33.
Dfctoda Ibtetorie of the
Counties of Englanb
EDITED BY WILLIAM PAGE, F.S.A.
A HISTORY OF
DURHAM
VOLUME I
THE
/ICTORIA HISTORY
OF THE COUNTIES
OF ENGLAND ^)'
DURHAM
LONDON
ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE
AND COMPANY LIMITED
This History ts issued to Subscribers only
By Archibald Constable & Company Limited
and printed by Eyre & Spottiswoode
H.M. Printers, London
INSCRIBED
TO THE MEMORY OF
HER LATE MAJESTY
QUEEN VICTORIA
WHO GRACIOUSLY GAVE
THE TITLE TO AND
ACCEPTED THE
DEDICATION OF
THIS HISTORY
THE ADVISORY COUNCIL
OF THE VICTORIA HISTORY
His GRACE THE LORD ARCH-
BISHOP OP CANTERBURY
His GRACE THE DUKE OP
BEDFORD, K.G.
President of the Zoological Society
His GRACE THE DUKE OP DEVON-
SHIRE, K.G.
Chancellor of the University of Cam-
bridge
His GRACE THE DUKE OP
RUTLAND, K.G.
His GRACE THE DUKE OP
PORTLAND, K.G.
His GRACE THE DUKE OP
ARGYLL, K.T.
THE RT. HON. THE EARL op
ROSEBERY, K.G., K.T.
THE RT. HON. THE EARL OF
COVENTRY
President of At Royal Agricultural
Society
THE RT. HON. THE VISCOUNT
DILLON
Latf President of the Society of
Antiquaries
THE RT. HON. THE LORD LISTER
Late President of the Royal Society
THE RT. Hon. THE LORD
ALVERSTONE, G.C.M.G.
Lord Chief Justice
THE HON. WALTER ROTHSCHILD,
M.P.
SIR FREDERICK POLLOCK, BART.,
LL.D., F.S.A., ETC.
SIR JOHN EVANS, K.C.B., D.C.L.,
LL.D., F.R.S., ETC.
SIR EDWARD MAUNDE THOMP-
SON, K.C.B., D.C.L., LL.D.,
F.S.A., ETC.
Director of the British Museum
SIR CLEMENTS R. MARKHAM,
K.C.B., F.R.S., F.S.A.
President of the Royal Geographical
Society
SIR HENRY C. MAXWELL-LYTE,
K.C.B., M.A., F.S.A., ETC.
Keeper of the Public Records
COL. SIR]. FARQUHARSON, K.C.B.
SIR Jos. HOOKER, G.C.S.I., M.D.,
D.C.L., F.R.S., ETC.
SIR ARCHIBALD GEIKIE, LL.D.,
F.R.S., ETC.
REV. J. CHARLES Cox, LL.D.,
F.S.A., ETC.
LIONEL Cusr, M.V.O., M.A.,
F.S.A., ETC.
Director of tbi National Portrait
Gallery
CHARLES H. FIRTH, M.A., LL.D.
Regius Professor of Modern History,
Oxford
ALBERT C. L. G. GUNTHER.M.A.,
M.D., F.R.S., PH.D.
l^ate President of the Linnean Society
F. HAVERPIELD, M.A., LL.D.,
F.S.A.
COL. DUNCAN A. JOHNSTON, C.B.,
R.E.
Late Director General of the Ordnance
Survey
PROF. E. RAY LANKESTER, M.A.,
F.R.S., ETC.
Dirtttor of the Natural History
Museum, South Kensington
REGINALD L. POOLE, M.A.
University Lecturer in Diflomaric,
Oxftrd
J. HORACE ROUND, M.A., LL.D.
WALTER RYE
W. H. ST. JOHN HOPE, M.A.
Assktant Secretary of tbt Society of
Antiquariei
Among the original members of
the Council were
THE LATE MARQUESS OP SALISBURY
THE LATE DR. MANDELL
CREIGHTON, BISHOP OP LONDON
THE LATE DR. STUBBS, BISHOP
OF OXFORD
THE LATE LORD ACTON
THE LATE SIR WILLIAM FLOWER
and
THE LATE PROFESSOR F. YORK
POWELL
General Editor— \V HUM* PACE, F.S.A.
GENERAL ADVERTISEMENT
The VICTORIA HISTORY of the Counties of England is a National Historic Survey
which, under the direction of a large staff comprising the foremost students in science, history,
and archaeology, is designed to record the history of every county of England in detail. This
work was, by gracious permission, dedicated to Her late Majesty Queen Victoria, who gave it
her own name. It is the endeavour of all who are associated with the undertaking to make it
a worthy and permanent monument to her memory.
Rich as every county of England is in materials for local history, there has hitherto been
no attempt made to bring all these materials together into a coherent form.
Although from the seventeenth century down to quite recent times numerous county
histories have been issued, they are very unequal in merit ; the best of them are very rare
and costly ; most of them are imperfect and many are now out of date. Moreover, they were
the work of one or two isolated scholars, who, however scholarly, could not possibly deal
adequately with all the varied subjects which go to the making of a county history.
VII
In the VICTORIA HISTORY each county is not the labour of one or two men, but of many,
for the work is treated scientifically, and in order to embody in it all that modern scholarship
can contribute, a system of co-operation between experts and local students is applied, whereby
the history acquires a completeness and definite authority hitherto lacking in similar
undertakings.
The names of the distinguished men who have joined the Advisory Council are a
guarantee that the work represents the results of the latest discoveries in every department
of research, for the trend of modern thought insists upon the intelligent study of the past
and of the social, institutional, and political developments of national life. As these histories
are the first in which this object has been kept in view, and modern principles applied, it is
hoped that they will form a work of reference no less indispensable to the student than
welcome to the man of culture.
THE SCOPE OF THE WORK
The history of each county is complete in itself, and in each case its story is told from the
earliest times, commencing with the natural features and the flora and fauna. Thereafter
follow the antiquities, pre-Roman, Roman, and post-Roman ; ancient earthworks ; a new
translation and critical study of the Domesday Survey ; articles on political, ecclesiastical, social,
and economic history ; architecture, arts, industries, sport, etc. ; and topography. The greater
part of each history is devoted to a detailed description and history of each parish, containing
an account of the land and its owners from the Conquest to the present day. These manorial
histories are compiled from original documents in the national collections and from private
papers. A special feature is the wealth of illustrations afforded, for not only are buildings of
interest pictured, but the coats of arms of past and present landowners are given.
HISTORICAL RESEARCH
It has always been, and still is, a reproach that England, with a collection of public
records greatly exceeding in extent and interest those of any other country in Europe, is yet
far behind her neighbours in the study of the genesis and growth of her national and local
institutions. Few Englishmen are probably aware that the national and local archives contain
for a period of 800 years in an almost unbroken chain of evidence, not only the political,
ecclesiastical, and constitutional history of the kingdom, but every detail of its financial and
social progress and the history of the land and its successive owners from generation to
generation. The neglect of our public and local records is no doubt largely due to the fact
that their interest and value is known to but a small number of people, and this again is
directly attributable to the absence in this country of any endowment for historical research.
The government of this country has too often left to private enterprise work which our con-
tinental neighbours entrust to a government department. It is not surprising, therefore, to find
that although an immense amount of work has been done by individual effort, the entire
absence of organization among the workers and the lack of intelligent direction has hitherto
robbed the results of much of their value.
In the VICTORIA HISTORY, for the first time, a serious attempt is made to utilize our
national and local muniments to the best advantage by carefully organizing and supervising
the researches required. Under the direction of the Records Committee a large staff of experts
has been engaged at the Public Record Office in calendaring those classes of records which are
fruitful in material for local history, and by a system of interchange of communication among
workers under the direct supervision of the general editor and sub-editors a mass of information
is sorted and assigned to its correct place, which would otherwise be impossible.
THE RECORDS COMMITTEE
SIR EDWARD MAUNDE THOMPSON, K.C.B. C. T. MARTIN, B.A., F.S.A.
SIR HENRY MAXWELL-LYTE, K.C.B. J. HORACE ROUND, M.A., LL.D.
W. J. HARDY, F.S.A. S. R. SCARGILL-BIRD, F.S.A.
F. MADAM, M.A. W. H. STEVENSON, M.A.
F. MAITLAND, M.A., F.S.A. G. F. WARNER, M.A., F.S.A.
viii
FAMILY HISTORY
Family History is, both in the Histories and in the supplementary genealogical volumes
of chart Pedigrees, dealt with by genealogical experts and in the modern spirit. Every effort
is made to secure accuracy of statement, and to avoid the insertion of those legendary
pedigrees which have in the past brought discredit on the subject. It has been pointed out
by the late Bishop of Oxford, a great master of historical research, that ' the expansion and
extension of genealogical study is a very remarkable feature of our own times,' that ' it is an
increasing pursuit both in America and in England,' and that it can render the historian most
useful service.
CARTOGRAPHY
In addition to a general map in several sections, each History contains Geological, Oro-
graphical, Botanical, Archaeological, and Domesday maps ; also maps illustrating the articles on
Ecclesiastical and Political Histories, and the sections dealing with Topography. The Series
contains many hundreds of maps in all.
ARCHITECTURE
A special feature in connexion with the Architecture is a scries of ground plans, many
of them coloured, showing the architectural history of castles, cathedrals, abbeys, and other
monastic foundations.
In order to secure the greatest possible accuracy, the descriptions of the Architecture,
ecclesiastical, military, and domestic, are under the supervision of Mr. C. R. PEERS, M.A.,
F.S.A., and a committee has been formed of the following students of architectural history
who are referred to as may be required concerning this department of the work : —
ARCHITECTURAL COMMITTEE
J. BILSON, F.S.A., F.R.I.B.A. W. H. ST. JOHN HOPE, M.A.
R. BLOMFIELD, M.A., F.S.A., A.R.A. W. H. KNOWLES, F.S.A., F.R.I.B.A.
HAROLD BRAK.SPEAR, F.S.A., A.R.I.B.A. J. T. MICKLETHWAITE, F.S.A.
PROF. BALDWIN BROWN, M.A. ROLAND PAUL, F.S.A.
ARTHUR S. FLOWER, F.S.A., A.R.I.B.A. J. HORACE ROUND, M.A., LL.D.
GEORGE E. Fox, M.A., F.S.A. PERCY G. STONE, F.S.A., F.R.I.B.A.
J. A. GOTCH, F.S.A., F.R.I.B.A. THACKERAY TURNER.
GENEALOGICAL VOLUMES
The genealogical volumes contain the family history and detailed genealogies of such
houses as had at the end of the nineteenth century seats and landed estates, having enjoyed
the like in the male line since 1760, the first year of George III., together with an intro-
ductory section dealing with other principal families in each county.
IX
The general plan of Contents and the names among others of
those who are contributing articles and giving assistance are as
follows : —
Natural History
Geology. CLEMENT REID, F.R.S., HORACE B. WOODWARD, F.R.S., and others
Palaeontology. R. L. LYDEKKER, F.R.S., etc.
/'Contributions by G. A. BOULENGER, F.R.S., H. N. DIXON, F.L.S., G. C. DRUCE, M.A.,
Flora I F.L.S., WALTER GARSTANG, M.A., F.L.S., HERBERT Goss, F.L.S., F.E.S., R. I. POCOCK,
Fauna j REV. T. R. R. STEBBING, M.A., F.R.S., etc., B. B. WOODWARD, F.G.S., F.R.M.S.,
\ etc., and other Specialists
Prehistoric Remains. SIR JOHN EVANS, K.C.B., D.C.L., LL.D., W. BOYD DAWKINS, D.Sc., LL.D.,
F.R.S, F.S.A., GEO. CLINCH, F.G.S., JOHN GARSTANG, M. A., B.Litt., F.S.A.,and others
Roman Remains. F. HAVERFIELD, M.A., LL.D., F.S.A.
Anglo-Saxon Remains. C. HERCULES READ, F.S.A. , REGINALD A. SMITH, B.A., F.S.A., and others
Domesday Book and other kindred Records. J. HORACE ROUND, M.A., LL.D., and other Specialists
Architecture. C. R. PEERS, M.A., F.S.A., W. H. ST. JOHN HOPE, M.A., and HAROLD BRAKSPEAR,
F.S.A., A.R.I.B.A.
Ecclesiastical History. R. L. POOLE, M.A., and others
Political History. PROF. C. H. FIRTH, M.A., LL.D., W. H. STEVENSON, M.A., J. HORACE ROUND,
M.A., LL.D., PROF. T. F. TOUT, M.A., PROF. JAMES TAIT, M.A., and A. F. POLLARD
History of Schools. A. F. LEACH, M.A., F.S.A.
Maritime History of Coast Counties. Prof. J. K. LAUGHTON, M.A., M. OPPENHEIM, and others
Topographical Accounts of Parishes and Manors. By Various Authorities
History of the Feudal Baronage. J. HORACE ROUND, M.A., LL.D., and OSWALD BARRON, F.S.A.
Agriculture. SIR ERNEST CLARKE, M.A., Sec. to the Royal Agricultural Society, and others
Forestry. JOHN NISBET, D.CEc., and others
Industries, Arts and Manufactures )
. ... > By Various Authorities
Social and Economic History )
Ancient and Modern Sport. E. D. CUMING and others
Hunting \
Shooting > By Various Authorities
Fishing, etc./
Cricket. HOME GORDON
Football. C. W. ALCOCK
FIGURE OF JONAS THE PROPHET EMBROIDERED ON BISHOP FRITHSTAN'S STOLE
(A.D. 909 TO 913) FOUND IN ST CUTHBERT'S COFFIN.
M'Lagan & dimming, Litho. Etlinr.
DA
670
, I
Counts Committee for Durbam
THE RT. HON. THE EARL OF DURHAM
Lord Lieutenant, Chairman
THE RT. HON. THE EARL OF STRATHMORE
AND KlNGHORNE
THE RT. REV. THE LORD BISHOP OF
DURHAM
THE RT. HON. THE LORD BARNARD
THE HON. FREDERICK W. LAMBTON, M.P.
THE HON. ARTHUR ELLIOT
SIR WILLIAM EDEN, BART.
SIR WILLIAM H. E. CHAYTOR, BART.
SIR HENRY S. M. HAVELOCK-ALLAN, BART.
SlR POWLETT C. J. MlLBANK, BART.
SIR CHARLES M. PALMER, BART.
SIR DAVID DALE, BART.
SIR LINDSAY WOOD, BART.
SIR JONATHAN BACKHOUSE, BART.
THE VERY REV. G. W. KITCHIN, D.D.,
F.S.A., Dean of Durham
THE WORSHIPFUL THE MAYOR OF DURHAM
THE WORSHIPFUL THE MAYOR OF JARROW-
ON-TYNE
CHARLES W. BELL, ESQ., D.L., J.P.
ROBERT CAMERON, ESQ., M.P.
LT.-COL. J. C. FiFE-CooKsoN, D.L., J.P.
THE REV. CANON FOWLER, D.C.L., F.S.A.
JOHN SCOTT Fox, ESQ., K.C.
THE REV. HENRY GEE, D.D., F.S.A.
THE REV. CANON GREENWELL, D.C.L.,
F.S.A.
ARTHUR HENDERSON, ESQ., M.P.
F. B. JEVONS, ESQ., D.Lrrr.
G. A. LEBOUR, ESQ., M.A., F.G.S.
WILLIAM G. MORANT, ESQ.
THE REV. CANON NORMAN, D.C.L., LL.D.,
F.R.S.
JOHN S. G. PEMBERTON, ESQ., M.P.
RALPH SIMEY, ESQ., D.L.
SAMUEL STOREY, ESQ., D.L., J.P.
THE REV. CANON TRISTRAM, D.D., LL.D.,
F.R.S.
VICTOR A. WILLIAMSON, ESQ., C.M.G., D.L.
JOHN WILSON, ESQ., M.P.
XIII
CONTENTS OF VOLUME ONE
Dedication . ....
The Advisory Council of the Victoria History
General Advertisement ....
The Durham County Committee
Contents ......
List of Illustrations .....
Prefcce
Table of Abbreviations ....
Natural History
Geology
Paleontology .....
Botany ......
Zoology
Marine ......
Marine Molluscs ....
Non-Marine Molluscs
Insects
Spiders
Crustaceans .....
Fishes
Reptiles and Batrachians .
Birds . . .
Mammals .....
Early Man
Anglo-Saxon Remains ....
The Contents of St. Cuthbert's Shrine
Introduction to the Boldon Book
Text of the Boldon Book
Ancient Earthworks ....
History of Schools .....
Index to the Boldon Book
By G. A. LEBOUR, M.A
By R. LYDEKKER, F.R.S., F.G.S., F.L.S.
By M. C. POTTER, M.A
By the Rev. A. M. NORMAN, D.C.L., LL.D.,
F.R.S., Hon. Canon of Durham
n n n •
By B. B. WOODWARD, F.G.S., F.R.M.S.
By the Rev. W. J. WINGATB, and J. E. ROBSON,
F.E.S. (LepiJoptero)
By the late F. O. PICKARD-CAMBRIDCE, M.A. .
By the Rev. T. R. R. STBBBING, M.A., F.R.S.,
F.Z.S
By ALEXANDER MEEK, M.Sc., F.Z.S.
By E. LEONARD GILL, B.Sc
By the Rev. H. B. TRISTRAM, LL.D., F.R.S.,
Canon of Durham .....
By E. LEONARD GILL, B.Sc.
By the Rev. WM. GREENWHLL, D.C.L., F.R.S.,
F.S.A., Minor Canon of Durham, and
GEO. CLINCH, F.G.S
By CHARLES C. HODGES ....
By the Very Rev. G. W. KITCHIN, D.D.,
F.S.A., Dean of Durham ....
By G. T. LAPSLEY, M.A., PH.D. (Harvard) .
n n n •
By I. CHALKLEY GOULD ....
By A. F. LEACH, M.A., F.S.A. .
PAGI
V
vii
vii
xiii
xv
xvii
xix
xxi
i
31
35
«3
8?
90
93
'4'
150
1 68
'74
'75
191
199
211
»59
3*7
343
365
4'S
xv
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
Portion of Bishop Frithstan's Stole found in St. Cuthbert's Coffin ..... Frontispiece
Articles found in Heathery Burn Cave ..... .... 201
„ ,, ............. 203
„ » » 205
Drinking Cup from Sacriston : Bronze Rapier-blade from River
Tyne at Newcastle : Bronze Sword from River Tees opposite
Middlesbrough : Bronze Spear-head from River Tyne above
Newcastle : Bronze Rapier-blade from River Tyne at New-
full-page plate, facing 206
castle : Bronze Dagger from River Tyne above Newcastle :
Bronze Rapier-blade from River Wear at Claxheugh
Late Celtic Sword and Sheath found at Bannston, near Sadberge, co. Durham .... 209
Hartlepool Gravestones ......... full-page plate, facing 2 1 2
Iron Weapons found at Hurbuck, near Lanchester . . . . „ „ „ 214
Bishop Tidfirth's Stone from Monkwearmouth : Three Spear-\
heads from Darlington : Anglian Brooch from Darlington : I
Earthenware Vessel containing Coins from Hcworth: Brooch f " " "
or Buckle from East Boldon . . . . . )
Glass Vessel found at Castle Eden „ ,,,,216
Auckland : Parts of Cross-shaft „ ,,,,218
Aycliffe : Cross and Cross-shaft in Churchyard „ „ „ 220
St. Oswald's, Durham : Portion of a Cross-shaft . . . x
Billingham : Fragment of Gravestone, now in British Museum
Jarrow : Fragment of Cross-shaft in North Porch .
Durham : Coped Grave Cover in Cathedral Library . . >
Front and Back of Portions of Cross from the Chapter House, Durham . . . . .226
Fronts of Portions of Crosses from the Chapter House, Durham . . . . . .227
Back of Portion of Cross from the Chapter House, Durham . . . . . . .228
Portion of Cross-shaft from Gainford . . . . . . . . . . .230
Portion of Base Stone of Cross from Hurworth . . . . . . . . • 233
Monkwearmouth: Gravestone of Herebericht ..... full-page plate, facing 234
Sockburn : —
Portion of Cross-shaft . . |
Upper Part of Cross-shaft .
Stone with Two Warriors on Horseback/
Portions of Cross-shafts „ „ „ 238
Hog-backed Stones . ......„„„ 240
Sundial at Darlington . .......... 240
Sundial at Pittington . ......... 240
St. Cuthbert's Coffin :—
Outer Lid • 243
Inner Lid. ... . .... 243
Fragments of Wood showing Arcading . . 243
Model Restored ; Grooves for Cross-pieces supporting the Inner Lid . . 144
Right Hand Side . • *4S
Left Hand Side • *45
Groove and Rebates ... • 246
Head with Figures of St. Michael and St. Gabriel . . . . 247
Foot with Figures of Virgin and Child ..... ... 247
Iron Ring .... • 248
Inscriptions on the Coffin ..... . . 249
xvii
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
St. Cuthbert's Cross . , . • . .) full-page plate, facing 254
St. Cuthbert's Comb . . . . j
St. Cuthbert's Portable Altar . . .\
Bracelet of Gold Thread and Silk found in
St. Cuthbert's Coffin . . . .> ..... » » » 256
Portion of Maniple found in St. Cuthbert's I
Coffin ....... '
Portions of Bishop Frithstan's Stole . \
Ends of Bishop Frithstan's Stole . . . j- . . , . . „ „ „ 258
Bishop Frithstan's Maniple . . .)
Ancient Earthworks
Stockley Beck Camp, Brancepeth . . . . . , . , , . • 347
Maiden Castle, Durham . . . . . . . . . . . -348
The Castles, North Bedburn ........... 349
Shackerton Hill, Heighington . . . . .... 349
Jarrow .... .......351
Lanchester . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351
• Castle Steads,' Rowley Gillet ........... 352
Piercebridge . . . . . . . . . . , . -353
Castle Hill, Bishopton . . . . . . . . . . . -353
Durham Castle . . . . . . . . . . . . -354
Barnard Castle . . . . . . . . . . . . . -355
Brancepeth ..... ........ 356
Shipley Moat, Hamsterley . . . . . . . . . . . -356
Holmside Hall, Lanchester. . . . . . . . . . , .356
Langley Hall, Lanchester . . . . . . . . . . -356
Castle Wood, Wolsingham . . . . . . . . . . . -356"
Bradley Hall, Wolsingham . . . . . . . . . . . -357
Dawdon Tower ............. 357
Low Dinsdale .............. 353
Summerhouse, Gainford . . . . . . . . . . . -358
Low Throston . . . . . . . . . . . . . .358
WardleyHall .............. 3S9
Ludworth Tower . . . . . . . . . . . . -359
Raby Castle .............. 359
Stockton Castle . . . . . . . . . . . . -359
Middle Friarside, Tanfield . . . . . . . . . . -359
Chapel Walls, Wolsingham ............ 360
Archdeacon Newton ............. 360
Cockfield ............. . 361
Park Pasture, Stanhope . . . . . . . . . . . .362
LIST OF MAPS
PAGE
Geological Map . . between xxvi, I
Orographical Map ............ „ 14, 25
Botanical Map. . . ,,34,35
Pre-Historical Map . ........ „ 198, 199
Anglo-Saxon Map . ... ,,210, 211
Ancient Earthworks Map . *A± *.*
» 34Z> 343
xviii
1
PREFACE
fact that the county of Durham was a palatinate, and there-
fore more than other counties a separate district, may be the
reason why it has been peculiarly fortunate in having attracted
men of culture and leisure to study its history seriously and
enthusiastically. Although he never attempted anything in the form of
a county history, George Allan, a solicitor of Darlington, during the latter
half of the eighteenth century collected and added to the manuscripts
which had been prepared by many earlier workers. This vast store of
material he freely placed at the disposal of historical students, thus
enabling them to give a thoroughness to their work which otherwise
could not probably have been attained. It was by this means that
William Hutchinson was able to write his History and Antiquities of the
County Palatine of Durham, the first volume of which appeared in 1785.
Hutchinson was a man of many parts, a lawyer, a politician, a play-
wright and a novelist, but his history is nevertheless good, and will
compare favourably in a few points with that of his rival Surtees.
Without doubt, however, the principal historian of the county was
Robert Surtees. From his boyhood Surtees was a student of history, and
conceived the idea of writing a history of his native county while an
undergraduate at Christ Church, Oxford. He retired to his family seat
at Mainsforth in 1805, and there at the age of twenty-six began what
became his life's work. But The History and Antiquities of the County
Palatine of Durham was delayed on account of his health, and the first
volume was not published till 1816. Beyond the care and accuracy
which he gave to his task there is a quaint humour in his style of
writing, unusual in works of this nature, which adds a charm to what
otherwise might often prove dry reading. The attraction of this
quaint humour, exhibited as well in conversation as in writing, together
with a generous disposition, surrounded him with those congenial com-
panions and devoted friends who may be said to have founded a school of
local historical research which has attained a standard that has never been
reached elsewhere in this country. Among those influenced by this
movement occur the names of Rev. James Raine, Canon Raine, his son,
J. Hodgson Hinde, Sir Cuthbert Sharpe, W. H. D. LongstafF, Canon
Greenwell, and Canon Fowler. Surtees died in February, 1834, leaving
the fourth volume of his history, which remained unpublished till 1840,
to be completed by his colleague, Rev. James Raine. Within a few
months of his death the Surtees Society, which has done so much to
XIX
PREFACE
elucidate the history of the north of England, was founded as a memorial
to him. The prime mover in the formation of this Society was Rev.
James Raine, D.C.L., author of The History and Antiquities of North
Durham, a most scholarly work relating to the detached parts of Durham
locally situated in Northumberland, the first part of which was issued in
1830, and the second in 1852. Raine was a man of great learning and
indefatigable industry, to whose works all historians of the north of
England are indebted. With such rivals as these it seems bold to com-
pete, but it may perhaps be claimed that the aims of the Victoria County
History differ in many respects from those of the existing county
histories.
The editor desires to express his thanks to Rev. Canon Greenwell,
for valuable advice and assistance ; to Rev. Dr. Gee, for help in many
ways ; to Dr. Kitchin, Dean of Durham, for the use of plates ; and to
the Society of Antiquaries of London, the Yorkshire Archaeological
Society, and the Surtees Society, for the use of blocks for illustrations.
XX
TABLE OF ABBREVIATIONS
Abbrev. Plac. (Rec.
Com.)
Acts of P.C. . .
Add ......
Add. Chart. . .
Admir .....
AgarJe ....
Anct. Corresp. . .
Anct. D. (P.R.O.)
A 2420
Ann. Mon. . . .
Antiq .....
Arch
Arch. Cant.
Archd. Rec.
Archil
Assize R.
Aud. Off. .
Aug. Off. .
Ayloffe .
Bed
Beds
Berb . .
Bdle
B.M
Bodl. Lib. .
Boro
Brev. Reg. .
Brit
Buck
Bucks .
Cal
Camb
Cambr
Campb. Ch. . .
Cant
Cap
Carl
Cart. Antiq. R.
C.C.C. Camb. . .
Certiorari Bdles.
(Rolls Chap.)
Chan. Enr. Decree
R.
Chan. Proc. . .
Chant. Cert. . .
Chap. Ho. . . .
Charity Inq. . .
Chart. R. 20 Hen.
HI. pt. i. No. 10
Abbreviatio Placitorum (Re-
cord Commission)
Acts of Privy Council
Additional
Additional Charters
Admiralty
Agarde's Indices
Ancient Correspondence
Ancient Deeds(Public Record
Office) A 2420
Annales Monastic!
Antiquarian or Antiquaries
Appendix
Archzologia or Archaeological
Archzologia Cantiana
Archdeacons' Records
Architectural
Assize Rolls
Audit Office
Augmentation Office
Ayloffe's Calendars
Bedford
Bedfordshire
Berbhire
Bundle
British Museum
Bodley*s Library
Borough
Brcvia Regia
Britain, British, Britannia, etc.
Buckingham
Buckinghamshire
Calendar
Cambridgeshire or Cambridge
Cambria, Cambrian, Cam-
brensis, etc.
Campbell Charities
Canterbury
Chapter
Carlisle
Cartae Antiquae Rolls
Corpus Christi College, Cam-
bridge
Certiorari Bundles (Rolls
Chapel)
Chancery Enrolled Decree
Rolls
Chancery Proceedings
Chantry Certificates (or Cer-
tificates of Colleges and
Chantries)
Chapter House
Charity Inquisitions
Charter Roll, 20 Henry III.
part i. Number 10
Chartul
Chas
Ches
Chest
Ch. Gds. (Exch.
K.R.) . . .
Chich
Chron
Close ....
Co
Colch
Coll
Com
Com. Pleas
Conf. R. . . .
Co. Plac. . . .
Cornw
Corp
Cott
Ct. R
Ct. of Wards . .
Cumb
Cur. Reg. . . .
D
D. and C. . . .
De Bane. R. . .
Dec. and Ord . .
Dep. Keeper's Rep.
Derb
Devon ....
Dioc
Doc
Dods. MSS. . .
Dom. Bk. . . .
Dors
Duchy of Lane. .
Dur
East
Ecd
Eccl. Com. . .
Edw
Eliz
Engl
Engl. Hist. Rev. .
Enr
Epis. Reg. . . .
Esch. Enr. Accts. .
ExcerptaeRot.Fin.
(Rec. Cora.)
Exch. Dep. . .
Exch. K.B. . .
Exch. K.R. . .
Exch. L.T.R.
Chartulary
Charles
Cheshire
Chester
Church Goods (Exchequer
King's Remembrancer)
Chichester
Chronicle, Chronica, etc.
Close Roll
County
Colchester
Collections
Commission
Common Picas
Confirmation Rolls
County Placita
Cornwall
Corporation
Cotton or Cottonian
Court Rolls
Court of Wards
Cumberland
Curia Regis
Deed or Deeds
Dean and Chapter
De Banco Rolls
Decrees and Orders
Deputy Keeper's Reports
Derbyshire or Derby
Devonshire
Diocese
Documents
Dodsworth MSS.
Domesday Book
Dorsetshire
Duchy of Lancaster
Durham
Easter Term
Ecclesiastical
Ecclesiastical Commission
Edward
Elizabeth
England or English
English Historical Review
Enrolled or Enrolment
Episcopal Registers
Escheators Enrolled Accounts
Excerpta e Rotulis Finium
(Record Commission)
Exchequer Depositions
Exchequer King's Bench
Exchequer King's Remem-
brancer
Exchequer Lord Treasurer's
Remembrancer
XXI
TABLE OF ABBREVIATIONS
Exch. of Pleas, Plea
R.
Exch. of Receipt .
Exch. Spec. Com. .
Feet of F. . . .
Feod. Accts. (Ct. of
Wards)
Feod. Surv. (Ct. of
Wards)
Feud. Aids . . .
fol
Foreign R. . . .
Forest Proc.
Exchequer of Pleas, Plea Roll
Exchequer of Receipt
Exchequer Special Commis-
Feet of Fines
Feodaries Accounts (Court of
Wards)
Feodaries Surveys (Court of
Wards)
Feudal Aids
Folio
Foreign Rolls
Forest Proceedings
Gaz Gazette or Gazetteer
Gen Genealogical, Genealogica,
etc.
Geo George
Glouc Gloucestershire or Gloucester
Guild Certif.(Chan.) Guild Certificates (Chancery)
Ric. II. Richard II.
Hants
Harl.
Hen.
Heref.
Hertf.
Herts
Hil. .
Hist.
Hist. MSS. Com.
Hosp.
Hund. R. . .
Hunt. . . .
Hunts .
Inq. a.q.d.
Inq. p.m.
Inst. . .
Invent. .
Ips. . .
Itin. . .
Journ. .
Lamb. Lib.
Lane.
L. and P.
VIII.
Lansd.
Ld. Rev. Rec.
Leic.
Le Neve's Ind.
Lib. . . .
Lich. . .
Line.
Lond.
Hen.
m.
Mem.
Hampshire
Harley or Harleian
Henry
Herefordshire or Hereford
Hertford
Hertfordshire
Hilary Term
History, Historical,Historian,
Historia, etc.
Historical MSS. Commission
Hospital
Hundred Rolls
Huntingdon
H untingdonshire
Inquisitions ad quod damn um
Inquisitions post mortem
Institute or Institution
Inventory or Inventories
Ipswich
Itinerary
James
Journal
Lambeth Library
Lancashire or Lancaster
Letters and Papers, Hen.
VIII.
Lansdowne
Land Revenue Records
Leicestershire or Leicester
Le Neve's Indices
Library
Lichfield
Lincolnshire or Lincoln
London
Membrane
Memorials
Memo. R. .
Mich
Midd
Mins. Accts.
Misc. Bks. (Exch.
K.R., Exch.
T.R. or Aug.
Off.)
Mon.
Monm. .
Mun.
Mus. . .
N. andQ. .
Norf. . .
Northampt.
Northants .
Northumb. .
Norw. .
Nott.
N.S.
Memoranda Rolls
Michaelmas Term
Middlesex
Ministers' Accounts
Miscellaneous Book (Ex-
chequer King's Remem-
brancer, Exchequer Trea-
sury of Receipt or Aug-
mentation Office)
Monastery, Monasticon
Monmouth
Muniments or Munimenta
Museum
Notes and Queries
Norfolk
Northampton
Northamptonshire
Northumberland
Norwich
Nottinghamshire or Notting-
ham
New Style
Off. Office
Orig. R. . . . Originalia Rolls
O.S Ordnance Survey
Oxf. Oxfordshire or Oxford
Palmer's Ind. .
Pal. of Chest. .
Pal. of Dur. .
Pal. of Lane. .
Par
Parl. . . .
Parl. R. . .
Parl. Surv. . .
Partic. for Gts.
Pat. . . .
P.C.C.
Pet. ...'..
Peterb .....
Phil .....
Pipe R .....
Plea R .....
Pop. Ret. . . .
Pope Nich. Tax.
(Rec. Com.)
P.R.O .....
Proc .....
Proc. Soc. Antiq. .
Pub.
R
Rec. . . .
Recov. R. . .
Rentals and Surv.
Rep
Rev
Ric. .
Page
Palmer's Indices
Palatinate of Chester
Palatinate of Durham
Palatinate of Lancaster
Parish, parochial, etc.
Parliament or Parliamentary
Parliament Rolls
Parliamentary Surveys
Particulars for Grants
Patent Roll or Letters Patent
Prerogative Court of Canter-
bury
Petition
Peterborough
Philip
Pipe Roll
Plea Rolls
Population Returns
Pope Nicholas' Taxation (Re-
cord Commission)
Pubic Record Office
Proceedings
Proceedings of the Society of
Antiquaries
Part
Publicationi
Roll
Records
Recovery Rolls
Rentals and Surveys
Report
Review
Richard
xxu
TABLE OF ABBREVIATIONS
Roff. .... Rochester diocese
Rot. Cur. Reg. . Rotuli Curix Regis
Rut. . Rutland
Topog.
Sarum ....
Ser
Sess. R
Shrews
Shrops ....
Soc
Soc. Antiq. .
Somcrs
Somers. Ho.
S.P. Dom. . . .
Staff. ....
Star Chamb. Proc.
Stat
Steph
Subs. R. . . .
Suff.
SUIT
Suss
Surv. of Ch. Liv-
ings (Lamb.) or
(Chan.)
Salisbury diocese
Series
Sessions Rolls
Shrewsbury
Shropshire
Society
Society of Antiquaries
Somerset
Somerset House
State Papers Domestic
Staffordshire
Star Chamber Proceedings
Statute
Stephen
Subsidy Rolls
Suffolk
Surrey
Sussex
Surveys of Church Livings
(Lambeth) or (Chancery)
Trans.
Transl.
Treas.
Trin.
Topography or Topographi-
cal
Transactions
Translation
Treasury or Treasurer
Trinity Term
Univ University
Valor Eccl. (Rec. Valor Ecclesiasticus (Record
Com.) Commission)
Vet. Mon. . . . Vetusta Monumenta
V.C.H Victoria County History
Vic Victoria
vol Volume
Warw. .
Westm. .
Westmld.
Will. .
Wilts .
Winton.
Wore.
Warwickshire or Warwick
Westminster
Westmorland
William
Wiltshire
Winchester diocese
Worcestershire or Worcester
York* .... Yorkshire
XXIII
A HISTORY OF
DURHAM
HISTORY OF DURHAM
GEOLOC
THE VI CTORIA HI STORY 0
AL MAP.
BASED ON THE INDEX MAPS OF THE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
EXPLANATION OF COLOURING
Blown SanJ
Alluvium
TEES RA Y
County Boundary shown thus,
1UNT1ES OF ENGLAND
GEOLOGY
FROM the mouth of the Tyne to that of the Tees the county of
Durham is bounded by the sea, and the long coast-line is for the
most part one of fine and instructive cliff-sections. This coast-
line forms the broad base of the rough triangle in which the
county is shaped. The apex of this triangle is situated among the high
hills of the Pennine range to the west not far from Cross Fell. From
this point the northern boundary follows generally the valleys of the
Derwent, Stanley Burn and the Lower Tyne ; and the southern limit is
practically the River Tees from Crook Burn, near Caldron Snout, to the
sea. From the Pennine highlands to the coast about midway between
Tyne and Tees the valley of the Wear, somewhat irregular in its trend,
divides the entire area into two fairly equal portions, one northern and
one southern, whilst the tributaries of the three main rivers, most of
them deeply sculpturing the surface, afford numberless exposures by
means of which an insight into the rocky structure of the region may
be readily gained. Here, as elsewhere, it is this structure which has
determined the main topographical features. Thus the highest ground,
to the west, consists of the hard rocks of the Lower Carboniferous Series,
the comparatively low ground between Gateshead and the Aucklands is
occupied by the outcrops of the less resisting Coal Measures, and the
bold, though not very high, undulating country which fringes the coast
as far south as the Hartlepools is due to the remarkable development of
the Permian Magnesian Limestone in that district. The low, red-
soiled country between Darlington and Seaton Carew owes its soft out-
lines and striking colour to the easily crumbled salt-bearing strata of the
Upper Permian and Trias.
There are thus four topographical and geological regions in Dur-
ham equally distinct as to surface features and vegetation, as to their
stratigraphical constituents, and, one may add, also as to the chief occu-
pations which are followed within them. They may be briefly defined as
follows : —
A. The Lower Carboniferous Region, including the upper vale of
Derwent as far as Shotley Bridge, Weardale as far as Witton-le-Wear,
and Teesdale as far as Piercebridge. This is the lead mining country.
B. The Coal Measure Region, including the lower portion of the
Derwent Valley, the whole of the Team Valley, and the valley of the
Wear from Witton-le-Wear, past Durham and Chester-le-Street to Clax-
heugh. This is the chief coal district.
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
C. The Magnesian Limestone Region, between the last-named and
the sea and bounded on the south by an ill-defined line curving from a
little west of Darlington to the Hartlepools. Until about the middle of
last century this was a purely pastoral district, but now many collieries
have been opened out in it.
D. The Red Region, between the Lower Tees and the Magnesian
Limestone Region. This is the salt district.
TABLE OF STRATA IN DURHAM
Period
Recent
Formation
River Alluvium, Peat
Marine Alluvium .
Character of Material
Mud, silt, gravel, peat : border-
ing streams and in hollows
(old lakes)
Shingle, beach sand, blowing
sand, mud
Approximate
thickness
in feet
up to 30
up to 50
Old River Drift
Pleistocene
(Drift)
Old Marine Alluvium
Later Glacial Deposits
Older Glacial Deposits
Gravel, sand, loam, clay, etc.,
of ancient river terraces .
Raised beaches
Gravel, sand, ' leafy ' clays,
cave-earth (?)
Boulder clay, some rare thin
sands and gravels ....
up to 50
up to 30
up to 250
up to 200
Salt-Mea-
sures (Trias
above, Up-
per Permian
below)
Keuper Red Sandstones and
Marls passing downwards in-
to similar Permian Sandstones.
etc.
Mostly red rocks with deposits
of rock salt, gypsum, anhy-
drite, and thin magnesian
limestones towards the base
Magnesian Limestone
Marl Slate .
Often concretionary
Flaggy calcareous beds
fish remains
with
Permian
Yellow Sands (' Quicksands ') .
Generally yellow but some-
times dark-coloured, more or
less incoherent, water-bear-
ing sandstones ....
up to 800
up to 15
(usually 3)
up to 104
Carbonifer-
ous
Coal Measures : down to the
Hutton Seam inclusive
Coal Measures : down to the
Brockwell Seam inclusive
Lower Coal Measures or Gan-
nister Beds. Millstone Grit
Bernician or Carboniferous
Limestone Series
Basement beds (so-called) . .
Sandstones, shales, coals and
fire-clays
Sandstone, shales,' coals and
fire-clays
Sandstones, shales, few coals,
occasionally beds of 'gan-
nister,' sandstones, shales,
rare coals
Sandstones, shales, fire-clays, a
few thin coals, limestones .
Coarse breccia
together up
to 5,500
variable
Silurian
Exact horizon unknown (Stock-
dale Shales [?]) .
' Slate-pencil ' Shales
thickness
unknown
The scenery of these regions is as characteristic in each case as the
industries which each supports, and will be noted under separate heads
GEOLOGY
later. Here it will suffice to say that A is a treeless moorland tract in
which bogs and crags abound, B an area of wooded and, here and there,
gorge-like valleys or ' denes ' with good open arable land between them,
C a broad zone of grass-covered billowy down-like ground bounded by
a marked rounded scarp on its western side and by bold sea-cliffs to the
east, and D a thick-soiled ruddy quarter devoid of striking features.
It is needless to add that both A and B, and in a minor degree C
also, are now much disfigured by the mining operations which have been
for so long a time carried on within their limits.
SILURIAN SYSTEM
The most ancient deposits to be seen in the county probably, but
by no means certainly, belong to the Stockdale Shale group of the
Silurian System. Only the upturned edges of these beds are visible, and
that too only in a very small inlier laid bare by the erosive action of the
Upper Tees close to the fine basaltic crags of Cronkley Scar, above the
High Force, at the old Pencil Mill. Long ago the late Professor John
Phillips had noticed these rocks and had noted their resemblance to the
' Grauwacke ' of the older Palaeozoic formations, but without assigning
any geological date to them.1 It was not however till 1875 that the
exposure was carefully studied by Messrs. Gunn, Clough and Dakyns, and
the approximate age of the strata ascertained.* The natives had for
centuries used the soft clay-slate of which the beds consist for slate-
pencils, and the name of the old mill standing by the river at the point
of their outcrop testifies to this. The uptilted position of the layers
and their denudation before the deposition of the lowest over-lying
Carboniferous material sufficiently prove the pre-Carboniferous age of
the pencil beds ; their lithological characters are those of the Stockdale
Shales as they occur in the Lake District. Some dykes of mica-trap
(minette) accompany them here as in their typical area of development,
and so far give confirmatory (though in the absence of fossils still incon-
clusive) evidence as to their age.
CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM
There are no Old Red Sandstone or Devonian rocks cropping out
in the county. The feebly developed brecciated deposits which occur
at and towards the base of the Carboniferous Series in the Pencil Mill
inlier already mentioned do not even represent the true basement beds of
the system, since they are merely the fragmental shore accumulations of
a portion of the Lower Carboniferous considerably younger and higher
than the oldest and lowest horizon of that period. This is a point not
always clearly understood. There is a base to the Carboniferous in Dur-
ham but it is not the base of the system. Of anything corresponding
to and truly contemporaneous with the chocolate-coloured breccias
which occur in pockets on the face of the Pennine escarpment not
• Illustrations of the Geology of Yorkihire, pt. 2, 1836, p. 78.
1 ££nart. Joum. Geol. Sac. xxxiv. and Geol. Mag. (December 1 1), iv. 58, 59, 139, 140.
3
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
many miles to the west in Westmorland and Cumberland, between the
regularly bedded Roman Fell Series (Lower Carboniferous, beneath the
Scar Limestone Series) and the denuded older Palasozoic rocks, there is
here no trace. The Ordovician and Silurian rocks on which the Car-
boniferous were deposited stood out as islands during the earliest Car-
boniferous times, and pseudo-basal beach formations were formed at
several horizons at various stages in the gradual submergence and bury-
ing of the ancient sea-floor. It is some of these old shingle beaches
which have, naturally enough, been not unfrequently regarded as base-
ment beds.
Neither is the series of flaggy sandstones and quartzose conglomer-
ates known on the Pennine escarpment as the Roman Fell Series
continued into Durham. This thick set of beds thins away very
rapidly to the east, and wedges out before reaching the western
boundaries of the county.
From the lowest known Durham Carboniferous stratum to the Mill-
stone Grit division, the rocks exhibit the remarkable characters of the
Bernician Series. They consist of oft-repeated alternations of grits,
sandstones, shales, fire-clays and limestones, with a few (far fewer than
in Northumberland, though more than in Yorkshire) thin and gener-
ally inconstant coal seams of small commercial value. The nature of
the series is in fact intermediate between that of the Lower Carbon-
iferous rocks of Derbyshire and Yorkshire and that of the cor-
responding set of strata in Northumberland and Scotland. There are
here no huge thicknesses of limestone such as obtain in this stratigraphi-
cal division further south, thicknesses which there fully justify the term
c Mountain Limestone ' so often applied to it, a term quite inapplicable
to the thin layers of calcareous rock which represent them in Durham.
On the other hand the number of limestone beds is rather smaller and
their individual thickness rather greater (not their total thickness) than
in Northumberland. Indeed the entire group so closely resembles that
upper portion of the Carboniferous Limestone Series which, as it is
represented in the Yorkshire dales, goes by the name of ' Yoredale
Rocks ' that the Geological Survey have used that term to denote the
whole of the Lower Carboniferous strata of Durham beneath the Mill-
stone Grit. This is somewhat unfortunate, since only the upper portion
of these beds really corresponds to the typical Yoredales, the lower portion
representing the massive Scar limestones which form the base of Ingle-
borough, Pen-y-ghent, and the other great hills of the West Riding.
The thickness of the whole in Durham varies from about 1,100 to
1,250 feet, the series thickening gradually towards the north and north-
west, until in some parts of Northumberland it attains the enormous
thickness of 8,000 feet or, in places, even more. It is to be noted that
with increased total thickness in the direction stated there coincides an
increase in number of both limestones and coals, the former thinner, as a
rule, than in Durham, but the latter thicker and much more constant —
so much so indeed as, in Northumberland and in a still greater degree in
4
GEOLOGY
Scotland, to give the value of a workable coalfield to the area occupied
by the Carboniferous Limestone or Bernician Series.
Although, as has been explained above, all the lower beds of this
important division are not to be seen cropping out at the surface in the
county, yet all have been proved within its boundaries by mining opera-
tions. Long before geologists had begun to survey the district scientifi-
cally the lead-miners had become familiar with every stratum between
the Millstone Grit and the floor of denuded Silurian and Ordovician
rocks. To each stratum a name had been given by them, and the
changing characters which they displayed from place to place had been
carefully observed and often recorded in the plans and sections connected
with the mines. It is to these early lead-miners, and more especially to
Mr. Westgarth Forster, who in 1817 gathered their observations and
his own in a complete and singularly able treatise, that we owe our first
knowledge of these strata.1 About 120 well marked beds or sets of
beds are recognizable in the series, and have been measured over and over
again in countless shafts and levels. The best known and most char-
acteristic of these may now be enumerated, beginning with the lowest
and denoting them by the numbers used in Forster's classical section. Be-
fore proceeding, however, it will be well to state that special prominence
is given to the limestone beds, because, though by no means the thickest,
they are much the most constant and serve as datum lines of great value
in correlating the deposits present in one shaft or region with those found
in another. Besides it is in the limestone layers that the lead veins have
as a rule been found to be richest in ore.
No. 2 1 7. The Melmerby Scar Limestone. — This, the thickest lime-
stone in the county, on an average 132 feet thick, comes nowhere
within it to the surface. It has been proved in several mine-shafts
however. It is the nearest approach to the true ' Mountain Limestone'
type to be found in Durham, but being only known underground it
cannot form * mountains ' in any true sense. Miners frequently call this
mass of limestone * the Great Limestone,' but as that name is given more
generally to another much better known horizon considerably higher
up this practice should not be adopted. This thick limestone is not
continued as a separate bed into Northumberland, but is there repre-
sented by shales and sandstones, and even by a few thin seams of coal
with occasional thin bands of limestone only.
After a small interval of shale and sandstone comes
No. 214. Robinson's Lime. — A limestone 20 or 21 feet thick.
More shale and sandstone of no great thickness separates this from
No. 208. The Smiddy Limestone. — About 3 1 feet thick or a few
inches more at its maximum.
Shale and sandstone again, then
No. 204. T6e Tenth or Little Limestone. — The latter name may,
as in the case above referred to, lead to some confusion, as another
1 Treatitt of a Section oftht Strata from Nnofaitle-ufon-Tyne to the Mountain! t/Crou Fill » Cumbir-
lanJ, by We»tgarth Forster.
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
higher and better known bed is usually also known as the Little Lime-
stone. This one is about 1 8 feet thick.
Another group of shale and sandstone, then
No. 200. The Ninth or Jew Limestone. — Amongst the lead-miners
an idea (without foundation in many cases) has long prevailed that
profitable mining could not be carried on beneath this bed. Several of
the most paying lead deposits have been worked to the west in lower
strata. The Jew Limestone is about 24 feet thick.
Some eight or nine alternations of shale and sandstone occur
beneath
No. 190. The Tyne-bottom Limestone. — This is one of the best
known named limestones in the series, but the name has often been
misapplied. This is due to the fact that over a considerable tract of
country the bed properly so called lies next above the great sheet of
basalt known as the Great Whin Sill in the north of England and to
the consequent inference — quite a mistaken one — that the first limestone
above this intrusive and horizon-shifting mass of igneous rock must
everywhere be the same. Many miners still refuse to regard the Whin
Sill as intrusive because of the supposed constant position (as they think)
of the Tyne-bottom Limestone above it, arguing in a vicious circle
thus : The Tyne-bottom Limestone is next above the Whin Sill at A,
the limestone lying upon the Whin Sill at B or C must therefore be the
Tyne-bottom Limestone also, and the Whin Sill has therefore not
changed its horizon and is not intrusive. An instructive example of
bad logic and worse geology. That the lower courses of the lime-
stone are commonly baked, and the shales which often lie between it
and the basalt indurated into porcellanite or ' whetstone ' by the heat
of the once molten sheet, is evidence of intrusion which they do not
take into consideration. For some four miles the river South Tyne
runs upon this limestone, hence its name. In Durham it is one of the
lowest of the Bernician limestones to crop out at the surface — ' to the
day,' as it is termed locally. It is usually about 24 feet thick. Shales
and sandstones follow as usual, then comes
No. 1 86. The Eighth or Single Post Limestone. — This is a thin but
very constant bed, about 6 feet in thickness only. Single Post means
single course, i.e. the bed consists of one layer or course of limestone,
most of the thicker limestones comprising several posts individually
seldom so thick as this. The word * post,' as met with in records of
mining sections, more often means ' sandstone,' the latter word being
in practice very commonly omitted from the full description which
should be Sandstone Post or Freestone Post = Sandstone Bed or Course.
Next come shale and sandstone, then
No. 181. The Cockle-shell Limestone. — A still thinner but well-
known bed, seldom exceeding 3 feet in thickness. It is usually full
of Productus giganteus, the ' cockle-shell ' of the miners, but though it
takes its name from this circumstance it must not be supposed that
this fossil is in any degree specially characteristic of this horizon. It is
6
GEOLOGY
found in varying abundance in every one of the limestone beds
enumerated.
The usual shale and sandstone interval is succeeded by
No. 1 69. The Sixth or Scar Limestone. — This must not be con-
founded with the previously described No. 217, which sometimes is
also known as the * Scar Limestone,' the qualifying word ' Melmerby '
being omitted. It is an important horizon in the lead measures, since
many of the richest ore- deposits have been found associated with it.
There are within it three thin bands of shale (locally ' famp ' in the
lead districts only) which separate the limestone into three posts or
courses. As lead veins of small faulting capacity traverse this bed, the
ore is apt to extend in great horizontal lateral masses along the ' famp '
partings and to form those exceedingly valuable masses of ore known
amongst the lead-miners as ' flats.' Though only about 30 feet thick
this limestone has in many a mine yielded not only a thick vertical
main vein but a ' high,' a ' middle ' and a * low ' flat of thick ore
of great value in the days before Free Trade.
More shale and sandstone, and then
No. 1 66. The Fifth or Five-Tar d Limestone. — Notwithstanding its
name, this bed is only 7 or 8 feet thick, and is not very constant at
that.
Shale and sandstone as before, then
No. 162. The Fourth or Three-Yard Limestone. — True to its name
this bed is generally about 1 2 feet thick.
Shale and sandstone, with usually a good deal of clay ironstone
(formerly worked before foreign iron ore was imported on a large scale)
associated with the shale, then
No. 1 60. The Four-Fathom Limestone. — This bed again justifies its
name, being about 24 feet thick on an average. Although not restricted
to this horizon, yet the large Foraminifer Saccammina carteri occurs in
such special abundance in it that the limestone is often spoken of as the
* Saccammina Limestone.' Long before the nature of the fossil was
recognized by the late Dr. H. B. Brady the miners and quarrymen knew
the band in the stone which is made up of the little spindle-shaped
tests as the ' spotted post,' though it must be added that they some-
times gave the same name to certain portions of other limestones with
' spots ' — or sections — due to other fossils, especially corals of the genera
Lithostrotion and Syringopora transversely cut. The Four-Fathom and
the other limestones above it are among those which are most obvious
and 'feature-making' in the upper dales of the Tees and Wear. They
appear as long continuous short-grass covered zones running across the
country and contrasting strikingly with the ranker vegetation on the
shales and sandstones between them. Sheep congregate specially on
these deep green bands ; houses, where possible, are built on them, and
when the snow melts it is from them that it is first completely cleared —
a hint to house-builders and others that the conductivity for heat of a
rock is not an element to be neglected in selecting building sites.
7
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
Shales, sandstones (often including a specially thick set of beds) and
a thin 3 foot thick limestone, No. 156, known as The Small Limestone
and very constant, bring us to
No. 153. T'he Great or Main Limestone ', the thickest (about 72
feet thick) and by far the most important of the higher (or true ' Yore-
dale ') limestones of the Bernician Series. As an ore-bearing horizon it
is second to none, and the same may be said of it as regards quarrying.
For centuries a large population has been supported by the work neces-
sitated by it, specially in the Stanhope district of Weardale. Between
Wolsingham and Frosterley this great calcareous formation is to be seen
dipping beneath the bed of the Wear, and its outcrop can be followed
thence for miles, forming a clear feature dotted with quarries as far as
the eye can reach both to the north and to the south. Considering
the extreme variability of most of the beds of limestone from the
midlands northwards the regular constancy of this horizon is remark-
able. It can be traced with certainty from west Yorkshire to north
Northumberland, and even, if recent correlations be accepted, to the
central valley of Scotland between the Forth and the Clyde. Its thick-
ness is greatest in the Durham area, from which it thins away south,
west and north. Whether it thickens or thins to the east it is not yet
possible to say, though the Chopwell boring, which will be referred to
again further on, seems to show that it will prove to thin away in that
direction likewise. Naturally so thick a limestone is made up of many
layers, and to these names have of course been given by the generations
of quarrymen who have been engaged in destroying them. The names
adopted in the Frosterley quarries are quaint and sometimes descriptive.
They are perhaps worth citing. They are as follows, in ascending
order : —
(1) THE BOTTOM POST. This layer is frequently entirely made
up of the fossil Monticuliporid coral Chaetetes byperboreus.
(2) THE NEWCASTLE POST.
(3) THE JACK POST.
(4) THE YARD POST.
(5) WHALEY.
(6) STIFF DICK.
(7) DUN JIM.
(8) DUN KIT'S BASTARD. It may be noted that the term
' bastard ' in the sense of inferior or impure is common in the north in
connexion with workable stone.
(9) THE DUN KIT POST.
(10) THE FIVE THIN POSTS.
(n) THE BLACK BEDS. It is in this part of the Great Limestone
that the rich ' middle ' flat of lead ore occurs.
(12) THE TOMS or TWEE TOMS.
(13) THE THICK COCKLE POST.
(14) THE THIN COCKLE POST. These two fossiliferous courses are
perhaps the most valuable of the whole mass. One of them is full
8
GEOLOGY
of large horn-shaped corals of the Clisiophyllum type, and the other is
equally full of Productus giganteus, the largest of Brachiopod shells.
These layers are quarried, where the fossils are most crowded, for orna-
mental purposes, as the stone takes a good polish, and many are the
churches and other public buildings throughout the kingdom in which
the Stanhope and Frosterley marbles, as they are called, display their
beautifully preserved organic remains from the old Upper Bernician or
Yoredale sea.
(15) ELSIE.
(16) ROSE-MARY, or THE PEA POST. This layer is a mass of
Litbostrotion corals in their original position of growth. The sections of
the corallites are the ' peas.'
(17) THE MUCKY POSTS.
(18) CRABBY. A ' crabbed ' or difficult stone to work.
(19) TOBY GILES. And finally
(20) THE FINE POSTS.
The topmost portion of the Great Limestone is often irregularly
bedded, presenting the aspect of ellipsoidal blocks of stone with inter-
vening calcareous shale. This appearance may be due to what Mr. J. G.
Goodchild has called the * dwindling ' of the limestone, or its gradual
decay under the effect of solvents. To this structure is no doubt owing
the name of ' Tumbler Beds,' often given to this part of the formation,
the word c Tumbler ' meaning * boulder ' in the local dialect. The ex-
traordinary persistence of the Great Limestone makes it without excep-
tion the best and most convenient datum-line in the Lower Carboniferous
deposits of the north of England.
Sandstones and shales, together with a very thin and by no means
constant representative of what to the north and west is, under the name
of The Little Limestone Coal, perhaps the most continuous seam of coal in
Britain (as it certainly is the most constant of the Bernician seams,
stretching from the northernmost portions of Northumberland to the
Craven district), separate the Great from
No. 145. The Little or Second Limestone. — This is the Little Lime-
stone proper referred to under No. 204. In it the lead veins have fre-
quently been found to yield very abundant ore, but it is a thin and, in
this county, not very regular bed.
Sandstones and shales, the last of these non-calcareous intervals,
lead to
No. 121. The Fell Top Limestone, a still thinner and more variable
limestone, sometimes duplicated by means of intercalated thin shales and
sandstones, and sometimes absent altogether (though in that case usually
represented by a calcareous shale full of ordinary limestone fossils, amongst
which trilobites are common). This is the highest marine limestone in
the Carboniferous Series of Durham ; and although the Geological Sur-
vey, owing to the necessity of carrying on lines of division decided on
further south, have been compelled to fix the upper boundary of the
Limestone Series a little above this horizon, there is no such necessity
i 9 2
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
here, and the Fell Top may well be taken as the obvious termination of
the Carboniferous Limestone or Bernician, the shaly beds immediately
following being grouped with the Millstone Grit.
Perhaps the most striking point in connexion with the Bernician
Beds as developed in Durham is the marked disappearance of the coals
which characterize them further to the north. This disappearance is
not however complete. One seam (which sometimes is represented by
two) has already been mentioned as occurring beneath No. 145, another
is sometimes found beneath the Fell Top Limestone (No. 121), but of no
value; and one beneath the Scar Limestone (No. 169). Indeed it is
clear that the many Bernician seams which crop out in west North-
umberland have a general tendency to thin away to the south-east, that
is towards Durham. It is, of course, possible that there may be a re-
crudescence of these seams beneath the Upper Carboniferous strata to
the east, but nothing but actual boring to very considerable depths can
prove whether this be so or not. Such rare borings bearing upon this
point as have been put down recently are decidedly in favour of a nega-
tive answer to this question. One at Sherburn, which went some way
beneath the Millstone Grit into the Upper Limestone horizons, struck
upon no seam approaching a workable thickness. The same result was
obtained by an extremely interesting and deeper boring put down in the
Chopwell Woods on the banks of the Derwent, and described by Mr.
J. B. Simpson in the ' Transactions of the North of. England Institute ot
Mining and Mechanical Engineers in 1902.'*
THE MILLSTONE GRIT AND COAL MEASURES
The middle division of the Carboniferous Series is a very marked and
well individualized one in the midlands. On following it towards the north
it loses much of its individuality, and this loss of specialization is accom-
panied by very considerable thinning. The coarse grits which form the
fine bold escarpments or ' edges ' of the Peak district of Derbyshire, or
the silicious scars of west Yorkshire, have not disappeared altogether in
Durham, but they have sadly dwindled both in coarseness of texture and
in the relative importance which these beds bear to the rest of the strata
associated with them. In fact the grits of the Millstone Grit in this
county are scarcely in any way different from many of those of the
Limestone Series below or of the Coal Measures above them. It is true
that grits and sandstones are still the predominant rocks, and that the
quartz grains of the grits are often found to have been augmented in
size by the addition to each grain of crystallographically orientated
secondary quartz. On the other hand the shales which intervene be-
tween the grits are absolutely identical with those of the great forma-
tions above and below, and no fossils have so far been met with which
can be said to characterize the division palasontologically. It may be
1 Published in the Transactions of that Society in 1904. It appears from this boring that several
limestone beds which, in south Northumberland, are intercalated between the Great and the Little
Limestones, persist in north Durham, as indeed might well have been expected.
10
GEOLOGY
asserted that had the Millstone Grit not been known and mapped in the
more southern counties, its representatives in Durham (and still less in
Northumberland) would probably not have been recognized as forming
a separate stratigraphical group. They would no doubt have been re-
garded simply as a set of rather coarse, irregular and variable gritty sand-
stones, with some shales and one or two thin local coal-seams, forming the
basal portion of the Coal Measures : as the introduction in fact to the huge
non-marine set of strata to which the term Coal Measures is properly
applied. However, as the division is generally recognized it is best to
retain it, bearing in mind the want of special features which is its only
noticeable, if negative, character. In Durham these beds, though no-
where more than 400 or 500 feet thick, and often much thinner, by
reason of the orographical features of the country occupy a considerable
area. The hills covered with heathery moorland, which rise between
the deep dales dug out of the Bernician rocks, are capped with this de-
based Millstone Grit, and much of the wild crag, ling and peat scenery
on these high grounds is due to the unyielding nature of these silicious
deposits. It should be stated however that in most of the geological
maps of this part of England published before the sheets of the Geolo-
gical Survey the area coloured as Millstone Grit is very much exaggerated,
partly owing to a real misconception as to the distribution of the strata,
but partly also to the fact that the older geologists were in the habit of
grouping a good deal of the Bernician Series (even including the Great
Limestone in some cases) under the appellation Millstone Grit.
