Elwick Hall Parish, 1848

ELWICK-HALL, or West Parish (St. Peter), a parish, in the union of Stockton, N.E. division of Stockton ward, S. division of the county of Durham, 4 miles (N.) from Wolviston; containing 165 inhabitants. The parish is situated on the road from Stockton to Sunderland, and comprises 4,321a. 3r. 18p., of which about 3,250 acres are arable, 70 woodland and plantations, and the remainder meadow and pasture. The surface is boldly varied, rising into hills of considerable elevation, of which one to the north-west of the church, called the Beacon Hill, commands an extensive view of the Cleveland hills and the sea, with the mouth of the river Tees, and the bold headlands of Huntcliffe and Rowcliffe. The soil is generally a cold clay, and the principal crops are wheat and oats. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £20. 18. 1½., and in the gift of the Bishop of Durham: the tithes have been commuted for £267. 15., and the glebe comprises 367 acres. The church, which is situated on an eminence rising from a narrow dell that separates it from the village of Elwick, in the parish of Hart, is an ancient structure with a low massive tower at the angle of the south aisle. In the churchyard is a vault containing the remains of Sir James Allan Park, judge of the court of common pleas from 1816 till his death, on the 8th of December, 1838.