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Last modified: November 13, 2004

Wooler Farming Border Town

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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