View source for Wooler

{{Short description|Town in Northumberland, England}}
{{other uses}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2022}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2025}}
{{Infobox UK place
|country = England 
|official_name = Wooler
|coordinates = {{coord|55.5461|-2.0166|display=inline,title}}
|static_image_name = Wooler Town Centre - geograph.org.uk - 240656.jpg
|static_image_caption = Wooler Town Centre
|population = 1,983
|population_ref=(2011 census (including Earle))<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=11130923&c=NE71+6AE&d=16&e=62&g=6452933&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&m=0&r=0&s=1435921398378&enc=1|title=Town population 2011|access-date=3 July 2015}}</ref>
|civil_parish = Wooler  
|unitary_england=        [[Northumberland]]
|lieutenancy_england=    [[Northumberland]]
|region= North East England
|constituency_westminster= [[North Northumberland (UK Parliament constituency)|North Northumberland]]
|post_town= WOOLER
|postcode_district = NE71 
|postcode_area= NE   
|dial_code= 01668
|os_grid_reference= NT989280
}}
'''Wooler''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|w|ʊ|l|ə}} {{respell|WUUL|ə}}) is a town in [[Northumberland]], England on the edge of the [[Northumberland National Park]], near the [[Cheviot Hills]]. It is a popular base for walkers and is referred to as the "Gateway to the Cheviots". As well as shops and public houses, the town has a [[youth hostel]], hotels and campsites. It lies on the [[St Cuthbert's Way]] [[long distance trail|long-distance footpath]] between [[Melrose Abbey]] and [[Lindisfarne]].

The main [[A697 road]] links the town with [[Morpeth, Northumberland|Morpeth]] and [[Coldstream]] in the [[Scottish Borders]]. Wooler has two schools; Wooler First School (including Little Acorns Nursery) and Glendale Community Middle School. They share a single campus on Brewery Road providing education for children in the Glendale area from 2 years old to 13 years old.

Close by to the west is [[Yeavering Bell]], crowned by an [[Iron Age]] fort, a stronghold of the [[Votadini]]. The remnants of many stone huts can be seen on its summit, which is surrounded by a collapsed stone wall. At the northern base of the hill is the site of [[Yeavering]] (''Ad Gefrin'' in [[Bede]]'s ''[[Ecclesiastical History of the English People]]''), which was the summer residence of the early [[Anglo-Saxon]] kings of [[Northumbria]].

==History==
Wooler was not recorded in [[Domesday Book]] because in 1086 northern [[Northumbria]] was not under [[Normans|Norman]] control. By 1107, at the time of the creation of the 1st Baron Wooler, the settlement was described as "situated in an ill-cultivated country under the influence of vast mountains, from whence it is subject to impetuous rains". Wooler subsequently enjoyed a period of prosperity and with its expansion it was granted a licence in 1199 to hold a market every Thursday.  St Mary Magdalene Hospital was established around 1288.

Wooler is close to [[Humbleton Hill]], the site of a severe [[Scotland|Scottish]] defeat at the hands of [[Harry Hotspur]] in 1402. The battle is referred to at the beginning of [[William Shakespeare]]'s play ''[[Henry IV, Part 1]]'' – of which Hotspur is the dashing hero.

[[Image:The Kettles Iron Age and Roman settlement near Wooler in Northumberland.jpg|right|thumb|A [[lidar]] view of Wooler's nearby Iron Age and Roman settlement site, The Kettles.]]

After the [[Dissolution of the Monasteries]] the patronage and tithe income from the parish church passed from the [[Bishop of Durham]] to the [[Earl of Tankerville]].

Alexander Dalziel of Wooler (1781–1832) was the father of the celebrated [[Dalziel Brothers]]. Seven of his eight children were artists and became celebrated wood-engravers in London.<ref>[http://www.npg.org.uk/whatson/display/20101/the-dalziel-brothers-a-family-of-engravers.php The Dalziel Brothers – National Portrait Gallery]</ref> Their sister Margaret was also a wood-engraver.

There was once a fountain at the top of Church Street. Between 1887 and 1965 the town was served by [[Wooler railway station]] on the [[Cornhill Branch|Alnwick to Cornhill Branch]].

