Village News
Added on 21 February 2021
Horsley parish lies within the Hadrians Wall world heritage site with the Vallum and the line of the wall only 1 mile to the north of the village. Next year will be the 1900th anniversary of the building of the wall in AD122. This gives all our community groups the opportunity to prepare for this special event. It is one of those occasions that only happens once during a lifetime. The nearest Roman fort to the village is at Rudchester(Vindobala). The place name Chester or cester means a fortified site and is commonly found in England. Horsley Wood was much smaller in Roman times when a Roman villa occupied some of the site. Another villa was at Whitchester with the prefix of the name meaning white from the local limestone.
The Hearth cafe has been nominated by Cycling England as the cycle cafe of the year 2020. A reminder that the cafe is open every day except Monday for take out food and drink. Fresh milk and other dairy products can also be purchased. Traditional roast lunches are provided on Sundays. Artwork can still be purchased from resident artists using the internet or telephone.
Several people have asked for more information on the geology of Horsley. The coarse grained thickly bedded buff coloured sandstone that forms the bedrock of the village can be easily seen on the path leading out of the village to the west. There are variations in its colour with orange or purple patches that indicate the presence of iron which would have been present in the water at the time the sediments were deposited in the sea by river systems. High rainfall and a rapid journey for the sediments in rivers would account for the coarseness and thick bedding of the stone. The fossils in the local limestone have long Latin names however they chiefly belong to the family of shellfish known as brachiopods or the family of corals.
Work at the church came to a complete halt during the recent spell of bad weather. However last week the weather improved and great progress has been made on the steps.
Horsley Book Club met this month using the internet. Members read poems with the theme of love and discussed new books. Next month members will be reading a Winters Tale by William Shakespeare.
Last week AMEY trimmed branches around the war memorial and as far down the main road as Cherrytree gardens. The overhead electric cable is now safer and in full view.