Carr Hill is a suburb in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead in Tyne and Wear, England. It is bordered by Felling to the north, Sheriff Hill to the south, Windy Nook to the east and Deckham to the west. It lies south of Gateshead, south of the city of Newcastle upon Tyne and north of the historic City of Durham. Once a village in County Durham, it was incorporated into the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead by the Local Government Act 1972 on 1 April 1974.
One of the less populous of the former villages that comprise the metropolitan borough, Carr Hill has a long history and was first developed by the Romans. During the Industrial Revolution it became the centre of pottery making in Tyneside, and numerous stone quarries, glass makers and windmills were set up. It also had a large reservoir providing water to several areas of Gateshead and Newcastle upon Tyne.
Industrial decline from the turn of the 20th century, coupled with the building of Gateshead's first council estate, saw Carr Hill transformed from an industrial settlement into a residential suburb of the Gateshead Council ward of Deckham. Governed locally and nationally by the Labour Party, the suburb is economically disadvantaged compared to other areas of the borough and nationally, with high levels of unemployment and low levels of income. It is served by Carr Hill Primary School. There are two small parks that contribute to the social activity of the area, as does the Elgin Centre at Elgin Road.
History
Early history The origins of the name "Carr Hill" are subject to speculation. In the 18th and 19th centuries the village was usually referred to as Carr's Hill,Whellan, 1848, 803 a possessive form suggesting that, like Deckham, the name stems from a notable family in residence.Some authors have suggested that the name may relate to a John Carr of Dunston Hill, but it is accepted that there is little supporting evidence. See Proctor, 2006: 31 at para.1 and Manders, 1973: 337 It is more likely however that the name was taken from the Scottish Gaelic carr, meaning "rocky shelf".Proctor, 2006: 31 at para.2 and Manders, 1973: 337
Parts of the early village were in Upper Heworth, and the remainder in Gateshead Fell, a wild and treacherous area of common landManders, 1973: 308 notable for the criminality of the tinkers and hawkers who lived there.Mackenzie and Ross, 1834: 110Manders, 1973: 309. Indeed, in March 1888, North Country Lore and Legend, Monthly Chronicle recalled: "Gateshead Fell, as the name implies, was once a wild common, over a portion of which lay the road between Durham and Newcastle. The loneliness of the bleak moorland was quite guile enough to invest it with terror to travellers a hundred years ago and occasionally there were incidents that served greatly to enhance the evil repute of the locality". (author unknown) There is some evidence of Roman occupation; a proposed enclosure map of Heworth Common from 1766 charts a Roman Causeway running between Carr Hill Lane (now Carr Hill Road) and Blue Quarries in Sheriff Hill.Proctor, 2006: 22 at para.2 writes "Commissioners appointed to oversee the division of land subject to Enclosures were generally sober types, not given to dreaming up Roman roads that had not existed." The likely explanation for Roman interest in the area is Swan Pond, twice the size of the pond at Saltwell Park, the fresh water from which might be used to fill bathhouses and flush latrines.Proctor, 2006: 22 at para.3 Indeed, in 1697, William Yarnold obtained a lease for the laying of cisterns and pipes to bring water from "the Great Pond at Carr's Hill", shown on ordnance survey maps as Swan Pond, to Newcastle upon Tyne.MacKensie, 1827: 726
Industrial period 1740–1860
The most important event in Carr Hill's formative history occurred in 1740, when John Warburton established a pottery at Carr Hill Lane. Warburton's pottery, later referred to as 'Carr Hill Pottery' and widely credited with bringing white earthenware to the region, transformed the village into one of Gateshead's potting epicentres and encouraged workers and traders to move to the area.Manders, 1973: 63 at para.1Carlton, 1974: Warburton passed the pottery to his son-in-law Issac Warburton in about 1760, and by the time John Warburton died in June 1794 it was the largest in the Tyne Valley, commanding a rent of £100 per annum; by comparison, the Tyne Pottery on Felling shore paid £20.Proctor, 2006: 13 at para.2 When placed for sale in 1812, the advert described Carr Hill Pottery as "valuable and extensive".Newcastle Courant, 18 April 1812
Carr Hill by 1820 was a modern and populous village,Surtees, 1820: 66 situated on hill, still isolated from Gateshead and Felling.Carlton, 1974: 117 A variety of industries had developed alongside Warburton's pottery and were prospering; a flint glass manufacturer, under the management of Alexander Elliot,Manders, 1973: 77 three corn mills - Carr Hill Mill, Felling Windmill and St John's MillSykes, 1833: 171 (the latter built after an earlier mill was destroyed by a mysterious fire in 1824)Proctor, 2006: 1 – and a fire brick kiln.Mackensie and Ross, 1834: 110 There were also three inns and "some neat houses occupied by respectable families". By 1840 Carr Hill Reservoir had been built and, under the management of the Newcastle Water Company was the major water supplier for residents in Carr Hill, Sheriff Hill and Windy Nook,Douglas, 1840: 33 and freestone quarries, similar to Kells' Quarry in Windy Nook, were producing Newcastle Grindstone of excellent quality.Douglas, 1840: 57 In 1856 a Methodist Chapel was built. During the mid-19th century, the increasing population led to calls for social amenities to be improved; footpaths were a particular concern,Douglas, 1852: 128 although an examination of ordnance survey mapping demonstrates the continued isolation of the village generally. The success of Warburton's pottery resulted in a street being named after him,Manders, 1973: 63 but the lack of residential development is evident. Carr Hill glassworks and quarries are still clearly marked, along with Swan Pond and a public house, The Free Gardeners Arms.'England – Durham: 007', Ordnance Survey 1:10,560 – Epoch 1 (1862). By the mid-19th century Carr Hill Reservoir was in the hands of the Whittle Dean Water Company, and in 1883 was converted into a 10-million imperial gallon (45 million L; 12 million US gal) open reservoir.Manders, 1973: 288
Carr Hill House
Carr Hill House was the largest estate in the village;Fordyce, 1857: 780 a freehold mansion house on Carr Hill Lane.Proctor, 2006: 15 at para.5 The date of building is unknown, but it does not appear on an enclosure map of 1766, suggesting it was built after that date.Proctor, 2006: 29 at para5 There is strong evidence that it was once a lunatic asylum; in 1770 an advertisement in a local newspaper declared:We beg Leave to inform the Public that we have opened the above HOUSE pleasantly situated about a mile distant from Newcastle, which we have fitted up in an elegant manner, with every Accommodation for the reception of LUNATICKS in genteel or opulent circumstances: in this House Persons entrusted to our Care shall be treated with the utmost Attention and Humanity. The terms are reasonable. R. Lambert, W. Keenlyside, H Gibson, R. Stoddard (surgeons to the Infirmary), Newcastle 1767.Newcastle Chronicle, Saturday 1 August 1770.
