THE closure of an historic bridge and the beauty of a church’s beautiful stained-glass windows have inspired an open day that hopes to reveal more of a village’s history.
Visitors are so fascinated by the ornate windows of St Mary’s Church, in Whorlton, that its vicar Revd Canon Alec Harding asked local history enthusiasts to look into their background.
The result of research by residents Amanda Long and Andrew Knox, along with church curate Revd Ana Moskvina, has resulted in the Whorlton Parish Memory Project, an exhibition event at the village hall on Remembrance Sunday.
They hope that anyone with connections to the village will share memories, photographs, letters and memorabilia with them on the day.
Revd Moskvina said: “Our aim is to collate as much information as possible about the village, the church and the bridge and to record as many personal stories as possible.”
Mrs Long, whose interest in local history was piqued while researching her family and learning more about the village in the process, said: “I volunteered to help [look into the windows’ past].
“We had so many people coming in because they are beautiful windows. They are by William Warrington and Clayton & Bell.
“But then I thought the windows aren’t the only beautiful part of the church, why don’t we do the history of the church.”
Mr Knox, who began researching the village’s past as a retirement project, added: “What has also generated interest is the work on the bridge – the history of the bridge itself and how people crossed the river in the past. So that has been a bit of a catalyst.”
The bridge was built in 1831 but has been closed for repairs since 2019 after an investigation found it in danger of catastrophic collapse.
Mr Knox said: “It has been frustrating for many people because it is a transport link but it is also for leisure and recreation because people use it to walk across and it is part of the Teesdale Way.
“We used to get masses of cyclists coming through the village and they would cross over the bridge which you can’t do anymore.”
St Mary’s Church was consecrated in 1853.
Mr Knox said: “There was a Norman chapel here before that which was in a terrible state of repair.
“That was demolished in 1848 and then they built the Victorian church.”
There are still remnants of the chapel, including a grade-II listed font at the church entrance.
However, the information the group is now hoping to get during their event is more recent.
Mr Knox said: “When it is history, people think it is a hundred years ago or so, but we are interested in more recent times as well. A lot is documented from a hundred years ago, but not perhaps from 40 or 50 years ago.”
Ms Long used her own example as the kind of information the group is looking for: “We moved up in 1977 which was the Queen’s jubilee. I remember the tree being planted on the green, and the games. Dad has some photographs of the games somewhere so we have to find those.”
The free event will take place at Whorlton Village Hall on Sunday, November 10, from 2pm to 4pm.
