06/05/2026
HOLYWELL DENE is on our doorstep & it is a dene for all seasons but spring is, to my mind, the best. Here is a A POTTED HISTORY
Delightful Holywell Dene is a steep-sided, ancient semi-natural woodland which lies in the south east corner of Northumberland, with a small proportion slipping into North Tyneside. It stretches for some 6km from Seghill, in the west, to Seaton Sluice, in the east, and is close to the villages of Holywell and Old Hartley. The Seaton Burn, which flows from Big Waters Nature Reserve, in the west, to the coast at Seaton Sluice, in the east, is an important feature of the Dene as it twists and turns on its journey to the North Sea.
The first reference to Holywell Dene appeared in or about the year 800 when it was then referred to as Merkel Dene in the Manor of Hartley. In 1219 the Manor of Hartley was conferred to Gilbert de Laval and became part of the Delaval Estate. And so it remains, although in 2000 the Estate granted the two Councils, Northumberland and North Tyneside, a 99-year lease of the Dene and it was subsequently designated a Local Nature Reserve. In the same year, a voluntary community group, called Friends of Holywell Dene, was established to assist with the repair and maintenance of the Dene, a task they continue to this day.
Human Settlements
It is thought that the earliest settlement in Holywell Dene was known as `Gouldens Hole` which is believed to have existed here since Saxon times. At the time of the first Census in 1841, the settlement consisted of 10 houses accommodating 53 residents whilst the first Ordnance Survey Six-inch Map of the area, published in 1865, named the settlement as `Golden Hole` and described it, at that time, as being `in ruins`.
Corn Mills
In 1628 the Delaval Estate granted a lease for a water and windmill to grind corn, and both continued to operate for nigh on 150 years. The water mill buildings remained occupied until 1870 whilst the two houses, associated with the windmill, remained occupied until around 1960.
In 1760 the Delaval Estate granted a new lease for a water and windmill with only the former, Hartley Mill, actually in the Dene. It operated until around 1920 whilst the associated house remained in occupation until 1970. A very small section of the outside wall of the mill still stands to this day and can be spotted by the eagle eyed.
Coal Mining
Coal had been dug and used as fuel by households since earliest times and, around the year 1600, the Delaval Estate started leasing land in the area to wealthy entrepreneurs to mine coal. This ultimately resulted in a waggonway, and a wooden viaduct over the Seaton Burn, being constructed to transport coal to the harbour at Seaton Sluice for export. Many of the oak trees within the Dene were used in the construction of both waggonway and viaduct.
On the edge of the Dene stood a small settlement known as Old Engine, where, in 1760, an engine was built to draw coal from the nearby mine. The engine was subsequently dismantled in 1780 but the associated 6 houses remained in occupation for a further 150 years. At the time of the 1841 Census the houses were home to 32 people with one family making and selling boots and shoes.
Farming
The ‘ridge and furrow’ fields adjacent to the Dene, still visible today, show that families living in the Dene were operating a method of farming from medieval times. In 1574, farms, as we know them today, were introduced within the Dene namely; Crow Hall Farm, Hartley West Farm and Grove Farm.
Whilst the first two named farms are still operating today, Grove Farm ceased being a farm in 1860. However, the buildings remained occupied until sometime between 1920 and 1939 with 15 people still in residence at the time of the 1911 census.
Finally
In 1841 there were 198 people living in various locations within the Dene, and even as late as 1911, there were still some 77 residents. This chequered history of human usage is difficult to believe as you wander along a spider`s web of footpaths, beneath a canopy of mature trees and across rustic wooden bridges with only the crisp sound of birdsong as a soundtrack.
