This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2011)

Coordinates: 54°54′40″N 1°30′31″W / 54.9111°N 1.5086°W / 54.9111; -1.5086

Washington
A view over Washington from Penshaw Monument
Washington  Washington shown within Tyne and Wear
Population	53,388
OS grid reference	NZ3157
Metropolitan borough	City of Sunderland
Metropolitan county	Tyne and Wear
Region	North East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	WASHINGTON
Postcode district	NE37, NE38
Dialling code	0191
Police	Northumbria
Fire	Tyne and Wear
Ambulance	North East
EU Parliament	North East England
UK Parliament	Washington and Sunderland West
List of places: UK • England • Tyne and Wear

Washington is a town in the City of Sunderland in Tyne and Wear, England. Historically part of County Durham, it joined a new county in 1974 with the creation of Tyne and Wear. Washington is located geographically at an equal distance from the centres of Newcastle, Durham and Sunderland, hence it has close ties to all three cities.

Washington was designated a new town in 1964 and expanded dramatically by the creation of new villages and the absorption of areas of Chester-le-Street to house overspill population from surrounding cities.

At the 2001 census, the town had a population of 53,388.^[1]

History[link]

Toponymy[link]

There are several proposed theories for how the name "Washington" came about. The three most discussed are detailed below. The titles of the three different theories, e.g. "Gaelic origin", are not formal titles, but merely used here to distinguish between them.

"Hwæsa origin"[link]

The origins of the name Washington are not fully known. The most supported theory (especially amongst local historians) is that Washington is derived from Anglo-Saxon Hwæsingatūn, which roughly means "estate of the descendents (family) of Hwæsa". Hwæsa (usually rendered Wassa or Wossa in modern English) is an Old English name meaning "wheat sheaf"; Swedish Vasa being a more famous cognate.

Due to evolution of English grammar, modern English lacks the Germanic grammatical features that Anglo-Saxon English was filled with. This adds an air of confusion for most in regards to the name Hwæsingatūn. It is essentially composed of three main elements (albeit grammatically altered elements):

• "Hwæsa" - most likely the name of local Anglo-Saxon chieftain or farmer.
• "ing" - a Germanic component which has lost its original context in English: ing means roughly "[derived] of/from". It can still be seen in its original context in the word "halfling" meaning "that [derived] from an half". In the name Hwæsingatūn, "ing" is conjugated to "inga" in accordance with the genitive plural declension of OE.
• "tūn" - root of the modern English "town", and is a cognate of German Zaun (fence), Dutch tuin (garden) and Icelandic tún (paddock). The word means "fenced off estate" or more accurately "estate with defined boundaries".

The combined elements (with all correct conjugations in place) therefore create the name Hwæsingatūn with a full and technical meaning of "the estate of the descendants of Hwæsa".

However, there has been no evidence found of any chieftain/land owner/farmer in the area by the name of Hwæsa, although any such records from the time would likely have been long lost by now.

Although this is by no means the definite theory of origin, most scholars and historians (especially local) agree that it is the most likely.

"Washing origin"[link]

One of the more popular origin theories is that Washington is in fact derived from the Old English verb wascan (said wosh-an) and the noun dūn meaning "hill"; thus making the name Wascandūn, meaning "washing hill". This theory likely originates from the proximity between the river Wear and the actual Anglo-Saxon hall of the time (most likely where Washington Old Hall stands today).

This idea is not backed by linguistic evidence. Combining the two Old English words "wascan" and "dūn" would actually have meant "washed hill" and not "washing hill". Also, the Old English "dūn" meant a range of gently rolling hills, as evidenced by the naming of the North and South Downs in southern England.

Old Hall[link]

The Old Hall may have been built by William de Hertburn, who moved to the area in 1183. As was the custom he took the name of his new estates, and became William de Wessyngton. By 1539 when the family moved to Sulgrave Manor in Northamptonshire the spelling "Washington" had been adopted.

The present Hall is an early 17th century small English manor house of sandstone. Only the foundations and the arches between the Kitchen and the Great Hall remain of the original house.

George Washington connection[link]

Plaque in Durham Cathedral's cloisters for John Washington, who was Prior there.

William de Wessyngton was a forebear of George Washington,^[2] the first President of the United States, after whom the U.S. capital and many other places in the United States are named. Though George Washington's great-grandfather John Washington left for Virginia from Essex, Washington Old Hall was the family home of George Washington's ancestors. The present structure incorporates small parts of the medieval home in which they lived.^[3] The American Independence Day is marked each year by a ceremony at Washington Old Hall.^[4]

[edit] Building the New Town

The Galleries shopping centre is the town's main commercial centre.

