Sheriff Hill is a suburb in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead in Tyne and Wear, England. It lies on the B1296 road south of Gateshead, south of Newcastle upon Tyne and north of the historic city of Durham. According to the 2001 UK census it had a population of 5,051.
Historically part of Gateshead Fell in County Durham, Sheriff Hill was the site of a battle between William the Conqueror and Malcolm III of Scotland in 1068. A road was built through Gateshead Fell in the early 13th century, attracting some settlers. A procession of bishops, sheriffs and noblemen known as the Sheriff's March took place on the road in 1282, and continued biannually until the 1830s. By then, Gateshead Fell had been enclosed and a village had grown around the road, largely populated by an influx of tinkers, coalminers working at Sheriff Hill Colliery and workers at the local pottery, mill and sandstone quarry. By the turn of the 20th century these industries were in steep decline. The local authority built a large council estate at Sheriff Hill to alleviate dangerous overcrowding in Gateshead, effectively turning the area into a residential suburb. It ceased to be an independent village on 1 April 1974 when it was incorporated into the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead under the terms of the Local Government Act 1972.
Now part of the local council ward of High Fell, the suburb is economically disadvantaged compared with other areas of the borough and nationally, with high levels of unemployment. Sheriff Hill was the site of one of Gateshead's largest boarding schools but as of 2012, the only remaining educational establishment is Glynwood Primary School. The suburb also contains the Queen Elizabeth Hospital the largest hospital in Gateshead, a small dene and a small park. The principal landmark is St John the Evangelist Church, one of three Grade II listed buildings in the area and one of two remaining churches. The southern end of Sheriff's Highwaythe main road through the suburb, is more than above sea level, making it the highest point in Gateshead.
History
Early history
Until the 19th century, Sheriff Hill was part of Gateshead Fell, a "windswept, barren and treacherous heath" that took its name from the town of Gateshead and the fell or common land contiguous with it.Manders, 1973: 308Lewis, 1848: 284 In 1068, Malcolm III of Scotland marched across the Scottish border to challenge the authority of William the Conqueror. Malcolm, accompanied by native insurgents and foreign supporters, was met by William's men in the area of Sheriff Hill and was decisively beaten.Lewis, 1831: 354 In the 13th century, a road through Gateshead Fell became the main trade route between Durham and NewcastleManders, 1973: 116 and as its importance grew, two public housesthe Old Cannon and The Three Tuns, were built along with a small number of houses.Manders, 1973: 311
The settlement's name derives from the Sheriff's March; an ancient, biannual procession first held in 1278.Marshall, 1991: 130, para 3 An inquisition at Tynemouth declared that the King of Scotland, the Archbishop of York, the Prior of Tynemouth, the Bishop of Durham and Gilbert de Umfraville, Earl of Angus should meet the justices before they entered Newcastle from the south.Mackenzie, 1827, 746 at fn 1 A procession was held before the meeting;Marshall, 1991: 127, para 1 on the appointed day the procession started in Newcastle, crossed the River Tyne to Gateshead and made its way up the steep road.Marshall, 1991: 128, para 1 The meeting place was initially at Chile Well but subsequently the procession came to "light and go into the house".Marshall, 1991: 128, para 2 The house was the Old Cannon public house, where drink was served at the sheriff's expense.Marshall, 1991: 129, para 2 When the judges arrived, the procession returned to Newcastle.
In 1647, Gateshead Fell was surveyed and was found to consist of of land. A number of small, isolated settlements had developed around the road at modern-day Deckham, Wrekenton, Low Fell and Sheriff Hill.Manders, 1973: 307 The few cottages and properties at Sheriff Hill were of such poor quality that in 1713, the total of ninety-one cottages returned only £8 9s 6d in rent.Manders, 1973: 308, para 1. The rental rate declined over the years and eventually, poverty rates were so high that several tenants paid no rent. The houses were extremely unappealing; many were essentially mud hutsearth mounds carved into dwellings and roofed with sod. The length of the road that ran through Sheriff Hill was called Sodhouse Bank.Manders, 1973: 308, para 2 By the middle of the 18th century, the area had become a wild and frightening place and when theologian John Wesley arrived in 1785, he found a "pathless waste of white".Manders, 1973: 309
Industrial growth and enclosure
The road through Gateshead Fell was turnpiked by the Durham to Tyne Bridge Road Act in 1747. Although it had brought some early settlers to the area, the development of industry allowed the formative settlement to grow. at p.3 In 1740, John Warburton opened a pottery at Carr Hill which is credited with introducing white earthenware to Tyneside.Manders, 1973: 63, para 1 Encouraged by Warburton's success, Paul Jackson established the Sheriff Hill Pottery in 1771 at the northern end of the turnpike roadCarlton, 1974: 78 and by 1775 was advertising his earthenware in the Newcastle Journal. Jackson's pottery, which became a local centre of pottery production, attracted settlers to the area and became a source of pride to local residents.
