Longhorsley Parish, 1855

LONG HORSLEY PARISH 

LONG HORSLEY is a parish comprising the townships of Bigge's or Carlisle’s Quarter, Freeholders' Quarter, Longshaws, Riddell's Quarter, Stanton, Wingates, and Witton Shields. It is bounded by the chapelries and parishes of Rothbury, Framlington, Felton, Hebron, Mitford, and Netherwitton; extends about seven miles in length, by three in breadth, and contains an area of 12,849 acres. Its population in 1801, was 844; in 1811, 1,024; in 1821, 1,006; in 1831, 952 ; in 1841, 922 ; and in 1851, 905 souls. It’s soil is principally clayey. The manor of Long Horsley was formerly the property of the Barons of Morpeth, by whom it was granted to Adam de Plessis. Lands were held here by the Horsleys, from a very early period, but their estates were transferred by marriage to the Widdringtons, from whom they passed in the same manner to the Riddell family, the present possessors. 

THE VILLAGE of Long Horsley, which is large and straggling, is situated in the three townships of Bigge's Quarter, Freeholders' Quarter, and Riddell's Quarter, on the Wooler road, six and three quarter miles N.N.W. of Morpeth. THE PARISH CHURCH, dedicated to St. Helen, is situated nearly half a mile from the village, and is a neat stone structure, with a handsome porch. The living is a vicarage in the archdeaconry of Lindisfarne, and deanery of Morpeth, valued in the Liber Regis at £7 13s. 4d., gross income, £396. The parish register commences in 1088. The patronage is vested in the Crown, and the Rev. Robert Green, B.A., is vicar. An ancient tower, near the western extremity of the village, the property of the Riddells, is used as a. Catholic Church. Rev. John S. Rogerson, priest. 

CHARITY. In 1790, Mrs A. Ogle left the sum of £100, for the education of seven poor children, but through the insolvency of the person to whom it was lent, this money was lost, and the Rev. Joseph Middleton gave £100 to replace it. This sum is now invested in the public funds, and the dividends amounting to £3 18s. 6d., per annum, are employed in conformity with the intentions of the donor.

BIGGE'S QUARTER is a township in this parish, the property of the Executors of the late Charles William Bigge, of Lindon House. It contains 2,869 acres, and its rateable value is £1,802 13s, 6d. The population in 1801, was 191; in 1811, 259; in 1821, 262; in 1831, 238; in 1841, 252; and in 1851, 280 inhabitants. LINDON HOUSE is a neat mansion situated about one mile north-east of Long Horsley. 

FREEHOLDER's QUARTER, a township in the above parish, contains 899 acres, and its rateable value is £653 15s. Its population in 1801, was 74; in 1811, 96; in 1821, 109; in 1831, 127; in 1841, 109; and in 1851, 119 souls. This township, as its name implies, is the property of several freeholders.

RIDDELL'S QUARTER is another of the three townships, which contains the village of Long Horsley. It comprises 2,145 acres, the property of Thomas Riddell Esq., and its rateable value is £1,239. The number of its inhabitants in 1801, was 159; in 1811, 227; in 1821, 206; in 1831, 200; in 1841, 175; and in 1851, 214 souls. 

LONG HORSLEY VILLAGE AND NEIGHBOURHOOD DIRECTORY: 

POST OFFICE, LONG HORSLEY, Henry Elwes, postmaster. Letters arrive here, from Morpeth at 10-5 a.m., and are despatched thereto at 4-35 and at 6 p.m.

LONGSHAWS is also a township in this parish, occupied by the Young family. It is situated five and a half miles W.N.W. of Morpeth, and comprises an area of 761 acres. The rateable value is £350. The population in 1801, was 40; in 1811, 39; in 1821, 38; in 1831, 44; in 1841, 48; and in 1851, 43 souls. The principal residents are George and Ralph Young, farmers and millers, Longshaws Mill; James Young, farmer; and John and Joseph Young, farmers, Woodhouse. 

STANTON is a township and village, the property of Henry J. B. Baker, Esq. The area of the township is 2,254 acres, and its rateable value is £1,072. The number of its inhabitants in 1801, was 178; in 1811, 178; in 1821, 168; in 1831, 135; in 1841, 128; and in 1851, ll0 souls. The manor of Stanton formed part of the portion of Juliana, daughter of Cospatric, whom Henry I. gave in marriage to Ralph Lord de Merley. His son, Sir Roger de Merley, seems to have had possession of this estate, and it afterwards became the property of a younger branch of the Fenwicks of Fenwick Tower. It was the propertyof Sir Ralph de Fenwick, who was High Sheriff of Northumberland in the early part of the reign of HenryVIII. He accompanied Sir John de Fenwick, of Wallington, and several more gentleinen of the county, who; with about 900 men, made an irruption into Scotland for the sake of plunder. They were attacked by an army of 2,000 Scots, and after a long and sanguinary engagement, victory declared for the invaders. In the reign of Edward VI. we find Stanton in the possession of Ralph de Fenwick; Esq.,, and Richard de Fenwick was the proprietor of Stanton, Absheels, a mediety of Long Witton, and lands in Fairn Low, Eshenden, and Cowpen, in the reign of Elizabeth: he was succeeded by his son William de Fenwick, Esq., whose son Roger married the daughter and heiress of George Fenwick, of Brinkburn. His eldest son, John Fenwick, Esq., espoused Margaret, one of the daughters and co-heiresses of William Fenwick. Esq., of Bywell, by which means the three houses of Stanton, Bywell, and Brinkburn, became united. It is now the property of the gentleman above named. THE VILLAGE of Stanton is situated five and a quarter miles north-west of Morpeth. From the many foundations of houses, etc., still visible here, it is reasonable to infer that Stanton was at one period a place of some importance. The Old Manor House was formerly used as a poor house for the palish. At a short distance to the north of the manor house, the domestic chapel once stood, but every vestige of this venerable edifice has long since disappeared.

