Lesbury Parish, 1848

LESBURY (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Alnwick, partly in the S. division of Bambrough ward, and partly in the E. division of Coquetdale ward, N. division of Northumberland; containing, with the townships of Alnmouth, Bilton, Hawkhill, and Wooden, 1,108 inhabitants, of whom 404 are in the township of Lesbury, 4 miles (E. by S.) from Alnwick, on the road to Warkworth. This parish, which is on the river Aln, and bounded on the east by the sea, comprises by computation 3,947 acres; it contains good quarries of limestone and freestone. The village is pleasantly situated on the banks of the Aln, over which is a neat bridge, and the surrounding scenery is agreeably diversified; about two miles below the village, the river falls into the ocean at Alnmouth, where considerable quantities of grain are shipped for the London and other markets. There is a very extensive flour-mill. The Newcastle and Berwick railway, opened in 1847, crosses the Aln here. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £8. 2. 10., and in the patronage of the Crown; net income, £326; impropriators, S. Ilderton and J. Cookson, Esqrs. The tithes for the townships of Alnmouth, Hawkhill, and Lesbury have been commuted for £484 payable to the impropriators, and £298 to the vicar; there are about 5 acres of glebe. The church is a very ancient structure. Perceval Stockdale, author of several volumes of poetry, and the intimate friend and associate of Johnson, Garrick, and Goldsmith, was vicar of the parish.