Heworth Township, 1848

HEWORTH, NETHER, a chapelry, in the parish of Jarrow, union of Gateshead, E. division of Chester ward, N. division of the county of Durham, 2¼ miles (E. S. E.) from Gateshead; containing, with BillQuay, Upper Heworth, and Windy-Nook, 7126 inhabitants. This chapelry, which is bounded on the north by the Tyne, comprises an area of 2806 acres, whereof about two-thirds are arable, and the remainder meadow and pasture. The surface is varied with gentle undulations sloping towards the river, and some of the higher grounds command interesting prospects. The soil is generally clay, resting on freestone, and the lands are under profitable cultivation; the freestone is of excellent quality for building, and large quantities of it have been sent to Sunderland for the construction of the pier of that port: the neighbourhood abounds also in good coal. There are large chemical-works in the chapelry, one of which is the oldest establishment of the kind in the kingdom. The manufacture of brown paper, earthenware, and bottles, is very extensive; there are copperasworks and works for lamp-black and different colours, and several vessels of large burthen have been constructed at this place. Here are two stations on the Brandling Junction railway.

The present chapel was erected in 1822, close to the site of the ancient structure, at an expense of £2026, raised by subscription, aided by a grant of £500 from the Incorporated Society; it is a neat cruciform edifice in the early English style, with a square embattled tower, and contains 981 sittings, of which 687 are free. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of Drewett Brown, Esq., who has four turns, Cuthbert Ellison, Esq., who has three, and Sir Thomas Clavering, Bart., who has one turn of presentation; net income, £148, with a good residence near the chapel. In the burial-ground is an obelisk, inscribed to the memory, and recording the names and ages, of 91 persons who were killed by an explosion of fire-damp in the Felling colliery, in 1812, and were buried here; also a monument to the memory of Richard Dawes, A.M., author of the Miscellanea Critica. A tithe rent-charge of £143 is paid to the incumbent, one of £15 to the incumbent of Jarrow, of £112 to the Dean and Chapter of Durham, and of £37 to other impropriators. There are places of worship for Independents, Wesleyans of the Old and New Connexion, and Primitive Methodists. At Wardley are remains of a Roman camp, the moat of which is nearly entire. A vase, containing coins of Egfrid, King of Northumbria in 684, was found in the chapelyard some years since. Lord Stowell, judge of the admiralty court, was born here in 1745.—See Windy-Nook, and Bill-Quay