Wooler formerly had a [[drill hall]], which was also used as a picture house. Children were evacuated to Wooler in [[World War II]].<ref>[http://www.wooler.org.uk/history.htm History], Wooler.org.uk.</ref> During the war the area played an important role in military training, including [[RAF Milfield]]. A wartime [[Munitions|ordnance]] depot on Scotts Park in Wooler led to the discovery in 2025 of 177 practice bombs buried under the children's playground in the park.<ref>{{cite news |first=Jo |last=Lonsdale |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c36x08jezw5o |title=He found a bomb under a playground - and there were 176 more |publisher=BBC News |date=15 August 2025 }}</ref>

==Places of worship==
Wooler has several places of worship including:
* St Mary's Parish Church ([[Anglican]], 1765), Church Street, a Grade II [[listed building]].<ref>{{NHLE|num=1042332|desc=Church of St Mary, Wooler |access-date=3 June 2018}}</ref> (There has been a building on the site for over 700 years.)
* Wooler United Reformed Church (1784), Cheviot Street, a Grade II [[listed building]].<ref>{{NHLE|num=1392233|desc=Wooler United Reformed Church |access-date=3 June 2018}}</ref> (Before the union that formed the [[United Reformed Church]] in 1972, this was Wooler Presbyterian Church.)
* [[St Ninian's Catholic Church, Wooler|St Ninian's Catholic Church]] (1856), Burnhouse Road, a Grade II [[listed building]].<ref>{{NHLE|num=1304105|desc=Roman Catholic Church of St Ninian, Wooler |access-date=3 June 2018}}</ref>
* Wooler Evangelical Church ([[Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches]], 2003), Cheviot Street.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.northumberlandgazette.co.uk/news/new-church-welcomed-1-1479463|title=New church welcomed|work=Northumberland Gazette|access-date=7 June 2018|date=15 July 2003}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wooler-evangelical.org.uk/|title=Wooler Evangelical Church|type=church website|publisher=Self-published|access-date=7 June 2018}}</ref>
At one time, there was a [[Methodist]] congregation in Wooler.  The old Methodist chapel on Cheviot Street is now the Glendale Hall.

==Meaning of place-name==
Wooler may be from Old English ''wella'' ‘well, spring’ and ''ofer'' ([[ridge]], hill). A record of the name as ''Welnfver'' in 1186 seems to suggest this origin. The well or spring referred to is the [[River Till, Northumberland|River Till]]. The Wooler Water, part of which is also known as Happy Valley, is a tributary of the River Till and is formed by a confluence of the Harthope and Carey Burns, which rise in the Cheviot Hills to the south of Wooler.

Another possible origin is ‘Wulfa's hillside’, from the Old English personal name ''Wulfa'' ‘wolf’ and ''őra'' ‘hillside, slope’, although this word in place-names usually means ‘river mouth, shore’. A record of the name as Wulloir in 1232 may suggest this origin.

==Governance==
An [[Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom|electoral ward]] of the same name exists. This ward stretches from the Scottish Border south-east to [[Ingram, Northumberland|Ingram]] and had a total population taken at the 2011 Census of 4,266.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ukcensusdata.com/wooler-e05008084#sthash.ICQh7018.S5B2ZLqT.dpbs|title=Ward population 2011|access-date=3 July 2015}}</ref>

==Media==
Local news and television programmes are provided by [[BBC North East and Cumbria]] and [[ITV Tyne Tees]]. Television signals are received from the [[Chatton transmitting station|Chatton]] TV transmitter and the local relay transmitter situated south west of the town.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://ukfree.tv/transmitters/tv/Wooler | title=Freeview Light on the Wooler (Northumberland, England) transmitter| date=May 2004 }}</ref> Local radio stations are [[BBC Radio Newcastle]], [[Heart North East]], [[Capital North East]], [[Hits Radio North East]], and [[Lionheart Radio]], a community based station which broadcast from [[Alnwick]]. The town is served by the local newspaper, ''[[Northumberland Gazette]]''.

==Freedom of the Parish==
The following people and military units have received the [[Freedom of the City|Freedom of the Parish]] of Wooler.

{{Incomplete list|date=December 2021}}

* Anthony Murray: 27 May 2021.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.northumberlandgazette.co.uk/news/people/long-serving-councillor-awarded-freedom-of-wooler-3252268 |title=Long-serving councillor awarded Freedom of Wooler  |last=Smith |first=Ian |date=27 May 2021 |website=The Northumberland Gazette |access-date=21 December 2021 }}</ref>

<!-- * Rev. Cuthbert Allen of Wooler  1730-1779  Failed verification; https://cullenproject.ac.uk/people/1310/ and https://theclergydatabase.org.uk/jsp/persons/CreatePersonFrames.jsp?PersonID=72462 don't mention freedom of the parish and both give 1780 date of death. 
 -->

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Wooler}}
{{wikivoyage}}
*[https://www.visitwooler.org/ Community website]
*{{cite web|url=https://www.gefrin.com|title=Gefrin|type=archaeology in the Wooler area|publisher=Brian Cosgrove|access-date=7 June 2018}}
*[https://communities.northumberland.gov.uk/Wooler.htm Northumberland Communities]

{{Northumberland}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Wooler| ]]
[[Category:Towns in Northumberland]]
[[Category:Civil parishes in Northumberland]]