The valley is owned by College Valley Estates which in turn is funded by a trust created by Sir James Knott MP.
Sir James Knott, 1st Baronet (1852–1934), shipping magnate and politician in the north-east of England
He was named Sir James Knott Research Fellow at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne in 1970, and in 1972 he moved to the University of Hull where he was first an assistant lecturer then a lecturer in Early Modern Europe.
Several institutions in the north-east of England are named after him, such as the Knott Memorial Hall in Heddon-on-the-Wall.
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