Looking south
The Ferryhill cutting gives a gentler gradient than the old road to the east.
Looking north
A1-The Great North Road
A map of County Durham dated 1646 labels Ferryhill as 'Ferry on ye Mount'. In 1316 the name was Ferye on the Hill, but earlier still it was simply known as 'Ferie'. Needless to say, there has never been a ferry at Ferryhill as there is no river here and a hill top would be a strange location for a ferry anyway. Nor is this the 'fairy hill' visited by the fairies who are said to have lived further south on Middridge Fell. Ferry, as it was originally called, is a reference to the hill top location and derives from the Anglo-Saxon word 'Firgen' meaning 'wooded hill'. Later, when this word went out of use and its meaning forgotten, the word hill was added. Much of Ferryhill owes its origins to coal mining and the town was famous as the site of the great Dean and Chapter Colliery. In earlier times the place was better known for its long village green on the top of the hill, but as early as 1354 the monks of Durham are known to have leased coal mines at Ferry. Cleves Cross, nearby is said to be the place where one Roger de Ferry, otherwise known as 'Hodge of Ferry' dug the pit which trapped the notorious wild boar known as the Brancepeth Brawn. Hodge’s grave is reputedly an ancient stone coffin at Merrington church with a carving of a stone and a spade.
In 1316 the name was Ferye on the Hill, a map dated 1646 labels Ferryhill as 'Ferry on ye Mount', earlier it was simply known as 'Ferie'. Needless to say, there has never been a ferry at Ferryhill as there is no river here and a hill top would be a strange location for a ferry anyway. Nor is this the 'fairy hill' visited by the fairies who are said to have lived further south on Middridge Fell. Ferry, as it was originally called, is a reference to the hill top location and derives from the Anglo-Saxon word 'Firgen' meaning 'wooded hill'. Later, when this word went out of use and its meaning forgotten, the word hill was added. The Great North Road has to climb to over 500 feet here, making this the highest point on the road south of Berwick other than the old road over Gateshead High Fell at Sheriff Hill. Hodgkin describes, "The curious cutting and embankment in Ferryhill village, parallel with, and at one place intersecting, the main road, is an incompleted attempt of the turnpike authorities to lessen the hill for the stage-coaches. It is to be hoped that the improvement will before long be taken in hand and completed for the benefit of modern road traffic." Well of course the problem was eventually taken in hand and the A1(M) now passes well to the east of Ferryhill, leaving the old Great North Road to be numbered A167, but before the motorway was built the road at Ferryhill was given a cutting at the hill top and an embankment on the north side of the hill leaving the steeper old road to the west.
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Looking south
The Ferryhill cutting gives a gentler gradient than the old road to the east. |
Looking north
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On the other hand, Hodgkin also describes a marshy place to the east of the village which was "...perhaps even water covered in medieval times, and probably gave the place its name. The monks of Durham had a fishpond and swannery here."
Lets take a closer look at that marshy place and go back further in time. The names of Sedgfield and Fishburn to the east and Rushyford on the Great North Road south of Ferryhill are suggestive of the damp but it seems likely that there was an extensive lake stretching from Bishop Middleham and Bradbury to Mordon. Bishop Middleham was the site of a fortified house used by the bishops during their travels between Durham and Aukland and the Bishop's Fishpond lies between Bishop Middleham and Farryhill. It is possible that a Roman canal, coming in from the north via the Ferryhill Gap linked the River Wear, through the lake, with the River Skerne and, southwards, the Tees. The Ferryhill Gap is a narrow piece of low ground between Ferryhill and Cornforth, ignored by both the old Great North Road and the modern A1(M) but occupied by the railway. This could have been an important Roman riverine transport route for the bulk goods not easily carried on Dere Street. At Bradbury, a Millennium notice board has been erected to commemorate the Romans using the lakes for their supply routes. Maybe the Ferry by the Hill was an appropriate name. Brenda Ludvigsen presents some evidence of Roman lakes here.
Much of Ferryhill owes its origins to coal mining and the town was famous as the site of the great Dean and Chapter Colliery. In earlier times the place was better known for its long village green on the top of the hill, but as early as 1354 the monks of Durham are known to have leased coal mines at Ferry. Cleves Cross, nearby is said to be the place where one Roger de Ferry, otherwise known as 'Hodge of Ferry' dug the pit which trapped the notorious wild boar known as the Brancepeth Brawn. Hodge’s grave is reputedly an ancient stone coffin at Merrington church with a carving of a stone and a spade.
| North of Ferryhill the Great North Road crossed the River Wear, before crossing it twice more in Durham City, at Sunderland Bridge, which is a long way from Sunderland. The old road crossed by an ancient stone bridge with a sharp right turn on the north bank but, though the bridge continued to be used for the B6300 for a while after the new bridge was opened in the 1930s, it is now a cul-de-sac, only accessible by vehicles from the north end. Long noted as a beauty-spot, this is a popular parking place for walkers enjoying the footpaths along the Wear's banks. The bridge was widened after an accident in 1822. The mail coach overturned, two passengers falling off the bridge to their deaths. |
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Lincolnshire
©Biff Vernon 2001, 2002, 2005