After what has been said above it will be readily understood that
between the Millstone Grit and the overlying Coal Measures no violent
break is to be expected in this county. Not only is this the case, but it
can be truly said that none but a purely arbitrary and non-natural
boundary can be drawn between the two. One can go still further than
this and state that even such an arbitrary line of demarcation can scarcely
be drawn with any confidence. Thus it has repeatedly happened that
the writer has been called in by coal owners to decide whether in the
bore holes which they had put down below the known workable coal
seams of the Coal Measures the Millstone Grit had been reached or not,
and he has been quite unable to give more than a tentative and generally
a very doubtful opinion. There is in fact nothing but a perfect passage
between the two, a passage unmarked by any datum line recognizable
over any but the most limited areas. This-difficulty is intensified by the
entirely artificial divisions which, for mere convenience, have been usually
accepted in classifying the Coal Measures. These divisions are, as re-
gards the upper two, taken as including certain well-known coal seams,
and for the practical purposes of the miner this is no doubt a useful
arrangement. But the lowest division — known as the Lower Coal Mea-
sures or Gannister Series — though sufficiently limited at the top by this
method of classification, lacks any similar means of fixing its bottom
limit, as there are thereabouts no coal seams at all.
The Lower Coal Measures then (which must in no wise be con-
ii
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
founded with the beds grouped under that name in the Scottish coal-
fields, which are equivalent to the Bernician Series) as usually accepted
may be defined as comprising the 200 or 300 feet of strata which
graduate upwards from the perfectly similar rocks of the Millstone
Grit, and come to an end immediately beneath the well-known lowest
continuous and valuable coal-seam known as the Brockivell or Main Seam,
which is regarded as the bottom bed of the so-called Middle Coal
Measures.
These strata consist of sandstones, shales and a few sometimes work-
able but never quite constant coal-seams, together with ordinary fire-
clays accompanying such seams (or some of them), and a few beds, not
very continuous, of that hard white, compact, root-traversed and highly
silicious sandstone known as Gannister, and used for lining Bessemer
converters, etc. This singular rock is certainly more prevalent in these
beds than elsewhere in this region, but it is unfortunately by no
means restricted to them, as is the case in the Lower Coal Measures of
the Yorkshire and Lancashire coalfields for instance. Beds of the same
stone, sometimes quite as typical, are occasionally found in the Bernician
Series, where, here and there, they are even worked as Gannister, and
also in the higher Coal Measures, though to a less extent. Thus this
special deposit, though somewhat characteristic of the so-called Lower
Coal Measures (sufficiently so to justify the name Gannister Series,
sometimes applied to the division), can scarcely be used — especially as it
occurs in non-continuous beds — as a criterion of solid value. Again in
the more southern coalfields certain marine organisms of special types are
found which are restricted to some horizons in the Lower Coal Measures
and the Millstone Grit. This is not the case in Durham, though it is
possible, indeed probable, that further investigation may to some extent
put an end to this difficulty. This hope is held because in the adjoining
county of Northumberland casts of some of these fossils have been found
in these beds (in the neighbourhood of Stocksfield). More recently, in
shale cores from a deep bore in the Coal Measures in the north-
western portion of the Durham coalfield, from an horizon considerably
below that of the Brockwell seam, and either in the Lower Coal Mea-
sures or in the upper portion of the Millstone Grit, the writer detected
a small Productus^ a Discina and some annelid tubes allied to Serpulites.
These are of course marine fossils, but not specially of the kinds charac-
teristic of the Gannister Series of Yorkshire or Lancashire.
The entire thickness of the Coal Measures is on the average some-
thing under 2,000 feet, but it must be remembered that denudation has
removed an unknown series of beds from the upper portion and that the
original thickness of the whole was certainly greater, and in all proba-
bility much greater than this.
Just as in the Lower Carboniferous rocks the limestones are the
most persistent, and therefore, as datum lines, the most important beds,
so in the Coal Measures the thicker coal-seams are the deposits most to
be relied on in a survey of the strata. Insignificant individually as to
12
GEOLOGY
thickness when compared with the enormous mass of rapidly alternating
sandstones and shales with which they are interbedded, they are yet much
more constant than any of these, and the accurate knowledge of them
derived from the innumerable spots at which they are, or have been,
worked throughout the coalfield gives them a commanding position as
stratigraphical units such as no other deposits associated with them can
claim. It is not necessary here to enter into the interesting, and at the
present day rather controversial, question of the origin of coal generally,
especially as the seams of Durham are most of them of a kind which
does not give rise to much difference of opinion. With very few ex-
ceptions these seams, each provided with its regular seat-earth or 'under-
day' — which is also almost in every case a fire-clay — are obviously
accumulations of vegetable matter in low-lying swampy flats of great area,
and most of this vegetable matter is doubtless in its carbonized or coaly
state much in the place where it grew and flourished when living ; the
under-clays in which the strange tree-roots known as Sftgmarue are
found quite undisturbed representing the soil beneath the heaped up de-
cayed plant remains of the watery marsh. That these plants, some of
them gigantic in size, were chiefly allied to the club-mosses, horse-tails
and ferns of the present day is clear from the many well-preserved speci-
mens which not the coals themselves but the shales and other beds
accompanying the coals yield throughout the Coal Measures. The
animal remains which are also, though less often, found tell the same
tale. They are the exuviae of fishes whose rare recent allies inhabit
fresh or at least estuarine waters, of alligator-shaped amphibia fitted for
similar conditions, and of shells (chiefly bivalves) which apparently lived
the life of our river and pond mussels. Occasionally some of the animal
forms are consistent with existence in brackish waters, but instances of
frankly marine forms such as those which obtain in the Carboniferous
Limestone Series, though not absolutely unknown, are yet of great
rarity, and suggest, when they do occur, brief episodes only during which
quite occasional incursions of the sea may have invaded the delta-like
swamps.
The Durham coals are almost all of the ordinary or so-called ' bitu-
minous ' type and furnish some of the best examples of household, cok-
ing and gas coals known. A few deposits of cannel coal occur, but they
are all of very limited extent and small thickness. They moreover as
a rule form part of the ' bituminous ' seams, occurring usually towards
the upper portions of such seams over small areas. Microscopic exam-
ination shows that these sporadic cannel beds (which sometimes are
locally thick enough for working separately, and then yield gas of ex-
ceptional illuminating power) largely consist of minute freshwater alga?
which lived, presumably, in shallow pools dotted here and there upon
the surface of the forest swamps. True anthracite is not found in the
county, though as a trade term the use of the word ' anthracitic ' is not
unknown in prospectuses describing coals with a somewhat smaller pro-
portion of volatile matter than is usual in the common coals. Some-
13
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
times also the altered coal met with near intrusive dykes or sheets of
igneous rock is miscalled ' anthracite.'
It is a kind of impure stony coal, useless for industrial purposes, and
locally known as 'cindered coal' (a good descriptive name), but it is in
no sense anthracite. The amount of ' ash ' or non-coaly mineral mat-
ter of the ordinary Durham coals is small in quantity — seldom indeed
more than the percentage of silica which the tissues of the coal-making
plants originally contained. In the cannel seams, especially towards
their outer limits (i.e. near the edges of the ancient ponds), the amount
of ash is often great, so much so that the cannels frequently pass later-
ally into shales (indurated and laminated mud). In the ' cindered coal'
above referred to the percentage of ash is also very large, which would
not be the case were these metamorphosed coals akin to true anthracite.
Before proceeding to enumerate the principal coal seams it will
be well to draw attention to the fact that the correlation of the seams
of one portion of the coalfield with those of another is often rendered
difficult by the frequent splitting up and reunion to which they are
subject. Mr. M. Walton Brown it was who first pointed out, by a
critical examination of all the evidence available a few years ago, how
all but universal is this division of the seams in the Great Northern
Coalfield. To this phenomenon, one which has not yet received a per-
fectly satisfactory explanation, it is largely due that the nomenclature
of the coal beds is so confusingly local and that there are so many
synonyms.
Most of the seams to be now mentioned, in ascending order, are
under 6 feet in thickness and not less than 2 ft. 6 in. Thinner seams,
unless of some special interest, are omitted.
Nos. i and 2 of the list are in the Lower Coal Measures, as above
defined, the rest are all in the so-called Middle and Upper Coal
Measures, divisions which, however convenient, are too empirical to be
recognized here.
No. i . The Marshall Green Seam. — This coal lies only a little above
the Millstone Grit. It may be repeated that within the latter division
two or three thin and inconstant coals occur locally, but none of any
importance.
No. 2. The Victoria Seam. — Known only in the western part of the
coalfield.
No. 3. The Brockiuell Seam, or Main Coal. — This is a coal of con-
siderable value and, as before stated, is generally taken as the bottom bed
of the workable Coal Measures (i.e. the so-called Middle and Upper
Coal Measures). The term Main is unfortunately also applied to other
seams.
No. 4. The Three Quarter Seam. — Not to be confounded with
No. 10.
No. 5. The Five Quarter Seam. — In some parts of the field this is
known as the Busty seam, in others as the Lower Busty. Not the same
as No. 12.
GEOLOGY
No. 6. The Eallarat or Upper Busty Seam.
No. 7. The Hand Seam. — A thin coal, not industrially valuable,
but very constant and useful as a datum horizon in attempting corre-
lations.
No. 8. The Stone Coat, or Tilley Seam.
No. 9. The Hodge, or Splint Seam. — The term ' splint ' is applied
to a hard stony coal breaking up in flat slabs, and to some extent inter-
mediate between common coal and cannel. It is by no means restricted
to this horizon, many of the other coal seams containing bands of ' splint,'
some of which are persistent over considerable areas.
No. 10. The TCard^ Three Quarter, Harvey, Constantine, Beaumont,
Barlow Fell, or Towne ley Main Coal, or (in the Consett district) 'No. i '
Seam. — This set of names is a good example of the troublesome no-
menclature of the Durham seams.
No. 1 1 . The Ruler Coal.
No. 12. The Hutton, Main, or Five Quarter Seam. — This is prob-
ably the most famous of north country coal seams. It yields in different
districts the best household, the best coking, and the best gas coal. In
Northumberland it is known as the Loiv Main, and it is in its shaly
roof that the finest series of fish and amphibian remains have been
collected.
No. 13. The Brass Thill. — Not the same as No. 16. 'Thill' in
the local dialect means the underclay, and * brass ' is marcasite or rhom-
bic iron pyrites. A coal with much sulphide of iron in it (pyrite or
marcasite) is said to be * brassy.'
No. 14. The Low Main Seam. — This is not the Northumbrian
seam of that name. It is however, in part, the Hutton Seam of the Con-
sett district, a complicated bit of correlation due to the splitting up of
seams already referred to.
No. 15. The Maudlin Seam. — In the Wallsend district, only sepa-
rated from Durham by the river Tyne, this is known as the Bensbam
Seam, and that name is sometimes also used for it in the neighbour-
hood of Gateshead, where, indeed, the village of Bensham is situated.
No. 1 6. The Main Coal (in the Pelton district near Chester-le-
Street) or Brass Thill (in the Consett district).
No. 17. The Hard Coal (of Pelton). This seam on the eastern
side of the coalfield and in the Consett district is known as the Five
Quarter Seam.
No. 1 8. The Shield Row Seam, or (in the Wearmouth district)
the Three Quarter Seam. — This is the celebrated High Main Seam of
the Northumbrian side of the Tyne, from which the original ' Walls-
end ' coal was obtained close to the easterly termination of the Roman
wall.
No. 19. The Splint or Craw Coal. — Not, of course, the same as
the much lower No. 9. The Coal Measures above this seam are de-
nuded away — to what extent must always remain unknown to us.
It will be understood that the intervals between these nineteen
15
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
workable seams are made up of numberless sandstones, shales, fireclays,
and thin worthless coals. Owing however to the extreme variation in
thickness of these strata — a variation which the continual splitting up
and reuniting of the coal seams necessarily implies — no good purpose
can be served in a brief synopsis like the present by going into numerical
details respecting them. Suffice it to say that the sandstones vary from
the coarsest grit to the finest grained sandstone, from massive building
stone and material suitable for grindstones to roofing flags, from dark
brown to every shade of yellow, grey and occasionally to pure white ;
that the shales, locally known as * plate ' or ' metal,' vary also from
highly arenaceous clayey alternations (' grey beds ') to the finest laminated
unctuous bluish beds, and that they frequently contain concretionary
nodules and thin continuous bands of clay ironstone sufficiently rich in
carbonate of iron to pay handsomely for working in the old days ; and
that the underclays and other fireclays are usually excellent in quality as
material for refractory bricks or pottery.
THE PERMIAN SYSTEM
Overlying the denuded Coal Measures and some of the Lower Car-
boniferous rocks from close to the mouth of the Tyne near South Shields
to somewhere between the Hartlepools and the mouth of the Tees, and
therefore unconformable upon everything beneath them, come the Per-
mian Series of the north-eastern type, admirably displayed as regards its
thicker members in the coast section. It may be premised that these
north-eastern Permians are much more closely allied in aspect and
arrangement to the Permian or Dyas series of the continent than to the
much nearer representatives of that system in the north-west of England
on the opposite side of the Pennine range.
The lowest of the Permian beds on this side of England are better
shown in Durham than elsewhere, but they are not visible along the
coast in Durham, though excellently exposed in the Cullercoats and
Tynemouth cliffs in neighbouring Northumberland. They can however
be studied in many fairly good sections inland, along the foot of the
Permian escarpment, and still more fully by means of the many borings
and sinkings which in the Permian area pierce through them in order
to reach the Coal Measures which lie immediately beneath. These
Permian basement deposits are known as the "Yellow Sands.
They are not universally present, even in the county of Durham,
but where present they consist of highly false-bedded sandstones ranging
in colour from the bright yellow which gives them their name to red
on the one hand and (rarely) dark grey on the other. The grains of
sand of which the rock is chiefly made up are of moderate size or
quite coarse, but usually rounded after the manner of desert sand and
very unlike the angular unworn grains of ordinary grits. More often
than not these grains of sand are so incoherent as to crumble between
the fingers, but sometimes they are cemented more or less firmly by
carbonate of lime. Carbonate of lime has also frequently segregated in
16
GEOLOGY
nodular knobs or in anastomosing veins or ribs within the rock, thus
giving it a strange and unique appearance. Where this segregation
has taken place the sandstone is generally bleached, so that on a weathered
surface the knobs and ribs stand out in white upon the yellow back-
ground. There are no fossils of any kind in the Yellow Sands deposit,
and its place as a true member of the Permian system, which has more
than once in time past been disputed, depends more upon the uncon-
formity between it and the upturned denuded edges of the Carboniferous
upon which it rests, and upon its complete (though not always well dis-
played) conformity with the overlying fossil-bearing, and therefore
proven, Permian Marl Slate. It may be added that the unconformity
referred to is shown not only by the denudation of the coal-bearing
rocks before the deposition of the sands, but also by the fact that most
of the dislocations affecting the Coal Measures stop short at and do not
affect the Yellow Sands. These dislocations are thus pre-Permian faults.
A few other faults affect both systems and are therefore post-Permian,
though some of these (whose vertical throw or displacement is less in
the Permian than in the Carboniferous rocks) are both pre- and post-
Permian, an interesting fact proved in several cases in recent years.
The denuded floor upon which the sands lie is irregularly undulating,
and the sands fill up the hollows and are there thickest — up to i oo feet
or thereabouts as a maximum — becoming thin or being absent altogether
where the floor rises into diminutive hills. It is in the north and east
of the Permian area that the sands are most fully developed. In the
south and west they are either thin or wanting.
So loosely coherent a deposit is necessarily a first rate water-bearing
stratum, and we find accordingly that the Yellow Sands play an im-
portant and twofold part in that capacity — a beneficent part so far as
water supply is concerned, though the water from this horizon is gener-
ally exceedingly hard, and sometimes, in the neighbourhood of the coast,
to a certain extent brackish — a highly inconvenient and occasionally
dangerous part from the mining point of view, since shaft sinking
through the sands where they are full of water is always attended with
great expense and many difficulties, and has more than once given rise
to floodings which it has taxed the resources of engineering to the
utmost to cope with successfully.
The outcrop of the Yellow Sands is from the nature of the case
a narrow and an interrupted one, but where they are thick — as at
Houghton-le-Spring, Newbottle, Ferryhill, Claxheugh, etc. — good
sections can be examined, though none quite so good as those at Culler-
coats and Tynemouth in the neighbouring county.
The present writer has elsewhere given quite recently a very full
account of this member of the Durham Permian from which the fol-
lowing theoretical conclusions, agreeing in the main with the views of
the late Mr. Richard Howse, may be quoted : —
The history of the beginnings of the Permian system in Northumberland and
Durham, such as it can be gathered from the facts already stated and from the details
i I? 3
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
with which this paper concludes [a collection of detailed sections], seems fairly ob-
vious.
(i) A mass of sand, probably chiefly derived from the waste of the Carboniferous
Sandstones which formed so large an area of the then land-surface to the west, occu-
pied a broad tract of coast from somewhere to the north of Hartley, in Northumber-
land, to Yorkshire and still farther south, narrower in the north than in the south.
This sand was a beach at the coast line and a desert of blowing dunes elsewhere.
Rivers, sluggish, and probably inconstant (changing their course as do the channels in
a delta), wound their way to the sea across this sandy tract, and added to the irregu-
larity of its surface.1 The deposition of calcareous and magnesian mud in the thinly
bedded layers which betoken tranquil deposition followed, due partly to silting from
landwards and from tidal irruptions from seawards most probably in a chain of coastal
lagoons. This was accompanied by a downward movement of the coast line and the
gradual merging of the lagoons into the sea proper when the Magnesian Limestone,
with its curious fauna — a marine fauna checked in its existence by the unfavourable
chemical composition of the Permian sea water to which the rock owes its dolomitic
character — was deposited. This view is strongly confirmed by the occasional excep-
tions to the rule that the Marl-slate precedes the Magnesian Limestone proper which
already have been referred to, such exceptions (where limestone occurs beneath the
so-called Slate) being obviously the result of local accidental breaches of the bars sepa-
rating the lagoons from the sea.*
The Marl-slate referred to in this extract is the next Permian
division above the Yellow Sands. Whether the latter can in any real
sense be said to represent the much more largely developed Rotbliegendes
of the German Dyas may be regarded as doubtful in the absence of
palaeontological evidence. That the thin Marl-slate is the equivalent of
the Kupferscbiefer is however open to no doubt, although in this
country seldom more than a yard in thickness this formation of impure
calcareous slabby beds of grey or brownish colour contains a storehouse
of fossils which sufficiently attest its exact stratigraphical horizon.
Besides shells such as Nautilus freieslebeni, Lingula credneri, Discina konincki
and Myalina bnusmanni, and plants (imperfectly preserved but capable of
identification) such as Neuropteris Auttoniana, Gaulopteris (?) se/aginoides
and Polyspbonia (?) sternbergiana^ this deposit is a true fish bed and yields
extraordinarily perfect specimens, usually as entire individuals, of such
vertebrates as Palceoniscus, Dorypferus, Acentropus, Pygopterus, Acrolepis,
Crtlacanthus, Platysomus — represented by many species, as well as
amphibians and some true reptiles such as Proterosaurus. In the
county it is at Claxheugh, Deaf Hill, Middridge near Shildon, Thickley,
and Ferryhill that some of the most remarkable specimens have been
found.
The next, and much the most fully developed division of the
Permian, following, with perfect conformity over the Marl Slate, is
the Magnesian Limestone, which in Britain is nowhere so thick or so
splendidly exposed for study as in the cliff sections of Durham and
i
i
1 The late Prof. A. H. Green was of opinion that the quicksands (that is, our Yellow Sands) are
the deltas of the streams which emptied themselves into the Permian inland sea (Geol. Mag. [1872],
ix. 101). The entire absence of fossil remains, the form of the grains, and the nature of the cross
bedding, seem to point rather to wind as the final distributor of the sand, though Prof. Green's view
may quite well be accepted for their first accumulation.
8 Trans. last. Mia. Engineeri, 1903.
18
GEOLOGY
in the numerous quarries inland. Its maximum thickness is about 800
feet, and this is attained beneath the red sandstones of Seaton Carew, as
proved by borings made at that place in 1888. Its minimum is in the
neighbourhood of Naughton, where it has been proved, also by boring,
to be less than 300 feet, but as there is a suspicion of the upper portion
of this formation having been denuded off at this spot this minimum
thickness is less certain than the maximum quoted. As the Marl Slate
is without doubt identical with the Kupf ers chief er so is the Magnesian
without doubt the equivalent of the continental Zechstein. Its curiously
stunted forms of peculiar marine fossils represented by many individuals
but comparatively few species are the same as those of the Zecbstein. Its
general but varying- dolomitic character, to which it owes its English
name, is the same ; and its position in the stratigraphical sequence is also
the same. In Durham however its lithological features are extremely
peculiar. Long after the limestone was deposited molecular movements
took place within the already consolidated rock which, in many places
and at many horizons, gave rise to a quite unique development of concre-
tionary structures. From the time of Sedgwick, who first described
them from a scientific point of view, to the present day when Dr. George
Abbott of Tunbridge Wells has spent the leisure intervals of many years
in studying and photographing them, the concretions referred to have
attracted and have puzzled geologists. They have been classified
according to their endlessly diversified forms, but the cause of so
much structural rearrangement in this formation has not yet been
clearly established. Professor E. J. Garwood has shown with regard
to the simpler spheroidal forms (which are known as the cannon ball
limestone) that these are due to the segregation towards centres of the
carbonate of lime previously existing in the rock, and not to the intro-
duction of that compound into the magnesian beds from without (this
latter was the so-called ' stalactitic theory ' of the late Mr. Richard
Howse), but it cannot be said that this, which is probably now admitted
by all, carries us very far. It is a theory accounting for the multi-
form character of the concretions, the ' honeycombed,' ' coralloid,'
' oolitic,' ' botryoidal,' ' egg and cup,' and others infinitely varied besides
the spheroids that is required, and this probably experiment only will in
time provide.
The Geological Survey in its maps has unfortunately not attempted
to divide the Magnesian Limestone. The task, owing to the extraordi-
nary variability of the rock — now earthy, now flaggy, over and over
again concretionary in every conceivable form, now massive, now
cellular and now brecciated — was no doubt a difficult one. No divi-
sions are shown in the maps. Nevertheless it is possible to arrive at
some fairly definite divisions in this curious formation, though we will
not go so far as to assert that the following scheme, propounded by the
late Mr. Howse, and the best known to us, can be regarded as anything
more than tentative. These proposed divisions are (in ascending
order) : —
19
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
(1) Lower Group, consisting of
(a) a conglomerate at the base and
(b) compact limestone.
(2) Middle Group, consisting of
(c) shell limestone and
(a) cellular limestone.
(3) Upper Group, consisting of
(e) botryoidal limestone and
(/) upper yellow limestone.
It is better to have a classification such as this, confessedly open to
improvement but more useful, so far as it goes, than none at all.
One striking result of the changeable nature of the Magnesian
Limestone is, naturally enough, constant difference in the degree of
resistance which its component parts offer to denuding action both
mechanical and chemical, and, as a consequence of this, extraordinarily
diverse weathering features. Where hard and soft, crystalline and earthy,
calcareous rock is as it were commingled in a kind of omniform mosaic,
it is not surprising to find caverns, ravines, stacks, promontories of all
kinds to be the rule, and all such features are eminently characteristic of
the coast of Durham from South Shields to the Hartlepools. One of
these features is deserving of special mention. This is the occurrence in
some of the cliff sections and in some of the adjoining sea stacks —
especially in Marsden Bay — of ancient caverns, V-shaped, and evidently
at one time subterranean waterways (like those in the Mountain Limestone
of Craven), the roofs or vaults of which have in course of time collapsed,
filling the underground ravine with angular fragments of the overlying
limestone. These fragments, wholly unrounded, have at a subsequent
period been cemented together by secondary dolomitic matter, and now
appear as portions of a solid mass of breccia — so solid that several have
resisted the waves and the weather better than the unbroken rock from
which the original caverns were eroded and now stand out as great sea
stacks on the beach. Such a mass is the fine stack known as Lot's
Wife near the well-known cave-drilled islet named Marsden Rock.
These peculiar breccias, the occasional formation of which even at the
present day gives rise to violent but of course quite local earth shakes, are
known as ' breccia gashes.'
THE RED BEDS OF SOUTH DURHAM OR SALT MEASURES
A great series of red coloured sandstones and clayey arenaceous
beds, miscalled ' marls,' follows immediately upon the topmost portion of
the massive Magnesian Limestone. Quite a thousand feet of these strata
are met with in south Durham, and form the floor on which the Pleis-
tocene or Drift deposits have been laid in that region. The latter more
often than not conceal the former to so great an extent that no very
certain line can be drawn to indicate their lower boundary. Roughly
it may be said that the Durham side of the Tees from the mouth of
20
GEOLOGY
that river to Darlington and north to Seaton Carew is made up of these
red rocks. Much is known of them however by means of the many
borings which, within the last twenty years, have been put down through
them in search of the valuable salt beds which they contain. The age
of the series has been the subject of some controversy, which need be
referred to here but briefly. That the lowest members of the series
(which nevertheless differ but slightly from the rest) are of Upper Per-
mian age has been held by several geologists because a few thin beds of
Magnesian Limestone occur in them similar in all respects to the main
mass of that formation below. The late Sir Andrew Ramsay, Mr. R.
Howse and the present writer took this view and were disposed to
include some of the red beds above these bands of dolomitic limestone as
well in the Permian System, including the lowest, at least, of the beds of
rock salt. Others, including Mr. H. Howell and the Geological Survey,
regard the whole of the red series as Triassic and — since the Bunter or
Lower Trias has been shown by the Survey to thin out and disappear
some 20 miles or so to the south of the Tees — as strata of Keuper age
(Upper Trias) overlapping the Bunter. The absence of well marked
unconformities and of any palaeontological evidence must probably
always leave the decision of these points doubtful, and it is therefore
safer, in our present state of knowledge, to adopt some descriptive non-
committal term, such as ' the Salt Measures,' to which no reasonable
exception can be taken. If the unconformity which it has been hinted
may possibly occur at Norton and account for the abnormal thin-
ness of the Magnesian Limestone there, should some day be proved,
then the Survey view will properly prevail and all the red beds above
the highest of the limestone bands be classed as Keuper.
The salt beds, one of which is from 60 to 100 feet thick, are
associated with many layers of gypsum and anhydrite (the latter being
known to the salt-borers as 'white stone'), and the mode of their occur-
rence is in all respects comparable to what obtains in the Triassic salt-
bearing series of Cheshire. They lie in the lower portion of the series,
and being composed of very soluble material they thin out gradually
before reaching the surface. Thus the further to the dip (that is to say,
the further away from the original outcrop) one bores for the salt the
more likely one is to find it and the thicker it will be. This is why the
bores through which the brine is extracted are all clustered close to the
Tees and why they are so deep. Attempts to tap the same beds where
this horizon approaches the surface have either failed altogether or have
only met with deposits so reduced in bulk as to be comparatively worth-
less. As is the case with most districts underlain by easily soluble
rocks, subsidences are not unknown in the Salt Measure area of Durham,
but fortunately the great depth of the salt-winnings has prevented the
actual workings from causing the dire effects which have followed such
undertakings elsewhere. The surface sinkings are here few and due
altogether to the natural solution and removal of salt or gypsum at no great
distance from the outcrop. The best known are curious depressions at
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
Oxenhall near Darlington, known as the ' Hell Kettles.' These sink-
holes vary from 75 to 114 feet in diameter.
It is sufficiently clear that during the period of geological time
represented by these red beds the area now occupied by south Durham
was much in the conditions observable in the Salt Lake regions of Asia,
north-eastern Africa, or north-western America — conditions of dwindling
inland sheets of water in an arid climate of evaporation, and of salt and
gypsum deposition such as the late Sir Andrew Ramsay showed many
years ago have so constantly accompanied the accumulation of red-hued
sandy strata.
THE IGNEOUS ROCKS
Most remarkable and, in all probability, with the exception of the
Minettes, oldest of the igneous rocks of Durham, is the famous Great
Whin Sill, which, though exposed within the county boundaries only in
the inlier between Middleton in Teesdale and Caldron Snout, is yet the
cause of perhaps the finest scenery in the county. This sill (sill means
a stratum simply in north country dialect) is a huge sheet of intrusive
basaltic rock — strictly speaking, ' diabase ' — -which is known from a few
miles south of Berwick to as far south as Lunedale in Yorkshire, a
distance of over 80 miles, and which crops out to the west of this
Durham inlier along many miles of the Pennine escarpment and more
especially at Highcup Nick. It possibly underlies the whole of the
county of Durham, though this will probably never be proved. So vast
an intrusive sheet is very exceptional — unique indeed as regards Britain
in times later than those during which the much more ancient Dalradian
sills of Scotland were injected. In the Middleton inlier it lies very near
to the Ordovician and Silurian floor, upon which the Lower Carboni-
ferous rocks were laid down as has already been mentioned (see p. 3) ;
but it is well within the last named series and, although in many places
where its position has been ascertained with accuracy (as in mine shafts,
etc.) beyond the inlier, it is found to shift its horizon as much as even
1,000 feet in some cases (a sufficient proof of its intrusive character were
other convincing evidence lacking), yet it is always within the Carboniferous
Limestone Series. This important fact is not, however, enough to enable
one to say more as to the age of the Whin Sill than that it is younger than
the highest horizon to which it has risen. It is post-Carboniferous Lime-
stone probably (all but certainly so) ; it is possibly of Permian or even of
much later date. The thickness of the sill, considering its enormous area
of at least 400 square miles, is extraordinarily uniform, continuing for
long distances from 80 to 100 feet, though to the west sometimes much
thinner, and sometimes 150 feet or even more. It sometimes splits up
into two or even three sheets. In the Middleton tract it is a single sheet
and very thick, forming the magnificent columnar scars of Cronkley and
the waterfalls of High Force and Caldron Snout. At Stanhope in Wear-
dale, in which neighbourhood the main sill is met with in many lead
mines, an upper ' split ' or branch known as the Little Whin Sill crops
22
GEOLOGY
out among the limestones above the chief sheet. Notwithstanding the
changes of horizon, the baking and consequent metamorphism of the
shales and limestones above as well as beneath the Great Whin Sill —
phenomena which render the contemporaneity of the sheet an impossi-
bility, it is strange that the lead miners as a rule still decline to regard it
as contemporaneous, and the bed of limestone which happens to be next
above it is always, by them, called the Tyne-bottom Limestone (see
p. 6), as has been mentioned before. Some very fine pectolite has been
found in joint cracks in the Whin Sill near Middleton.
The Cockfield or Bolam Dyke is, next to the Whin Sill, the most
remarkable mass of igneous rock in the county. It is a continuation of
the well known Cleveland Dyke, which to the south of the Tees is seen
cutting through the Jurassic rocks, and, though it does not every-
where come to the surface, it can be traced north-west beyond the
county boundaries as far as Armathwaite where it crosses the Eden
with a thickness of 54 feet. At Cockfield its thickness is very vari-
able, 15 to 66 feet. It is the longest known dyke in Britain, being
some 1 10 miles in length (and possibly nearly 200 miles). At Bolam
it spreads out laterally in the form of a sill baking coal seams and shales
above and below in the same manner as, elsewhere, it bakes and alters
them to right and left of its course. The stone of this dyke is often
known as * Old Roger ' on Tees-side.
The Hett Dyke runs across the coalfield from Quarrington Hill
(on the Magnesian Limestone escarpment) to Tudhoe and Hett. It
resembles the Whin Sill in composition, and is quite unlike the Cleve-
land Dyke petrologically. At Brancepeth, about 300 yards from a
branch of this dyke, coked or * cindered ' coal occurs over an area of
about 50 square yards. This is an unusual distance for contact meta-
morphism of this kind to be felt, but there is in north Durham a long
and broad zone running nearly across the coalfield several square miles
in area, where the coal generally has the appearance of having been
altered by * whinstone,' although no dyke or sheet can be pointed to as
the cause of this — the coal is however rendered unsaleable by the change
it has undergone, whatever this may be due to. The Hett Dyke can
be seen near the confluence of the Bedburn Beck and the Wear, and
thence runs to Egglestone Moor.
The Hebburn Dyke runs from near Cleadon to the Tyne, which it
crosses at Hebburn. It is known in Northumberland as the Walker
Dyke. It may possibly be represented by the amazing number of
basaltic blocks on the sea-beach at Whitburn, but it is not actually seen
anywhere piercing Permian rocks.
There are a few other dykes in the county very similar in character
to the above. All these are probably of Tertiary age, though this
must always remain doubtful. All of them as well as the Whin Sill are
infinitely younger than the Minette d,ykes (mica-trap) which have
already been referred to (p. 3) as cutting through the older Palaeozoic
beds of Cronkley in Upper Teesdale.
23
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
THE PLEISTOCENE OR DRIFT DEPOSITS
From Upper Triassic times no geological period has left traces of
its deposits in Durham until the Pliocene or latest Tertiary ages had
passed away and the arctic cold of the great Ice Age had covered the
greater part of Britain with snow and ice, and had brought it to the
condition now prevailing in Greenland. To that Glacial time is due
the irregular but often thick cloak of Drift deposits that at the
present day conceals beneath it so many of the valleys and other
features which denudation had sculptured and eroded on the outcrops
of all the older formations so far enumerated and described in these
pages.
In this cold Pleistocene epoch all but some of the very highest
portions of the county in the west was, as we cannot but believe,
entirely smothered under an ice sheet which probably began as small
glaciers gliding down the upper dales, and gradually increased in size
until these merged into larger glaciers running from north to south
across the lower and eastern half of the region. At its maximum the
heights bare of ice formed but a small nunatdk or rocky island in the
Yad Moss area. Then, as the severity of the climate was relaxed, the
great complex sheet of ice melted away in its lower parts, and waned
until the original hill-land glaciers had returned to their original beds
and to their original insignificance. Finally, the last of the glaciers
dwindled and died out, leaving the country much as we see it now.
Traces of these successive changes are year by year being recognized
with the certainty due to constantly increasing knowledge, but it must
be admitted that a great deal more work is required in Durham before
anything like a final verdict can be given respecting the history of
all the difficult deposits grouped under the term ' Glacial.'
Concerning the lowest of these, the stiff clay studded with boulders
— of which many are obviously foreigners that have reached their
present abiding place after much travel — the clay known par excellence
as the Boulder Clay, there is not now much doubt. Few geologists see
in it, now, the material dropped into the sea from floating icebergs. It
is recognized by almost all as the equivalent of the Moraine profonde of
Swiss glaciers, i.e. as the ground-down mud interspersed with fallen
blocks which underlies moving ice on land. That this Boulder Clay
or ' Till ' sometimes attains a thickness of 200 feet or even more is
evidence enough of the enormous thickness of ice beneath which it was
accumulated. The polishing and grooving of the rock surface on which
the clay lies is also evidence enough of the movement by which the
vast muddy mass was urged over the subjacent floor, and the determina-
tion of the place of origin of the travelled stones within the clay yields
information as to the directions followed by the ice-currents in their
flow over the region. The innumerable pit-sections and boring-records
which are available as to the superficial deposits of the entire county,
whether in the coalfield or the leadfield, show how widespread is this
great Boulder Clay formation ; but they also show how rapidly it varies
24
HISTORY OF DURHAM
OROGRAF
THE VI CTORIA HI STORY
SAL MAP.
REFERENCE NOTE
M
KM to 2MK) <V«
2000 I., -.'JM i i. -i
175O i.. ;IIIH>
UOO to IT.-.n i
ii. I.MMI I.. i
1000 u> IL-MI iwt
8OO to 1OW) IWt
60O to 8OO fret
4OO to BOO trrl
2OO In 4OO I..I
1OO to ZOO f'Mt
Sen I .. i . I to 100 tffl
S«« I • -. 1 I,. ."
to eo (,•••!
BO in IL-II f
In-low 120
,.,r./ /'..,„/
TEES ft A
)E COUNTIES OF ENGLAND
County Boundary tkoum taut*
GEOLOGY
in thickness from place to place, the thickest portions often within a few
yards of bare rock or of quite thin Drift. The six volumes of Borings
and Sinkings, published by the North of England Institute of Mining
and Mechanical Engineers, are full of valuable details bearing upon
the distribution of this oldest of the Glacial deposits.
All pre-Glacial valleys were necessarily choked up with this clay
and most of them are so still, the post-Glacial rivers not having by any
means always chosen to follow the ancient channels, and having often
preferred to wear down new valleys through virgin rock to digging
along their old courses through the stiff intractable material under which
they were buried. These concealed pre-Glacial valleys — and there are
many of them — are known as * washes,' and frequently present formid-
able barriers of barren ground to the miner between the denuded edges
of coal-seams. The best known of these washes or washouts is the
long one which, first recognizable high up the Wear valley near Witton-
le-Wear, follows more or less parallel to the present river (but rarely
coinciding with the actual tbaliveg now existing) to Durham city, half
of the market place in which is situated upon it ; thence to near
Chester-le-Street. Here instead of approximately following the present
river and its valley it turns abruptly to the north, actually crosses (as the
railway also does) the watershed between the Wear and the Tyne, and,
following the Team valley, reaches that of the Tyne 150 feet beneath
its bottom level. This pre-Glacial wash is filled with boulder clay and,
above that, with later clays, gravels, and sands which, in places, attain a
thickness of more than 300 feet. Similar ancient river courses similarly
hidden from view by Glacial infillings are numerous, and a number in
the north-eastern portion of the county have quite recently been care-
fully and successfully worked out with much skill and patience by
Dr. David Woolacott.
Above the Boulder Clay are vast thicknesses of sand and gravel,
as well as limited patches of laminated (locally, * leafy ') clays, which
are largely the result of the reasserting of the material of the older
clay and of silty accumulations in ice-dammed or moraine-dammed
lakes at the melting of the ice and after. There is no evidence
in Durham of any true Interglacial Period, these gravels and sands,
which are usually called the Upper Glacial gravels and sands, being
the final set of accumulations due to any phase of the reign of cold.
They can be excellently studied along the banks of the Derwent and
Wear, where numerous cuttings, both artificial and natural, expose
sections of great height and length. Exactly the same kinds of stones
are found in these loose deposits as in the Boulder Clay, but the
polished and scratched faces which they exhibit in the latter are as a
rule effaced by the rolling to which the blocks were subjected during
the dtbdcles of the later or melting stage.
It is clear from a study of the Drift of Durham that one great glacier-
sheet came from the Tyne valley and from north-west Northumberland
and swept due south across lower (or eastern) Durham towards the York-
i 25 4
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
shire plain and the foot of the Cleveland hills (which hills Prof. P. F.
Kendall has well shown were by no means altogether covered by the ice
sheets). It is also clear that another great glacier sheet came from
Westmorland along the pass of Stainmore (by Brough-under-Stainmore),
and followed roughly the trend of the Tees till it blended with the first-
named flow. It was this sheet from the west that brought down all the
huge blocks of unmistakable Shap Fell granite which are found all
along its course, by Barnard Castle, Darlington and thence to the coast
south of Tees from Redcar to Scarborough and Seamer. Thirdly,
smaller glacier-sheets pushed their way from the small highland nunatdh
in the Pennine west down the valley of the Wear and down many of the
smaller burn-dales between Derwent and Tees. These glaciers all carried
material to the greater sheet into which they fell on reaching the eastern
lower country, but this material was entirely of local origin, none as in
the case of the other and larger glaciers foreigners from great dis-
tances. Beyond this Captain Dwerryhouse has taught us by means of
Prof. P. Kendall's new and valuable criteria that as there were lakes held
up by the ice in the Glacial period among the Tabular hills in east
Yorkshire, so there were similar small lakes on the confines of Durham
at the same time in the highest ground free from ice to the west.
RAISED BEACHES, CAVE-EARTH, OLD PEAT DEPOSITS, ETC.
All newer than the Glacial Drift, but not always easy to place
correctly as to relative age among themselves, these accumulations now
claim attention.
Dr. Woolacott's researches have largely extended our knowledge of
the Durham raised beaches. Some of these occur at a height of 150
feet above present sea-level. It has been already mentioned that the
pre-Glacial valley of the Wear ran into the Tyne Valley at 150 feet be-
low the river — i.e. below sea-level nearly, as the Tyne is there tidal. We
thus obtain an index to the probable maximum amount of vertical
movement to which north-east Durham, at any rate, was subjected in
Glacial and post-Glacial times. The land must have sunk at least 300
feet below the level at which it stood when the Team Wash began to
be filled in. This is obvious enough, but much careful gathering of ob-
servations, now actively going on, by competent men, requires to be
done before the details of the old history can with any confidence be
completed. At Cleadon, Marsden, Fulwell, Hendon and several other
places the raised beaches can be well seen and studied. It is worth
noting that besides common beach shells of living species, many chalk
flints have in recent years been found in these raised shore gravels.
There are not many cave-deposits in Durham, though the Magnesian
Limestone is so riddled with caverns. There are a few however, among
which those at Heathery Burn near Stanhope take the first place. The
cave here (now destroyed) was in the Carboniferous Limestone, and in 1 86 1
was found to contain remains of the otter, badger, goat, roebuck, hog,
26
GEOLOGY
horse and water-rat. Bones of man with others of dogs, rabbits, goats,
sheep, pigs and oxen were, in 1865, found in a Magnesian Limestone
cave close to Ryhope Pit. Human remains with edible shells and re-
mains of horse, cow, sheep, dog, pig or wild boar, red deer, roe, badger,
fox, yellow-breasted marten, weasel, hedgehog, mole, water-vole, kestrel
or merlin, gannet, great auk (now extinct) and other birds were found
in some old sea-caves also in Magnesian Limestone high above the present
sea-level at Whitburn Lizards in 1878.
Stone implements of neolithic type have occasionally been found
and are recorded in the Transactions of the local antiquarian societies,
but they do not appear to offer any points of special geological in-
terest.
So-called submerged forests, possibly, but not quite conclusively,
pointing in a less marked degree than the raised beaches, to earth-
movements in comparatively recent times, are observable at low tide at
Whitburn, and also at the Hartlepools, but more evidence is wanted in
both cases.
Under the head of recent deposits must be classed the beach-
material now in process of accumulation, the loam, sand and gravel of
the rivers forming alluvial flats or * haughs ' at the river-bends, and the
peat-bogs of the high moorland, some of which represent the sites of
lakes (possibly Glacial), but most of which are of later date.
APPENDIX
REFERENCES TO A FEW OF THE MORE USEFUL AUTHORITIES.
MAPS
Geological Map of Durham and Northumberland, by N. J. Winch, being part i. vol. iv,
Transactions of the Geological Society of London, 1 8 1 6.
Geological Map of Durham, by William Smith, London, 1824.
Geological Map of Northumberland and Durham, by George Tate, (printed 1867) in the
History of Alnwick, and also in New Flora of the two counties, published by the Natural
History Society of Northumberland and Durham in 1868.
Sketch-map of the Geology of Northumberland and Durham, by G. A. Lebour, 1886 and
Six-inch sheets of the Geological Survey (for the coalfield and part of the lead districts).
Also sections and one-inch sheets of the Geological Survey, complete.
BOOKS AND PAPERS (GENERAL)
' Observations on the Geology of Northumberland and Durham,' by N. J. Winch, Trans.
Geol. Soc.iv. i-ioi, 1816 (read 1814).
Synopsis of the Geology of Northumberland and Durham, by R. Howse and J. W. Kirkby, New-
castle-upon-Tyne, 1863 ; 'Geology' (of Northumberland and Durham), being chapter i.
of ' A New Flora ' of these counties (Nat. Hist. Trans, of Northumberland and Durham,
vol. ii. 1868) by G. Tate ; Geology of the Counties of England, article ' Durham,' by W.
J. Harrison, 1882.
Outlines of the Geology of Northumberland and Durham, by G. A. Lebour, London and New-
castle, 1886 and 1889.
1 Geology of Durham ' in Worden's Gazetteer of the County, 1891, by G. A. Lebour.
' Geology of England and Wales,' passim, by H. B. Woodward, London, 1887.
The Ancient Volcanoes of Great Britain^ by Sir A. Gcikic (for Whin Sill and Dykes), vol. ii.
London, 1897.
27
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
The Coal-fields of Great Britain, by E. Hull, ed. 4, London, 1 88 1.
The Geology of North-Eastern Durham, by D. Woolacott, Sunderland, 1897.
Industrial Resources of the Tyne, Wear, and Tees, ed. 2, 1864.
PAPERS
' Notes on the Fossil Remains of some Recent and Extinct Mammalia in the Counties of
Northumberland and Durham,' by R. Howse, Tyneside Nat. Field Club Trans, vol. v.
(1860-2).
' On the Raised Beaches on the North-East Coast of Yorkshire ' (refers to south Durham),
by Dr. W. Y. Veitch, Proc. Torksh. Geol. and Polytech. Soc. new ser. vol. viii.
(1883).
< On the Raised Beaches of the Durham Coast,' by David Woolacott, Proc. Univ. Durham
Phil. Soc. and Nat. Hist. Trans. Northumb. and Durham, 1899-1904 (several papers).
' Preliminary Note on the Discovery of Old Sea-caves and a Raised Beach at Whitburn
Lizards,' by R. Howse, Nat. Hist. Trans, of Northumberland and Durham, vol. vii.
(1880).
' On the Heathery Burn Cave.' Notes by J. Elliot, Professor T. H. Huxley and Dr. C.
Carter Blake, Geologist, vol. v. (1862).
' Note on the Ryhope Cave,' by R. Kirkby and Professor G. S. Brady, Nat. Hist. Trans, of
Northumberland and Durham, vol. i. (1866).
' On Drift Coal in Durham,' by G. A. Lebour, Naturalist (ann. 1885).
' On the Wear and Team Wash Out,' by Nicholas Wood and E. F. Boyd, Trans. N. Engl.
Inst. Min. and Mechan. Engineers, vol. xiii. (1863).
' On the Glaciation of the Counties of Durham and Northumberland,' by R. Howse, Trans.
N. Engl. Inst. Min. and Mechan. Engineers, vol. xiii. (1863—4).
'The Salt Deposits of Durham,' Anon., Times, 26 December, 1882.
' Salt Working at Middlesborough,' Anon., Journ. Soc. of Arts, vol. xxxi j and ' Engineering,'
vol. xxxvi. (1883).
Middlesborough and District, 12 mo. Middlesborough (1881).
• The Permian Formation in the North-East of England,' by E. Wilson, Midland Naturalist,
vol. iv. See also same author, Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. for November 1888, W. J.
Bird in the Trans. Manchester Geol. Soc. for 1888, and H. H. Howell in the Geological
Magazine for January (vol. vii.) 1890. These papers refer to the age of the salt-bear-
ing beds.
' The Salt Deposits of Middlesborough and the mode of working them,' by T. Hugh Bell,
Proc. Cleveland Inst. of Engineers for 1882—3.
' Analyses of Magnesian Limestone,' by J. Browell and R. Kirkby, Trans. Tyneside Nat. Field
Club, 1866.
' On the Sinking of two Shafts at Marsden, etc.,' by J. Daglish, Proc. Inst. Civil Engineers,
vol. Ixxi. (1883).
' On the Occurrence of Sand-pipes in the Magnesian Limestone of Durham,' by R. Kirkby,
Geologist, vol. iii. (1860).
' On the Geological Relations and Internal Structure of the Magnesian Limestone, etc.,' by
Professor A. Sedgwick, Trans. Geol. Soc. ser. 2, vol. iii. (1835).
' On the Breccia-Gashes of the Durham Coast and some Recent Earth-shakes at Sunderland,'
by Professor G. A. Lebour, Trans. N. Engl. Inst. Min. and Mechan. Engineers, vol.
xxxiii. (1884), also Geol. Mag. (1885).
' Notes on the Permian System of Northumberland and Durham,' by R. Howse, Trans.
Tyneside Field Club (1838).
' Tabular View of the Permian Strata of the North-East of England,' by J. W. Kirkby and
E. Binney, Geologist, vol. vi. (1863).
' On the Magnesian Limestone of Durham,' by J. Daglish and G. B. Forster, Trans. N.
Engl. Inst. Min. and Mechan. Engineers, vol. xiii. (1864).
' The Marl Slate and Yellow Sands of Northumberland and Durham,' by Professor G. A.
Lebour, Trans. Inst. Min. Engineers, vol. xxiv. (1903).
' On the Origin and Mode of Formation of the Concretions in the Magnesian Limestone of
Durham,' by Professor E. J. Garwood, Geol. Mag. new ser. Dec. iii. vol. viii. (1891).
' On the Concretions of the Durham Magnesian Limestone,' by Dr. G. Abbott, Repts. Brit.
Association (1896—1901).
28
GEOLOGY
'On the Red Rocks of England of older date than the Trias,' by Sir Andrew Ramsay,
Quart. Journ. Geol. See. (1871).
Catalogue of the local Fossils in the Museum of the Natural History Society, by R. Howse,
Newcastle-upon-Tyne (1890).
' Note sur la geologic du Bassin houiller de Newcastle,' by A. Soubeyran, Annales des Mines,
ser. 8, t. i. (1882).
The Coal Seams of the Northumberland and Durham Coalfield, by J. B. Simpson (a compara-
tive chart of typical sections), 1877.
' A Synopsis of the Seams of Coal in the Newcastle District,' (the first real attempt at cor-
relation) by J. Buddie, Tram. Northumberland Nat. Hist. Sac. vol. i. (1831).
' Probability of finding Coal in the Bernician of Durham, etc., with an account of the
Chopwell Boring beneath the Brockwell Seam,' by J. B. Simpson, Trans. last. Min.
Engineers, vol. xxiv. (1904).
The Economy of a Coalfield (full of local geological details), by Dr. J. F. W. Johnston, Dur-
ham (1838).
A Productive Mountain Rock, The Great Limestone, etc. (a local pamphlet with much in-
formation), by W. M. Egglestone (circa 1882).
Observations to accompany a plan of Silver Band Lead Mines, by T. Sopwith, Newcastle
(185 ?).
4 On the term Bernician, etc.' See papers by Professor G. A. Lebour, Trans. N. Engl. Inst.
Min. and Mechan. Engineers, vol. xxv. (1876), and Geol. Mag. Dec. ii. vol. iv. (1877).
' On the Correlation of the Coal Seams of the Great Northern Coalfield,' by M. Walton
Brown, Trans. N. Engl. Inst. of Min. and Mechan. Engineers, vol. xxxix. (1890).
4 The Geological History of Tyne, Wear and Associated Streams,' by D. Woolacott, Proc.
Univ. of Durham Phil. Soc., vol. ii. (1903).
4 On the Dry Valleys and Glacial Lakes of the Country about the Source of the Tees, etc.',
by Captain Dwerry house, Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. Iviii. (1902).
' Petrological Notes on some North of England Dykes,' by J. J. H. Teall, Quart. Journ.
Geol. Soc. vol. xl. (1884).
4 On the Contact-metamorphism of Dykes ' (refers to Durham dykes), by Sir Lowthian Bell,
Proc. Royal Soc. vol. xxiii. (1875).
4 On the Whin Sill in Northumberland,' by W. Topley and G. A. Lebour, Brit. Aim. Rept.
for 1873.
4 On the Limits of the Yoredale Series in the North of England,' by Professor G. A. Lebour,
Geol. Mag. Dec. ii. vol. ii. (1875).
The 4 Whinsill ' of Teesdale as an Assimilator of Surrounding Beds, by A. C. Clough, Quart.
Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. xxxv. (1880).
4 On the Intrusion of the Whin Sill,' by David Burns, Trans. N. Engl. Inst. of Min. and
Mechan. Engineers, vol. xxvii. (1878).
4 On the Igneous Rocks of Durham, etc.,' Professor A. Sedgwick, Tram. Geol. Soc. vol. iii.
ser. 2 (1826-8), and Trans. Cambridge Phil. Soc. vol. ii. (1822).
4 Petrology of the Great Whin Sill,' by J. J. H. Teall, Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. xl.
(1884) ; and Proc. Geol. Assoc. for 1886. In the first of these papers a bibliography of
the Whin Sill is given.
4 On the Intrusive Character of the Whin Sill In Northumberland ' (gives references to
previous literature and relates also to Durham), by W. Topley and G. A. Lebour,
Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. xxxiii. (1877).
' On the Whin Sill,' by W. Hutton, Trans. Nat. Hist. Soc. of Northumberland and Durham,
vol. ii. (1832). A very curious paper in which all the observations are excellent and
the inferences wrong.
29
PALAEONTOLOGY
Within the limits of the county of Durham vertebrate remains are chiefly confined to two groups
of strata widely sundered in geological time, namely to modern, Prehistoric and apparently Pleistocene
deposits on the one hand, and to those of Permian and Carboniferous age on the other. Needless
to say, the fossils from the Palaeozoic formations largely outweigh in point of interest those from the
superficial deposits, and among the former the most important are those from the Permian, which
include several forms first described on the evidence of Durham specimens, and some of which are
at present unknown beyond the limits of that county. Nevertheless, the remains from the super-
ficial formations are by no means lacking in interest, the most noticeable being those of the lynx,
the elk, and the great auk. No vertebrate remains have been obtained from the Trias of the
county, this formation being, as usual, unfossiliferous.
The great historian of the fossil vertebrates of the county is Mr. Richard Howse, whose
Catalogue of the Local Fossils in the Museum of the Natural History Society of Northumber-
land, Durham, and Newcastle-on-Tyne,1 has been of the greatest assistance in the compilation
of the present account.
Apart from the bones of various species of domesticated mammals, such as the dog, goat, and
horse, disinterred during the excavation of Roman camps, the most modern vertebrate fossils
discovered in the county appear to be those from estuarine silts or old lake-beds, belonging
apparently cither to the Historic or the Prehistoric epochs. Among such remains, Mr. Howse
records those of the red deer (Cervus elaphus) from silt eighteen feet below the surface in Jarrow
Dock and Cobble Dene Dock, as well as from the silt of the bed of the Tyne ; similar remains
being also recorded from West Hartlepool, North Bailey, and from Durham itself. Of the roe
(Capreolus capreolus) antlers have been found in the Roman camps. More interest attaches to the
remains of the elk (A Ices alces) from beneath the peat at Hartlepool, and at Mainsforth, near Sedgefield,*
since remains of this animal are very rare in Britain, where they appear to be quite unknown in
deposits which can be definitely assigned to the Pleistocene epoch. The wild ox, or aurochs (Bos
taunts primigenius) has left its remains in the silt of Jarrow Dock, as well as in that of the Tyne, and
beneath peat in various localities in the county ; and bones of the domesticated Celtic shorthorn —
the miscalled Bos longifrtms — are likewise reported from Jarrow and Hartlepool. Remains of the
wild boar (Sus scrofa ferus) have been met with in river-silt, as well as in Roman stations, and a
skull is recorded from North Bailey. Boars' tusks, together with remains of the dog, the badger,
and the Celtic shorthorn, have also been obtained from the cave at Heathery Burn, near Stanhope,
in Weardale, which was explored by Canon Greenwell, and yielded implements of the bronze
period.
Much greater interest attaches to the remains of the great auk (Aha, or Plautus, impennis)
discovered in cave-deposits at Marsden, in the Cleadon Hills, and described in 1880 by Mr. Howse.*
Up to the year 1890, at any rate, these were the only remains of this bird discovered in England.
They were associated with those of man, the badger (Melts melts), the fox (Pulpes vulpes), and other
species.
Next in order may be considered the remains from fissures in the Mountain Limestone at
Teesdale, which may or may not be approximately of the same age as the ordinary cavern-bones
from other parts of the country. By far the most interesting of these belong to the lynx (Felis
[Lynx] lynx), a species known elsewhere in Britain only from the Yew-Tree Cave, Pleasley Vale,
on the borders of Derbyshire and Nottingham. These have been described by the late
Mr. William Davies.4 Other mammals of which the remains have been found at Teesdale include
the wild cat (Felis catus), the wolf (Cants lupus), the fox, the otter (Lutra lutra), the roe, the red
deer, the wild boar, and the horse. The exploration of the Teesdale fissure by the late Messrs.
1 Nat. Hist. Trans. Northumb. and Durham, x. 227 (1889).
s Sec Woodward and Sherborn Brit. Fuss. Penetrate, p. 312 ; Chirdon Burn, North Tync, where an
antler of this species has been obtained, it here said to be in Durham, instead of Northumberland.
8 Nat. Hist. Trans. Northumb. and Durham, vii. 361.
* Geel. Mag. (z) vii. 346 (1880).
31
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
Backhouse also yielded remains of the capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus). Few other vertebrate remains
appear to have been recorded from the superficial deposits of the county. The local Natural History
Society's Museum possesses, however, a skeleton of the extinct Irish deer (Cervus giganteus), or miscalled
Irish elk obtained in the winter of 1855-56 in peat under a thick deposit of brick-earth at South
Shields ; a pair of antlers of the same species has also been obtained from an ancient forest-deposit at
the mouth of the Tees,* at Snook Point, which is now in the Durham University Museum ; and a
second pair was dug up at Nab Hill so long ago as 1840.* Probably these may be assigned to the
Prehistoric epoch. Remains of the wild boar from South Shields may have come from the same
layer.
Finally, a fragment of a tusk, five inches in circumference, found in the excavation of the
West Hartlepool Docks, is stated to be the only evidence of the former existence of the mammoth
or hairy elephant (Elephas primigenius) within the limits of the county.8 This specimen was
preserved in the Athenaeum at West Hartlepool. Mr. Howse regards it as being of Prehistoric
age but it should apparently be referred rather to the antecedent Pleistocene epoch.
Passing on to the fossils of the Paleozoic epoch, the first that claim attention are five species
of enamel-scaled, or ganoid, fishes from the Upper Magnesian Limestone of the Permian series
from Fulwell Hill and Marsden Bay, first brought to notice in 1862 and again in 1864 by
Mr. ]. W. Kirkby. At first all were referred to the family Palteoniscidee, one to the genus
Acrolepis, and the others to Pal<eoniscus itself. As regards the first genus, subsequent investigations
have confirmed the original determination, but the reference of the others to Paltsoniscus has proved
erroneous, for not only are they distinct from that genus, but they also belong to quite another
family group — the Semionotidis in place of the Palcsoniscidte ; being, in fact, near allies of the well-
known Mesozoic genera Lepidotus and Dapedius. Accordingly, in 1877 they were referred by
Dr. R. H. Traquair * to a new genus, under the name of Acentrophorus, which is thus typified by
Durham specimens.
The discovery of these fishes is recorded by Mr. Kirkby in the following words : —
'The fossils were first noticed by the workmen in August 1861 in a newly-opened quarry
belonging to Sir Hedworth Williamson, Bart., at Fulwell, about a mile and a half to the north of
Sunderland ; and my attention was almost immediately drawn to them by Mr. Harry Abbs, of the
latter town
' The quarry referred to is situated on the northern slope of Fulwell Hill, and is not far dis-
tant from another more extensive and much older quarry belonging to the same proprietor. In
these quarries, as well as in others on the same hill more to the west, the Magnesian Limestone is
largely worked for lime-burning, as it has been in the older quarries for the last sixty years or
more. During the whole of that period, up to 1861, no traces of any organic remains had ever
been found in the limestone of this hill. But about the time named, or a little before, it became
necessary, in order to keep the new quarry at its proper level, to cut through some underlying beds
(brought up by an anticlinal) which had never yet been cut through, owing to the unvendible quality
of the limestone ; and it was in working these lower and inferior strata that the great bulk of the
fossil fish were discovered, most of them having been found in one bed, or zone of beds, of lime-
stone ; there nevertheless being several instances of their occurrence both above and below that
horizon.
' Soon after their discovery in the new quarry, another on the same anticlinal brought up the
equivalent strata in the old quarry, about half a furlong to the south ; and it was not long before the
same fossils were met with there, besides other species that the first locality had not yielded.
' The same fish-bed would appear also to extend considerably to the north-east ; for I have
obtained the tail-half of a small fish from a stratum of limestone in Marsden Bay, occupying the
same stratigraphical position as the Fulwell fish-bed.'
Three forms of these Fulwell fishes were respectively named by Mr. Kirkby Paltsoniscus variant,
P. abbsi, and P. altus ; names which in 1877 became changed to Acentrophorus variant, A. abbsi, and
A. altus. Another type was provisionally assigned to Palaoniscus angustus of Agassiz, an imperfectly
known fish of uncertain affinity.8 Finally the fish originally identified by Mr. Kirkby with Acrolepis
sedgwicki (an identification subsequently cancelled by its author) was eventually named by Mr. Howse
Acrolepis kirkbyi. According to Dr. Smith Woodward,* it is allied to A. sedgwicki, but its affinities
and right to specific distinction are not clear.
Following the divisions adopted by local geologists, the next zone of the Permian formation
from which vertebrate fossils have been obtained is the so-called Lower Limestone, the Compact
Limestone of Sedgwick, which forms in most places a conspicuous plateau, or ' step,' in the Permian
escarpment. An extremely interesting, although unfortunately very imperfect, specimen from this
1 Trans. Tyneside Nat. Field Club, v. 1 14. 8 Ibid. in.
8 Ibid. * Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. joncvii. 565.
6 See Woodward, Cat. Fois. Fish. Brit. Mus. ii. 447. • Ibid. 504.
32
PALEONTOLOGY
horizon is a split slabof yellow limestone showing the skeletonof the trunk and part of the skull of a four-
limbed air-breathing vertebrate, for which the name Lepidotosaurus duffi has been proposed by Messrs.
Hancock and Howsc.1 The slab with the skeleton itself is preserved in the local Natural History
Society's Museum at N,cwcastle-on-Tyne, and the counterpart, displaying the impression of the
same, in the British Museum. The specimen was obtained in 1867 from a quarry at Middridge,
near Bishop's Auckland. By its describers Lepidotosaurus was referred to the primarval salamanders,
a group technically known as Labyrinthodontia or Stegocephalia, and typically characterised by the
complete roofing of the skull, the sculpturing of the cranial bones and of those forming the
characteristic chest-shield, the complex internal structure of the teeth, and the presence of an armour of
bony scales on the lower surface of the body. Such scales are present in the Middridge skeleton, and
serve to indicate that the original determination is probably correct, although, from the imperfect
condition of the specimen, the exact serial position of the genus cannot be determined.
The fishes of the Lower Magnesian Limestone of the county appear to be two in number,
Palaoniscus freitsltbeni and Platyumiu gibbesus, the two genera to which they belong respectively
typifying the families PaUeoniscid* and Platytamatldte. Both families belong to the enamel-scaled
group ; the members of the former being characterised, among other features, by their slender
herring-like shape, while those of the latter are deeper-bodied, rhomboidal fishes, more like a John
Dory in contour. Both species occur typically in the Kupferschiefer, or Upper Permian, of
Thuringia. Of P. Jreieslebeni the Durham examples from the Lower Limestone were obtained at
Down Hill, near Boldon, Houghton-lc-Spring ; while those of P. gibbosus came from Pallion Quarry,
near Sundcrland.*
Next in order comes the Marlslate — the equivalent of the German Kupferschiefer — which,
although a very thin and local deposit in the county, has yielded some very interesting fossils.
The most important, perhaps, of these are two slabs from Middridge, now preserved in the
Museum at Newcastle, each of which displays a portion of the skeleton of a reptile of the size of a
large lizard. These specimens were described and figured by Messrs. Hancock and Howse,* by
whom the one was referred to Protorosaurus * sfeneri, a primitive reptile from the German Kupfer-
schiefer, while the other was made the type of a second species of the same genus, with the title of
P. huxleyi. The Protorosauridte form an extremely generalised group of early reptiles whose nearest
existing representative is to be found in the New Zealand tuatera (Sphenodon functatut), which
typifies the order Rhynchocephalia. At present, they are the earliest known members of the
reptilian class. Two species, P. speneri and P. lincki, are known from the Continent, the first of
which is, as above stated, recorded from Durham. P. huxleyi is unknown elsewhere than in
Durham.
