Westgate, County Durham : Weardale Railway Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Westgate, County Durham

Human settlement in England

List of places: UK; England; County Durham

54°44′N 2°08′W / 54.733°N 2.133°W / 54.733; -2.133

Westgate is a village in the civil parish of Stanhope, in County Durham, England. It is situated in Weardale between St John's Chapel and Eastgate. In the 2001 census Westgate had a population of 298.^[1] Westgate is also the entrance to Slitt wood and an old abandoned lead mine. Other features of the village include a caravan site and a football and basketball court.

Westgate Castle was a peel tower-cum-hunting lodge, probably built in the 14th century, and forming the western gatehouse (hence the name) of Stanhope Deer Park owned by the Bishop of Durham.^[2] In 1442 the building was granted to Lord Lumley and used for forest courts and administration, but later served as a residence. By 1647 the 'castle' had become ruinous and was 'now demolished' although the 'crumbling walls of an old castle at Westgate' are mentioned in 1791.^[3]^[4]^[5]

There is a Primitive Methodist chapel built 1871 and incorporating an earlier chapel built in 1824.^[6]

The Anglican parish church of St Andrew was built in 1864 by Robert Jewell Withers (1824–1894).^[7]

Weardale Railway

The village was once served by a railway station on the Weardale Railway that ran up the valley to Wearhead. The line has been preserved and runs between Bishop Auckland and nearby Eastgate-In-Weardale; the former Westgate station is closed and under different use.

References

^ "Wear Valley Settlement Summary Sheets" (PDF). Durham County Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 October 2007. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
^ "Westgate". Stanhope Parish Council. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
^ Drury, J. L. (1977). Transactions of the Architectural and Archaeological Society of Durham and Northumberland. 4 (new series): 31–33. {{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
^ "Heritage Gateway - Results". www.heritagegateway.org.uk. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
^ Egglestone, William Morley (1883). Stanhope and its neighbourhood: All around Stanhope. pp. 226–229.
^ Historic England. "WESTGATE PRIMITIVE METHODIST CHAPEL, Stanhope (1232510)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
^ "Church of St. Andrew, Westgate-in-Weardale, County Durham - Building | Architects of Greater Manchester". manchestervictorianarchitects.org.uk. Retrieved 26 July 2021.