EGLINGHAM VILLAGE TRAIL
Eglingham – the village of Ecgwulf’s people.
Eglingham is small stone-built village, of about 58 households, situated on the B6346, seven miles north-west of Alnwick. Although the village was founded in Anglo-Saxon times – the village of Ecgwulf’s people – it is an area that has been occupied for many thousands of years. We hope this site will help you to explore and understand our past.
Our starting point is the cross-roads by the entrance to Eglingham Hall.
1.Lodge and Topiary
This rather quaint romantic building, with overhanging eaves, was built in 1826 and has the inscription R.O. Esq above the door. These initials refer to Robert Ogle, the owner of Eglingham Hall at this time. Eglingham village was unusual in that it was a divided village. Eglingham Hall and the north side of the village were owned by the Ogle family and the south by the earls of Tankerville. This caused divided loyalties throughout the village, until it was united under the Milvain family in the early 20th century. The feature of most interest is the huge yew bush shaped into a pheasant.
2. Eglingham Hall
The curved driveway leads to Eglingham Hall. The main block dates from 1728 and was added to the existing west wing built during the late 16th or early 17th century. A further extension to the north was added in the 1890s and an entrance to the eastern wing in 1903. Before that time it was probably a bastle or defended tower house to protect the inhabitants from raids, which came over the Scottish border. In 1650 the house was described as ‘a savage retreat for a discontented and gloomy laird’.
3. Murder in the village
In the early hours of 18th January 1872 the village policeman, George Gray, was out looking for poachers when he was confronted by three men bearing sacks. They refused to give themselves up. In the ensuing confrontation, George Gray was shot and died of his wounds. Before he passed away, he managed to give a description of his assailants, but the killers were never apprehended.
4. Pill box
At the end of the walled garden of the Hall there is a pill-box that dates from the 2nd World War. In common with many communities at this time, there was an active contingent of the Home Guard ‘Dad’s Army’ commanded by Colonel Henry Milvain of Eglingham Hall. The pill-box is one of five in the immediate area of the village and was part of a defensive line that stretched from Wooler to the coast when the government of Britain feared a German landing from bases in Norway after the fall of France in 1940.
5. Cockhall
On the right is the farm of Cockhall with its three converted farm worker’s cottages. The name may well derive from Cockhill – the hill where gamebirds would be bred for shooting. The curiously shaped windows of the barn are purely decorative and original and not put there, as folklore suggested, to fool Scottish raiders that it was an ecclesiastical building!
6. Old Engine House
This building housed the machinery that powered a saw-mill until tractors replaced the static engine.
7. Delph Cottage
Opposite the lodge is a picturesque cottage built in the Gothic style in 1823. ‘Delph’ or ‘delf’ means a ‘ditch’. The name is taken from the Delf Gate which was in the field behind the house and which gave access to the early mill race before the dam was built. The race ensured a regular supply of water to power the corn mill.
8. Old School House
Heading back towards the crossroads the visitor passes the old school house with its walled garden. Originally built in 1826 as a school for boys it was in use until 1867, when the present school replaced it. Conditions inside must have been cramped to say the least!
9. Victorian Vicarage
The private drive leads to the former vicarage which was built around 1840 in the Tudor style. At this time, the Vicar of Eglingham was also Archdeacon of Lindisfarne, a prestigious position in the Church of England. As a result of his important position in the church, he would have been expected to provide accommodation and distractions, such as tennis, for visiting clergy. It was sold in the 1980s and a smaller vicarage built to replace it.
10. Vicarage Outbuildings
This vicarage has an interesting range of out-buildings which include an old wash-house with its very tall and delicate brick chimney. There were once iron railings in the gap in the wall, but these were removed during the 2nd World War for war materials. The large blocked-up window was probably carried out to avoid paying the Window Tax, which was levied on windows as a form or property tax (the more windows the house possessed, the more tax was paid).
11. The Croft
The croft replaces an earlier building from which it probably gets its name, and which once had its own tennis court. This is succeeded by a row that was once four separate cottages as can be seen by the chimney stacks and infills in the front wall. The end cottage, Lime Tree cottage, was very basic at one time and known as the ‘bothy’ where single seasonal workers would stay.
12. Coach House
On the other side of Church lane is the old Coach House, which belonged to the earliest of the Vicarages. This had stalls for the horses and at one time the boy’s school was above this, which in 1828, Archdeacon Singleton described as a ‘whimsical situation.’
13. St Maurice’s Church
In 738 Eglingham was given to the monastery of Lindisfarne when King Ceowulf retired there and the earliest record of a church on this site goes back to 750. The church has been much altered and renovated over the years. The tower dates from 1350 and most of the rest of the building from the 17th century onwards. The tower was used as a place of refuge during the turbulent years of border raids. In Cromwell’s time, the church was severely damaged by the invading Scottish army led by Leslie and the round depressions in the stonework of the tower are believed to be the result of canon fire. (More information can be obtained from inside the church).