Fish-remains from the Marlslate of the county are much more numerous. Among these,
mention may first be made of the widely spread primitive shark known as Janassa bituminosa,
typically from the German Kupferschiefer, but of which teeth have been discovered at Middridge.
These teeth, as in other representatives of the Petalodontidte, formed a pavement when arranged in
the mouth ; the number of rows of principal teeth in this particular genus being three. From the
evidence of Durham and Northumberland specimens, Messrs. Hancock and Howse ' formulated a
scheme of the mode of arrangement of the teeth, from which they were led to believe that Janassa
was a ray. Their interpretation was, however, shown by the late Professor K. von Zittel to be
incorrect. Another shark, Wodnika althausl (also known as W. itriatula), belonging to the same
family (Cestraciontid<e) as the existing Port Jackson shark, is recorded by Mr. Howse from the Marlslate
of East Thickley Quarry. The species, which is the only member of its genus, is typically from the
Kupferschiefer of Thuringia; and the genus is distinguished from the Port Jackson shark (Cistracion)
by all the teeth, which are large size, being of a crushing type, and by the small number of those
in the front of the jaws. Although the species is included in Messrs. Woodward and Sherborn's
British Foiiil Vertebrates, it is not given as British in the Catalogue of Fossil Fishes in the British
Museum.* Of the enamel-scaled, or ganoid, fishes from the Durham Marlslate, the first is
Ctelacantbus granulatust the typical representative of a genus and species founded by Agassiz on a
specimen (now in the British Museum) from Fcrryhill, but likewise known from Fulwell Hill and
Middridge, and also occurring in the Thuringian Kupferschiefer. The genus belongs to a separate
family (Calacanthidtt) of fringe-firmed ganoids, now represented by the bichers and the reed-fish of
the African rivers. The specimen from Ferryhill described in 1850 by Sir Philip Egerton as a
distinct species under the name of C. caudalis is now ascertained to pertain to an immature example
of C. granulatus.
1 Nat. Hilt. Trans. Northumb. and Durham, IT. p. 219, pt. viii, and Qyart. Jour*. Geol. Sot. xxvi. 556,
pt. 38 (1870). * Vide Howse, Nat. Hist. Traai. Nortbumb. and Durham, x. 247.
• Stuart. "Jour*. Geol. Soe. nvi. 565, pis. 39 and 40 (1870).
• The name (as was usual at that time) is spelt Proteniaurui.
• Ann. Mag. Nat. Htit. (4) v. 47 (1870). • i. 248.
i 33 5
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
Of ganoids with a more normal, or, rather, more specialised, type of fin, our first representation
is Pygopterus humboldti, a member of the family Palteonisctdte first described on the evidence of
specimens from the continental Kupferschiefer, but subsequently identified from the Marlslatc of
Middridge and Ferryhill. A specimen from the latter locality was regarded by Sir P. Egerton as
representing a distinct species, P. latus ; but its peculiarities in shape appear to be due to the effects
of crush.1 This fish has also been called P. mandibularis. To the same family belongs PaUeoniscus
freieslebeni, already mentioned under the heading of the Lower Magnesian Limestone, which also
occurs in the Marlslate of Ferryhill, Middridge, and East Thickley. A second species of the same
genus, P. longissimuS) was named on the evidence of a specimen from the Clarence Railway cutting,
near Mainsforth, in the present county, and also occurs at Ferryhill and Middridge. The type
specimen is in the Museum at Newcastle-on-Tyne, but the counterpart is in the collection of the
British Museum. A third species, P. macrophthalmus, also typically from Durham, occurs at Ferry-
hill and Middridge ; the type specimen (a nearly complete fish) being in the Museum of the
Geological Society of London. The so-called P. elegam appears to be a synonym of P. freieslebeni.
To the same family belongs the genus jfcrolepis, already referred to when treating of the fishes of the
Lower Magnesian Limestone. It is typified by A. sedgwicki, first described from Middridge, and also
occurring at Ferryhill ; the continental A, asper being apparently referable to the same species. A
second species, A. exsculpta, typically from the German Kupferschiefer, is also recorded from the
Marlslate of Middridge and Fulwell Waterworks.
The family Platysomatidte, the members of which, as already said, are distinguished from the
Palieoniscidte by their shorter and deeper bodies, are represented in the Marlslate of the county by at
least two, and possibly by three, species. The first of these is Globulodus macrurus, a genus and
species typically from the German Kupferschiefer differing from the better known Mesolepis of the
Coal Measures by the dentition. This fish occurs both at Middridge and Ferryhill. Of the typical
genus Platysomus, the aforesaid P. gibbosus (also known as P. striatus) occurs at the two localities
last named.
Perhaps the most remarkable of all the Marlstone fishes is the one described from the German
Kupferschiefer as Dorypterus hojffmanniy of which the serial position is still problematical. According
to Messrs. Hancock and Howse, by whom they were described, four examples of this singular fish
have been discovered at Middridge, two in 1865 and two in 1869 ; all four being in the Newcastle
Museum. The genus takes its name from the presence of a sword-like dorsal fin, recalling in form
(although not in structure) the back-fin of a killer-whale. Dr. Smith Woodward * observes that : —
' This fish still requires satisfactory elucidation, but it is evidently related to the Platysomatidte, as indicated
by the great development of the azygous [unpaired] fin-supports, which are sometimes, at least in
part, mistaken for dermal structures. So far as the absence of flank-scales is concerned, Dorypterus
bears the same relation to the typical Platysomatidts as Phanerosteon with respect to the typical
Palaoniscida'
Lastly, in the family Semlonotidte we have a species of the genus Acentrophorus, already referred
to under the heading of the Lower Magnesian Limestone, in the Marlstone of the county. This
species, A. glaphyrus, was named by Agassiz on the evidence of a Durham specimen preserved in the
York Museum. It differs from the type species by the conspicuous serration of the scales. There
are specimens of this fish from Middridge and Ferryhill in the collection of the British Museum.
Although remains of fishes are far from uncommon in the Northumberland Coal Measures,
few appear to be recorded from the Carboniferous rocks of Durham, none being mentioned by
Mr. Howse in his catalogue of the collection in the Newcastle Museum. The present writer has,
however, been informed by a local authority that such remains are quite common in the Durham
Coal Measures, more especially in the shaley layer capping the Hutton seam. They have never
yet been collected systematically, although they are probably quite as numerous as in the hard main
shale at Newsham, Northumberland (which is the same bed as the Hutton seam), where they were
assiduously collected by the late Mr. Atthey.
One species of fossil fish, the primitive pavement-toothed shark Petalodus acumtnatus, is recorded
from the Upper Carboniferous Limestone of the county by Dr. A. Smith Woodward in the
Catalogue of Fossil Fishes in the British Museum.* Since, moreover, in the same work* the widely
spread fringe-finned ganoid Megalichthys hibberti is stated to be known from all the English Coal-fields,
its remains probably occur within the limits of the county under consideration.
1 See Cat. Toss. Fish. Brit. Mia. ii. 474.
8 Cat. Fois. Fish. Brit. Mus. ii. 550. « i. 43. * ii. 380.
HISTORY OF DURHAM
BOTANIC;
^m^^sp^^srs^
ffits^j3Mti^*F*%*
^SSs^^c^f
<^^F^^«f^!3^---4Rx « fa*- »idi- /~ ' W$^&^ /WySr*"1*
l_vt:-j~^-N \; l,^.w,,^,, , fv;- W^^^
•^"WSrE^^V ••/>V<6s->fi»..; fK^&f'r.
\-jf 'ttrMhalt^l ~'"\^ ifrini II..! • >^1i'''"l"'"^-~-JK^^^
^e^r^» ^5f?^^R^s
012B4D67S
THE VICTORIA HISTORY
DISTRICTS.
LIST OF BOTANICAL DISTRICTS -
Based on the River Basins
I. Dirwent
U. Wear
HI. 7««
'HE COUNTIES OF ENGLAND
BOTANY
GENERAL PHYSICAL CHARACTER OF THE COUNTY WITH
RELATION TO THE FLORA
I
^HE physical features of Durham, which embrace a wide range of
altitude, exercise an important influence upon climatic conditions,
and together with the different geological strata tend to produce
an extremely rich and varied flora. A glance at the Orographical
Map will show the general configuration and boundaries of the county.
The zones of altitude extend through three of the six zones into
which H. C. Watson, in his work on Botanical Geography, divides the
surface of the county ; these corresponding to his mid-agrarian, super-
agrarian, and infer-arctic zones. Following Baker's scheme these may be
described as the Lower, Middle, and Upper Zones, the Lower including
the heights up to 900 feet, the Middle those between 900 feet and
1, 800 feet, and the Upper the heights beyond that level.
At the western extremity of the county, where its width contracts
to only I o miles, the two great river systems take their rise, this neck of
land embracing the whole of the Wear watershed, and half of the tract
drained by the Tees. The latter has its actual source in Cumberland,
rising east of Cross Fell (2,900 feet) some few miles west of the district,
and enters the county at a high moorland region 1,600 feet above sea-
level. This is a wild, desolate expanse, which northwards, beyond the
Crookburn, extends into a series of lofty ridges of similar character,
presenting the most mountainous aspect of the whole county. These
high grassy and heathery peaks sweep boldly round the head of the dales,
the most elevated points from south to north including Viewing Hill
(2,097 feet), Highfield (2,322 feet), Burnhope Seat (2,546 feet), Dead-
stones (2,326 feet), Knoutberry Hill (2,195 feet), Nag's Head (2, 207 feet),
and Kilhope Law (2,206 feet), which last commands the extreme north-
west of the county. From this eminence a fine view is obtained over the
Cheviots and Allenheads in the Northumberland border. On the southern
flank of Burnhope Seat is found the weird-looking tract of Yad Moss, a
wild expanse of peat, covered with a very scanty vegetation and broken
up by deep rifts cut in the black peat to its foundation of shaley sandstone,
indicating in a remarkable manner the great force of the western gales.
A succession of peaks of gradually declining altitude form undulating
ranges of hills proceeding eastwards, one of which, north of the Wear,
forms the watershed between that river and the country drained by the
35
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
Allen and the Derwent. South of the Wear rises another high, heather-
covered ridge, the principal peaks of which are Chapel Fell Top
(2,294 feet) and Fendrith Hill (2,284 feet) ; this separates the valleys of
the Tees and the Wear, and the whole then gradually slopes away through
undulating moorland and wide-stretching commons down to the fertile
plains below. Altogether, there are fully twenty peaks which ascend
into the Upper Zone. The 900 feet contour line forming the lower limit
of the Middle Zone enters the county from the north, near Blanchland,
and follows the trend of the Derwent as far east as Cold Rowley, where it
bends sharply to the south, passing over the Wear valley near Wolsing-
ham, and extending thence as far as Egglestone. From this point the
contour line extends westwards up the Tees valley to Winch Bridge, and
up the Wear valley it reaches nearly to St. John's Chapel. This forms,
roughly, the boundary of the very high moorland region.
On the upper slopes of these hills or ' fells ' the ground is often
very wet and boggy, and deep holes, the sides of which are covered with
ferns, mosses, and liverworts, may prove a dangerous pitfall for the
unwary. Spongy patches of bog-moss (Sphagnunt) and Polytricbum, the
ling (Calluna vu/garis), heather (Erica T'etralix), the wind grass (Alra
flexuosa) with its graceful panicles supported on tall red stems, the fescue
(Festuca ovina), Juncus squarrosus, Carex stellulata, the waving, feathery
tufts of the mat-grass (Nardus sfricfa), sweet vernal grass (Anthoxanthum
odoratum), bent-grass (Agrostis vu/garis), and the hard fern (Lomaria
Spicant) cover the summit with a coarse vegetation, among which the
marsh violet (Viola pa/us fris), the dainty little Potentilla tormentilla, and
Galium saxatile are freely scattered. The white, fluffy heads of the cotton-
grass (Eriopborum vaginatum) also appear conspicuously, and the knout-
berry (Rubus chamcemorus), with its large, beautiful white flower and
raspberry-like fruit, as well as the bilberry (Vaccinium Myrtillis), the
whortleberry (V. Vitis-idced), and the crowberry (Empetrum nigrum) are
generally abundantly distributed. Such is a description of the plants
found in the Upper Zone of Burnhope Seat, and it may be taken as
typical of the other higher hills of similar character, as well as many of
those at a lower altitude possessing the same features. The upper part
of the Middle Zone does not materially differ from the lower part of the
Upper Zone, and in this belt very commonly occur such plants as the
sundew (Drosera rotundifolia), the butterwort (Pinguicula vu/garis), the
marsh willow-herb (Epilobium palustre), the starry saxifrage (Saxifraga
stellaris], the bog stitch wort (Stellaria u/iginosa), the lesser spearwort
(Ranuncu/usjtammu/a),andthe marsh speedwell (Veronica scutellatd] ; these
extend also into the lower Middle Zone and even to the coast-line.
The wide extent of these peaty, heather-covered moors, with their
prevailing vegetation, is due to the prevalence of sandstones and shales,
which thickly overlie the main limestone formation. The mountain
limestone constitutes a large part of Upper Teesdale and Weardale, but
it presents few of the characteristics so strikingly represented in the West
Riding of Yorkshire. The calcareous strata crop out chiefly in the dales,
36
BOTANY
and in place of precipitous scars the characteristic 'hopes' form a more
special feature. These branch out from the main dales and are narrower
valleys or ravines cut in the mountain sides by the burns or tributaries of
the main stream. In Kilhope, Welhope, Ireshope, and Burnhope the
main limestone crops out along the edge of the fells at from about
1,650 feet to i, 800 feet, and reaches an elevation of 1,800 feet in Bleak
Law. On the steep banks of Langdon Dale lines of limestone cliff stand
out conspicuously, reaching a height of 2,100 feet in Highfield above
the Grasshill lead-mines, from which it gradually declines towards
Newbiggin Moor. Here the limestone is exposed at 1,500 feet ; from
this point it rapidly descends, and at Egglestone is lost at a height of some
500 feet, disappearing also about the same elevation below Frosterley, on
the Wear.
Many plants generally associated with the lowlands attain in the
Weardale ' hopes ' and in Harwood Dale an unusually high altitude,
and many reach their maximum limit in these limestone dales. Equisetum
palustre and Nephrodium dilatatum ascend to 2,100 feet on Highfield, and
the tway-blade (Listera ovata) to 1,950 feet in Harwood Dale. The
whitlow grass (Erophila vu/garis), the prickly shield-fern (Aspidium
acu/eatum), and the brittle bladder-fern (Cystopteris fragilis) are found at
i, 800 feet on Kilhope and Bleak Law. On the southern slope of Kilhope
Law the moon wort (Botrycbium Lunaria), Gentiana Amarella, the lady's
mantle (Alcbemilla vulgaris), and the water cress (Nasturtium officinale)
are interesting plants found at an elevation of 1,600 feet. Among other
plants peculiar to the limestone the following may be specially mentioned
at high elevations : — in Harwood Dale the moor-grass (Sesleria caerulia),
the hairy rock-cress (Arabis Airsuta), Scabiosa columbaria, and the oat-
grass (Avena pratensis) ; the vernal sandwort (Arenaria verna], frequent
throughout the lead country on old lead-mine rubbish ; the stone black-
berry (Rubus saxatile) and the rock rose (Helianthemum vu/gare) rejoicing
in the dry, exposed, rocky surfaces in Burnhope ; on Falcon Glints the
carline thistle (Car/inavu/garis),the mountain melic-grass (Me/icanutans),
the spring gentian (Gentiana verna), and the smaller-flowered species
(G. Amarella) blooming later in the autumn, as well as the kidney vetch
(Anthyllis vulneraria) ascending to the plateau on Widdy Bank Fell. The
peculiarly rare yellow saxifrage (Saxffraga birculus) grows in two places
in Ireshope at an altitude between 1,200 feet and 1,500 feet. This is a
greatly prized Durham species, being known in only two other localities
in England — north-west Yorkshire and Westmorland, and it is a plant
by no means easy to find. There are one or two stations in Scotland.
The alpine penny-cress (Tblaspi alpestre) shows a curious preference for
the lead-mines throughout the district. The cranberry (Vaccimum Oxy-
coccus) is abundant on all the higher Teesdale and Weardale moors,
while the rare bog whortleberry (V. uliginosum) is found only sparingly
among the turfy bogs. The alpine variety of the scurvy grass (Cochlearia
officinalis) is also very frequent, and is carried down into the low country
along the streams. Several species of club-moss (Lycopodium) are widely
37
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
distributed amongst the moors. L. c/avatum, alpinum, and Selago are
the most readily detected. Selaginella Selaginoides is frequent along the
stream-sides amongst the hills, but its habit renders it very inconspicuous,
and it may be easily overlooked without careful search.
In all the higher moorlands of Derwent Vale, as well as Teesdale
and Weardale, abundant evidence of extinct forest vegetation may be met
with. The remains of roots, both of oak and birch, are found, in situ,
deeply buried in the peat, while fallen trunks and branches of birch
project freely wherever the peat is exposed. Thick deposits of hazel
nuts occur in the beds of peat moss by the sides of the Burnhope Burn,
above Wearhead. The oak must certainly be considered truly indigenous
in Durham, for enormous trunks and branches are also dug out of all the
peat mosses not situated at a great elevation above the river levels. It is
well known that at no very remote period vast forests occupied the
northern shores of the Wear, which were inhabited by large herds of
deer. This has been thoroughly established by the discovery of many
animal and vegetable remains during dredging operations undertaken to
remove the accumulation of many centuries' tidal deposits, drift, and
debris obstructing the river about 2 miles west of Sunderland.1 From a
depth of 10 feet below the bed of the river there were dredged up the
trunks and branches of trees, chiefly magnificent specimens of oaks, and
large quantities of the antlers of red deer, remarkable for their size and
good preservation.2 The forest formerly existing in Upper Teesdale was
also the haunt of red deer, and it is chronicled that on Rood Day, 1673,
above 400 deer were destroyed by a severe storm of snow. Winch
observes that ' On the elevated moors between Blanchland, at the head of
the Derwent, and Wolsingham, on the river Wear, . . . the roots
and trunks of very large pines (Pinus syhestris) are seen protruding from
the black peat moss, being exposed to view by the water of these bogs
having drained off and left the peat bare ; but this tree is no longer indi-
genous with us. It may be worthy of remark that the Scotch fir does
not at this day attain the size of these ancient pines, though planted
in similar situations, even though the young trees be protected and the
plantations situated at a lower level.'
In the upper parts of the ' dales ' many of the cultivated plants
1 An account of the Ancient Remains found in the bed of the Wear at Claxheugh, contributed
to the Transactions of the TynesUe Naturalists' Field Club, 1858-60, by F. H. Johnson, M.D.
8 An old Saxon poem, referred to the Danish-Saxon period preceding the Conquest, gives a
description of the Wear which helps us to realize the existence of an ancient sylvan vegetation very
different from any known at the present day (Hickes' Anglo-Saxon Grammar}.
' A river of rapid waves ;
And there live in it
Fishes of various kinds,
Mingling with the floods ;
And there grow
Great forests ;
There live in the recesses
Wild animals of many sorts;
In the deep vallies
Deer innumerable.'
38
BOTANY
attain a high limit of successful cultivation. It is, however, very incon-
siderable compared to the elevation at which agriculture flourished in
former times. In many places over the wild moors the land can be seen
to have been furrowed by the plough at a height at which it is quite
impossible for corn crops to be obtained at the present day. In 1825
Winch mentions that oats then only grew at some 2,000 feet1 above sea-
level, wheat at about half that altitude, and barley and rye at stations
between these two. In Baker's Flora (1868), the greatest height given for
the oat in Weardale is 1,340 feet, for barley 1,000 feet, and for wheat
750 feet ; but at the present time much of this arable land is laid down
for permanent pasture, and the height at which the oat is cultivated is
apparently now reduced to about 800 feet. Above the zone of cereal
cultivation and reaching to the rough vegetation of the moors are rich old
pastures mown annually for hay, in which the useful agricultural grasses
and meadow herbage flourish most luxuriantly. The handsome purple
heads of the melancholy thistle (Carduus beterophyllus) are often a striking
feature among them, and everywhere in these upland pastures there is an
abundance of the mountain pansy (Viola lutea) in all varieties, from the
beautiful dark purple to pale mauve, almost white, and yellow. In the
damper spots with coarser herbage these meadows in the spring are a
blaze of yellow with brilliant masses of the marsh marigold (Caltba
palustris) and globe flowers (Trollius europceus). The bird's-eye primrose
(Primula farinosa), an exquisitely scented and delicately tinted flower,
is also commonly distributed among the more marshy places. The
boundary between the different types of vegetation is determined not so
much by altitudes as by such conditions as soil, drainage, aspect, etc.
For example, on the flanks of Kilhope Law, rich natural pastures are
found at an elevation of 1,700 feet, but in Burnhope this sinks down to
about 1,400 feet. The truth of this reflection is also exemplified by the
unusually high region in which regularly inhabited houses are found in
Durham. One farmhouse in Highfield above the lead-mines stands at
2,000 feet above sea-level, and Clough House on Kilhope Law is occu-
pied at 1,700 feet. Even approaching this high altitude, around the
farmhouses small gardens are common in which potatoes, rhubarb,
turnips and cabbages, onions, gooseberries, strawberries, and even a few
roses can be grown with success. In favourable situations on the hill-
sides at an altitude of 1,600 feet plantations of beech (Fagus sylvatica],
spruce (Abies exce/sa), larch (Larix europcea)^ and Scotch fir (Pinus
sy/vestris), withstand the weather and form valuable woods ; the syca-
more (Acer pseudoplatanus) also attains a fair size. The hazel (Cory/us
Avellana] and alder (Alnus glutinosa] scarcely reach this altitude, and
oaks (Quercus Robur) of stunted growth are only met with at a slightly
lower level. The common elm (U/mus campestris)y which flourishes as
a large tree on the western side of the Pennine range, is not indigenous
north of the Tees, and even when planted in sheltered situations does not
attain any considerable size. The wych elm (U/mus montana)^ however,
1 It is probable that Winch has here somewhat over-estimated the altitude.
39
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
is truly indigenous, and is everywhere abundant in the hedgerows,
though now scarcely ascending above 1,200 feet.
The scenery of Upper Teesdale with its sub-alpine heights is
peculiarly grand and striking. The great basaltic Whin Sill here
attains a thickness of over 200 feet, and gives a wild and picturesque
character to the landscape. At Cauldron Snout the river thunders
through a deep narrow gorge in a fine rush of turbulent waters, forming
one of the grandest waterfalls in Britain. None other approaches its
fall of 100 feet upon a stream of such volume. Huge fallen boulders
and sharp-edged basaltic cliffs form a rugged background ; all around is
desolation : not a tree or any sign of habitation interrupts the waste
of dreary moorland. A variety of the alpine willow-herb (Epilobium
anagallidifoliuni) is an interesting plant found close to Cauldron Snout,
and a rare species of sedge (Carex rigida) should be specially noted here.
The purple marsh-cinquefoil (Gomarum palustre) also occurs on the
swamps near at hand. From a short distance above Cauldron Snout
commence low banks of a curious white granular limestone which
extend eastwards along the back of Widdy Bank Fell. The main basaltic
rock formation, with this coarse * sugar limestone ' which here overlies
it, provides a botanical district quite exceptionally rich in rare and
peculiarly Montane species. It is not possible to find in Great Britain
any piece of ground of similar area which produces so many extremely
rare plants as Widdy Bank Fell. The side of this hill towards the
river is faced by. precipitous basaltic cliffs known as the Falcon Clints,
which extend in jagged, irregular outline for some two miles down the
stream. From the other side of the hill over the beds of ' sugar lime-
stone' flow several streams in three directions — east, west, and south-east.
The following rare plants are mentioned by Baker as occurring upon
the crags and the banks of these streams, within an area of four square
miles :
Viola arenaria. Hieracium iricum. Asplenium viride.
Arenaria uliginosa. — pallidum. Woodsia ilvensis.
Thalictrum alpinum. — anglicum. Polypodium calcareum.
Draba incana. Gentiana verna. Equisetum variegatum.
Potentilla alpestris. Arbutus Uva-ursi. Poa Parnellii.
Sedum purpureum. Bartsia alpina. Galium sylvestre.
— villosum. Kobresia caricina. Tofieldia palustris.
Saxifraga aizoides. Juncus triglumis. Scirpus pauciflorus.
— stellaris. Carex capillaris. Armeria maritima.
— hypnoides. Sesleria caerulca. Primula farinosa.
Galium boreale. Cryptogramme crispa.
Cronkley Fell presents a bold front on the Yorkshire side of the river ;
it rises perpendicularly, repeating precisely the same physical features
as its opposite neighbour, and many of the rarities just enumerated
are common to both grounds. The Upper Teesdale district generally
should be considered to include both the Yorkshire and Durham borders,
and many of the very rare plants are quite peculiar to this special region.
Near Barnard Castle and Rokeby and further eastwards along the banks
of the Tees the delightful woods on both sides of the river are also
40
BOTANY
charmingly productive of a similar rich sylvan flora. It should be
mentioned that Arenaria uliginosa is a plant only found on the Durham
border on Widdy Bank, and it has no other locality in Great Britain.
Potentilla fruticosa, with its characteristic bushy growth and pretty yellow
flowers, which grows abundantly lower down the stream by the Whet-
stone Sill, is found also plentifully on Cronkley Scar, but is known in no
other locality in England except sparingly in Cumberland and West-
morland. This Whetstone Sill, a flat piece of ground where Langdon
Beck and Harwood Beck unite with the main stream a mile above High
Force, is a famous botanical ground. Here are first seen the rare species
of hawkweed, Hieracium crocatum, got&icum, and corymbosum, and the
tea-leaved willow (Salix phylicifolia) also grows here. The very rare
spring gentian, the lovely deep blue Gentiana verna of the Swiss
mountains, is to be gathered in plenty about Widdy Bank Fell and in
many places on the high limestone pastures. At High Force, five miles
below Cauldron Snout the river again contracts into a very narrow
channel between high basaltic cliffs, and the water leaps over a precipice
with a sheer fall of 70 feet. Birch, beech, elm, and alders spring from
the fissures of the dark, smooth-faced cliffs of basalt, and magnificent
groups of remarkably fine spruce trees above help to complete a striking
picture, with the purple heather-clad fell commanding the background.
Weird forms of junipers make a conspicuous feature here and for some
distance up the stream along the strath, among the fallen boulders. Here
again Potentilla fruticosa grows abundantly, and extends as far down as
Middleton, where the basalt comes to an end. Many of the rarer plants
of the Widdy Bank plateau get carried down by the stream to a much
lower level, and the luxuriant woods which extend for a considerable
distance below High Force thus continue to furnish many rare floral
beauties dispersed along the rocky banks of the stream. The lily of the
valley (Convallaria majalis) and the herb-paris (Paris quadrifolia) hide in
the cool recesses of the woods near High Force, and the autumn-flowering
crocus (Colchicum autumnale) is a specially rare plant appearing opposite
Egglestone. On approaching High Force the upper part of Teesdale
loses its distinctively wild moorland character, and plantations of spruce
and firs with other well-grown trees appear, giving a much more
cultivated aspect. Extensive fir-plantations reach to the top of the moor
at Egglestone ; the rare marsh orchid (Ma/axis paludosa) has a well-
established home on the banks of the Egglesburn, and the cordate
tway-blade (Listera cordata) may also be found near the same spot.
Below Egglestone the Tees valley, and below Wolsingham the Wear
valley, gradually widen as these rivers emerge from the highlands of the
western parts of the county and flow through the less elevated central
regions. The high fells still extending between these points and further
north now rapidly decline in level. A sinuous line from Barnard Castle
through Witton-le-Wear to Wolsingham and then northwards indicates
roughly the boundary east of which the coal measures are met with,
overlaid for the most part with boulder clay. The principal collieries
i 41 6
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
fall within the drainage tract of the Wear, and in the Auckland valley
several very rich mines are worked. Thick seams of coal and the
fossilized remains of plants found in the carboniferous formation furnish
evidence of a luxuriant vegetation during this period. The fronds of
many species of ferns, fragments of the stems of Ca/amifes, Lepidodendron,
Ptcea, Pinites, Sigilaria, and Stigmaria are among the commonest forms
met with in abundance in a good state of preservation.
As the moors diminish in extent they are replaced by pasture and
arable land. The general vegetation presents few features calling for
special remark. The rivers flow for the most part through deeply
excavated banks, and the many beautiful ravines and denes in which
shade plants love to shelter are characteristic of the whole county. The
country is richly wooded, and the numerous well-timbered parks, such as
Raby, Winyard, Ravensworth, and Gibside, boast some specially fine
trees. Large woods have been planted in some localities, chiefly of
Scotch pine and larch. A geological formation which has a marked
influence upon the character of the vegetation is the magnesian lime-
stone. Speaking generally, this occupies a triangular area eastwards of a
line from Shields to Piercebridge, and extending thence as far as the
coast, where it ends abruptly in a broken outline of outstanding cliffs.
The highest escarpment lies to the west. Between Sedgefield and
Darlington the general altitude attains some 300 feet, forming the
watershed of the Skerne, a river rising further northwards in the
magnesian limestone hills, near Trimdon, here reaching a height of
606 feet, their greatest elevation. The Skerne first flows eastwards, but
suddenly turns south-westwards at Hurworth, some six miles from the
sea, to follow a winding, sluggish course through Darlington, finally
joining the Tees at Croft. A large flat tract of country, consisting for
the most part of beds of red sandstone overlaid with boulder clay,
occupies this south-eastern part of Durham from Sedgefield to Hartle-
pool, and southward to the Tees. The ponds, ditches, and slowly
running streams of this district furnish very favourable stations for aquatic
plants. Morden, Bradbury, and Preston Carrs, through which the
Skerne flows, occupy the site of a former lake, now since the drainage
forming a large extent of peaty soil somewhat resembling the fens of
the eastern counties. Here, especially along the banks of the Skerne,
and around Billingham and Norton, the ditches abound in water plants,
among which may be specially mentioned the common meadow rue
(ffhalictrum flavum), the great spearwort (Ranunculus lingua), the water
crowfoot (R. fluitans), the shining pond-weed (Potamogeton lucens), the
mare's-tail (Hippuris vulgaris], the water milfoil (Myriophyllum verticil-
latuni), the glaucous stitch wort (Stellaria g/auca), and the bur-marigold
(Bidens tripartita). The following are quite special to these localities,
and are not known in the neighbouring county of Northumberland : the
frog-bit (Hydrocharis Morsus-ran<z) , the mud wort (Limosella aquatica),
the small creeping persicaria (Polygonum minus], the arrow-head (Sagtttaria
sagittifolia), the great water dock (Rumex bydrolapatbum), the flowering
42
BOTANY
rush (Butomus umbellatus], and the water violet (Hottonia fa/usfris).
The last occurs also near Durham and Sunderland, and finds here its
most northern limit. The Hell Kettles, a remarkable series of large
deep ponds surrounded by boggy ground and overgrown with rushes and
sedges, is a botanical region worthy of note. Here grows the sedge
(CladiumMariscus), so valuable in the eastern counties for thatching; and,
among other rarities, Juncus obtusifolia, Carex stricta, the bladderwort
(Utricularia vu/garis), the mealy guelder-rose (Viburnum lantana), and
the rough stonewort (Cbara bispida), all denote the peculiar features of
a fen vegetation. Iris fcetidissima is a very rare plant found in the damp
woods. The flora of the magnesian limestone district is in great
contrast to that of the boulder clay and the coal-measures. The warmer,
better-drained soil supports again the lime-loving plants, and the special
limestone species of the west are thus once more freely met with in
the east, with the addition of some nine species which are confined to
the magnesian formation. These are the perennial flax (Linum perenne),
the bearded St. John's wort (Hypericum monfanum), the sainfoin (Ono-
brycbis satrva), the woolly-headed thistle (Carduus eriophorus), the privet
(Ligustrum vu/gare), the dwarf orchis (Orchis usfu/afa), the bee orchis
(Opbrys apifera)) the fly orchis (0. muscifera), and the upright brome-
grass (Bromus erectus). The low hills to the east are intersected by
picturesque denes and ravines, in the upper part often so confined as to
be impassable, and gradually widening as they approach the shore. A
rich flora of shade-loving plants clothes the sides and floors of these denes,
and many rare species luxuriate under the protection of the sylvan
vegetation. Castle Eden Dene, the most considerable and beautiful of
them all, is especially noteworthy as sheltering a much prized orchid
peculiar to the limestone, the lady's slipper (Cypripedium Calceolus]^
which was once plentifully distributed there, but now requires very
careful preservation to save it from extirpation. Some of the rare
orchids mentioned above, as well as the narrow-leaved helleborine
(Cephalantbera ensifolia), are found in the deep recesses of this and other
denes of the magnesian limestone.
The coast line of Durham, some forty-five miles in length, lies wholly
between the mouths of the rivers Tyne and Tees. Steep grassy slopes
alternate with magnesian limestone cliffs, which at Marsden and north
of Hartlepool stand out in bold rugged outline; desolate sand dunes
stretch along the shore towards the Tees mouth, and are succeeded by
salt marshes near Middlesbrough. A long coast line of such varied
character is peculiarly favourable for maritime vegetation, and the
different physical formations support each their special plant-associations.
South of the Tyne lies an open stretch of sand bordered by grass-covered
slopes ; here in former days were deposited large heaps of ballast from
the vessels entering the Tyne. Similar ballast heaps are to be found at
Sunderland and Hartlepool. Baker's list includes more than 150 species
of plants which have been thus introduced, but he states that it rarely
happens that any of these ballast introductions ripen seed and spring up
43
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
a second time, and so when fresh importations cease they rapidly
disappear. Baker considers that the wild mignonette (Reseda lutea),
the wall rocket (Sinapis tenuifolia], the wild parsnip (Pastinaca sativa),
and three or four Cbenopodiacea, are all that are likely to have been
introduced in this manner. The sand dunes are covered with the grass-
like associations of sand-binding plants specially adapted for this situation
by their deep roots and creeping rhizomes. Chief amongst these may
be mentioned the sea-reed (Ammopbila a rundinacea) , the rushy wheat-
grass (Triticum junceum), and 7". acutum, the sea lyme-grass (Elymus
arenarius), the sea-barley (Hordeum maritimum), the sea hard-grass
(Lepturus filiformis), the creeping fescue-grass (Festuca rubra), the
hemlock stork's-bill (Erodium cicutarium), and the three species of sea
sedges — Carex arenaria, C. extensa, and C. distant. A more varied flora is
found upon the steep grassy slopes with a wet argillaceous subsoil.
Here many plants which are well represented in the vegetation of the
upper dales are found in abundance. The graceful ' grass of Parnassus '
(Parnassia palustris) and the glossy yellowish-green rosettes of the
butterwort (Pinguicula vu/garis) may be found growing equally well near
the Black Hall Rocks and at Langdon Beck. The wild thyme (Tbymus
Serpyllum), the seaside plantain (Plantago maritima), and many others, are
also similarly distributed. The great water horsetail (Equisetum
maximum] and Gentiana Amarella are again characteristic plants found
plentifully here and at a considerable distance inland. Just above the
tidal limits some of the most characteristic maritime plants found are : the
sea-rocket (Cakile maritima), the beet (Beta maritima), the sea-purslane
(Honkeneja peploides], the sea-holly (Eryngium maritimum), the hound's-
tongue (Cynoglossum officinale), and the red goose-foot (Cbenopodium
rubrum). The yellow horned poppy (Glaucium luteum] was once plentiful
near Seaton Carew, but it is feared that it is now extinct. Peculiar
to the salt marshes are the sea-starwort (Aster tripolium), the seaside
arrow-grass (Triglocbin maritimum), the sea-blite (Suceda maritima), and
the shrubby sea-purslane (Obione portulacoides). On the limestone cliffs,
the sea spleenwort (Asplenium marinum) must be specially mentioned,
but it now grows only in the more inaccessible situations.
The district coming within the drainage tract of the Derwent
extends to the north of the county. The hills are chiefly composed of
millstone grit overlying the carboniferous limestone strata, and in the
upper part have much the same undulating heathery character as the
fells already considered on the west. The sandstone, however, appears
more dominant, and the moors consequently are more thickly clothed
with heather, the ling (Calluna vu/garis) and Erica cinerea being the
most abundant species. The brilliant purple of the heather on these
vast sweeps of moorland, and in the spring the perfect blaze of yellow
broom, produce an impression of vivid glowing colour which is not
readily effaced. The common bracken (Pteris aquilina) everywhere adds
its wealth of orange-coloured fronds in autumn. The mountain buckler
fern (Nephrodium Oreopteris) grows in great profusion, and sometimes
44
BOTANY
clothes the hillsides to the exclusion of all others (Featherstonhaugh), and
the hard fern (Lomaria Spicanf) is also especially plentiful in the hilly
districts and on the edges of the moors. At Edmondbyers may be seen
growing the rare little pink flower Erinus afyinus, which so curiously
springs up about the Roman camps. It is supposed to have been
brought by Spanish legions, and has thus long survived the old Roman
occupation. The limestone is exposed in the bed of the Derwent below
Muggleswick, and here the river has carved a deep channel through
precipitous banks, and winds in and out through a most romantic and
picturesquely wooded retreat locally known as the Sneep. The coal-
measures here also first make their appearance, and extend through the
lower part of the valley to the mouth of the river. Over a considerable
portion of the intervening country, however, thick beds of sand and
gravel occur resting upon the boulder clay. This formation results in
numerous landslips along the course of the stream, and thousands of tons
of ballast have been laid down to counteract the constant undermining of
the base of the hills. The Broad Oak Hills are composed of this sand
and gravel upon a bed of clay, and as far down as Winlaton can be seen
a mass of boulder clay and gravelly drift forming what is known as
Winlaton Mill 'scaurs.' Below the Sneep the Vale of Derwent
becomes very richly wooded. It possesses large tracts of native wood-
land, chief among which may be mentioned the extensive Crown lands
of Chopwell, where in former days oak was grown for the Royal Navy.
In the sheltered denes the oak fern (Polypodium Dryopteris) grows profusely,
often thickly covering the damp bank sides with its fragile, tender green
fronds. The lovely delicate beech fern (P. Pbegopteris) is also widely
distributed in the valley, selecting wet mossy rocks and places within
reach of the waterfalls, where its slender creeping rhizomes can spread
themselves over the moist surface. Many of the rarer ferns which once
grew luxuriantly have been almost exterminated by ruthless collectors.
The royal fern (Osmunda regatis), for example, was formerly abundant,
but has now no native haunt on the Derwent. Though not possessing
many specially rare species, the flora is very rich, and most of the
ordinary woodland plants are represented in profusion. The fine large
purple flowers of the wood crane's bill (Geranium syhaticuni) produce a
lovely effect in masses in the woods, and the foxglove (Digitalis purpurea)
is abundantly dispersed, though it becomes scarce north of the Tyne.
The daffodil (Narcissus Pseudo-narcissus] grows wild in some of the moist
woods, and the rare maiden-pink (Diantbus deltoides) in the hilly pastures
in the neighbourhood of Shotley Bridge. The woods everywhere are
very favourable to fungus flora, those near Medomsley especially possessing
innumerable species. The encroachment of paper mills, ironworks, and
collieries has destroyed many good plant stations, and below Swalwell
the country gives place to a manufacturing district, extending to the
Tyne, of no further interest to the botanist.
45
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
NOTES ON THE BOTANICAL DISTRICTS
The botanical districts, which are based upon the river basins, are: the Wear, the Tees,
and the Derwent.
THE WEAR DISTRICT
The drainage tract of the Wear comprises fully one half of the total area of the county,
including the main central portion from east to west. The river rises in the highlands of
the west, its actual source being the small Scraith Burn issuing from the head of Burnhope
Seat, the highest point in the county. At its junction with another burn descending the
eastern slope of Deadstones the stream becomes known as the Burnhope Burn, which,
flowing rapidly over a very rocky bed and fed by many little tributaries from the mountain
sides, soon gathers force and volume. Above Wearhead (1,100 feet) this unites with
Kilhope and Welhope burns to form the Wear, which has now attained a very considerable
size. Westwards of this point extends the region of wildest moorland vegetation. The
flora characteristic of the summits has already been described. Rubus chamtemorus is plenti-
fully distributed on all the high peaks, but is seldom found lower than 1,500 feet. On the
banks by the streams high up in the hills the wild thyme (Thymus Serpyllum) spreads its
fragrance everywhere ; and Linum catharticum, Euphrasia officinalis, Polygala vulgaris, Sagina
apetala, S. nodosa, Hypericum pulchrum, and Galium saxatile are freely present on the drier
grassy places. Along the more marshy sides of the streams Sedum villosum, with its pretty
little purplish star-like flowers, Stellaria uliginosa, Saxifraga stellaris, Triglochin palustre, and
Montia fontana, are noteworthy ; while Veronica scutellata, Lychnis floscuculi, Cochlearia
officinalis, Ranunculus flammula, and Viola palustris are commonly distributed in the same
situations. The swamps abound in species of Juncus and Carex, with here and there the
purple flowers of the marsh orchis (0. latifolia] appearing among them. Patches of the
pale green rosettes of Pinguicula vulgaris are frequently to be seen, as well as Pedicularis
palustris and Drosera rotundifolia. By the brooksides, up to a height of about 1,300 feet,
the rich alluvial land left by the stream forms fine natural pastures in which many varieties
of grasses and nearly all the common flowers of the English meadows are represented in
profusion. An abundance of the beautiful purple and yellow pansy, Viola lutea, is a
special feature of these upland meadows, and it extends also to the sandy shores near
Frosterley, being carried down to the lower reaches of the stream. In the undrained
pastures the abundance of Trollius europeeus and Caltha palustris provides a wealth of golden
colour ; the frog orchis (Habenaria viridis) is scattered everywhere, and Polygonum viviparum
is not unfrequent ; Achillea ptarmica also occurs, and Anemone nemorosa sparingly. Primula
farinosa grows freely in the marshy places. At Burnhope there is a curious out-crop of black
coaly-looking shale where grow quantities of the sweet-scented Myrrhis odorata. Close by
the cliff is a natural wood of Betula, Corylusy Salix, and Pyrus aucuparia. In the under-
growth are found Pyrola minor, Trifolium medium, Lathyrus tuberosus, Crepis hieracioides, and
Hieracium gothicum and tridentatum.
The numerous ' hopes,' which shelter many a rare species, are specially characteristic of
Weardale. These branch out in all directions from the main valley, extending into the upper
heights of the hills. To the west are Kilhope, Welhope, Burnhope, and Ireshope ; on the
south, Swinhope, Westernhope, and Bollihope ; while in a northerly direction the more
considerable are Stanhope, Rookhope, and Middlehope. Taxus baccata is truly wild in
several places in the district. Botrychium Lunaria, Lycopodium clavatum, L. alpinum and
L. Selago are plants to be noted in the higher localities. Asplenium viride grows very
abundantly by the burns in Harthope and Ireshope, A. Trichomanes ascending to the scars of
Bleak Law. Some very picturesque limestone cliffs known as Clint's Crags form an
interesting feature in the upper part of Ireshope. Here Epilobium angustifolium appears in
great profusion, the rocks being enriched with masses of its spikes of purple flowers ; the
marshes in the neighbourhood are a station for the specially rare yellow Saxifraga hirculus.
Selaginella Selaginoides is found in abundance, and patches of the fragrant orchid, Habenaria
conopsea. The honeysuckle (Lonicera periclymenum) may also be seen growing freely at this
height. Many valuable old lead mines exist in the district, for which Arenaria verna and
Thlaspi alpestre have a special predilection ; a variety of the latter, T. occitanum, is found
north of the stream below Eastgate and by the Grasshill lead mines.
At St. John's Chapel the country becomes less wild and begins to assume a more
46
BOTANY
pastoral beauty. Between here and Westgate Rubus villicaulis, R. infestus, Lycium barbarum,
and Impatient balsamifera may be found. The river is here fairly broad, and as the valley
descends it widens considerably towards Stanhope, six miles eastward of St. John's Chapel.
High gritstone moors, for the most part clothed with heather, extend on either side of the
valley as far as Wolsingham. Stanhope Common lies upwards of 1,000 feet above the
town, which itself is some 670 feet above sea-level. It is a large extent of moorland lying
on the Millstone Grit above the limestone, which crops out on the hillsides at about 800
to 900 feet. The appearance of the gritstone marks very sharply the boundary between the
moor and cultivated ground, the house and walled intakes terminating abruptly at the junction
of this strata with the limestone. Heather refuses to grow on the limestone formation, and
the vivid green, grassy slopes of the latter thickly covered with trees are in strong contrast to
the sudden appearance of the wild, barren-looking heath, and serve to illustrate very strikingly
the different character of the two soils. Calluna vulgaris forms the main mass of the
vegetation of the moor, among which are interspersed Emfetrum nigrum, Vaccimum Myrtillus,
Festuca ovina, "Juncus squarrosus, and the procumbent Galium saxatile. In the damper spots
are Sphagnum and Polytrichum communis, while the reindeer moss (Cladonia rangiferina) is
frequently to be seen. Bollihope Burn enters the main stream near Frosterley, and in the
lower part of the glen through which it flows the last outcrop of the limestone is exposed
to view in the fine cliffs of Bishopley Crag. Festuca sylvatica, a rare plant in Durham,
grows in Bollihope Dene, and F. rubra, usually associated with sandy shores, ascends to
750 feet on Bollihope Moor. Bushes of yellow broom and furze (Cytisus scopariut and
Ulex europieus) brighten the rocky shores of the river ; and in the shady woods which now
border its banks arc beautiful masses of sweet cicely, Myosotis syhestris, the sweetly odorous
Atperula odorata, and other woodland forms, including Arum maculatum and Orchis mascula.
At Wolsingham the Waskerley Beck flows into the Wear from the north, and a little lower
down above Witton-le-Wear the Bedburn, with its many tributaries, enters it on the south.
Scutellaria minor is plentiful on the Wolsingham moors, and other notable plants known in
the same neighbourhood above Shull are the rare Malaxis paludosa, Dianthus deltoides, and
D. Armeria, the latter springing up after the ling has been burnt/ Trientalis europaa and
Convallaria majalis exist in Shull woods.
From high up in the moors near the Tees a considerable stream runs through the
Auckland valley and joins the Wear at Bishop Auckland. Here the main river, which
has hitherto taken a course to the south-east, turns sharply northwards, and then continues in a
north-easterly direction with many a devious turn till it finally reaches the sea at Sunderland.
On the left bank the tributaries of the Deerness and the Browney drain a large extent of
moorish coal country. Bryonia dioica is not uncommon about Bishop Auckland, and the
rare Gagea lutea is found in the woods in this locality. Calamintha Nefeta should be noted
on the banks of the Wear near Durham, and Atropa belladonna (the deadly nightshade), as
well as the very rare Colcbicum autumnale in the damp meadows. Leaving Brancepeth Park
on its western slope the Wear passes directly through the city of Durham, which occupies
a magnificent site on the edge of the moorland, and flows through richly wooded banks past
the ruins of Finchale Abbey and the stately parks and castles of Lumley and Lambton.
In the flat country and low-lying woods below Durham some of the more interesting plants
are the wild daffodil (Narcissus Pseudo-narcissus), Neottia Nidus-avis, Rosa arvensis, Melica
nutans, Astragalus glycyphyllos, and Limosella aquatica. For the last four miles the river cuts
through the magnesian limestone eastwards to the sea.
The largest area of magnesian limestone is included in this drainage tract. Numerous
denes extend into the heart of the range, opening out more widely to the sea. The
most extensive is the very beautiful dene of Castle Eden, well known to botanists as a
station for the now very rare Cypripedium Calceolus. Taxus baccata flourishes luxuriantly
here, and introductions, such as Larix leptolepis and Rosa rugosa, have found a congenial home.
These sheltered denes of the magnesian limestone afford favourable conditions for the
growth of many orchidaceous plants ; among the more remarkable species scattered generally
in these situations are Neottia Nidus-avis, Epipactis palustris, Cephalanthera ensifolia, and Ophrys
muscifera. Ligustrum vulgare, Cornus sanguinea, and Lithospermum officinale are truly wild in
these denes, and among other plants worthy of mention are Hypericum mmtanum, Lactuca
muralis, Erigeron acris, Inula Helenium, Petasitis fragrans, Equisetum maximum, Paris quadrifolia,
Scohpendrium vulgare, Daphne /aureola, and Campanula latifolia. Primula farinosa is frequent
about the streams that issue from the magnesian limestone. Dispersed all along the coast
are Orchis ustulata, O. pyramidalis and Ophrys apifera.
47
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
THE TEES DISTRICT
The Tees, rising in Cumberland on the slopes of Cross Fell, first enters Durham at its
junction with the Crookburn Beck which flows southwards from Yad Moss. It continues a
fairly level course for some miles, spreading into a still expanse of water forming the Weel,
in which are found Potamogeton rufescens and an abundance of Ranunculus peltatus. Immediately
below this, at Cauldron Snout, the river contracts into a narrow channel and, falling to a depth
of 100 feet, tumbles over a series of rocky ledges. Rushing through a deepening basaltic
gorge by a succession of cataracts the turbulent waters at last emerge from the narrow chasm,
and by a final leap broaden out, fan-like, into a torrent of boiling foam. The Maze Beck
enters just below the Snout, and then the stream flows swiftly over a very rocky bed, taking
an irregular winding course to the sea. Beyond the Weel extends a bare, desolate waste of
moors with not a tree to be seen, these heights being a part of the main limestone formation.
Carex rigida and Epiloblum alpinum are rare plants growing here. On Bleak Law, at an
elevation of 1,800 feet, occur Draba incana, Erophila vulgarity Asplenium viride and Cystopteris
fragilis. On Widdy Bank Fell a special abundance of very rare plants is found, among them
Gentiana verna, Arenarla uliginosa, Thalictrum alpinum, Potentilla alpestris, Viola arenaria, and
Carex capillaris. On the north side the fell appears as a rounded sloping hill, the summit
covered with heather. Heather clothes also the steep cliffs which face the Tees and which
terminate to the south-west by perpendicular basaltic crags known as the Falcon Glints.
Among the talus of sharp rocks some of the familiar plants which it is interesting to observe
have established themselves are : Oxalis acetosella, Geranium Robertianum and lucidum, Asplenium
Adiantum-nigrum, Pteris aquilina and Polypodium vulgare ; the rare Saxifraga aizoides and
hypnoides and Sedum telephium are also plentifully seen. Juniper bushes cling to the crevices
of the basaltic columns with here and there a solitary mountain ash, while Solidago virgaurea,
Teucrium Scorodonia, Fragraria vesca, Corylus Avellana, Sanguisorba officinale, Digitalis purpurea
and Campanula rotundifolia find a home among the rocks and heather. On these clints also
many special species appear, such as Woodsia ilvensis, Aspidium Lonchitis, Potentilla alpestris,
Arctostaphylos Uva-ursi, Juncus triglumis, Kobresia caricina, Hieracium iricum, H. anglicum and
H. pallidum. To these may be added others, all noteworthy, growing on the banks of the
various streams which flow outwards from Widdy Bank Fell, such as Bartsia alpina, Sedum
villosum, Saxifraga stellaris, Galium boreale, G. Sylvestre, Sesleria carulia, Cryptogramme crispa, Poly-
podium calcareum, Equisetum variegatum, Poa Parnellii, Tofieldla palustris and Scirpus pauciflorus,
Armeria maritima is found plentifully on one of the little streams running from the sugar
limestone.
This upper drainage tract of the Tees is separated into two distinct dales, the one
formed by the Tees itself and the other by the Harwood Beck running almost parallel with
it from north to south. Langdon Beck flows in the same direction through a narrower valley
to the west, and taking a south-easterly turn joins Harwood Beck at Langdon Bridge. Their
united streams flowing southwards meet with the Tees about a mile above High Force. At
this meeting of the waters on the flat piece of ground known as the Whetstone Sill Potentilla
fruticosa, an extremely rare plant, grows most luxuriantly. The peculiarly rare Bartsia alpina
grows here too, but most abundantly a little higher up by the Whey Sike, and from the Widdy
Bank streams it is carried down to Harwood Beck. Habenaria albida is found plentifully
near the same point, as well as Hieracium gothicum, corymbosum, and crocatum, all rare species,
extending also for some distance down the stream. It is difficult to tread anywhere hereabouts
without finding a profusion of Gentiana Amarella. In Harwood Dale numerous species of
the commoner lowland plants ascend to a considerable altitude. To give a few instances :
Lychnis diurna, Geranium sylvaticum, Spiraa ulmaria, Ajuga reptans, and Briza media, are found
on the limestone scars at an elevation of 1,650 feet; Pedicularis palustris and Plantago media
attain a limit of 1,700 feet, Poa trivialis 1,800 feet, while Listera ovata, Rumex crispus,
Achillea ptarmica, and Apargia hispida reach a limit of 1,950 feet. Trollius europaus and
Caltha palustris form a very conspicuous feature of Teesdale, spreading themselves in quantity
over the whole valley above High Force. The deep blue Swiss gentian (Gentiana verna) is
abundantly distributed in several places, Fendrith Hill, Widdy Bank Fell, and above Cauldron
Snout being favourite localities of this lovely flower. Primula farinosa also grows in plenty
in the marshy places, especially about Langdon Dale. The very rare faccinium uliginosum
occurs sparingly on the boggy parts of the moor above High Force, and in the drier more
sandy ground jasione montana has established a home.
From Cauldron Snout to the head of High Force the river declines in level 430 feet,
and then rushes in a great sheet of foam over a precipice some 78 feet high, forming a very
48
BOTANY
beautiful waterfall. Perpendicular rocks line the sides of the stream for some distance, and
the banks are still craggy and precipitous almost as far down as Middleton. The river
receives four feeders from the north between High Force and Egglestone — the burns of
Ettersgill, Bowlees, Hudshope, and Egglesburn, in the first of which there is a pretty little
waterfall called Hell Cleft. Saxifraga aizoides appears again on the rocks towards High
Force, and some other of the rarer plants on Widdy Bank are carried down as far as
Eggleston, a distance of some seven miles. Hieracium anglicum, H. iricum, Potentilla alpestris
and Thalictrum alpinum descend to Winch Bridge, a favourite station for some of the stray
plants from the heights of Falcon Glints ; the rare horsetail, Equisetum umbrosum, is found as
low as Middleton, and Saxifraga stellaria reaches to Eggleston. The flora beyond this point
is of a more ordinary woodland type. Aquilegia vulgaris should be noted truly wild in the
vicinity of Middleton, and Pyrus Aria at Winch Bridge. The woods near High Force
contain a very rich vegetation. A great wealth of many-coloured lichens clothes the black
smooth rocks and trunks of the trees, masses of the curious green lichen, Usnea barbata,
depend from many of the branches, and a rich fungus-flora is found in the damp, decaying
undergrowth. The wild raspberry (Rubus ideeus) is common, and the lily of the valley
(Convallaria majalis) is plentiful in the shade of the woods, as well as Paris quadrifolia, Myosotis
sylvestris, and the large Campanula latifolia. Below High Force the valley descends rapidly
and soon becomes well-wooded, though still girdled by the high ridges of Newbiggin
(2,215 feet), Middleton (1,990 feet), and Eggleston (1,590 feet) moors. A stream rising
north of Barnard Castle on the edge of the moors at Langley Dale flows through Raby to
Staindrop, where it is joined by one flowing through Streatlam Park, and their united waters
enter the main river near Gainford, a station for Turritis glabra. The limestone reappears
below Barnard Castle, and fine cliffs border the Tees for some miles. Rumex aquaticus is an
uncommon northern plant descending the dale from Widdy Bank to Barnard Castle ; it is also
recorded at Piercebridge (Wheldon).
From Piercebridge, where the magnesian limestone commences, right to the Tees
mouth, the river traverses flat low country through which flow many sluggish tributaries.
It follows a very winding course, and between Croft and Dinsdale twists and turns in truly
serpentine fashion. The damp woods in this district provide many specially rare plants,
among which may be mentioned Colchicum autumnale, Iris faetidissima, Ophrys apifera,
O. muscifera, Orchis ustulata, Allium scorodoprasum, and Ruscus aculeatus. Other noticeable
plants in the locality are : Chrnopodium glaucum, Spireea Filipendula, Stachys ambigua, Euonymus
europteus, Trifolium fragiferumy Bryonia dioica, Hypericum Androseemum, Linum perenne, and
Symphytum officinale and Rhamnus catharticus, both rare in the county. Viola odora is frequent
in the woods. The slowly running streams and ditches of this flat country furnish an
abundance of aquatic plants, a number of which have already been mentioned in connection
with the Skerne and Morden Carrs. The becks in the neighbourhood of Stockton, Norton,
Billingham, and Greatham also provide good stations for such plants. Sparganium ramosum,
S. simplex, Typba latifolia, T. angustifolia, (Enanthe phellandrium, Zannicbellia palustris,
Nasturtium sylvestre, N. terrestre, Samolus valerandi, Potamogeton plantagineus, P. densus, and
P. gramineus are among those not given previously. In the salt marshes at the mouth of the
Tees and salt-water ditches along the coast are : Otime portulacoides, Aster tripolium, Statice
linunium, Ranunculus Baudotii, Artemisia maritima, Salicornia herbacea, Sueda maritima, Atrip/ex
littoralis, Triglochin maritimumt Ruppia maritima, Agrostis alba, Juncus maritima, y. compressuf,
Scirpus rufits, glaums, and maritimus. To the previous list of plants growing on the sand-dunes
the following may be added ; Clause maritima, Armeria maritima, Plantago coronopus, Atrip/ex
portulacoides, A. Babingtonii, Glyceria distorts, G. procumbens, G. loliacea, Thalictrum minus,
Seneberia coronopus, and Salsola Kali. Growing in the sea are the two monocotyledonous plants,
Zastera marina and Z. nana.
THE DERWENT DISTRICT
For the greater part of its course the Derwent forms the northern limit of the
county, only a small area to the north-east extending the boundary along the Stanley Burn
to the Tyne at Wylam. The river takes its rise by two branches, the Knucton Burn on
the south and the Beldon Burn on the north. The latter rises beyond the county limit
near to Allenheads, the high ridge of Knucton Edge which separates the two streams
forming the western confines of the district. At the head of Knucton Burn the ridge attains
a height of 1,833 ^eet> alu' from this a range of high fells extends for several miles due
east to Bolt's Law, which has an elevation of 1,772 feet. Some interesting plants may be
1 49 7
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
found on the banks of the Beldon and Knucton Burns, such as Salix laurina, S. nigricans,
Narthecium ossifragum, Galium boreale, Saxifraga stellaris, and S. aizoldes. Vicia cracca and
Oxalis acetosella are common lowland plants ascending to 1,500 feet, nearly to the
source of the Knucton Burn. A little lower down, at Bay Bridge, Bolt's Burn joins the
main stream. At this height, for the distance of a mile along the side of the Derwent,
extends a narrow belt of pasture land and dense wood. A fine profusion of the mountain
pansy, Viola lutta, is again met with here. The high ground above Blanchland and
Edmondbyers provides some of the rarest plants in the district.1 Vaccinmm Oxycoccus and
Rubus cbamatmorus occur, though not very plentifully, as well as Bartsia alpina, Apium
graveolens, Parnassia palustris, Anagallis tenella, and Malaxis paludosa. In the woods at
Roughside are Carduu$ beteropkyllus, Pyrola media, and Trientalis europ<ea. Among orchi-
daceous plants the butterfly orchis (Habenaria bifolia), H. albida, H. viridis, Orchis latifolia,
Gymnadenia conopsea, and Epipacth latifolia are all to be found in the locality. The next
important stream to be received is the Burnhope Burn, which, taking its rise in Bolt's
Law, drains Muggleswick Common and the valley between Edmondbyers and Muggles-
wick. The woods in this neighbourhood are a very profitable botanical hunting ground,
the seam of mountain limestone which appears here supporting plants favouring this
formation. Ligustrum vulgare, plentiful on the magnesian limestone of the coast and
indigenous only on calcareous ground, is to be found in these woods. Primula farinosa
grows in several localities hereabouts, and Listera cordata on the Muggleswick Moors.
Some little distance lower down, the Hyshope Burn and the Horsleyhope Burn, both
issuing from the fells above Muggleswick, unite to pour their waters into the main stream.
It is near this point that the main limestone appears in the bed of the Derwent. The
tortuous windings of the river here traverse the picturesquely wooded district of the Sneep,
where Neottia Nidus-avis may be found growing among the rich humus of the rotting
leaves.
Turning north the stream now leaves the vast sweep of moorland behind and proceeds
for nearly the whole of its further course through a piece of country of great sylvan
beauty. On the high ground on the east bank the collieries and iron-works which have
sprung up have laid waste a considerable area, and the paper-mills, which pollute the stream
in the beautiful neighbourhood of Shotley Bridge, may have affected some plant stations.
The somewhat rare Dianthus de/toides, however, is still found in the hilly pastures near
Shotley Bridge [its only other locality in the district being a pasture field near Edmond-
byers (Featherstonhaugh)] and Narcissus Pseudo-narcissus grows wild in considerable quantity
at Allansford, as well as Aquilegia vulgaris. Orobancbe major is frequently found in this
neighbourhood parasitic upon the broom. The many species of ferns which grow so
luxuriantly in the shady woods of the Derwent are treated separately, and few of the numerous
woodland plants merit special mention. A deep rose-coloured variety of Anemone nemorosa,
the tint of which remains permanent under cultivation, is found in a wood near Shotley
(Featherstonhaugh). Some uncommon plants are met with in Gibside Woods. The lily
of the valley (Convallaria majalis) and Carduus heterophyllus may be mentioned as growing
here, the latter also to be found in several places on the banks of the Derwent.
Considerable tracts of land in the district are occupied by flourishing plantations, fine
belts of fir trees predominating in the upper reaches of the valley. The most extensive
natural woods are those of Chopwell and Gibside. Axwell Park, approaching within a
mile of Derwenthaugh where the river flows into the Tyne, also contains some magnificent
beeches ; the white water-lily (Nymphaa alba) grows in a pond in the park, and Stachys
ambigua is a plant worth mentioning which finds a home there. A species of horsetail,
Equhetum byemale, rare in the county, may be found in the boggy woods on the banks of the
stream in its lower reaches. On the west side of the river, and parallel with it, a small
stream runs through a wooded dene to the Tyne at Blaydon. On the east side the
Team drains the coal country south of Newcastle, the finely timbered park at Ravens-
worth forming a pleasant feature on its banks. Many interesting plants were once known
in the vicinity of Gateshead, south of the Tyne — Selaginella Se/aginoides, for example, on
Gateshead Fell — but they are long since exterminated, the stations being built over or
destroyed by the smoky, deleterious atmosphere. All plant-life in close proximity to the
Tyne is now injuriously affected by the manufactories and chemical works on its banks.
1 Most of the species here enumerated are recorded by the Rev. W. Featherstonhaugh.
Transactions of the Vale of Derwent Naturalists' field Club, iv.
