Satley, 1848

SATLEY, a township and chapelry, in the parish and union of Lanchester, W. division of Chester ward, N. division of the county of Durham, 5 miles (N.E. by N.) from Wolsingham; the township containing 132 inhabitants. In 1221, Philip de St. Helena, rector of Lanchester, granted to this place, as a separate chapelry, a general release from all tithes and oblations, on the condition of its supporting a curate, in lieu of which the proprietors of land have paid from time immemorial £1. 10. per annum. The chapel afterwards fell from its slender endowment, into a mere chapel of ease to the parochial church; but it was again severed about 1731, on receiving an augmentation from Queen Anne's Bounty, which was expended in the purchase of Hunter's field, in the parish of Wolsingham; and a further augmentation was made from the same fund in 1768. In 1834 the Bishop of Durham annexed to it the townships of Butsfield, Cornsay, and Hedley Hope, together with some out-allotments lying within the district and belonging to other places. The township is situated on the road from Wolsingham to Lanchester, and comprises 902 acres of land: the village, which is small and straggling, stretches along a narrow vale. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the gift of the Bishop, with an income of £210, and a commodious glebe-house, built in 1834 by the Rev. Joseph Thompson, incumbent. The chapel, seated on a hill to the north of the village, was rebuilt about 50 years since, and a square tower and a gallery were added in 1829.