It is named after the nearby source of the River Wear which runs eastwards for approx 40 miles (64 km) to Sunderland.

[1] The first settlement at Wearhead may have been a farmstead, possibly a summer base for the Bishop's cattle which would have been taken to lower ground in winter.

East of the village lies a steep hillside, which has evidence of shallow shafts and hushes which were the early methods used to extract lead and iron.

In County Durham there were rich deposits of lead lying within a circle of about 10 miles' radius drawn around Wearhead, hence the lead-mining industry of Weardale and Teesdale.

The former Co-op shop has re-opened as an independent village store and the former Post Office was opened as a craft shop/cafe.