50
BOTANY
A LIST OF THE FLOWERING PLANTS OF DURHAM
OBSERVATIONS
The order and nomenclature of the following list are those of
Sir J. D. Hooker's Student's flora of the British Islands, 3rd Edition,
1884. The numbers after the specific names refer to the zones of
altitude. The authorities made use of in this account are the admirable
Flora of Northumberland and Durham, by Baker and Tate,1 and Winch's
Essay on the Geographical Distribution of Plants through the counties of
Northumberland, Cumberland and Durham (1825), together with the
author's own observations. The list of flowering plants and ferns is that
of Baker's Flora ; the species marked * are added from a list by Mr. J.
A. Wheldon. Mr. W. Ingham, B.A., has been kind enough to contri-
bute the sections on Mosses and Liverworts, and the Rev. W. Johnson
that on the Lichens.
LIST OF FLOWERING PLANTS
DICOTYLEDONES.
RANUNCULACE.*
Thalictrum alpinum, L. 2
— minus, L. I
— flexuosum, Reich. I
— flavum, L. I
Anemone nemorosa, L. I, 2
Adonis autumnalis, L. Alien, i
Myosurus minimus, L. I
Ranunculus heterophyllus, Fries. I, 2
— marinus, Fries., var. Baudotii, Godr.
— fluitans, Lamk. i
— hederaceus, L. I
— lingua, L. I
— flammula, L. I, 2
— auricomus, L. i, 2
— sceleratus, L. I
— acris, L. i, 2, 3
— repens, L. i, 2, 3
— bulbosus, L. 1,2
— arvensis, L. I
— ficaria, L. I, 2
— parviflorus, L. I
Caltha palustris, L. i,
Trollius europaeus, L.
Helleborus fcetidus, L.
— viridis, L. I
Aquilegia vulgaris, L.
Delphinium Ajacis, L.
BERBERIDE^
Berberis vulgaris, L. 1
NYMPHAACE.*
Nuphar luteum, Sm. i
PAPAVERACEVE
2,3
[, 2,
Alien.
PAPAVERACEJB (continued)
Papaver dubium, L. Colonist. I
— rhoeas, L. Colonist, i
— somniferum, L. Alien, i
Chelidonium majus, L. I
Glaucium luteum, Scop, i
FUMARIACEJE
Fumaria capreolata, L. Colonist. I
sub-sp. *conrusa, Jord.
var. Borsei, Jord.
„ pallidiflora, Jord.
— officinalis, L. Colonist. I
Corydalis claviculata, DC. I
CRUCIFER/E
Cheiranthus Cheiri, L. Alien, i
Nasturtium officinale, R. Br. I, 2, 3
— sylvestre, R. Br. i
— palustre, DC. i
Barbarea vulgaris, R. Br. i
— praecox, R. Br. Alien. I
Arabis hirsuta, R. Br. i, 2
— perfoliata, Lamk. i
Cardamine hirsuta, L. I, 2, 3
sub-sp. flexuosa, With.
— pratensis, L. i, 2, 3
— ainara, L. I
Sisymbrium thaliana, Hook, i, 2
— Sophia, L. i
— officinale, Scop. I
— alliaria, Scop. I
Hesperis matronalis, L. Alien. I
Brassica campestris, L.
sub-sp. rapa, L. Colonist. I, 2,
„ napus, L. Colonist. I, 2
— nigra, L. Colonist, i
— sinapis, Visiani. Colonist, i, 2
— alba, Boiss. Colonist, i, 2
3
3
Papaver hybridum, L. Colonist. I
— argemone, L. Colonist, i
1 Natural Hiitorj Traniactimi of Northumberland and Durham, ii., 1867-68
51
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
CRUCIFER^; (continued)
Diplotaxis tenuifolia, DC. i
Draba incana, L. 2
Erophila vulgaris, DC. i, 2
Cochlearia officinalis, L. i, 2, 3
sub-sp. alpina, Wats.
„ danica, L.
— anglica, L. i
Capsella Bursa-Pastoris, Moench. i, 2
Senebiera coronopus, Poiret. I
— didyma, Pers. Alien.
Lepidium latifolium, L. I
— campestre, R. Br. i
sub-sp. Smithii, Hook. I
Thlaspi arvense, L. i
— alpestre, L. I, 2, 3
var. sylvestre, Jord.
„ occitanum, Jord.
Cakile maritima, Scop, i
Raphanus Raphanistrum, L. I, 2
RESEDACE-flE
Reseda Luteola, L. I
— lutea, L. i
CISTINE.S:
Helianthemum vulgare, L. I, 2, 3
VIOLACE^E
Viola palustris, L. i, 2, 3
— odorata, L. i
— hirta, L. i
— canina, L. I
— sylvatica, Fries. I, 2, 3
— arenaria, DC. 2
— tricolor, L. i, 2
sub-sp. Lutea, Huds. i, 2, 3
POLYGALE.S
Poly gala vulgaris, L. I, 2, 3
CARYOPHYLLE^
Dianthus Armeria, L. I
— deltoides, L. I
Saponaria officinalis, L. I
Silene maritima, With, i, 2
— Cucubalus, Wibel. i
— noctiflora, L. I
Lychnis Flos-cuculi, L. i, 2, 3
— diurna, Sibth. i, 2
— vespertina, Sibth. i
Githago segetum, Desf. i, 2
Cerastium quaternellum, Fenzl. i
— tetrandrum, Curtis, i
— semidecandrum, L. i
— glomeratum, Thuill. i, 2
— triviale, Link, i, 2, 3
— arvense, L. i
Stellaria nemorum, L. i, 2
— *aquatica, Scop.
— media, Vill. i, 2, 3
— Holostea, L. i, 2
— palustris, Ehrh. i
CARYOPHYIXEJE (continued]
Stellaria graminea, L. I, 2
— uliginosa, Murr. I, 2, 3
Arenaria verna, L. i, 2, 3
• — uliginosa, Schl. 2
— trinervis, L. i
— serpyllifolia, L. i
— peploides, L. i
Sagina apetala, L. i
sub-sp. maritima, Don. i
— procumbens, L. i, 2, 3
— nodosa, E. Mey. i, 2, 3
Spergula arvensis, L. i
Spergularia rubra, Pers. i
— salina, Presl. i
— media, Pers. i
PoRTULACE/E
Montia fontana, L. I, 2, 3
var. rivularis, Gmel.
HYPERICTNE.S
Hypericum Androsaemum, L. I
— perforatum, L. i
— quadrangulum, L. i, 2
— humifusum, L. 1,2
— pulchrum, L. i, 2
— hirsutum, L. i
— montanum, L. i
— calycinum, L. Alien
MALVACE.S:
Malva sylvestris, L. I
— rotundifolia, L. i
— moschata, L. i
TILIACE.S:
Tilia vulgaris, Hayne. I
LINE.S:
Linum perenne, L. I
— catharticum, L. i, 2
GERANIACEJE
Geranium sanguineum, L. i
— sylvaticum, L. i, 2
— pratense, L. i, 2
— molle, L. 1,2
— pusillum, L. i
— columbinum, L. i
— dissectum, L. i
— Robertianum, L. i, 2
— phsum, L. Alien, i
— lucidum, L. i, 2
Erodium cicutarium, Sm. i
Oxalis acetosella, L. i, 2, 3
Il.ICINE.ff:
Ilex Aquifolium, L. i
EMPETRACE^E
Empetrum nigrum, L. I, 2, 3
CELASTRINE^
Euonymus europaeus, L. i
BOTANY
RHAMNE*
Rhamnus catharticus, L. I
SAPINDACE*
Acer campestre, L. i
— pseudo-platanus, L. i, 2
LEGUMINOS.*
Genista tinctoria, L. i
- anglica, L. i
Ulex europasus, L. i, 2
— nanus, L. sub. sp. Gallii, Planch, i
Cytisus scoparius, Link, i, 2
Ononis spinosa, L. i, 2
— antiquorum, L. i
Medicago sativa, L. Alien
— lupulina, L. 1,2
— *falcata, L.
Melilotus officinalis, Desr. i
Trifolium arvense, L. i
— pratense, L. I, 2, 3
— medium, L. i, 2
— striatum, L. i
— scabrum, L. i
- repens, L. i, 2, 3
— fragiferum, L. i
— procumbens, L. i
— dubium, Sibth. i
— filiforme, L. i
Anthyllis vulneraria, L. i, 2
Lotus corniculatus, L. i, 2
var. major, Scop, i, 2
Astragalus glycyphyllos, L. i
— hypoglottis, L. i
Ornithopus perpusillus, L. i
Onobrychis sativa, Lam. i
Vicia hirsuta, Koch, i
— tetrasperma, Koch, i
— Cracca, L. i, 2
— sylvatica, L. i
— sepium, L. i
— sativa, L. 1,2
— lathyroides, L. i
Lathy rus pratensis, L. i, 2
- macrorrhizus, Wimm. i, 2
ROSACE.*
Prunus communis, Huds. i
— Avium, L. i, 2
— padus, L. i, 2
Spirasa Ulmaria, L. 1,2
— Filipendula, L. i
- salicifolia, L. Alien, i
Rubus Chamatmorus, L. 2, 3
— saxatilis, L. i, 2
- Iii.rus, L. I, 2
— fruticosus, L.
sub-sp. suberectus, And. i, 2
var. plicatus, Weihe
sub-sp. Rhamnifolius (cordyfolius,
Weihc). i
„ corylifolius, Sm. i
53
ROSACE.* (continued)
Rubus fruticosus (continued)
sub-sp. csesius, L. i
„ discolor, Weihe. i
„ leucostachys, Sm. i
„ villicaulis, Weihe. i
„ umbrosus, Arrh. i
„ radula, Weihe. i
„ Kochleri, Weihe. i
var. infestus, Weihe. i
„ pallidus, Weihe. i
Geum urbanum, L. i, 2
— rivale, L. i, 2, 3
var. *intermedium, Ehrh.
Fragraria vesca, L. 1,2
Potentilla fruticosa, L. i, 2
— comarum, L. i, 2, 3
— tormentilla, Nesl. i, 2, 3
— anserina, L. i, 2
— reptans, L. i
— rragrariastrum, Ehrh. i, 2
— salisburgensis, Haenke. i, 2
— argentea, L. i
Alchemilla arvensis, Lam. i
— yulgaris, L. i, 2, 3
Agrimonia Eupatoria, L. i
Poterium sanguisorba, L. i
— officinale, Hook, i, 2
Rosa spinosissima, L. i, 2
— villosa, L. i, 2
sub-sp. tomentosum, Sm. i, 2
— rubiginosa, L. i
— canina, L. i, 2
var. lutetiana, Leman.
„ dumalis, Bechst.
,, urbica, Leman.
„ dumetorum, Thuill.
„ Borreri, Woods, i
— involuta, Sm. i
var. sabini, Woods, i
„ Robertsoni, Baker, i
— arvensis, Huds. r
— hibernica, Smith, i
var. cordifolia, Baker, i
Pyrus Malus, L. i, 2
— Aria, Sm. i
var. rupicola, Syme
— Aucuparia, Ga:rtn. i, 2
Cratzgus oxyacantha, L. i, 2
sub-sp. monogyna, Jacq.
SAXIFRAGE*
Saxifraga stellaris, L. I, 2, 3
- Hirculus, L. 2
— aizoides, L. i, 2
— tridactylites, L. i
— granulata, L. i, 2
- hypnoides, L. 2, 3
Chrysosplenium alternifolium, L. i 2
— oppositifolium, L. i, 2, 3
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
SAXIFRAGES (continued)
Parnassia palustris, L. I, 2
Ribes grossularia, L. I
— alpinum, L. I
— rubrum, L. i, 2
var. petraeum, Sra.
— nigrum, L. I
CRASSULACEJE
Sedum telephium, L. I, 2
var. purpureum, Tausch. 2
— villosum, L. 1,2
— album, L. I, Alien
— acre, L. i, 2
— rupestre, Huds. Alien
— reflexum, L. Alien
Sempervivum tectorum. Alien
DROSERACES
Drosera rotundifolia, L. I, 2
HALORAGEJE
Hippuris vulgaris, L. I
Myriophyllum verticillatum, L. I
— spicatum, L. I
Callitriche, verna, L. I, 2
sub-sp. platycarpa Kutz. i, 2
„ pedunculata, DC. I, 2
LYTHRARIE/E
Lythrum salicaria, L. I
Peplis portula, L. I
ONAGRARIE.S:
Epilobium angustifolium, L. i, 2
— hirsutum, L. I
— parviflorum, Schreb. i, 2
— montanum, L. i, 2
— roseum, Schreb. Alien. I
— palustre, L. I, 2
— obscurum, Schreb. i, 2
— alsinefolium, Vill. i, 2, 3
— anagallidifolium, Lam. 2, 3
Circaea lutetiana, L. I
CUCURBITACES
Bryonia dioica, L. I
UMBELLIFERJE
Hydrocotyle vulgaris, L. i
Eryngium maritimum, L. i
Sanicula europaea, L. I
Conium maculatum, L. I
Smyrnium olusatrum, L. I
Bupleurum rotundifolium, L. i
— tenuissimum, L. I
Apium graveolens, L. i
— nodiflorum, Reich, i
— inundatum, Reich, i
Carum Carui, L. Alien, i
— petroselinum, Benth. Alien
Sium angustifolium, L. I
./Egopodium podagraria, L. 1,2
Pimpinella saxifraga, L. 1,2
— major, Huds. I
UMBELLIFER^E (continued)
Conopodium denudatum, Koch, i, 2, 3
Myrrhis odorata, Scop. I, 2
Scandix pecten-Veneris, L. Colonist. 1,2
Chaerophyllum temulum, L. i
Anthriscus vulgaris, Pers. i
— sylvestris, Hoffm. i, 2, 3
sub-sp. cerefolium, Hoffm.
— *Fceniculum officinale, All.
CEnanthe fistulosa, L. I
— Lachenalii, Gmel. I
— crocata, L. I
— phellandrium, Lam. I
./Ethusa Cynapium, L. I
Silaus pratensis, Bess, i
Angelica sylvestris, L. 1,2
Peucedanium ostruthium, Koch. Alien
— sativum, Benth. i
Heracleum Sphondylium, L. i, 2
Daucus carota, L. I
Caucalis daucoides, L. Colonist.
— anthriscus, Huds. I, 2
— nodosa, Scop. I
ARALIACES
Hedera Helix, L. I, 2
CORNACES
Cornus sanguinea, L. i
CAPRIFOLIACES
Viburnum Lantana, L. Alien
— Opulus, L. i, 2
Sambucus Ebulus, L. i
— nigra, L. I
Adoxa Moschatellina, L.
Lonicera Periclymenum, L. I, 2
— Xylosteum, L. Alien
RUBIACEJE
Galium verum, L. i, 2
— Cruciata, Scop, i, 2
— palustre, L. i, 2, 3
— uliginosum, L. 1,2
— saxatile, L. i, 2, 3
— sylvestre, Poll. I, 2
— Mollugo, L. I
sub-sp. *erectum, Huds.
— boreale, L. I, 2
— Aparine, L. I, 2
— tricorne, With, i
Asperula odorata, L. I, 2
Sherardia arvensis, L, I
VALERIANE-ffi:
Valeriana dioica, L. i, 2, 3
— officinalis, L. I, 2
Valerianella olitoria, Mcench. I
— dentata, Poll, i
DIPSACES
Dipsacus sylvestris, L. I
Scabiosa succisa, L. I, 2
— Columbaria, L. I, 2
— arvensis, L. i
54
BOTANY
COMPOSITE
Eupatorium cannnbinum, L.
Aster tripolium, L. I
Erigeron acre, L. I
Bellis perennis, L. I, 2, 3
Solidago Virgaurea, L. I, 2
Inula Helenium, L. I
Pulicaria dysenterica, Gaert. I
Gnaphalium sylvaticum, L. i
— uliginosum, L. I
Antennaria dioica, Br. I, 2
Filagogermanica, L. Colonist. I
— minima, Fries. I
Bidens cernua, L. I
— tripartita, L. I
Anthemis arvensis, L. Colonist. I
— Cotula, L. Colonist, i
— nobilis, L. I
Achillea Ptarmica, L. I, 2, 3
— Millefolium, L. I, 2, 3
Matricaria Chamomilla, L. I
— inodora, L. I
var. maritima, L. I
Chrysanthemum segetum, L. Colonist
— Leucanthemum, L. I, 2
— Parthenium, Pers. I
Tanacetum vulgare, L. I
Artemisia vulgaris, L. I, 2
— Absinthium, L. I, 2
— maritima, L. I
Petasites vulgaris, Desf. I
Tussilago Farfara, L. I, 2, 3
Doronicum Pardalianches, L. Alien
Senecio vulgaris, L. I, 2
— sylvaticus, L. I
— viscosus, L. I
— Jacobsea, L. i, 2
— eruczfolius, L. I
— aquaticus, Huds. I, 2
Arctium Lappa, L. I
sub-sp. minus, Schk. I, 2
Carlina vulgaris, L. I, 2
Centaurea nigra, L. I, 2
— Scabiosa, L. i
— Cyanus, L. Colonist. I
— solstitialis, L. Alien
Serratula tinctoria, L. I
Carduus nutans, L. i
— crispus, L. I, 2
— pycnocephalus, Jacq. I
Cnicus lanceolatus, Hoffrn. i, 2
— eriophorus, Hoffm. i, 2
— arvensis, HofFm. i, 2, 3
sub-sp. *setosus, Bess.
— palustris, Hoffrn. I, 2
— heterophyllus, Willd. i, 2
Onopordium Acanthium, L. Alien
Cichorium Intybus, L. I
Lapsana communis, L. I, 2
Picris hieracioides, L. I
COMPOSITE (continued)
Picris echioides, L. I
Crepis virens, L. I
— taraxaci folia, Thuill. I
— hieracioides, Waldst. & Kit. I, 2
— paludosa, Mcench. i, 2, 3
Hieracium Pilosella, L. I, 2, 3
— Anglicum, Fries. I, 2
sub-sp. Iricum, Fries. I, 2
— murorum, L. I, 2
sub-sp. cxsium, Fries. I, 2
sub-sp. pallidum, Fries, i, 2
— sylvaticum, Sm. I, 2, 3
sub-sp. gothicum, Fries. I, 2
sub-sp. tridentatum, Fries. I, 2
— prenanthoides, Vill. I
— umbellatum, L. I
— crocatum, Fries. I, 2
sub-sp. corymbosum, Fries. I, 2
— boreale, Fries. I, 2
Hypochceris radicata, L. I, 2
Leontodon hirtus, L. I
— hispidus, L. I, 2, 3
— autumnal is, L. I, 2, 3
Taraxacum officinale, Web. I, 2, 3
var. palustre, DC.
var. laevigatum, DC.
Lactuca virosa, L. i
— muralis, Fresen. I
Sonchus arvensis, L. I
— oleraceus, L. I
sub-sp. asper, HofFm.
Tragopogon pratensis, L. I, 2
CAMPANULACE.S
Jasione montana, L. I, 2
Campanula rotund i folia, L. I, 2, 3
— Rapunculus, L. Alien, i
— latifolia, L. i, 2
— rapunculoides, L. Alien
— glomerata, L. I
Specularia hybrida, DC. Colonist
Vaccinium Myrtillus, L. i, 2, 3
— uliginosum, L. I, 2, 3
— Vitis-idsea, L. I, 2, 3
— Oxycoccus, L. I, 2, 3
Arctostaphylos Uva-ursi, Spreng. i, 2
Erica Tetralix, L. I, 2, 3
— cinerea, L. I, 2
Calluna vulgaris, Salis. I, 2, 3
Pyrola minor, L. I, 2
— media, Suz. I
— rotundifolia, L. I
PLUMBAGINEJE
Armeria vulgaris, Willd. i, 2
Statice limonium, L. I
PRIMULACE.*
Primula vulgaris, Huds. I, 2
var. "caulescens.
55
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
PRIMULACEJE (continued)
Primula veris, L. i, 2
— farinosa, L. I, 2
Lysimachia vulgaris, L. I
— nemorum, L. I, 2, 3
— Nummularia, L. i
Trientalis europsea, L. I, 2
Glaux maritima, L. I
Anagallis arvensis, L. Colonist. I
var. caerulea, Sm. Colonist. I
— tenella, L. I
Hottonia palustris, L. I
Samolus valerandi, L. I
OLEACE.S:
Ligustrum vulgare, L. I
Fraxinus excelsior, L. I, 2
APOCYNACE^E
Vinca minor, L. Alien
— major, L. Alien
GENTIANE.S
Erythraea Centaurium, Pers. I
Gentiana campestris, L. i, 2
— Amarella, L. i, 2
— verna, L. 2
Menyanthes trifoliata, L. I
BORAGINE.S:
Echium vulgare, L. I
Symphytum officinale, L. I
Lithospermum officinale, L. I
— arvense, L. I
Myosotis palustris, With. I
sub-sp. repens, Don. i, 2, 3
— csespitosa, Schultz. i
— sylvatica, Ehrh. I, 2
— arvensis, Hoffm. I, 2
— collina, Hoffm. i
— versicolor, Reichb. I, 2
Cynoglossum officinale, L. I
CONVOLVULACEJE
Convolvulus arvensis, L. I
— sepium, L. I
— Soldanella, L. i
Cuscuta Epithymum, Murr., var. trifiolii,
Bab. Colonist
SoLANACE.ffi
Hyoscyamus niger, L, I
Solanum Dulcamara, L. I
— nigrum, L. Colonist. I
Atropa Belladonna, L. I
Lycium barbarum, L. Colonist. I, 2
Pl.ANTAGINE.ffi
Plantago major, L. I, 2, 3
— media, L. I, 2
— lanceolata, L. i, 2, 3
— maritima, L. I, 2
— Coronopus, L. I
SCROPHULARINE^
Verbascum Thapsus, L. I
I,
2
ti
1,2,
3
i
,2
L
1,2,
3
i
i
> 2
L. i, 2, 3
i
I. 2.
I, 2
SCROPHULARINE.S: (continued)
Linaria cymbalaria, Mill. Alien
— vulgaris, Mill. I
— minor, Desf. i
Antirrhinum majus, L. Alien
Scrophularia nodosa, L. I, 2
— aquatica, L. I
Mimulus luteus, L. Alien
Limosella aquatica, L. I
Digitalis purpurea, L. I, 2
Veronica agrestis, L. Colonist, i, 2
sub-sp. polita, Fries. Colonist. I
— Buxbaumii, Ten. Colonist, i
— hederifolia, L. I
— arvensis, L,
— serpyllifolia, L.
— officinalis, L.
— Chamaedrys, L.
— Montana, L.
— scutellata, L.
— Beccabunga, L.
— Anagallis, L.
Bartsia alpina, L. 2
— odontites, Huds. I, 2
Euphrasia officinalis, L. i, 2, 3
Rhinanthus Crista-galli, L.
sub-sp. major, Ehrh. i
Pedicularis palustris, L. I, 2
— sylvatica, L. 1,2
Melampyrum pratense, L.
— sylvaticum, L. i
Lathrasa squamaria, L. I
OROBANCHEJE
Orobanche major, L. I
— elatior, Sutt. I
LENTIBULARINE./E
Pinguicula vulgaris, L. i, 2, 3
Utricularia vulgaris, L. i
VERBENACE./E
Verbena officinalis, L. i
LABIATE
Mentha rotundifolia, L. i
— viridis, L. i
— piperita, L. I
— sativa, L.
sub-sp. gentilis, L.
„ rubra, Sm.
„ gracilis, Sm., var. cardiaca,
Baker
— aquatica, L. i
— arvensis, L. i
— pulegium, L. I
Origanum vulgare, L. I, 2
Thymus Serpyllum, L. 1,2,3
Calamintha nepeta, Clairv. i
— clinopodium, Benth. i, 2
— Acinos, Clairv. I
Nepeta Cataria, L. I
Brunella vulgaris, L. I, 2, 3
BOTANY
LABIATE (continued)
Scutellaria galericulata, L. I
— minor, L. I
Marrubium vulgare, L. I
Stachys sylvatica, L. 1,2
— ambigua, Sm. i, 2
— palustris, L. I, 2
— arvensis, L. Colonist. I
— Betonica, Benth. I, 2
Galeopsis, Ladanum, L. I
— dubia, Leers. I
— Tetrahit, L. Colonist
sub-sp. speciosa, Miller. I
Lamium purpureum, L. i, 2, 3
sub-sp. hybridum, Vill.
— amplexicaule, L. I
— album, L. I
Ballota nigra, L. I
var. ruderalis, Fries.
Teucrium Scorodonia, L. 1,2
Ajuga reptans, L. I, 2
ILLECEBRACE^
Scleranthus annuus, L. I
CHENOPODIACEJE
Chenopodium Vulvaria, L. I
— album, L. i
— urbicum, L. Colonist
— murale, L. Colonist
— rubrum, L. I
— glaucum, L. I
— Bonus-Henricus, L. I, 2
Beta maritima, L. i
Atriplex patula, L. I
var. angusti folia, Sm.
sub-sp. Hastata, L. I
„ Babingtonii, Woods. I
— littoralis, L. i
— laciniata, Woods. I
— portulacoides, L. I
Salicornia hcrbacea, L. I
Salsola Kali, L. I
Sueda maritima, Dumort. I
POLYGONACE.*
Polygonum Bistorta, L. 1,2
— viviparum, L. I, 2
— amphibium, L. I
— lapathifolium, L. I
— Persicaria, L. I, 2
— Hydropiper, L. I
— minus, Huds. I
— aviculare, L. i, 2
— Raii, Bab. i
— Convolvulus, L. Colonist. I
Rumex obtusifolius, L. I, 2
— acutus, L. 1,2
— maritimus, L. I
— crispus, L. i, 2, 3
— sanguincus, L. I
— conglomerate, Murr. I
POLYGONACE^ (continued)
Rumex Hydrolapathum, Huds. I
— aquatic us, L. I, 2
— Acetosa, L. i, 2, 3
— Acetosella, L. i, 2
THYMEL.JEACE.*
Daphne Laureola, L. I
— Mezereum, L.
EUPHORBIACEJE
Euphorbia Helioscopia, L. I
— Peplus, L. Colonist. I
— exigua, L. Colonist, i
— Lathyris, L. i
Mercurialis perennis, L. 1 , 2
— annua, L. I
URTICACE^
Ulmus montana, Sm. I, 2
— suberosa, Ehrh. i
Urtica urens, L. I, 2
— dioica, L. i, 2, 3
Parietaria officinalis, L. I
Humulus Lupulus, L. i
CUPULIFEILK
Betuk alba, L. I, 2
sub-sp. glutinosa, Fries.
Alnus glutinosa, Gaertn. i, 2
Quercus Robur, L. 1,2
var. sessiliflora, Salisb.
„ intermedia, D. Don.
Fagus sylvatica, L. I, 2
Corylus Avellana, L. 1,2
Carpinus Betulus, L. Colonist
SAUOMUI
Populus alba, L. i
sub-sp. canescens, Sm. I
— tremula, L. I, 2
Salix triandra, L. I
— pentandra, L. I, 2
— fragilis, L. i, 2
— alba, L. i
var. cxrulea, Sm.
„ vitellina, L.
— Caprea, L. i, 2
— aurita, L. i, 2
sub-sp. cinerea, L. I, 2
— repens, L. i, 2
— nigricans, Fries. I, 2
var. rupestris, Sm.
„ Andersoniana, Sm.
„ hirta, Sm.
— phylicifolia, L. 1,2
— laurina, Sm. I, 2
— viminalis, L. 1,2
— Smithiana, Willd. I, 2
— purpurea, L. i, 2
var. Helix, L.
— rubra, Huds. I
57 8
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
CERATOPHYLLE-ffi
Ceratophyllum demersum, L. I
GYMNOSPERMjE
CONIFERS
Pinus sylvestris, L. I, 2
Juniperus communis, L. I, 2
Taxus baccata, L. I
MONOCOTYLEDONES
HYDROCHARIDEJE
Hydrocharis Morsus-Ranae, L. I
Elodea canadensis, Michx. I
ORCHIDE.S:
Malaxis paludosa, Sw. i, 2
Neottia Nidus-avis, L. I
Listera ovata, Br. i, 2, 3
— cordata, Br. I, 2, 3
Epipactis latifolia, Sw. I
— palustris, Sw. I
Cephalanthera ensifolia, Rich. I
Orchis mascula, L. I
— latifolia, L. I, 2
— maculata, L. i, 2
— Morio, L. i
— ustulata, L. I
— pyramidalis, L. I
Ophrys apifera, Huds. I
-•— muscifera, Huds. I
Habenaria conopsea, Benth. I, 2
— albida, Br. I, 2
— viridis, Br. i, 2
— bifolia, Br. i
sub-sp. Chlorantha, Bab. I, 2
Cypripedium Calceolus, L. I
IRIDE.S:
Iris Pseudacorus, L. I
— fcetidissima, L. I
AMARYLLIDE/E
Narcissus Pseudo-narcissus, L. I
— biflorus, Curt. Alien. I
DlOSCORE-ffi
Tamus communis, L. I
LILIACEVE
Ruscus aculeatus, L. Alien. I
Convallaria majalis, L. I, 2
Allium vineale, L. I
— Scorodoprasum, L. I
— Schoenoprasum, L. I
— oleraceum, L. i
— ursinum, L. i, 2
Scilla nutans, L. I, 2
Ornithogallum nutans, L. Alien. I
Tulipa sylvestris, L. Alien. I
Gagea lutea, Ker. I
Colchicum autumnale, L. I
Narthecium ossifragum, L. i, 2
LILIACEJE (continued)
Tofieldia palustris, Huds. I
Paris quadrifolia, L. I, 2
JUNCE.S:
Juncus effusus, L. I, 2, 3
var. conglomeratus, L. I, 2
— glaucus, Ehrh. I, 2
— maritimus, Sm. i
— triglumis, L. 2
— castaneus, Sm. Alien
— squarrosus, L. I, 2, 3
— compressus, Jacq. I
— obtusiflorus, Ehrh. i
— articulatis, L. I, 2
sub-sp. supinus, Moench. I, 2, 3
lamprocarpus Ehrh.
— bufonius, L. i, 2
LUZULA
maxima, DC. i, 2, 3
vernalis, DC. I, 2
— campestris, Willd. I, 2, 3
var. erecta, Desv. 2, 3
TYPHACE/E
Sparganium ramosum, Huds. i
— simplex, Huds. I
— natans, L. I
Typha latifolia, L. I
— angustifolia, L. I
AROIDEJE
Arum maculatum, L. I
LEMNACE^
Lemna minor, L. i
— trisulca, L. I
AUSMACEJE
Alisma Plantago, L. i
— ranunculoides, L. I
Sagittaria sagittifolia, L. I
Butomus umbellatus, L. I
NAIADACEJE
Triglochin palustre, L. i, 2, 3
— maritimum, L. I
Potamogeton natans, L. i
— polygonifolius, Pourr. i, 2
— plantagineus, Du Croz. i
— rufescens, Schrad. i, 2
— heterophyllus, Schreb. I
— lucens, L. I
— perfoliatus, L. I
— crispus, L. i
— densus, L. i
— zosterifolius, Schum. I
— pusillus, L. I
— pectinatus, L. i
Ruppia maritima, L. I
Zannichellia palustris, L. I
Zostera marina, L. I
— nana, Roth, i
I. 2.
BOTANY
I, 2
CYPERACEJE
Eleocharis palustris, Br. I
sub. sp. uniglumis, Link. I
— multicaulis, Sm. I
— acicularis, Sm. I
Scirpus lacustris, L. I
sub-sp. tabernaemontani, Gincl.
— maritimus, L. i
— sylvaticus, L. i
— setaceus, L. I
- fluitans, L. I
— caespitosus, L. I
— pauciflorus, Lightf. I
— Caricis, Retz. I, 2
— rufus, Wahlb. I
Eriophorum vaginatum, L. I, 2, 3
— polystachion, L. I, 2, 3
sub-sp. latifolium, Hoppe.
Rhynchospora alba, Vahl. I
Schcenus nigricans, L. I
Cladium Mariscus, L. i
Kobresia caricina, Willd. 2
Carex pulicaris, L. I, 2
— dioica, L. I, 2
— disticha, Huds. I
— arcnaria, L. I
— paniculate, L. I
— muricata, L. I
— vulpina, L. I
— cchinata, Murr. I, 2, 3
— remota, L. i
— leporina, L. I, 2
— canescens, L. i, 2
— rigida, Good. 2, 3
— acuta, L. I
— stricta, Good. I
— Goodenovii, J. Gay.
— glauca, Murr. I, 2, 3
— pallescens, L. I, 2
— panicea, L. I, 2, 3
— capillaris, L. 2
— pendula, Huds. I
— praecox, Jacq. 2
— pilulifera, L. I, 2
— hirta, L. I, 2
— cxtensa, Good. I
- flava, L. i, 2
— distans, L. I
sub-sp. fulva, Good.
— binervis, Sm. i, 2
— sylvatica, Huds. I
— vesicaria, L. I
— ampullacea, Good.
— riparia, Curt. I
— paludosa, Good. I
1,2, 3
I, 2
I, 2
GRAMINEJE
Phalaris canaricnsis, L. Alien.
— arundinacea, L. I 2
GRAMINEJE (continuetf)
Anthoxanthum odoratum, L.
1,2,3
Alopecurus agrestis, L. Colonist
— pratensis, L. i, 2, 3
— geniculatus, L. I, 2, 3
Millium efiusum, L. I
Phleum pratense, L. I, 2
— arenarium, L. I
Agrostis canina, L. I, 2
— vulgaris, With. I, 2, 3
— alba, L. I
Calamagrostis epigeios, Roth. I
Apera Spica-venti, Beauv. Colonist
Ammophila arundinacea, Host, i
Aira caryophyllea, L. I
— praecox, L. I, 2
Deschampsia flexuosa, Trin. I, 2, 3
— caespitosa, Beauv. i, 2, 3
Holcus lanatus, L. I, 2
T- mollis, L. I, 2
Trisetum flavescens, Beauv. i, 2
Avena fatua, L. Colonist. I
— strigosa, Schreb. Colonist. I, 2
— pratensis, L. i, 2
— pubescens, Huds. I, 2, 3
Arrhenatherum avenaceum, Beauv.
var. bulbosum, Lindl.
Triodia decumbens, Beauv. i, 2.
Phragmites communis, Trin. I
Sesleria caerulea, Scop. I, 2
Cynosurus cristatus, L. i, 2, 3
Koeleria cristata, Pers. I, 2
Molinia caerulea, Mcench. i, 2
Catabrosa aquatica, Beauv. I
Melica nutans, L. 1,2
— uniflora, Retz. i, 2
Dactylis glomerata, L. I, 2
Briza media, L. 1,2
Poa annua, L. i, 2, 3
— pratensis, L. I, 2, 3
— compressa, L. I
— trivialis, L. I, 2, 3
— nemoralis, L. I, 2
var. Parnellii, Bab.
Glyceria aquatica, Sm. I
— fluitans, Br. I, 2
var. plicata, Fr. I
— maritima, Wahlb. I
— distans, Wahlb. I
— procumbens, Dumort. I
Festuca elatior, L. 1,2
— pratensis, Huds. I, 2
— gigantea, Vill. I
— sylvatica, Vill. I
— ovina, L. I, 2, 3
sub-sp. duriuscula, L. I, 2, 3
sub. sp. rubra, L. I
var. *arenaria, Osb.
— uniglumis, Sol. I
— rigida, Kth. I
59
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
GRAMINEJE (continued) GRAMINE.S: (continued)
Festuca loliacea, Huds. i Agropyrum repens, Beauv. i, 2
Bromus asper, Murr. i, 2 var. littorale, Reichb.
— erectus, Huds. I sub-sp. acutum, R. & S. I
— sterilis, L. i — junceum, Beauv. I
— mollis, L. I, 2 Lepturus filiformis, Trin. i
— secalinus, L. Colonist Nardus stricta, L. I, 2, 3
— commutatus, Schrab. I Hordeum sylvaticum, Huds. i
Brachypodium sylvaticum, R. & S. I, 2 — pratense, Huds. i
Lolium perenne, L. i, 2 — murinum, L. I
— temulentum, L. Colonist — maritimum, With. I
Agropyrum caninum, Beauv. i, 2 Elymus arenarius, L. I
CRYPTOGAMS
FERNS AND FERN ALLIES
The family of the Vascular Cryptogams is well represented in
this county ; eighteen out of the twenty-five genera are known, and these
comprise rather more than half the British species. The shady denes,
together with the great extent of limestone scars and grits, furnish
suitable conditions under which flourish many species of ferns. Of the
ferns proper several are worthy of special notice. The royal fern
(Osmunda regalis) at one time grew luxuriantly on the banks of the
Derwent and in other parts of the county, but it has been sadly uprooted
by enterprising gardeners and tourists, and has now nearly disappeared.
Woodsia ihensis, a peculiarly rare plant recorded from Falcon Glints,
it is feared is now almost extinct. Except in Westmorland it has no
other locality in England. The rare parsley fern (Cryptogramme crispd] has
a wide range, growing in profusion on the basaltic crags near Holwick
below High Force, and very generally on rocks of the millstone grit,
ascending to 2,000 feet on Stangend Rig. Near Stanhope and also
in the Derwent valley it may still be found. The oak fern (Polypodium
Dryopteris) and the beech fern (P. Pbegopteris) grow sparingly in Castle
Eden Dene, and ascend to 1,500 feet in the Vale of Derwent. Here these
delicately beautiful forms flourish most luxuriantly, and in favourite haunts
clothe the damp banks with a dense dwarf forest of tender green. Three
species of the buckler fern (Nephrodium) — N. Oreopferis, the male fern (N.
Fi/ix-mas), and N. dilatatum — are commonly met with ; while the fourth,
N. spinulosum, is only recorded from Walridge Fell. The mountain buckler-
fern (N. Oreopteris) is very plentiful in all the hilly districts, growing most
luxuriantly in the higher ranges of the Derwent valley, where N. dilatatum
is also found in beautiful profusion in the Muggleswick Woods. The
rare hay-scented buckler-fern (N. amulum) is found sparingly in the upper
part of the Derwent district (Featherstonhaugh). The rare crested
buckler-fern (N. cristatum) occurs very locally at Edmondbyers (Feather-
stonhaugh). The lady fern (Athyrium Filix-fcemina) , with its two
varieties rhcetlcum and mo//e, is common among the woods and rocks.
The limestone species of Asplenium, the wall rue (A. Ruta-muraria), the
black spleenwort (A. A diantum-nigrum) , and the maidenhair spleenwort
(A. Trichomanes) are frequent on the scars. The green spleenwort
60
BOTANY
(A. i)iride) is found on Falcon Glints and abundantly in Harthope and
Ireshope in Weardale. The sea spleenwort (A. marinum), once plentiful
on the magnesian limestone cliffs, is now only to be found in the most
inaccessible places. The brittle-bladder fern (Cystopterisfragilis) grows at
Castle Eden Dene, and flourishes wherever sufficient moisture can be
obtained on the limestone rocks in the upper valleys of the county.
The hard fern (Lomaria Spicant) is very widely distributed, and especially
abundant on the hills and edges of the moors, ascending to the highest
points. The moonwort (Botrychium Lunaria) cannot be said to be rare in
Durham. The writer has found it at an altitude of 1,700 feet on the
flanks of Kilhope Law, and it may frequently be noted in Burnhope,
Rookhope, and Langdon Dale. The adder's-tongue (Ophioglossum
vulgdtum) is also widely distributed, ascending to 1,300 feet, where the
writer found well-grown specimens near the black shales in Burnhope.
Among the Equisetacea (horse-tails) eight species are recorded.
The beautiful Equisetum maximum is not uncommon in the woods on the
river banks, descending to the cliffs of magnesian limestone near Black-
hall Rocks, and in Castle Eden Dene it forms a veritable forest of green
umbrageous growth. E. arvense, commonly known as the 'paddock pipe/
is freely dispersed, and gives rise to considerable trouble by reason of its
long, creeping rhizomes entering and blocking up the deep field drains.
The graceful E. sylvaticum ascends to 1,600 feet in Harwood, and is met
with in all the damp woods. E. variegatum, E. Jimosum, and E. palustre,
are also widespread, the latter reaching 2,100 feet on Highfield ; E.
byemale occurs more generally on the lower ground in boggy woods.
Of the Lycopodiacea (club-mosses) the three species of Lycopodium —
the stag's-horn moss (L. c/avatum), L. alpinum, and L. Selago — are found on
the highest fells, while the tiny Selaginilla Selaginoides grows commonly in
the upper parts of Weardale and Teesdale, and at one time found a home
on Gateshead Fell.
LIST OF FERNS AND FERN ALLIES
ORDER FILICES
Tribe II. Polypodieai.
Pteris aquilina, L.
Cryptogramme crispa, Br.
Lomaria Spicant, Desv.
Asplenium Ruta-muraria, L.
— Trichomanes, L.
— viride, Huds.
— marinum, L.
— Adiantum-nigrum, L.
Athyrium Filix-fcemina, Bernh.
var. molle, Roth.
„ rhzticum, Roth.
Scolopendrium vulgarc, Sm.
Woodsia ilvensis, Br.
Cystopteris fragilis, Bernh.
Aspidium Lonchitis, Sw.
— aculeatum, Sw.
— angulare, Willd.
Nephrodium Filix-mas, Rich.
ORDER FILICES (continued)
Nephrodium cristatum.
— spinulosum, Desv.
— dilatatum, Desv.
— a-mulum, Baker.
— Oreopteris, Desv.
Polypodium vulgare, L.
— Phegopteris, L.
— Dryopteris, L.
— calcareum, Sm.
Tribe III. Osmundae.
Osmunda regalis, L.
Tribe IV. Ophioglone<e.
Ophioglossum vulgatum, L.
Botrychium Lunaria, Sw.
ORDER EQUISETACE.*
Equisetum arvense, L.
— maximum, Lamk.
— pratensc, Elirh.
61
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
ORDER EQUISETACEJE (continued)
Equisetum sylvaticum, L.
— palustre, L.
— limosum, L.
— hyemale, L.
— variegatum, Schleich.
ORDER LYCOPODIACEJE
Lycopodium clavatum, L.
— alpinum, L.
— Selago, L.
ORDER SELAGINELLACE^E.
Selaginella Selaginoides, Gray.
MOSSES (Musct)
The county is peculiarly rich in these plants, owing to its abundant
moisture and shade, and to its wonderfully varied surface.
Two parts of the county have been particularly well worked for
mosses. These are Teesdale and Weardale. There is a good list of
workers in the former interesting dale, and some very rare plants have
been found.
Other parts of the county have been dealt with only casually, and the
mosses found appear in the appended list.
The rarer and more interesting are located as follows : —
Pylaisia polyantha^ discovered about Darlington as a British plant in
1833 (Backhouse), is not so rare in Durham as elsewhere. It has been
found chiefly on old hawthorn at Gainford, Coniscliffe, Mowden Lane,
Walworth, and also on stones at Walworth (Barnes).
At Winston Bridge on the Durham side grows the very rare moss
Anomodon longifolius. Here also are Earbula sinuosa, Pottia Heimit, Tor tula
papillosa, Mnium stellare, Fissidens crasstpes, TLurbynchium crassineruium
in fruit, Eurhynchium tenellum, and Plagiothecium depression.
At Piercebridge are found Pottia intermedia and Tortula angustata.
The interesting Orthotrichum pollens grows near Darlington, and the
pretty little Orthotrichum stramineum at Gainford and Winch Bridge.
If we now proceed to the Tees mouth we find the flat golden tufts
of Tortula ruraliformis all along the sand hills among the stunted grass,
but in the flat sandy tracts at Snook Point we have a series of maritime
mosses of particular interest. They are Eryum calophyllum, Bryum
Warneum, Eryum /acustre, and Sivartzia inclinata, all of which also grow
on Coatham Marshes across the river mouth. One plant of this associa-
tion growing at Coatham, viz., Bryum Marratii, has not yet been found in
Durham, but is likely to occur. On the banks of the Tees we find
an abundance of mosses from Barnard Castle to the High Force, both on
the walls and rocks and on the trees by the roadside, the chief ones on the
trees being Orthotrichum Lyellii and Orthotrichum affine. Eryum uliginosum
grows by the roadside all the way from Barnard Castle to the High Force
Inn (Spruce). At Winch Bridge occur Mnium stellare and Orthotrichum
stramineum, and below the bridge Hypnum Sommerfeltii. At the High
Force among the basaltic rocks are Orthotrichum rupestre, Eartramia
Ha/leriana, Ceratodon conicus, Hypnum incurvatum, Trichostomum tenuirosfre,
and Cynodontium Eruntoni; and on the river bank close by the two varieties
plumulosum and plumosum of Hypnum unct'nafum, both in fruit. In the
small plantation close by the High Force are Ulota crispu/a, Antitrichia
curtipendula, Orthotrichum pulchellum, and Ulota Bruchii, the last being the
62
BOTANY
plant recorded (Spruce) as abundant in Upper Teesdale under the name
of Ulota Drummondii. There is considerable evidence now that U/ofa
Bruchii-wzs mistaken for Ulota Drummondii^ which was not well understood
in former times (Dixon). On a small patch of boggy ground close by
this plantation and growing amongst tall grasses and shrubs are some
interesting bog mosses (Sphagna), the rarest being Sphagnum Girgensobnii,
vars. commune and hygropbilum (Horrell).
Proceeding along the road up the river we soon reach the large
mountain Widdy Bank Fell, which supports a wealth of rare mosses
probably unsurpassed anywhere else in England. By a stone on the fell
the pretty Dicranella beteromalla var. sericea fruits freely, although
invariably barren elsewhere. On the boggy slope of the fell is an
abundance of Catoscopium nigritum, associated with what is usually a
high alpine moss, var. compactum of Bryum pendulum. Close by grows the
rare and golden-coloured moss Hypnum lycopodioides, and the interesting
Cinclidium stygium. On the top of the fell, growing among bog mosses
(Sphagna) , is the very rare Campy lopus setiformis ; but the rarest moss in
the British Isles is found here, the only habitat. This is Tetraplodon
Wormskioldii, first found in 1870 (Slater), but undetermined until refound
in 1901 (Horrell and Jones). This is a moss of the arctic regions, but
the Teesdale plant is conspicuous for the large size of its leaves, these
being considerably longer and wider than in a specimen collected in
Lapland (Schimper). Widdy Bank Fell is exceedingly rich in forms of
bog moss (Sphagna), there being nearly twenty-eight species and eighty-
one varieties on this fell alone (Horrell). The rarest of these are
Sphagnum Girgensohnii, S. Russowit, S. Warnstorjii, S. quinquefarium, S. molle,
S. teres, S. parvifolium, S. imbricatum, and S. medium. Of these the usually
rare S. imbricatum, S. Russoivii and S. medium occur in great abundance
and luxuriance (Horrell). In boggy land near the Cauldron Snout are
great mounds of S. imbricatum, and S. fuscum, which have been noticed
there for twenty or more years (Horrell).
At the foot of Widdy Bank and on the banks of the Tees are
Hypnum Patientia, and Cynodontium polycarpum var. laxirete, the latter
known only elsewhere from Glenlyon, Perthshire.
Proceeding now to the fine vertical cliffs of basalt called Falcon
Clints, which form the edge of the Widdy Bank on the left bank of the
Tees, we find in the chinks and on the ledges of rock a wonderful
association of rare mosses. The genus Rhabdoweisia has here all its three
species represented,yirgV7#, denticulata, and crenulata. The genus fPeist'ais
represented by torti/is, crispata, and several varieties of rupestris, including
the new variety affinis. The beautiful vivid green Bryum Mildeanum is
here, as also Dicranum falcatum, Pterogonium gracile, Cylindrothecium con-
cinnum, Tricbostomum nitidum, Diphyscium foliosum var. acutifolium, Hedivigia
ciliata, Andreaea petropbila var. acuminata, and Funaria Templetoni. On
limestone rocks above the clints is Hylocomium rugosum, and at the foot
of the clints Arcbidium alter nifolium. Curving round these clints up the
river we reach the Cauldron Snout, where the hitherto still, deep waters
63
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
of the Tees plunge over an immense cliff of basalt. This is the home
of Zygodon lapponicus in the fissures of the rocks, of the very rare and
delicate Bryum concinnatum, of Tetrapbis Broivniana on the underside of
stones, and again of Catoscopium nigritum.
Returning from Cauldron Snout over the flat top of Widdy Bank
we reach a small pool supporting an exceedingly large form of Hypnum
giganteum associated with the equally fine Hypnum revohens var. Cossoni
forma falcata.
We now reach Langdon Beck, and among the calcareous drift of
this river valley is the very rare and minute moss Amblystegium Sprucei.
Other rare mosses occur in this valley. On the top of the road into
Weardale is a small bog supporting two rare plants, the bog moss Sphag-
num Gravetii, and the Harpidium, Hypnum exannulatum var. purpurascens.
Descending the Weardale road we reach Ireshope Burn, containing
many mosses, the chief being the minute Seligeria Doniana, and Seligeria
pusilla growing on its limestone clints, and Hypnum flliclnum var. gracilescens,
Weisla rupestris var. intermedia, and Eurhynchium pumilum close by. In a
pool near this burn float large masses of Hypnum exannulatum var. steno-
pbyllum.
Our next stream, Burnhope Burn, is of particular interest to the
bryologist. At its side in a spring is Pbilonotis adpressa in fruit, the only
place in England for this. Deeply imbedded in the gravelly drift of its
bank are Dichodontium pellucidum vars. compactum and fagimontanum, and
Weisia viridula var. densifolia. On the large boulders in the upper part
of the stream are huge masses of Hypnum ochraceum, and on the walls
near it is an abundance of Barbula recurvifolia. By the side of Kilhope
Burn are the rare mosses Weisia crispata, Bryum pallescens, Amblystegium
Juratzkanum and Hypnum fluitans var. ova/e. Ascending the Kilhope
road to the top of Burnhope Seat, we again meet with Cylindrothecium
concinnum, and on the top of the Seat is a massive growth of Hypnum
fluitans v&r.falcatum fruiting by a pool.
Weardale is remarkable for the abundance of fruit on the mosses.
Bryum pallens and Pbilonotis fontana are crowded with fruit on the
gravelly drift by the burns. On the side of Sedling Burn is a huge mass
of boulder clay covered with a brown carpet of capsules of a very tall
and compact growth of Pbilonotis fontana, associated with a very tall and
compact growth of Dicranella varia.
LIST OF MOSSES
Sphagnum fimbriatum, Wils.
— Girgensohnii, Russ.
var. commune, Russ.
„ cristatum, Russ.
» hygrophilum, Russ.
„ stachyodes, Russ.
„ xerophilum, Russ.
— Russowii, Warnst.
var. flavescens, Russ.
„ poecilum, Russ.
„ rhodochroum, Russ.
Sphagnum Russowii, Warnst. (continued)
var. virescens, Russ.
— Warnstorfii, Russ.
var. purpurascens, Russ.
„ versicolor, Russ.
„ viride, Russ.
— rubellum, Wils.
var. flavum, C. Jens.
„ pallescens, Warnst.
„ purpurascens, Warnst.
„ rubrum, Grav.
64
BOTANY
Sphagnum rubellum, Wils. (continued)
var. versicolor, Russ.
„ viride, Warnst.
— fuscum, Klinggr.
var. fuscescens, Warnst.
„ pallescens, Russ.
— acutifolium, R. & W.
var. chlorinum, Warnst.
„ flavo-rubellum, Warnst.
„ fusco-virescens, Warnst.
„ griseum, Warnst.
„ obscurum, Warnst.
„ pallescens, Warnst.
„ purpurascens, Warnst.
„ roseum, Warnst.
„ rubrum, Warnst.
„ versicolor, Warnst.
„ viride, Warnst.
— quinquefarium, Warnst.
var. fusco-flavum, Warnst.
w pallescens, Warnst.
„ roseum, Warnst.
„ virescens, Warnst.
— subnitens, R. & W.
var. flavescens, Warnst.
„ flavo-rubellum, Warnst.
„ obscurum, Warnst.
„ pallescens, Warnst.
„ purpurascens, Schlicph
w versicolor, Warnst.
„ violascens, Warnst.
„ virescens, Warnst.
— molle, Sulliv.
— squarrosum, Pers.
var. spectabile, Russ.
— teres, Angstr.
var. imbricatum, Warnst.
„ squarrosulum, Warnst.
„ subsquarrosum, Warnst.
— cuspidatum, R. & W.
var. falcatum, Russ.
„ plumosum, N. & H.
„ submersum, Schimp.
— recurvum, R. & W.
var. amblyphyllum, Warnst.
„ mucronatum, Warnst.
— parvifolium, Warnst.
— molluscum, Bruch
— compactum, DC.
var. imbricatum, Warnst.
„ subsquarrosum, Warnst.
— inundatum, Warnst.
— Gravetii, Warnst.
— rufescens, Warnst.
— imbricatum, Russ.
var. cristatum, Warnst.
„ sublaeve, Warnst.
— cymbifolium, Warnst.
var. fusco-flavescens, Russ.
„ glaucescens, Warnst.
Sphagnum cymbifolium, Warnst. (font.']
var. pallescens, Warnst.
— papillosum, Lindb.
var. normale, Warnst.
„ sublaeve, Limpr.
— medium, Limpr.
var. glaucescens, Russ.
„ obscurum, Warnst.
„ purpurascens, Warnst.
„ roseo-pallescens, Warnst.
„ roseum, Warnst.
„ versicolor, Warnst.
Andreaea petrophila, Ehrh.
var. acuminata, Schimp.
— alpina, Sm.
— Rothii, W. & M.
var. falcata, Ldb.
— crassinervia, Bruch.
Tetraphis pellucida, Hedw.
— Browniana, Grev.
Catharinea undulata, W. & M.
Polytrichum urnigerum, L.
— alpinum, L.
Polytrichum piliferum, Schreb.
— form osum, Hedw.
— commune, L.
Diphyscium foliosum, Mohr.
var. acutifolium, Ldb.
Archidium alternifolium, Schimp.
Ditrichum flexicaule, Hpe.
var. densum, Braithw.
Swartzia montana, Ldb.
— inclinata, Ehrh.
Seligeria Doniana, C. M.
— pusilla, B. & S.
Ceratodon purpureus, Brid.
— conic us, Ldb.
Rhabdoweisia denticulata, B. & S.
— crenulata, Jameson.
— ftigax, B. & S.
Cynodontium Bruntoni, B. & S.
— polycarpum var. laxirete, Dixon
Dichodontium pellucidum, Schimp.
var. /3 fagimontanum, Schimp.
„ 8 compactum, Schimp.
— flavescens, Ldb.
Dicranella heteromalla, Schimp.
var. 8 sericea, Schimp.
— secunda, Ldb.
- rufescens, Schimp.
— varia, Schimp.
var. y tenella, Schimp.
— Schreberi, Schimp.
— squarrosa, Schimp.
Blindia acuta, B. & S.
Dicranoweisia cirrata, Ldb.
Campylopus flexuosus, Brid.
var. paradoxus, Husn.
— setifolius, Wils.
— atrovirens, De Not.
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
Campylopus pyriformis, Brid.
Dicranum falcatum, Hedw.
— Bonjeani, De Not.
— scoparium, Hedw.
var. 8 spadiceum, Boul.
— fuscescens, Turn.
var. 8 flexicaule, Wils.
Leucobryum glaucum, Schimp.
Fissidens viridulus, Wahl.
— bryoides, Hedw.
— crassipes, Wils.
— osmundoides, Hedw.
— adiantoides, Hedw.
— decipiens, De Not.
— taxifolius, Hedw.
Grimmia apocarpa, Hedw.
var. ft rivularis, W. & M.
„ y gracilis, W. & M.
„ 8 alpicola, H. & T.
„ e pumila, Schimp.
- funalis, Schimp.
- torquata, Hornsch.
- pulvinata, Sm.
- orbicularis, Bruch.
- trichophylla, Grev.
— Doniana, Sm.
- patens, B. & S.
Rhacomitrium aciculare, Brid.
— protensum, Braun.
— fasciculare, Brid.
— sudeticum, B. & S.
— heterostichum, Brid.
var. gracilescens, B. & S.
— lanuginosum, Brid.
— canescens, Brid.
var. B. ericoides, B. & S.
Hedwigia ciliata, Ehrh.
Pottia truncatula, Ldb.
— intermedia, Fiirnr.
— Heimii, Fiirnr.
— lanceolata, C. M.
Tortula rigida, Schrad.
— ambigua, Augstr.
— aloides, De Not.
— muralis, Hedw.
— subulata, Hedw.
— angustata, Wils.
— mutica, Ldb.
— intermedia, Berk.
— ruralis, Ehrh.
— ruraliformis, Dixon
— papillosa, Wils.
Barbula lurida, Ldb.
— rubella, Mitt.
var. ruberrima, Braithw.
„ dentata, Braithw.
— tophacea, Mitt.
— fallax, Hedw.
var. brevifolia, Schultz.
— recurvifolia, Schimp.
Barbula spadicea, Mitt.
— rigidula, Mitt.
— cylindrica, Schimp.
— sinuosa, Braithw.
— revoluta, Brid.
— convoluta, Hedw.
— unguiculata, Hedw.
Weisia tortilis, C. M.
— microstoma, C. M.
— viridula, Hedw.
var. densifolia, B. & S.
— crispata, C. M.
— tenuis, C. M.
— rupestris, C. M.
var. intermedia, Limpr.
„ stelligera, Bry. Eur.
„ compacta, Schimp.
„ rigida, Schimp.
„ affinis, Ingham
„ humilis, Ingham
— curvirostris, C. M.
var. commutata, Dixon
Weisia verticillata, Brid.
Trichostomum tenuirostre, Ldb.
var. Holtii, Dixon
— nitidum, Schimp.
— tortuosum, Dixon
var. fragili folium, Dixon
Cinclidotus fontinaloides, P.B.
Encalypta ciliata, Hoffm.
— streptocarpa, Hedw.
Ancectangium compactum, Schwg.
Zygodon lapponicus, B. & S.
— Mougeotii, B. & S.
— viridissimus, R. Br.
Ulota Bruchii, Hornsch.
— crispa, Brid.
var. crispula, Hamm.
„ intermedia, Dixon.
— phyllantha, Brid.
Orthotrichum rupestre, Schleich.
— anomalum, var. saxatile, Milde.
— cupulatum, Hoffm.
var. nudum, Braithw.
- Lyellii, H. & T.
— affine, Schrad.
var. fastigiatum, Htib.
— rivulare, Turn.
— stramineum, Hornsch.
— pallens, Bruch.
— pulchellum, Sm.
— diaphanum, Schrad.
Splachnum sphaericum, L.
Tetraplodon mnioides, B. & S.
— Wormskioldii, Lindb.
Funaria ericetorum, Dixon
— hygrometrica, Sibth.
Amblyodon dealbatus, P.B.
Meesia trichoides, Spr.
66
BOTANY
Aulacomnium palustre, Schwgr.
var. imhricatum B. & S.
— androgynum, Schwgr.
Catoscopium nigritum, Brid.
Bartramia CEderi, Sw.
- ithyphylla, Brid.
- pom i form is, Hedw.
var. crispa, B. & S.
— Halleriana, Hedw.
Philonotis fontana, Brid.
var. pumila, Dixon
— adpressa, Ferg.
— calcarea, Schimp.
Breutelia arcuata, Schimp.
Webera cruda, Schwgr.
- nutans, Hedw.
- annotina, Schwgr.
carnea, Schimp.
- albicans, Schimp.
Plagiobryum Zierii, Ldb.
Hryum filiforme, Dicks.
- concinnatum, Spruce
- pendulum, Schimp.
var. com pac turn, Schimp.
- Warneum, Bland
- calophyllum, R. Br.
- lacustre, Brid.
- inclinatum, Bland
- uliginosum, B. & S.
- pal lens, Sw.
- turbinatum, Schwgr.
- bimum, Schreb.
var. cuspidatum, Bry. Eur.
- pseudo-triquetrum, Schwgr.
- pallescens, Schleich.
var. contextum, Hornsch.
— intermedium, Brid.
- caespiticium, L.
- capillare, L.
— alpinum, Huds.
- Mildeanum, Jur.
- argenteum, L.
Mnium affine, Bland
var. elatum, B. & S.
- cuspidatum, Hedw.
- rostratum, Schrad.
- u mlu hit um, L.
- hornum, L.
- serratum, Schrad.
- stellare, Reich.
- punctatum, L.
- subglobosum, B. & S.
Cinclidium stygium, Sw.
Fontinalis antipyretica, L.
Neckera crispa, Hedw.
- complanata, HQbn.
Homalia trichomanoides, Brid.
Leucodon sciuroides, Schwgr.
Pterogonium gracile, Sw.
Antitrichia curtipendula, Brid.
Porotrichum alopecurum, Mitt.
Leskea polycarpa, Ehrh.
Anomodon longifolius, Hartm.
— viticulosus, H. & T.
Heterocladium heteroptenun, B. & S.
Pseudoleskea catenulata, B. & S.
Thuidium tamariscinum, B. & S.
Climacium dendroides, W. & M.
Cylindrothecium concinnum, Schimp.
Pylaisia polyantha, B. & S.
Orthothecium intricatum, B. & S.
Isothecium myurum, Brid.
Pleuropus sericeus, Dixon
Camptothecium lutescens, Schimp.
Brachythecium rutabulum, B. & S.
— rivulare, B. & S.
var. latifolium, Husn.
Brachythecium velutinum, B. & S.
— populeum, B. & S.
— plumosum, B. & S.
— purum, Dixon
Hyocomium flagellare, B. & S.
Eurhynchium piliferum, B. & S.
— crassinervium, B. & S.
— praelongum, B. & S.
— Swartzii, Hobk.
— pumilum, Schimp.
— tenellum, Milde.
— myosuroides, Schimp.
— striarum, B. & S.
— rusciforme, Milde.
var. atlanticum, Brid.
Plagiothecium depressum, Dixon
— pulchellum, B. & S.
— denticulatum, B. & S.
— sylvaticum, B. & S.
— undulatum, B. &c S.
Amblystegium Sprucei, B. & S.
— serpens, B. & S.
— Juratzkanum, Schimp.
— irriguum, B. & S.
— fluviatilc, B. & S.
— filicinum, De Not.
var. elatum, Schimp.
„ gracilescens, Schimp.
Hypnum riparium, L.
var. longi folium, Schimp.
— stellatum, Schreb.
var. protensum, B. & S.
— chrysophyllum, Brid.
var. erectum, Bagn.
- lycopodioides, Schwgr.
- fluitans, L.
var. falcatum, Schimp.
„ ovale, Ren.
— exannulatum, GOmb.
var. purpurascens, Schimp.
„ pinnatum, Boul., forma ste-
nophylloides, Ren.
„ stenophyllum, Hobk.
67
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
Hypnum uncinatum, Hedw. Hypnum palustre, L.
var. plumulosum, Schimp. var. subsphaericarpon, B. & S.
„ plumosum, Schimp. — eugyrium, Schimp.
— revolvens, Sw. — ochraceum, Turn.
var. Cossoni, Ren, forma falcata, Ren. — scorpioides, L.
— commutatum, Hedw. — stramineum, Dicks.
