:Piercebridge

Piercebridge is named after its Roman bridge or brigg: in 1104 it was Persebrig; in 1577 it was Priestbrigg. It is thought that pierce comes from pershe, meaning osiers, perhaps because the bridge was at least partly made of osier twigs in 1050 when the name is first recorded. Alternative suggested meanings, of "priest" and the name "Piers", would be too modern in origin for such an old place name.

{{Main|Demographics of Tees Valley}}The population of the civil parish as of the 2011 census was 113.{{cite web |title=Civil parish population 2011 |url=http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=11127560&c=Piercebridge&d=16&e=62&g=6377594&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&m=0&r=1&s=1454501571703&enc=1 |access-date=3 February 2016}}

{{main|Piercebridge Roman Fort}}

The Romans built a fort here to defend the crossing against the Brigantes. The Roman fort known as Morbium is now located under the village green. It was sited adjacent to Dere Street, at the point where the Roman road crossed the River Tees. The fort was occupied continuously from about 70 CE to at least the fifth century. A civilian settlement was to the east of the fort in Tofts Field. A Roman bath house was incorporated into St Mary's chapel (now on private land).{{cite web|url=http://www.durham-pa.gov.uk/durhamcc/K2P.nsf/K2PDetail?readform&PRN=D1550 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20070516044500/http://www.durham-pa.gov.uk/durhamcc/K2P.nsf/K2PDetail?readform&PRN=D1550 |url-status=dead |archive-date=16 May 2007 |title=Keys to the Past |year=2010 |work=Piercebridge, St. Mary's; site of Medieval chapel. (Piercebridge) |publisher=County Durham |access-date=9 March 2010 }}{{cite web|url=http://www.darlington.gov.uk/PublicMinutes/Cabinet/August%2030%202005/Item%2013%20Appendix.pdf|title=Darlington.gov.uk|year=2005|work=Piercebridge conservation area character appraisal, consultation draft|publisher=Darlington|access-date=9 March 2010}} The archaeology television programme Time Team was here in 2009, attracted by Piercebridge Roman Fort.{{cite web|url=http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/features/blogs/staff/echomemories/4472760.Time_Team_in_the_area/|title=The Northern Echo|last=Lloyd|first=Chris|date=2 July 2009|work=Piercebridge: Time Team investigates|access-date=9 March 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120927204747/http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/features/blogs/staff/echomemories/4472760.Time_Team_in_the_area/|archive-date=27 September 2012|df=dmy-all}}

Following the departure of the Romans in 410CE, the area in and around the fort remained inhabited for about another century.{{cite web|url=http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/archive/piercebridge_eh_2008/index.cfm?CFID=3604358&CFTOKEN=55364513|title=ADS Archsearch|last=Evans|first=Tim|date=1996–2010|work=Roman Piercebridge ALSF Project Number 4698|access-date=9 March 2010}} The plain it sits on in the Tees Valley was the site of Battle of Catraeth. The kingdom of Catraeth was composed of the descendants of the Brigantes.

File:Piercebridge bridge 025.jpg

There was no permanent inhabitation in the area until the Normans arrived in the mid 11th century.{{citation needed|date=October 2021}}

