Topics > Tyne and Wear > Sunderland > Silksworth > Silksworth Township, 1848
Silksworth Township, 1848
SILKSWORTH, a township, in the parish of BishopWearmouth, union of Houghton-le-Spring, N. division of Easington ward and of the county of Durham, 3 miles (S.W. by S.) from Sunderland; containing 267 inhabitants. Here was a chapel dedicated to St. Leonard, which probably went to decay upon the general dissolution of chantries. The monks of Durham had lands in Silksworth; and Farnton-Hall, a hamlet and estate within its limits, was parcel of the possessions of the monastery of Hexham, to which institution Thorney Close, a farm also situated here, perhaps belonged in addition. The township comprises 2,099 acres, of which 1,384 are arable, 599 pasture and meadow, 90 woodland, and 25 in roads and waste. The surface is undulated, and interspersed with plantations: the soil is chiefly loam, with a substratum of limestone, of which some quarries are wrought; magnesian limestone shows itself in various places, and coal exists. A manufactory for bricks and tiles is carried on. The village lies near the south-western boundary of the parish. The tithes and Easter dues have been commuted for £299. 12.
Extract from: A Topographical Dictionary of England comprising the several counties, cities, boroughs, corporate and market towns, parishes, and townships..... 7th Edition, by Samuel Lewis, London, 1848.
