Raisdale’s Constablewick and the Bones of Bert

This morning was cold, but not that cold. No puddles bore that brittle layer of “cat ice,” and the dead Bracken fronds remained frost-free. Compare that to last Saturday, when midnight brought a sultry 15°C, according to the car thermometer—a temperature fit for short sleeves. Earlier that day, as Storm Bert howled and hurled snow, the mercury had plunged to zero. Yet here I stood, staring at three miserable patches of snow clinging to the gullies of Wath Hill—the pitiful remains of Bert’s grand performance.

Wath Hill, at a towering 308 metres above sea level, barely deserves the title of hill, overshadowed as it is by the surrounding moors. It does have a distinctive shape, helped along by the scattered conifer plantations. From the north, it looks as though it blocks Raisdale entirely, though there are passes on either side leading to Bilsdale. One route, now metalled, was once known as the Red Shale road. The other, following the public footpath via Thwaite’s House and Staindale, is far a more pleasant walk. “Wath,” meaning ford, is an odd name for a hill—perhaps it refers to a crossing of the Beck below Raisdale Mill Farm, where an old route from Whorlton via Scugdale may once have passed.

In one Victorian gazetteer, Raisdale earns the title of “constablewick,” an obsolete term for the district under a constable’s watch¹Wilson, John Marius. Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales, 1870-72, (Vol I, Page 177) https://archive.org/details/imperialgazettee00wils. Not a modern police constable, mind you, but a tax collector in service to the Lord of the Manor—and, by extension, the King. Over time, constables took on other thrilling responsibilities: chasing felons, managing vagabonds, monitoring beggars, and keeping an eye on itinerants. Their to-do list was impressive: regulating lewd women, pauper children, delinquent fathers, the parish bull, and church absentees, all while maintaining militia rolls. A delightful job, no doubt.

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  Wilson, John Marius. Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales, 1870-72, (Vol I, Page 177) https://archive.org/details/imperialgazettee00wils