Washington's design was developed through the New Towns concept aiming to achieve sustainable socio-economic growth. The new town is divided into small self-sufficient "villages". It was originally also divided into the 15 original numbered districts, a fate which confused many visitors to the area. These numbered districts have gradually been removed as well as increased, and now road signs indicate the villages' names instead of district number.

Washington's villages are called:

• Donwell
• Usworth (originally Great Usworth)
• Concord
• Sulgrave
• Albany
• Glebe
• Barmston
• Biddick
• Washington Village (the original village and location of the Old Hall)
• Columbia
• Blackfell
• Oxclose
• Ayton
• Lambton
• Fatfield
• Harraton
• Rickleton

Mount Pleasant was also added to the list of numbered districts (14), despite being out of the Town "boundary line" of the River Wear and having a DH4 Postcode (Houghton le Spring) it does hold a Washington dialing code starting 0191 415, 416 and 417.

Built on industry, Washington contains several industrial estates, named after famous local engineers, such as Parsons, Armstrong, Stephenson, Crowther, Pattinson, Swan and Emerson.

A lot of the land which makes up the town was purchased from the Lambton family, Earls of Durham who own the estate of the same name, which includes their ancestral home, Lambton Castle.

In 1970, Washington hosted the English Schools Athletic Association (ESAA) annual National Championships, attended by the then Lord Lieutenant of County Durham.

On 15 November 1977, the very first SavaCentre hypermarket (a venture between Sainsbury's and British Home Stores) opened at The Gallaries.^[5] By 2005, however, it had been rebranded as a traditional Sainsbury's as the SavaCentre brand was phased out.^[6]

Industry[link]

Historically, Washington was heavily involved in the coal industry with a number of pits. One of these in the Albany district of Washington is preserved as the 'F' Pit Museum (pits in Washington were named alphabetically e.g. the 'F' Pit). A number of the old communities of Washington grew up around the pits (e.g. the modern area of Usworth partly grew up around the Usworth mine and the area was known as Usworth Colliery (and still is to some of the older generation). In support of the mines there was a series of wagonways and later railway lines to transport the coal. The wagonways took coal to staithes on the River Wear where it could be loaded onto barges to be taken to the ocean going vessels at Sunderland.

Washington was also involved in the chemical industry and the Washington Chemical Works was a major employer in the 19th century. This later became the Cape/Newalls Works producing insulation. The Pattinson Town area of Washington grew up around the chemical works. This area is now Pattinson industrial estate and Teal Farm housing estate.

Currently, Washington's main industries include textiles, electronics, car assembly, chemicals and electrical goods. The Nissan automotive plant is a major employer. Nissan is the largest private-sector employer in the City of Sunderland.

Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, the American tyre production giant, opened a new factory in Washington in 1968. However, it closed on 5 July 2006 with the loss of 585 jobs.[3]

Visitor attractions[link]

The Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust nature reserve and the Washington 'F' Pit mining museum are within the town. The Washington Arts Centre is a converted farm building. The Centre includes an exhibition gallery, community theatre, artist studios and a recording studio. The North East Aircraft Museum occupies part of the old RAF Usworth base. The Nissan plant takes up much of the rest. The municipal airport previously run from the site was closed to make way for the Nissan plant.

Education[link]

There are several primary, secondary schools and colleges in the villages of Washington.

• Primary schools (alphabetical order)
  • Albany Village Primary
  • Barmston Village Primary
  • Biddick Primary School
  • Fatfield Primary School
  • George Washington School (formerly High Usworth)
  • Holley Park Primary School
  • John F. Kennedy Primary School
  • Lambton Primary School
  • Oxclose Primary
  • Rickleton Primary School
  • St. Bedes Primary School
  • St John Boste RC Primary School
  • St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School
  • Usworth Colliery
  • Usworth Grange
  • Wessington Primary - (formerly Glebe Primary)

• Secondary schools
  • Biddick School Sports College
  • Washington School (formerly Washington Grammar School)
  • St.Robert of Newminster (Roman Catholic Secondary School)
  • Oxclose Community Secondary School

• Colleges
  • Usworth Sixth Form
  • St. Robert of Newminster Sixth Form

Sport[link]

Washington F.C. is a club based in the Northern League Division Two which is the tenth level of the English game.

In 1991, a survey by the local newspaper, The Washington Star, found that loyalties were closely divided within Washington between Newcastle United and Sunderland AFC. However, the Tyneside club was most popular, by a small majority.