— falcatum, Brid. — cordifolium, Hedw.
var. gracilescens, Schimp. — giganteum, Schimp.
— incurvatum, Schrad. — sarmentosum, Wahl.
— cupressiforme, L. — cuspidatum, L.
var. resupinatum, Schimp. — Schreberi, Willd.
„ filiforme, Brid. Hylocomium splendens, B. & S.
„ ericetorum, B. & S. — loreum, B. & S.
„ tectorum, Brid. — squarrosum, B. & S.
Patientiae, Ldb. — triquetrum, B. & S.
— molluscum, Hedw. — rugosum, De Not.
var. condensatum, Schimp.
LIVERWORTS (Hepatic*)
The liverworts (Hepatica?) have received only scant attention com-
pared with the mosses, although there is evidence from the plants that
have been found that the county is rich in them. The appended list is
very incomplete, but is offered as a nucleus for future workers with these
interesting and beautiful plants.
The rare ones are located as follows : Lejeunea serpyllifolia var.
cavifolia occurs on the basaltic rock ledges of Falcon Glints, and Lejeunea
calcarea forms minute patches on the limestone clints of Ireshope Burn.
By the riverside near the High Force grows Porella rivularis. Near
the basaltic blocks scattered on the slope of Widdy Bank Fell are
Blepbarozia ciliaris and Lepidozia setacea.
At the base of the High Force is a very rare hepatic, Hygrobiella
laxifolia, very scarce in quantity. Of the genus Scapania there are two
very rare species not recorded from any other part of England. These are
Scapania rosacea, imbedded in the sandy drift by the river side below
the High Force, and Scapania subalpina var. undulifolia, in the gravelly
detritus by the side of the Weardale road leading into Langdon Beck.
Another member, Scapania aequiloba, grows on the Falcon Clints as well
as on the slopes of Widdy Bank Fell, but in the latter case usually
mixed with mosses, such as Trichostomum tortuosum. The rare Scapania
intermedia also grows on the slopes of Widdy Bank, associated with the
equally rare Eucalyx obovata.
By the side of Ireshope Burn we find Chiloscypbus polyantbos, asso-
ciated with Jungermania riparia, and on the limestone clints is the minute
and delicate Blepbarostoma trie hopby Hum. On Widdy Bank is found
Mylia Taylori, which is also of very fine growth on the top of Burnhope
Seat, associated with the moss Hypnum jiuitans v&r.falcatum. The variety
heterophylla of Plagiochila asplenioides grows by Burnhope Burn, and the
variety majus, of yellow colour, by the waterfall at Burtree Ford.
Plagiocbila spinulosa grows both at the High Force and at Cauldron
68
BOTANY
Snout. The flaccid and dark-coloured "Jungermania cordifolia may be
found by the waterfall at Burtree Ford, on the bank of Ireshope Burn,
and at the High Force. Jungermania Floerkii grows on the top of
Burnhope Seat, on Widdy Bank Fell, and on the top of the Weardale
road leading into Langdon Beck. Of this genus Jungermania barbata is
the characteristic species on the gravelly drift by Burnhope Burn, and
Jungermania bantriensis occurs in great abundance below Winch Bridge
in Teesdale. With Lepidozia setacea on Widdy Bank is associated
Jungermania porpbyroleuca in fruit. Of the genus Euca/yx, one member,
obovata, has been noted above, and the other member, byalina, grows on
the moorland by the side of Sedling Burn ; Nardia compressa occurs in
wet places by Burnhope Burn, in darkish masses. Pallavicinia Lyelli has
been recorded from the Durham side of the Tees (Spruce). Mixed
with the mosses Cinclidlum stygium and Amblyodon dealbatus on the slope
of Widdy Bank grows the var. angustior of Aneura pinguis. The soft
hairy masses of Metzgeria pubescens grow on the vertical limestone
cliffs of Ireshope Burn and also at Cowshill. On the saccharoidal
limestone of Falcon Glints are large green flat patches of Cbomiocarpon
quadratus.
In Weardale a striking feature in the rills and ditches by the road-
sides, especially the Kilhope road, is the great abundance of the hepatic
Scapania undulata, whose masses almost choke up these waterways with
their glassy green-looking foliage.
LIST OF HEPATIC^
Frullania tamarisci (L.) Plagiochila asplenioides (L.)
— dilatata (L.) var. heterophylla, Nees
Lejeunea serpyllifolia (Dicks) „ Dillenii, Tayl.
var. cavifolia, Lindb. — spinulosa (Dicks)
— calcarca, Lib. Jungermania cordifolia, Hook.
Radula complanata (L.) — riparia, Tayl.
Porella platyphylla (L.) — inflata, Huds.
— rivularis, Nees. — Floerkii, Web. & Mohr.
Blepharozia ciliaris (L.) — barbata, Schmid
Blepharostoma trichophyllum (Dill.) — Lyoni, Tayl.
Lepidozia setacea (Web.) — porphyroleuca, Nees
Kantia trichomanis (L.) — bantriensis, Hook.
Cephalozia bicuspidata (L.) — crenulata, Sm.
Odontoschisma sphagni (Dicks) Eucalyx hyalina, Lyell
Hygrobiella laxifolia (Hook.) — obovata (Nees)
Scapania resupinata (Dill., L.) Nardia compressa (Hook.)
— subalpina var. undulifolia, Gottsche — scalaris (Schracl)
— aequiloba (Schwoege) Marsupella emarginata, Ehrh.
— nemorosa (L.) Pallavicinia Lyellii (Hook.)
— intermedia, Husn. Aneura multinda (L.)
— undulata (L.) — pinguis (L.)
- purpurea (Dill.), Carr. var. angustior
- rosacea (Cord a) Metzgeria pubescens (Schrank)
Diplophyllum albicans (L.) — furcata (L.)
Lophocolea bidentata (L.) Marchantia polymorpha, L.
Chiloscyphus polyanthos (L.) Conocephalus conicus, L.
Mylia Taylori (Hook.) Chomiocarpon quadratus (Scop.)
69
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
LICHENS (Licbenes)
The lichen-flora of a given district under changing conditions
furnishes evidence to the observant mind that it does not nourish its
life as other plants do. If it did so we should naturally expect that
the lichens would hold their own with their fellows, subject, of
course, to the ordinary changes which come alike to all vegetable
forms. But it is not so. The lichen will disappear from a spot,
and more especially the frondose or foliaceous forms, without any
observable change in the other vegetation around it, and that from
a pollution of the atmosphere which is not sufficient to affect those
plants which nourish themselves from the soil or matrix of growth.
I had an opportunity of giving an illustrative case of this kind from
the county of Durham,1 where lichens spoken of by Mr. Winch as
flourishing in Gibside Woods many years before had utterly perished
— killed by the fumes from the Tyneside some miles away.
It is fortunate, therefore, that the lichen-flora of Durham county
was fairly well worked before the large development of its present
coal and iron industries. Nearly 200 species and varieties of lichens
are recorded in Winch's Flora of Northumberland and Durham as having
been gathered in the county. I also catalogued in 1887, in the
Natural History Society's Transactions, Northumberland and Durham, Mr.
Winch's lichens in the museum, Newcastle-on-Tyne ; but this was
only a partial list, as a number of his lichens with other of his
herbaria are in the possession of the Linnean Society.
As a county, Durham had and still possesses an extensive lichen-
growth. The physical features of the country are various and
favourable. Its eastern seaboard, of course, is poor in results, but its
sub-alpine elevations westward and north-west are good. Limited in
its outcrop of rock, the limestone predominates in its highest parts
crossed and broken by the basalt. The best lichen districts in the
county are the river valleys of the Derwent, the Tees, and the
Wear. The last two, with elevations margining the upper reaches of
the valleys, and the fells enclosing the river sources, are excellent
hunting grounds for the botanist generally as well as the lichenologist ;
and these districts are the least affected by any deleterious atmospheric
elements carried by the wind.
The previous workers in this humble branch of botanical science
in Durham were Nathaniel John Winch,* Mr. Robertson, and the
Rev. John Harriman, of Egglestone, Teesdale. By his careful
observations and exertions, Mr. Harriman contributed largely to the
knowledge and extension of our northern lichenology. He discovered
a number of new species. One of these, Urceolaria diacapsis, Ach.,
he found near Barnard Castle. A micro-diagnosis of this beautiful
1 Science Gossip, 1879.
* He was a native of Newcastle, a zealous student of nature, and a distinguished botanist ; well
known in the north of England by the Botanist's Guide to Northumberland and Durham and his Flora of the
same counties, published in the Transactions of the Natural History Society, Newcastle-on-Tyne. 1832.
70
BOTANY
lichen, made in 1887, showed that it was not an Urceo/aria, but a
Lecidea. I pointed out to Dr. Nylander, Paris, that it should be named
Lecidea diacapsis, and this decision he confirmed. At Dr. Nylander's
request I searched and re-searched carefully what he termed * the
classic ground ' of this lichen, but did not succeed in re-finding it.
Mudd's Manual of British Lichens likewise contains notices of
lichens from Teesdale, where he personally did some collecting.
The following limited list is a selection from my own personal
gatherings of lichens in the county of Durham. Each species or
variety is either in my herbarium or has passed through my hands : —
Sirosiphon mineatum, Hass.
Ephebe pubescens, Fr.
Collema pulposum, var. pulposulum, NyL
— tenax, var. coronatum, Koerb.
— limosum, Ach.
— polycarpon, Schaer.
Leptogium biatorinum, Nyl.
Sphinctrina turbinata, Pers.
Pycnothelia papillaria, Duf.
Cladonia pityrea, f. denudata, Johns.
- Florkeana, f. bacillaris, Ach.
Clad ina sylvatica, f. scabrosa, Leight.
f. tenuis, Lamy.
— uncialis, f. adunca, Ach.
Stereocaulon denudatum, Flk.
Evernia prunastri, var. stictocera, Ach.
Cetraria island ica, L.
- aculcata, f. acanthella, Ach.
Platysma triste, Web.
Platysma sxpincola, var. ulophylla, Ach.
Peltigera aphthosa, L.
— rufescens, Mtlhi.
Solorina saccata, Ach.
— spongiosa, Nyl.
Physcia parietina, f. cinerescens, Leight.
— tenella, Scop.
Umbilicaria polyhirza, L.
Umbilicaria cylindrica, L.
var. tornata, Fr. fil.
Placodium decipiens, Arn.
sub-sp. P. tegularis, Nyl.
Ltcanora sambuci, Pers.
— frustulosa, Dicks.
— Parisiensis, Nyl.
— atrynea, Ach.
— galactina, f. dispersa, Pers.
sub-sp. L. dissipata, Nyl.
— ochracea, Schaer.
— Hageni, Ach.
— syringea, Ach.
— subcarnea, Ach.
— intricata, Nyl.
— expallens, Ach.
— ventosa, L.
— chalybxa, Schaer.
Pertusaria globulifera, Nyl.
Lecidea atrorufa, Dicks.
— lucida, Ach.
— parasema, var. rugulosa, Ach.
— plana, Lahtn.
— aroma tica, Sm.
— caeruleonigricans, Lightf.
— alboatra, Hoffm.
Endocarpon miniatum, L.
FRESHWATER ALG^E
It is much to be regretted that very little attention has been devoted
to the study of the freshwater alga? in Durham, as it offers a rich field
for investigation to those interested in this branch of botany. The
craggy ravines and upland glens of the highlands of Teesdale and Wear-
dale, and their rapid streams flowing over rough rocky beds of limestone,
sandstone, or basalt, especially, would well repay some exploration.
Owing to the variations of altitude and soil there appears to be a great
wealth of species and genera. It is only possible, however, to give a
very brief survey, chiefly from observations of the writer.
The Blue-green Algae (Cyanophyceee) are richly represented, the
humid atmosphere of the upper dales being especially favourable to such
genera as Nostoc, Lyngbya, and Gleocapsa, while the ponds and ditches are
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
the home of numerous species of Oscillarlece. Adhering to the sub-
merged stones, the gelatinous masses of Nostoc verrucosum are a noticeable
feature in some of the clear streams of the mountain limestone.
Among the Green Algae (Ghlorophycece) the Desmids appear to
be specially abundant, finding a most congenial habitat in the peaty
pools so frequent among the moors. Here also species of Spirogyra,
Zygnema, and Mesocarpus are among the commonest forms to be observed.
In damp situations the barks of the trees are green with Pleurococcus
vulgaris ; Prasiola crispa is found by the roadsides, and the terrestrial
species of Vaucheria may be met with almost everywhere. The aquatic
genera Ulothrix, Coleocbteta, CEdogonium, Cbtztophora, Cladopbora, and
Vaucheria are abundant; Enteromorpba intestinalis occurs in ditches at
Hartlepool, and Palmella cruenta is very common in the Sunderland
district (Brady). Clathrocystis ceruginosa and Physactis parvula have been
noted from the moat at Raby (Norman) and Tetraspora lubrica at Ryhope
(Brady). The beautiful Draparnaldia plumosa is not uncommon, and
grows plentifully on the high ground between Allansford and the
Sneep.
The Rhodophycecz, which make up such a large proportion of the
marine alga?, include only a few freshwater forms. In Durham the
two species of Batrachospermum, B. atrum and moniliforme, are common in
the streams of some of the hills and denes, and are also frequently met
with in the lower parts of the county. The green waving tufts of
Lemanea jluviatilis are found attached to the stones in the quieter parts
of the clear mountain streams, and Ghantransia chalybea clings closely to
the smooth surface of the rocks under the swiftly rushing water.
Among the Characeee^ the species of Nitella and Chara are widely
distributed. Chara hispida grows in great profusion in the Hell Kettles
at Croft, and C. flexilis and C. fcetida also occur plentifully in the
county.
MARINE ALG^E
The bleak rugged coast of Durham, exposed to the full fury of the
wind, and swept by the cold waters of the northern sea, is not favourable
to a luxuriant growth of seaweeds. There is an absence of rocky pools,
and few sheltered bays. The temperature of the water varies consider-
ably between the east and west coasts. On the east coast the sea
temperature is much lower than on the other parts of the British Isles.
For example, in August it only rises to 1 5° C., while on the south and
west coasts 20° C. is attained. In February a marine isothermal of only
5° C. extends from the Naze to the Frith of Forth, the other parts of
the coast being 5° C. warmer. It is not surprising, therefore, that the
oceanic vegetation is greatly superior on the western shores, but one
would hardly expect to find Durham inferior in number of species to
Northumberland, which is further north, and possesses still fewer natural
advantages of situation. The Northumberland region, however, presents
thirty-three species not found in Durham, while the latter has only
72
BOTANY
twenty which it may claim for its own, the remaining species being
common to both counties.
The following lists have been compiled from Brady's Catalogue of
Marine Algae of Northumberland and Durham ; Transactions of the Tyneside
Field Club, 1858-60, iv. The nomenclature is that of Holmes and
Batters.
Out of a total of 535 species — excluding varieties — of marine algae
which are found to grow upon the shores of the British Isles, only 136
are known upon the Durham coast. These are distributed among the
different orders as follows : —
Total for British Isles. Total for Durham.
Cyanophyceae ... 57 ... 5
Chlorophyceae . . . 98 . . .18
Phaeophyceae . . .144 . . -43
Rhodophyceae . . . 236 ... 70
No permanent habitat is known for the following species. They
have been found from time to time washed up by the sea on this coast,
and are therefore included in the list. It is most probable, however,
that they have been merely carried by oceanic currents to our shores.
Codium tomentosum, Stackh. Sargassum bacciferum, C. Ag.
Halurus equisetifolius, Kiitz. Cystoseira ericoides, C. Ag.
Gymnogongrus norvegicus, J. Ag. Himanthalia lorea, Lyngb.
Calliblepharis ciliata, Kiitz. Arthrocladus villosa, Duby.
Delesseria Hypoglossum, Lamx. Dictyopteris polypodioides, Lamx.
Polysiphonia byssoides, Grev. Dictyota dichotoma, Lamx.
LIST OF MARINE ALG-S
CYANOPHYC&*
Oscillariactte
Spirulina tenuissima, Kfltz.
Oscillaria Corallinae, Gom.
Rivulariacttg
Calothrix confervicola, C. Ag.
— scopulorum, C. Ag.
Rivularia atra, Roth.
CHLOROPHYCEJE
Uhactte
Monostroma Grevillii, J. Ag.
Entcromorpha clathrata, J. Ag.
— compressa, Grev.
— Linza, J. Ag.
— intestinalis, Link.
Ulva latissima, J. Ag.
Cladophoracett
Urospora flacca, Holm. & Batt.
Chaetomorpha crassa, Kutz.
Rhizoclonium riparium
— tortuosum, Ktltz.
Cladophora utriculosa, Kdtz.
— rupestris, KUtz.
— grac ills, GriflF.
— flexuosa, GrifiF.
— fracta, Kfltz.
- arcta, KOtz.
— laiiosa, Kutz.
CHLOROPHYCEA (continued)
Bryopiidacete
Bryopsis plumosa, C. Ag.
Codiaceee
Codium tomentosum, Stackh.
PHXOPHYCRX
Desmarestiaceee
Desmarestia viridis, Lamx.
— aculeata, Lamx.
— ligulata, Lamx.
Dictyoiiphonace<s
Dictyosiphon foeniculaceus, Grev.
Punctarlacete
Punctaria plantaginea, Grev.
Asperococcace<e
Asperococcus echinatus, Grev.
Ectocarpacttt
Streblonema velutinum, Thur.
Ectocarpus long i I rue t us, Harv.
— patens, Holm. & Batt.
— tomentosus, Lyngb.
Isthmoplea sphaerophora, Kjellm.
Pylaiella litoralis, Kjellm.
Artbrocladlactee
Arthrocladia villosa, Duby.
E/achtstacete
Elachista fucicola, Fries.
73
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
PHJEOPHYCE.S: (continued)
Sphacelariacets
Sphacelaria radicans, Harv.
— cirrhosa, C. Ag.
— fusca, Holm. & Batt.
Chaetopteris plumosa, Ktitz.
Cladostephus spongiosus, C. Ag.
— verticillatus, C. Ag.
Halopteris filicina, Ktitz.
Stypocaulon scoparium, Ktltz.
Myrionemacets
Myrionema strangulans, Grev.
Gbordariacets
Chordaria flagelliformis, C. Ag.
Mesogloea vermiculata, Le Jol.
Castagnea virescens, Thur.
Leathesia difformis, Aresch.
Scytosiphonacees
Phyllitis Fascia, Ktitz.
Scytosiphon lomentarius, J, Ag.
Chordacete
Chorda Filum, Stackh.
Laminariacea
Laminaria saccharina, Lamx.
— Phyllitis, Le Jol.
- digitata, Edm.
Alaria esculenta, Grev.
Fucacets
Fucus ceranoides, Linn.
— vesiculosus, Linn.
- serratus, Linn.
Ascophyllum nodosum, Le Jol.
Pelvetia canaliculata, Dene & Thur.
Himanthalia lorea, Lyngb.
Halidrys siliquosa, Lyngb.
Cystoseira ericoides, C. Ag.
Tilopteridacets
Tilopteris Mertensii, Ktitz.
Dtctyotactte
Dictyopteris polypodioides, Lamx
RHODOPHYCE.S:
Porphyracets
Bangia fusco-purpurea, Lyngb.
Porphyra linearis, Grev.
— laciniata, C. Ag.
Helmintbocladiacea
Chantransia Daviesii, Thur.
— virgatula, Thur.
Helminthocladia purpurea, J. Ag.
GeKdiaceee
Gelidium corneum, Lamx.
Glgartinacece
Chondrus crispus, Stackh.
Gigartina mamillosa, J. Ag.
Phyllophora Brodiaei, J. Ag.
— membranifolia, J. Ag.
Gymnogongrus norvegicus, J. Ag.
Ahnfeltia plicata, Fries.
RHODOPHYCEJE (continued)
Gigartinacea (continued)
Callophyllis laciniata, Kdtz.
Rhodophyllidacets
Cystoclonium purpurascens, Ktitz.
Catenella Opuntia, Grev.
Rhodophyllis bifida, Kutz.
Sphtsrococcacets
Calliblepharis ciliata, Kotz.
Rhodymeniacees
Rhodymenia palmetta, Grev.
Lomentaria articulata, Lyngb.
— clavellosa, Gaill.
Plocamium coccineum, Lyngb.
Delesseriacea
Nitophyllum laceratum, Grev.
Delesseria alata, Lamx.
— angustissima, Griff.
— Hypoglossum, Lamx.
— ruscifolia, Lamx.
— sinuosa, Lamx.
— sanguinea, Lamx.
Bonnemahoniacete
Bonnemaisonia asparagoides, C. Ag.
Rhodomelacets
Rhodomela subfusca, C. Ag.
— lycopodioides, C. Ag.
Odonthalia dentata, Lyngb.
Laurencia pinnatifida, Lamx.
- caespitosa, Lamx.
Polysiphonia urceolata, Grev.
— elongata, Grev.
— violacea, Wyatt.
— fibrillosa, Grev.
— fastigiata, Grev.
— atro-rubescens, Grev.
— nigrescens, Grev.
— parasitica, Grev.
— byssoides, Grev.
— Brodiaei, Grev.
Dasya coccinea, C. Ag.
Ceramiacets
Spermothamnion Turneri, Aresch.
Griffithsia corallina, C. Ag.
— setacea, C. Ag.
Halurus equisetifolius, Ktitz.
Rhodochorton Rothii, Nag.
— floridulum, Nag.
— sparsum, Kjellm.
Callithamnion polyspermum, C. Ag.
— Hookeri, C. Ag.
— arbuscula, Lyngb.
— tetragonum, C. Ag.
Plumaria elegans, Bonnem.
Ptilota plumosa, C. Ag.
Ceramium Deslongchampsii, Chaur.
— diaphanum, Roth.
— rubrum, C. Ag.
— prolifera, J. Ag.
74
BOTANY
RHODOPHYCE* (continued) RHODOPHYCE^ (continued)
Ctramiacta (continued) Rhizophyllidaceee
Ceramium acanthonotum, Carm. Polyides rotundus, Grev.
Dumontiace* Corallinaceee
Dumontia filiformis, Grev. Melobesia verrucata, Lamx,
Dilsea cdulis, Stackh. Lithothamnion polymorphum, Aresch.
Nemastomacea Corallina officinalis, Linn.
Furcellaria fastigiata, Lamx. — rubens, Ellis & Sol.
FUNGI
The investigation of the fungus flora of the county has unfortu-
nately been almost entirely neglected during recent years, and no list is
available, except that by Winch, published now nearly one hundred
years ago.1 This list of some 250 species comprises chiefly those fungi
recognizable by the naked eye, and, as one would naturally expect at that
date, contains very slight reference to microscopic species. The old
nomenclature has been brought up to date, and the list given below
includes Winch's complete record, with the exception of some species of
which the determination remained doubtful, as well as additions from
the author's own observations. It probably does not represent one tithe
of the fungi to be found in the county, but it sufficiently indicates the
rich and varied flora which might be expected. Winch's observations
were very local, and largely confined to the woods on the banks of
the Derwent and the country around Darlington. The frequency with
which Medomsley occurs as a habitat shows that the woods in its
vicinity are remarkably prolific in genera and species belonging to this
group of plants.
The Hymenomycetes are represented by many species growing in
great profusion in the damp woody denes. The poisonous but very
beautiful fly mushroom (Amanita muscarius) may be found in the woods
at High Force ; and in the pastures in upper Teesdale the brilliant
red Hygropborus coccineus forms a conspicuous object in autumn. The
destructive parasite Armillaria mellea is widely distributed, and is respon-
sible for the downfall of many pines and fine old beeches. It may be
recognized in the R/bizomorfba-stzge by a thick black network under
the bark. Three rare species of Lactarius (L. zonarius, L. plumbeus,
and L. acris) are recorded. Marasmius oreades growing symbiotically
with the grasses produces the well-known * fairy rings ' in many
pastures. Various species of Cla-varia, among them C. fastigiata, C. coral-
loides, and the rarer C. ametbystina, are found in plenty, their pale coral-
like branches peeping forth freely from the moist rich humus beneath
the trees. On fallen logs, especially of oak, the timber-destroying fungus
Stereum birsutum is everywhere met with. The large bracket-shaped
fructifications of the Polyporaceee form striking features projecting from
the trunks and branches of trees. Two rare forms of Polyporus found
are P.fuscidulus and P. Vaillantii; P. squamosus,P. bispidus, etc., occur as
parasites on various trees, the latter being especially destructive to the
1 Batamifs Guide ttrougA the Countiet of Northumberland and Durham (1805-7).
75
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
ash. The large puff-balls Lycoperdon giganteum and L. ccelatum, the
somewhat rare Cynopballus caninus, and the Geasters, may be specially
mentioned among the Gasteromycetes. Five species of Geaster have
been recorded, none of which are common, and one, G. mammosum^ is
extremely rare.
In the large order Uredmacece (the rust-fungi) many species are
found accompanying their hosts through the various changes of altitude.
Thus Puccinia betonica preys upon the betony at its highest limit in
Burnhope, as well as near the coast, and similarly Mcidium tussilaginis is
found abundantly wherever the coltsfoot grows. The leaves of the wild
grasses and cereals are especially liable to the attacks of rust.
Among the Ascomycetes the species of faphrina cause the well-known
4 witches-brooms ' on the birch and cherry. The Erysipbacece are com-
mon as mildews upon the grasses and other plants. Nectria reveals its
presence by its small red pustules on decaying twigs, and as the destruc-
tive parasite associated with the canker of the ash, apple, and beech.
EpicbloS typhina^ with its bright orange stroma, is frequently to be observed
destroying the inflorescences of Dactylis glomerata and other grasses. The
small perithecia of various species of Spbceriaceee are especially common,
being present on nearly every decaying stalk. The black stroma tipped
with snowy white of Xylaria hypoxylon form conspicuous objects in most
woods in winter. Rbytisma acerinum betrays itself by the black blotches
to be seen on the sycamore leaves which are everywhere attacked by this
fungus. The dark-coloured gelatinous cups of Bulgaria inquinans cover
the bark of fallen oak branches. The larch-canker fungus (Dasyscypba
Willkommli) is frequent in the larch plantations, and threatens to render the
cultivation of this tree impossible for any useful purposes. The curious
little black tongues of Geoglossum glabrum are fairly common, springing up
freely in grassy places. The rare Peziza onotica known as the * orange-ear
peziza,' as well as P. me/asfoma, the black and red peziza, another rare
species, are found in the county, while the glowing crimson cups of
P. coccinea are common on decaying twigs. The species of Morcbella are
also prevalent in the woody districts, the edible form, M. escu/enta, being
not unfrequent.
Among the Mesomycetes some species of Usft'/ago, the smut of the
cereals, cause annually a large loss. Among the Phycomycetes may be
mentioned Gystopus candidus, the * white rust ' of cruciferous plants, growing
especially on Capsella bursa-pastoris ; Peronospora parasitica, a parasite often
associated with Gystopus candidus; and Pbytophthora infestans, the too well
known disease of the potato. The cruciferous crops are often devastated
by club-root (anbury) caused by Plasmodiophora brassicee^ one of the
Myxomycetes.
Rare species not already mentioned are : Agaricus petaloides, A.
borizontalis, A. sparfeus, A. gossypinus, Hygrophorus obrusseus, Cantharellus
cinereus, Merasmius fcetidus, Lentinus figrinus, Panus concbatus, Boletus
casfaneus, Trametes pint, Dcedalea confragosa, Thelephora biennis, Tremella
frondosa, and 1". vesicaria.
76
BOTANY
The nomenclature in the following list is that of Cooke's Handbook
of British Fungi.
LIST OF FUNGI
FAMILY I. HYMENOMYCBTES.
Order I. Agaracini
Genus i. Agaricus, L.
Sub-genus I. Amanita, Fr.
Agaricus mappa, Batsch.
— muscarius, L.
— rubescens, P.
Sub-genus II. Lcpiota, Fr.
Agaricus procerus, Scop.
— cepcestipes, Sow.
— granulosa, Batsch.
Sub-genus in. Armillaria, Fr.
Agaricus melleus, Vahl.
Sub-genus IV. Tricholoma, Fr.
Agaricus nictitans, Fr.
— albus, Fr.
Sub-genus V. Clitocybe, Fr.
Agaricus vernicosus, Fr.
— cxlorus, Bull.
— candicans, Fr.
— dealbatus, P.
— opacus, With.
— maximus, Fr.
— infundibuliformis, Schasff.
— cyathiformis, Fr.
— hrumalis, Fr.
— fragrans, Sow.
- laccatus, Scop.
Sub-genus VI. Pleurotus, Fr
Agaricus ulmarius, Bull.
— ostreatus, Jacqu.
— pctaloides, Bull.
— tremulus, Schaeff.
— septicus, Fr.
— applicatus, Batsch.
Sub-genus VII. Collybia, Fr.
Agaricus radicatus, Relh.
— velutipes, Curt.
— dryophilus, Bull.
— clavus, BulL
— ocellatus, Fr.
Sub-genus VIII. Mycena, Fr.
Agaricus purus, P.
— dissiliens, Fr.
— filopes, Bull.
— epipterygius, Scop.
— corticola, Schum.
— hiemalis, Osbeck.
Sub-genus IX. Omphalia, Fr.
Agaricus fibula, Bull.
Sub-genus XIII. Entoloma, Fr.
Agaricus sericeus, Bull.
Sub-genus XV. Claudopus, Smith
Agaricus variabilis, P.
Sub-genus XVII. Nolanea, Fr.
Agaricus pascuus, P.
FAMILY L HYMENOMYCBTES (continued)
Order I. Agaracini (continued)
Genus I. Agaricus, L. (continued)
Sub-genus XIX. Pholiota, Fr.
Agaricus praecox, P.
— comosus, Fr.
— squarrosus, Mflll.
Sub-genus XX. Hebeloma, Fr.
Agaricus pyriodorus, P.
— rimosus, Bull.
— geophyllus, Sow.
Sub-genus XXI. Flamula, Fr.
Agaricus inopus, Fr.
Sub-genus XXII. Crepidotus, Fr.
Agaricus mollis, Schaeff.
Sub-genus XXIII. Naucoria, Fr.
Agaricus horizontalis, Bull.
— melinoides, Fr.
— festiva, Fr.
Sub-genus XXIV. Galera, Fr.
Agaricus tener, Schasff.
— hypnorum, Batsch.
Sub-genus XXVI. Psalliota, Fr.
Agaricus arvensis, Schaeff
Sub-genus XXVIH. Stropharia, Fr.
Agaricus aeruginosus, Curt.
— stercorarius, Fr.
Sub-genus XXIX. Hypholoma, Fr.
Agaricus fascicularis, Hud.
Sub-genus XXX. Psilocybe, Fr.
Agaricus semilanceatus, Fr.
Sub-genus XXXI. Psathyra, Fr.
Agaricus gossypinus, Fr.
Sub-genus XXXIII. Panaeolus, Fr.
Agaricus separatus, L.
— fimiputris, Bull
— fimicola, Fr.
— papilionaceus, Bull.
Genus 2. Coprinus, Fr.
Coprinus comatus, Fr.
— atramentarius, Fr.
— micaceus, Fr.
— nycthemerus, Fr.
— radiatus, Fr.
— ephemerus, Fr.
Genus 3. Bolbitius, Fr.
Bolbitius fragilis, Fr.
— titubans, Fr.
Genus 4. Cortinarius, Fr.
Sub-genus I. Phlegmacium, Fr.
Cortinarius turbinatus, Fr.
Sub-genus III. Inoloma, Fr.
Cortinarius violaceus, Fr.
Sub-genus IV. Dermocybe, Fr.
Cortinarius sanguineus, Fr.
77
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
FAMILY I. HYMENOMYCETES (continued}
Order I. Agaracini (continued)
Genus 4. Cortinarius, Fr. (continued)
Sub-genus V. Telamonia, Fr.
Cortinarius evernius, Fr.
— hinnuleus, Fr.
Genus 5. Lepista, Smith
Lepista nuda, Bull.
— cinerascens, Bull.
Genus 6. Paxillus, Fr.
Paxillus involutus, Fr.
Genus 7. Hygrophorus, Fr.
Hygrophorus eburneus, Fr.
- hypothejus, Fr.
- virgineus, Fr.
— coccineus, Fr.
- puniceus, Fr.
- obrusseus, Fr.
- conicus, Fr.
— psittacinus, Fr.
Genus 8. Gomphidius, Fr.
Gomphidius glutinosus, Fr.
Genus 9. Lactarius, Fr.
Lactarius torminosus, Fr.
— zonarius, Fr.
— blennius, Fr.
- plumbeus, Fr.
— acris, Fr.
— deliciosus, Fr.
— chrysorrhaeus, Fr.
— piperitus, Fr.
— subdulcis, Fr.
— vietus, Fr.
— aurantiacus, Fr.
Genus 10. Russula, Fr.
Russula nigricans, Fr.
— rubra, Fr.
Genus 1 1 . Cantharellus, Adams
Cantharellus, cibarius, Fr.
— tubaeformis, Fr.
— infundibuliformis, Fr.
— cinereus, Fr.
— muscigenus, Fr.
— lobatus, Fr.
Genus 1 3. Marasmius, Fr.
Marasmius peronatus, Fr.
— porreus, Fr.
— oreades, Fr.
— rotula, Fr.
— fcetidus, Fr.
— epiphyllus, Fr.
Genus 14. Lentinus, Fr.
Lentinus tigrinus, Fr.
— flabelliformis, Fr.
Genus 15. Panus, Fr.
Panus conchatus, Fr.
— stypticus, Fr.
Genus 17. Schizophyllum, Fr.
Schizophyllum commune, Fr.
FAMILY I. HYMENOMYCETES (continued)
Order I. Agaracini (continued)
Genus 1 8. Lenzites, Fr.
Lenzites betulina, Fr.
— flaccida, Fr.
Order II. Polyporei
Genus 19. Boletus, Fr.
Boletus flavus, With.
— piperitus, Bull.
— chrysenteron, Fr.
— edulis, Bull.
— scaber, Fr.
— cyanescens, Bull.
— castaneus, Bull.
Genus 20. Polyporus
Polyporus fuscidulus, Fr.
— perennis, Fr.
— squamosus, Fr.
— elegans, Fr.
— sulfureus, Fr.
- heteroclitus, Fr.
— caesius, Fr.
- hispidus, Fr.
— cuticularis, Fr
— betulinus, Fr.
— ignarius, Fr.
— ulmarius, Fr.
— fraxineus, Fr.
— variegatus, Fr.
— annosus, Fr.
— versicolor, Fr.
— abietinus, Fr.
— Vaillantii, Fr.
— hybridus, Fr.
— trabeus, Fr.
Genus 21. Trametes, Fr.
Trametes pini, Fr.
— suaveolens, Fr.
— odora, Fr.
Genus 22. Daedalea, Fr.
Daedalea quercina, P.
— confragrosa, P.
— unicolor, Fr.
Genus 23. Merulius, Fr.
Merulius corium, Fr.
— lacrymans, Fr.
Genus 27. Fistulina, Bull.
Fistulina hepatica, Fr.
Order HI. Hydnei
Genus 28. Hydnum, L.
Hydnum repandum, L.
— auriscalpium, L.
— squalinum, Fr.
— membranaceum, Bull.
Order IV, Auricularini
Genus 36. Craterellus, Fr.
Craterellus cornucopioides, Fr.
Genus 37. Thelephora, Fr.
Thelephora cristata, Fr.
BOTANY
FAMILY I. HVMENOMYCETES (continued)
Order IV. Auricularlni (continued)
Genus 37. Thelephora, Fr. (continued)
Thelephora anthocephala, Fr.
— laciniata, Fr.
— biennis, Fr.
Genus 38. Stcreum, Fr.
Stereum purpureum, Fr.
— hirsutum, Fr.
— spadiceum, Fr.
— quercinum, Potter
Genus 39. Hymenochaste, Lev.
Hymenochsete rubiginosa, Lev.
Genus 40. Auricularia, Fr.
Auricularia mesenterica, Bull.
Genus 41. Corticium, Fr.
Corticium casruleum, Fr.
— lactcum, Fr.
Order V. Clavariei
Genus 45. Clavaria, L.
Clavaria amethystina, Bull.
— fastigiata, DC.
- muscoides, L.
- coralloides, L.
- rugosa, Bull.
- fusciformis, Sow.
- fragilis, Holmsk.
- pistillaris, L.
Genus 46. Calocera, Fr.
Calocera cornea, Fr.
Genus 47. Typhula, Fr.
Typhula erythropus, Fr.
— phacorrhiza, Fr.
— filiform is, Fr.
Genus 49. Tremella, Fr.
Tremella frondosa, Fr.
— mesenterica, Retz.
— vesicaria, Bull.
Genus Dacryomyces, Nees.
Dacryomyces chrysocomus, Tul.
FAMILY II. GASTEROMYCETES
Order VIII. Phalloidei
Genus 66. Phallus, Linn.
Phallus impudicus, Linn.
Cynophallus caninus, Fr.
Order IX. Trichogastret
Genus 67. Tulostoma, P.
Tulostoma mammosum, Fr.
Genus 68. Geaster, Mich.
Geaster coliformis, P.
— Bryantii, Berk.
— fornicatus, Fr.
— limbatus, Fr.
— mammosus, Chev.
Genus 69. Bovista, Dill.
Bovista nigrescens, P.
- plumbea, P.
Genus 70. Lycoperdon, Tourn.
Lycoperdon giganteum, Batsch.
FAMILY II. GASTEROMYCETES (continued)
Order IX. Trichogastres (continued)
Genus 70. Lycoperdon, Tourn. (cent.)
Lycoperdon pusillum, Fr.
- — gemmatum, Fr.
— pyriforme, Schxff.
Genus 71. Scleroderma, P.
Scleroderma vulgare, Fr.
— verrucosum, Pers.
Order X. Myxogastres
Genus 74. Lycogala, Mich.
Lycogala epidendrum, Fr.
Genus 75. Reticularia, Bull.
Reticularia umbrina, Fr.
— lycoperdon, Bull.
Genus 76. ^Ethalium, Link.
j^Ethalium vaporarium, Fr.
— septicum, Fr.
Genus 79. Diderma, P.
Didcrma vernicosum, P.
Genus 85. Dichsea, Fr.
Dichaea elegans, Fr.
Genus 86. Stemonitis, Gled.
Stemonitis ferruginea, Ehrb.
— typhoides, DC.
Genus 90. Arcyria, Hill.
Arcyria cinerea, Schum.
Genus 92. Trichia, Hall.
Trichia fallax, P.
— nigripes, P.
— turbinata, With.
— varia, P.
Genus 94. Licea, Schrad.
Licea cylindrica, Fr.
Order XI. Nidu/ariacei, Tul.
Genus 96. Cyathus, Pers.
Cyathus vernicosus, DC.
Genus 97. Crucibulum, Tul.
Crucibulum vulgare, Tul.
Genus 99. Sphaerobolus, Tode.
Sphaerobolus stellatus, Tode.
FAMILY III. CONIOMYCETES
Order XII. Sphtsronemei
Genus 104. Phoma, Fr.
Phoma napo-brassicae, Rost.
Genus 125. Ascochyta, Lib.
Ascochyta metulispora, B. ct Br.
Genus 132. Asteroma, DC.
Asteroma rosae, DC.
Order XV. Pucciniai
Genus 167. Puccinia, Pers.
Puccinia graminis, Pers.
— betonicae, DC.
— sparsa, Cooke.
— anemones, Pers.
— epilobii, DC.
Order XVI. Cceomacel
Genus 171. Ustilago, Link.
Ustilago carbo, Tul.
79
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
FAMILY III. CONIOMYCETES (continued)
Order XVI. Ctsomacei (continued)
Genus 171. Ustilago, Link, (continued)
Ustilago hordei, Kell. et Swing.
— avenae, Jensen
— antherarum, Fr.
Genus 174. Urocystis, Rabh.
Urocystis agropyri, Preuss.
— pompholygodes, Schlecht.
Genus 175. Uromyces, Lev.
Uromyces ficarias, Lev.
— alchemillas, Pers.
Genus 176. Coleosporium, Lev.
Coleosporium tussilaginis, Lev.
Genus 177. Melampsora, Cast.
Melampsora salicina, Lev.
Genus 178. Cystopus, de Bary.
Cystopus candidus, Lev.
Genus 179. Uredo, Lev.
Uredo potentillarum, DC.
— pustulata, P.
Genus 1 80. Trichobasis, Lev.
Trichobasis suaveolens, Lev.
Order XVII. faidiacei
Genus 184. ./Ecidium, Pers.
/Ecidium tragopogonis, Pers.
— leucospermum, DC.
— epilobii, D.C.
— ranunculacearum, DC.
Order XIX. Stilbacei
Genus 195. Tubercularia, Tode.
Tubercularia persicina, Ditm.
Order XXI. Mucedines
Genus 230. Peronospora, de Bary.
Peronospora (Phytophthora) infestans,
Mont.
— parasitica, Pers.
Genus 234. Polyactis, Link.
Polyactis cinerea, Berk.
Order XXII. Sepedoniei
Genus 256. Sepedonium, Link.
Sepedonium chrysospermum, Link.
Genus 257. Fusisporium, Link.
Fusisporium roseolum, Steph.
Order XXIV. Mucorini
Genus 266. Mucor, Mich.
Mucor mucedo, L.
Genus 267. Pilobolus, Tode.
Pilobolus crystallinus Tode.
— roridus, Schum.
FAMILY VII. ASCOMYCETES
Order XXVll. Perhporiacei
Genus 277. Sphserotheca, Lev.
Sphaerotheca pannosa, Lev.
— castagnei, Lev.
Genus 282. Erysiphe, Hedw.
Erysiphe graminis, DC.
— Martii, Lk.
Genus 283. Chaetomium, Kze.
Chastomium elatum, Kze.
FAMILY VII. ASCOMYCETES (continued)
Order XXFII1. Ehellacei
Genus 286. Morchella, Dill.
Morchella esculenta, Pers.
— semilibera, DC.
Genus 288. Helvella, Linn.
Helvella crispa, Fr.
— elastica, Bull.
Genus 291. Spathularia, P.
Spathularia flavida, Pers.
Genus 292. Leotia, Hill.
Leotia lubrica, Pers.
Genus 294. Geoglossum, P.
Geoglossum glabrum, P.
Genus 296. Peziza, Linn.
Peziza macropus, Pers.
— cochleata, Huds.
— onotica, P.
— aurantia, Fr.
— humosa, Fr.
— granulata, Bull
— coccinea, Jacq.
— melastoma, Sow.
— hemispherica, Wigg.
— scutellata, L.
— stercorea, Pers.
— virginea, Batsch.
— bicolor, Bull
— firma, Pers.
— inflexa, Bolt.
— cinerea, Batsch.
— (Dasyscypha) Wilkommii, Wilk.
Genus 297. Helotium, Fr.
Helotium citrinum, Fr.
— lenticulare, Fr.
— serotinum, Fr.
Genus 304. Ascobolus, Tode.
Ascobolus furfuraceus, Pers.
Genus 305. Bulgaria, Fr.
Bulgaria inquinans, Fr.
— sarcoides, Fr.
Genus 307. Stictis, Pers.
Stictis radiata, Pers.
Order XXX. Phacidiacei
Genus 320. Phacidium, Fr.
Phacidium coronatum, Fr.
Genus 322. Rhytisma Fr.
Rhytisma acerinum, Fr.
Genus 326. Colpoma, Wallr.
Colpoma quercinum, Wallr.
Genus 330. Stegia, Fr.
Stegia ilicis, Fr.
Order XXXI. Sphxriacei
Genus 332. Torrubia, Lev.
Torrubia militaris, Fr.
Genus 334. EpichloS, Fr.
Epicbloe typhina, Berk.
Genus 335. Hypocrea, Fr.
Hypocrea rufa, Fr.
80
BOTANY
FAMILY VII. ASCOMYCETES (continued)
Order XXXI. Sphteriacei (continued)
Genus 338. Nectria, Fr.
Nectria cinnabarina, Fr.
— coccinea, Fr.
— sanguinea, Fr.
Genus 339. Xylaria, Fr.
Xylaria hypoxylon, Grev.
Genus 340. Poronia, Fr.
Poronia punctata, Fr.
Genus 342. Ustulina, Tul.
Ustulina vulgaris, Tul.
Genus 343. Hypoxylon, Fr.
Hypoxylon multiforme, Fr.
— ruscum, Fr.
— concentricum, Grev.
— coccineum, Bull.
FAMILY VII. ASCOMYCETES (continued)
Order XXXI. Sphteriacei (continued)
Genus 344. Nummularia, Tul.
Nummularia Bulliardi, Tul.
Genus 345. Eutype, Tul.
Eutype Acharii, Tul.
Genus 348. Dothidea, Fr.
Dothidea graminis, Fr.
Genus 349. Diatrype, Fr.
Diatrype disciformis, Fr.
— bullata, Fr.
Genus 35 1. Valsa, Fr.
Valsa coronata, Fr.
Genus 356. Sphasria, Hall
Sphaeria ovina, Pers.
— spermoides, Hoffm.
— acuta, Moug.
81
ii
ZOOLOGY
MARINE ZOOLOGY
The investigations of marine zoologists of world-wide reputation
have been carried out on the coasts of Northumberland and Durham.
Such men were Joshua Alder and Albany Hancock. Contemporary
with these, though younger men, were Richard Howse (better known
as a geologist), Henry Brady, who studied the Foraminifera, and George
Hodge. All these are deceased, the last dying when he was quite
young. Others are still living, Canon A. M. Norman, Professor G. S.
Brady, and A. Meek, the last having, during the past three years, worked
perseveringly at some groups of the Crustacea and at the Fishes. On
the labours of all these and their publications, as well as on some hitherto
unrecorded observations, the lists here given of the various classes of the
marine fauna are based.
The Durham coast-line is most unfavourable for the life of shore
and shallow-water animals, since it is utterly devoid of sheltered bays,
and subject to the constant beating of the waves of a sea which is rarely
calm. The fauna of the North Sea has a decidedly boreal facies. Large
numbers of southern forms which are to be met with at the same
latitude on the western side of England being absent, while there is a
larger infusion of Scandinavian species.
The chief shore collecting ground of Alder, of Hancock, and of
others has been that situated just north of the mouth of the Tyne
(Cullercoats, Whitley, etc.) and separated from the coast of Durham by
only a few miles. It is probable therefore that all the species which
are known from these localities live also on the Durham coast, but direct
evidence of that fact being wanting, they are not here included in its
fauna ; and this applies not only to the animals found living between
tide-marks, but also to numerous small shells collected from shell-sand,
which shell-sand, however, may have been drifted either from the south
or from the north. On the other hand, species which have been
recorded as obtained from the fishing-boats at Cullercoats are included,
as it is quite as probable that they were brought in from the south as
from the north of that harbour ; and moreover it may be safely assumed
that at a distance from land the same animals, perhaps without exception,
would be found for some miles on both sides of the mouth of the
Tync.
83
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
FORAMINIFERA
' A Catalogue of the Recent Foraminifera of Northumberland and Durham,' by H. B.
Brady, F.R.S., etc., will be found in Trans. Nat. Hist. Sac. Northumberland and Durham, i.
(1867), 83-107, pi. xii. The list contains seventy-four forms, of which the following
fifty-eight have occurred off the Durham coast : —
Cornuspira foRacea, Phil.
Bihculina ringens, Lamk.
— depressa, d'Orb.
— elongate, d'Orb.
Spirolocufina limbate, d'Orb.
— planulata, Lamk.
— cxcavata, d'Orb.
Trikculina trigonula, Lamk.
— oblonga, Mont.
QuinjuelocuRna seminulum, Linn.
— bicornis, W. and J.
— secam, d'Orb.
— subrotunda, Mont.
— fasca, H. B. Bra.
Trocbammina inflate, Mont.
Reophax scorpiurus, Mont.
Haplopbragmium canariense,d'Orb.
ValvuRna fasca, Will.
Textularia variabilis, Will.
— complexa, H. B. Bra.
Textularia pygmiea, d'Orb.
— sagittttla, Defrance
— trochus, d'Orb.
Bigeneraria digitate, d'Orb.
Verneuilina polystropba, Reuss
BuRmina pupoides, d'Orb.
— aculeata, d'Orb.
— marginata, d'Orb.
Lagana sulcata, W. and J.
— Levis, Mont.
— striate, Mont.
— semistriata, Will.
— gkbosa, Mont.
— marginata, Mont.
— squamosa, Mont.
— caudate, d'Orb.
— distorta, Par. and Jones
Nodosaria scalarit, Batsch.
— pyrula, d'Orb.
— communis, d'Orb.
faginufina legumem, Linn.
— linearis, Mont.
Polymorphina lactea, W. and J.
— compressa, d'Orb.
— tubuhsa, d'Orb.
Uvigerina angulosa, Will.
Orbulina universa, d'Orb.
Globigerina bulloides, d'Orb.
Discorbina globularis, d'Orb.
— rosacea, d'Orb.
PlanorbuRna mediterranea, d'Orb.
Truncatulina lobalula, Walker.
Rotalia beccarii, Linn.
Polystomella crisfa, Linn.
— itriato-punctate. Fich. and
Moll.
Nonionina umbilicate, Mont.
— depressula, W. and J.
— scapba, Fich. and Moll.
PORIFERA (Sponges)
The following species are recorded in Bowerbank's Monograph of British Spongiadte from
off the Durham coast, in vol. iv. 1882 ; but the sponges have not been studied in the North
Sea, and very much remains to be done with respect to this class.
Hymeniacidon coccineus, Bow.
— virgulatus, Bow. The type of a new species
Halichondria cyRndrica, Bow. The type of a new
species
— panicea, Pall.
HaRchondria virgea, Bow. The type of a new species
Isodictya pygrntea, Bow.
— facorum, Johns.
— lurida, Bow.
Spongionella pulcbella, Sow.
CCELENTERATA (Jellyfish, Sea Anemones, etc.]
See Alder (J.) 'Catalogue of Zoophytes of Northumberland and Durham' (Trans. Tyneside
Nat. Field Club, vol. iii. 1857) and ' Supplement to Catalogue of the Zoophytes of Northumber-
land and Durham' (Trans. Tyneside Nat. Field Club, vol. v. 1863). Some additional species
will be found in papers by Mr. J. Alder and Canon A. M. Norman in Nat. Hist. Trans.
Northumberland and Durham, i. (1867), 45—64. The nomenclature has been brought up to
the present time.
Clava multicauRs, ForskSl
Merona cornucopia, Norman
Coryne pusilla, Gaertner
Syncorjne sarsi, Loven
— eximia, AUman
Gemmaria implexa, Alder
Dicoryne conferta, Alder
Bougainvillia ramosa, Van Beneden
Perigonimus repens, St. Wright
— linearis, Alder
Atractylis arenosa, Alder
Eudendrium ramosum, Linn.
— rameum, Pall.
— capillare, Aid.
Hydractinia echinata, Fleming
Podocoryne areolata, Aid.
Corynopsis Alderi, Hodge
Corymorpha nutans, M. Sars
Tubularia indivisa, Linn.
— larynx, Ell. and Sol.
— simplex, Aid.
— gracilis, Harvey
Clytia johnstoni, Aid.
ObeRa geniculata, Linn.
— gelatinosa, Pall.
— longissima, Pall.
— dicbotoma, Linn.
Campanularia voIubiRs, Linn.
84
Campanularia, hincksii, Aid.
— verticillate, Linn.
— Jlexuosa, Hincks
— neglecte, Aid.
— raridenteta, Aid.
CampanuRna acuminata, Aid.
Cuspidella bumilis, Hincks
Salacia abietina, M. Sars
Filellum serf ens, Hass.
Halecium halecinum, Linn.
— beanii, Johnst.
— labrosum, Aid.
— tenellum, Hincks
— Jilifirme, Aid. (?)
MARINE ZOOLOGY
Haltcium muricatum, Ell. and Sol.
StrtuJaria fumila, Linn.
— operculata, Linn.
- fibula, Ell. and Sol.
— atietina, Linn.
— polyzanias, Linn.
— gayi, Lamx.
— tricuspidata, Aid.
— rugoia, Linn.
— teneUa, Aid.
Dipbasia macea, Linn.
— fallax, Johnst.
— pinaster, Ell. and Sol.
— tamariica, Linn.
Ilydrallmannia fiikata. Linn.
Selaginopiis Jusca, Johnst.
Thuiona argentea, Ell. and Sol.
Thuiaria cupressina, Ell. and Sol.
— tbuia, Linn.
— articulate, Pall.
Aglaophenia pluma, Linn.
Ptumularia pinnata, Lamk.
— frutetcens, Lamk.
— sitacea, Ellis
— cathtrina, Johnst.
— baUcioides, Aid.
— echlnulata, Lamk.
Heteropyxis ramosa, Lamx.
Antennularia antennina, Linn.
Cyanea capillata, Linn.
— imporcata, Norman
HaRclyitus auricula, Rathkc
Lucernaria campanulata, Lamx.
Alcyonium digitatum, Linn.
Pennatuta pbospborea, Linn.
y'trgularia mirabiRs, O. F. Mull.
Metridium ituile, Linn.
Sagartia pura, Aid.
= pelluicida. Aid.
— troglodytes, Johnit.
PhelTut glausapata, Gosse
Actinia tquina, Linn.
Bulocera tueditf, Johnst.
Chondracantbia digitata, O. F.
Mull.
Urtocina crassicornii, O. F. Moll.
Stomphia cburch'ur, Gosse
Epizoantkus incruitatus, Dtlb. and
Kor.
ECHINODERMATA (Star-Jishes, Sea-urchins, etc.]
The following list is based on the catalogue of Mr. G. Hodge ;l the exact nomenclature
in some instances being changed.
Antedtn macea, Linck.
Ophiura lacertosa, Penn
— albida, Forbes
— affinis, Lotk.
— squamosa, Ldtk.
OphiopboRs aculeata, Moll.
Ofbiactis ballii, Thomp.
Ampbiura tltgant, Leach
— filijbrmis, Moll.
— cbiajei, Forbes
Ophiocoma nigra, Abild.
Ophiothrix fragiRs, Abild.
Astnptcttn irregularis, Penn
Luidia sarsi. Dab. and Kor.
Gmiatter phrygianus, Par.
Crossaster pappoius, Fabr.
SolasUr endeca, Linn.
Cribrella tanguinolenta, Mtlll.
Aittrias rubens, Linn.
- t'iolacea, Mull.
- bispida, Penn
— miil/en, M. Sars
Echinus eiculentus, Linn.
Partcbinus miRaris, Leske
Strongyloctntntui dribacbieniii, M Oil.
— var. pictus, Norman
Ecbinocyamus pusillui, Moll.
Spatangus purpureus, Mull.
Brisiopsis lyrifera, Forbes
Ecbinocardium cordatum, Penn.
— cvatum, Leske.
Cucumaria elongata, Dub. and
Kor.
— lactea, Forbes and Goods.
Phyllopborus drummondiijff . Thorn.
Tbyonejutus, Moll.
— raphanus, Dub. and Kor.
Psolus pbantapus, Linn.
ANNELIDA
Scarcely anything is known of the Annelida of the Durham coast. The few species of
the following list have been recorded by Professor Mclntosh.1 The meagreness of this
report may perhaps induce some naturalist in the county to take up the study of this much
neglected group.
Eurylfpta vittata, Mont.
Planaria angulata, Moll.
Qmmatoplea pulchra, John.
Mecktlia annulala, Mont.
Eupbmyne foliosa, Aud. and Edw.
Aphrodite aculeata, Linn.
Lepidonotus sjuamatus. Linn.
Nycbia cirrboia, Pall.
Harmotboe imbricata, Linn.
Polynoe longisetis, Gr.
Haloiydna gelatinoia, San
Stbenelaii boa, Johnst.
Pholoe minuta, Fabr.
Notopbyllum polynoidet, drst
Ophiodromuj vittatus, Sars.
1 ' Catalogue of the Echinodermi of Northumberland and Durham,' Trans. Nat. Hist. Soe. Nortbumb.
and Durham, iv. (1871), 120-149.
1 Mclntosh (W. C.), ' Report on a Collection of Annelids dredged off Northumberland and
Durham,' Trans. Nat. Hist. Soe. Northumb. and Durham, iv. (1871), 118-120.
85
Scylfts armillaris, Moll.
Notocirrus scoAcus, Maclnt.
Nereis pelagica, Linn.
Leodice norvegica, Linn.
Notbria conchylega, Sars
HyaRncecia tubicola, Mull.
Goniada maculata, CErst.
Glycera goesi, Mgr.
Scolophoi armiger, Mflll.
E utnenia jejfreysii, Mclnt.
Epbesia graciRs, H. Rath.
Trophonia plumosa, Moll.
— glauca, Mgr.
Cirratulus cirratus, Moll.
Capitella capitata, Fabr.
Ammochares ottonis, Grube
Amphictene auricula, Mull.
Amphiteis gunneri, Sara
Sabtllides octorirrata, Sars
Amphitrite cirrata, Moll.
Terebella figulus, Dalyell.
— RttoraRs, Dalyell.
Pista cristata, Moll.
Trichobranchus glaciaRs, Mgr.
Sabella penicillin, Linn.
Chone infundibuRformis, Kroyer
Pntula protensa, Grube
FiRgrana implexa, Berk.
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
PODOSOMATA (Leach)
( = PYCNOGONOIDEA)
Papers on the Podosomata by Mr. George Hodge will be found in vols. v. and vi. of
Trans. Tyneside Nat. Field Club and vol. i. of Nat. Hist. Trans. Northumberland and Durham.
Pycnogpnum Kttorale, StrOm
Pboxicbilidium femoratum, Rathke
Anopkdactylus petiolatus, Kroyer
= Pallene attenuata and
pygntiea, Hodge
Ammothea ecbinata, Hodge
=AcheRa brevipes,
(the young.)
Nymphon brevirostre, Hodge
— rubrurn, Hodge
— Ibrevitarse, Kroyer
Nymphon gracile, Leach
— mixtum, Kroyer
— grossipes, O. Fab.
— llongitane, Kroyer
— giganteum, Johnst.
Cbtftonymphon hlrtum, O. Fab.
POLYZOA
The following list is based on personal observations, but chiefly on Mr. Alder's catalogue
and its supplement (Trans. Tyneside Nat. Field Club, 1857 and 1863). The nomenclature
used there has been corrected to that employed in Hinck's/firtary of the British Polyzoa, 1880;
although that nomenclature is at the present time undergoing much modification.
JEtea anguina, Linn.
Eucratea chelata, Linn.
Gemellaria hricata, Linn.
Cellukna couchii. Busk
Menipea ternata, Ell. and Sol.
Scrupocellaria scruposa, Linn.
— scabra, T. Van Ben
— reptans, Linn.
Bicellaria ciliata, Linn.
Bugula avicularia, Linn.
— turbinata, Aid.
— flabellata, J. V. Thomp.
— plumosa, Pall.
— purpurotincta, Norman
— murrayana, Johnst.
Cellaria fstuksa, Linn
— stnuosa, Hass.
F/ustra JbRacea, Linn.
— secunfrms, Pall.
— earbasea, Ell. and Sol.
Membranipora catenularia, Jameson
— pilosa, Linn.
— membranacea, Linn.
— Rneata, Linn.
— craticula, Aid.
— spinifera, Johnst.
— uaifornis, Fleming
— dumeriRi, Aud.
— aurita, Hincks
— JJemingii, Busk
Cribrilina punctata, Hass.
Microporella ciliata, Pall.
— malusii, Aud.
Chorizopora brongniartii, Aud.
Scbizoporella Knearis, Hass.
— auriculata, Hass.
— hyalina, Linn.
— unicornis, Johnst.
Umbonula verrucosa, Esper
Porella concinna, Busk
— compressa, Sow.
Smituna landsborovii, Johnst.
— reticulata, ]. Macg.
— trispinosa, Johnst.
Mucnnella peachii, Johnst.
— ventricosa, Hass.
— variolosa, Johnst.
— coccinea, Abild.
— pavonella, Aid.
Palmicellaria skenei, Ell. and Sol.
Rbyncopora bispinosa, Johnst.
Retepora beaniana, King.
Cellepora pumicosa, Linn.
— ramulosa, Linn.
— dichotoma, Hincks
— avicularis, Hincks
Crisia cornuta, Linn.
— eburnea, Linn.
— dentlculata, Lamk.
Stomatoporagranulata, H. M.-Edw.
— major, Johnst.
— dilatans, Johnst.
— fiingia, Couch
Tubulipora flabellarls, Fab.
Idmonea serpens, Linn.
Diastopora patina, Lamk.
— obelia, Johnst.
Licbenopora hispida, Flem.
Alcyonidium gelatinoium, Linn
— birsutum, Flem.
— mamillatum, Aid.
— lineare, Hincks
— my tilt, Daly.
— albidum, Aid.
— polyoum, Hass.
— parasiticum, Flem.
Flustrella hispida, Fab.
Vesicularia spinosa, Linn.
Amathia lendigera, Linn.
Bowerbankia imbricata, Adams.
Avenellafusca, Daly.
Buskia nitens, Aid.
Cylindrascium dilatalum, Hincks
Triticella pedicillata, Aid.
Valkeria uva, Linn.
PedicelRna centua, Pall.
— belgica, Gosse
— gracilis, Sars
TUNICATA (Sea-squirts or Ascidiam]
On the authority of Alder and Hancock.
Aicidia elliptica, Aid. and Han.
- depressa, Aid. and Han.
- ? aculeata, Aid.
— elongata, Aid. and Han.
— men tula, Mull.
— sordida, Aid. and Han.
— amaena, Han.
Cuna intestinalis, Linn.
Corella parallelogramma, Mall.
Molgula sipbonata, Aid.
— citrina, Aid and Han.
Eugyra arenosa, Aid. and Han.
Cynthia echinata, Linn.
Styela tuberosa, Macg.
— coriacea, Aid. and Han.
— sulcata, Aid.
— granulata, Aid.
— comata, Aid.
86
Styela vestita, Aid.
— grossularia, Van Ben.
Thylacium variolosum, Gaert.
Pelonaia corrugata, Forbes and
Goods.
Parasddia Flemingii, Aid.
Didemnaum gelatinosum, Milne-
Edw.
Botryllus schhsseri, Pall.
MOLLUSCS
MARINE
In 1848 Mr. J. Alder gave a' Catalogue of the Mollusca of North-
umberland and Durham,' in the Trans. Tyneside Nat. Field Club. Subse-
quently Alder and Hancock published through the Ray Society their
magnificent monograph on the Nudibranchiate Mollusca, and in that work a
large number of species were described or recorded from the north-east
coast. Other lists of mollusca were subsequently added by Mr. Alder in
vols. v. and vi. of the Trans. Tyneside Nat. Field Club, and vol. i. of
the Trans. Nat. Hist. Soc. Northumberland and Durham. The Editor also
possesses a MS. list given to him by Mr. Alder which contains additions
to the fauna of the district as well as a list of certain names which were
contained in Mr. Alder's original catalogue, and which he considered
ought to be struck out. From these various sources the following list of
Durham species has been compiled.
