The word "Gill", meaning a stream, refers to the stream carrying the united flows of the Spen Burn and Low Spen Burn through Sherburn Wood, then through a culvert under the ‘green’ and the A694 road near the site of the former Towneley Arms, and finally through the present-day Derwent Park to the River Derwent.
The earliest known reference to this stream is found in an agreement regarding the maintenance of the 1728 wagon way which came down Burnopfield Bank then followed the line of Burnopfield Road and the A694 (Northumberland Record Office John/1 pages 198-207). This document refers to the raising of "batterys or mounts in & over the several places, the one from the bridge & crossing [the] River Darwt., one other over & cross the Gill called Rowland Richardsons Gill, & one other over & cross the Gill called Fra[ncis] Proctors Gill"., this reference establishing that the stream and village names stem from a certain Rowland Richardson.
ROWLANDS GILL – a community about to be born
In the Eighteenth Century coal-mining developed at Pontop near Burnopfield and it was this activity which was to open up the Derwent Valley with the building of a wagon way which principally served collieries at Bucksnook, Colliery, Pontop and Tantobie. Initially called the ‘Bucksnook Way’, today usually referred to as ‘the Western Way’, it was opened in 1728 and served to haul the coals down the hill past Gibside Estate, over the river Derwent at Cowford Bridge (now the Derwent Bridge) continuing along the valley by the riverside to the staithes at Derwenthaugh on the Tyne, a distance of eight and a half miles.
ROWLANDS GILL – the beginnings of a village
Drawing of Smailes Farm. (Source: Brian Pears).
Prior to 1835 the area which was to become the village of Rowlands Gill consisted of fields and rough tracks – no roads – and a few farms at Smailes. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries a couple of terraced houses were built for farm labourers, this terrace to include the first Towneley Arms public house and later a butcher’s shop.
c. 1900 - The terrace on the right, seen from the back, was originally built for farm labourers in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. (Source: Rowlands Gill in Old Picture Postcards N. G. Rippeth)
1835 When the turnpike (toll) road from Derwenthaugh to Shotley Bridge (now the A694) came through the valley in 1835, it was known as the "Rowlands Gill Turnpike" – labelled as such on the First Edition Ordnance Survey Map of 1863. The toll house stood just yards from the stream, so it is understandable that it was given this name - but it does seem strange that an eight mile turnpike should take its name from an obscure stream which it happened to cross. Perhaps this had something to do with the popularity of the Towneley Arms which was built across just the road from the toll house to serve the needs of thirsty travelers and their horses.
1867 When the railway came through the Derwent Valley in 1867 a station was built just yards from the toll house and it was also named ‘Rowlands Gill’. With stop-off points for both the turnpike and the railway, along with a public house, Rowlands Gill was a highly frequented place several years before the village existed. The coming of this railway was to turn Rowlands Gill into an economically viable coal mining village for then came the Lilley Drift Colliery and "The Rows" followed by "The Bottoms" and the village was born.
1877 – 'The Rows' In the late 1870s Joseph Cowen of Blaydon who had prospected for coal in the area sank a drift mine - the ‘Lily Drift’ - a quarter of a mile north of the station. The same year, 1877, some fourteen houses were built for Cowen’s workmen and their families– these being the first houses in the village. Initially called Cowen’s Cottages, the row later became today’s ‘Cowen Terrace’. The Winlaton Poor Rate book of 1878 recorded Cowen paying rates on "14 Houses (Drift)". These would appear to be the northernmost 14 houses on Cowen Terrace with the minutes of the Blaydon Local Board for June 3rd 1880 recording the granting of planning permission to Joseph Cowen & Co for the "remainder of 65 houses"; that is all of the present Cowen Terrace and Lilley Terrace along with the officials’ houses north of the Institute. Lilley Terrace would have been built soon after 1895.
1895 - map showing the Lily Drift, Cowen Terrace and the Methodist Chapel.
Cowen Terrace.
Then came "The Bottoms" and the village of Rowlands Gill was born.