In 2005 Washington R.F.C was established. the club currently plays in the Durham and Northumberland division 3.

Transport[link]

Washington is located on the mothballed Leamside Line and, until the mid-1960s, had regular passenger services to Sunderland, Teesside and Newcastle upon Tyne, via Pelaw Junction. The presence of the railway was a major factor in Nissan selecting the Washington site, but the passenger service was a victim of the Beeching Axe less than two years later. Freight services continued until 1991 and the line is currently out of use, with all major infrastructure extant. Washington is therefore one of the largest towns in Britain without an operational railway station (see Dudley, Newcastle under Lyme and Gosport).

In June 2009, the Association of Train Operating Companies called for funding for the reopening of this station as part of a £500m scheme to open 33 stations on 14 lines closed in the Beeching Axe, including seven new parkway stations.^[7]

There is a major bus station situated at The Galleries, and another at Concord in the north of Washington. The primary provider of transport (buses) in the area is Go North East, with local services as well as connections to Newcastle upon Tyne, [Sunderland, and many other towns and cities in the region.

Major roads run through Washington: the A182, the A1231 and the A195 all connect to the A1(M) motorway (which acts as the western boundary of Washington proper) or its feeder, the A194. Washington Services is situated between Junctions 64 and 65 of the A1(M), and incorporate a Travelodge.

Notable people[link]

• Gertrude Bell was born at Washington Hall.
• The musician Bryan Ferry (of Roxy Music fame) comes from Washington and attended Washington Grammar School (now Washington School (Comprehensive)).
• Heather Mills Notable for marrying Paul McCartney, attended Usworth Grange Primary School and Usworth Comprehensive School.
• The musician Toni Halliday from the band Curve went to Washington School (Comprehensive).
• Leeds United and England footballer Billy Furness was born in Washington and started his football career playing for Usworth Colliery
• Alex Kapranos Lead singer of Franz Ferdinand was born in the town of Washington.
• George Clarke (Channel 4 presenter and architect) lived in Blackfell and went to Oxclose comprehensive school
• Si King, one half of The Hairy Bikers attended St Robert of Newminster Catholic School.

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Washington, Tyne and Wear

• Detailed historical record about Washington "F" Pit
• Sunderland City Council
• Official Website Of The Galleries

Tyne and Wear
Shown within England
Geography
Status	Metropolitan county and ceremonial county
Origin	1974 (Local Government Act 1972)
Region	North East England
Area - Total	Ranked 44th 538 km2 (208 sq mi)
ONS code	2D
NUTS 2	UKC22/23
Demography
Population - Total (2010 est.) - Density	Ranked 13th 1,119,600 2,073 /km2 (5,370 /sq mi)
Ethnicity	96.8% White 1.8% S. Asian
Politics
No county council
Executive
Members of Parliament	David Anderson Lab Nick Brown Lab Mary Glindon Lab Alan Campbell Lab Ian Mearns Lab Chi OnwurahLab Julie Elliott Lab Catherine McKinnell Lab Stephen Hepburn Lab Sharon Hodgson Lab Bridget Phillipson Lab David Miliband Lab
Metropolitan Boroughs
Gateshead Newcastle upon Tyne North Tyneside South Tyneside Sunderland

Tyne and Wear /ˌtaɪn ənd ˈwɪər/ is a metropolitan county in north east England around the mouths of the Rivers Tyne and Wear. It came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. It consists of the five metropolitan boroughs of South Tyneside, North Tyneside, City of Newcastle upon Tyne, Gateshead and the City of Sunderland.

Prior to reforms in 1974, the territory comprising the county of Tyne and Wear straddled the border between the counties of Northumberland and County Durham. North Tyneside and Newcastle upon Tyne had previously existed within of Northumberland, whereas South Tyneside, Gateshead and Sunderland were all previously within the borders of County Durham, with the River Tyne forming the border of the two counties.

Tyne and Wear is bounded on the east by the North Sea, and as a ceremonial county, shares borders with Northumberland to the north and County Durham to the south.

Tyne and Wear County Council was abolished in 1986, and so its districts (the metropolitan boroughs) are now unitary authorities. However, the metropolitan county continues to exist in law and as a geographic frame of reference.^[1][2][3]

History[link]

Newcastle upon Tyne, Gateshead and Sunderland were all constituted as county boroughs under the Local Government Act 1888 (Newcastle had had 'county borough' status as the County and Town of Newcastle upon Tyne since 1400). These were joined by Tynemouth in 1904. Between the county boroughs various settlements were part of the administrative counties of Durham and Northumberland.

