Neasham Township, 1848

NEASHAM, or Nysam, a township, in the parish of Hurworth, union of Darlington, S. W. division of Stockton ward, S. division of the county of Durham, 4½ miles (S.E.) from Darlington; containing 364 inhabitants. The manor of Neasham was held by the Greystocks, by subinfeudation, under the old lords of Hurworth; it descended lineally through the heiress of Greystock to the Dacres, and thence passed to the Howards, who occur as proprietors in the seventeenth century. A large portion of the lands, however, had been given by the Greystocks to a Benedictine nunnery here, founded by one of the old barons of that family, and the foundation was confirmed by Henry II.; at the Dissolution, the house and site were granted to the Lawson family. The township comprises about 1,250 acres of land. The village consists of one street, extending along the northern bank of the Tees, over which, at this point, are a ferry and two fords. The tithes have been commuted for £155.