Ruffle Law is a lofty eminence which separates the township of Stanton from Long Horsley Moor, and is remarkable for commanding one of the most extensive and varied prospects in the North of England. There is an uninterrupted view of the sea-coast, from the northern extremity of the county to South Shields. To the north nature assumes a bold and imposing form; there the lofty heights of Rimside and Simonside, are seen rising like two immense pyramids, between which are perceived the Cheviot Hills, whose grey tops seem enveloped in the clouds; while turning the eye westward, the mountains of Cumberland terminate the beautiful scene. Henry J.B. Baker, Esq., the lord of the manor, has erected a handsome cottage here, in which he resides during the shooting season. 

TODBURN is a township in this parish, two miles W.N.W. of Long Horsley. It contains 699 acres, the property of Charles W. Bigge, Esq., and its population in 1801, was 26; in 1811, 20; in 1821, 25; in 1831, 32; in 1841, 22 ; and in 1851, 18 souls. This township consists of two farms, which are in the occupancy of William Moore, and Thomas Patters, farmers. 

WINGATES is a township and village comprising 2,642 acres, the property of Raleigh Trevelyan, Esq. The number of its inhabitants in 1801, was 155; in 1811, 176; in 1821, 177; in 1831, 163; in 1841, 175; and in 1851, 186 souls. On the Chirm Farm, in this township, there is a very strong chalybeate spring, which, some years ago, was the cause of this place being much visited by persons suffering from scrofula, external inflammations, stomach complaints, debility, etc, From a chemical analysis of the water, it was found that a pint of it contained six grains of iron, fourteen grains of alum, and nine of an ochre earth. A small bath was constructed here about fifty-six years ago, and the proprietor has recently erected a house for the accommodation of visitors.

THE VILLAGE of Wingates is situated about two and three-quarter miles west from Long Horsley, and is remarkable as being the birth-place of the celebrated oriental scholar, the Rev. Robert Morrison, D.D., who was born here on the 5th January; 1782, but was removed in his infant years to Buller's Green, in the vicinity of Morpeth, where he continued to reside till about 1785, when his parents removed to Newcastle. He received the first rudiments of his education from his uncle, Mr. James Nicholson, a respectable teacher in that town, but at an early age was apprenticed to his father, who was a last and boot-tree maker, in which business he soon became very skilful. Becoming desirous of entering the Christian ministry he commenced the study of Latin and Greek under the tuition of the Rev. A. Laidler, minister of the Presbyterian Chapel,. in Silver-street, where he also began to read Hebrew, and to study theology. Some time afterwards he entered Hoxton Academy, and his services as a missionary being accepted by the London Missionary Society, he removed to the academy of that institution at Gosport, where he acquired a knowledge of the French and Chinese languages. He shortly afterwards studied medicine in London, and astronomy at Greenwich. under Dr. Hutton. In January, 1807, he left England for China, where he arrived in September of the same year, and was domesticated in the factory of Messrs. Milner and Bull, American agents. The first sixteen months of his residence, however, were extremely irksome, and attended by many privations and difficulties, as will appear from the fact of his spending the day with his teacher, studying, eating, and sleeping in an under-ground room, adopting the Chinese costume, foregoing the pleasures of intercourse with his countrymen, and taking his- meat with the Chinese who taught him the language. In 1810, he published his translation of the Acts of the Apostles into Chinese, and in 1811, the Gospel of St. Luke, a grammar, and other smaller works. In 1813, he was joined by Mr. Milne, and, in conjunction with that gentleman, completed the Old and New Testaments, the Book of Common Prayer, and many other religious works. He afterwards compiled a Chinese Dictionary; and in 1816, accompanied Lord Amherst to Peking and drew up and published a memoir of that unsuccessful embassy. In December, 1817, he received the degree of D.D. from the University of Glasgow, and in 1818, founded the Anglo-Chinese College at Malacca. In 1823, Dr. Morrison returned to England, when he was presented to the king, to whom he delivered a copy of his translation of the scriptures into Chinese. He returned to China in the following year, and continued to be of the greatest service to the European residents, until the summer of 1833, when his health began to yield to the effects of climate. In July, 1834, he became Chinese secretary to his majesty's superintendents, and accompanied Lord Napier to Canton, where he arrived on the 25th July. Having been much exposed to the weather eluting the passage, his illness became very much increased; and he died at his residence, in the Danish Hong, Canton, on the 1st August, 1834. His remains were followed to the river, where they were shipped to Macao, by Lord Napier, and all Europeans, Americans, and Asiatic British residents in Canton. The corpse was forwarded to Macao, where it was interred in the private Protestant cemetery in that settlement.

WITTON SHIELDS is a township and hamlet in the above parish, of which the principal proprietors are Ralph Trevelyan, Esq. and Mr. Whitham. The township comprises an area of 574 acres, and its rateable value is £247 13s. The population in 1801, was 21; in 1811, 29; in 1821, 21; in 1831, 13; in 1841, 13; and in 1851, 25 souls. THE HAMLET of Witton Shields is situated six and a quarter miles north-west by west of Morpeth. Here is a strong old tower, erected by Sir Nicholas Thornton in 1608, it is now occasionally used as a Catholic Church. This old tower and a garden of seven acres were left by the Thornton family for the Catholic priest who serves the mission. The principal inhabitants are William Aynsley, farmer, and Elizabeth Wilson, keeper of the tower.