The need to reform local government on Tyneside was recognised as early as 1935, when a Royal Commission to Investigate the Conditions of Local Government on Tyneside was appointed.^[4] The three commissioners were to "examine the system of local government in the areas of local government north and south of the river Tyne from the sea to the boundary of the Rural District of Castle Ward and Hexham in the County of Northumberland and to the Western boundary of the County of Durham, to consider what changes, if any, should be made in the existing arrangements with a view to securing greater economy and efficiency, and to make recommendations."

The report of the Royal Commission was published in 1937.^[5] It recommended the establishment of a Regional Council for Northumberland and Tyneside (to be called the "Northumberland Regional Council") to administer services that needed to be exercised over a wide area, with a second tier of smaller units for other local government purposes. The second-tier units would be formed by amalgamating the various existing boroughs and districts. The county boroughs in the area would lose their status. Within this area, a single municipality would be formed covering the four county boroughs of Newcastle, Gateshead, Tynemouth, South Shields and other urban districts and boroughs.^[6]

A minority report proposed amalgamation of Newcastle, Gateshead, Wallsend, Jarrow, Felling, Gosforth, Hebburn and Newburn into a single "county borough of Newcastle-on-Tyneside". The 1937 report was not acted upon : local authorities were unable to agree on a scheme and the legislation of the time did not allow central government to compel one.^[7]

Tyneside (excluding Sunderland) was a Special Review Area under the Local Government Act 1958. The Local Government Commission for England came back with a recommendation to create a new county of Tyneside based on the review area, divided into four separate boroughs. This was not implemented. The Redcliffe-Maud Report proposed a Tyneside unitary authority, again excluding Sunderland, which was to form a separate East Durham unitary authority.

The White Paper that led to the Local Government Act 1972 proposed as "area 2" a metropolitan county including Newcastle and Sunderland, extending as far south down the coast as Seaham and Easington, and bordering "area 4" (which would become Cleveland). The Bill as presented in November 1971 pruned back the southern edge of the area, and gave it the name 'Tyneside'. The name 'Tyneside' was controversial on Wearside, and the name changed to 'Tyne and Wear' by a government amendment upon the request of Sunderland County Borough Council.^[8]

post-1974		pre-1974
Metropolitan county	Metropolitan borough	County boroughs	Non-county boroughs	Urban districts	Rural districts
Tyne and Wear is an amalgamation of 24 former local government districts, including five county boroughs.	Gateshead	Gateshead	-	Blaydon • Felling • Ryton • Whickham •	Chester-le-Street
	Newcastle upon Tyne	Newcastle upon Tyne	-	Gosforth • Newburn •	Castle Ward •
	North Tyneside	Tynemouth	Wallsend • Whitley Bay •	Longbenton • Seaton Valley •	-
	South Tyneside	South Shields	Jarrow	Boldon • Hebburn •	-
	Sunderland	Sunderland	-	Washington• Houghton-le-Spring• Hetton-le-Hole•	Easington •

Local government[link]

Although the metropolitan county council was abolished in 1986, several joint bodies exist to run certain services on a county-wide basis. Most notable is the Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Authority, which co-ordinates transport policy. Through its passenger transport executive, known as Nexus, it owns and operates the Tyne and Wear Metro light rail system, and the Shields ferry service and the Tyne Tunnel, linking communities on either side of the River Tyne. Also through Nexus, the authority subsidises socially-necessary transport services (including taxis) and operates a concessionary fares scheme for the elderly and disabled.

The Passenger Transport Authority is a "precepting authority", raising funds by imposing a levy on the Council Tax of the five constituent authorities of Tyne and Wear.

Other joint bodies include the Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service and Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums, which was created from the merger of the Tyne and Wear Archives Service and Tyne and Wear Museums. These joint bodies are administered by representatives of all five of the constituent councils. In addition the Northumbria Police force, which covers the whole of Northumberland and Tyne and Wear, is one of several joint forces in England spanning two or more counties. The force was created in 1974, and so is not a by-product of the abolition of the county council.

Politics[link]

Tyne and Wear is divided into 12 Parliamentary constituencies. In July 2005, all these constituencies were represented by Labour. Historically, the area has been a Labour stronghold: for example, South Shields is the only Parliamentary constituency that has never returned a Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons since the Reform Act of 1832.

