Witton-le-Wear
| Witton-le-Wear | |
|---|---|
 School Street, Witton-le-Wear |
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 Witton-le-Wear
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| Witton-le-Wear shown within County Durham | |
| Population | 690 (2011) |
| OS grid reference | NZ150320 |
| Unitary authority | |
| Ceremonial county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | BISHOP AUCKLAND |
| Postcode district | DL14 |
| Dialling code | 01388 |
| Police | Durham |
| Fire | County Durham and Darlington |
| Ambulance | North East |
| EU Parliament | North East England |
| UK Parliament | |
Witton-le-Wear is a small village in County Durham, North East England. It is situated on the north bank of the River Wear, 6 km (3.7 mi) to the north-west of Bishop Auckland.
Witton-le-Wear is part of the North West Durham Parliamentary constituency, and is represented by Pat Glass (Labour). For European Parliament purposes the village is in the North East England constituency. The village is within Weardale Ward, which elects two councillors to Durham County Council. The current councillors are Anita Savory (Independent) and John Shuttleworth (Independent). Witton-le-Wear also has an eight-member Parish Council.
The local police force is Durham Constabulary. Witton-le-Wear is in the Wear and Tees division.
The place name Witton or Whitton is fairly common in the north of England. While the name can mean "white farm", in the case of Witton-le-Wear Witton refers to a farm (Anglo-Saxon: ton) in or near woodland (Anglo-Saxon: widu). Witton-le-Wear's name is attested as Wudeton from 1104, but had become Wotton in Werdale by 1313. This subsequently evolved to the present form.
The farming hamlet of Witton-le-Wear was part of the Witton Castle estate, which was bought in 1816 by Sir William Chaytor for £78,000 from the Stobart family. He redeveloped the castle, and in 1819 developed the Jayne Pitt as part of the large Witton Park Colliery complex. This brought about the development of transport into the area, including the Etherley Incline Railway by George Stephenson, that connected to the (S&DR) at Shildon, and hence onwards via to Newport on the River Tees.
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