Wikipedia
Winlaton is a village situated in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead, Tyne and Wear. Once an independent village in County Durham, it became incorporated into the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear and Borough of Gateshead in 1974. By 2011 the village had been absorbed into the Gateshead MBC ward of Winlaton and High Spen. The population of this ward at the 2011 census was 8,342.
Winlaton was once at the centre of the local steel industry. Ambrose Crowley, a Quaker nail-manufacturer, moved in 1691 to Winlaton. He set up furnaces and forges there and on the River Derwent at Winlaton Mill. The river was ideally suitable for tempering steel, as the sword-makers of Shotley Bridge also found. Crowley not only produced high-quality nails, but also iron goods such as pots, hinges, wheel-hubs, hatchets and edged tools. He could also make heavy forgings, such as chains, pumps, cannon carriages and anchors up to four tons in weight. The Crowley works were regarded as the largest manufactory of the kind in Europe. The gates for Buckingham palace were also forged in Winlaton.
It still has one of the oldest forges remaining in existence, built c1690.
Winlaton's front street is the village's forefront for shopping, as it has a variety of shops, public houses and takeaways. The Winlaton Centre, a local events venue, was built in 1973, and is host to events such as youth clubs and fitness classes.
The parish churches are dedicated to St Paul and St And David hall", a local Blaydon celebrity (1829-1900), is buried at St Paul's church graveyard. He "...would be an outstanding figure in any crowd. Not only was he over six feet six inches and well made (he was a blacksmith at Winlaton), but he was quite a dandy and on special occasions wore a tall white hat."
Winlaton may refer to:
- Winlaton, a village in County Durham, England
- Winlaton, Victoria, a village in Victoria, Australia
- Winlaton Youth Training Centre, a youth correctional facility in Victoria, Australia