Dilston Township, 1848

DILSTON, a township, in the parish of Corbridge, union of Hexham, E. division of Tindale ward, S. division of Northumberland, 3 miles (E. by S.) from Hexham; containing 200 inhabitants. Its name, a corruption of Devilstone, is derived from its situation on a rivulet called Devil Water, which, after flowing through a deep and gloomy dell, falls into the Tyne on the northern boundary of the parish. Bede says that Oswald, armed with faith in Christ, killed Ceadwall, the British tyrant, at this place, which he calls Devilesbourne. The Newcastle and Carlisle railway passes through the township. There are some remains of the ancient mansionhouse of the Ratcliffes, earls of Derwentwater, which shared the fate of their other estates, on the attainder of the last earl, who was beheaded for high treason in 1716. An agent for Greenwich Hospital, to which the forfeited estates of the earl were granted, resides here, in a house and offices built for the purpose. The old family chapel, in which many members of the family, including the last earl, are interred, is kept in repair as a mark of respect for the unfortunate family.