Lamesley, 1848

LAMESLEY, a chapelry, in the parish and union of Chester-le-Street, Middle division of Chester ward, N. division of the county of Durham, 3½ miles (S.) from Gateshead; containing 2,262 inhabitants, of whom 1,846 are in Lamesley township. This chapelry includes the townships of Lamesley, Ravensworth, Kibblesworth, and Hedley, and comprises by computation 6,648 acres, of which two-thirds are arable land; the surface is undulated, the soil principally clay, and suited to the growth of wheat, and the scenery pleasing and diversified. Ravensworth Vale, in which the castle of that name stands, is greatly admired for its beauty, being well wooded, and having the river Team flowing through it. There are extensive coal-mines, and several quarries for grindstones and for building purposes; ironstone also is found in some parts contiguous to the coal. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £138, which includes £20 per annum, being a commutation for petty tithes and Easter-offerings; patron and impropriator, Lord Ravensworth. In 1843, a glebe-house was erected in the Elizabethan style, on a site given by his lordship. The chapel existed before 1286, the date of the foundation of the collegiate church of Chester, which possessed the patronage till the Dissolution, and in which Lamesley formed the second prebend: the edifice was rebuilt in 1759; a tower was added in 1821, and a vestry a few years since. At Eighton-Banks are two small places of worship for Wesleyans.