Whitburn Parish, 1848

WHITBURN, a parish, in the union of South Shields, E. division of Chester ward, N. division of the county of Durham, 3½ miles (N.) from Sunderland; containing, with the township of Cleadon, and part of North Bidick, 1,061 inhabitants, of whom 777 are in Whitburn township. This parish, which is bounded on the east by the sea, comprises 4184a. 1r. 13p., and is about three miles square. Coal is found here, at a considerable depth; and in the north-eastern part are quarries of magnesian limestone, which is used both for building and for agricultural purposes, considerable quantities of it being exported from the Tyne. The village, which is equally noted as a fishing and a bathing place, is pleasantly situated on the southern inclination of a hill, near a fine sandy bay; it contains several respectable lodging-houses, and the view to the south is cheerful. The Lizard, a high dry sheep-walk to the north, commands a prospect of great variety and extent. A curious brick building, in the Tudor style, was erected here in 1841-2 by Mr. Barns, a principal resident, presenting a good specimen of the art of ornamental brickmaking; the plain walls are of red brick, and the mouldings, enrichments, and coats-of-arms, in all which it abounds, of blue brick, made of a fine bed of clay leased to Mr. Barns by the corporation of Newcastle. The Brandling Junction, and the Pontop and South Shields, railways, pass through several detached parts of the parish; and the road from South Shields to Sunderland intersects Cleadon.

The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £39. 19. 4½., and in the patronage of the Bishop of Durham: the incumbent's tithes have been commuted for £862. 15., and a rent-charge of £6. 1. 8. is payable to the master of Kepier grammar school; the glebe comprises 210 acres, lying in three detached parts of the parish. The church is a neat and ancient edifice, consisting of a nave, chancel, aisles, and a good tower; the whole was thoroughly repaired some years since, and portions modernised. The parsonage stands embosomed amid lofty sycamores, and its sheltered garden contains plants which do not usually flourish in a district so exposed and northerly as this county. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans; also a national school, endowed with £10 per annum by Lord Crewe's trustees. Dr. Triplett in 1664 bequeathed a rent-charge of £18, since increased to £61, which is appropriated to apprenticing boys and girls of the parishes of Whitburn, Washington, and Woodhorn. In the neighbourhood are several springs, the water of which is slightly impregnated with alkaline salt, and was formerly in great request among the inhabitants. On the sea-shore, some copper coins of Constantine, Licinius, Maxentius, and Maximian, have been discovered. Flexible limestone is found in the quarries; and on the beach, near the village, at a very low ebb-tide after a storm, some years since, were observed the trunks of large trees, supposed to be the remains of a forest, imbedded in what appeared to have been a clayey soil: hazel-nuts were also found, scattered among them.