WOOLER, a market-town and parish in the
eastern division of GLENDALE ward, county of NORTHUMBERLAND,
46 miles (N. N. W.) from Newcastle upon
Tyne, and 318 (N.N,W.) from London, containing
1830 inhabitants. This place occupies the eastern declivity
of the Cheviot hills, and near it is the village of
Humbledon, celebrated for the memorable victory gained
by Percy, Earl of Northumberland, in the reign of
Henry IV., over a Scottish army of ten thousand men,
under the command of Earl Douglas; the engagement
took place on a plain within a mile north-west of the
town, where a stone pillar has been erected, commemorative
of the event. A great part of the town was
destroyed by. fire in 1722, since which period it has
not made any considerable advances towards, improvement.
It consists of several streets diverging
from the market-place, which is in the centre, and is
indifferently paved, and. supplied with, water from a
fountain erected at the public expense: a good trout
stream flows through the lower. part of it, and falls
into the river Till: the houses,are mostly old, and the
general appearance of the. place is unfavourable. The
situation, though mountainous, is extremely salubrious,
the town having formerly been much resorted to
by invalids, who have ceased to frequent it, probably,
from a want of accommodation. A public subscription
library is well supported} and a mechanics'
institute was established in 1827. The market is on
Thursday; and fairs are held on the 4th of May
and the 27th of October, for iiorses, cattle, and sheep;
and on tlie Tuesday in Whitsun-week, a general fair
is held on a hill at a short distance from the town,
which, from that circumstance, is called Whitsun Bank
fair. The lord of the manor holds a court leet and
baron annually, within three weeks after Easter, at
which constables and other officers for the ensuing
year are appointed.
The living is a vicarage, in the archdeaconry of
Northumberland, and diocese of Durham, rated in the
king's books at £5. 8. If., and in the patronage of the
Bishop of Durham. The church, rebuilt in 1765, on the
site of the ancient structure, which was destroyed by fire,
is dedicated to St. Mary; it is a neat and appropriate
edifice, and occupies an eminence commanding an extensive
and richly-varied prospect. There are places of
worship for Baptists, Burghers, and Presbyterians, also
a .Scotch Relief Church and a Roman Catholiq chapel.
The free grammar school, founded and endowed by the
Earl of Tankerville, for six boys of the town, has received
an additional endowment, for three more, from
the Bishop of Durham, in compensation for a lapsed
gift of £100, bequeathed for that purpose by Mrs.
Chisholme. There are also Sunday schools in connexion
with the established church and the several dissenting
congregations. A dispensary has been established
here, but it. is not well supported, and isconsequently
on the decline. On a circular mount, near the
town, are the remains of an ancient tower, apparently
of Norman origin. There are many intrenchments in
the vicinity, of which the most remarkable is " Humbledon.
Hugh," about a mile north-west of the town; it
is circular in form, with a large cairn on the summit; the
sides of the hill are formed into terraces, about twenty
feet broad, of which there are three successive tiers,
which, being filled with soldiers, presented a formidable
resistance to any assailing force: in the plain beneath
is the pillar commemorating the victory of Earl Percy.