The North Sea has long been famous for the very fine and rare
species of mollusca which were brought in to the north-east coast by
the long-line fishers, and were sold at very high prices, since at that
time they were unknown elsewhere ; and at the present day, though
most of them have been found in some other places, they are still rare,
and highly esteemed by conchologists. These shells are Panopcea
norvegica, Natica pallida, Amauropsis islandica, Liomesis dalei, Volutopsis
norvegicus, Beringius turtoni, and Buccinofusus berniciensis ; more recently
Calliostoma occidental has been added. They are all high-boreal forms
which are found on the Norwegian coast. Although most of them are
known now also to occur off the Aberdeenshire coast, in the sea around
Shetland, and off the north-west of Scotland, nevertheless, the Dogger
Bank neighbourhood is still likely to remain the chief locality from
which collectors may hope to obtain specimens.
AMPHINEURA
Hanleja hanleyi (Bean) Callochiton krvii (Mont.) Craspedocbiltu albas (Linn.)
Tonicella marmorea (Fab.) CrasfeJoctilut onyx (Speng) Acanthochitet fatcicularit (Linn.)
— ntbra (Lowe) — cinereus (Linn.)
PELECYPODA (Oysters, mussels, &c.)
Ntuula n'ttiJa, Sow. Mytilui tdulis, Linn. Pttten maximal (Linn.)
- nucleus (Linn.) yolsella modiolus, Linn. — push (Linn.)
— tennis (Mont.) var. gigat, Norman — variits (Linn.)
Nuculana minuta (Mall.) MoJiolaria marmorata (Forbes) — opercularis (Linn.)
Anomia patelKftrmis, Linn. — distort (Linn.) — tigrinus (Mall.)
— ephipfium, Linn. — discrepant (Leach) — itriatus (Mall.)
Area tttragina, Poli. Ostrea edulii, Linn. - simiRs (Laskey)
8?
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
Lima subauriculata (Mont.)
— Loscombi, Sow.
Turtonia minuta (Fab.)
Astarte sulcata (da Costa)
— compressa (Mont.)
Cyprina Islandlca (Linn.)
Lucina borealis (Linn.)
Thyasirajlexuosa (Mont.)
Mmtacuta lubstriata (Mont.)
— bldentata (Mont.)
Tellimya Jitrruginosa (Mont.)
Kellia suborbicularis (Mont.)
Lasifa rubra (Mont.)
Syndosmya prismatica (Mont.)
— nltlda (Mull.)
— alba (Wood)
? — tennis (Mont.)
Scnbicularia plana (da Costa)
Tellina crassa (Gmelin)
— tenuis, da Costa
Rac.)
Tellina fabula, Gron.
Donax vittattis (da Costa)
Mactra stultorum, Linn.
Spisula soRda (Linn.)
— elliptica (Brown)
— subtruncata (da Costa)
Lucinopsis undata (Penn.)
Dosinia exoleta (Linn.)
— lufina (Linn.)
Venus fasciata (da Costa)
— casino, Linn.
— ovata, Penn.
— gallina, Linn.
Tapes virgineus (Linn.)
— pullastra (Mont.)
Cardium echinatum, Linn.
— fasciatum, Mont.
— nodosum, Turton
— edule, Linn.
Lcfvlcardlum norvegicum (Speng.)
Psammobia tellinella, Lamk.
Psammobiaferroensis (Chemn.)
— depressa, Penn.
Mya arenaria, Linn.
— truncata, Linn.
Corbula gibba (Olivi)
Cultellus pellucidus (Penn.)
Ensis ensis (Linn .)
— siliqua (Linn.)
Panopea norvegica (Speng.)
Saxicava rugosa (Linn.)
— arctica (Linn.)
Borneo Candida (Linn.)
Zirfiea crispata, Linn.
Xylophaga dorsalis (Turton)
Lyonsia norvegica (Chemn.)
Cochhdesma pr<ttenue (Pult.)
Thracia fragifrs, Penn.
var. villosiuscula, Macg.
— cmvexa (W. Wood)
— distorta (Mont.)
Cusp'idaria cuspidata (Olivi)
SCAPHOPODA.
Dentalium entalis, Linn.
GASTROPODA (Whelks, 'winkles,
I. PROSOBRANCHIA
Patella depressa, Penn.
— vulgata, Linn.
Helcion pellucidus (Linn.)
var. latils, Penn.
Acmcea testudinalis (Mall.)
- vlrglnea (Mall.)
Puncturella noachina (Linn.)
Emarginula Jissura (Linn.)
Eumargarita helicina (Fab.)
Gibbula magus (Linn.)
— tumida (Mont.)
— cineraria (Linn.)
Calliostoma montagui, W. Wood.
— miliare (Broc.)
— zizyphinus (Linn.)
— occidental*, Migh.
Lacuna divaricata (Fab.)
— parva (da Costa)
— pallidula (da Costa)
Littorina nerltoldes (Linn.)
— rudls (Maton)
— obtusata (Linn.)
- ftttorea (Linn.)
Rissoa inconspicua, Alder
— parva (da Costa)
Alvanla reticulata (Mont.)
— punctura (Mont.)
M anzonia costata (]. Adams)
Onoba striata (]. Adams)
Hyala vitrea (Mont.)
Cingula semistriata (Mont.)
Paludestrina stagnaKs (Baster.)
Jeffreysia diaphana (Alder)
Skenea planorbis (Fab.)
Capulus hungaricus (Linn.)
Trivia eunptfa (Mont.)
Natica pallida, Brod. and Sow.
— catena (da Costa)
— alderi, Forbes
— montagui, Forbes
Amauropsls islandicus (Gmelin)
Lamellaria perspicua (Linn.)
Velutina hevlgata (Penn.)
Velutelta flexllls (Mont.)
Scala turtonis (Turton)
— trevelyana (Leach)
Odostomia conspicua, Alder
— uni Jen fata, Forbes and Hanley
— turrita, Hani.
Brachystomia ambigua (Maton and
Rack.)
Ondina divisa (]. Adams)
PyrguKna indistincta (Mont.)
— Interstlncta (Mont.)
SpiraRnella spiralis (Mont.)
Pyrgostelis interrupta (Totten)
Eulimella scllla (Scac.)
— commutata, Monterosato
Eulima intermedia, Cant.
— incurva (Ren.)
— gracllls, Forbes
— bilineata (Alder)
88
Stilifer turtoni (Turt.)
Ceecum glabrum (Mont.)
Turritella communis, Lamk.
Trichotnpsis borealis, Brod. and
Sow.
Aporrhals pes-pelecani (Linn.)
Buccinum undatum, Linn,
var. KttoraRs, King
var. striata, Penn.
var. pelagica, King
var. magna, King
Liomesus dalei (]. Sow.)
Neptunea antlqua (Linn.)
Volutopsls norvegicus (Chem.)
Beringius turtoni (Bean)
Tritonofusus gracllls (da Costa)
— pnplnquus (Alder)
Buccinofusus berniciensis (King)
Trophon barvicensls, Johnst.
— truncata, Strom
Purpura lapillus (Linn.)
Nassa incrassata (Strom)
Beta turricula (Mont.)
— trevelyana (Turt.)
— rufa (Mont.)
Mangilia costata (Don.)
— brachystoma (Phil.)
Teretia anceps (Eichw.)
Clathurella leufroyi (Mich.)
— Safaris (Mont.)
MOLLUSCS
Adeem tornatilis (Linn.)
Tomatina truncatula (Brug.)
— umbi/itata (Mont.)
var. strigflla, Loven
BuIIinella cyttndracea (Penn.)
Roxania utriculus, Broc.
Acera buliata (Mall.)
Phttne icabra (Mall.)
- quadrat* (S. V. Wood)
— punctata (Clark)
— pruinasa (Clark)
Aplysla punctata, Cuv.
AUeria modeita, Loven
Limapontia capitate (Mall.)
- depreaa, Aid and Hanc.
Ceaia cocksi (Aid. and Hanc.)
II. OPISTHOBRANCHIA
EoRt papillosa (Linn.)
Cuthona nana (Aid. and Hanc.)
Cratena olivacea (Aid. and Hanc.)
— peachii (Aid. and Hanc.)
— nortkumbrica (Aid. and Hanc.)
Galv'ina cingulata, Aid. and Hanc.
— tricolor (Forbes)
— exigua (Aid. and Hanc.)
FaeeSna coronata, Forbes and
Goodsir
— drummondi, Thomp.
Herofirmoia (Loven)
DotofragiKs (Forbes)
— coronata (Gmelin)
DenJronotus frondosut (A$c.)
PleurophylRdia loveni, Bergh.
Tritonia homberg, Cuv.
— alba. Aid. and Hanc.
— plebela, Johnst.
Arcbidorii tuberculata (Cuv.)
Jortamajobnitmi (Aid. and Hanc.)
Acanthodoris pilota (Mull.)
LameUldoris bilamellata (Linn.)
Triopa clavigera (Moll.)
PaKo leitoni (d'Orb.)
Polycera quadrilineata (Moll.)
Goniodoris nodosa (Mont.)
Idalina clegans (Leuckart)
— aspersa (Aid. and Hanc.)
Altxia myoiotis (Drap.)
CEPHALOPODA (Cuttle-fishes)
LoRgoforbesi, Steenst.
— media (Linn.)
— marmorte, Verany.
Sepia officiita&i, Linn.
— ruppellaria, d'Orb.
Sepiola scandica, Steenst.
Sepiola atlantica, d'Orb.
Moichitei cirroia (Lamarck)
89
12
, MOLLUSCS
NON-MARINE
Durham is not a county in which the non-marine mollusca find
conditions suitable for their abundant development.
In the large tract of Magnesian Limestone that extends from South
Shields to Hartlepool along the coast, and is bounded on its inland exten-
sion by an almost straight line from the latter place to Darlington, and by
an irregular line from South Shields to Gainford (about seven miles west
of Darlington), there are numerous valleys that produce a considerable
number of land species. To the west, however, though the land surface
is a good deal diversified, it is on the whole too hilly to afford suitable
habitat.
The small extent of marshes and ditches and the absence of canals
or slow-running rivers account for the fact that the freshwater species are
much less abundant here than in the more southern parts of England.
Still, out of 140, or so, species met with in the British Islands,
94 have been recorded for Durham, nor is this number likely to be
much increased by further research.
The most interesting form is Limax tenet/us, Mull., which was first
described as British from a specimen procured in a wood at Allansford.
It was generally supposed for some time that the individual so identified
was merely the young of some other species ; quite recently, however,
this slug has been re-discovered in several localities in the British Isles.
Certain species that have been chronicled are excluded from the
list. Helix lucida is an old record for a form of Vitrea, usually V. alliaria,
the true V. lucida being until lately unknown to our conchologists. Unto
pictorum and Planorbis vortex were recorded by Hogg (in Brewster's
History of Stockton-on-Tees, 1827), but these identifications are doubt-
ful. Similar uncertainty attaches to the record of L. brunneus, Drap.,
which was said to be frequent in damp woods. Dead shells of Vivi-
para vivipara and Neritina Jiuviatilis have been met with on the coast, but
have evidently been brought in ballast by ships.
Pomatias elegans is found in Yorkshire, and has been recorded for
Northumberland, so that its absence from Durham is noteworthy. Heli-
cella cantiana, although included in our list, is not common, and is by
some suspected to be a latter-day introduction, but then it has as yet not
been found in the fossil state anywhere in Britain.
With the exception of this last-named species there is an absence of
all continental and south-western (or Lusitanian) forms, so that the assem-
blage is of the normal north-British type.
The literature of the subject is not very extensive, and mostly
scattered, the two more important papers being that by J. Alder (the
discoverer of several, and author of four British species) in the Trans-
go
MOLLUSCS
actions of the Tyneside Naturalists Field Club, i. 1848 ; and one by
Mr. W. D. Sutton in the Quarterly Journal of Conchology^ i. 1874.
From these and minor articles, as well as from the Records of the
Conchological Society, the following list has been compiled.
For the sake of uniformity in the several County Histories the same
nomenclature is here followed as in precursors in the series, but for the
most recent information on this subject reference should be made to the
List published by the Conchological Society.
A. GASTROPODA
I. PULMONATA
a. STYLOMMATOPHORA
Teitacella icutulum, Sby. Bensham, near Gateshead
Umax maxlmui, Linn.
— tenellus, Mall.
— Jlavtu, Linn.
— arborum, Bouch. -Chant
AgrioRmax agreit'u (Linn.)
— l*vii (Mail.)
Amal'ia lotcerbii (Fir.)
— gagates (Drap.) South Shields.
y. itrina pellucida (Mdll.)
Vitrea crjttattna (Mall.)
— a&aria (Miller). Whitbum ; Cleadon ; Gates-
head ; Durham
— glabra (Brit. Auct.). East Thickley
— cellaria (Moll.)
— nitiJula (Drap.)
— pura (Aid.)
— radiatula (Aid.)
— txcavata (Bean). Great High Wood ; Stella ;
Gibside ; Durham
— nitlda (Mall.). Not common.
— fiiha (Mall.)
Arion ater (Linn.)
— bortentii, Fir.
— circumscriptui, John. Middleton-one-Row
— tubfuscus (Drap.). Middleton-one-Row
Punctual pjgmteum (Drap.). Rare and local.
Pjramiduia rupestris (Drap.). Local; Manden,etc.
— ntundata (Mall.)
HelRceOa virgata (Da. C.) 1 , ,
— foafc (Linn.) /L
— caperata (Mont.) '
— cantiana (Mont.). Not common ; more plen-
tiful near Sundcrland
Hjgromia fiuca (Mont.). High Force, Teesdale ;
M iddlct on-onc-Row
— granulate (Aid.). Rare : Tanfield ; Dinsdale
— hiif'ula (Linn.)
— rufesctns (Penn.). Sundcrland and other parts
of the magnesian limestone district
Acanthinula aculeata (Moll.). Rare : Ryhope Dean ;
Castle Eden Dean
- lamellata (Jeff.)- Rare : Gibside Woods ; Tan-
field Woods ; Walbottlc Dean
raHtnia pulettlla (MtiA.).
HeKcigona arbuttorum (Linn.)
Htfix aspersa, Mall.
HeKx mtmoraRt, Linn.
— hortensis, Mall.
BuRminus obscurtu (Mall.)
CochRcopa lubrica (Mull.)
Azeca tridens (Pult.). Rather rare : Castle Eden ;
Tanfield ; Stella ; Middleton-one-Row
CteciRanella acicula (Mall.). Darlington
Pupa angftca (Fer.). Casde Eden ; Walbottlc
Dean ; Ryhope
— cyKnJracea (Da. C.). Frequent on sea banks
— muscorum (Linn.). Rare : Sunderland ; Ry-
hope, etc.
SphjraJium edentulum (Drap.). Rather rare : Castle
Eden ; Ryhope Dean
Vcrtigp minutissima, Hartm. Rare : Clanheugh ;
Durham
— tubitriata (Jeff.). Near Newcastle ; Gibside
Wood ; Heaton Dean ; Tanfield ; Stella
— fyg^"fo (Drap.)
— pusilla. Mull. Rather rare ; Tanfield ; Crow-
hall Mill
Baka perversa (Linn.). Casde Eden Dean ; Ry-
hope Dean
ClauilKa laminata (Mont.)
— bldentata (Strom.)
Sutcinea putris (Linn.)
6. BASOMMATOPHORA
Caryckium minimum, Mdll.
Melampui denficulatus (Mont.). South Shields ;
Whitburn
Alcxia mjosotu (Drap.). Seaton Carew
Ancylus fuvlatlKs, Mull.
Vellttia lacuitrii (Linn.). Rather rare : Middleton-
one-Row
Llmn<ta auric ularia (Linn.). Rather rare : near
Darlington
— fereger (Mall.)
— palustrii (Mall.)
— truncatula (Mall.)
— ttagialis (Linn.)
— glabra (Mall.). Elwick Hall ; Sedgeficld
Planorbis corneas (Linn.). Rare : near Darlington
— all/us, Mall. Local
— glaber, JcfF. Sedgcfield ; Whitburn
— nautileui (Linn.). Whitburn
— carinatui, Mall. In addition to the ordinary
form a white variety has been taken at
Bluestone Mill, near Norton
— marginatus, Drap.
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
Planorbis sptrorbis, Mull.
— ctmtortus (Linn.) Local : Ryton Haughs ;
near Stockton
— fmtanus (Lightf.). Rather rare : Middleton-
one-Row ; Stockton
Pbyiafmttnalis (Linn.)
— hypnorum (Linn.)
II. PROSOBRANCHIATA
Paludestrina stagnalls (Bast.). Mouth of the Tees ;
Seaton Carew
Bithynia tentaculata (Linn.)
Valvata pise inalis (Mull.)
— cristata, Mull.
Actcula llneata (Drap.). Rare : Castle Eden Dean
B. PELECYPODA
Unto margaritifer (Linn.). In the head waters of
some streams
Anodonta cygntea (Linn.)
Sphcerium corneum (Linn.)
— lacustre (Mall.)
Plsidium amnicum (Mall.). Rare: near Stockton-
on-Tees, Jesmond Dean
— piulllum (Gmel.). Besides the typical form the
variety, by some held to be a distinct
species, P. obtusale, has been taken near
Darlington
Plsidium nitidum, Jenyns. Near Darlington
— fontinale (Drap.). In addition to the typical
form, the variety P. pulchellum, by some
held to be a distinct species, is plentiful
— milium (Held.). Brastide, near Durham ;
Ryton Haughs
92
INSECTS
Considering its comparatively small area and northern situation, the
county of Durham possesses a fairly numerous insect fauna, although of
course not to be compared with more southern districts. The surface of
the county is exceedingly varied. Passing inland from the sea all kinds
of situations are met with, from the grassy sand-dunes or flower-clad
banks of the coast line, up through the highly-cultivated central districts,
to the upper dales with their wooded glens and grassy or heather-clad
hills. Marshland also is found along the Skern and Lower Tees. Thus
maritime, marsh-loving, and Alpine species, as well as those preferring
ordinary inland conditions, can all find a congenial habitat within the
county. Again, with its three great seaports, through which pass large
quantities of foreign timber and produce of various kinds, the county
is continually receiving insect stowaways in one or other of their life
stages, aliens — in many cases undesirable aliens — some of whom become
naturalized in the land of their exile, and thus add to the variety of its
insect life. Though far to the north and therefore outside the fringe of
European Continental species which spread themselves over the southern
counties, Durham, with its eastern situation, receives, at least at its
southern border, part of the great migration stream which crosses the
German Ocean from the Continent, and there is reason to believe that
along with the birds there come from time to time insect immigrants,
who either recruit the ranks of former arrivals or add new species to the
county list. But, except among the Lepidoptera, the students of insect
life within the county have been few. So much so, that almost on the
eve of publication I was applied to by the editor to supply some account
of the insects of Durham outside of the Lepidoptera and the Diptera, as
he had been unable to get anyone to undertake the other orders. Only
a few weeks were allowed to complete the work, and I had not made a
special study of these other orders, having only undertaken to be respon-
sible for the Diptera. Under these difficult circumstances, I must
therefore plead for the indulgence of critics as regards any omissions or
mistakes in the following lists, which, however, I believe very fairly
represent our actual knowledge of the insect inhabitants of the county up
to the present.
ORTHOPTERA
Earwigs, Grasshoppers, Crickets, Cockroaches, etc.
This order has been entirely neglected in Durham, but it is very poorly represented as
far as native or naturalised kinds are concerned, and there are probably under a dozen species
in the county altogether. But occasionally curious foreigners make their appearance in fruit
or cargoes of produce, and some make a vain attempt to obtain a footing, establishing them-
selves for a time in some sheltered nook and apparently breeding, but eventually destroyed by
the severity of the climate or the want of their natural food.
93
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
FORFICULARIA
Earwigs
The common earwig — Forficula auricu/aria, Linn. — is exceedingly common everywhere.
Outside of the Hymenoptera comparatively few insects ever see their progeny, and the exhibi-
tion of parental care beyond the selection of a food plant is very rare. But the female earwig
is a most devoted mother, ready to sacrifice her life in the protection of her brood. The
Lesser Earwig — Labia minor, Linn. — is met with at several places, Birtley and near Hartlepool,
etc. Anholabia maritina was abundant at one place, South Shields, in 1857, and during the
next two years Alphitobius picipes was found in numbers in cavities of Slag in the neighbourhood
of the same town.
BLATTODEA
Cockroaches
There are 800 species of cockroaches, but only five or six inhabit Britain, of which there
may be probably two or three in Durham, but there is no record of any except Blatta orientally
Linn., the common house Cockroach or Black Beetle, only too abundant in old houses through-
out the county. Blatta maderee has occurred at South Shields, introduced in cargoes.
Panchlora exoleta, Burn., was taken alive this year at Bishop Auckland, introduced undoubtedly
among bananas from South America.
ACRIDIODEA
Grasshoppers
There are two or three green species, probably Stenobothrus bicolor, Chap., and S. parallelus,
Zett., and the dark Gomphocerus macu/atus, Thunb., is common on the moors, but they have
not been observed with any care. Gomphocerus rufus is recorded by Backhouse as taken at
Sunderland and Waskerley.
LOCUSTODEA
Locusts
I do not know of any of the British species having been found in the county, but two
foreign species have been taken at Hartlepool, and in 1858 Pachytylus migratorius occurred
at Sunderland and other places on the coast.
GRYLLODEA
Crickets
Gryllotalpa vu/garis, the Mole Cricket, has been found near Hartlepool, probably intro-
duced. Gryllus domesticus, Linn., is not uncommon in old country houses.
NEUROPTERA
Dragonflies, Stone-flies, Lacewings, Caddis-flies, etc.
This is a very varied group, which contains many of our most splendid insects, but there
is no record of its having received any systematic attention in this county. Everyone knows
the great JEschnte, the Horse stingers, as they are called, although perfectly innocent of hurting
either man or beast, and the gorgeous little Agrions that flit in numbers over almost every
pond in summer ; but local entomologists seem to have been content with mere general
observation.
Of the Libellulidte, the only ones that have been recorded are Platetrum depressum, a bold,
defiant insect of an inquisitive turn of mind, which often brings about its capture where pursuit
would be hopeless, and, Libellula quadrimaculata, Linn., and Sympetrum vulgatum, both of which
are to be found in Castle Eden Dene and other localities.
The only British member of the Cordulegastrid<e, Cordulegaster annu/atus, Latr., may also
be seen in several places, but it is not often captured. Of the Mschnidte, AZschna juncea, Linn.,
is fairly common in Hesleden, by the side of the Wear, and at Gibside, and Mschna grandis is
recorded in Ornsby's Durham as having been taken in that neighbourhood. In the beautiful
family of the Calopterygidts we have only one species as yet recorded, Calopteryx virgo, Linn., >
but that is said to be common in the Browney valley.
94
INSECTS
The last family of Dragonflies, containing the more numerous but smaller species, is that
of the Agrionidee. I only know of three species, the common Agrion put Ha, Linn., which is
abundant by most streams and ponds, Pyrrhosoma minium, also common at Gibside and else-
where, and Ischnura elegans, Lind.
Ephemerid<e,QT May-flies, Pcrlidee, or Stone-flies, such as Per/a marginata, Nemaura variegata,
Chhroperla viridis, and many other species abound along all the numerous water-courses, as do
also the SiaKdtc or Alderflies and the moth-like Trichopterte, or Caddis-flies, whose curious larvae
cases, composed of a variety of material according to the species, are very common in every pond
and stream.
The Scorpion-fly, Panorpa community is very common everywhere, and the beautiful
Lacewing-fly, or Golden Eye, Chrysopa vulgarly is often to be met with. Chrysopa per/a,
Megalomui hirtus, L., Hemerobius marginatus, Ephemera vu/gata, Leptiphlebia marginatat L.,
Leptocerus albifrons, L., Rhyacophila dorsa/ist Curt., and Anabolia nervosa are also recorded locally
by Backhouse.
HYMENOPTERA
Although the most interesting of all the insect tribes, the Hymenoptera have had but
little attention paid to them in this county. What has been done has been chiefly in the
aculeate section, in which only 101 species or varieties have so far been noted, while the Entomo-
phaga are almost a blank, and the Phytophaga have a list of only twenty-three names. Yet
there are nearly 400 Aculeata, about 600 Phytophaga, and a vast host of Entomophaga in the
British Isles, and no doubt Durham possesses its fair share for a northern county, but it waits
the advent of some painstaking entomologist to lay bare its riches in this deeply interesting
order.
ACULEATA
Ants, Watpf) and Bees
This is the highest section of the order. Their habits, especially those of the Social
species, suggest the possession of something very like a reasoning faculty, and their life histories
abound in interesting details. The wonderful adaptations of the various parts to the different
needs of each species also supply numberless points of fascinating study. The following list
of local species is chiefly that of Bold, to which but a few species have been added in the last
fifty years. Only one or two call for special notice. The tiny little red ant Monomorium
pharaonis, Linn., although not a native, has become a pest in several parts of the county, and
especially in the Dipton district, where some of the miners* houses have been rendered
uninhabitable by its abundance, and the District Council have had to attempt its destruction.
They seem to be incapable of living away from inhabited houses. The rare ant Ponera
contracta, Latr., is said to have been taken at South Shields, where also Mutilla europ<eay Linn.,
has occasionally been found, both probably introduced. f^espa austriaca, Pz., has been taken
at two places in the Derwent Valley by Mr. Robson of Birtley. As might be expected with
its cold northern situation and clayey soil, the county of Durham is weak in the section of the
sand wasps and solitary bees, whose habits require a light or sandy soil and the warm, sunny
south ; but it is strong in the more robust species, and nearly all the Bombi occur in the
county.
HETEROGYNA PONERID* MYRMICIDJK (continued)
FORMICID/E Ponera, Latr. Monomorium, Mayr
Formica, Linn. — contracta, Latr. South — pharaonis, Linn. Intro-
— rufa, Linn. Common Shieldi, very rare duced, but firmly estab-
— fusca, Linn. Abundant MYRMICIDJE lished
Lasius, Fab. Myrmica, Latr.
— fulginosus, Latr. Not com- — rubra, Linn.
mon r. kevinodis, Nyl. The FOSSORES
— flavus, De Gecr. Com- commonest here
mon r. ruginodis, Nyl. Abun- MUTILLIDJB
— niger, Linn. Not very dant Mutilla, Linn.
common r. scabrinodis, Nyl. — europxa, Linn. Has been
Campanotus sylvaticus has been Common taken occasionally at
taken alive at Bishof r. lobicornis, Nyl. South South Shields (Bold) and
Auckland in bananas Shields, rare S/iull (Backhouse)
95
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
POM PI LI D^
Pompilus, Fab.
— plumbeus, Fab. South
Shields
— gibbus, Fab. Abundant.
— pectinipes, V. de L. South
Shields, rare
Salius, Fab.
— exaltatus, Fab. Not com-
mon
SPHECIDJE
Pemphredon, Latr.
— lugubris, Latr. Common.
— shuckardi, Mor. Very
common
— lethifer, Shuck. Common.
Mimesa, Shuck.
— bicolor, Fab. Dertventside
Gorytes, Latr.
— tumidus, Panz. Gibside
— mystaceus, Linn. Abun-
dant
— quadrifasciatus, Fab. Der-
tventside
Nysson, Latr.
— spinosus, Fab. Swatwell
Mellinus, Fab.
— arvensis, Linn. Common
Crabro. Fab.
— leucostomus, Linn. Not
uncommon at Gibside
— podagricus, V. de L.
— quadrimaculatus, Dhlb.
Gibside, rare ; Birtley
(Robson)
— dimidiatus, Fab. Abundant
— chrysotomuSjLep.Common
— vagus, Linn. Common
— cribrarius, Linn. Common
— peltarius, Schieb. Axwell
Park, rare
DIPLOPTERA
VESPIDJE
Vespa, Linn.
— vulgaris, Linn. Very
abundant
— germanica, Fab. Not rare.
Birtley (Robson)
— rufa, Linn. Common
— austriaca, Pz. Shotley Bridge
and Ebchester (Robson)
— sylvestris, Scop. Hesleden,
Birtley (Robson)
— norvegica, Fab. Common
EmtBMM
Odynerus, Latr.
— spinipes, Linn. Common
— pictus, Curt. Gibside, rare ;
Birtley (Robson) ; Bishop
Auckland
- trimarginatus, Zett. Com-
mon
- trifasciatus,Oliv. Common
— parietinus, Linn. Very
common
ANTHOPHILA
OBTUSILINGUES
CoLLETIDJE
Collates, Latr.
— daviesana, Smith. Gibside
ACUTILINGUES
ANDRENID.S
Sphecodes, Latr.
— gibbus, Linn. Castle Eden,
Axtaell Park
— ephippia, Linn. Common
— subquadratus, Smith. Birt-
ley (Robson)
Halictus, Latr.
— rubicundus, Christ. Com-
mon
— cylindricus, Fab. Com-
mon
— albipes,Kirb. Gibside, scarce
— subfasciatus, Nyl. Gib-
sonees
— villosulus, Kirb. Gibside
— nitidiusculus, Kirb. Rare
— minutus, Kirb. Common
Andrena, Fab.
— albicans, Kirb. Very com-
mon
— rosae, Ps.
var. trimmerana, Kirb.
Common
— cineraria, Linn. Common
— fulva, Schr. Derwent Valley
(Robson) and Bishop
Auckland district
— clarkella, Kirb. Common
— nigroaenea, Kirb. Not un-
common
— gwynana, Kirb. Not
common
— furcata, Smith. Birtley
(Robson)
— cingulata, Fab. Ravens-
worth
— analis, Panz. Sfvaltcell,
not uncommon
— coitana, Kirb. Gibside, etc.,
not uncommon
— minutula, Kirb. Common
— proxima, Kirb. Gibside
(Bold)
— wilkella, Kirb. Birtley
(Robson)
Nomada, Fabr.
— succinta, Panz. Swalwell
— alternata, Kirb. Abundant
— ruficornis, Linn. Common
— bifida, Thorns. Bishop
Auckland (W. J. W.)
— borealis, Zett. Winlaton,
not uncommon
Apt DM
Chelostoma, Latr.
— florisomne, Linn. Com-
mon
96
APIDJE (continued)
Ccelioxys, Latr.
— elongata, Lep. On the
Bents at South Shields
Megachile, Latr.
— willughbiella, Kirb. Mar-
ley Hill
— circumcincta, Lep. Abun-
dant on the sea coast.
Birtley (Robson)
— centuncularis, Linn. Not
common
Osmia, Panz.
— rufa, Linn. Not uncom-
mon
— xanthomelana, Kirb. Rare
— caerulescens, Linn. Spar-
ingly
Anthophora, Latr.
— pilipes, Fab. Not uncom-
mon. Birtley (Robson)
— furcata, Panz. Gibside
Psithyrus, Lep.
— rupestris, Fab. Rare, al-
though its host, Bombus
lapidarius, is very com-
mon
— vestalis, Fourc. Like its
host, Bombus terrestris,
it is abundant through-
out the county
— barbutellus, Kirb. Com-
mon. It associates with
B. pratorum
— campestris, Panz. Very
common in association
with B. hortorum
Bombus, Latr.
— venustus, Smith. Not
common. Birtley (Rob-
son)
— agrorum, Fab. Very
common
— hortorum, Linn. Very
common
— latreillellus, Kirb. Gibside.
On the coast, etc.
r. distinguendus, Mor.
Birtley (Robson)
— sylvarum, Linn. Not rare
— derhamellus, Kirb. Rare.
Birtley (Robson)
— lapidarius, Linn. Com-
mon
— jonellus, Kirb. Gibside.
Not common
— pratornm, Linn. Com-
mon
— terrestris, Linn. Not very
common. Birtley (Rob-
son)
r. lucorum, Smith. The
commonest of the
genus
Apis, Linn.
— mellifica, Linn. Abundant
INSECTS
ENTOMOPHAGA
Ichneumon-flits^ etc.
The members of this large section have not been studied in the county. A good number
of species are to be found in the miscellaneous drawers of Lepidopterists and others, but they
await identification. The following are recorded from Durham in Buckler's Lepidopterous
Larva.
Platylabtus tricmgulatus, Grav., bred by Mr. Robson at Hartlepool from Eupithecia
pulchellata, Steph. (the Foglove Pug).
Paniicui testaceus, Grav., bred from Tethea subtusa (the Olive Moth).
Meteorus pu/chricornis, Wesm., bred from dgrotis agathina, Dup. (the Heath Rustic Moth).
Pimp/a graminelLe, Schr., bred from Orgyia antiqua. Linn, (the Vapourer Moth).
Apanteles astrarcbe, Mar., bred from Lyaena agestis, Hub. (the Brown Argus Butterfly).
Ichneumon ruficeps, Grav., bred from Selenia illunaria, Hub. (the Early Thorn Moth).
The last five were all bred by Mr. Gardner at Hartlepool.
Pimpla instigator, bred from pupa of Orgyia antiqua, Linn, (the Vapourer Moth), by Mr.
Robson of Hartlepool.
PHYTOPHAGA
Saw -flies, Wood-wasps, and Gall-flies
This section of the Hymenoptera has received very little attention in Durham, although
the species are often large and showy, and the variety in the shaping of the saw-like ovipositor
exceedingly interesting. No local entomologist has yet made a study of these insects, which
are entirely absent in the older county lists. A few of the larger forms, which had forced
themselves, so to speak, on local lepidopterists, I have found in their boxes of rejectamenta.
The Great Yellow Sirex or Wood-wasp (Sirex gigas, Linn.) is not uncommon in coal-
mines and woodyards, where it has been imported in the pit timber, and it is common in the
Shull woods, where it has undoubtedly bred. The Blue Sirex (Sirex juvencus) has also been
taken in pine woods on the upper Bedburn in such circumstances as to lead to the reasonable
probability of its being county bred. There, also, have been taken on birch these other giants
of the section, Cimbex and Trichiosoma .
The following meagre list contains all the local species that I have been able to verify,
but is probably scarcely a tithe of the number inhabiting the county.
TENTHREDINID^E
Tenthredo, Htg.
- livida, Linn. (Backhouse)
Bishop Auckland (W.)
- maculata, Fourc. (Backhouse)
B'tthop Auckland (W.)
- dispar, Klug. Shull (Back-
house)
- atra, Linn. Darlington (Back-
house)
- mesomela, Linn. Bishop
Auckland (W.)
- obsoleta, Klug. Birtley (Rob-
son)
Tenthredopsis, Costa.
- scutellaris, Fab. Bishop Auck-
land (W.)
- tristis, Ste. Bishop Auckland
(W.)
— inornata, Cam. Hesleden
(W.)
— nassata, Linn. Bishop Auck-
land (W.)
Macrophya, Dbm.
- ncglccta, Klug. (Backhouse)
Allantus, Jurine
- scrophularix, Linn. Birtley
(Robson), Bishop Auckland
(W.)
Allantus, Jurine
— tricinctus, Fab. Castle Eden
(Backhouse), Hesleden (W.)
— arcuatus, Forst. DarRngton
Dolerus, Jurine.
- lateritius, Klug. (Backhouse)
— fulviventris, Scop. DarRng-
ton (Backhouse), Harperley
(W.)
— palustris, Klug. Shull (Back-
house)
— anticus, Klug. Shull, etc.
(Backhouse), GtbiiJe (W.)
— gonagra, Fab. Shull (Back-
house), Gibside (W.)
Selandria, Leach
- serva, Fab. Gibside (W.)
Blennocampa, Htg.
— nigrita, Fab. (Backhouse)
Athalia, Leach
— lugens, Klug. (Backhouse)
Cladius, 111.
— pectinicornis, Fourc. (Back-
house)
— viminalis, Fall. (Backhouse)
Nematus, Panz.
— leucogaster, Htg. Mar ley
97
Nematus, Panz.
— ribesii, Scop. Bishop Auck-
land, etc. (W.)
Cimbex, Oliv.
— sylvarum, Fab. Bedburn
(Greenwell)
Trichiosoma, Leach.
— lucorum, Linn. Stockton
(Backhouse), Bedburn
(Greenwell)
— betuleti, Klug. Stockton (Back-
house), Bedburn (Green-
well), Birtley (Robson)
Abia, Leach.
- sericea, Linn. Darlington
(Backhouse)
Hylotoma, Leach.
- enodis, Linn. (Backhouse)
— ustulata, Linn. (Backhouse)
— pagana, Panz. (Backhouse)
SIRICIDjE
Sirex, Linn.
- gigas, Linn. About ports,
woodyards, and in coal-
pits, imported. Breeds in
Shull woods
— juvencus, Linn. Bedburn
(Greenwell)
13
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
COLEOPTERA
Beetles
In the county of Durham, the Coleoptera rank next after the Lepidoptera in the attention
they have received from local entomologists, but with two or three notable exceptions that
attention has been very slight. Fourteen species were recorded for the south of the county in
Hogg's Natural History of the Ficinity of Stockton in 1827. The Rev. George Ornsby gives a
list of 194 beetles in his sketches of Durham in 1846, but as some are included which have
not since been recorded they must be looked upon as somewhat doubtful. In the middle of
last century, Mr. J. T. Bold of Newcastle began issuing his lists of insects, mostly beetles, of
Northumberland and Durham, which he revised and completed in 1870. His catalogue,
omitting the species with only Northumberland localities, forms the foundation of the following
county list. The work was then carried on by Mr. J. Gardner of Hartlepool, who worked
hard for many years and added several new records for the county. And now, when failing
eyesight has compelled him to desist, the work has been taken up in the northern part of the
county by a most promising young entomologist, Mr. R. S. Bagnall of Winlaton, who has
not only confirmed several hundreds of Hold's records, but has added a considerable number of
new and rare species to the list. To both of these gentlemen, and also to Mr. C. S. Robson of
Birtley, I am indebted for a large amount of information which renders the following list,
though hurriedly compiled, a fairly correct record of the county species as at present known.
The order is that followed in Beare and Donnisthorpe's Catalogue of British Coleoptera published
last year (1904). The names of the authorities for the records are appended, as they give a
general indication of the locality, Bold's name standing for the north of the county in the
middle of the i gth century, Gardner's for the south of the county in the later half of the same
century, and Bagnall's for the north of the county in the beginning of the 2Oth century.1
CICINDELID^E
Cicindela, L.
— campestris, L. (Bold, Bag-
nail, Gardner)
CARABID^
Cychrus, F.
— rostratus, L. (Bold, Robson,
Bagnall)
Carabus, L.
— catenulatus, Scop. (Bold,
Bagnall, Gardner)
— nemoralis,Mull. (Bold) Near
Blanchland, Apr., 1903,
by Mr. Campbell (Bagnall)
— violaceus, L. (Bold, Robson,
Bagnall, Gardner)
— nitens, L. (Bold, Bagnall
Gardner)
v. niger, Sem. Teesdale
(Gardner)
— granulatus, L. (Bold)
— monilis,F. (Corder,Gardner)
— arvensis, Hbst. (Bold, Corder)
Notiophilus, Dum.
— biguttatus, F. (Bold, Robson,
Bagnall, Gardner)
— substriatus, Wat. (Bold,
Gardner)
— aquaticus, L. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— palustris, Duft. (Bold,
Bagnall)
Leistus, Froh.
— spinibarbis, F. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— fulvibarbis, Dj. (Bold,
Bagnall, Gardner)
— ferrugineus,L. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— rufescens, F. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
Nebria, Lat.
— brevicollis, F. (Bold, Gard-
ner) Also Red variety
occasionally (Bagnall)
— gyllenhali, Sch. (Bold, Gard-
ner)
Elaphrus, F.
— riparius, L. (Bold, Bagnall)
— cupreus, Duft. (Bold, Bagnall)
Loricera, Lat.
— pilicornis, F. (Bold, Bagnall)
Clivina, Lat.
— fossor, L. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— collaris, Hbst. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
Dyschirius, Bon.
— globosus, Hbst. (Bold)
Broscus, Pz.
— cephalotes, L. (Bold, Bag-
nall, Gardner)
Badister, Clair.
— bipustulatus, F. (Bold, Bag-
nall, Gardner)
— sodalis, Duft. Rare. Castle
Eden Dene (Bold)
Licinus, L.
— depressus, Pk. Very rare
(Bold, Gardner)
Stenolophus, Dj.
— vespertinus, Pz. Near Ryton
(Perkins)
Bradycellus, Er.
— placidus,Gyll. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— cognatus,Gyll. Rare. On the
mountains (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— distinctus, Dj. Very rare
(Bold). West Hartlepool,
one specimen (Gardner)
— verbasci, Duft. (Bold, Bag-
nail, Gardner)
— harpalinus, Dj. (Bold, Gard-
ner)
— collaris, Pk. (Bold, Gard-
ner)
— similis, Dj. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
Harpalus, Lat.
— puncticollis, Pk. (Bold,
Gardner)
— ruficornis, F. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— aeneus, F. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— tenebrosus, Dj. Very rare
(Bold)
— rubripes, Duft. (Gardner)
— latus, L. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
1 For further list of Coleoptera see Addenda at end of this article.
98
INSECTS
Harpalus, Lat.
— frcrlichi, Stm. Winlatm
(Bagnall)
Dichirotrichus, Duv.
- pubescens, Pk. (Bold, Gard-
ner)
Stomis, Clair.
— pumicatus, Pz. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
Platyderus, Steph.
— ruficollis, Marsh. On the
coast (Bold, Gardner)
Pterostichus, Er.
— cupreus, L. (Bold, Bagnall)
— versicolor, Stm. (Bold, Bag-
nall, Gardner)
— madidus, F. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— xthiops, Pz. (Bold, Gardner)
— vitreus, Dj. (Bold, Gardner)
— parumpunctatus, Germ.
(Bold, Bagnall)
- niger, Schal. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— rulgaris, L. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
- nigrita, F. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
- strenuui, Pz. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— diligens, Stm. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— picimanus, Duft. Grtatham,
very rare (Gardner)
— rernalis, Pz. (Bold, Bagnall)
— striola, F. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
Amara, Bon.
— fulva, De G. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
- apricaria, Pk. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— coniularis, Duft. Rarely met
with (Bold). Hartlepool,
very rare (Gardner)
— aulica, Pz. (Bold, Robson,
Bagnall, Gardner)
— convexiuscula. Marsh ballast
heaps at South Shield (Bold),
Hartlepool (Gardner)
— rufbcincta, Dj. Rare, Hartle-
pool (Gardner)
— bifrons, Gyll. Mostly on sea
coast (Bold)
— ovata, F. Hartlepool (Gard-
ner)
— similata.Gyll. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— acuminata, Pk. (Bold, Bag-
nall)
— tibialis, Pk. Bents near South
Shields (Bold)
— lunicollis, Schiod. (Bold,
Bagnall, Gardner)
— spreta, Dj. Hartlepool, local
(Gardner)
Amara, Bon.
— familiaris, Duft. (Bold, Bag-
nall, Gardner)
— lucida, Duft. Not un-
common, Hartlepool (Gard-
ner)
— trivialis,Gyll. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— communis, Pz. (Bold, Bag-
nall, Gardner)
— plebeia, Gyll. (Bold, Bag-
nail, Gardner)
Calathus, Bon.
- cisteloides, Pz. (Bold, Bag-
nall, Gardner)
— fuscus, F. (Bagnall, Gardner)
— flavipes, Fourc. (Bold, Bag-
nail, Gardner)
— mollis, Marsh. (Bold, Bag-
nail, Gardner)
— melanocephalus, L. (Bold,
Bagnall, Gardner)
v. nubigena, Hal. On the
moors (Bagnall)
— micropterus, Duft. (Bagnall,
Gardner)
Amphigynus, Hal.
— piceus, Marsh. (Bold, Bag-
nall, Gardner)
Taphria, Bon.
— nivalis, Pz. (Bold)
Pristonychus, Dj.
— terricola, Hbst. (Bold, Bag-
nail, Gardner)
Sphodrus, Clair.
— leucophthalmui, L. (Bold)
Anchomenus, Er.
— angusticollis, F. (Bold, Bag-
nall)
— dorsalis, Moll. (Bold, Bag-
nall, Gardner)
— albipes, F. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— oblongus, F. (Bold, Bagnall)
— marginatus, L. Near South
Shields (Bold). In the old
slake, Hartlepool, now a
dock (Gardner)
— seipunctatus, L. Rlanchland
moon (Campbell)
— parumpunctatus, F. (Bold,
Bagnall, Gardner)
— atratus, Duft. (Bold)
— viduus, Pz. v. moestus, Duft.
(Bold) Evidently com-
moner than the type
(Bagnall, Gardner)
— micans, Nic. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— fuliginosus, Pz. (Bold, Bag-
nail, Gardner)
— gracilis, Gyll. Near Burnop-
field (Bagnall)
— piceus, L. (Bold, Bagnall)
— ezpunctatus, L. Blanchland
Moors (Campbell, Bagnall)
99
Olisthopas, Dj.
— rotundatus, Pk. (Bold, Bag-
nail, Gardner)
Tachys, Schaum.
- focki, Hum. South Shields
(Bold)
— bistriatus, Duft. South Shields
(Bold)
— quadrisignatus, Duft. A single
specimen has been taken
at South Shields, probably
introduced (Bold)
Cillenus, Sam.
— lateralis, Sam. (Bold)
Bembidium, Lat.
— rufescens, Guer. (Bold, Bag-
nail, Gardner)
— quinquestriatum, Gyll. (Bold)
— obtusum, Stm. (Bold, Gard-
ner)
— guttula, F. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— mannerheimi, Sahl. Hartle-
pool (Gardner)
— biguttatum, F. (Bold, Gard-
ner)
— aeneum, Germ. (Bold, Bag-
nall, Gardner)
— clarki, Daws. (Bold, Gard-
ner)
— minimum, F. (Bold, Gard-
ner)
- schuppeli, Dj. ( \ Bold)
— gilvipes, Stm. (Bold, Gard-
ner)
— lampros, Hbst. (Bold, Bag-
nall)
— nigricorne, Gyll. Blanchlana
Moors (Bagnall)
— tibiale, Duft. (Bold, Bag-
nall)
— atrocaeruleum, Steph. (Bold,
Bagnall, Gardner)
— decorum, Pz. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— nitidulum, Marsh. (Bold,
Gardner)
— affine, Steph. (Bold)
— monticola, Stm. (Bold, Harris,
Gardner)
— stomoides, Dj. Rare (Bold,
Bagnall). leesdale, rare
(Gardner)
— quadriguttatum, F. (Bold)
Hartlepool, local (Gardner)
— lunatum, Duf. (Bold) Hartle-
pool, scarce (Gardner)
— testaceum, Duft. (Bold)
— concinnum, Steph. (Bold,
Bagnall, Gardner)
— femoratum, Stm. (Bold, Bag-
nail, Gardner)
— bruxellense, Wesm. (Bold)
— saxatile, Gyll. (Bold, Bag-
nail)
— andrese, F. (Bold, Gardner^
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
Bembidium, Lat.
— littorale, Ol. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— bipunctatum, L. (Bold, Bag-
nall)
— punctulatum, Drap. (Bold,
Bagnall, Gardner)
— prasinum, Duft. (Bold, Bag-
nail)
- paludosum, Pz. (Bold, Bag-
nail, Gardner)
Tachypus, Lac.
— flavipes, L. (Bold, Bagnall)
Greatham (Gardner)
Afipus, Sam.
— rnarinus, Strom. (Bold)
— robini, Lab. Confined to the
coast (Bold)
Trechus, Clair.
— discus, F. Greatham, one
specimen (Gardner)
— micros, Hbst. (Bold)
— lapidosus, Daws. (Bold)
— rubens, F. Wlnkton Mill
(Bold)
— minutus, F. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
- obtusus, Er. (Bold, Gardner)
— secalis, Pk. (Bold, Bagnall P)
Patrobus, Dj.
— excavatus, Pk. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— assimilis, Chaud. Teesdale
(Gardner)
Cymindis, Lat.
— vaporariorum, L. Blanchland
Moors (Bagnall) Teesdale,
very rare (Blatch)
Lebia, Lat.
- chlorocephala, Hoff. (Bold)
Sunder land (Corder), Har-
llefool (Gardner)
Demetrias, Bon.
— atricapillus, L. Rare (Bold,
Gardner)
Dromius, Bon.
- linearis, Ol. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— agilis, F. Rare (Bold)
— meridionalis, Dj. Gibstde,
(Bold, Bagnall, Gardner)
— quadrimaculatus, L. (Bold,
Bagnall, Gardner)
— quadrinotatus, Pz. (Bold,
Bagnall, Gardner)
— melanocephalus, Dj. (Bold,
Bagnall, Gardner)
— nigriventriSjTh. (Bold, Bag-
nail, Gardner)
Metabletus, Schl.
- foveola, Gyll. Marsden (Bold)
HALIPLIDJE
Brychius, Th.
— elevatus, Pz. (Bold)
Haliplus, Lat.
— obliquus, F. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— confinis, Steph. Marsden
(Bold, Gardner)
— mucronatus, Steph.
— flavicollis, Stm. (Bold)
— fulvus, F. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— variegatus, Stm. Very rare
(Bold)
— cinereus, Aub. (? Bold)
- ruficollis, De G. (Bold,
Gardner)
— fluviatilis,Aub. (Bold, Gard-
ner)
— striatus, Shp. Common at
Greatham (Gardner)
— lineatocollis, Marsh. (Bold,
Bagnall, Gardner)
DYTISCID^E
Noterus, Clair.
— sparsus, Marsh. Greatham
common (Gardner)
Laccophilus, Leach
— interruptus, Pz. (Bold, Gard-
ner)
Hyphydrus, 111.
— ovatus, L. (Bold, Gardner)
Ccelambus, Th.
— versicolor, Schal. (Bold)
— inaequalis, F. (Bold, Gardner)
— confluens,F. (Bold, Gardner)
— parallelogrammus,Ahr. (Bold,
Gardner, Bagnall)
— impressopunctatus, Schal.
(Gardner)
Deronectes, Shp.
— latus, Steph. Hartlepool sands,
rare (Gardner)
— assimilis, Pk. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— depressus, F. (Bold, Gard-
ner)
— 1 2-pustulatus, F. (Bold,
Gardner)
Hydroporus, Clair.
- pictus, F. (Bold, Gardner)
— granularis, L. (Bold)
— lepidus, Ol. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— rivalis, Gyll. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— septentrionalis, Gyll. (Bold,
Gardner)
— davisi, Curt. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— dorsalis, F. (Bold, Gardner)
— lineatus, F. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— tristis, Pk. (Bold)
— angustatus, Stm. (Bold)
— gyllenhali , Schiod. Rare (Bold)
— morio, Dj. (Bold)
100
Hydroporus, Clair.
— vittula, Er. (Bold, Gardner)
— palustris, L. (Bold, Gard-
ner)
— incognitus, Shp. Rare (Bold)
— erythrocephalus, L. (Bold,
Bagnall, Gardner)
— rufifrons, Duft. Boldon Flats
(Bold)
— melanarius, Stm. Rare (Bold,
Bagnall)
— mernnonius, Nic. (Bold,
Gardner)
— obscurus, Stm. (Bold)
— nigrita, F. (Bold)
— discretus, Fair. (Bold, Gard-
ner)
— pubescens, Gyll. (Bold,
Gardner)
— planus, F. (Bold, Gardner)
— lituratus, F. (Bold, Gardner)
— marginatus, Duft. Greatham
(Gardner)
— obsoletus, Aub. Greatham
(Gardner)
Agabus, Leach.
— guttatus, Pk. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— biguttatus, Ol. Hartlepool
(Gardner)
— paludosus,F. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— uliginosus, L. Boldon Flats
(Bold)
— unguicularis, Th. (Bold)
— didymus, Ol. Hartlepool and
Hesleden (Gardner)
— nebulosus, Forst. (Bold,
Bagnall, Gardner)
— conspersus, Marsh. (Bagnall,
Gardner)
— femoralis,Pk. (Bold, Bagnall)
— sturmi, Gyll. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— chalconotus, Pz. (Bold, Bag-
nail)
— bipustulatus, L. (Bold, Bag-
nall, Gardner)
Platambus, Th.
— maculatus, L. (Bagnall ?)
Ilybius, Er.
— fuliginosuSjF. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— fenestratus, F. Greatham
(Gardner)
— ater, De G. (Bold, Bagnall)
— obscurus, Marsh. (Bold)
— guttiger, Gyll. (Bold)
Rhantus, Lac.
— exoletus, Forst. (Bold, Bag-
nail)
— pulverosus, Steph. Rare,
(Bold, Gardner)
Colymbetes, Clair.
— fuscus, L. Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
INSECTS
Dytiscus, L.
— punctulatus, F. (Bold,Bagnall,
Gardner)
— marginalis,L. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
Acilius, Leach.
— sulcatus, L. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
GYRINID^E
Gyrinus, Geof.
— minutus, F. Not common
(Bold)
— natator, Scop. (Bold, Rob-
son, Bagnall, Gardner)
— elongatus, Aub. (Bold)
— bicolor,Pk. (Bold, Gardner)
— marinas, Gyll. (Bold, Bagnall)
— opacus, Sahl. (Bold)
Orcctochilus, Lac.
— villosus, MaU. (Bold, Bag-
nail, Gardner)
HYDROPHILID.fi
Hydrobius, Leach.
- fuscipcs,L. (Bold, Gardner)
Philhydrus, Sol.
— mari timus, Th. Greatham, one
specimen (Gardner)
— minutus, F. (Bold)
Anacxna, Th.
- globulus, Pk. (Bold, Bagnall)
— limbata, F. (Bold, Gardner)
Laccobius, Er.
— alutaceus, Th. Hartlepool
(Gardner)
— minutus, L. (Bold, Bagnall)
— bipunctatus, F. Hartlepool
(Gardner)
Limnebius, Leach.
— truncatellus, Thunb. (Bold,
Gardner)
Chxtarthria, Steph.
— seminulum, Pk. Winlatm
Mill (Hardy)
Helophorus, F.
— rugosus,Ol. (Bold, Bagnall)
— nnbilus, F. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
- aquaticus, L. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
v. aequ.il is, Th. Greatham
(Gardner)
— xneipennis,Th. (Bold,Gard-
ner)
— obscurus, Muls. v. shetland-
icus, Kuw. (Bold)
— affinis, Marsh. Greatham
(Gardner)
— brcvicollis,Th. (Bold, Gard-
ner)
Hydrochns, Leach.
— elongatus, Schal. BoldonFlatt
(Bold)
Henicocerus, Steph.
— exsculptus, Germ. (Bold,
Gardner)
Ochthebius, Leach.
— marinus, Pk. Greatham
(Gardner)
— pygmxus, F. (Bold)
— bicolon, Germ. (Bold, Bag-
nall, Gardner)
Hydraena, Kug.
— riparia, Kug. (Bold, Bagnall)
— nigrita,Germ. (Bold,Gardner)
— angustata, Stm. (Gardner)
— gracilis, Germ. (Bold)
— pygraza, Wat. Tyne (Bold)
— pulchella, Germ. (Bold)
Cyclonotum, Er.
— orbiculare, F. (Bold, Bagnall)
Sphxridium, F.
— scarabaeoides, L. (Bold, Bag-
nail, Gardner)
— bipnstulatum, F. (Bold, Bag-
nail, Gardner)
Cercyon, Leach.
— littoralis, Gyll. (Bold, Gard-
ner)
— dcprcssus, Steph. Very rare
(Bold)
— hxmorrhoidalis, F. (Bold,
Bagnall, Gardner)
— flavipes, F. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— lateralis, Marsh. (Bold, Bag-
nall)
— melanocephalus, L. (Bold,
Bagnall, Gardner)
— unipunctatus, L. (Bold,
Bagnall, Gardner)
— quisquilius, L. (Bold, Bag-
nall, Gardner)
— nigriceps, Marsh. (Bold)
— pygmaeus, 111. (Bold, Bagnall)
— terminatus, Marsh. (Bold,
Gardner)
— analis, Pk. (Bold, Bagnall)
Mcgasternum, Muls.
— bole tophagum, Marsh. (Bold,
Bagnall, Gardner)
Cryptopleurum, Muls.
— atomarium, Ol. (Bold, Bag-
nall, Gardner)
STAPHYLINID.fi
Aleochara, Gr.
— ruficornis, Gr. (Bold, Gard-
ner)
— fuscipes, F. (Bold, Gardner)
— lanuginosa, Gr. (Bold, Gard-
ner)
— mocsta, Gr. (Bold, Gardner)
— nitida, Gr. (Bold, Gardner)
v. bilineata, Gyll. Somewhat
rare. Confined to the coast
(Bold)
— morion, Gr. (Bold, Gardner)
101
Aleochara, Gr.
— grisea, Kr. Rare. Amongst
the algae on the shore
(Bold, Gardner)
— algarum, Fauv. (Bold)
— obscurella, Er. Hartlepool
Microglossa, Kr.
- pulla, Gyll. Gibside (Bold)
Oxypoda, Man.
— spectabilis, Mark. (Gardner,
Bagnall)
— lividipennis, Man. (Bold,
Bagnall)
— opaca, Gr. (Bold, Gardner)
— alter nans, Gr. (Bold, Gardner)
— exoleta, Er. Very rare. Near
South Shields (Bold)
— lentula, Er. Near Ravent-
laorth (Hardy)
— umbrata, Gyll. (Bold)
— nigrina, Wat. (Bold)
— longtuscula, Gr. (Bold)
— annularis, Sahl. (Bold)
Ischnoglossa, Kr.
— proliza, Gr. Saltwell, very
rare. (Bold)
Phlceopora, Er.
- reptans, Gr. (Bold)
Ocalea, Er.
— castanea, Er. (Bold, Gard-
ner)
— badia, Er. Hartlepool (Blatch)
Ilyobates, Kr.
— nigricollis, Pk. Coast and
Gibside (Bold)
Chilopora, Kr.
— longitarsis, Er. (Bold)
— rubicunda, Er. (Bold)
Drusilla, Leach.
— canaliculata, F. (Bold, Gard-
ner)
Callicerus, Gr.
— obscurus, Gr. (Bold)
Homalota, Man.
— pavens, Er. (Bold)
— cambrica, Woll. Hartlepool
(Gardner)
— planifrons, Wat. Sands, South
Shields (Bold)
— gregaria, Er. (Bold)
— imbccilla, Wat. Hartlepool
(Blatch)
— luridiponnis, Man. (Bold)
— gyllenhali, Th. Team tide
(Bold)
— hygrotopora, Kr. (Bold)
— elongatula, Gr. (Bold)
— volans, Scrib. (Bold)
— vestita, Gr. (Bold, Gardner)
— oblongiuscula, Shp. Team
tide (Hardy)
— silvicola, Fuss. Hartlepool
(Gardner)
— vicina, Steph. (Bold)
— pagana, Er. (Bold)
— graminicola, Gr. (BoldV
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
Homalota, Man.
— halobrectha, Shp. (Bold)
— puncticeps, Th. (Bold)
— occulta, Er. (? Bold)
— fungivora, Th. Team side
(Hardy)
— picipes, Th. Rare (Bold)
— caesula, Er. South Shields and
Marsden (Bold)
— circellaris, Gr. (Bold)
— immersa, Er. Rare (Bold)
— analis, Gr. (Bold, Gardner)
— depressa, Gyll. (Bold, Gard-
ner)
— xanthoptera, Steph. (Bold)
— euryptera, Steph. (Bold)
— trinotata, Kr. (Bold)
— corvina, Th. (? Bold)
— atricolor, Shp. (Bold)
- nigra, Kr. (Bold)
— germana, Shp. (Bold)
— cauta, Er. (Bold, Gardner)
— villosula, Kr. Saltwell, rare
(Bold)
- atramentaria, Gyll. (Bold,
Bagnall, Gardner)
— longicornis, Gr. (Bold, Bag-
nall)
- sordida, Marsh. (Bold, Gard-
ner)
— aterrima, Gr. (Bold, Bagnall)
— pygmaea, Gr. (Bold)
— muscorum, Bris. (Bold)
— pilosiventris, Th. Rare (Bold)
— laticollis, Steph. (Bold, Gard-
ner)
— fungi, Gr. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
v. clientula, Er. (Bold)
Ischnopoda, Th.
— coerulea, Sahl. (Bold)
Tachyusa, Er.
— flavitarsis, Sahl. (Bold)
— umbratica, Er. (Bold)
Myrmecopora, Saulcy.
— uvida, Er. Marsden (Hardy)
Falagria, Steph.
— sulcata, Pk. (Bold)
— thoracica, Curt. Very rare.
(Bold)
— obscura, Gr. (Bold)
Autalia, Steph.
— impressa, Ol. (Bold, Gardner)
— rivularis, Gr. (? Bagnall)
Gyrophaena, Man.
— pulchella, Heer. Hartlepool
(Gardner)
— affinis, Man. (Bold)
— gentilis, Er. (Bold, Gardner)
— nana, Pk. (Bold, Gardner)
— minima, Er. (Bold)
— laevipennis, Kr. (Bold)
— manca, Er. Rare (Bold,
Gardner)
- strictula, Er.
ner)
Agaricochara, Kr.
— laevicollis, Kr. RavenstvortA
(Hardy)
Leptusa, Kr.
— fumida, Er. (Bold)
Sipalia, Rey.
- ruficollis, Er. (Bold)
Bolitochara, Man.
— lucida, Gr. Castle Eden Dene
(Bold)
— lunulata, Pk. (Bold)
— obliqua, Er. (Gardner, Bag-
nall)
Phytosus, Curt.
— spinifer, Curt. Hartlepool
(Blatch)
— balticus, Kr. Hartlepool (Gard-
ner)
Oligota, Man.
- inflata, Man. (Bold)
Myllaena, Er.
— dubia, Gr. (Bold)
— elongata, Mat. (Bold)
— brevicornis, Mat. Hartlepool
(Gardner)
Gymnusa, Gr.
— brevicollis, Pk. (Bold)
— laeviusculus, Man. Hartlepool
(Gardner)
Conosoma, Kr.
— littoreum, L. (Bold, Bag-
nall)
— pubescens, Gr. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— immaculatum, Steph. Marsden
(Perkins)
— lividum, Er. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
Tachyporus, Gr.
— obtusus, L. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— solutus, Er. Very rare. (Bold,
Gardner f)
— chrysomelinus, L. (Bold,
Bagnall, Gardner)
— humerosus, Er. (Bold, Gard-
ner)
— hypnorum, F. (Bold, Gardner)
— pusillus, Gr. (Bold, Gardner)
— brunneus, F. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— transversalis, Gr. (Bagnall)
Lamprinus
— saginatus, Gr. Hartlepool, very
rare (Gardner)
Cilea, Duv.
— silphoides, L. (Bold, Gardner)
Tachinus, Gr.
— flavipes, F. Hartlepool (Gard-
ner)
— humeralis, Gr. (Bold, Gard-
ner)
— proximus, Kr. Very rare
(Bold, Gardner)
— pallipes, Gr. Hartlepool (Gard-
ner)
102
Tachinus, Gr.
— rufipes, De G. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— subterraneus, L. (Bold, Bag-
nail, Gardner)
— marginellus, F. (Bold, Gard-
ner)
— laticollis, Gr. (Bold, Gard-
ner)
— collaris, Gr. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— elongatus, Gyll. (Bold, Bag-
nall, Gardner)
Megacronus, Th.
