Chillingham Parish, 1848

CHILLINGHAM (St. Peter), a parish, in the union of Glendale, E. division of Glendale ward, N. division of Northumberland; containing 459 inhabitants, of whom 217 are in the township of Chillingham, 5 miles (E. by S.) from Wooler. The parish is situated on the river Till, which flows through the centre of it, in a direction from south to north, and falls into the Tweed at Tilmouth. It comprises, with the townships of Hebburn and Newtown, 4,925a. 3r. 25p., of which 1,794 acres are arable, 2296 pasture, and 835 woodland; the surface is in many parts richly embellished. The soil is various, but the greater portion exceedingly fertile: coal and limestone are found, the latter being quarried for burning into lime; and there are quarries of stone for building and other purposes. The parish belongs to the Earl of Tankerville, whose seat, Chillingham Castle, is a very ancient structure; the north-east tower dates back to the time of Henry III.: the building probably became dilapidated during the war of the Roses, and the centre was rebuilt in the reign of James I. In the park is a breed of wild cattle, the only one in the island, and supposed to be the same as was found before the time of the Romans; the animals are white, with a tinge of red on the ears. The living is a vicarage as to the townships of Chillingham and Newtown, and a rectory as to Hebburn, and is valued in the king's books at £4; patron, the Bishop of Durham; impropriator of the remainder of the great tithes, the Earl of Tankerville. The tithes have been commuted for £384, and the glebe comprises nearly 2 acres, with a glebe-house. The church is an ancient and small edifice, with a Norman doorway; in the chancel is a richlysculptured monument, temp. Henry VII., to Sir Ralph Grey, whose father was killed at the battle of Towton, and whose grandfather was beheaded by Henry V., with Lord Cobham, after the Lollard outburst. On an eminence eastward from Chillingham Park is a double intrenchment, called Ros Castle, supposed to be a British fort; in the park is an ancient camp. At Newtown is a cross, termed the Hurle Stone, which is twelve feet high.