Bowes
Template:Short description Template:About Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use British English Template:Infobox UK place
Bowes is a village and civil parish in County Durham, England. Located in the Pennine hills, it is situated close to Barnard Castle. It is built around the medieval Bowes Castle. In 2021 the parish had a population of 442.<ref name=census2021>Table PP002 - Sex, from {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Geography and administrationEdit
Bowes lies within the historic county boundaries of the North Riding of Yorkshire, but along with the rest of the former Startforth Rural District it was incorporated into the non-metropolitan county of Durham for administrative purposes on 1 April 1974, under the provisions of the Local Government Act 1972.
The A66 and A67 roads meet at Bowes.
HistoryEdit
{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} The Roman name for Bowes was Lavatrae. A Roman fort was located there, which was re-used as the site for Bowes Castle.
The place-name 'Bowes' is first attested in a charter of 1148, where it appears as Bogas. This is the plural of the Old English boga meaning 'bow', probably signifying an arched bridge.<ref>Eilert Ekwall, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names, p.56.</ref>
The village church is dedicated to St Giles.
The only pub in the village, the formerly named George Inn owned by the Railton family and now named The Ancient Unicorn,<ref>The Ancient Unicorn</ref> is reputed to be haunted by several ghosts. This 17th-century coaching inn famously played host to Charles Dickens as he toured the local area. Dickens found inspiration in the village schools which he immortalised as Dotheboys Hall in Nicholas Nickleby, and the graves of two of the people who inspired characters portrayed by the great author can be seen in Bowes churchyard to this day. George Ashton Taylor, who died in 1822 aged 19, apparently inspired Dickens to create the character of Smike in the same novel.
From 1861 to 1962, the village was served by Bowes railway station. Just to the north of the village at Stoney Keld, is the site of the former RAF Bowes Moor, a chemical warfare agent storage site between 1941 and 1947.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Bowes Loop of the Pennine Way goes through the site.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
The village is also home to possibly the smallest former working men's club in the country.Template:Citation needed Now known as Bowes Social Club, it is run by volunteers and is often used as a venue to raise money for local events.
EducationEdit
Bowes has a single primary school at the centre of the village, Bowes Hutchinson's C of E (Aided) Primary School.<ref>Bowes Hutchinson's C of E (Aided) Primary School website</ref>
Notable peopleEdit
Thomas Kipling (bap. 1745, d. 1822), dean of Peterborough, was born in Bowes.<ref>Robert Hole, ‘Kipling, Thomas (bap. 1745, d. 1822)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 2 May 2011</ref>
John Bailey (1750–1819), mathematician and land surveyor was born in Bowes.<ref>T. F. Henderson, ‘Bailey, John (1750–1819)’, rev. H. K. Higton, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 2 May 2011</ref>
Richard Cobden (1804–65), manufacturer and politician, was schooled in Bowes.<ref>Miles Taylor, ‘Cobden, Richard (1804–1865)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2009 accessed 2 May 2011</ref>
ReferencesEdit
External linksEdit
- Bowes village website
- {{#if:NY995135|[[Ordnance Survey National Grid|{{#if:Template:Yesno|Grid|grid}} reference]] {{#invoke:Ordnance Survey coordinates|oscoord|NY995135_region:GB_scale:25000|NY995135|name=}}}}