Monk Hesleden Parish, 1848

HESLETON, MONK (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Easington, S. division of Easington ward, N. division of the county of Durham; containing, with the townships of Hulam, Hutton-Henry, and Sheraton, 935 inhabitants, of whom 490 are in the township of Monk-Hesleton, 2½ miles (E. by S.) from Castle-Eden. This parish, called also Hesleden, from its deep dene covered with hesles, is bounded on the east by the German Ocean; and the road from Stockton to Sunderland passes on the west. The township comprises about 2,400 acres, of which 2,000 are in equal portions of arable and pasture, and 400 wood on the slopes of the denes; the soil is of a clayey quality, and the land in its slope to the sea is much exposed to cold blasts. On the coast are some very romantic rocks, called "Black halls," scooped into deep caverns, and broken into isolated masses of rude and grotesque appearance. Limestone abounds, in some places of a quality suitable for building; and a pure magnesian limestone is quarried, and conveyed to the Tyne for chemical purposes. Coal is worked at Castle-Eden colliery, immediately adjoining the western boundary of the township, from which colliery the coal in Hesleton, which is of a superior description, will be worked. The Hartlepool railway passes for two miles through the township. The small village of High Hesleton is situated about half a mile to the north. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £7. 12. 6., and in the patronage of the Dean and Chapter of Durham, with a net income of £179. The great tithes of the township of Monk-Hesleton have been commuted for £165, and the small for £52: the vicar has a glebe of 5 acres. The church is modern.