There was no medieval Piercebridge parish, but there was a chapel recorded in 1546.{{cite web|url=http://www.durham-pa.gov.uk/DURHAMCC/K2P.nsf/K2PDetail?readform&PRN=D6859 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20070516044500/http://www.durham-pa.gov.uk/DURHAMCC/K2P.nsf/K2PDetail?readform&PRN=D6859 |url-status=dead |archive-date=16 May 2007 |title=Keys to the Past |year=2010 |work=Local History Piercebridge (County Durham) |publisher=Northumberland County Council |access-date=14 January 2010 }} The name of White Cross Farm and cottage may come from the 17th century apocryphal tale that one of the Dukes of Cleveland demanded the whitewashing of houses on his land so that he could recognise his own property should he require shelter during a storm while hunting.{{cite web|url=http://www.englandsnortheast.co.uk/Teesdale.html|title=County Durham|last=Simpson|first=David|date=1991–2009|work=Teesdale and Barnard Castle|access-date=12 March 2010}} The 18th-century farmhouse, Piercebridge Grange, may be on the site of a monastic grange. It was tenanted by James Rawe, gentleman, in 1847.{{cite web|url=http://www.jaydax.co.uk/family/pafc07.htm|title=Last will and testament of John Chapman, 1847|year=1847|work=Citation|access-date=12 March 2010}} It is now a Grade II listed building,{{cite web|url=http://www.darlington.gov.uk/dar_public/Documents/Development%20and%20Environment/Development%20and%20Regeneration/Planning%20Services/Conservation/LBIndex.pdf|title=Darlington Borough Council: Index of buildings in Darlington borough|date=19 August 2008|work=Parish Piercebridge|publisher=Regeneration Division, chief executive's Department, Darlington Borough Council|pages=42|access-date=12 March 2010}} but was derelict by 2008.{{cite web|url=http://www.darlington.gov.uk/dar_public/Documents/Development%20and%20Environment/Development%20and%20Regeneration/Planning%20Services/Conservation/BaR.pdf|title=Buildings at risk register|year=2008|work=Piercebridge Grange Farm|publisher=Darliington Borough Council|pages=31|access-date=12 March 2010}} The Battle of Piercebridge was partly fought on the bridge, when on 1 December 1642 a small Royalist contingent including William Cavendish defended it against Parliamentarians led by Lord Fairfax. St Mary's church and churchyard were used for 115 extant memorials and burials from 1836 to 1987.{{cite web|url=http://www.familyhistoryonline.net/database/ClevelandFHS_MI.shtml|title=Federation of Family History Societies|date=2002–2009|work=Cleveland, North Yorkshire and County Durham Memorial Inscription index|access-date=12 March 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100219194746/http://www.familyhistoryonline.net/database/ClevelandFHS_MI.shtml|archive-date=19 February 2010|df=dmy-all}} In 2001 the Piercebridge area suffered in the foot and mouth epidemic.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1207463.stm|date=19 October 2001|title=Timeline: Foot-and-mouth cases|access-date=12 March 2010 | work=BBC News}} By 1887, the village had grown to cover {{convert|973|acre|km2}} of which 17 were water. It had a population of 206, a railway station and a post office.{{cite web|url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/place_page.jsp?p_id=5301&st=Piercebridge|title=A vision of Britain through time: Piercebridge County Durham|last=Bartholomew|first=John|year=1887|work=1887, John Bartholomew's Gazetteer of the British Isles|access-date=12 March 2010}} Since then it has lost the railway station, gained few residents, and retained its post office.{{cite web|url=http://www.thomsonlocal.com/Piercebridge-Post-Office/0354632196206023000/map/companyinfo.html|title=Thomson local.com|year=2010|work=Piercebridge Post Office|access-date=12 March 2010}}

A clock in the George Hotel inspired Henry Clay Work's 1876 song "My Grandfather's Clock". The clock was said to have been owned by two brothers named Jenkins. When one brother died, the clock began losing time, and it stopped for ever upon the death of the other.{{cite web |title=History of the Grandfather Clock at the George Hotel in Piercebridge, Darlington, County Durham - The George Hotel |url=http://www.george-ontees.co.uk/history-of-the-grandfather-clock/ |publisher=The George Hotel |access-date=27 August 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903134532/http://www.george-ontees.co.uk/history-of-the-grandfather-clock/ |archive-date=3 September 2014 |df=dmy-all }}

