Ferryhill Township, 1848

FERRY-HILL, a township, in the parish of Merrington, union of Sedgefield, S.E. division of Darlington ward, S. division of the county of Durham, 5¾ miles (E.N.E.) from Bishop-Auckland; containing 850 inhabitants. There are collieries in the neighbourhood, to which a branch of the Clarence railway extends, and in this township the Byers-Green branch diverges from the Durham branch of that line. Here is also a station of the York and Newcastle railway. A church, dedicated to St. Luke, was erected in 1828, and made a district church in 1843 for Ferry-Hill and Chilton townships. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the gift of the Dean and Chapter of Durham: the tithes of the township of Ferry-Hill have been commuted for £276 payable to the perpetual curate, and £68 to the vicar of Merrington. At an early period the convent of Durham had a chapel here, dedicated to St. Ebbe and St. Nicholas, and also a court-house, swannery, and fish-pool; there are still some remains of the swan-house, and a rent called swan-oats is yet paid.