Cornhill Parish, 1848

CORNHILL, a parish, in the union of Berwick-upon-Tweed, in Norhamshire, N. division of Northumberland, 1½ mile (E. by S.) from Coldstream; containing 823 inhabitants. It comprises about 4,430 acres, of which the soil is productive and chiefly arable, and the scenery of a romantic character. The village, which is pretty and salubrious, is separated from Scotland by the Tweed only; Coldstream is the first town over the border, and the river is crossed by a noble stone bridge. There is a good hotel for the sporting gentlemen who resort here to hunt in great numbers during the winter months. A fair is held on December 6th. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the Dean and Chapter of Durham, who are the appropriators. The church, dedicated to St. Helen, was rebuilt in 1751, when a stone coffin, containing fragments of a human skeleton, and two urns of coarse earthenware, were found; it was again partly rebuilt in 1840, at a cost of about £500, and is principally in the early English style, with a campanile bell-tower. The castle here was demolished by the Scots in 1385, and again in 1549, when a considerable booty fell into their possession; the remains are built up in a modern mansion. To the southeast is an encampment of unusual construction; and a quarter of a mile westward is another large collection of earth-works, the most remarkable north of the Wall for variety and extent. In a wood is St. Helen's well, the water of which is serviceable in scorbutic and gravel complaints; but it is not much used.