Stainton Parish (St. Peter), 1848

STAINTON (St. Peter), a parish, in the union of Stockton, W. division of the liberty of Langbaurgh, N. riding of York; containing, with the townships of Hemlington, Ingleby-Berwick, and Maltby, the chapelry of Thornaby, and the village of South Stockton, 2,256 inhabitants, of whom 391 are in the township of Stainton, 5½ miles (S.E. by S.) from Stockton. The parish is in the district of Cleveland, and occupies an elevated site, commanding a view of the sea, and the mouth of the river Tees; the soil is a loam resting upon clay, and there is a quarry of whinstone affording excellent materials for the roads. The township of Stainton, the most considerable division in the parish, comprises the manors of Stainton, Thornton, and Stainsby, respectively styled in Domesday book Steintun, Tornetun, and Stemanesbie: the chief owners of property in it, at various periods, appear to have been the families of De Brus, Thweng, Gower, and Pennyman. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £5. 14. 2.; net income, £270; patron and appropriator, the Archbishop of York. The church, an ancient structure situated on an eminence, was thoroughly repaired in 1810. Attached to the vicarage is a library of 344 volumes on divinity, bequeathed by the Rev. Richard Lumley, vicar from 1667 to 1676. At Thornaby is a separate incumbency. There is a place of worship for Independents; and a parochial school, to which Mrs. Bourdon in 1817 left £5. 5. per annum, is further supported by subscription.