Allendale Parish, 1855

ALLENDALE PARISH

ALLENDALE is an extensive and hilly parish in the district of Hexhamshire, and in general appearance is sterile and desolate, abounding with rugged elevations, which, however, conceal mineral treasures of great value. It is about twelve miles in length by ten in breadth, and comprises an area of 31,261 acres. The population in 1801, was 3,519; in 1811, 3,884; in 1821, 4,629; in 1831, 5,540; in 1841, 5,729; and in 1851, 6,383 souls. The rateable value is £11,631. The principal landowners are W.B. Beaumont, Esq., lord of the manor, William Ord, Esq., Isaac Crowhall, Esq., Parkin Lee, Esq., George Lee, Esq., Joseph Lee, Esq., and others. This parish contains very extensive lead mines, the principal of which are at Coalcleugh and Allenheads, where there are several levels, nearly a mile in length, excavated to communicate with the mines under the hills. There are also several works for grinding and washing the lead ore, and for separating it from the stone, or spar, to which it adheres. From these cleansing houses, the lead is carried to the smelting mills, where it undergoes the process of refining, and the silver, which is generally found in greater or less quantities, is extra.cted. The hills, by which this dale is surrounded, abound with grit-limestone of a dark blue colour, and the mountain of Kilhope Law, which extends from Coalcleugh to the extremity of the county, may be distinctly perceived from the sea at Tynemouth Bar, a distance of fifty miles. The East Allen rises near the village of Allenheads, and the West Allen about three miles east of the same place. Their streams unite a little below Old Town, and then pursue a northerly coast joining the South 'Tyne near Ridley Hall. In the vicinity of Allendale town, the East Allen is crossed by a bridge, which was erected at the expense of the county, in 1825. There is also another bridge at Allen Mill. In 1792, an act of parliament was obtained for "enclosing, allotting, and stinting" Hexhamshire and Allendale common, which contained 40,231 acres, and also for laying out public roads, and opening quarries on this extensive tract, a sixteenth of which was awarded to the possessors of the manorial privileges, as a compensation for their right to the soil, and for their consent to the division and enclosure of these wastes. The greater portion of the estates in Allendale are held by copyhold tenure, though there are numerous freehold proprietors. This parish is divided into nine divisions, called grieveships, to each of which a cessor and collector are annually appointed. The divisions are Allendale, Broadside, Catton, High Forest, Low Forest, Keenley, Park, West Allen (High), and West Allen (Low).

THE TOWN OF ALLENDALE

ALLENDALE, a market town in the parish of the same name, is situated on the river Allen, nine and three-quarter miles south-west by west of Hexham. THE PARISH CHURCH is a neat stone structure, rebuilt in 1809, and contains 400 sittings, the whole of which are free. There-is a monument in this church, the work of the celebrated Lough, whose fine statute of Milo, afterwards placed him in the foremost rank of modem sculptors. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the archdeaconry of Northumberland and deanery of Hexham, of the certified value of £26 6s. 8d., and rated in the parliamentary returns at £130, Patron, W. B. Beaumont, Esq. Incumbent, the Rev. Titus Emerson. The tithes of Allendale, Catton, and Park, are commuted for £98, payable to the curate of Allendale, and the tithes of the other grieveships are commuted for the sum of £163, payable to Isaac Crow hall, Esq., and others. The parish register commences in 1662. The Primitive and Wesleyan Methodists have small chapels here, and there is also a Meeting House belonging to the Society of Friends. ALLENDALE SCHOOL, Bride's Hill, was founded by the will of W. Hutchinson (1692), and that of C. Wilkinson (1700), as a "Free Grammar School, for teaching all the children of the inhabitants of this parish such useful and necessary learning, and languages, as the trustees should direct." The income is derived from rent, and amounts to about £62 5s. per annum.

This town possesses a small market, which is held every Friday in a spacious market-place. Fairs are held here on the last Friday in April, and the Friday immediately following the 29th of October, when hirings for servants also take place. There is a Savings Bank here which is open on the flrst Friday of the month from 1 to 5 p.m. W.C. Arnison, treasurer; Edward Dodd, actuary.

About two miles from the town of Allendale is situated the remains of what is considered to have been a Roman station. It is rectangular in form, as Roman camps generally are, is surrounded with entrenchments, and has a paved portway seven yards broad. It retains many marks of antiquity, and is supposed by Mr. Warburton, to have been the Roman station Alione, whose site has been generally placed at Whitley Castle.