14.The Churchyard
In the late 1930s the graveyard was extended eastwards. A large tree marks the end of the original site. It is estimated to be nearly three hundred years old. Ash trees are believed to have magical properties and an ability to ward off evil spirits. In pagan mythology, it was believed that the gods held court under the shade of ash trees, the crown of the tree reaching to the heavens and the roots to the infernal region below.
15. Tailor's house
The road passes No 21 which was a former tailor’s shop and once had 7 tailors working beneath its roof. The metal supports for the sign can be seen above the front window and a narrow stair led to the roof space where the tailor’s would sit cross-legged at their work.
16. Eglingham First School
The purpose built school was opened in 1867 when it admitted 58 pupils. It still has its original bell. After the official opening ceremony, when the number of pupils had swelled to 130, each child was given a present of an orange and a banana – a great treat for those times. When the school was opened, fees were paid quarterly and ranged from 3 shillings to 5 shillings, though there was a reduction for the third and subsequent children from the same family. In 1891 the fees were reduced to 1 shilling. The school master’s fees and conditions were very clear with a house and a garden included. He was expected to have a wife or sister who provided instruction for the infants and sewing for the girls.
17. The Tankerville Arms
The Tankerville Arms and the adjoining house were part of the village owned by the Tankerville Estate and although the present building dates from about 1830, it incorporates part of an earlier one. There are rings by the door for tying up horses and, on the other side of the road, mounting steps to clamber onto the backs of their charges. Next to it is the only remaining water trough in the village.
18. Post Office
On the other side of the road is the former post office. This was moved to Ogle house in 1989 and then to the village hall before finally closing.
19. The Village Farm
The farm would have originally provided milk for all the residents. Each household would have two milk cans and would call each day to collect a full one, bringing the clean one to be filled the next day. Many villagers would also have their own pig and when one was slaughtered the meat would be shared with neighbours and family as the meat couldn’t be kept for any length of time. It was frequently the farmer who would be called in to do the killing and butchering. Little would be wasted. The women would make black puddings and bacon from the cuts of meat. Even the boys benefited, for they would get the bladder, which could be inflated and used as a football.
20. Mill House and Mill Cottage
They are opposite the farm and date from the late 18th century. At one time the miller would have the tithe barn where each villager was expected to contribute a tenth of their corn to the parish. Rumour had it however, that the tithe barn had more than corn in it! At a time when there was a high tax on spirits, smugglers were reputed to use it as a store for their illicit barrels of whiskey and brandy!
21. The Village Hall
Where the hall now stands originally stood a water-driven corn mill, records for which go back to 1378. It is likely that the mill has been on this site since it was first built, as there is a good supply of water, the moors provided the millstones and there was a network of roads and tracks enabling people to bring their corn for milling. The mill stones were cut from nearby Beanley Moor (See walks in the area). In the late 18th and 19th century harder granite millstones were imported from France and this put an end to local millstone production.
On 21 January 1893 disaster struck. A fire broke out in the mill and despite the efforts of the villages to douse the flames, it took a firm hold of the building. The Duke of Northumberland’s fire engine, which was stationed at Hulne Park, was summoned to deal with the conflagration. The horse-drawn vehicle rushed to the site as fast as the horses pulling it could get there. By the time it arrived however, there was little it could do. The mill had been destroyed. A new one was built to replace the old but, disaster struck again and the mill was destroyed in a second fire in 1913. Thereafter it was decided not to replace the mill and it was converted into the present village hall.
22. The Bridge
The bridge was built in the early 1800s and, in all probability, it replaced the earlier one. Before the bridge, the road would be crossed by a ford, the traces of which can be seen in the shallow depression which runs down to the water’s edge and up the opposite bank.
23. Memorial House
The house was built in the late nineteenth century, on the site of a former 18th century smithy. It was later bought by the Carr-Ellisons for the church and dedicated to the Rt Revd. Bishop Ormsby and Colonel and Mrs Carr-Ellison in 1925.
24. Blacksmith’s Cottage
Over the road is one of the older cottages in the village and which is joined to the former smithy. In the 1920s the blacksmith who lived there had 13 children, none of whom followed in their father’s footsteps. After his death, the farmers had to rely on the blacksmith’s from Shipley who came once a week. In the grass outside the smithy there it is still possible to see the old former, around which the iron bands were hammered and shrunk onto wooden cart wheels.
25. Ogle House (once the Ogle Arms)
This is a reminder of the times when the village was divided between the two families of Ogles and Tankervilles. Estate workers from each were expected to patronise their own pub and not to entertain themselves at those of the opposition! It remained a pub until the early 20th century when the two estates were combined by the Milvain family.