Bowes

For other uses, see Bowes (disambiguation).
Bowes

Bowes Castle
Bowes
 Bowes shown within County Durham
Population 471 (2011, including Gilmonby)[1]
OS grid referenceNY995135
Unitary authorityCounty Durham
Ceremonial countyCounty Durham
RegionNorth East
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post town BARNARD CASTLE
Postcode district DL12
Dialling code 01833
Police Durham
Fire County Durham and Darlington
Ambulance North East
EU Parliament North East England
UK ParliamentBishop Auckland
List of places
UK
England
County Durham

Coordinates: 54°30′58″N 2°00′32″W / 54.516°N 02.009°W / 54.516; -02.009

Bowes is a village in County Durham, England. Located in the Pennine hills, it is situated close to Barnard Castle. It is built around the medieval Bowes Castle.

Geography and administration

Civic history

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.

History

Main article: Bowes Castle

The Roman name for Bowes was Lavatrae. A Roman army station was located there.

The only pub in the village, The Ancient Unicorn,[2] is reputed to be haunted by several ghosts. The pub has closed down as of 2014. This 17th-century coaching inn famously played host to Charles Dickens as he toured the local area. Dickens found inspiration in the village academy, 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 remain in Bowes churchyard to this day.[3]

Until the 1960s, the village was served by Bowes railway station.

Education

Bowes has a single primary school at the centre of the village, Bowes Hutchinson's C of E (Aided) Primary School.[4]

Notable people

Thomas Kipling (bap. 1745, d. 1822), dean of Peterborough, was born in Bowes.[5]

John Bailey (1750–1819), mathematician and land surveyor was born in Bowes.[6]

Richard Cobden (1804–65), the famous manufacturer and politician, was schooled in Bowes.[7]

References

  1. "Parish population 2011". Retrieved 7 July 2015.
  2. The Ancient Unicorn
  3. William Shaw (1782-1850) was the headmaster of The Bowes Academy, and is said to have been the model for Wackford Squeers in Nicholas Nickleby. And George Ashton Taylor, who died in 1822 aged 19 apparently inspired Dickens to create the character of Smike in the same novel.
  4. Bowes Hutchinson's C of E (Aided) Primary School website
  5. Robert Hole, ‘Kipling, Thomas (bap. 1745, d. 1822)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 2 May 2011
  6. T. F. Henderson, ‘Bailey, John (1750–1819)’, rev. H. K. Higton, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 2 May 2011
  7. Miles Taylor, ‘Cobden, Richard (1804–1865)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2009 accessed 2 May 2011
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