Comings and goings in the dale, Teesdale Mercury

Comings and goings in the dale

Feb 20, 2008

WE tend to think that in the past, families stayed in one place for hundreds and hundreds of years. You often hear people say that their family has been in Teesdale since the time of the first Queen Elizabeth, or even since the time of the conquest. Is this true or is it just wishful thinking? There is also often talk of incomers as if it is a recent phenomenon for new people to move into the dale.

If we take time to stop and think, it is obvious that there has always been movement of people both in and out of our dale.

After all, Teesdale forms part of a major east-west trading route that has been used since prehistoric times. Probably that was the way that the first inhabitants of Teesdale came when they first settled down to farm in the dale. Those original settlers came right back in the Bronze Age, some 5-6,000 years ago, and since then there has been wave after wave of immigrants following their example.

I wonder where those first settlers came from, way back in the Bronze Age, and why they carved those strange marks on stones on our moors? I doubt we will ever know the answer or indeed find out where the people came from who found lead ore in our hills, or who first dug out coal from the ground to burn.

It doesn't get much clearer when we move forward into historical times. Where did the Brigantian tribes who were living in Teesdale in Roman times come from?

Were these horse-loving hunters the descendants of Bronze Age families who cleared the trees and began farming some 2000 years previously? Archaeological evidence would suggest otherwise.

And how about the occupying armies from Rome - the first of many soldiers to take up temporary residence in the dale. Did any of them stay after they were discharged from their duties? Some no doubt had ‘married' local women and had children whilst barracked at Greta Bridge, Bowes or Binchester, but there surely can't have been large numbers of ex-soldiers settled in Teesdale.

And when the Roman Armies left to defend Rome from attack, leaving Britain defenceless, what happened then in our bit of the country? How many of the incoming Angles and Danes and Normans invading our land in the following centuries made their home in Teesdale? Obviously we can't answer most of these questions. There is very little written down about what happened in our area.

However, the fact that most of the place names in Teesdale are of Anglo-Saxon origin must have some significance.

It suggests that a number of the invaders who were the first to come after the Romans left, made their homes in Teesdale - a wise decision don't you think?

It isn't known what happened to the British people who already lived in Teesdale. It used to be thought they were all driven out of their homes and that they went to live in the Lake District or somewhere. Nowadays, however, historians don't seem so sure that this happened and think that maybe over time, the British and the Anglo Saxon communities simply learned to live together and gradually merged into one society. Modern DNA evidence appears  to support this view.

There aren't many Danish or Norwegian place names in Teesdale, so maybe the Viking invaders simply passed through the dale - hopefully not disturbing the inhabitants whilst they did so.

There are, however, a number of Scandinavian surnames that survive in Teesdale - Birkett is one of them. Perhaps these families arrived from the Viking settlements further west at a later date after life had become more settled.

The last time Britain was invaded was, as everybody knows, in 1066 at the Norman Conquest. And, of course, it was the Normans who built the castles in order to defend themselves from the natives! They were the rulers, the elite, so we know the names of the ones who came to Teesdale.

There was Alan de Brittany, who built Richmond Castle, and the FitzHughs, at Ravensworth and Cotherstone Castles, and the Balliols who built Barnard Castle. However, a quick glance at the telephone directory reveals that these names aren't exactly common Teesdale names today. These Norman families were prominent in Teesdale for 300 to 400 years, but then they gradually disappeared. Did they die out or did the families move elsewhere?

It isn't just the prominent Norman families who move away from Teesdale. You would think that those families who were settled in Teesdale at the Conquest in 1066 would be there permanently. It should be possible for at least a few families to trace their descent right back 1,000 years, but Teesdale has a much less stable population than is generally realised. People have moved to Teesdale over many centuries, but they have also moved out of the dale at nearly the same rate as they came in. Perhaps Teesdale folk have itchy feet.

First published in the Mercury, February 15