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During the 13th century the town of Wooler was one of
the richest townships in Northumberland and an early centre of the woollen
industry and despite the apparent coincidence, the name of Wooler was not
derived from any connection with the woollen industry.
Historian
Charlie Steel was probably derived from the Old English word
"Wella‑ofer", meaning "stream bank and taken from the fact that the town is
situated on a slope above the Wooler Water, which flows into the nearby
River Till.
Originally Wooler formed one of the ancient
Baronies into which Northumberland was divided following the Norman Conquest
at which time Wooler was probably a waste area and the building of the
castle on Tower Hill may have provided a nucleus around which the village
eventually grew.
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A huge fires in 1722 and 1862 almost destroyed the
town and as a consequence there are no buildings left of historic importance,
hence the majority of the town is basically 19th century stone building. The
original dilapidated 16th century thatched church was one of the victims of the
first fire, so in 1765 the parish church, dedicated to St Mary was erected near
to the site of the original church, and later enlarged and restored in 1835.
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In 1881, the population of Wooler was 1,529, and
the town consisted of several streets radiating from the Market Place, paved
and lit with gas and a fountain in the market Place erected in 1879 by
public subscription.
At the end of the 18th century Wooler was
celebrated as a health resort, visited in the summer months by invalids for
the sake of what was then known as the "goat's milk cure”. For some reason,
the area had the reputation of being remarkably free from life‑threatening
diseases.
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In pre rail times, Wooler was isolated from the rest
of the country because of its particular rural situation, which was overcome
when a station was built during the construction of the Alnwick and Cornhill
branch of the North‑Eastern Railway in the mid1800s.
The accompanying drawing shows a view of the town
in 1890 and includes besides the fountain in the middle of the street a
distant view of the church and a chemist's shop which was marked by the sign
of a serpent.
Just to the south of Wooler, on the road to Earle
is Horsdon Hill, where in former times a cattle and sheep fair of great
repute was held and sale prices obtained were, for a long time regarded as a
standard for the rest of Northumberland and many of the farmers dated events
from it.
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At the foot of Horsdon Hill is a wishing well
sometimes referred to as either the Pin Well, the Fairy Well, or the Maiden
Well, all names derived from an unusual pagan custom which was observed on May
Day morning each year, when the inhabitants of Wooler formed in procession to
march from the village to this spot.
Each processionist then dropped a crooked pin into the
well making a wish at the same time, in the fond belief that before the year was
over, the fairy who presided over the well would make the wish come true and
although the formal procession on May Day no longer takes place the superstition
surrounding it still exists.
Sir Walter
Scott wrote a rather picturesque account of his stay in Wooler in 1791, in which
he described it as "A wild and romantic situation, amidst places renowned by the
feats of former days, and having hills crowned by towers, camps or cairns, being
near to so many fields of battle, with brooks in the hills where trout of half a
yard in length can be had, and where the days were spent shooting, fishing,
walking, riding and dining. What a life!
The Pennine Way starts at Kirk Yetholm
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