— analis, Pk. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— inclinans, Gr. Ravensworth,
i spec. (Bold) ; Hartlepool,
rare (Gardner)
Bryoporous, Kr.
— castaneus, Hardy. Hartlepool,
rare (Gardner)
Bolitobius, Steph.
— lunulatus, L. (Bold, Gardner)
— trinotatus, Er. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— exoletus, Er. (Bold, Gardner)
— pygmaeus, F. (Bold, Gardner)
Mycetoporus, Man.
— splendens, Marsh. Rare (Bold,
Gardner)
— lepidus, Gr. (Bold, Gardner)
— longulus, Man. Rare, (Bold,
Gardner)
— nanus, Er. Hartlepool, abun-
dant (Gardner)
Quedius, Leach.
— longicornis, Kr. Hartlepool xtA
Teesdale, rare (Gardner)
— lateralis, Gr. (Bold, Gardner)
— mesomelinus, Marsh. (Bold)
— fulgidus, F. (Bold, Gardner).
— cinctus, Pk. (Bold, Gardner)
— fuliginosus, Gr. (Bold, Bag-
nall, Gardner)
— tristis, Gr. (Bold, Gardner)
— molochinus, Gr. (Bold, Gard-
ner)
— picipes, Man. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— nigriceps, Kr. Rare (Bold)
— fumatus, Steph. (Bold, Gard-
ner)
— maurorufus, Gr. Gibside (Bold)
— umbrinus, Er. Rare (Bold,
Gardner)
— scintillans, Gr. Very rare
(Bold, Gardner)
— auricomus, Kies. Hartlepool
and Teesdale (Gardner)
— rufides.Gr. South Shields (KolA,
Bagnall, Gardner)
— attenuatus, Gyll. (Bold, Gard-
ner)
— semiaeneus, Steph. (Bold,
Bagnall)
INSECTS
Quedius, Leach.
— fulvicollij, Steph. Rare (Bold,
Bagnall)
— boops, Gr. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
Creophilus, Man.
— maxillosus, L. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
v. ciliaris, Steph. Derwtnt
valley, rare (Bagnall)
Leistotrophus, Pert.
— nebulosus, F. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— murinus, L. Very rare (Bold)
Staphylinus, L.
— pnbescens, De G. (Bold,
Gardner, Bagnall)
— stercorarius, Ol. (Bold, Gard-
ner)
— erythropterus, L. (Bold, Bag-
nall)
— cacsareus, Ceder. Not fre-
quent (Bold)
Ocypus, Er.
— olens, Moll. (Bold, Robson,
Bagnall, Gardner)
— limilis, F. Rare. (Bold)
— brunnipes, F. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— fiiscatus, Gr. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— cupreus, Ross. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— ater, Gr. (Bagnall?) Grtatham
(Gardner)
— morio, Gr. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
Philonthus, Curt.
— splendens, F. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— in termed! us, Bois. Very rare.
Hartlefxtol (Hardy)
— laminatus, Crcntz. (Bold,
Bagnall)
— aeneus, Ross. (Bold, Gardner)
— proximus, Kr. (Bold)
— addendus, Shp. (Bold)
— carbonarius,Gyll.Rare (Bold)
— acutatus, Er. Sparingly (Bold)
— decorus, Gr. (Bold, Gardner)
— politus, F. (Bold, Gardner)
— varius, Gyll. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— marginatus, F. (Bold, Gard-
ner)
— albipes, Gr. Rare and local
(Bold)
— umbratilis, Gr. Not common
(Bold, Gardner)
— cephalotes, Gr. (Bold, Gard-
ner)
— fimetarius, Gr. (Bold, Bag-
nail, Gardner)
— sordidus, Gr. (Bold)
— ebeninus.Gr. (Bold,Gardner)
— rumigatut, Er. (Bold)
Philonthus, Curt.
— debilis, Gr. (Bold, Gardner)
— sanguinolentus, Gr. Rare.
Coast (Bold, Gardner)
— longicornis, Steph. (Bold)
— varians, Pk. (Bold, Gardner)
— ventralis, Gr. (Bold)
— discoideus, Gr. (Bold, Gard-
ner)
— micans.Gr. Bo/Jim Ffatj (Bold)
— nigritulus, Gr. (Bold)
— trossulus, Nor. (Gardner)
— puella, Nor. Not common.
(Bold, Gardner)
Cafius, Steph.
— fucicola, Curt. (Hardy, Gard-
ner)
— zantholoma, Gr. (Bold, Bag-
nall, Gardner)
Xantholinus, Ser.
— fulgidus, F. Rare. (Bold)
— glabratus, Gr. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— punctulatus, Pk. (Bold, Bag-
nail, Gardner)
— ochraceus, Gyll. (Bold)
— tricolor, F. (Bold, Gardner)
— linearis, Ol. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— longiventris, Heer. (Bagnall)
Leptacinus, Er.
— parumpunctatus, Gyll. Not
frequent (Bold)
— batychrus, Gyll. Rather rare
(Bold)
— linearis, Gr. (Bold)
Baptolinus, Kr.
— alternans, Gr. (Bold, Bag-
nall, Gardner)
Othius, Steph.
— fulvipennis, F. (Bold, Bag-
nall, Gardner)
— melanocephalus, Gr. (Bold,
Bagnall, Gardner)
— myrmecophilus, Kies. (Bold,
Gardner)
Lathrobium, Gr.
— elongatum, L. (Bold, Gard-
ner)
— boreale, Hoch. (Bold, Gard-
ner)
— fulvipenne, Gr. (Bold, Bag-
nall, Gardner)
— brunnipes, F. (Bold, Bag-
nall, Gardner)
— multipunctum, Gr. Rare,
Denoent, Tyae, etc. (Bold)
Cryptobium, Man.
- glaberrimum, Hbst. (?Bold)
Stilicus, Lat.
— rufipes, Germ. Rare (Bold)
— orbiculatus, Pk. (Bold)
— affinis, Er. (Bold, Gardner)
Medon, Steph.
— pocofcr, Peyr. Rare. South
Shield (Bold)
103
Medon, Steph.
— fusculus, Man. Rare. South
Shields (Bold). The only
north record (?)
— melanocephalus, F. Not
common (Bold)
— obsoletus, Nor. Very rare.
South Shields (Bold)
Lithocharis, Lac.
— ochracea, Gr. (Bold)
Evaesthctus, Gr.
- fcaber, Gr. (Bagnall ?)
Dianous, Curt.
— ccerulescens, Gyll. (Bagnall,
Gardner)
Stenus, Lat.
— biguttatus, L. (Bold, Bag-
nall)
— guttula, Moll. (Bold)
— bimaculatus, Gyll. (Bold,
Bagnall, Gardner)
— juno, F. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— speculator, Lac. (Bold, Bag-
nail, Gardner)
— providus, Er., v. rogeri, Kr.
Rare (Bold, Bagnall)
— buphthalmus, Gr. (Bold,
Bagnall)
— melanopus, Marsh. (Bold)
— atratulus, Er. (Bold)
— canaliculatus, Gyll. (Bold)
- pusillus, Er. (Bold, Bagnall)
— declaratus, Er. (Bold)
— argus, Gr. Very rare (Bold)
— nigritulus, Gyll. Rare (Bold,
Gardner)
— brunnipes, Steph. (Bold,
Bagnall)
— subxneus, Er. (Bold,Gardner)
— ossium, Steph. (Bold, Gard-
ner)
— impressus, Germ. (Bold,
Bagnall, Gardner)
— pallipes, Gr. Rare. Gibside
and Ravensworth (Hardy)
— flavipes, Steph. (Bold, Bag-
nall, Gardner)
— pubescens, Steph. (Bold)
— binotatus, Ljun. (Bold, Bag-
nall)
— pallitarsis, Steph. (Bold,
Bagnall)
— bifoveolatus, Gyll. (Bold,
Bagnall)
— nitidiusculus, Steph. (Bold)
— picipet, Steph. (Bold, Gard-
ner)
— similis, Hbst. (Bold, Bagnall)
— paganus, Er. Rare. Gibside
and Ravensworth (Bold)
Bledius, Man.
— arenarius, Pk. (Bold)
— subterraneus, Er. Dement
(Bold)
— opacus, Block. Deneent (Bold)
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
Platystethus, Man.
— arenarius, Fourc. (Bold,
Gardner)
Oxytelus, Gr.
- rugosus, F. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— sculptus, Gr. (Bold)
— laqueatus, Marsh. (Bold,
Gardner)
— sculpturatus, Gr. (Bold,
Gardner)
— maritimus, Th. (Bold, Gard-
ner)
— nitidulus, Gr. (Bold, Gard-
ner)
— complanatus, Er. (Bold)
— tetracarinatus, Block. (Bold)
Haploderus, Steph.
— caelatus, Gr. Rare (Bold)
Trogophlceus, Man.
— arcuatus, Steph. Very rare
(Bold)
- bilineatus, Steph. (Bold)
— elongatulus, Steph. Rare.
Algx on coast (Bold)
— pusillus, Gr. (Bold)
Syntomium, Er.
— seneum, Mttll. (Bold, Gard-
ner)
Coprophilus, Kr.
— striatulus, F. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
Anthophagus, Gr.
— testaceus, Gr. (Bold, Bag-
nall, Gardner)
Geodromicus, Redt.
— plagiatus, Heer., v. nigrita,
Mttll. Dervient (Bold)
Lesteva, Kr.
— longelytrata, Gcez. (Bold,
Bagnall, Gardner)
— punctata, Er. (Bold, Gard-
ner)
Acidota, Steph.
— crenata, F. (Hardy, Gard-
ner)
— cruentata, Man. Teeidale
(Gardner)
Olophrum, Er.
— piceum, Gyll. (Bold, Bag-
nall, Gardner)
— fuscum, Gr. Hartlepool
(Gardner)
Lathrimaeum, Er.
— atrocephalum, Gyll. (Bold,
Bagnall, Gardner)
— unicolor, Steph. (Bold, Bag-
nail, Gardner)
Deliphrum, Er.
— tectum, Pk. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
Micralymma, West.
— brevipenne, Gyll. Sparingly.
On coast (Bold)
Philorinum, Kr.
— sordidum, Steph. (Bold)
Coryphium, Steph.
— angusticolle, Steph. (Bold)
Homalium, Gr.
— rivulare,Pk. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— rugulipenne, Rye. Hartle-
pool (Gardner)
— laeviusculum, Gyll. (Bold,
Gardner)
— riparium, Th. (Bold, Gard-
ner)
— allardi, Fair. (Bold)
— exiguum, Gyll. Rare (Bold)
— oxyacanthae, Gr. (Bold,
Gardner)
— excavatum, Steph. (Bold)
— caesum, Gr. (Bold)
— pusillum, Gr. (Bold)
— rufipes, Fourc. Not com-
mon (Bold)
— vile, Er. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— iopterum, Steph. Rare (Bold)
— concinnum, Marsh. (Bold,
Bagnall, Gardner)
— striatum, Gr. Boldon Flats
(Bold)
Acrulia, Th.
— inflata, Gyll. Ravensworth
(Hardy)
Eusphalerum, Kr.
— primula;, Steph. Gibside
(Bold), Primrose and
Guelderrose ; Gibside (Bag-
nail) ; Hartlepool (Gard-
ner)
Anthobium, Steph.
— mmutum, F. (Bold, Gard-
ner)
— ophthalmicum, Pk. (Bold,
Gardner)
— torquatum, Marsh. (Bold,
Bagnall)
- sorbi, Gyll. (Bold, Bagnall)
Proteinus, Lat.
— ovalis, Steph. (Bold, Bag-
nall)
— brachypterus, F. (Bold, Bag-
nail, Gardner)
Megarthrus, Steph.
— denticollis, Beck. (Bold)
- affinis, Moll. (Bold)
— depressus, Pk. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— sinuatocollis, Lac. (Bold,
Gardner)
Phlceocharis, Man.
— snbtilissima, Man. (Bold)
Clambus, Fisch.
— armadillo, De G. (Bold)
— minutus, Stm. (Bold)
SILPHIDjE
Agathidium, 111.
— nigripenne, Kug. (Bold,
Bagnall, Gardner)
I04
Agathidium, 111.
— atrum, Pk. (Bagnall ?)
— marginatum, Stm. (Bold,
Gardner)
— varians, Beck. (Bold, Bag-
nail ?)
— rotundatum, Gyll. Rare
(Bold). Lockhaugh (Bagnall)
— nigrinum, Stm. Gibside
(Bold)
Liodes, Lat.
— humeralis, Kug. (Bold, Bag-
nall, Gardner)
— glabra, Kug. Rare (Bold,
Bagnall)
Cyrtusa, Er.
— minuta, Ahr. One specimen
in a pond near Hartlepool
(Gardner)
Anisotoma, 111.
— dubia, Kug. (Bold, Gard-
ner, Bagnall)
— badia, Stm. Hartlepool (Gard-
ner)
— ovalis, Schm. (Bold)
— punctulata, Gyll. (Bold,
Gardner)
— calcarata, Er. (Gardner)
— curvipes, Schm. Hartlepool,
one specimen (Gardner)
— triepkei, Schm. Hartlepool,
one specimen (Gardner)
— rugosa, Steph. Hartlepool
(Gardner)
Colenis, Er.
- dentipes, Gyll. (Bold)
Hydnobius, Schm.
— perrisi, Fair. Gateshead,vvry
rare (Bold) ; Hartlepool,
numerous (Gardner)
— punctatissimus, Steph. Very
rare. Saltwell (Kirwood)
— punctatus, Stm. Hartlepool,
one specimen (Gardner)
Necrophorus, F.
— humator, Gcez. (Bold, Rob-
son, Bagnall, Gardner)
— mortuorum, F. (Bold, Bag-
nail, Gardner)
— vestigator, Hers. Birtley
(Robson)
— ruspator, Er. (Bold, Bag-
nail, Gardner)
— vespillo, L. (Bold, Bagnall)
Necrodes, Wilk.
— littoralis, L. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
Silpha, L.
- tristis, 111. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— nigrita, Cr. (Bold, Bag-
nail)
— obscura, L. Rare (Bold,
Gardner)
— quadripunctata, L. Rare
Gibside (Perkins)
INSECTS
Silpha, L.
- thoracica, L. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— rugosa, L. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
- sinuata, F. Rare (Bold,
Gardner)
— dispar, Hbst. South Shields,
rare (Bold)
- laevigata, F. (Bold, Gard-
ner)
- atrata, L. (Bold, Robson,
Bagnall, Gardner)
v. brunnea, Hbst. Uncom-
mon, Dement Valley (Bag-
nail, Gardner)
Choleva, Lat.
- angustata, F. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
- cisteloides, Fr8h. (Bold, Bag-
nal, Gardner)
— spadicea, Stm. (Bagnall)
- agilis, 111. Marsden (Hardy,
Bagnall, Gardner)
- velox, Spence. (Bold, Bag-
nal, Gardner)
- wilkini, Spence. (Bold, Bag-
nal, Gardner)
— anisotomoides, Spence. (Bold)
- fusca, Pz. (Gardner)
— nigricans, Spence. (Bold,
Bagnall, Gardner)
— longula, Kell. Hartlepool,
very rare. (Gardner)
— morio, F. Rare (Bold, Bag-
nall, Gardner)
— grandicollis, Er. (Bold, Bag-
nall, Gardner)
- nigrita, Er. (Bold, Bagnall)
— tristis, Pz. (Bold, Gardner)
— kirbyi, Spence. (Bold)
— chrysomeloides, Pz. (Bold,
Bagnall, Gardner)
- fumata, Spence. (Bagnall,
Gardner)
- watsoni, Spence. (Bold)
Catops, Pk.
- scriceus, Pz. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
Colon, Hbst.
- brunneum, Lat. Rare (Bold)
— dcnticulatum, Kr. Hartlepool,
one specimen. (Gardner)
Scydmxnus, Lat.
- collaris, Moll. (Bold)
- pusillus, Mall. Hotbeds,
Gileigate Moor, Durham.
(Little)
Euconnns, Th.
- hirticollis, 111. Hotbeds,
Giltsgate Moor, Durham.
(Little)
— fimetarius, Chaud. (Bold)
Eomicrus, Lap.
— tarsatus,Mall. DurA<im(Bo\d),
Tetsdale (Gardner)
PSELAPHID^E
Bythinus, Leach.
- puncticollis, Den. (Bold)
- bulbifer, Reich. (Bold, Bag-
nall r)
- curtisi, Den. Gibside (Hardy)
- securiger, Reich. Ravensivorth
(Bold)
— burrelli, Den. Hartlepool
(Blatch)
Bryaxis, Leach.
— juncorum, Leach. (Bold)
Euplectus, Leach.
— nanus, Reich. (Bold)
— minutus, Marsh. (Bold)
Trichopteryx, Kirb.
- thoracica, Waltl. (? Bold)
— atomaria, De G. (Bold)
— grandicollis, Man. (? Bold)
— lata, Mots. Rather rare (Bold)
— fascicularis, Hbst. Very rare
(Bold)
- sericans, Heer. Very rare
(Bold)
- picicornis, Man. Rare (Bold)
— montandoni, All. Very rare
(Bold)
- chevrolati, All. Rare (Bold)
Nephanes, Th.
— titan, New. Very rare (Bold)
Ptilium, Er.
- fbveolatum, All. Rare (Bold)
Ptenidium, Er.
— punctatum, Gyll. Coast, on
Alg* (Bold)
— nitidum, Heer. (Bold)
— evanescens, Marsh. (Bold)
- wankowiezi, Mat. (?Bold)
— fbrmicetorum, Kr. Very rare
(Bold)
PHALACRID^E
Phalacrns, Pk.
— corruscus, Pk. South Shields
(Hardy)
Olibrus, Er.
— aeneus, F. Winlatw Mill
(Bagnall)
COCCINELLID.*
Hippodamia, Muls.
— ij-punctata, L. (Bold, Bag-
nall)
Adalia, Muls.
— obliterata, L. (Bold, Bag-
nall)
— bipunctata, L. (Bold, Bag-
nall, Gardner)
105
Mysia, Muls.
— oblongoguttata, L. (Bold,
Bagnall, Gardner)
Anatis, Muls.
— ocellata, L. Not common
(Bold, Bagnall, Gardner)
Cocci nella, L.
— lo-punctata, L. (Bold, Bag-
nall, Gardner)
— hieroglyphica, L. Rare (Bold)
- u-punctata, L. (Bold, Rob-
son, Bagnall, Gardner)
- 5-punctata, L. (Bold) Rare
(Bagnall)
— 7-punctata, L. (Bold, Rob-
son, Bagnall, Gardner)
Halyzia, Muls.
— 14-guttata, L. (Bold)
- 1 8-guttata, L. (Bold, Bag-
nall)
- 22-punctata, L. (Bold, Bag-
nail, Gardner)
Micraspis, Redt.
- l6-punctata, L. (Bold)
Scymnus, Kug.
— pygmasus, Fourc. Hartlepool
(Hardy)
— suturalis, Thumb. (Bold)
— testaceus, Mots. (Bold)
Exochomus, Redt.
- quadripustulatus, L. (Bold)
Rhizobius, Steph.
- litura, F. (Bold, Bagnall)
Coccidula, Kug.
- rufa, Hbst. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
ENDOMYCHID^E
Mycetsea, Steph.
— hirta, Marsh. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
Endomychus, Pz.
- coccincus, L. (Bold)
EROTYLIDjE
Triplax, Pk.
- russica, L. Gibside (Bagnall)
- aenea, Schal. (Bold, Bagnall)
— bicolor, Gyll. Gibiide (Bag-
nall)
COLYDIID^E
Cerylon, Lat.
— histeroides, F. Rare (Bold,
Bagnall)
— fagi, Bris. Winlaton Mill,
rotten wood, one specimen
(Bagnall)
— fcrrugincum, Steph. Wm-
laton, Gibiide, &c., in rotten
oak (Bagnall)
Murmidius, Leach.
— ovalis, Beck. Has been found
•lire in Bengal rice (Bold)
'4
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
HISTERID^E.
Hister, L.
— unicolor, L. (Bold, Bagnall)
— cadaverinus, HofF. (Bold,
Bagnall, Gardner)
— succicola, Th. (Bold, Bag-
nall, Gardner)
— purpurascens, Hbst. Very
rare (Bold)
— neglectus, Germ. Very rare
(Bold)
— carbonarius, 111. (Bold, Bag-
nall F)
— 12-striatus, Schr. (Bold)
— bimaculatus, L. (Bold, Bag-
nall, Gardner)
Carcinops, Mars.
— 14-striata, Steph. Rare, South
Shields and Jarrovi (Bold)
Gnathoncus, Duv.
— nannetensis, Mars. Rare.
Roker (? Peacock)
Saprinus, Er.
— nitidulus, Pk. (Bold, Gard-
ner)
— aeneus, F. (Bold, Gardner)
— virescens, Pk. Marsden
(Wailes, Gardner)
Hypocaccus, Th.
— rugifrons, Pk. South Shields
(Bold)
Pachylopus, Er.
— maritimus, Steph. (Bold)
Stockton
Acritus, Lee.
— minutus, Hbst. (Bold)
Onthophilus, Leach.
— striatus, F. (Bold, Gardner)
MICROPEPLID^E.
Micropeplus, Lat.
— porcatus, Pk. (Bold, Gard-
ner)
— staphylinoides, Marsh. Rare
(Bold, Gardner)
— margaritz, Duv. Rather rare
(Bold, Gardner)
NITIDULID^E.
Brachypterus, Kug.
— gravidus, 111. Winlaton (Bag-
nall)
— pubescens, Er. (Bold, Bag-
nail)
— urticae, F. (Bold, Bagnall)
Cercus, Lat.
— pedicularius, L. (Bold) Gib-
side (Bagnall)
— bipustulatus, Pk. (Bold, Bag-
nall)
— rufilabris, Lat. (Bold, Bag-
nail)
Carpophilus, Leach.
— hemipterus, L. (Bold)
Epuraea, Er.
— aestiva, L. (Bold, Bagnall)
— melina, Er. Very rare (Bold,
Bagnall)
— longula, Er. Gib side, one
male (Bagnall)
— deleta, Er. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— parvula, Stm. Rather rare
(Bold, Bagnall)
— obsoleta, F. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— pusilla, 111. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
Nitidula, F.
— bipustulata, L. (Bold, Bag-
nall)
— rufipes, L. Tyneiide (Hardy)
— flexuosa, F. South Shields, in-
troduced (Bold)
Soronia, Er.
— punctatissima, 111. (Bold)
— grisea, L. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
Omosita, Er.
— depressa, L. (Bold, Bagnall)
— colon, L. (Bold, Bagnall)
— discoidea, F. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
Pocadius, Er.
— ferruginous, F. Gibside (Bold)
Meligethes, Kirb.
— rufipes, Gyll. Rare (Bold,
Bagnall)
— lumbaris, Stm. Not common
(Bold, Gardner)
— aeneus, F. (Bold, Gardner)
— viridescens, F. (Bold, Bag-
nall, Gardner)
— pedicularius, Gyll. Very rare
(Bold)
— flavipes, Stm. (Bold, Bagnall)
— picipes, Stm. (Bold, Bag-
nail ?)
— obscurus, Er. Near Winlaton
(Bagnall)
— erythropus, Gyll. (Bold,
Gardner)
— brevis, Stm. (Bold)
v. mutabilis, Rosen. Hartle-
pool (Gardner), rare
Cychramus, Kug.
— luteus, F. Rare (Bold, Bag-
nall, Gardner)
— fungicola, Heer. (Bold, Bag-
nall, Gardner)
Ips, F.
— quadriguttata, F. Rare
(Bold)
— quadripunctata, Hbst. (Bold)
Rare. Winlaton Mill (Bag-
nall)
— quadripustulata, L. (Bold)
Teesdale (Gardner)
Pityophagus, Shuck.
— ferrugineus, F. (Bold)
106
Rhizophagus, Hbst.
— cribratus, Gyll. Teesdale
(Gardner)
— depressus, F. (Bold, Bag-
nail)
— perforatus, Er. Rowland's Gill
(Bagnall)
— parallelocollis, Gyll. (Bold)
— ferrugineus, Pk. (Bold,
Bagnall)
— dispar, Pk. (Bold) Lock-
haugh (Bagnall)
— bipustulatus, F. (Bold) Der-
went Valley, common (Bag-
nail)
— coeruleipennis, Sahl. Rare.
Dertaent (Hardy)
TROGOSITID^:
Tenebrioides, Pill.
— mauritanicus, L. Imported
in rice (Bold) . Byermoor (F
Johnson)
Thymalus, Lat.
— limbatus, F. Very rare.
Ravensworth (Bold)
MONOTOMID-ffi
Monotoma, Hbst.
— picipes, Hbst. (Bold)
— rufa, Redt. Very rare. South
Shields (Bold)
— tongicollis, Gyll. (Bold)
LATHRIDIID.E
Holoparamecus, Curt.
— depressus, Curt. Sunder/and
(Bold)
Lathridius, Hbst.
— lardarius, De G. (Bold,
Bagnall)
— bergrothi, Reit. Common
in cellars of Winlaton (Bag-
nail)
Coninomus, Th.
— nodifer, West. (Bold, Bag-
nall)
Enicmus, Th.
— transversus, Ol. (Bold, Bag-
nail)
— brevicornis, Man. (Bold,
Bagnall)
Corticaria, Marsh.
— pubescens, Gyll. (Bold, Bag-
nall)
— crenulata, Gyll. (Bold, Bag-
nall)
— denticullata, Gyl. (Bold,
Bagnall)
— serrata, Pk. (Bold)
— umbilicata, Beck. Sea banks
(Bold)
— fulva, Com. (Bold, Bagnall)
— elongata, Gyll. (Bagnall)
— fenestralis, L. (Bold)
INSECTS
Melanophthalma, Mots.
— gibbosa, Hbst. (Bold)
— fuscula, Hum. (Bold, Bag-
nail)
CUCUJID.fi
Lzmophloeus, Er.
— ferrugineus, Steph. Imported
in grain (Bold, Gardner)
Nausibius, Redt.
— dentatus, Marsh. Imported
(Bold)
Silvanus, Lat.
— surinamensis, L. (Bold)
BYTURID.fi
Byturus, Lat.
— sambuci, Scop. Not frequent
(Bold)
— tomcntosus, F. (Bold, Bag-
nail, Gardner)
CRYPTOPHAGIDjE
Antherophagus, Lat.
— nigricornis, F. (Bold)
- pallens, Ol. (Bold, Bagnall)
Cryptophagus, Hbst.
— setulosus, Stm. (Bold, Bag-
nall, Gardner)
— pilosus, Gyll. (Bold, Bag-
nail, Gardner)
— punctipennis, Bris. South
ShieUs (Bold)
— saginatus, Stm. (Bold)
— umbratus, Er. (Bold)
— scanicus, L. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— badius, Stm. Rare (Bold)
— validus, Kr. South Shields
(Bold)
— dentatus, Hbst. (Bold, Bag-
nall, Gardner)
— distinguendus, Stm. Rare
(Bold)
- acutangulus, Gyll. (Bold,
Gardner)
— fumatus, Gyll. Very rare
(Bold)
— cellaris, Scop. (Bold, Bag-
nall)
- affinis, Stm. (Bold, Gardner)
— pubescens, Stm. Wtnlatm
MiU (Bagnall)
Micrambe, Th.
— vini, Pz. (Bold)
Henoticus, Th.
— serratus, Gyll. Washington,
very rare (Bold)
Paramecosoma, Curt.
— melanocephalum,Hbst. (Bag-
nail)
Atomaria, Steph.
— fumata, Er. (Bold)
— nigriventris, Steph. (Bold)
Automaria, Steph.
— umbrina, Gyll. Very rare
(Bold)
— fuscipes, Gyll. (Bold)
— nigripennis, Pk. (Bold)
— fascata, Sch. (Bold)
— pusilla, Pk. (Bold)
— atricapilla, Steph. (Bold)
— berolinensis, Kr. (Bold,
Gardner)
— apicalis, Er. (Bold)
— analis, Er. (Bold)
Ephistemus, West.
— gyrinoides, Marsh. (Bold)
SCAPHIDIID.fi
Scaphidium, Ol.
— quadrimaculatum, Ol. Gib-
//<& (Handcock andTaylor),
Winlatan MiU (Bagnall)
Scaphisoma, Leach.
— agaricinum, L. (Bold)
MYCETOPHAGID.fi
Typhxa, Curt.
— fumata, L. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
Triphyllus, Lat.
- suturalis, F. (Bold)
Mycetophagus, Hell.
— quadripustulatus, L. Tetsdale
(Gardner)
DERMESTID.fi
Dermestes, L.
— vulpinus, F. (Bold)
— frischi, Kug. South Shields
(Bold)
— murinus, L. (Bold)
— lardarius, L. (Bold, Bagnall)
Attagenus, Lat.
— pellio, L. (Bold)
Florilinus, Mull.
— muszorum, L. Gib side
(Wailes)
BYRRHIDJS
Byrrhus, L.
— pilula, L. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— fasciatus, F. (Bold, Gardner)
— dorsalis, F. (Bold)
Cytilus, Er.
— varius, F. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
Simplocaria, Marsh.
— semistrtata, F. (Bold, Bag-
nail, Gardner)
Aspidiphorus, Lat.
— orbiculatus, Gyll. Rare
(Bold)
I07
GEORYSSID.fi
Georyssus, Lat.
— pygmcus, F. (Bold)
PARNID.fi
Elmis, Lat.
— aeneus, Mall. (Bold, Bag-
nail, Gardner)
— volkmari, Pz. (Bold, Gard-
ner)
— cupreus, Mall. Heileden
(Gardner)
— nitens, Mall. Hededen
(Gardner)
Limnius, Mull.
— tuberculatus, Moll. (Bold,
Bagnall, Gardner)
Parnus, F.
— prolifericornis, F. (Bold,
Bagnall, Gardner)
— auricubtus, Pz. (Bold, Bag-
nall, Gardner)
HETEROCERID.fi
Heterocerus, F.
— marginatus, F. (Bold, Gard-
ner)
LUCANID.fi
Lucanus, L.
— cervus, L. Sunderland, intro-
duced (Bagnall)
Sinodendron, F.
— cylindricum, L. (Bold, Rob-
son, Bagnall, Gardner)
SCARABjEID.fi
Onthophagus, Lat.
— nuchicornis, L. Very rare.
South Shields (Bold)
Aphodius, 111.
— erraticus, L. (Bold, Gardner)
— subterraneus, L. (Bold,
Gardner)
— ibssor, L. (Bold, Robson,
Bagnall, Gardner)
— hzmorrhoidalis, L. (Bold,
Gardner)
— foetens, F. (Bold)
— fimetarius, L. (Bold, Rob-
son, Bagnall, Gardner)
— scybalarius, F. (Bold, Gardner)
— ater, De G. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— granarius, L. Rare. South
ShieUs (Bold), HartUfool
(Gardner)
— sordidus, F. (Bold, Bagnall)
— rufescens, F. (Bold, Gardner)
— lapponum, Gyll. (Bold,
Gardner)
— foetidus, F. (Bold, Gardner)
— borealis, Gyll. (Bold)
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
Aphodius, 111.
- pusiUus,Hbst. (Bold,Bagnall)
— merdarius, F. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— inquinatus, F. (Bold, Bag-
nall, Gardner)
— tesselatus, Pk. Hartkpool
(Gardner)
— conspurcatus, L. (Bold, Bag-
nall, Gardner)
— punctato-sulcatus, Stm. (Bold,
Bagnall, Gardner)
- prodromus, Brahm. (Bag-
nall, Gardner)
- contaminatus, Hbst. (Bold,
Bagnall, Gardner)
'— luridus, F. (Bold, Gardner)
— rufipes, L. (Bold, Gardner)
— depressus, Kug. (Bold, Bag-
nail, Gardner)
yEgialia, Lat.
- sabuleti,Pk. (Bold, Bagnall)
— arenaria, F. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
Geotrupes, Lat.
— stercorarius, L. (Bold, Rob-
son, Bagnall, Gardner)
- sylvaticus, Pz. (Bold, Bag-
nail, Gardner)
- vernalis, L. (Bagnall, Gard-
ner)
Serica, McL.
- brunnea, L. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
Melolontha, F.
- vulgaris, F. (Bold, Robson,
Bagnall, Gardner)
— hippocastani, F. (Bagnall)
Phyllopertha, Kirk.
- horticola, L. (Bold, Bagnall)
Anomala, Sam.
- frischi, F. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
ELATERID^E
Lacon, Lap.
— murinus, L. (Bold, Gardner)
Cryptohypnus, Esch.
— maritimus, Curt. Rare (Bold)
— riparius, F. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— dermestoides, Hbst. (Bold)
Elater, L.
— balteatus, L. Not common
(Bold)
Melanotus, Esch.
— rufipes, Hbst. (Bold, Gard-
ner)
Athous, Esch.
— niger, L. (Bold, Bagnall)
— longicollis, Ol. (Bold, Bag-
nail)
— haemorrhoidalis, F. (Bold,
Robson, Gardner)
- vittatus, F. (Bold)
Limonius, Esch.
— cylindricus, Pk. (Bold, Bag-
nall, Gardner)
— minutus, L. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
Adrastus, Esch.
— limbatus, F. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
Agriotes, Esch.
— sputator, L. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— obscurus, L. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
• — • lineatus, L. (Bold, Bagnal),
Gardner)
— sobrinus, Kies. (Bagnall,
Gardner)
— pallidulus, 111. (Bold, Bag-
nail, Gardner)
Dolopius, Esch.
— marginatus, L. (Bold, Bag-
nail, Gardner)
Corymbites, Lat.
— castaneus, L. Rare. On the
coast near Hawthorne Dene
(Kirwood)
— pectinicornis, L. (Bold, Bag-
nail, Gardner)
— cupreus, F. (Bold, Robson,
Bagnall, Gardner)
v. asruginosus, F. Not so
common as type (Bagnall)
Corymbites, Lat.
— tessellatus, F. Not common
(Bold)
— quercus, Gyll. (Bold, Bag-
nail, Gardner)
— holosericeus, F. (Bold, Bag-
nall)
Campylus, Fisch.
— linearis, L. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
DASCILLID^E
Dascillus, Lat.
— cervinus, L. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
Helodes, Lat.
— minuta, L. (Bold, Bagnall)
— marginata, F. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
Microcara, Th.
— livida, F. (Bold, Bagnall F)
Cyphon, Pk.
— coarctatus, Pk. (Bold, Bag-
nall, Gardner)
— nitidulus,Th. (Bold, Bagnall)
— variabilis, Thunb. (Bold,
Bagnall, Gardner)
— padi, L. (Bold, Bagnall)
Hydrocyphon, Redt.
— deflexicollis, Mull. Rare
(Bold)
Eubria, Germ.
— palustris, Germ. Near Castle
Eden Dene (Bold)
108
LAMPYRID^
Lampyris, L.
— noctiluca, L. (Bold, Bagnall)
TELEPHORID^
Podabrus, West.
— alpinus, Pk. (Bold, Bagnall)
Ancistronycha, Mark.
— abdominalis, F. (Bold) Tees-
dak (Harris and Blatch),
(Bagnall)
Telephorus, Schaef.
— rusticus, Fall. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— lividus, L. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— pellucidus, F. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— nigricans, Mull. (Bold, Bag-
nall)
— lituratus, Fall. (Bold, Bag-
nail, Gardner)
— figuratus, Man. (Bold, Bag-
nall ?, Gardner)
— bicolor, F. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— hsemorrhoidalis, F. (Bold,
Bagnall, Gardner)
— flavilabris, Fall. (Bold, Bag-
nall, Gardner)
Rhagonycha, Esch.
— unicolor, Curt. (Bold)
— fulva, Scop. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— testacea, L. (Bagnall ?, Gard-
ner)
— limbata,Th. (Bold, Bagnall)
— pallida, F. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— elongata, Fall. (Bold)
Malthinus, Lat.
— punctatus, Fourc. (Bold,
Bagnall)
— frontalis, Marsh. Rare. Win-
laton Mill (Bagnall)
Malthodes, Kies.
— marginatus, Lat. (Bold, Bag-
nail, Gardner)
— mysticns, Kies. (Bold)
— pellucidus, Kies. Not com-
mon. GUslde (Bold)
— minimus, L. (Bold, Bag-
nail)
— atomus, Th. Rare (Bold)
Malachius, F.
— seneus, L. Rare. Stockton
(Hogg's Stockton) ?
— bipustulatus, L. (Bold, Bag-
nall)
Dasytes, Pk.
— aerosus, Kies. Rare. (Bold)
Psilothrix, Redt.
— nobilis, 111. Has been re-
corded from Durham (Bun-
gey), but is probably an
error
INSECTS
Phloeophilus, Steph.
— edwardsi, Steph. Rare (Bold)
CLERID.fi
Tillus, 01.
— elongatus, L. Durham (Orns-
by's Durham) I
Thanasimus, Lat.
— formicarius, L. (Bold, Bag-
nail, Johnson, Gardner)
Necrobia, Lat.
— ruficollis, F. (Bold, Bagnall)
— violacea, L. (Bold, Bagnall)
— rufipcs, De G. (Bold)
— quadra. South Shields, intro-
duced (Bold)
PTINID.fi
Ptinus, L.
— fur, L. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
Niptus, Boiel.
— hololeucus, Fall. (Bold, Rob-
son, Bagnall, Gardner)
— crenatus, F. (Bold, Bagnall)
Gibbinm, Scop.
- scotias, F. (Bold, Robson,
Gardner)
ANOBIID^E
Priobium, Mots.
— castaneum, F. (Bold)
Anobium, F.
— domesticum, Fourc. (Bold,
Robson, Bagnall, Gardner)
- paniceum, L. (Bold, Bagnall)
Introduced
Ernobius, Th.
- mollis, L. (Bold)
Ptilinus, Geof.
- pectinicornis, L. (Bold, Bag-
nall)
BOSTRICHID.E
Rhizopertha, Steph.
- pusilla, F. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
LYCTID.fi
Lyctus, F.
- canaliculatus, F. Rare (Bold)
CISSID.fi
Cis, Lat.
- boleti, Scop. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
- bidentatus, Ol. (Bold, Bag-
nall, Gardner)
— nitidus, Hbst. Teesdale
(Gardner)
- fcstivus, Pz. Ravensteortb
(Bold)
Octotemnus, Mel.
- glabriculus, Gyll. (Bold,
Bagnall, Gardner)
CERAMBYCID.fi
Tetropium, Kirb.
— castaneum, L., black form
(Gardner)
Callidium, F.
— violaceum, L. Hartlepool
(Gardner), probably im-
ported
— variabile, L. Hartlepool
(Gardner), probably im-
ported
— alni, L. Gibside (Wailcs)
Clytus, Laich.
- arcuatus, L. (Bold). Hartlepool
(Gardner)
— arietis, L. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
Gracilia, Serv.
— minuta, F. Sunderland (Pea-
cock), Hartlepool (Gardner)
Molorchus, F.
— minor, L. Hartlepool (Gard-'
ner)
Rhagium, F.
— inquisitor, F. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— bifasciatum, F. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
Toxotus, Ser.
- meridianus, L. Red variety
once at Lockbaugb (Bagnall)
(Gardner)
Pachyta, Ser.
— cerambyciformis,Schr. (Bold,
Bagnall)
Strangalia, Ser.
- quadrifasciata, L. (Bold,
Bagnall)
— armata, Hbst. (Bold, Bagnall)
- melanura, L. (Bold, Bagnall)
Grammoptcra, Ser.
- tabacicolor, De G. (Bold,
Bagnall)
— rnficornis, F. (Bold, Bagnall)
LAMIID.fi
Acanthocinus, Steph.
- aedilis, L. (Bold, Robson,
Johnson, Gardner)
Leiopus, Ser.
— nebulosus, L. (Bold, Robson,
Bagnall)
Pogonochzrus, Lat.
— fasciculatus, DeG. Hartlepool,
common (Gardner)
— bidentatus, Th. (Bold), tfin-
laton Mill, under bark
(Bagnall) ; Hartlepool(GuA-
ner)
- dcntatus, Fourc. Hartlepool,
very rare (Gardner)
Monohammus, Muls.
— sartor, F. SunJerland, intro-
duced (Corder) ; Hartlepool
(Gardner)
109
Monohammus, Muls.
— sutor, L. Bumopjield, intro-
duced (Johnson) ; Hartle-
pool, shipyards (Gardner)
Saperda, F.
— scalaris, L. Langley, pasture
(Crosby's Durham), rare ;
Hartlepool (Gardner)
Tetrops, Steph.
— praeusta, L. Gibside (Wailes)
Stenostola, Muls.
— ferrea,Schr. Gibside (Hardy),
Dirwent Galley (Bagnall)
BRUCHID.fi
Bruchus, L.
— pisi, L. In pea introduced
(Bagnall)
— rufimanus, Boh. Introduced
(Bold, Gardner)
CHRYSOMELID.fi
Donacia, F.
— versicolora, Brahm. (Bold,
Bagnall)
- simplex, F. (Bold)
— vulgaris, Zsch. (Bold)
— sericea, L. (Bold, Bagnall)
- discolor, Pz. (Bold)
Hzmonia, Curt.
— curtisi.Lac. Grtatbam (Gard-
ner)
Lcma, F.
- cyanella, L. (Bold)
— lichenis,Vcet. G/Ar/<&(Bagnall)
— melanopa, L. (Bold)
Clythra, Laich.
- quadripunctata, L. (Bold,
Cryptocephalus, Geof.
— bipunctatus, L.; v. lincola, F.
Castle Eden Dene (Ornsby's
Durham)
— aureolus, Suf. Not common
(Bold)
- hypochxridis, L. Manden
(Handcock)
— morxi, L. Castle Eden Dene
(Wailes)
— fulvus, Goez. One specimen,
near Winlatm (Bagnall)
- labiatus, L. (Bold, Bagnall)
Chrysomela, L.
- marginata, L. (Bold)
— staphylea, L. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— polita, L. (Bold, Robson,
Bagnall, Gardner)
— orichalcia, Mall. (Bold,
Bagnall)
v. hobsoni, Steph. South Hyl-
ton, very rare and local
(Bagnall)
— hxmoptcra, L. (Bold)
— varians, Schal. (Bold, Gard-
ner)
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
Chrysomela, L.
— fastuosa, Scop. (Bold)
— didymata, Scrib. (Bold,
Gardner)
— hyperici, Forst. (Bold, Gard-
ner)
Melasoma, Steph.
— :eneum, L. Durham (Orns-
by's Durham), Sharnberty
Gill, not uncommon on
alders (Gardner)
Phytodecta, Kirb.
— viminalis, L. Durham (Orns-
by's Durham)
— olivacea, Forst. (Bold)
— pallida, L. (Bold)
Gastroidea, Hope.
— viridula, De G. (Bold)
— polygon!, L. (Bold) Winlatm
(Bagnall, Gardner) f
— tenella, L. (Bold, Gardner)
Adimonia, Laich.
— tanaceti, L. (Bold, Gardner)
Sermyla, Chap.
— halensis, L. (Bold, Gard-
ner). Also greenish purple
variety
Longitarsus, Lat.
— luridus, Scop. Near Stvakucll
(Bagnall)
— brunneus, Duft. (Bold, Bag-
nail)
Longitarsus, Lat.
— suturellus, Duft. v. fusci-
collis, Steph. (Bold, Bag-
nall)
— atricillus, L. (Bold, Bagnall)
— melanocephalus, De G. (Bold,
Bagnall)
— suturalis, Mars. Rare (Bold)
— femoralis, Marsh. Not com-
mon (Bold, Bagnall)
— pusillus, Gyll. (Bold)
— jacobasae, Wat. (Bold, Bag-
nail)
— ochroleucus, Marsh. Sparing-
ly on the coast (Bold)
— laevis, Duft. (Bold)
Haltica, Geof.
— ericeti, Al. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— pusilla, Duft. (Bagnall,
Gardner)
Phyllotreta, Foud.
— undulata, Kuts. This is the
Turnip Fly of this district.
(Bold, Bagnall, Gardner)
— nemorum, L. Rare (Bold,
Gardner)
— tetrastigma, Com. (Bold)
— exclamationis,Thunb. (Bold)
Aphthona, Chev.
— atroccerulea, Steph. Hartle-
pool (Hardy)
Batophila, Foud.
— rubi, Pk. (Bold, Bagnall)
Sphaeroderma, Steph.
— testacea, F. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— cardui, Gyll. (Bold, Bag-
nail, Gardner)
Apteropeda, Redt.
— orbiculata, Marsh. (Bold)
Mniophila, Steph.
— muscorum, Koch. (Bold)
Mantura, Steph.
— rustica, L. (Bold, Bagnall)
Crepidodera, Chev.
— tranversa, Marsh. (Bold,
Bagnall, Gardner)
— ferruginea, Scop. (Bold, Bag-
nall, Gardner)
— rufipes, L. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— helxines, L. (Bold, Gardner)
— aurata, Marsh. (Bold, Bag-
nail)
Hippuriphila, Foud.
— modeeri, L. (Bold, Bagnall)
Plectroscelis, Redt.
— concinna, Marsh. (Bold,
Bagnall)
Psylliodes, Lat.
— chrysocephala, L. (Bold,
Bagnall)
— napi, Koch. (Bold, Bag-
nall)
— cuprea, Koch. Coast (Bold)
— affinis, Pk. (Bold)
— marcida, 111. Coast (Bold)
— picina, Marsh. Rare (Bold)
Cassida, L.
— sanguinolenta, F. Very rare
(Bold)
— fiaveola, Thunb. Not com-
mon (Bold)
— viridis, L. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
TENEBRIONIDjE
_
— mucronata, Lat. (Bold, Bag-
nail, Gardner)
Scaphidema, Redt.
— metallicum, F. (Bold, Gard-
ner, Bagnall)
Tenebrio, L.
— molitor, L. (Bold, Bagnall,
Corder)
— obscurus, F. (Bold)
Alphitobius, Steph.
— diaperinus, Pz. In shops, im-
ported, and in deep hot
coalmines (Bold)
— piceus, Ol. In grain ware-
houses, Hartlefool (Gard-
ner)
Gnathocerus, Thunb.
— cornutus, F. In bakehouses
(Bold)
1 10
Tribolium, McL.
— ferrugineum, F. Imported in
sugar (Bold). Hartlepool
(Gardner)
Palorus, Duv.
— ratzeburgi, Wiss. In shops.
Introduced. (Bold)
Helops, F.
— striatus, Fourc. Gibside
(Handcock) ; Lockhaugh,
one specimen in grass
(Bagnall)
LAGRIID^E
Lagria, F.
— hirta, L. (Bold, Gardner)
CISTELID^E
Cistela, F.
— murina, L. Wlnktm Mill
(Bagnall), Hartlepool '(Gard-
ner)
MELANDRYID-ffi
Tetratoma, F.
— fungorum, F. TeesJale (Gard-
ner)
— ancora, F. (I Wailes)
Orchesia, Lat.
— micans, Pz. (Bagnall, Gard-
ner)
Clinocara, Th.
— tetratoma, Th. Stvalwell
(Bold)
— undulata, Kr. Very local,
often in numbers (Bagnall)
Melandrya, F.
— caraboides, L. (Bold, Bag-
nall)
— flexuosa, Pk. Teesdale (Gard-
ner)
PYTHID^E
Salpingus, Gyll.
— castaneus, Pz. (Bold, Bag-
nall, Gardner)
— aeratus, Muls. (? Gardner)
— ater, Pk. (Bold)
Rhinosimus, Lat.
— ruficollis, L. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— viridipennis, Steph. (Bold,
Bagnall)
— planirostris, F. (Bold, Bag-
nall, Gardner)
(EDEMERID^E
CEdemera, Ol.
— lurida, Marsh. Durham
(Ornsby's Durham)
INSECTS
Nacerdes, Schm.
— melanura, L. Sunderland and
South Shieldt (Bold). Very
abundant on Quayside,
Hartlepool (Gardner)
PYROCHROID.E
Pyrochroa, Geof.
— serraticornis, Scop. (Bold,
Gardner)
MORDELLID^E
Anaspis, Geof.
- frontalis, L. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— pulicaria, Costa. Very rare
(Bold)
— rufilabris, Gyll.
— geoffroyi, Mall. Rare (Bold)
— ruficollis, F. (Bold, Bagnall)
— costs, Emery. Rare (Bold)
— subtestacea, Steph. (Bold)
— macula ta, Fourc. (Bold, Bag-
nall)
RHIPIDOPHORID^E
Metcecus, Gers.
— paradozus, L. Not common
(Bold) Lockbaugh. Very
rare (Bagnall), Castle Eden
Dent (Trechmann)
ANTHICID.fi
Anthicus, Pk.
— floralis, L. (Bold, Robson,
Bagnall, Gardner)
MELOttX<E
MeloC, L.
— proscarabzus, L. (Bold,
Bagnall)
— violaceus, Marsh. Blanchland
Moor (Bagnall), Teesdale
(Gardner)
ANTHRIBIOE
Macroccphalus, Ol.
— albinus, L. Gibside, of old,
not lately (Bold, Corder)
CURCULIONID.fi
Apoderus, Ol.
- coryli, L. Castle Eden Dene
(Ornsby's Durham)
Attclabus, L.
— curculionoidcs, L. Wtnktm
Mill, on hazel ; Lockhaugh,
etc. (Bagnall)
Byctiscus, Th.
— betuleti, F. (Bold, Bagnall)
TeesJale (Gardner)
Rhynchites, Schn.
— zneovirens, Marsh. Winlaton
Mill (Bagnall)
— cceruleus, De G. Rare (Bold)
— minutus, Hbst. (Bold, Bag-
nall)
— pauxillus, Germ. Very rare
(Bold)
— nanus, Pk. Not common
(Bold, Bagnall)
— uncinatus, Th. Rather rare
(Bold)
Deporaus, Leach.
— megacephalus, Germ. Dur-
ham (Ornsby's Durham)
Apion, Hbst.
— craccz, L. Swatoell (Hardy)
— cerdo, Gers. Gibtide (Bold)
— »ubulatum, Kirb. (Bold)
— ulicis, Font. (Bold)
— cruentatum, Walt. (Bold)
— hzmatodes, Kirb. (Bold)
— pallipcs, Kirb. Very rare.
(Bold) Hartlepool (Gardner)
— rufirostre, F. Very rare
(Bold)
— vicise, Pk. (Bold)
— varipes, Germ. Very rare
(Bold)
— apricans, Hbst. (Bold, Bag-
nail, Gardner)
— assimile, Kirb. (Bold, Gard-
ner)
— trifolii, L. Rare (Bold)
— dichroum, Bed. (Bold, Bag-
nail, Gardner)
— nigritarse, Kirb. (Bold)
— sorbi, F. Very rare (Bold)
— amcum, F. (Bold)
— radiolus, Kirb. (Bold)
— onopordi, Kirb. (Bold,
Gardner)
— carduorum, Kirb. (Bold,
Bagnall, Gardner)
— virens,Hbst. (Bold, Gardner)
— punctigerum, Pk. (Bold)
— pisi, F. (Bold, Bagnall)
— aethiops, Hbst. (Bold, Gard-
ner).
— striatum, Kirb. (Bold)
— immune, Kirb. (Bold)
— ononis, Kirb. (Bold, Gard-
ner)
— spencei, Kirb. (Bold)
— ervi, Kirb. (Bold)
Apion, Hbst.
— vonut, Hbst. (Bold, Gard-
ner)
— gyllenhali, Kirb. Very rare
(Bold)
— unicolor, Kirb. (Bold)
— loti, Kirb. (Bold, Gardner)
— seniculum, Kirb. (Bold)
— marchicum, Hbst. Rare
(Bold, Bagnall, Gardner)
— afiinc, Kirb. (Bold, Bagnall)
III
Apion, Hbst.
— violaceum, Kirb. (Bold, Bag-
nall, Gardner)
— humile, Germ. (Bold, Bag-
nail, Gardner)
Otiorhynchus, Germ.
— atroapterus, De G. (Bold)
Hartlepool (Gardner)
— maurus, Gyll. (Corder)
— raucus, F. Hartlepool (Gard-
ner)
— ligneus, Ol. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— picipes, F. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— sulcatus, F. Wmlaton (Bagnall)
— ligustici, L. Hartlepool, rare
(Gardner)
— rugifrons, Gyll. (Bold,
Corder, Gardner)
— ovatus, L. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— muscorum, Bris. (Bold,
Gardner)
Trachyphkeus, Germ.
— aristatus, Gyll. Hartlepool
(Gardner)
— scaber, L. (Bold, Gardner,
Bagnall)
— scabriculus, L. (Hardy,
Gardner)
Strophosomus, Sch.
— coryli, F. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— capitatus, De G. (Bold, Bag-
nall, Gardner)
— retusus, Marsh. (Bold)
— faber, Hbst. (Bold, Bagnall)
— lateralis, Pk. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
Omias, Sch.
— mollinus, Boh. Near Swakvell
(Hardy), Hartlepool (Gard-
ner)
Brachysomus, Steph.
— echinatus, Bons. (Bold,
Gardner)
Sciaphilus, Steph.
— muricatus, F. (Bold, Bagnall)
Tropiphorus, Sch.
— tomentosus, Marsh. (Bold,
Bagnall, Gardner)
Liophlceus, Germ.
— nubilus, F. (Bagnall, Gard-
ner)
Polydrusus, Germ.
— micans, F. (Bold, Gardner)
— tereticollis, De G. (Bold,
Gardner)
— pterygomalis, Sch. (Bold,
Bagnall)
— cervinus, L. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
Phyllobius, Sch.
— oblongus, L. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
Phyllobius, Sch.
- calcaratus, F. (Bold, Bagnall)
— urticze, De G. (Bold, Rob-
son, Bagnall, Gardner)
- pyri, L. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
- argentatus, L. (Bold, Bag-
nall, Gardner)
- maculicornis, Germ. (Bold,
Gardner)
— pomonae,Ol. (Bold, Gardner)
- viridiseris, Laich. (Bold, Rob-
son, Bagnall, Gardner)
- viridicollis, F. (Bold, Bag-
nail, Gardner)
Tanymecus, Sch.
- palliatus, F. (Bold). Great-
ham, one specimen (Gard-
ner)
Philopedon, Steph.
— geminatus, F. (Bold, Bag-
nail, Gardner)
Atactogenus, Tourn.
- exaratus, Marsh. (Bold)
Barynotus, Germ.
- obscurus, F. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
- schonherri, Zett. (Bold,
Bagnall, Gardner)
— elevatus, Marsh. (Bold, Bag-
nail, Gardner)
Alophus, Sch.
- triguttatus, F. (Bold)
Sitones, Sch.
— griseus, F. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— regensteinensis, Hbst. (Bold,
Bagnall)
- lineellus, Gyll. Hartlepool
(Blatch, Gardner)
- tibialis,Hbst. (Bold,Gardner)
— hispidulus, F. (Bold, Gard-
ner)
— humeralis, Steph. (Bold,
Gardner)
- meliloti, Walt. Rare, South
Shields (Bold)
— flavescens, Marsh. (Bold)
- puncticollis, Steph. (Bold,
Gardner)
- suturalis, Steph. (Bold, Gard-
ner)
- lineatus, L. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— sulcifrons, Thunb. (Bold,
Gardner)
Limobius, Sch.
— dissimilis, Hbst. Not com-
mon (Bold). Hartlepool, at
the roots of Geranium
sanguineum (Gardner)
Hypera, Germ.
— punctata, F. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— fascictilata, Hbst. Hartlepool
(Gardner)
Hypera, Germ.
— rumicis, L. (Bold)
— polygon!, L. (Bold, Gard-
ner)
— suspiciosa, Hbst. (Bold,
Bagnall)
- variabilis, Hbst. (Bold)
— plantaginis, De G. (Bold)
— trilineata, Marsh. Not fre-
quent (Bold). Birtley, plen-
tiful (Robson, Gardner)
— nigrirostris, F. (Bold, Bag-
nail, Gardner)
Cleonus, Sch.
— sulcirostris, L. (Bold). Com-
mon (Gardner)
Liosoma, Steph.
— ovatulum, Clair. (Bold,
Gardner)
Curculio, L.
- abietis, L. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
Pissodes, Germ.
- pini, L. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
- notatus, F. Sunderland, pro-
bably introduced in Scotch
timber ships (Kirwood)
— gyllenhali, SchOn. Found
by a miner in a colliery
woodyard, who exhibited
it as ' The Norway Wood
Louse ' (Bold)
— piniphilus, Hbst. Sunderland,
imported in timber ships ;
(Bold).ff<?r/&/<w/(Gardner)
Orchestes, 111.
— quercus, L. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— scutellaris, Gyll. (Bold, Bag-
nall)
— fagi, L. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— rusci, Hbst. (Bold)
— stigma, Germ. (Bold, Bag-
nall)
- salicis, L. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
- saliceti, F. (Bold, Bagnall)
Rhamphus, Clair.
— flavicornis, Clair. (Bold, Bag-
nall)
Orthochxtes, Germ.
— setiger, Beck. Durham (Bold)
Grypidius, Steph.
— equiseti, F. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
Erirhinus, Sch.
— bimaculatus, F. Greatham,
one specimen (Gardner)
— acridulus L. (Bold, Bagnall)
Dorytomus, Steph.
— vorax,F. Rare (Bold, Gard-
ner)
— tortrix, L. Durham (Bold,
Bagnall)
112
Dorytomus, Steph.
— hirtipennis, Bed. Castle Eden
Dene (Ornsby's Durham)
— validirostris, Gyll. (Bagnall,
Gardner)
— maculatus, Marsh. (Bold,
Bagnall, Gardner)
- melanophthalmus, Pk. v.
agnathus, Boh. Axwell
Park (Bold)
- pectoralis, Gyll. (Bold, Bag-
nall)
— majalis, Pk. Castle Eden Dene
(Bold)
Bagous, Sch.
— alismatis, Marsh. (Bold)
Anoplus, Sch.
— plantaris, Naez. (Bold)
Miccotrogus, Sch.
— picirostris, F. Very rare.
Marsden. (Hardy)
Gymnetron, Sch.
— beccabungje, L. Not abun-
dant (Bold)
— labilis, Hbst. (Bold)
Mecinus, Germ.
— pyraster, Hbst. (Bold, Gard-
ner)
Anthonomus, Germ.
— ulmi, De G. (Bold, Bag-
nall)
— pedicularius, L. (Bold, Bag-
nall)
— pomorum, L. (Bold, Bag-
nall)
— rubi, Hbst. (Bold)
— comari, Crotch. (Bold)
Cionus, Clair.
— scrophularise, L. (Bold, Rob-
son, Bagnall, Gardner)
— blattariae, F. Durham (Orns-
by's Durham)
— pulchellus,Hbst. (Bold, Rob-
son, Bagnall, Gardner)
Orobitis, Germ.
— cyaneus, L. Not common
(Bold)
Cryptorhynchus, 111.
— lapathi, L. (Bold)
Acalles, Steph.
— ptinoides, Marsh. Gibside,
very rare. (Bold)
Cosliodes, Sch.
— rubicundus, Hbst. (Bold,
Bagnall, Gardner)
— quercus, F. (Bold, Bagnall)
— ruber, Marsh. (Bold, Bagnall)
— cardui, Hbst. (Bold, Gard-
ner)
— quadrimaculatus, L. (Bold,
Bagnall, Gardner)
— geranii, Pk. (Hardy, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— exiguus, Ol. (Bold)
Poophagus, Sch.
— sisymbrii, F. (Bold)
INSECTS
Ccuthorhynchus, Duv.
- assimilis, Pk. (Bold, Bagnall,
Gardner)
— ericae, Gyll. (Bold)
— erysimi, F. (Bold)
— contractus, Marsh. (Bold,
Bagnall, Gardner)
— quadridens, Pz. (Bold, Bag-
nall, Gardner)
— geographicus, Goez. Rare.
(Bold)
— pollinarius, FOrst. (Bold,
Bagnall)
— pleurostigma, Marsh. (Bold,
Bagnall, Gardner)
— marginatus, Pk. (Bold)
— rugulosus, Hbst. Rare (Bold,
Gardner)
— asperifoliarum, Gyll. (Bold,
Bagnall)
— litura, F. (Bold) Dertoent
Valle) and Weardale (Bag-
nall)
Ceuthorhynchidius, Duv.
— floralis, Pk. (Bold, Bagnall)
— pyrrhorhynchus, Marsh. Not
common (Bold)
— melanarius, Steph. Durham
(Ornsby's Durham)
— terminatus, Hbst. Rare.
(Bold)
Ccuthorhynchidins, Duv.
— horridus, F. Very rare.
Wcstoe (Bold)
— troglodytes, F. (Bold, Gard-
ner)
Rhinoncus, Steph.
— pericarpius, L. (Bold, Gard-
ner)
— gramincus, F. Very rare.
South Shields (Bold), Har-
tlffool (Gardner)
— perpendicularis, Reich. (Bold)
— castor, F. Gibside, rare.
(Bold)
Litodactylns, Redt.
— leucogaster, Marsh. (Bold)
Phytobius, Schm.
— 4-tuberculatus, F. (Bold,
Gardner)
Limnobaris, Bed.
— t-album, L. (Bold)
Balaninus, Germ.
— villosus, F. Rare. (Bold)
— salicivorus, Pk. (Bold, Bag-
nail)
Calandra, Clair.
— granaria, L. (Bold)
— oryzz, L. Imported (Bold)
Magdalis, Germ.
— carbonaria, L. Near Gtbslde
0 Bold)
Magdalis, Germ.
— armigera, Fourc. (Bold)
SCOLYTID.E
Scolytus, MQll.
— destructor, Ol. (Bold)
Hylastes, Er.
— ater, Pk. (Bold)
— opacus, Er. Rare (Bold)
- palliatus, Gyll. (Bold)
Hylesinus, F.
— crenatus, F. (Bold, Bagnall)
— fraxini, Pz. (Bold, Bagnall)
— vittatus, F. Gtbstde (Hardy)
Myelophilus, Eich.
— piniperda, L. (Bold, Bag-
nall)
Phlocophthorus, Mall.
— rhododactyIus,Marsh. (Bold,
Bagnall)
Dryocaetes, Eich.
— villosus, F. Gibside (Bold)
Tomicus, Lat.
— laricis, F. Byermoor (John-
son) imported
Pityogenes, Bed.
— chalcographus, L. Sunderland
(Kirwood)
— bidentatus, Hbst. (Bold)
Trypodendron, Steph.