CHARITIES. John Shield, in 1617, left a rent charge of £10 per annum for sermons, the poor, and an allowance to the trustees. The whole of this sum is now devoted to the poor of the parish. There is also the "Poor's Money", amounting to £1 15s. yearly, which belongs, as its tit1e implies, to the poor. Ann Wilson, in 1720, bequeathed a rent charge of ten shillings per annum to the poor of Keenley Quarter. There were many other legacies, etc., belonging to this parish, but they have been lost, owing to the negligence of those in whose trust they had been vested.

POST OFFICE, ALLENDALE TOWN.- John Shield, postmaster. Letters arrive here, from Allenheads, at 7-50 a.m., and from Haydon Bridge at 2 p.m. They are despatched to Haydon Bridge, at 8 a.m., and to Allenheads at 2-15 p.m.

Carriers to the following places:
HAYDON BRIDGE ·John Shield, on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday
HEXHAM-John Shield, on Tuesdays and Thursdays; to Allenheads on Wednesday, and Weardle on Monday
NEWCASTLE William Errington, Edward Forrest, and Thomas Martin, on Tuesdays

CONVEYANCE. Mail Gig runs from Allenheads to Haydon Bridge, every morning at 6-30, and passes through Allendale town at 8 a.m., returning in the afternoon.

BROADSIDE grieveship is inhabited by the following farmers. Edward Beck; Joseph Dickinson; John Graham; John Harrison, and yeoman; and Thomas Nicholl.

CATTON is a grievesbip and village, situated two miles north-west of Aliendale town; the following are the principal inhabitants:

FOREST HIGH is another grieveship, comprising the village of Allenheads and several hamlets. ALLENHEADS, the highest inhabited place in England, and situated about eight miles south of Allendale, was formerly a distinct parish, and in its neighbourhood are several lead mines, in the working of which the inhabitants are principally engaged. The surrounding country is extremely desolate ancl mountainous. ST. PETER'S CHURCH, a neat stone edifice, is situated about two miles north of Allenheads. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the curate of Allendale, and incunebency of the Rev. Constantine O'Donel. The register of this church commenced in 1807. W.B. Beaumont, Esq, has also erected a private chapel for the use of the labouring classes of this district, in which the clergyman of St Peter's officiates. There are also places of worship belonging to the Primitive and Wesleyan Methodists, and a National School, which, with the teacher's house, was erected in 1825. W.B. Beaumont, Esq., pays £8 per annum to the teacher, Mr. John Heslop. Average attendance, sixty children.

FOREST (LOW) is also a grieveship in Allendale parish, the following are the principal residents;

KEENLEY grieveship is situated. two miles west of Allendale town. Here is a Wesleyan Chapel, erected about the year 1750, and a Primitive Methodist Chapel and School, which were built in 1848.

PARK is another grieveship, the following are the principal inhabitants;

WEST ALLEN (HIGH) grieveship comprises the villages of Coalcleugh and Carr Shields, besides several hamlets. At Carr Shields there is a Chapel of Ease, under the Church at Ninebanks. It is a handsome stone edifice, erected in 1822, by Mrs Diana Beaumont and others, for the convenience of the mining population of the neighbourhood. There are also two Wesleyan Chapels in this grieveship, one at Limestone Brae, rebuilt in 1847, and the other near the village of Coalcleugh. W. B. Beaumont, Esq. has lately erected a school here.

POST OFFICE, COALCLEUGH.-Joseph Stokoe, postmaster. Letters arrive here, from Haydon Bridge, at 4 p.m., and are despatched thereto at 9 15 a.m.

WEST ALLEN (LOW) is another grieveship, comprising the village of Ninebanks and several hamlets. West Allen was severed from the mother church and formecl into a "district parish" in 1767, in conformity with an act of parliament obtained in the same year. The Church is situated at the village of Ninebanks, and its register commences in 1767. The living is a perpetual curacy in the patronage of the curate of Allendale, and incumbency of the Rev. Jonathan Scurr. Here is a school, which is open to children of every demonination. It. and the teacher's residence, were erected by subscription, aided by a grant from the Committee of Council on Education.

POST OFFICE, NINEBANKS.-William Taylor, postmaster. Letters arrivo, from Haydon Bridge, at 3 p.m., and are despatched thereto at 8-15 a.m.