The "unknown black boy" buried in an unmarked grave in Teesdale

He advertised in the Times in 1792 that at Woden Croft Lodge he instructed his boys in “English, Greek and Latin languages, writing, arithmetic, merchants' accounts and the most useful branches of mathematics”.

Annual fees were 16 guineas a year for pupils aged four to eight, 20 guineas for nine to 12 year olds, and 25 guineas, but extra was charged for lessons in mechanics, drawing and French.

Then the advert added: "The health and morals of Mr Simpson's pupils are strictly attended to, and in order to expedite their education as much as possible he does not allow any vacation, but innocent recreations out of school hours are permitted and encouraged."

Woden Croft Lodge, which used to be a "Yorkshire school"

These “innocent recreations” weren’t much fun as the boys had to work in the farm’s fields, and there are reports of them looking “unkempt and almost bootless, like spiritless drudges” as they went about their tasks.

It was, though, popular with parents and Mr Simpson had up to 150 pupils. They slept five to a bed; their water came from a trough and as they had no towels, they dried themselves on their clothes. Meals consisted of brimstone, treacle and a chunk of bread, and a good thrashing if the boys didn’t like it – all, of course, to improve their “health and morals”.

Several of Mr Simpson’s pupils died, and it was this sort of “Yorkshire school” to which parents in the south sent nuisance children so they were out of sight and out of mind until Charles Dickens visited Teesdale in the 1830s and exposed the practice of “boy farming” in his novel Nicholas Nickleby.

It is a far cry from the reputation of Cotherstone as a village of “all cheese and Quakers”.

George Fox, one of the founders of the Quaker faith, visited the village in 1653 and his simple route to God made a deep connection in the depths of connection, but it wasn’t until 1797 that the Cotherstone Quakers built a meeting house in a meadow.

Looking at the Quaker Meeting House in Cotherstone from the spot where the unknown boy was buried in 1797. Picture courtesy of by Jane Hackworth Young

It is a shock to find that the first burial in their new graveyard was of an "unknown black boy" who had been a pupil at Woden Croft. The story goes that the parish church declined to allow his burial in its ground.

Recent Memories have told the story of Francis Barber, an eight-year-old black boy brought to England by a West Indian plantation owner in 1750 and sent to school in the village of Barton, near Scotch Corner. It is suggested that Francis was the illegitimate son of the owner of the plantation, Colonel Richard Bathurst, of Lincolnshire.

Francis survived his year or so in at the school in Barton and went on, amazingly, to become the private secretary of Dr Samuel Johnson, the compiler of the first English dictionary.

Sadly, the unknown boy in Cotherstone did not survive Woden Croft. He has also lost his headstone over time but his last resting place is shown on the Quakers’ plan of their graveyard.

READ MORE: LIFE IN A SMALL TEESDALE VILLAGE WITH A BIG HISTORY

READ MORE: A REMARKABLE CHURCH WINDOW WITH A BLACK KING

READ MORE : THE STORY OF FRANCIS BARBER, THE BARTON SCHOOLBOY

With many thanks to Jane Hackworth Young for drawing our attention to this story. Much information comes from the new book which featured here a fortnight ago, Cotherstone: A Village in Teesdale by Paul and David Rabbitts (Amberley, £15.99). The book is available in shops and online, or by emailing geraldthwaites@btinternet.com

“I WAS very interested reading about Cotherstone,” says John Hill. “I've been retired for five years now, but before that for 14 years I was a meter reader. I was sent to many houses in Cotherstone, one of which was occupied by Hannah Hauxwell. I remember a neighbour told me that she was very reclusive, and wouldn't answer the door.”

Hannah, of course, was discovered in 1970 aged 44 farming alone at the remote Birk Hatt in Baldersdale without electricity or running water. She became a TV star but remained out in the dale until 1994 when she retired into the metropolis of Cotherstone.

“Back in the 1980s, the Balder Bridge, which takes the B6277 to Romaldkirk from Cotherstone over the river, was in need of major repair,” says John, “and a Bailey bridge was built alongside while the work was done. I took this picture and, two years ago, another of the same view.”

Cotherstone bridge being repaired in 1983, by John Hill, and his picture of the same scene in 2020, below

The 15th Century bridge over the Balder was rebuilt in 1681, widened in 1896 and repaired in 1983.

The river beneath it is named after a Norse personality, Baldr, who was the son of Odin, the chief god. Because of who his father was, every item on the planet agreed not to harm Baldr, except for mistletoe which was considered too insignificant and harmless to even be asked.

The gods amused themselves by throwing things at Baldr and watching them bounce of his invisible shield of immunity.

But the evil Loki saw a chance to make mayhem. He constructed a spear out of mistletoe and gave it to the blind god, Hod, without telling him of its material. Hod joined in the fun by throwing it at Baldr and killing him.