farmland between Gateshead and Low Fell. Plans were drawn and a road was built through this farmland in 1826. The first mail coach travelled on the new road, today known as Durham Road on the 17 June 1826. Thomas Wilson used to call this road 'the road through the fields'. This was still accurate until the early 1900s. [7]. New, adjoining roads gradually began to appear - Lamesley Road which later became Kells Lane and Low Fell Road which became Beaconsfield Road and Belle Vue Bank. In the 1880s there was a decade of intensive building and the population soared.
[edit] Notable buildings
[edit] Underhill
This house is situated on Kells Lane and was for many years the home of Joseph Wilson Swan. Underhill was the first house in the world to be lit by electric light.
[edit] Whinney House
The land on which Whinney House was built was bought in 1864 by brothers John and Edward Joicey. The house was finished in 1867. Later that year John Joicey gave his share to his brother Edward as a token of the love and affection he bore for his brother. Edward lived in the house until his death in 1879. His wife lived in the house until her death in 1906. It was bought by Gateshead Corporation in 1921 and subsequently turned into a hospital.
Whinney House is now the Mishkan Torah Yeshiva—the Gateshead Academy For Torah Studies.
[edit] Tram station
Trams ran to Low Fell from Newcastle from the early 1900s until the late 1950s. The building which used to be the tram waiting room still exists. It is situated on the east side of Low Fell at the junction of Kells Lane and Durham Road, and is now a locksmiths, the old clock that sat centrally, above the windows has long gone, yet the circular piece of stone it sat on is still visible today.
[edit] Beaconsfield Hotel
Formerly called the Buck Inn this name changed around 1895 along with the road which was formerly Buck Lane. The roads now called Beaconsfield Road and Belle Vue Bank used to be the 'Low Fell Road'.
[edit] Notable residents
[edit] Thomas Wilson
Poet, teacher, business man and native of Low Fell, Thomas Wilson was born in 1774. He learned to read and write during his brief schooling before going to work in the pit at the age of eight. He worked as a miner until the age of nineteen, when he became a teacher. He later joined a Newcastle firm as a clerk and became a prosperous business man.Toward the end of his life he was dedicated to helping children gain a better education with less difficulty than he had. He opened a reading room and school room for local children in Low Fell in 1841. Thomas Wilson died in 1858 aged 84.
[edit] J. Thomas Looney
Born in 1870 in South Shields, J. Thomas Looney lived in Low Fell for many years. Looney's book Shakespeare Identified founded the Oxfordian theory of Shakespeare authorship.
[edit] Joseph Swan
Joseph Swan invented the carbon filament lightbulb, the predecessor of our present day light bulbs. He moved here in 1869 after the death of his first wife. He left Low Fell in 1883 to live in London, where he lived until his death in 1914.
A comprehensive school in Low Fell has been named after Joseph Swan.
[edit] Alex Glasgow
Alex Glasgow singer/songwriter in UK, then emigrated to Australia. As a schoolboy at Gateshead Grammar School he was instrumental in forming the Caprians, a choir of some local repute, which has been in existence for over 50 years.
[edit] References
- ^ Jon Bratton (2011-05-26). "History of Low Fell". Gateshead History. http://www.gateshead-history.com/Low-Fell.html. Retrieved 2011-12-24.
- ^ "Low Fell Lib Dems". Low Fell Lib Dems. http://www.lowfell-libdems.org.uk/. Retrieved 2011-12-24.
- ^ John. "Low Fell Labour Party Home Page". Zoo.co.uk. http://www.zoo.co.uk/~z8000908/LowFell/index.html. Retrieved 2011-12-24.
- ^ a b Manders, 1973: 307
- ^ Manders 1973, p. 308
- ^ Manders, 1973: 309
- ^ Brazendale,A. 2004, Old Gateshead (Images of England) [Illustrated] (Paperback)
