One of the lesser known nonconformist religious groups in the Derwent Valley are the Quakers or Society of Friends. They had a presence on both the Northumberland and Durham sides of the valley. Sadly their Meeting Houses have now either vanished or have been adapted for other purposes. However records of their former presence still exist either on paper or stone.

A walled Quaker burial ground can be found near Whinnowhills Farm on the north side of the Derwent reservoir, together with the remains of the former Meeting House. There are no headstones in the burial ground but a record of Quaker Burials at Winnows Hill (108 Kb) is held at the farm together with a visitor’s book. I am indebted to Mrs. Jean Robinson who, together with her husband, were tenants of the farm when I visited there about a year and a half ago, for getting me a hard copy of the Burial records. My thanks also to Newcastle Society of Friends for permission to reproduce these records on the website.

Mrs. Robinson also managed to find me a copy of ‘The Parish Post’ dated 7th July 1999 which has a photocopy of a photograph of the Quaker Chapel, Winnows Hill on the front page. Unfortunately, this is not really clear enough for reproduction on the website. It appears to have been taken from a postcard; try as I might, including an approach to Beamish museum, I have not been able to track down the original. If anyone reading this page can point me in the right direction I would be extremely grateful.

I am continuing to research the local Quaker history and will update this page as information becomes available.

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