Scotland Gate

[mazzie74]

Hi,

This is from the death certificate of my Gt-Aunt (a baby) who died at Scotland Gate.

 I have included the address of death, and the fathers address.

I know Scotland Gate is in present day Choppington, but I think they came under the jurisdiction of Bedlington in those days.

Thanks,

Darin.

[Phodgetts]

Here is some information about Choppington from an archiac tome of mine published in 1825. It says of Choppington,

"Choppington, or CHABYNTON, lies at a short distance west from Cambois, and four miles east by south from Morpeth. It is a small village, and gives name to a township. The first proprietor of Choppington was Hugo de Hexham, of Newcastle upon Tyne, who held the manor of the lord bishop in capite, by fealty and six marks rent. The family of Wilkinson, of Wystoe, also held lands at Choppington and Cambois. South and North Choppington now belong to Mr. Cook and Mr. Clarke. There is a colliery winning here. The Guide Post is a small hamlet, consisting of six houses, including a public house."

Sadly no mention is made of Scotland Gate at the time of publishing in 1825, which fits in with it's apparent non-existence and Michael's comments re the maps of the era.

I wonder what might have been said about it in the huge 10 volume work about the History of Northumberland published in 1909. I shall go and find out and report back.

Philip

[Phodgetts]

Just for general interest including mention of how Scotland Gate is thought to have got it's name.

http://www.sixtmedia.org.uk/page3.php

Philip

[lazytee]

Thank you Mazzie and Philip for your interesting contributions.  The story of how Scotland Gate got its name certainly has a ring of truth about it, and the 1901 document about the parish of Choppington gives me a lot of new information about the area.  I feel I now have a much better understanding of Choppington and Scotland Gate.

Thanks again to everyone who has replied.

Hazel

[Phodgetts]

I had a look through the Northumberland History volumes and couldn't find a reference to Choppington / Guide Post or Scotland Gate. A shame as I had hoped there might be more information there.

I also looked up Old Maps and the 1865 map for the area where Scotland Gate is now, shows nothing but three long fields side by side on a north south alignment between Choppington Inn and Whinny Hill Farm. It is quite a jump in time to the next available maps which are dated 1898. There is also quite a difference in that there were more houses in the area, Choppington itself was bigger and of course the A pit and the railway were all in place by 1898. The three original fields I mentioned before were however divided up. The clay pit and the brick & tile works had expanded to the north of it's original site and Scotland Gate as a field ran east - west across the top of the clay pits. Scotland Gate was on the west side of what is today the A1068, and not on the east side of the road which is where the modern housing now is. The location of Scotland Gate to the east of the A1068 was recorded on the 1924 map of the area which indicates a 'change in use' of the name from the original field site to the houses and community developing on the opposite side of the road.
The original Scotland Gate field site is now again unoccupied land, though it is now covered in trees and shrubs, the original field dimensions and boundaries lost with the landscaping of that area no doubt after the pits were closed and the heaps cleared away. Of course, despite the passage of time, the name lives on with it's association to the houses and community.
I am very interested in the old Blyth & Tyne Railway and as part of that and various other bits of research done and old photographs encountered, Choppington and that area has changed beyond recognition. It has gone from a small thriving industrial area to what I would now call semi-rural with virtually no trace of the former industries at that location, even the railway and large timber viaduct has vanished without trace.

Philip

[Phodgetts]

I also know of a photo of the Choppington Colliery A pit looking north from the railway viaduct dated 1963. When you look at the photo the colliery houses were built in rows on the left side of the pit. The rows of houses show up on the 1949 map but not on the 1966 map, only the street plan is visible on the 1966 map. The only reason I mention it is because you said your ancestors live there.

I hope you enjoy seeing the photo. The internet is an amazing tool.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/irishswissernie/5660993492/sizes/l/in/photostream/

If you rummage about in amongst Ernie's other photos you will see more of the Choppington Viaduct and the main Blyth & Tyne railway at Choppington which no doubt your family members would have been familiar with as I expect they would have travelled by train from Choppington. I also know that Ernie used to sell his photos, so if you drop him a line explaining your interest you might just get hold of a nice photo for your family history archive. Just in case you wondered, no I don't get commission from Ernie.

Philip

[barryd]

Scotland Gate still exists and is slightly north east of St. Paul The Apostle Church, Choppington on the A1068. The Vicarage, Scotland Gate, Choppington is the address of the present Vicar.
The Family History Library (LDS) has the records of Choppington 1866-1902

[lazytee]

Philip:

Thank you very much for all the time and trouble you have taken to find out about Scotland Gate for me.  And well done for making the Old Maps website work.  I always have a lot of trouble getting what I want from it.  Also I was most interested to read your account of the changes at Choppington/Scotland Gate in the last 50 years.  I did make a brief visit there a few years ago, but of course I didn't have much idea of what the village had been like when it was a thriving coal mining community.

The photo of A pit is a great one for my collection, though it was probably taken after my ancestors left.  I reckon they lived there from about 1857-1863.  By that time they had moved up the road to Sheepwash Bank and by 1869 further away to Stobswood.  But my gggrandparents were at 2nd Row Choppington in 1861 (not 1661 as I said earlier - sorry for the typo), and there is a good photo of 3rd Row (probably taken in the early 20th century) at:

       www.bedlington.co.uk/community/gallery/image/1209-choppington-colliery-3rd-rowjpg/

so I do have bit of a feel for what the village was like.  As you say, the internet, and especially Rootschat, is a most  amazing tool for research, particularly when you live a long way from the homes of your ancestors.  I will have a browse through Ernie's photos to see if there is anything else of interest. 

Barry:  Thank you for your message.  I don't think, however, that my grandmother and her siblings were baptized in the C of E.  I have never found anything about them on the IGI.

Many thanks to you both

Hazel.

[2zpool]

I don't think Choppington St. Paul records are anything you can find on line.  I have some Methodist records from the area--what are the names and dates you are looking for?

Some of my family members moved to Scotland Gate around 1855 or so--and some still live there or maybe they live in Guide Post.   Choppingotn St. Paul for a few years and not many pages 1869-1871 is on the BT's.

Janis