By the turn of the 19th century Carr Hill House was a residential property and farm, and in 1806 Matthew Atkinson responded to an advertisement in the Newcastle Courant and purchased the estate.Proctor, 2006: 15 at paras 3–4 In 1858 the house was in the hands of G. J Kenmir, town clerk of Gateshead from 1855 until 1856, who occupied a estate on which he kept a large number of pigs.Rogerson and Tuxford, 1858, 255
Industrial decline and modern development
By the late 19th century the village was in steep decline. In 1894, Whellan described Carr Hill as "a scattered village, which ... was dotted with windmills, now fallen into ruins, as are many of the houses."Whellan, 1894: 987 Carr Hill Pottery had operated throughout the 19th century, but the once thriving pottery had by 1860 become little more than a cottage industry, employing a mere 8 employees and paying just £15 per annum in rent.Proctor, 2006: 28 Ownership subsequently transferred to Thomas Patterson, of neighbouring Sheriff Hill Pottery, who eventually closed the Carr Hill works in 1893.Carlton, 1974: 78 The buildings were demolished completely in 1932;Manders, 1973: 315 only the Old Brown Jug public house and a street named in honour of Warburton survived as reminders of the area's rich pottery heritage by 2010.Manders, 1973: 341 Carr Hill Quarry on Elgin Road was infilled and replaced by a school,GC 13, 2008: 1 and although the windmills still stood, none operated as a going concern by 1890, and were instead used as tenement property or storehouses Carr Hill Mill was demolished between 1919 and 1939Proctor, 2006: 19 at para.5 as was the last remaining mill in 1963.Carlton, 1974: 77 Elliot's glassworks suffered a similar fate, closing in about 1900 and demolished in 1932. Carr Hill House fell into disrepair and was demolished in 1921.Manders, 1973: 135 Carr Hill Reservoir survived until 1973, but by then the whole of Gateshead and Newcastle were supplied by the Newcastle and Water Company from Catcleugh and Whittle Dene in Northumberland and it had become redundant, and was covered soon after.Manders, 2973: 288
Carr Hill today is shaped by the housing development of the 20th century. A building boom begun in Gateshead at the start of the 20th century; large tracts of development at Deckham were matched by development in Carr Hill at Mafeking, Methuen and Baden Powell Streets. In 1911 an offer to build Sutton Dwellings was made to Gateshead Council and was staunchly rebuffed and in 1917 Parliament made a further proposal which was again rejected.Manders, 1973: 172, para 2 However, a Gateshead Council survey concluded in 1919 that "overcrowding in Gateshead was at dangerous levels, that landlords were scrimping on repairs and improvements" and that housing levels were unsustainable in light of rapid population growth.Manders, 1973: 172, para 3 When in February 1919 the Town Improvement Committee recommended the purchase of of land between Dryden Road at Low Fell and Carr Hill under the Housing Act 1919, the Council finally yielded and purchased of land in Carr Hill and Sheriff Hill at the cost of £19,000.Manders, 1973: 172–3 The result was that, in 1921, a large council estate was built in Carr Hill at Iona Road and the surrounding areas.Carlton, 1974: 118 The estate remains largely unchanged and shapes the suburb today, with only the width of Carr Hill Road (indicating a village green), the 'Old Brown Jug' inn building and some stone cottages at Co-Operative Terrace remaining of the industrial village which once stood in its stead.Carlton, 1974: 117–8
Governance Candidate namePolitical partyNumber of votes% of votes castBrian CoatesLabour1,40770%May AinscowConservative21410.7%Karen Therese CrozierLiberal Democrats1467.3%John RichardsNational Front1246.2%Norman HallTrade Unionist and Socialist Coalition1185.9%
Carr Hill is in the council ward of Deckham in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead.A small cluster of streets around Brettanby Road in the east are actually in the Windy Nook and Whitehills Ward. See Gateshead Council Windy Nook and Whitehills Ward Factsheet 2012 p.1 This ward is approximately in area and has a population of 9,228.WFS, 2012: 1 It is represented by three councillors. In June 2012, they were Brian Coates, Martin Gannon and Bernadette Oliphant.Author unknown, "Ward Information–Deckham" , Gateshead MBC (retrieved 17 June 2012)