Where to Stay in Washington, England

What is Washington known for?

The Washington family took its name from this settlement, and the first president of the United States, George Washington, descended from that line, which gives an ordinary Tyne and Wear town an unlikely claim. Penshaw Monument rises nearby. The Washington 'F' Pit Museum and the Bowes Railway keep the coal years on show.

What are the main landmarks in Washington?

Washington Old Hall is the pilgrimage stop. Penshaw Monument draws the next-biggest crowd. Lambton Castle and Biddick Hall stand on the old estates, while the Washington 'F' Pit Museum, the F Pit Winding House and the Bowes Railway Museum hold the coal record.

St George's Church and the Church of All Saints are the older parish buildings. Red Hill House survives too.

What is the history of Washington?

The hall came before the fame. Washington Old Hall stands on the ground the Washington family held, and George Washington, the first president of the United States, descended from that line. County Durham governed all of it then.

Lambton Castle and Biddick Hall belong to the same landed centuries, with the Church of All Saints, the Church of Holy Trinity and St George's Church serving the villages around them. The Church of Our Blessed Lady Immaculate and Presbytery Adjoining and the Church of St Joseph came later to serve the same parishes. Then came coal.

The Bowes Railway and the pits worked this ground for generations, and the Washington 'F' Pit Museum with its F Pit Winding House survives from that trade. A mining village was the result. From 1964 the place became the core of a planned New Town, built out across the older villages, and in 1974 the metropolis of Tyne and Wear took it out of County Durham and into the Sunderland district.

Red Hill House and the School House date from the older settlement. Penshaw Monument, Penshaw House, the Church of St John the Evangelist and the Birtley Cenotaph fill in the rest of the record, while the Bowes Railway Museum keeps that line's own story.

Where is Washington?

Two counties have claimed it. Washington sits in the Sunderland district of Tyne and Wear, on ground that was part of County Durham until the metropolitan county was created in 1974, and the older loyalty still shows. Penshaw and Birtley lie close at hand.

The Penshaw Monument, Penshaw House and the Birtley Cenotaph mark those neighbouring places, while Lambton Castle and Biddick Hall stand on the estates between them.

What is the climate of Washington?

Wind is the constant here. The open ground around Penshaw Monument catches whatever the weather brings, so Washington runs cool and grey through much of the year, with damp winters, short mild summers and rain that rarely arrives in quantity. Frost holds into the mornings.

Long summer evenings pull people up to the monument and out along the Bowes Railway.

How do you get to Washington?

Getting around Washington means driving. Washington was built as a planned New Town from 1964 and its older villages remain spread out, so a car makes more sense here than a walk between them. Birtley and Penshaw sit on the way in.

The Bowes Railway survives as a heritage line rather than a route to anywhere.