Edmundbyers

Human settlement in England

Edmondbyers

Unitary authority

County Durham

Durham

Region

North East

CountryEnglandSovereign stateUnited KingdomPost townDURHAMPostcode districtDH8Dialling code01207PoliceDurhamFire County Durham and Darlington Ambulance North East UK Parliament

North West Durham

List of places: UK; England; County Durham

54°50′46″N 1°58′34″W / 54.846°N 1.976°W / 54.846; -1.976

Edmundbyers is a village in County Durham, in England. It is situated a few miles to the west of Consett, near Derwent Reservoir. In 2001 it had a population of 118.^[1] The civil parish of Edmondbyers had a population taken at the 2011 Census of 173.^[2] Today, the village has a pub, a youth hostel, a church, a village hall and a small shop. A bus service, the 773, serves the village, connecting it to Townfield, Hunstanworth and Consett.

There is evidence of prehistoric settlement in the area from the Neolithic era onwards.^[3] It is listed in the Boldon Book (1183): "Alan Bruntoft holds Edmundbires for his service in the forest”. However, Bishop Hatfield's survey of c. 1382 shows that the land had been transferred to Durham Cathedral: “The Prior holds the vill of Edmundbires, sometime of Alan Bruntop, by forest service”.^[4]

The village church, St Edmund's, has evidence of pre-Norman building,^[5] but it mainly dates from the 12th century, with renovations from 1859 onwards. The pre-Reformation stone altar was rediscovered and replaced in the church during the restoration.^[6] There is a list of rectors beginning with Richard de Kirkeby in 1275 and ending with John Durie, A. M., on 2 July 1629. The incumbents after 1629 have also been in charge of the parish of Muggleswick.^[4]

A Wesleyan Methodist chapel was erected in 1835. The Primitive Methodists met in a private house. The parish school was erected in 1825.^[7]

The youth hostel (dated 1936 over the lintel) is made up of three houses built in the mid- to late 18th century.^[8]

Edmundbyers Cross is one of only three wayside crosses still in its original position in County Durham, and the only known example on the route between Stanhope and Edmundbyers.^[9]

Etymology

Edmundbyers means "Eādmund's dwellings", from the Old English personal name Eādmund (modern Edmund) and bur "dwelling", modern bower, here in the dialect form byer. An undated record of the name lists the village as Edminber.

References

^ "Wear Valley Settlement Summary Sheets" (PDF). Durham County Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 October 2007. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
^ "Civil Parish population 2011". Retrieved 31 January 2016.
^ Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne. Volume 5. 1893. p. 216.
^ ^a ^b Surtees, Robert (1820). The History and Antiquities of the County Palatine of Durham: Volume 2. pp. 363–364.
^ Featherstonhaugh, W. (1858). "Notes on St Edmund's Church, Edmundbyers". Archaeologia Aeliana. 3: 263–268.
^ "Historic England listing". Archived from the original on 24 June 2021.
^ History, Topography, and Directory of the County Palatine of Durham. 1856. p. 894.
^ "Historic England listing". Archived from the original on 24 June 2021.
^ "Historic England listing". Archived from the original on 15 August 2020.