Within the village there are numerous Georgian and Victorian cottages: some painted white or cream; some of one storey only. There are several Grade II listed buildings in the village and its environs, including White Cross Farmhouse, White Cross Cottage, Carlbury Bridge, Piercebridge Grange Farmhouse, the Church of St Mary and its wall and gate, and numbers 2, 28, 29 and 30 on The Green. The Grange farm buildings, however, were developed into residential properties in 2008.{{cite web|url=http://www.charltonsestateagents.com/details.php?id=1857|title=Charltons|year=2008|work=Details for Piercebridge Grange – For Sale|access-date=12 March 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708135559/http://www.charltonsestateagents.com/details.php?id=1857|archive-date=8 July 2011|df=dmy-all}} Piercebridge Roman Bridge and the medieval chapel ruins on Roman foundations behind Bath House in Tees View are listed Grade II*. The bridge carrying the main B6275 road was originally built in the early 16th century and was widened in 1781; it is Grade II* listed and a Scheduled Ancient Monument.{{NHLE |num=1145843 |desc=PIERCEBRIDGE BRIDGE|date =3 November 2000 |access-date=22 April 2020}} The village green contains some very old trees, and in the river are trout and grayling.{{cite web|url=http://www.information-britain.co.uk/county40/townguidePiercebridge+On+Tees/|title=Information Britain|year=2009|work=A guide to Piercebridge on Tees|access-date=9 March 2010}} At the north end of the village, near the A67 is the Carlbury Arms pub.{{cite web|url=http://www.livingnortheast.co.uk/restaurant/4225718.Carlbury_Arms__Piercebridge/|title=Living: restaurant guide|date=23 March 2009|work=Carlbury Arms, Piercebridge|access-date=12 March 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090619074854/http://livingnortheast.co.uk/restaurant/4225718.Carlbury_Arms__Piercebridge/|archive-date=19 June 2009|df=dmy-all}} There is also a Farmway Country Store and Piercebridge Feed Company, retailing rural supplies.{{cite web|url=http://www.farmway.co.uk/corporate/|title=Farmway|year=2009|work=Suppliers to the rural community|access-date=12 March 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100618064453/http://www.farmway.co.uk/corporate/|archive-date=18 June 2010|df=dmy-all}} The dismantled Tees Valley Railway has become the Tees Valley Railway Path.{{cite web|url=http://www.ldwa.org.uk/ldp/members/show_path.php?path_name=Tees+Valley+Railway+Path|title=The long distance walkers association|work=Tees Valley Railway Path|access-date=12 March 2010}} Church services are held at St Mary's every other week,{{cite web|url=http://www.churchindarlington.org.uk/churches/a_st_marys_piercebridge.htm|title=Churchindarlington.org.uk|work=St Mary's Church, Piercebridge|access-date=12 March 2010}} and there is also a Wesleyan Methodist chapel.{{cite web|url=http://www.durham-pa.gov.uk/durhamcc/DRE.nsf/DREPicture?readform&PIC=dre/m/09699.jpg&NAME=Piercebridge,+Wesleyan+Chapel&IMGID=M9099&KEYWORD=Wesleyan+Methodists |title=durham-pa.gov.uk |year=1981 |work=Piercebridge, Wesleyan chapel |publisher=Durham County Council |access-date=12 March 2010 }}{{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/nra/searches/subjectView.asp?ID=O98239|title=The National Archives|year=2009|work=Piercebridge Methodist Church, 1864–1961 minutes and accounts|access-date=12 March 2010}}

Originally Dere Street crossed the Tees {{convert|260|yd|m}} further upstream, but in 1771 a flood washed away the remains of the old Roman bridge, and in 1789 a new bridge replaced the ferry. The 1806 map shows Dere Street as the main route via Piercebridge between Richmond and Bishop Auckland, although the Ripon-Durham route went via Darlington.{{cite web|url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/maps/|title=A vision of Britain through time: historical maps|last=Smith|first=C.|year=1806|work=C.Smith: New Map of Great Britain and Ireland, central England, 1806, 1:633600 |access-date=12 March 2010}} The 1904 map shows the route diverted via Staindrop, and that part of Dere Street between Piercebridge and Bishop Auckland had become a minor road.{{cite web|url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/maps/|title=A vision of Britain through time: historical maps|last=Ordnance Survey|year=1904|work=Ordnance Survey sheets 7 and 8, 1904, 1:633600|publisher=OS|access-date=12 March 2010}} This was possibly due to the advent of the NER Darlington and Barnard Castle railway (1856) whose {{rws|Piercebridge}} station closed to passengers in 1964. According to the land-usage map of 1942, this was an area of arable land and pasture, and the urbanisation around Darlington had not yet begun to encroach.{{cite web|url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/maps/|title=A vision of Britain through time: his torical maps|year=1942|work=Geographical Publications Limited Land Utilisation Survey of Britain, Sheet 2|publisher=Ordnance Survey|access-date=12 March 2010}}

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category|Piercebridge}}

• [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/mapsheet.aspx?compid=55116&sheetid=3164&ox=2515&oy=946&zm=1&czm=1&x=164&y=183 OS map of Piercebridge, 1859]
• [http://www.darlington.gov.uk/PublicMinutes/Cabinet/August%2030%202005/Item%2013%20Appendix.pdf Piercebridge conservation area character appraisal 2005]

{{Geographic location

|Centre = Piercebridge

|North = Summerhouse

|Northeast = Walworth

|East = Carlbury

|Southeast = River Tees / Manfield

|South = River Tees / Cliffe

|Southwest = River Tees / Eppleby

|West = Gainford

|Northwest = Headlam

}}

{{Civil parishes in County Durham}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Villages in County Durham

Category:Places in the Borough of Darlington

Category:Places in the Tees Valley