Longhirst township, 1848

LONGHIRST, a township, in the parish of Bothal, union of Morpeth, E. division of Morpeth ward, N. division of Northumberland, 3 miles (N.E.) from Morpeth; containing 210 inhabitants. The township is the property of the Duke of Portland and the Lawson family, and comprises 1,702a. 2r. 34p., having chiefly a strong clayey soil, of which 1,186 acres are in tillage, 420 in grass, and 96 covered with wood. The surface is flat, but is embellished with a little old wood and nearly 100 acres of plantations made by Wm. Lawson, Esq., and the district is rendered interesting from its containing that gentleman's handsome seat, called Longhirst House. This mansion, of which the first stone was laid in 1824, was erected under the direction of the present proprietor, Mr. Dobson being the architect, and is a highlyfinished edifice in the Grecian style, presenting many excellent architectural features, and containing spacious apartments; the gardens are on the east, well sheltered, and have the Bothal burn running through them. A good sandstone-quarry is wrought in the township by Mr. Lawson, who also possesses a seam of coal, which is worked by drifting, for consumption on the spot; there is likewise a shed for the manufacture of drainingtiles. The tithes have been commuted for £251.