Shincliffe, 1848

SHINCLIFFE, a chapelry, in the parish of St. Oswald, union of Durham, S. division of Easington ward, N. division of the county of Durham, 1¾ mile (S.E.) from Durham; containing 1,137 inhabitants. This place, anciently called Syneclive, was given under that appellation to the convent of Durham by Bishop Carilepho, in 1085; and nearly the whole vill is at this day held under the Dean and Chapter of Durham. The village is considerable, and lies east of the Wear, sheltered on three sides by the rising grounds that skirt the river-valley, and open on the west to the rich level grounds on the Wear. A bridge existed here so early as the year 1200, and mention occurs of its repair twice in the 14th century; it was rebuilt by Bishop Skirlaw (who raised a noble stone structure of three arches), and was again rebuilt in 1826. The produce of a colliery in Shincliffe is shipped at Sunderland. Here is a station of the York and Newcastle railway. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £98; patrons, the Dean and Chapter: the great tithes have been commuted for £191. 18. 9., and those of the perpetual curate for £4. 9. 7. The chapel was built and endowed in 1826, by the Dean and Chapter; and a burial-ground was consecrated in September same year.