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Houghton le Spring in Durham County England History and GeographyHOUGHTON le SPRING, a parish in the northern division of EASINGTON ward, county palatine of DURHAM, comprising the market town of Houghton le Spring, the chapelries of Painshaw and West Rainton, and the townships of South Bidick, Bourn-Moor, Cocken, Great Eppleton, Little Eppleton, East and Middle Herrington, West Herrington, Hetton le Hole, Moorhouse, Moorsley, Morton-Grange, Newbottle, Offerton, East Rainton, and Warden-Law, and containing 12,550 inhabitants, of which number, 2905 are in the market town of Houghton le Spring, 6¾ miles (N.E.) from Durham, and 266 (N.N.W.) from London. This place, which, according to some antiquaries, takes the adjunct to its name from a family who resided here after the Norman Conquest, and according to others, from the chalybeate springs in the parish, is pleasantly situated at the head of ? rich and fertile vale, which expands towards the west, and is sheltered by a range of hills to the north and east. The town has been rapidly improving within the last twenty years, and contains several large and handsome houses. A mechanics' institution was established in 1825. The trade of this place arises chiefly from its numerous mines, producing the finer sorts of coal, which command the highest prices in the London market: these are conveyed from the mines by railroads to the river Wear, which flows within four miles of the town, and forms the northern boundary of the parish, and thence by keels or barges to Sunderland. The adjoining district, which is rich in mineral produce, contains extensive quarries of limestone and freestone, in which many of the inhabitants of the surrounding villages find employment. The market, established in 1825, is on Friday, but, from its proximity to those of Durham and Sunderland, it is not well attended. A fair, or wake, on the festival of the saint to whom the church is dedicated, commences on the Sunday after New Michaelmas day, and continues for three or four days, during which, races and other amusements take place in the town and the several villages in the parish. The county magistrates hold a petty session for the division every alternate Thursday, at the White Lion Inn, and the seneschal, or deputy of the Bishop of Durham, the lord of the manor, holds a halmote court for petty cases of assault, and suits for the recovery of debts under 40s. The living is a rectory, in the archdeaconry and diocese of Durham, rated in the king's books at £124, and in the patronage of the Bishop of Durham. The church, dedicated to St. Michael, is a spacious cruciform structure, in the early and decorated styles of English architecture, with a tower rising from the intersection: the interior contains several ancient monuments, among which is one to the memory of the Rev. Bernard Gilpin, many years rector of the parish, who, during the reigns of Mary and Elizabeth, was styled the Apostle of the North, and was equally distinguished for his great learning and benevolence. There are places of worship for Baptists, Independents, and Wesleyan Methodists. The free grammar school was founded in 1574, by the Rev. Bernard Gilpin, and John Heath, of Kepyer, Esq., who jointly endowed it with lands and tenements; the endowment has been augmented by subsequent benefactions, but there are at present no scholars on the foundation. Hugh Broughton, an eminent Hebrew scholar, and Dr. George Carleton, Bishop of Chichester, and biographer of Gilpin, received the rudiments of their education in this school, under the superintendence of the founder, who also erected an almshouse for the maintenance of the poor scholars and for three aged men or women. This hospital, which was rebuilt and endowed by George Lilburne, Esq., and the Rev. George Davenport, rector of the parish, consists of a centre and two wings. The Blue-coat school for girls was founded by Sir George Wheeler, Knt., who bequeathed £600 for that purpose, which has been since invested in land; the building was enlarged for an additional number of girls in 1803: there are at present forty instructed, twelve of whom are also clothed. On the south side of the town is a field, called Kirk Ley, where some religious establishment formerly existed, of which there are no distinct records. Several coins, carved stones, and other vestiges of antiquity, have been discovered here; and a few years since a large oak, more than sixty feet in length, and a cart load of nuts, were dug up at Warden-Law hill; and several human skeletons and bones, together with the horns of deer, were found near the township of Newbottle. Dr. Samuel Ward, an eminent divine, and master of Sydney Sussex College, Cambridge, who died in 1643, was born in this parish. From Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England 1831, courtesy of Databases 4 Sale |
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