Hethpool In The 20th Century

In Volume XI of the County History the current state of Hethpool was tersely summarised as ‘a township without a village, and the sole inhabitants are the dwellers in a small country house, a farm and a few scattered shepherds’ cottages’ (NCH XI (1922), 249). This was to prove premature, with a row of cottages being added at the south end of the settlement only a few years after the volume was published, but more importantly it failed to acknowledge the superb architectural quality of the ‘small country house’ - quality which was also reflected in the new cottages.

Indeed, Hethpool is unique amongst the villages covered by the Northumberland National Park Authority Historic Village Atlas in the extent to which the 20th century has left its mark on the fabric of the settlement.

In virtually every other case the character and essential aspect of the village was already firmly established at the opening of the 20th century. At Hethpool the character of the settlement is determined largely by a group of buildings belonging to the second and third decades of that century.