Blanchland, 1848

BLANCHLAND, otherwise Shotley High-Quarter, a chapelry, in the parish of Shotley, union of Hexham, E. division of Tindale ward, S. division of Northumberland, 10 miles (S. by E.) from Hexham; containing 476 inhabitants. It is situated on the north side of the river Derwent; and is celebrated for its leadmines, which have been extensively worked for a long period, and from which large quantities of ore are still raised: the proprietors have a smelting-furnace at Jeffries'-Rake, in the county of Durham. The village is in a narrow deep green vale, inclosed by heathy hills and morasses; the population is chiefly employed in the mines. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £198; patrons and impropriators. Lord Crewe's Trustees. The chapel was formed in 1752, by the Trustees, out of the tower and aisles of an abbey of Præmonstratensian canons founded by Walter de Bolbec, in 1175, in honour of the Blessed Virgin, and the abbot of which was elevated to the house of peers in the 23rd of Edward I.: the establishment, at the time of the Dissolution, consisted of an abbot and fourteen canons, and the revenue amounted to £44. 9. 1. After having passed through various hands, the estate was purchased by Bishop Crewe, who bequeathed it and other property for charitable purposes. Besides that part converted into a chapel, the principal gateway and other portions of the conventual buildings are still visible.