Graystead Parish, 1848

GREYSTEAD, or Gaystead, a parish, in the union of Bellingham, N. W. division of Tindale ward, S. division of Northumberland, 20 miles (N.W.) from Hexham; containing, with the townships of Chirdon and Smalesmouth, 219 inhabitants. This place, which is intersected by the river North Tyne, formed part of the extensive parish of Simonburn, which was divided in 1811, by act of parliament, into six distinct parishes. That of Greystead comprises by computation 16,010 acres, whereof 15,700 are pasture, 260 arable, and about 50 wood. The surface is varied; the soil in the valley here, which is narrow, is very fertile, but a considerable portion of the parish is unproductive moorland. The living is a rectory not in charge; patrons, the Governors of Greenwich Hospital: the tithes have been commuted for £150, and the glebe consists of 14 acres. The church was consecrated in 1818.