Washington, Tyne and Wear

Early references appear around 1096 in Old English as Wasindone. The etymological origin is disputed and there are several proposed theories for how the name "Washington" came about. Early interpretations included Wasindone (people of the hill by the stream, 1096), or Wassyngtona (settlement of Wassa's people, 1183).[3]

The origins of the name Washington are not fully known. The most supported theory (especially amongst local historians) is that Washington is derived from Anglo-Saxon Hwæsingatūn, which roughly means "estate of the descendants (family) of Hwæsa". Hwæsa (usually rendered Wassa or Wossa in modern English) is an Old English name meaning "wheat sheaf".

Due to the evolution of English grammar, modern English lacks the Germanic grammatical features that permeated Anglo-Saxon English. This causes confusion for many in regard to the name Hwæsingatūn. It is essentially composed of three main (albeit grammatically altered) elements:

• "Hwæsa" – most likely the name of a local Anglo-Saxon chieftain or farmer.
• "ing" – a Germanic component that has lost its original context in English: ing means roughly "[derived] of/from". In the name Hwæsingatūn, "ing" is conjugated to "inga" in accordance with the genitive plural declension of OE.
• "tūn" – root of the modern English "town", and is a cognate of German Zaun (fence), Dutch tuin (garden) and Icelandic tún (paddock). The word means "fenced off estate" or more accurately "estate with defined boundaries".

The combined elements (with all correct conjugations in place) therefore create the name Hwæsingatūn with a full and technical meaning of "the estate of the descendants of Hwæsa".

However, there has been no evidence found of any chieftain/land owner/farmer in the area by the name of Hwæsa, although any such records from the time would likely have been long lost by now.

Another of the popular origin theories is that Washington is in fact derived from the Old English verb wascan and the noun dūn meaning "hill"; thus making the name Wascandūn, meaning "washing hill". This theory likely originates from the proximity of the river Wear to the actual Anglo-Saxon hall at the time (most likely where Washington Old Hall stands today).

This idea is not backed by linguistic evidence. Combining the two Old English words "wascan" and "dūn" would actually have meant "washed hill" and not "washing hill". Also, the Old English "dūn" meant a range of gently rolling hills, as evidenced by the naming of the North and South Downs in southern England.

The Old Hall

The Old Hall may have been built by William de Hertburn, who moved to the area in 1183. As was the custom, he took the name of his new estates (Wessyngtonlands), and became William de Wessyngton. By 1539, when the family moved to Sulgrave Manor in Northamptonshire, the spelling "Washington" had been adopted.

The present Hall is an early 17th-century small English manor house of sandstone. Only the foundations and the arches between the Kitchen and the Great Hall remain of the original house.

Plaque in Durham Cathedral's cloisters for John Washington, who was Prior there.

William de Wessyngton (originally William Bayard, later de Hertburne) was a forebear of George Washington,[4] the first president of the United States, after whom the US capital, a state and many other places in the United States are named. Though George Washington's great-grandfather John Washington left for Virginia from Northamptonshire in the East Midlands region of England, Washington Old Hall was the family home of George Washington's ancestors. The present structure incorporates small parts of the medieval home in which they lived.[5] American Independence Day is marked each year by a ceremony at Washington Old Hall.[6]

Sir Isaac Lowthian Bell and his wife Margaret, grandparents of Gertrude Bell, lived in Washington New Hall on The Avenue. After Margaret's death in 1871, Sir Isaac set up an orphanage in the house, named Dame Margaret Home in his late wife's honour. It later became a Dr Barnardo's home until World War II. After the war, it was taken over by the National Coal Board as a training centre, and then a children's home again. It is now a number of private apartments.[7]

Front Street in 1965

Washington's design was developed through the New Towns concept aiming to achieve sustainable socio-economic growth. The new town is divided into 18 residential "villages". It was originally also divided into the 15 numbered districts, which confused many visitors to the area. The numbered districts were abolished in 1983 though survived for a while on road signs and in postal addresses.[8]

Land in the south west of the area designated for the town was purchased from the Lambton family, the Earls of Durham. Their estate of the same name includes their ancestral home, Lambton Castle.

Washington in 1973

In 1970, Washington hosted the English Schools Athletic Association (ESAA) annual National Championships, attended by the then Lord Lieutenant of County Durham. On 15 November 1977, the very first SavaCentre hypermarket (a Sainsbury's and British Home Stores joint venture) opened at The Galleries.[9] By 2005, however, it had been rebranded as a traditional Sainsbury's as the SavaCentre brand was phased out.[10]

• Albany Village Primary
• Barmston Village Primary
• Biddick Primary School
• Columbia Grange School
• Fatfield Primary School
• George Washington School (formerly High Usworth)
• Holley Park Primary School
• John F. Kennedy Primary School
• Lambton Primary School
• Oxclose Primary
• Rickleton Primary School
• St Bedes Primary School
• St John Boste RC Primary School
• St Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School
• Usworth Colliery
• Marlborough Park
• Wessington Primary – (formerly Glebe Primary)
• Hill Rise (Washington Village) Primary School – (closed)[12]

• Biddick Academy
• Oxclose Community Academy
• St Robert of Newminster Catholic School
• Washington Academy

• St Robert of Newminster Sixth Form
• City of Sunderland College Usworth

The North East of England Japanese Saturday School (北東イングランド補習授業校 Hokutō Ingurando Hoshū Jugyō Kō), a Japanese weekend supplementary school, held its classes in the Oxclose Community School in Oxclose.[13]