0 HISTORY, TOPOGRAPHY, AND DIRECTORY OF NORTHUMBERLAND, COMPRISING A GENERAL SURVEY OF THE COUNTY, AND A History of the Town and County of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, WITH SEPARATE HISTORICAL, STATISTICAL, AND DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES OF THE BOROUGHS OF GATESHEAD AND BERWICK-UPON-TWEED, AND ALL THE TOWNS, BOROUGHS, PORTS, PARISHES, CHAPELRIES, TOWNSHIPS, TO WHICH IS SUBJOINED A LIST OF THE SEATS OF THE NOBILITY AND GENTRY. BY WILLIAM WHELLAN & CO. LONDON: WHITTAKER AND CO., AVE MARIA LANE. MANCHESTER : GALT AND CO., DUCIE STREET, EXCHANGE. Price to Subscribers, handsomely bound in half calf, and including a large Map of the County, £1; or, with MDCCCLV. PREFACE. IN presenting the present volume to their numerous patrons and the public, the proprietors deem it their first duty to tender an expression of their gratitude to the various literary, scientific, and official gentlemen of the county, who have so readily furnished their agents with valuable contributions and corrections, as well as to those who have honoured the publishers with immediate communications for additions and improvements in the work. To George Tate, Esq., F.G.S., of Alnwick, they are, in a special manner, indebted for his admirable and interesting articles on the Origin of Coal, the Geology of the Parish of Alnwick, and of the Howick Coast, articles which will, it is presumed, be found to possess no common interest, and haply may be perused, with some measure of curiosity. To their friend John Rooke, Esq., of Akehead, Wigton, Cumberland, they are under a lasting obligation for his excellent Essay on the Geology of the Lake District, an essay which they doubt not, will be found to contain much valuable information,and, to nearly 2,500 subscribers, who have so munificently supported them in their arduous undertaking, they beg to offer their warmest acknowledgments. The great experience which the proprietors have had during the last eighteen years, in similar undertakings for other counties-the success and approbation which have attended them—and their ready and remunerative sale, furnish a convincing proof that they have been well estimated, and a guarantee for the future value of their works. As the utility of such publications entirely depends on their correctness, simplified arrangement, and copiousness of information, the proprietors' attention, in the compilation of the present work, has been unremittingly directed to the attainment of these objects-every town, parish, township, village, and almost every house in the county, has been visited, and neither labour nor expense spared, in order to secure accurate and authentic information. And though it would be presumptuous to expect that a volume containing such a great body of matter, and such a diversity of subjects, could be entirely free from errors, yet it is hoped that any which may appear in the present one, will be of no material deterioration to its general utility-the proprietors, therefore feel confident, that for general accuracy, comprehensiveness, and typographical execution, this work, which they now, with much deference, submit to the ordeal of public criticism, will be found to give general satisfaction. The plan of the Work embraces an INTRODUCTORY REVIEW of the Early History of Great Britain, derived from the best accessible authorities, with especial reference to the Roman, Saxon, and Danish invasions, and exhibiting the manners and customs of the various dominant races of the British Islands, together with interesting details respecting the Ancient Kingdoms and Provinces in England, Wales, and Scotland, the division of the Country into Shires, the ecclesiastical divisions, and the various changes which have taken place in the ancient sub-divisions of the country, the extent, population and importance of the British Colonies and Maritime possessions, as also statistical details regarding the Railways of the United Kingdom— with a resumé of the rise and progress of trade, commerce, and manufactures. This is followed by a General History and Description of Northumberland, its agricultural and mineral productions, roads, rivers, railways, castles, abbeys, and Monastic Institutions, before and after the time of their dissolution, together with separate Historical Sketches, and statistical descriptions of the town and county of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and Gateshead, Berwick-upon-Tweed, and all the boroughs, towns, ports, parishes, townships, and hamlets in the county, their locality, territorial extent, population returns from 1801 to 1851, charitable, educational, and other Public Institutions, Churches and Chapels with their ministers, public buildings, corporate bodies, magistrates, and public officers, courts of law, and the names of their officials, together with historical events, eminent men, picturesque scenery, curiosities, and a variety of other statistical and commercial matter, extracted from the Parliamentary Reports of the Census and Charities, and other authentic sources, the whole constituting for this important county a faithful epitome of historical and local information. To the historical and descriptive sketch of each place succeeds a DIRECTORY of the inhabitants, presenting in a classification for easy reference the names, designations, and addresses of the principal residents, alphabetically arranged, in copious miscellanies, or classified under the heads of their respective trades and professions, with the post-office and railway regulations, and every medium of public conveyance-and the Work is accompanied with a large new Map of Northumberland, on which the various divisions of the county are neatly coloured, and the different lines of railway accurately delineated. Pontefract, February, 1855. W. WHELLAN & CO. INDEX OF PLACES. Page Page Page Abberwick...... 642 Bank Top...... 456 Berwick New... 645 | Brenkley.... .... 711 Barelees.. Acklington Park 712 Barmoor.. ...... .697 Bickerton 627 Brinkburn Acomb East.... 766 Barrasford...... 796 Bigge's Quarter 738 Ward........ 611 Acomb West 848 Barrington Place 386 Bill Quay Acton... 791 Barrow ....... 624 Billy Mill Acton & O. Felton 613 Bassington.... 645 Bilton. ...... Bingfield 500 Bates Island.... 444 702 Bavington Great 804 890 Bavington Little 815 792 Baybridge. Allendale ...... 816 Beadnell... Allenheads..... 820 Beal.. Allen's Green 887 Beanley. Allerwash. 874 Bear's Bridge All Saints' Parish 429 Beaufront Alnham.. ... ....... 640 Bebside.. Alnmouth ..... 620 Bellasis with Bog- 900 BELLINGHAM .... ........ Angerton High.. 729 Bell's Close Angerton Low... 730 Belsay 765 Birtley ..... 645 Bitchfield 895 Black Carts and 859 Broomridge 701 457 Black Chester 641 Brotherwick. Blagdon with .... Broxfield.. .... 713 574 895 Milkhope 554 Bruce's Castle... 697 Blaydon... 456 Brunton East... 451 790 Brunton West 451 386 Brunton, High 554 Blenkinsopp Annet'sford..... 405 Belsay Guide Post 727 Bockenfield 613 Burradon ....... 767 Benridge ....... 742 Bolam 554 Burrowden 622 564 .... Bush 874 642 ... Benton Long 459 Boulmer and Sea- Buston High 714 Buston Low.... 714 Busy Cottage 431 707 Busy Gap 684 Buteland 564 Butterlaw 728 Byker 31 795 ...... 535 429 430 ........ ....... 926 Brainshaugh 618 Byker Hill 698 Brandon Branton ........ 938 Branxton....... 646 drew |