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Hwæsa. The origins of the name Washington are not fully known. The most supported theory (especially amongst local historians) is that Washington is derived from Anglo-Saxon Hwæsingatūn, which roughly means "estate of the descendants (family) of Hwæsa".
- Washington Old Hall
- Penshaw Monument
- North East Land, Sea and Air Museums
- WWT Washington Wetland Centre
- Angel of The North
- Beamish Museum
- Arts Centre Washington
- Bowes Railway
- Washington ‘F’ Pit
- Princess Anne Park
This manor house with roots going back to the 12th century was the ancestral home of the first president of the United States, George Washington. His family resided here until the 16th century when they moved to Sulgrave Manor in Northamptonshire and the Old Hall was sold to the Bishop of Durham. In the late 19th century the house became tenement f...
Commanding the landscape for miles, the Penshaw Monument is a Neoclassical gritstone folly at the top of a 136-metre hill. Designed like a Doric tetrastyle temple, the monument was raised in the 1840s in honour of John George Lambton (1792-1840), the first governor of the Province of Canada. Lambton contributed to the Durham Report of 1838, which s...
The largest collection of aircraft in the region is on show at the site of the former airbase, RAF Usworth. Most of the exhibits are from the UK’s post-war aviation boom, and include a Gloster Meteor, an English Electric Lightning, a Hawker Hunter, and maybe most important of all, an Avro Vulcan. This became the first Vulcan to go into a private co...
At this Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust attraction you can observe a wealth of visiting birds, as well as a collection of exotic species kept in habitats. Among the permanent residents are Asian short-clawed otters, Chilean flamingos, Hawaiian geese and white-faced whistling ducks. The park sells bird-feed by the bag, so little ones can get a good look...
An icon for the North East, the Angel of the North is a large-scale contemporary sculpture by Anthony Gormley. Sitting on a hill next to the East Coast Main Line and the A1 and A167 roads, the sculpture is 20 metres tall, with wings that have a span of 54 metres. An intriguing detail about these wings is that they’re angled inwards at 3.5°, to give...
This outstanding museum is a massive time capsule for industry in the North of England around the Edwardian period at the start of the 20th century and the Georgian period at the start of the Industrial Revolution. There are historic buildings in situ or transported piece-by-piece to this site, as well as many thousands of industrial artefacts, veh...
In a converted stone farm complex, the Arts Centre Washington is a multi-disciplinary cultural centre with a vibrant programme that will appeal to all-comers. When we wrote this article in early 2019 the spring programme included a one-man play based on Twelfth Night, a freestyle rapper comedian communicating social issues, a verse adaptation of Ho...
Built by the steam locomotive pioneer, George Stephenson in 1826, the Bowes Railway is the only preserved standard gauge cable railway system still in working order. The line was developed to shift coal from the colliery at Springfield down to the River Tyne, harnessing both steam power and incline planes using ropes. Trains still run on the 1.5-mi...
An imposing reminder of Washington’s 250-year-old coalmining heritage, the Washington ‘F’ Pit is a former colliery at what is now Albany Park. The shaft was sunk as long ago as 1777, making it one of the oldest mines in the area, and some 1,500 men were employed here at the pit’s peak in the middle of the 20th century. Your eye will be drawn to the...
There’s a long tract of rambling grassland and woods, starting just south of the Galleries Shopping Centre and continuing as far as Fatfield in the south. Princess Anne Park is on the banks of the little stream, Oxclose Burn and has mostly been left to nature. There are open meadows for picnics in summer and walking paths bending off into woods. Gi...
William became the first member of the family that ultimately gave its name to the capital city of the USA. So Washington, District of Columbia (DC) acquired its name from Washington in County Durham (CD), though today Washington is now part of the City of Sunderland. Gateway, Washington Old Hall © David Simpson.
WASHINGTON, a village, a township, and a parish, in Chester-le-Street district, Durham. The village stands 1 mile NNW of Washington r. station, and 6 SE by S of Gateshead; and has a postal letter-box under Washington station.
From exploring the historic Washington Old Hall to taking a leisurely stroll along the picturesque River Wear, there are countless attractions and activities to enjoy. So pack your bags and get ready to discover all that Washington, County Durham has to offer!
Find out when Washington Old Hall is open, how to get here, the things to see and do and more. Discover the surprising links between the history of Washington Old Hall and one of the founding fathers of the United States, George Washington.
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Washington is a town in Tyne and Wear in the northeast of England. It was a small mining village but from 1964 became the core of a planned New Town, with a population of over 67,000 in 2011. It was part of County Durham until 1974 when the metropolis of Tyne and Wear was created.