Reviews by the Boundary Commission may lead to a change in the number of parliamentary constituencies in Tyne and Wear, reducing them by one. This could see a constituency returning a Conservative MP as the reorganisation of constituencies in the City of Sunderland has created a Sunderland Central constituency, encompassing the Conservative-held wards north and south of the River Wear. Washington and Sunderland West and Houghton and Sunderland South are the other new constituencies, although there has been criticism that Sunderland does not share the same cultural and historical links that Washington and Houghton-le-Spring do, which was reflected in the old Houghton and Washington East constituency. The small part of the Gateshead East and Washington West constituency that lies within the City of Sunderland will be included in the Sunderland North and Washington constituency.

At the level of local government, three of the region's five unitary authorities were controlled by Labour in 2005, the exceptions being Newcastle City Council and North Tyneside Council. Since an upset result in the local elections of 2004, the former has been controlled by the Liberal Democrats. No one party has overall control of North Tyneside Council: while the Conservatives hold the greatest number of seats, 28, they lack an overall majority, there are 32 other councillors. North Tyneside is the only authority in the area with a directly elected Mayor. Currently a Conservative member.

Settlements[link]

For a complete list of all villages, towns and cities see the list of places in Tyne and Wear.

Places of interest[link]

• Gateshead
  • Angel of the North
  • Beamish Museum, which crosses the Gateshead/Chester-le-Street boundary
  • BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art
  • Gateshead International Stadium
  • Gateshead Millennium Bridge
  • Gibside
  • MetroCentre
  • Saltwell Park
  • Tanfield Railway, Sunniside (crosses boundary into Derwentside)
  • The Sage Gateshead
• Newcastle upon Tyne
  • Discovery Museum (previously Museum of Science & Technology)
  • Hadrian's Wall
  • Hancock Museum
  • Jesmond Dene public park
  • Newcastle Castle Keep
  • Sports Direct Arena
  • Leazes Park
  • Centre for Life
  • Town Moor
  • Tyneside cinema
  • Newcastle Chinatown
  • Quayside
  • Metro Radio Arena
  • Laing Art Gallery
  • Theatre Royal
  • Northumberland Street
  • Grey Street
  • Grey's Monument
  • The Biscuit Factory
  • Tyne Bridge
• North Tyneside
  • Segedunum Roman Fort & Museum, Wallsend
  • St Mary's Island bird reserve
  • Tynemouth Castle
• South Tyneside
  • Arbeia Roman Fort & Museum, South Shields
  • Marsden Rock bird reserve
  • Souter Point Lighthouse
  • Bede's World, Jarrow
• Sunderland
  • The Museum and Winter Gardens
  • Mowbray Park
  • The National Glass
  • Hylton Castle
  • Penshaw Monument
  • St. Peter's Church
  • Stadium of Light
  • The Empire Theatre
  • Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art

See also[link]

North East England portal

• List of Lord Lieutenants of Tyne and Wear
• List of High Sheriffs of Tyne and Wear

References[link]

1. ^ Office of National Statistics - Gazetteer of the old and new geographies of the United Kingdom, p48. URL accessed March 12, 2007.
2. ^ Metropolitan Counties and Districts, Beginners' Guide to UK Geography, Office for National Statistics, September 17, 2004. URL accessed March 12, 2007.
3. ^ North East England Counties, The Boundary Commission for England. URL accessed March 12, 2007.
4. ^ London Gazette, 10 May 1935
5. ^ Local Government in the Tyneside Area (Cmd.5402)
6. ^ Government of Tyneside : a Regional Council. The Times. March 19, 1937.
7. ^ Local Government on Tyneside. Sir K. Wood and Report of Commission. The Times. September 22, 1937.
8. ^ Hansard, 6 July 1972, column 909

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Tyne and Wear

• Tyne and Wear at the Open Directory Project

v t e Districts of North East England County Durham County Durham • Darlington • Hartlepool • Stockton-on-Tees Northumberland Northumberland Tyne and Wear Gateshead • Newcastle upon Tyne • North Tyneside • South Tyneside • Sunderland North Yorkshire Middlesbrough • Redcar and Cleveland • Stockton-on-Tees

v t e Metropolitan counties and metropolitan districts Greater Manchester Bolton Bury Manchester Oldham Rochdale Salford Stockport Tameside Trafford Wigan Merseyside Knowsley Liverpool Sefton St Helens Wirral South Yorkshire Barnsley Doncaster Rotherham Sheffield Tyne and Wear Gateshead Newcastle upon Tyne North Tyneside South Tyneside Sunderland West Midlands Birmingham Coventry Dudley Sandwell Solihull Walsall Wolverhampton West Yorkshire Bradford Calderdale Kirklees Leeds Wakefield

Coordinates: 54°58′59″N 1°31′30″W / 54.983°N 1.525°W / 54.983; -1.525