In 1793, Sheriff Hill Colliery, or "Ellison Main Colliery", opened at the summit of Gateshead Fell on the boundary between Sheriff Hill and Low Fell. The colliery had two shaftsthe Fanny and Isabella Pitsand provided employment for over 100 men and boys. In 1809, an Act ordered the enclosure of Gateshead Fell. Commissioners were appointed to settle claims and apportion Gateshead Fell accordingly. Plans were laid for the requisition and construction of wells, quarries, drains, roads and watering placesincluding a well at Blue Quarries. New roads, today known as Blue Quarries Road, Church Road and Windy Nook Road, were built. The last allotment land disputes were settled in 1830 and Gateshead Fell was entirely enclosed, formally creating the villages of Sheriff Hill, Low Fell, Deckham, Carr Hill and Wrekenton.Manders, 1973: 310 After the enclosure, Sheriff Hill was a rural settlement before becoming a village.Harrison, 1979: 1
In 1819, an explosion tore through the Sheriff Hill Colliery killing thirty-five people. Other industries were flourishing in the area; in 1823 "Heworth Windmill" or "Snowden's Mill", a gristmill worked by around thirty employees, was builtCarlton, 1974: 74 and "Blue Quarries", a sandstone quarry, was opened in 1820 and provided employment for stonemasons, quarrymen and their apprentices. While not as extensive as Kell's Quarries at Windy Nook, Blue Quarries produced "Newcastle Grindstones" of excellent quality and world renown.
Modern history
By the turn of the 20th century, the industries at Sheriff Hill were in decline. In the 1890s the Old Mill closed, as did Sheriff Hill Pottery in 1909.Carlton, 1974: 79 In the 1920s, Blue Quarries was filled inManders, 1973: 312 and Sheriff Hill Colliery, the longest surviving industrial operation, closed in 1926.. Pears is an academic and local historian who has published several works on and offline. The only surviving reminders of the suburb's industrial past are street names such as "Pottersway" and "Blue Quarries Road".
The industries that had disappeared were replaced by tracts of housing. While most of the sod cottages were torn down after enclosure,Manders, 1973: 309–10 the remaining dwellings were in such poor condition that in 1883, Gateshead's Medical Health Officer described their standard as one of abject squalor.The opinion of the Medical Health Officer of Gateshead in 1883, cited in Manders, 1973: 313, para 2 Some private housing estates were built in Sheriff Hill around 1900, including the Egremont Estatea distinctive estate dating from around 1910 where the houses have flat roofs with steps leading to them as an architectural feature, at p.12 and also at Sourmilk Hill, where there are some irregularly arranged vernacular houses built from locally quarried stone and slate which give the area "the character of a small, rural farmstead". These developments did little to alleviate the unsanitary conditions and the chronic overcrowding in the village and across the borough.Manders, 1973: 172, para 3 In light of these problems Gateshead Council, after having previously refused in 1911 and 1917,Manders, 1973: 172, para 2 decided to purchase of land in Carr Hill and Sheriff Hill under the Housing Act 1919 at a cost of £19,000 in February 1919.Manders, 1973: 172–3
This led to the building of the first council housing estate in Gateshead. Alderman Hodkin laid the foundation stone on 27 October 1920;Manders, 1973: 173, para 1 as work commenced the Alderman demonstrated the authority's concerns, telling the local newspaper that: "we can build houses, but we cannot build homes. Only the people themselves can do that and I hope that the spirit of 'esprit de corps' will prevail and this will be a model estate"Unknown, "Houses for the Workers of GatesheadCostly Scheme Begins", Gateshead Post, 28 October 1920 at para 3 Demand was highthere were 427 applicants for the first twenty eight houses builtand the council built further tracts of housing in a broad triangle between Sodhouse Bank, Ermine Crescent and The Avenue, although central government withdrew its promised funding. By 1936, most of the social housing available as of 2012 was in existence and provides accommodation to over half of the population of the suburb.
Sheriff Hill is now a residential suburb of Gateshead; at p.121–2 in 1974 it was incorporated into the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead by the implementation of the Local Government Act 1972,Manders, 1973: 26 before which it was considered part of County Durham. It is bordered by Low Fell to the west, Deckham to the north, Beacon Lough to the south and Windy Nook and Carr Hill to the east.
Governance
+ Gateshead Council, High Fell2012 local elections Candidate name Political party Number of votes % of votes cast Jean Lee Labour 1,393 75.1% Elaine Brunskill Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition 248 13.4% Edward Borhill Conservative 109 5.9% Norman Spours Liberal Democrats 106 5.7%
Sheriff Hill comprises part of the High Fell council ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead. The ward covers approximately , has a population of 8,952, and is represented on Gateshead Council by three councillors.
Sheriff Hill is represented in Parliament as part of the Gateshead constituency; the sitting Member of Parliament (MP) is Labour representative Ian Mearns, who was elected at the May 2010 general election with a majority of 12,549 votes over Liberal Democrat Frank Hindle. The swing from Labour to the Liberal Democrats was 3.9%.
Before May 2010, the area was part of the Gateshead East and Washington West constituency, which was abolished in that year's boundary changes. The MP for Gateshead East and Washington West from 2005 to 2010 was Sharon Hodgson, who campaigned in the newly formed constituency of Washington and Sunderland West. Hodgson succeeded Joyce Quin, who retired on 11 April 2005.
Geography and topography