— domesticum,L.(Bold,Bagnall)
LEPIDOPTERA
ButterJKii and Moths
Though the surface characteristics of Durham will be discussed under other heads, it
appears desirable to refer briefly here to those affecting the Lepidopterous fauna. Durham
is not one of the larger counties of England, having a superficial area of less than a thousand
square miles, but this includes an unusual diversity of surface. It has a coast-line of some
thirty-five miles. The river Tees is the southern boundary of the county, and on the
Durham side of the river mouth is an extensive salt marsh, with characteristic plants and
insects. From this point to Seaton Carew, the southern boundary of the Hartlepools, is about
six miles. Following the windings of the shore, the Hartlepools take about other six miles ;
from their northern boundary it is nearly ten to Seaham Harbour, this distance being occupied
with banks of blown sand, alternating with limestone cliffs and earthy banks. The cliffs are
worn in several places, by the action of small streams of water, into ravines, locally called
' Denes.' Some of these are of considerable length, have well-wooded sides, and afford shelter
to a great variety of insects. Castle Eden Dene, the largest of these ravines, winds inward
for several miles. It is not only the longest, but is the widest of all, and has long been known
as a famous habitat of Lepidoptera. Hesleden Dene, a few miles nearer Hartlepool, is
of considerable length, but is not nearly so wide, nor so favourable for collectors, being without
open paths. Hawthorn Dene is nearer Seaham Harbour, but is less extensive and has been
very little examined, being inconvenient of access. There are many other smaller places along
the coast, the shorter ravines being called ' Gills.* After this range of cliffs and sand banks,
we reach Seaham Harbour, over ten miles to the north of Hartlepool. A few miles further
north, and we reach Sunderland, Ryhope Dene lying between these towns. Seven or eight
miles further is South Shields, on the south side of the river Tyne, which forms the boundary
to the north. The longest stretch of shore, unbroken by town or even village, is between
Hartlepool and Seaham Harbour, and there, and in the Denes, a great variety of insects may
be found. At Hartlepool, Sunderland, and South Shields are extensive ' Ballast Hills,' formed
i "3 J5
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
of dredgings from various rivers and other materials brought as ballast by sailing ships. These,
as laid down, are overgrown with a vast variety of plants, many of which are not indigenous
to Durham ; and it would almost appear as though pupae had been brought in the ballast, as
well as seeds of strange plants, for many insects have occurred at these places that are not
otherwise known, some of which appear to have established themselves.
Westward from the coast the land gradually rises, and after a wide expanse of arable and
pasture land, well wooded in places, we reach boggy moors, and high basaltic cliffs, almost
mountainous in altitude. Thus we have in Durham a littoral fauna, that pertaining to
cultivated land and to woods, and the fauna more closely allied with moor and mountain. A
deposit of coal underlies much of the county, which has been extensively mined, and in all
places where the pits open, large piles of waste accumulate. These take fire and burn for
many years, sending forth volumes of sulphurous smoke, which exercises a very deleterious
influence on all vegetable life for a considerable distance around. These have unquestionably
caused the disappearance of Lepidoptera in their districts. The growth of towns, and increase
of large works, sending forth volumes of smoke and vapour, have also had a very injurious
effect. In the suburbs, white butterflies and similar species occur freely enough, but others
need more secluded haunts. In many other ways the district is being altered. Even the
swamp at the mouth of the Tees is being pumped for brine, and roads and railways are
reaching even the most out-of-the-way places.
RHOPALOCERA
Butterflies
The most noteworthy fact with regard to the butterflies of Durham to-day is the large
number that have disappeared during the Victorian era. Of the thirty-five butterflies
enumerated below, it would now be quite impossible to capture half of that number, even in
a most favourable season ; in fact, I doubt if many more than a dozen could be got with
certainty, even by visiting certain restricted haunts.
The Common Whites, Pieris brassiere and rapa, are found everywhere except on the
higher moorland. They are most abundant in the outskirts of towns and villages, and about
market gardens, where cabbage and nasturtium are grown. The Green-veined White,
P. napi, is also common, but it is more frequently found in woods and country lanes than near
towns. The Orange-tip, Anthocaris cardamines, is generally common, but never so plentiful as
the preceding. It disappeared from the coast district about 1860, but has gradually returned to
its old haunts and is again plentiful there. The Clouded Yellow, Colias edusat is but a casual,
occasional visitor, generally appearing when extra large swarms are visiting the south. In
1870, the great Edusa year, it was quite common in all parts of the county, and certainly bred
here, the imago, in perfect condition, being plentiful in the autumn, and a few apparently
hybernating, and appearing in the following spring. The Brimstone, Gonopteryx rhamni, is
not a native of this part of England ; indeed, the food-plant does not grow wild in Durham,
and only one or two stray specimens of the butterfly have been noticed within the boundaries
of the county.
The Silver-washed Fritillary, Argynnis paphia, was taken in Castle Eden Dene at least as
late as 1855. It also occurred at Gibside and other places in the north-west of the county.
In 1853 it was taken at Darlington, but I have seen no more recent records than these,
even of stray specimens. The Dark Green Fritillary, A. agtaia, was formerly comparatively
common, occurring in Castle Eden and Hesleden Denes, and on the coast at Black Hall
Rocks, and elsewhere. It was common, also, in most of the cultivated area within the
county, Bishop Auckland, Chester-le-Street, and various places in the Derwent Valley. It
has now quite left the coast, but is still plentiful in the Wear Valley, and westward. At
Byers Green a very fine dark variety was taken some years ago by Mr. Thomas Hann. It was
all suffused with dark scales, not like the Vahzina variety of Paphia, but a rich, dark fulvous.
The Pearl-bordered Fritillary, A. euphrosyne, was formerly common in all parts of the county.
It disappeared from Castle Eden Dene and other coast localities in the early sixties, but it
is still common in the west, and especially in the north-west. It is abundant about Stanley,
and larva; may be found freely. The small Pearl-bordered Fritillary, A. se/ene, was also widely
distributed and common, but not so abundant as Euphrosyne. It still occurs about the western
portions of the county and adjoining district. A specimen was taken in Hesleden Dene some
114
INSECTS
fifteen years ago, the only one I know of there. A. adippe has been several times recorded
as occurring in the Wear Valley. I have investigated every case that came under my notice,
and always found the examples so-called were only Aglala. I mention this here to avoid
subsequent error. The Greasy Fritillary, Mellt&a artemis, was formerly common at Black
Hall Rocks, near Hartlepool ; at Flass, near Durham ; at High Force, Upper Teesdale, and a
few other places. It disappeared from Black Halls in the early sixties, and I have seen no
record of its appearance elsewhere since 1872. The Comma, Vanessa c-ali>umt was an
abundant insect in Castle Eden Dene fifty years ago, and occurred more sparingly in a few
places in the west of the county. I have seen it so plentiful that they were shouldering each
other on the Scabious flowers, and I have taken five specimens at one stroke of my net. I
know of no records for at least forty years. The Small Tortoiseshell, V. urtica, is common
everywhere, and the larvae may be found on every bed of nettles. It is locally called the
King William. Of the Large Tortoiseshell, V. po/ycklaros, an old work speaks as if it were a
regular resident in the woods in the vale of the North Tyne. During the last fifty or sixty
years but one or two wandering specimens have been seen. The Camberwell Beauty,
V. . autiopa, has been casually taken in all parts of the county, especially near the coast. ' About
the year 1820' the late William Backhouse found this species in vast numbers on the sands at
Seaton Carew, washing in with the tide. Some were dead, but many were still living. The
late George Wailes, who wrote a ' List of the Butterflies of Northumberland and Durham ' in
the Transactions of the Tyneside Natural History Society, referred to a friend who professed to
know the species well and called it the ' White Petticoats.' This is a very appropriate name,
and Mr. Wailes argued from these facts that the species was then a well-known and regular
resident. I doubt if Lepidopterists would consider these sufficient evidence now. On
8 February, 1869, a specimen was taken near Castle Eden, by Mr. Barren, a woodman,
who was burning some undergrowth, among which the insect had evidently retired for
hybernation. It was much worn, but was evidently hybernating. The Peacock, V '. io, was
widely distributed half a century ago, but it left us with the others in the early sixties,
and only odd specimens have been seen since. Mr. Barrett thinks this species dislikes
manufacturing districts and large towns ; but that would not explain its absence from the west
and north-west of the county, nor from the wide coast area between Hartlepool and Seaham
Harbour. The Red Admiral, V. atalanta, disappeared with the last, but it has gradually
returned, and occurs in all parts of the county now. I have seen it far up the Teesdale
Hills. The Painted Lady, V. cardui, appears at intervals, occasionally in large numbers, and
is met with in every part of the county. It does not appear able to perpetuate its race, and
long intervals sometimes elapse without it being seen. I have observed the larvas in November
on withered thistles, where there was no chance of their being able to feed up. It was
unusually abundant in the autumn of 1 903, after several years of absence.
The Mountain Ringlet, Ereb'ta blandina, was, I believe, first described as a British insect
from specimens taken at Castle Eden Dene. It still occurs there, even down to the mouth of
the Dene, scarcely above the level of the sea, and all the way up the gill to open woods at
Thornley and Wellfield stations. There it is plentiful, and in the wood to the west of the
railway, but it does not occur beyond the turnpike road to Wingate, which passes through the
wood, though the portion to the west of this road appears to be of precisely the same character.
The Speckled Wood, Satyrus ageria, was the earliest butterfly to leave the county. It
formerly occurred in all the woods and denes, but left us altogether quite ten years prior to
any other species. The Wall, S. megiera, was plentiful all over the county up to 1 86 1 . On
the coast it was perhaps the commonest butterfly. It disappeared quite suddenly in 1861, and
has never returned. The Grayling, S. semele, was also well distributed along the coast,
wherever the locality was suitable. It was plentiful on the limestone cliffs, and equally so on
the ballast hills. It left us gradually, seeming slowly to die out. The last was seen at Black
Hall Rocks some ten or twelve years ago. The Meadow Brown, S. janira, is yet common in
all grassy places, continuing on the wing till September. The Gate Keeper, 5. tithonus, is still
plentiful in many places, but it has gone from some of its old haunts, and seems to be gradually
disappearing. The Ringlet, 5. hyperanthus, has gone altogether. It was common enough fifty
years ago. The last specimen I took was the variety arete, being entirely without rings.
This was taken on the railway side, near Hart Station. The Marsh Ringlet, Chortobius davus,
is common on the higher moors in the west. It is fairly intermediate between the dark
Lancashire form, with many distinct rings, and the light Scotch form, with few or none. The
Small Heath, C. pamphi/us, occurs everywhere, and is common from June to September. A
variety of the underside with a dark fascia behind the tip spot is comparatively common. This
"5
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
fascia sometimes spreads and makes the entire underside dark. It does not appear to affect the
upper side at all.
The Purple Hair Streak, Tbecla quercus, occurs only in the north-west of the county,
about Gibside and the Derwent Valley. It is far from common, and is the only Hair Streak
occurring in the county. The Copper, Polyommatus phlteas, is plentiful. Varieties approaching
Schmidtii have been met with near Hartlepool and elsewhere. The Brown Argus, Lyctena
agestis, occurs on the coast, extending up the Denes almost as far as they run. The local
form, which is generally without the orange marginal spots, was considered distinct, and was
named salmacls by Stephens. Artaxerxes, the Scotch White Spot, occurs occasionally, and
sometimes has, as well as the type, the marginal row of orange spots. I have twice taken a
variety in which the spots on the underside are without the white line around them. The
insect is slowly disappearing from the banks at Black Halls. It has already left Marsden, but
it is still plentiful between Black Halls and Seaham Harbour. The Common Blue, Lycana
a/exis, is very common everywhere. The Little Blue, L. alsus, was well distributed over the
county, and still occurs at a few places. The Holly Blue, L. argiolus, was also well dis-
tributed, occurring apparently everywhere. There has been no record of its capture for over
fifty years.
The Dingy Skipper, Thanaos tages, is tolerably well distributed, and there are few places
where it may not be taken. The Common Skipper, Hesperia sylvanus, has been taken at
Darlington, Castle Eden Dene, and other places. The last I know of were taken in Castle
Eden Dene in 1860, and in Hesleden Dene in 1861.
HETEROCERA
Moths
NOCTURNI
The Eyed Hawk Moth, Smerinthus ocellatus, has occurred occasionally, but it is not a
resident species, though the larvae have been met with more than once. The Poplar Hawk
Moth, S. populiy is abundant everywhere. The Death's Head, Acherontia atropos, occurs all
over, not regularly, but almost every year. I have had the imago brought me that had come
on board fishing boats at sea. The larvae is also occasionally found. The Convolvulus Hawk,
Sphinx convolvuli, is rarer than the last, and generally occurs singly. The larva has never
been met with, but in the adjoining county more than fifty were found on a hedge overgrown
with Convolvulus septum. The Privet Hawk, S. /igustri, was once found, unexpanded, in a
street in Hartlepool. It ought to occur in the Denes, where privet abounds, but we have
never found it. The Bedstraw Hawk, Deleiphila ga/ii, has been taken on the coast whenever
the insect has appeared in Britain. The larvae has also been found on the Bedstraw more than
once. D. lineata has been recorded three times — near Sunderland, by the late William Back-
house, on the moor at Hartlepool in 1888, and again there in 1896. Chtsrocampa celerlo has
been met with a few times in the same way. The Small Elephant, C. porcellus, was formerly
common along the coast, and may probably occur yet, between Black Halls and Seaham
Harbour, but there are no records for several years. A single specimen of C. nerii was taken
by Mr. Gardner at Hartlepool on 23 July, 1885. The Humming Bird Hawk, Macroglossa
stellatarum, is generally common on the coast, but much rarer inland. M. bombyliformis
appears to occur near Durham city. It was taken at Shull over fifty years ago by the late
William Backhouse ; Mr. Wood also took it near Durham (E. W. I., i. 150). Mr. Hedworth
saw it in May, 1869, near Winlaton Mill. I know of no more recent records. Sesia formic<e-
formis, the Red-tipped Clearwing, has been taken once, by Mr. Thomas Pigg, who took three
on an umbelliferous plant at Gibside. It also occurs in the Chester-le-Street district. S. tipuli-
formis, the Currant Clearwing, is commoner, and no doubt occurs in old gardens in many
parts of the county. It has been taken at Darlington, Wolsingham, and Durham city.
S. bembeciformis occurs commonly in most parts of the county. S. apiformis was taken once
near High Force, Upper Teesdale, by the late William Backhouse, over fifty years ago. The
Goat Moth, Cossus ligniperda, is sparingly distributed about the county. All the genus Hepialus
occur freely. The Golden Swift, H. hectus, in woods and denes, flying at sunset for a few
minutes only. The Common Swift, H. lupulinus, is most abundant everywhere. The
Beautiful Swift, H. sylvinus, is perhaps the least plentiful ; it occurs in open ground in August.
The Northern Swift, H. ve/Ieda, in woods and open ground. The Ghost, H. humuli, is the
most abundant of all, the male flying everywhere in its endeavour to attract the female. The
116
INSECTS
Forester, Inn statices, occurs at Gibside ; near Darlington ; and at other places away from the sea.
/. gtryon is abundant on the sea banks from Black Halls, northward, but not inland. Zygeena
lonictrte at Shull and other places well in the centre of the county. Z. filipendul<e appears to
be common everywhere. The Lithosidte are very sparingly represented, most of the specimens
captured being but single stray specimens. Nudaria mundana is the only common member of
the family. It does not occur on nor even very near the coast, but is very abundant west-
ward. The late John Sang took Litboiia hetueola once at lamps at Darlington. L. complana
was taken by the late William Backhouse, both at Darlington and Seaton Carew, over fifty
years ago, but it has not been recorded again. L. complanula was taken at Hartlepool in 1873.
I took it again in 1876, and one or two more were taken by others at the same time.
Common as it is generally, I have seen no later record. (Enistis quadra occurred oddly, in
different parts of the county, from 1872 to 1875, in which year I took six. It has not been
seen since.
EucheKa jacobeea, the Cinnabar, occurs all along the coast, but is not nearly so common as
it was fifty years ago. It has not been recorded inland. Euthemonia russula, the Clouded Buff,
is found on the moors in the extreme west of the county. It has been recorded for Shull and
for Wolsingham, and occurs elsewhere. Nemeophila p/antaginis, the Wood Tiger, occurs on
the coast and on the moors. It is especially abundant on the railway banks near Hartlepool,
but is being gradually driven away by the growth of the town. The Common Tiger, Arctia
caja, abounds everywhere in the larval state. Specimens with dark and yellow hind wings
have been reared. An example, entirely black, was reared from a Hartlepool larvae. The
Ruby Tiger, Phragmatobia foliginosa, occurs all over the county, generally in some numbers.
The Muslin (Spilosoma mena'ica) occurs all over the county, extending quite to Upper Teesdale.
The Buff and White Ermines (S. lubrlcepeda and menthrastri) are generally common. I have
taken the dark form of menthastri near Throston. The Brown Tail (Liparis chrysorrhtea) is
but a casual visitor. It was taken at Darlington quite fifty years ago by the late William Back-
house. In 1875 several were taken, two at South Shields and I got about a dozen at Hartlepool.
It has not been seen since. The Gold Tail (£. auriflua} was taken in 1875 at South Shields
and recorded as new by Mr. Eales in error. It is common about Hartlepool and Greatham and
westward to Bishop Auckland and Upper Teesdale. The Satin Moth (L. sa/icis) occurred in
1875 both at South Shields and Hartlepool, but it has not been recorded since. The Dark
Tussock (Orygia fasce/ina) is found in the west of the county, about Shull, Wolsingham, etc.
A solitary larva was found on the Sea Banks near Hesleden Dene mouth in 1859. The
Vapourer (O. antiqua) is common in all the county, the larva feeding on hawthorn generally,
and on Rosa spinosissima on the sand banks. The Pale Oak Eggar (Trichiura crattegi) is given
in Stainton's Manual as occurring at Darlington, and it is in the list in Ornsby's Durham, but
I have no other knowledge of its appearance in the county. The December Moth (Pcecilo-
campa popult) is well distributed over the county, but it is in the perfect state at a time when
collectors are not much on the look out, and most of our specimens are bred. The Small
Eggar (Erlogaster lanestris) is common, but, emerging in February, it is seldom seen on the
wing, and, like the last, most of our specimens are reared. The Lackey (Bombyx neustria) has
only twice been taken at South Shields. The Oak Eggar (B. quercus] is tolerably common.
It generally passes one winter as a larva and the next as pupa. The Fox Moth (B. rubii) is
common on the sandhills and on all moors and heaths, sometimes very abundant. I bred some
very curious varieties a few years ago. The Drinker (Odonestis potataria) is common generally,
out does not occur in the Auckland district. A specimen of the Small Lappet (Gastropacha
iiicifo/ia) was sold in 1895 in Dr. Wheeler's collection, labelled ' Castle Eden, J. Sang.' I
have grave doubts, not that the specimen was British, but as to the place where it is said to
have occurred, and of its reputed captor. It was much more likely to have been taken in
Upper Teesdale, but it certainly was not a species that Mr. Sang ever had in duplicate or ever
took. The Emperor Moth (Saturnia carpini) is abundant on the moors in the west, but
rarely occurs elsewhere.
GEOMETRY
The Swallow-Tail Moth (Ourapteryx tambucata) is well distributed in Durham, but
never very common. Ep'tone veipertaria has occurred sparingly in most parts of the county.
Rumia crat&gata, the Brimstone, is abundant everywhere. PenU'ia maculata was taken by
Mr. Sang around Darlington, but no one else appears to have met with it. The Light
Emerald (Metrocampa margaritata) is common in woods everywhere. The Barred Red
(Ellopia faiciaria) is rare in Durham. It has been taken in Upper Teesdale ; at St. John's,
Weardale ; and at Edder Acres, near Hartlepool. A single specimen also came to the
117
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
Hartlepool lighthouse. A solitary example of Eurymene dolobrarla was taken at little Polam,
Darlington, many years ago, by the late William Backhouse. Pericallla syringaria also has
only once been met with, a single specimen being taken by Mr. Hedworth in the north-west
of the county. It ought to occur in the denes on the coast, where privet grows freely.
The Common Thorn (Selenia illunaria] is common in most parts of the county. The Lunar
Thorn (S. lunarla) is decidedly rare. It has been recorded from several places, but appears only
to occur singly, and less than a dozen local specimens are known. Odontopera bidentata and
Crocallh elinguaria are both common, but least so near the coast. Four of the genus Ennomos
have been taken within the county, but none appear to have any station where they may always be
found. E. tiliaria, the Canary-Shouldered Thorn, has occurred over most of the county, but
always singly or very sparingly. E. fuscantaria was taken at Darlington in 1855. Two speci-
mens of E. erosaria are recorded : one in August 1873, at Hartlepool, by the late P. W. Robson,
and one at Thornley, in the north-west corner of the county, by the late W. Maling, two years later.
E. angularia has been taken only in the Derwent Valley, and very rarely there. The Feathered
Thorn (Himera pennaria) is widely distributed, but has only been taken singly. The Pale Brindled
Beauty (Phigalia pilosaria) is well distributed and not uncommon, occurring from February to
April, according to the weather and locality. Nyaia hispidaria was reared recently from larvae
found by Mr. Sticks at Lintz Green. The Peppered Moth (Amphidasis betularia) is well
distributed, and the black variety, Doubledayaria, also occurs freely in most places. Intermediate
forms are quite rare. The Barred Umber (Hemerophila abruptaria) has occurred at Darlington
and Hartlepool. Chora lichenaria is marked in Stainton's Manuals being taken at Darlington.
I do not know the authority. Boarmia repandata is common everywhere, and the banded
variety conversaria is not very uncommon. B. rhomboidaria is equally plentiful, except on the
coast, where it is not often seen. Tephrosia crepuscularia is common in the denes, Castle
Eden and Hesleden particularly. I have seen no other record, but it is sure to occur. The
Little Emerald (lodts lactearia) is met with in the north-west and in the south-east of the
county, but is not common in either. The Common Emerald (Hemithea tbymiaria) has
occurred once at Darlington. Ephyra trilinearia has only once been taken in the north of
the county. E.punctaria is distributed over almost all the county, but is of very rare occurrence.
Asthena luteata occurs in the far west — Upper Teesdale — and along to Thornley Wood (near
Newcastle) in the north. It has never been seen near the coast. A. candtdata occurs commonly
in the denes, and in the Derwent area. It is not recorded elsewhere, but almost certainly
will be found. A. sylvata is recorded from Darlington in Stainton's Manual. A. bkmeri was
first taken in Castle Eden Dene, in July 1831. It may still be found there and in Hesleden
Dene. Euphteria heparata occurs sparingly in damp places. It has been met with at
Darlington, Hartlepool, and in the north-west of the county. Venwia cambrica is scarce and
very local, and only seems to have been taken in the south of the county. The rare Addalia
rubricata was taken at Winch Bridge, Upper Teesdale, in 1875, by Dr. Lees. The specimens
are in my possession. A. scutulata is widely distributed, but never very common. A. bhetata
is more numerous. A, trigeminata was taken once, two specimens. A. osseata is common on
the coast. It does not appear to have been taken elsewhere. A. virgularia is well distributed
and common. A. subsericeata is very abundant around Hartlepool, but does not occur else-
where within a distance of at least 100 miles. I took a single specimen of A. immutata at
Black Hall Rocks in 1895, and one only of A. remutata was taken nearer Hartlepool.
A.fumata, the Smoky Wave, is found in Upper Teesdale, as also is A. imitaria, the Small
Blood Vein. This has also been found at Darlington, and I took one in Hart Lane,
Hartlepool, and one in Upper Teesdale. A, aversata is the commonest of the genus in
Durham, occurring everywhere, and generally fairly plentiful. A. inornata occurs at Black
Hall Rocks and at Wolsingham, always sparingly. The Blood Vein (Bradypetes amataria) is
given in the Manual as occurring at Darlington. I have no personal knowledge of it. The
Cabera occur everywhere : pusaria among birch, exanthemaria among willow. The variety of
pusaria — rotundaria is bred occasionally ; I have not known it taken on the wing. Macaria
liturata is well distributed, but not common. Halia wavaria is generally a garden insect,
but not always. It is tolerably common. Strenia clathrata is common on the coast, and
occurs occasionally elsewhere. A variety without cross-bars has been taken. Lozogramma
petraria is a moor insect, but is recorded here only from the coast at Ryhope Dene. Numeria
pulveraria is recorded from the woods on the Derwent, from Hoffall Wood, from Darlington,
and from Hesleden Dene. It is quite a scarce species. Mceua bclglaria is common on the
moors both of Teesdale and Weardale. It does not occur anywhere else. Only the two
common Fidonia occur ; atomaria on all the moors, piniaria in woods where there is plenty of
118
INSECTS
Scotch fir. Aspilatts strigil/aria was recorded at Shull by the late W. Backhouse over fifty
years ago. There are no more recent records, but it is certain to occur in the west. Abraxas
grossu/ariata occurs everywhere, and some curious varieties have been taken ; one with a
deep yellow ground at Byers Green, one nearly black at Throston, and others elsewhere.
Larvz nearly black occur at Shields and Sunderland, producing absolutely ordinary forms of
the imago. A. ulmata occurs plentifully in the denes and woods ; it varies considerably in
the depth and extent of the markings; but extreme forms do not occur, except that one
specimen was taken in Castle Eden Dene of an unusually pale character. Lomaspilis marginata
is common in woods. It is an excessively variable species, but extreme forms are rare. All
the Hybernid<e occur : rupicapraria and progremmaria common everywhere, leucophearia and
aurantiaria rare, defoliaria and Anisopteryx ascularia rare on the coast, but common inland.
The Winter Moth (Cheimatobia brumata) is abundant everywhere. C. boreata has only been
reported from Darlington, but it is certain to occur elsewhere. It occurs in Northumberland.
Oporabia dilutata is common everywhere ; O. JUigrammaria common on the moors ;
0. autumnaria has been taken only once or twice. Larentia didymata abounds everywhere.
L. multistrigaria is common along the coast, and wherever Galium verum grows freely.
L. casiata absolutely swarms on the higher moors in Upper Teesdale and Weardale.
L. flavmnctata is at present only recorded from the Middleton-in-Teesdale district. It
probably occurs in all the higher land. L. sallcaria has also been taken in Upper Teesdale,
but not commonly ; L. otivaria is tolerably common inland, but has not been taken near the
coast. L. miaria is the most generally distributed, and most plentiful of the genus, except
didymata. It occurs in woods all over the county. Nearly all the Emmtlesia occur : affinitata
and alchemillata in denes and woods, but neither very common ; albulata plentiful among
Rhinanthus chr'nta-galli ; decolorata decidedly scarce, but occurring, generally singly, almost
everywhere. Tteniata was first taken in Castle Eden Dene by the late J. C. Dale ; many
years passed and the late George Wailes was in the dene and found an Emmelesia flying very
freely ; thinking it to be albulata, he took two or three only, but on arriving at home, he
found they were tteniata ; he went the next day, but never saw one, nor did he meet with it
again. Hundreds of collectors have been since, but no one has taken it there again. Dr. Lees
met with it far up the hills in Upper Teesdale. Unifasciata was common at the foot of
Hart Lane, near Hartlepool, some forty years ago. It has not been taken recently, but is certain
to occur. Blandiata was once taken at Hartlepool. No less than twenty-eight species of the
genus Eupithecia have been met with in the county, viz., venosata, which has an old record
for Darlington, and has been taken at Hartlepool once or twice. Linariata has been reared at
Seaham Harbour and Hartlepool. Pulchellata, common wherever foxglove grows, more
particularly in the extreme west. It is never seen on the coast limestones. Centaureata is
well distributed, but local, and never very plentiful. Subfulvata is fairly common, occurring in
most places. Pygm<eata is given in the Manual as occurring at Darlington. Satyrata and
castigata are generally common. Lariciata is well distributed, but not very abundant.
Pimpinellata was only once taken at Hartlepool. Albipunctata and valerianta have been taken
at Hesleden Dene. Innotata has a little doubt attached to its occurrence, as only melanic
specimens are known, and they might be some other species, but there is every reason to
believe that it does occur. Indigata is widely distributed. Nanata is abundant on the moors,
and common on the coast wherever heather grows. Subnotata has been taken occasionally
about Hartlepool. Vulgata is tolerably common and is found all over the county. Abiynthiata
is only recorded from the coast, where it occurs for the entire length ; Minutata only in the
west, where it is plentiful on the moors. Aaimilata is a garden insect, and widely distributed,
but never very common. Tmulata is to be found in the larval state in all woods, but the
imago is seldom seen at large. Subciliata is given in the Manual as occurring at Darlington.
Abbreviata has occurred in most places, but always scarce. Exiguata is generally common
among whitethorn. Sobrinata occurs all along the coast and again on the hilly land in the
west. The food plant appears to be dying off on the cliffs, and the insect must of course
disappear also. Togata is on the list from a solitary specimen taken at a gas lamp at
Darlington by the late John Sang. It is likely to occur in the many fir woods of the county.
Rectangulata occurs in orchards and is far from common. The black variety, nigrosericeata,
has not been recorded, but is sure to occur ; it is plentiful at Newcastle-on-Tyne.
Lobophora viretata was taken freely in 1881, at Gibside, by the late Mr. Hedworth. I do
not know that it has been taken since, but the large number that were taken then could not
have been immigrants. L. lobulata occurs in Castle End Dene and many of the larger woods.
Thtra juniperata occurs in Upper Teesdale, above High Force Fell. Except that it was once
119
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
taken at Sunderland, it has never occurred on the coast, and as the juniper is dying off there it
is not likely to occur now. T. simulata occurred on the coast, wherever Eupitheda iobrinata
was found. This also has not been taken there lately. It occurs, not very commonly, among
juniper on the high land in the west. T. variata occurs in fir woods, is not very plentiful,
though generally distributed. T. firmata has only been taken in the west of the county,
Witton le Wear, Upper Teesdale, etc. Tpsipetes ruberaria occurs in the Derwent Valley and in
Hesleden Dene. Wonderful varieties may be reared. T. impluviata occurs both in Castle
Eden and Hesleden Denes, also at South Shields and in Upper Teesdale. T. elutata is generally
distributed all over the county and is very common. Melantbia rubiginata is well distributed
over the county, but never very abundant. M. ocellata is also widely spread, occurring almost
everywhere, but, like the last, it is never in great numbers. M. albicillata is decidedly scarce, but
has been met with, generally singly, almost all over the county. M . hastata has not been taken
for quite fifty years. It was then found at Hoppylands. M. tristata appears to avoid the coast,
but it is fairly common elsewhere. M. unangulata and rivata were both taken by the late
William Backhouse in Houghall Wood near Durham. It does not occur there now. A
coal mine near has destroyed much of the lepidoptera in this wood. There is no other locality
in the county for either. M. biriviata and montanata are abundant everywhere. M. galiata
has only occurred once or twice, but at distant localities. M. fluctuate is abundant all over the
county. The specimens are large and darker than those from the south. The variety
Neapolisata occurs. Anticlea badiata is common everywhere, by hedges mixed with rose, and
similar places. A derivata is widely distributed but rare. Coremia munitata is even more widely
distributed, and rather more plentiful than the last, but it is still a rare species. It is generally
found in or near marshy ground. C. propugnata has occurred in the west of the county,
but never elsewhere. C. ferrugaria is common in Upper Teesdale, but scarcely taken else-
where. Camptogramma bilineata is abundant everywhere. A variety with a black band is not
uncommon. Pbibalapteryx lignata has occurred near Sunderland and at Hell Kettles,
Darlington. Scotosia dubitata has occurred, generally singly, in most parts of the county. A
single specimen of S. certata was taken at Hartlepool in 1864, and of 5. undulata in Upper
Teesdale in 1875. Cidaria psittacata is widely distributed, but is very scarce. C. miata is also
widely distributed and often common. C. corylata is in all the woods and denes, and never
rare. The variety albo-crenata occurs occasionally. C. russata is everywhere, always
common. The variety comma-notata, with red centre to the fore-wings occurs also, but
not very abundantly. C. immanata is also common in woods and denes, to which it
appears to be more closely confined than is russata. C. suffumata, the earliest of the genus,
occurs everywhere ; a dark variety, piceata, is also very common. C. silaceata is very generally
distributed, but not so common as the last few species. A second brood may be reared in
confinement, but is never found at large. C. prunata is only recorded from the south-west of
the county. I think it must occur elsewhere, as it is commonly distributed both in Yorkshire
and Northumberland. C. testata is common all over. Moorland specimens are generally
dark. C. populata occurs over the entire county, most plentifully in the west. C. fuhata
appears everywhere among rose. C. pyraliata, like so many others, may be met with any-
where, but it is least plentiful near the coast. C. dotata is scarce and very local, appearing
only in the west of the county. Pelurga comitata is well distributed, but rarely abundant.
Eubolia cerv'mata is scarce and very local. An erroneous idea that the food plant of this insect
(Malva sylvestris) is marsh mallow (Althcea officinalis], much used by herbalists, has almost led
to its extermination, and has greatly reduced the number of the insect, which was common
when I began collecting. E. mensuraria is abundant everywhere. E.plumbariais common on
waste ground. E. bipunctaria appears confined to limestone. It occurs all along the coast on
Magnesian limestone, and in Upper Teesdale on Mountain limestone. It is plentiful where it
occurs, easily disturbed by day, and flying freely at dusk. Anaith plaglata is well distributed,
and occurs regularly, but is never very abundant. It is found well up the hills in the west.
Chesias spartiata occurs wherever there is broom. This excludes the coast, where broom does
not grow. Odezia chteropbyllata is common everywhere in meadows, pastures, hedgesides, and
similar places where the food plant grows.
DREPANULID^;
Platypteryx lacertula, the Scalloped Hook-tip, is widely distributed, but never plentiful.
P. falculay the Pebbled Hook-tip, occurs sparingly over most of the county. Cilix spinula, the
Goose-egg, may be found all over the county among hawthorn. It does not occur on the
higher moorland.
1 20
INSECTS
PSEUDO-BOMBYCES
Centra furcula, the Sallow Kitten, occurs sparingly in the larval state in most parts of the
county. I do not know that the imago has been taken. C. bifida, the Poplar Kitten, has
occurred about Hartlepool, but it is much rarer than it was twenty-five or thirty years ago.
Like the last the imago is never seen. C. vinula, the Puss Moth, occurs everywhere on willow
and poplar in the larval state. The moth is seen now and then at rest. Petasia cassinea
occurred at Darlington in 1853, when the late John Sang took it at gas lamps. Mr. Winter,
of Beccles, told the writer that he had taken it at Hartlepool. I can only say I never saw or
heard of it. Pygara bucephala, the Buff-tip, was very common half a century ago. It has now
almost, or entirely, left the coast area, but is plentiful enough elsewhere. Clostera curtula, the
Chocolate-tip, was once taken at South Shields — a stray specimen. C. reclusa, the Small
Chocolate-tip, occurs at Wolsingham, and, probably, elsewhere, where dwarf-willow grows.
It has not, however, been taken on the sea banks, north of Black Halls, where the plant grows
very freely. Ptilodontus palpina has only once been found. I took a larva many years ago in
Crimdon Cut, near Hartlepool. Notodanta camelina is to be found over all the county ; never
abundantly, but of regular occurrence. N. dictiea, the Swallow Prominent, occurs all over the
county, wherever there is plenty of poplar. N. dictteoides is much rarer, but appears to be
very generally distributed, especially to the west of the county, where birch is more plentiful.
I have beaten the larva both in Castle Eden and Hesleden Denes. N. dramedarius is also widely
distributed, but never common. N. ziczac is the most plentiful of the group. It may be
found in the larval state on poplars anywhere in the county. N. chaonia is rare. Larvz have
been taken in Upper Teesdale and in Hesleden Dene, but only once or twice. Diloba
cecrultocephala is uncommon, but has been met with inland mostly. My brother found larvae
near Stockton-on-Tees, and a single imago was taken at Hartlepool in 1874, which is the only
coast record.
NOCTU.fi
Thyatira derasa is rare ; it has only occurred near the River Tyne. 7. bath is much
more plentiful, and has occurred in most places ; never abundantly. Cymatophora duplaris is
widely distributed, but not common. C. or is recorded in Ornsby's Durham, but no other
record is known. C. diluta is common in the north-west, but has not been met with else-
where, the variety nubilata with three or more dark bands is not uncommon about Gibside.
C.flavlcormt is generally distributed. C, ridens was bred from a larva found at Gibside. The
specimen is now in the Museum at Newcastle-on-Tyne. Bryophila per/a is generally common.
Acronycta tridens is recorded, but I feel some doubt as to the correctness of the name. A. psi
is common generally, and it may be that it has been mistaken for tridens. A. leparlna is widely
spread, but is either rare, or we have not learned how to find it. A. aceris has occurred once
at Sunderland. A. megacephala, not at all common, though widely spread. A. rumicis is
plentiful everywhere ; the dark variety taKch has been reared. A. menyanthidis occurs freely
on the moors in the west. Leucania conigera, fithargyria, comma, impura, and pollens are all
very common. Nonagria fulva is tolerably plentiful in September. N. elymi formerly occurred
at South Shields. So far as I know it is now found only at Hartlepool, where it is fairly
common in its now much-restricted habitat. N. lutosa has been taken at Greatham only,
where it was sometimes abundant ; the reed has disappeared there, but it is quite likely to exist
in other places. Gortyna flavago is generally common. Hydraecia nictitans occurs all over the
county, but is most plentiful in the higher lands in the west. H. petasitis occurs at Greatham,
and at Dalton le Dale, near Seaham Harbour, and, probably, in all places where the food is
plentiful. H. micacea is common everywhere. Xylophasia rurea and the unicolorous variety
combusta are generally plentiful. X. Kthoxylea is very uncertain, sometimes plentiful, and at
other times not seen at all. X. polyodon and the black variety injfuscata are generally common.
The variety is just as uncertain as Kthoxylea and very similar in its manners. H. hepatica is
much rarer than the others of the genus, though widely distributed. Htliophobus popularis is
sometimes common. Charaas graminis occurs everywhere, but is seldom plentiful. Cerigo
cytherea is often common. Luperina testacea is always plentiful. L. cespitis is rare. It was taken
at Shotley Bridge by the late W. Backhouse, and in Upper Teesdale by Dr. Lees. Single
specimens have occurred at South Shields and Hartlepool. Mamettra abjecta occurs about
Hartlepool and Greatham, probably all along the coast. It is decidedly rare. M. anceps is
taken regularly at Hartlepool, and has been met with at South Shields and Darlington. This
also is rare. M. albicolon is rather common at Hartlepool and South Shields. I have seen no
I 121 l6
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
other record, but it will be found all along the coast. It comes freely to campion flowers.
M. furva has occurred in small numbers, at campion flowers, along the coast. M. brassier,
of course, is abundant everywhere. M. persicaria is very rare, one or two only having been
taken at sugar at Ryhope, Durham, and Bishop Auckland. Apamea basilinea is generally
plentiful, as is A. gemma and the variety remissa. A. unanimis is generally distributed, but not
often plentiful. A. ophiogramma was once recorded from Hartlepool. A. fibrna was taken in
1875, which was a very marvellous year for lepidoptera at sugar, but it has not been seen since.
A. oculea is always abundant. The black variety only occurs now. Fifty years ago light forms
were commonest. All the genus Mlana occur, strigi/is, fasciunc ula, literosa, and furuncula are
common. Expallta has been taken freely at Darlington and Hartlepool. It probably occurs
elsewhere, but it is not easy to find unless its habits are known. M. arcuosa is not very rare ;
it occurs in grassy places. Celeena haworthii is common on the moors in the west. Grammesia
trilinea, though generally plentiful, is very rare in Durham. It has been taken once or twice
on the Derwent, and once only at Hartlepool. Caradrina morpheus is not uncommon on the
coast, but it is not recorded elsewhere. C. blanda is scarcer, and has only been taken at
Darlington and Hartlepool. C. cubicularis is abundant everywhere. Rusina tenebrosa rather
common in most places. Agrotis valligera plentiful on the coast. A. suffusa is neither common
nor well distributed. It occurs sparingly on the coast, and has been taken at Bishop Auckland.
A. saucia has only been twice taken at Bishop Auckland. A, segetum and exclamationls are both
common everywhere. A. corticea appears numerously at Bishop Auckland, but not elsewhere.
A. cursorta is a coast species, much rarer now than fifty years ago. A. nigricans general in the
county, and far from uncommon. A. tritici, another coast insect, and generally abundant.
A. agathina rare on the moors. A. porphyrea is another moorland species, but much more
abundant, occurring where there is very little heather. A. preecox has been twice met with
at South Shields. A. ravida occurs on the coast, but is never very plentiful. Axylia putris is
exceedingly rare, only four specimens, all taken in the west of the county, having been recorded.
Tripheena fimbrla is rather scarce, but appears to occur in most places. T. janthina seems to
be a garden insect in Durham. It is well distributed, but never plentiful. T. interjecta occurs
in August on Hartlepool sand hills, which appear to be the northern limit of its range.
T. orbona is common everywhere. T. pronuba is also common everywhere and very variable.
Noctua g/areosa is found all over the county, but it is scarce near the sea. N. augur, pkcta, and
c.-nigrum are all abundant. N. depuncta occurs at Bishop Auckland, and has been taken in
Hesleden Dene ; it is a rare insect. N. triangulum is widely distributed, but, perhaps, is only
a wanderer. It is generally a common insect, but here has only occurred singly. N. brunnea
is well distributed, occurring at edges of woods and open places. N. festiva is common, and
the variety conflua is equally plentiful on the moors. N. rubi is widely spread, but never
common ; it appears rarest near the coast. N. umbrosa and baja are fairly well distributed,
and generally plentiful, but not always. N, xanthographa is always much too numerous.
Trachea piniperda, in pine woods, generally distributed, but not very common. Tanio-
campa gothica, abundant everywhere and wonderfully variable. T. leucograpba is only
recorded by one collector, who says it is decidedly scarce. T. rubricosa is generally
common and well spread. T. instabilis is plentiful everywhere and very variable. T, opima
has been taken at Darlington once, but occurs regularly about Hartlepool — never common,
but a few each year. T. popuktt is very scarce. T. stabilis is the most abundant of the
genus, always plentiful everywhere. T. gracilis is common at Hartlepool, and has been
taken once or twice in the west. T. munda is recorded from Hartlepool only, where it is
very rare. T, cruda is generally common, but does not appear to associate much with the
other members of the genus. Orthttsia suspecta is very scarce and local. In occurs in Hesleden
Dene. O. ypsilon has occurred in Teesdale and Hartlepool, but very seldom. O. lota is more
generally distributed, but never abundant. O. macilenta is tolerably common, except on the
coast, where it is never seen. Anchocelis rufina is well spread over the county, but has not
often been recorded. A. phtadna also occurs sparingly in most places. A. lunosa is very
scarce and has only occurred singly. Cerastis vaccinii and spadicea are generally plentiful, but
not common on the coast. Scopelosoma satetlitia, common generally in autumn, not often seen
in spring. Xanthia citrago occurs in the neighbourhood of Durham only. X. cerago and
si la go are common in autumn, and ferruginea appears everywhere, though not so plentiful as
the other two. Cirrcedia xerampelina occurs occasionally, but has not yet been taken more
than once at any place. Tethea subtusa is very rare, and has only been met with at Darlington
and near Hartlepool. Cosmia trapezina is common and well distributed, least plentiful near
the sea. C. diffinis was taken in 1898 near Hartlepool by Mr. Gardner — one specimen only.
122
INSECTS
Dianthacia carpophaga is common on the coast, but does not occur inland. D. cucuba/i, also a
coast species, but not so plentiful as the last. D. capsincola, commoner than either, and much
more generally distributed. D. compersa is a rare insect and very irregular in its appearance.
It has only been taken at Hartlepool and Durham. Polia chi is tolerably common, and the
variety olivacea occurs in most places ; the variety is scarcest on the moors. P. fiavocincta is
very general, but never very common. Dasypolia templi is perhaps more plentiful than
appears. Its habits are peculiar, and it comes out so late in the year that it is seldom seen.
It is recorded from Barnard Castle, Darlington, Durham, and Hartlepool, and probably occurs
everywhere. Epunda lutu/enta, on the sandhills and about Hartlepool generally. It comes
freely to light. It probably occurs all along the coast, but it also flies late in the year, though
earlier than templi. E. nigra is reported from Bishop Auckland. E. vimina/is is not very
common, but well distributed. Miselia oxyacantha, generally common. Agriopis aprilina,
common in the centre and west of the country, but very rare on the coast. Phlogophora
meticulosa is common enough in the autumn, but much rarer everywhere in spring. Euplexia
lucipara is generally distributed, but abundant nowhere. Aplecta herbida is not common, but
occurs all over the county. A. occulta is but an occasional visitor, sometimes disappearing
for years. A. ntbuloia is fairly common in woods and denes. A. advena is a rare species.
Mr. Sang took three between 1853 an<^ l$S7- A single specimen was taken at Elwick near
Hartlepool about the same time, but there are no more recent records. Hadena admta has
been taken around Hartlepool and once in Teesdale. H. protea has only been met with in
the west — Upper Teesdale and Weardale. H. dentina, generally distributed and not
uncommon. H. chenopodiiy very rare, odd specimens only have been met with. H. suasa
appears to occur only on Greatham salt marsh, where it is rare. H. ohracea swarms every-
where. H. piii is common in most places, perhaps more abundant on the coast. H. tha/assina,
well distributed, but never very common. Xylocampa lithoriza, not uncommon in early spring.
Calocampa vetusta is very rare, only occurring singly. C. exoleta, common generally in autumn
and spring. A single specimen of Xylina petrificata was taken in Hesleden Dene in 1898
by Mr. Gardner. Cucullia chamomilla has occurred occasionally at Hartlepool, both larvae
and imagines. C. umbratica is generally distributed and never very rare. Heliothis marginata
is very common on the coast. In some years it is quite the commonest noctua at Hartlepool.
The larvse are abundant on Rest-harrow, and are most persistent cannibals. H. peltigera has
been taken, singly only at South Shields and Byers Green and twice at Hartlepool. H. armigera
has also been taken twice at Hartlepool and once at Sunderland. Anarta myrtilli is common
on the moors and not unfrequent wherever there is ling. Brephos parthenias occurs at
Wolsingham and in that district, but has not been observed elsewhere. Abrostola urtlcte is
common in the south-west of the Tyne river, and occurs occasionally elsewhere. It is not
very rare about Hartlepool. A, triplasia is a scarce insect. It was taken by Dr. Lees in
Upper Teesdale occasionally, and I took one at Hartlepool long ago. Plusia chrysitis is
generally distributed, but never very common. P. bractea is a great rarity. It has been taken
only at Darlington and at Durham. P. festuas is also very scarce, but it may be that it has
not been sought for in the right places. Mr. Sang took it at Hell Kettles in 1880. Near
Hartlepool I have taken three, but no one else has met with it. P. iota is generally distributed
and common. P. v-aurtum, even more plentiful than the last. P. gamma swarms in autumn
and spring. P. inttrrogationis, on the moors. A solitary specimen was taken at rest on palings
at Hartlepool some years ago. Gonoptera libatrix is well distributed, but not common
anywhere, and apparently becoming scarcer ; it has almost left the coast. Ampbipyra
tragopogonis is generally plentiful in autumn. Mania typica is another generally abundant
insect. Its larger relation M. maura is very much rarer than typica, but occurs all over the
county. Stilbia anomala was once taken at Black Hall Rocks by Mr. Gardner, flying in the
sun. Catocala fraxini was taken at Hartlepool by the same gentleman, at rest on the paling
of his own timber yard. Euclidia mi is generally common in rough pastures and grassy
places. E. glyphica, not plentiful and very local, occurring on railway banks and similar places.
Phytomttra tenea is well distributed, but never abundant. It occurs all along the coast and in
many places inland.
DELTOIDES PYRALIDES
Hypcna proboscidalis. Common among nettles Pyralis glaucinalis. Once in HesleJen Dene
Rivula scriccalis. Once in Hetleden Dene — larinalis. Generally common
Henninu grisealis. Common in woods Aglossa pinguinalis. Common in stables
123
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
Pyrausta punicealis. Common in Heskden Dene
— purpuralis. Black Hall Rocks
— ostrinalis. Black Hall Rocks. Rare, probably
not distinct
Herbula cespitalis. Dry banks and pastures
Ennychia cingulalis. Darlington (Stainton's Manual)
Cataclysta lemnata. Not very plentiful
Hydrocampa nymphasata. Generally common
— stagnata. Not very common.
Botys lupulina. Once at Hartlepool
— verticalis. Generally common
— fuscalis. Very common
— urticata. Very common
Ebulea crocealis. Common among flea-bane
— sambucalis. Darlington. Once at Hartlepool
Pionea forficalis. Common in gardens
Spilodes sticticalis. Once at Hartlepool
Scopula lutealis. Very common
— olivalis. Very common
— prunalis. Common about Hartlepool
— ferrugalis. Once at DarRngton
Stenopteryx hybridalis. Generally distributed
Nola cuculatella. Darlington and Greatham
— cristulalis. Generally common
Scoparia ambigualis. Generally distributed
— ulmella. Common in woods, etc., around
Hartlepool
— cembrae. Common among coltsfoot
— pyralalis. Generally common.
— murana. Common in the west of the county
— lineola. Hoffal Wood, near Durham
— mercurella. Common in Upper Teesdale
— cratsgella. Common in Upper Teesdale
— truncicolella. Common in Upper Teesdale
— angustea. Hartlepool
CRAMBITES
Crambus pratellus. Abundant everywhere
— hamellus. Hartlepool, once or twice
— pascuellus. Very local
— margaritellus. Has been taken at Wolsingham
— perlellus. Occurs freely on a dry bank near
Hesleden church
— warringtonellus. Occurs on Greatham sal tmarsh,
a low damp locality, totally different from
that where perlellus is found. The specimens
too are always smaller.
— selasellus. Hell Kettles, Darlington
— tristellus. Common generally
— geniculeus. Sand banks, Hartlepool
— culmellus. Very common
— hortuellus. Very common
Chilo phragmitellus. Hell Kettles, Darlington
Anerastia lotella. Sand banks, Hartlepool
Homoeosoma nimbella. Along the coast
— cretacella. Hartlepool
Ephestia ficulella. Recorded by Mr. Sang as bred
from a larva found in a growing hazel nut.
The larva feeds on dried fruits generally, and
there may be a mistake. There is no other
record.
Plodia interpunctella. Darlington and Hartlepool
Phycis betulella. Once in Upper Teesdale
— carbonariella. Wolsingham and Hartlepool
— dilutella. Near Darlington
Phycis genistella. Bred from larvae found near Wols-
ingham
— roborella. Darlington
Dioryctria spendidella. Once at Hartlepool
Rodophaea advenella. Darlington
— tumidella. Hesleden Dene
Onocera ahenella. Black Hall Rocks
Aphomia colonella. One at Hartlepool in 1874
For the remainder, the arrangement of Stainton's
Manual will be followed.
CHLCEPHORID^E
Chloephora prasinana. Generally common in
woods.
TORTRICINA
TORTRICID^E
Sarrothripa revayana. One at Hartlepool
Amphisa gerningana. On moors in the west
— prodromana. Abundant on the moors and on
coast sand hills
Hypermecia angustana. The true angustana was
first taken at High Force, Upper Teesdale, in
1866, by Lord Walsingham. It has been
taken there by others subsequently, and also
at Darlington and Hartlepool
— cruciana. Common amongst sallows
Eulia ministrana. Woods and denes
Brachytaenia semifasciana. Castle Eden Dene
Antithesia corticana. On birch trunks, not un-
common
— betuletana. Hesleden Dene
— praelongana. Generally distributed, but not
common
— cynosbatella. Common
— pruniana. Common
— dimidiana. Boggy places in the west
— marginana. Teesside near Darlington, etc.
— palustrana. Upper Teesdale
Penthina salicella. Darlington
Clepsis rusticana. Boggy moors in the west
Tortrix icterana. Generally distributed, but not
very common
— viburnana. Swarms on the moors in Upper
Teesdale, etc.
— viridana. Common everywhere
— forsterana. Darlington, Hartlepool, etc.
— heparana. Generally common
— ribeana. Generally common
— cinnamoneana. Darlington
— corylana. Generally common
PLICATE
Lozotaenia sorbiana. Hell Kettles, near Darlington
and Wolsingham
— musculana. Generally common
— latiorana. This, I presume, is but a variety of
costana, but being given separately in Stain-
ton, I give it separately here. Mr. Gardner
took a single specimen at Greatham
— costana. Common in marshy places
— unifasciana. Common among privet
— fulvana. Common generally
— roborana. Common generally
124
INSECTS
Lozotsenia xylosteana. Common generally
- rosana. Common generally
Ditula angustiorana. Darlington
Ptycholoma lecheana. Common generally
Notocelia udmanniana. Recorded only from
Durham and Hartlepool, but probably com-
mon generally
Pardia tripunctana. Swarms in gardens
Spilonota roborana. Hartlepool
- roszcolana. DarRngton and Hartlepool
— trimaculana. Common among elm
— amoenana. On the coast among Rosa spinosis-
sima
Lithographia compoliliana. Common among willows
— cinerana. Darlington
— nisella. Larvae common in sallow catkins.
— penklcriana. Among birch
Phlzodes tetraquetrana. Abundant among birch
— crenana. Mr. Sang found this insect at
Waskerley
Poedisca piceana. Wolttngham, High Force, and
Thorp Bulmer near Hartlepool. Probably in
other marshy places
— stabilana. Hell Kettlei near DarRngton
— solandriana. Common among birch
— opthalmicana. On black poplar in Cattle Eden
Dene
Catoptria scopoliana. Common among thistles
— fulvana. Hetleden Dene
— hohenwarthiana. Generally distributed, but not
common
— expallidana. DarRngton
Halonota bimaculana. Generally distributed, but
not common
— trigeminana. Seattm Careto
— cirsiana. Among thistles and centaurea.
— scutulana. Among thistles and centaurea.
— grandzvana. Confined as a British species to
South Shields and Hartleptol. I believe it is
extinct at South ShleUi, but it still occurs
about Hartlepool
— brunnichiana. Plentiful amongst coltsfoot. A
curious variety, without the white spot on
the forewings, was common in a quarry in
Hetleden Dene a few years ago. The colts-
foot disappeared there and the insect with it,
nor have I seen the variety since
— tetragonana. Very local. Wolsingham, Darting-
ton, Hetleden Dene. The lame is said to be
found under moss at the roots of beech
trees. Mr. Gardner bred a specimen from
a larva found on Lotus corniculatus
— turbidana. « Teeside from ConitcRffe to Black-
weU: (J. Sang)
— inopiana. Taken at Seaton Carew in 1874 by
the late John Sang
- fcenella. Heileden Dene, once or twice
Dicrorampha petiverella. DarRngton and Hartlepool
— politana. Eggleston, Upper Teetdale
— alpinana. Mr. Sang took this southern species
at Coniiclife
- tanaccti. ConitcRffe, DarRngton, and near
Hartlepool
- plumbagana. Hartlepool
— acuminitana. ConitcRffe Moor, DarRngton, and
Hartlepool
125
Dicrorampha consortana. DarRngton
Coccyx hyrciniana. ConitcRffe Moor
Capua ochraceana. Eggleston, Upper Teetdale
Cartella bilunana. HesleJen Dene
ANCHYLOPERIDjE
Hedya paykuUiana. Wolsingham and HesUden Dene
— ocellana. DarRngton and ConiscRffe Moor
— dealbana. Dinsdale Wood and Neasham Lane
near DarRngton, and in Heiledev Dene
— neglectana.
— aceriana. Gas lamps, DarRngton, by Mr. Sang
in 1860
— trimaculana. I know of no record for this
insect and never met with it, but it is cer-
tain to occur
Steganoptycha naevana. Cattle Eden Dene and
Cockerton near DarRngton
— geminana. WolAngham
Anchylopera mitterbacheriana. Gibiide, and prob-
ably elsewhere
— biarcuana. Winch Bridge, Upper Teetdale, near
DarRngton, and probably elsewhere
— myrtillana.
— lundana. South Shields, Sunderland, Barnard
Castle, and Hartlepool, probably everywhere
— paludana. Meyrick limits the range of this
species to the fens of Norfolk and Cam-
bridge, but Mr. Sang took it at Hell Kettles
near Darlington
— comptana. Chiefly a chalk down species, but
extending on the west coast to Cheshire.
Mr. Sang took it in a lane near DarRngton
in 1859, DUt never met with it again. It
may only have been a stray specimen
— unguicella. On the moors in the west. Has
been taken at Wolstngham and on the Teet-
dale Moors
Bactra lanceolana. Abundant among rushes
Argyrotoza conwayana. Generally among privet,
but not a common insect
Dictyopteryx contaminana. Very common by
hedge sides
— loeflingiana. Lanes and woods
Croesia bergmanniana. Common everywhere
among rose
— fbrskaleana. Common among maple
— holmiana. Generally common
Hemerosia rheediella. Not scarce, has been re-
corded at Sunderland, DarRngton, and Hartlepool
PERONEID.E
Cheimatophila mixtana. Rather common in
heathery places. Is recorded from Waskerley,
Wolsingham, and the Teesdale Moon
Oxygrapha literana. Mr. Sang took this at Eggles-
ton and near DarRngton; I took a single
specimen at Hartlepool, and Mr. Gardner
another near the mouth of Cattle Eden Dene
Peronea schallcriana. Generally common.
— perplexana. Of this comparatively new species
Mr. Gardner took two at Greatbam, near
Hartlepool
— commariana. Mr. Gardner took a single
specimen of this on the Teetdale Moon
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
Peronea comparana. Generally common
— tristana. This insect has occurred at Gibside
and at Darlington, both records being sixty
or seventy years ago. I know of no recent
occurrence
— rufana. Has occurred Tery generally, and in
places such as Hartkpool sand hills, where
there is neither poplar nor willow
— favillaceana. Heskden Dene, etc.
— maccana. Upper Tynedale
— hastiana. Black Hall Rocks among dwarf sallow,
and Cole Hill Wood near Hartkpool
— -umbrana. Taken by Mr. Maling in 1875 in
Thornky Dene in the valley of the Derwent
— variegana. Very common everywhere
Paramesia aspersana. Generally distributed and
common
— ferrugana. Generally distributed and common
— caledoniana. Common on the moors of Upper
Teesdak
Teras caudana. Generally common among sallows
STIGMONOTID-ffi
Pcecilochroma corticana. Well distributed, but
not very common
— bouchardana. Among fir trees
— tenerana. Conisc&ffe Moor, near Darlington, and
once in Heskden Dene
Anisotaenia ulmana. Has only been taken in
Heskden Dene by Mr. Gardner, but is cer-
tain to occur elsewhere
Semasia populana. I found larvae and bred this
insect at Hartkpool in 1884
— woeberana. DarRngton, in gardens
— rufillana. Common in the south of Durham,
though limited to Tork by Mr. Meyrick
— • nanana. Among spruce fir in Teesdale
— vacciniana. Has only been met with at Wol-
singham
Eucelis aurana. Castle Eden Dene and the railway
cutting north of Hart station
Ephippiphora regiana. Eggleston, Upper Teesdale,
and Heskden Dene; probably all woods
where there is sycamore
— argyrana. Generally distributed among oaks
Stigmonota internana. Among whins as far as
Castle Eden. I do not know if it occurs
further north. Meyrick limits it to Tork
— perlepidana. Darlington (]. Sang). The re-
puted food plants Orobus niger (Wilk) and
Lathyrus macrorrhizus (Meyr) do not grow
in the county
— dorsana. Railway banks near Croft. Sang bred
this species from larvae found on Lathyrus
sylvestris. Meyrick says Lathyrus macror-
rhizus and perhaps L. pratensis. This gives
an additional food, on which perhaps
Perlepidana also feeds
Asthenia coniferana. Mr. Sang bred this insect
from larvae in bark of Scotch fir. (Ent.
W. Intel!, vii. 76)
— splendidulana. Occurs around DarRngton and
in Upper Teesdale
Retinia pinicolana. Has only been taken near
Darlington
Retinia pinivorana. Conisclijfe Moor and near
Darlington
— occultana. Castle Eden Dene, Edder Acres, and
near Darlington
Pamplusia monticolana. This insect occurs freely
on the moors in Northumberland and in York-
shire, and is certain to occur in Teesdale, but
I know of no records
CARPOCAPSID.E
Endopisa ulicana. On railway banks at Darlington
and Hartkpool
— germarana. Meyrick limits the range of this
species to Tork, but it certainly reaches
Durham, for Mr. Sang took it in a lane near
the railway at Darlington
— nigricana. Mr. Sang reared this insect from
larvae found at Coniscliffe feeding on Vicia
sylvatica. This is not the food generally
named
— proximana. Probably the same species as
nigricana. Occurring at the same place and
time
Carpocapsa splendana. Near Darlington
— pomonella. No records except at Hartkpool,
and these are probably from apples grown
elsewhere, as no apple trees grow there now
Grapholita albersana. Bred by Mr. Sang from
larvae found near DarRngton. (E.M.M.,
vi. 170)
— ulicetana. Swarms everywhere around whin
— hypericana. Common in Castle Eden and
Heskden Dene, and probably elsewhere among
Hypericum
CNEPHASID^E
Cnephasia hybridana. Among fir trees, not un-
common
— subjectana. Generally common
— virgaureana. „ „
— alternella. Rather local and only recorded
from Darlington and Seaton Carew
— conspersana. Generally distributed
— octomaculana. Only recorded around Hartk-
pool, but certain to occur elsewhere
Ablabia pratana. Rough pastures and moors.
Very plentiful where it occurs. On the
wing about mid-day and later
SERICORID.E
Euchromia ericetana. I took this species regularly
in my garden at West Hartkpool, some twenty
years ago. The garden was surrounded by
fields, &c. There is no other record
— striana. Middkton-One-Rovi and Greatham
Orthotaenia antiquana, Hell Kettles near Darlington
Sericoris conchana. Castle Eden Dene, Darlington,
&c.
— lacunana. Generally common
— urticana. Plentiful in most places
— micana. In boggy places near Darlington,
Hartkpool, &c.
— cespitana. I know of no records except near
Hartkpool
— politana. Moors in the west of the county
126
INSECTS
Scricoris bifasciana. The late John Sang took this
species near DarRngton in 1870 and again in
1872, according to his diary
Mixodia schultziana. Boggy places on the moon
in the west of the county
— palustrana. Mr. Gardner found this insect
abundant in one locality on the Teeidale
Moors. I do not know any other English
habitat.
LOZOPERID^;.
Phtheochroa rugosana. Dlnsdak Wood and Conii-
cltffe. The food plant Bryonia dioica
only grows in extreme South Durham
Eriopsela fractifasciana. A single specimen was
taken by Mr. Gardner at Black Hall Rockt
— quadrana. Taken in 1 896 by Mr. Gardner
at Winch Bridge, Upper Teeidale. This is,
perhaps, its most northern habitat
Chrosis tesserana. Has only been taken near Dar-
lington. The food plant scarcely occurs in
the county
Argyrolepia baumanniana. Generally distributed
and not uncommon
— subbaumanniana. Only taken by Mr. Sang
nearly fifty years ago
— badiana. Among burdock in the denes
Argyrolepia cnicana. Rather common amongst
thistles
Calosetia nigromaculana. Hartlepool, on the rail-
way side, among ragwort
Eupoecilia maculosana. Taken by Mr. Sang, pro-
bably only a casual, as the insect docs not
occur so far north
— atricapitana. DarRngton, Hartlepool, &c., among
ragwort
— nana. Wolsingham is the only district where
this has occurred
— angustana. Common about Hartlepool. No
other records
— rupicola. Only in South Durham, Hesleden
Dene, and Darlington
— vectisana. Greatham saltmarsh, very plentiful
— manniana. Occurred on the railway banks at
DarRngton
— affinitana. Occurs at Greatham saltmarsh, the
larva; feeding on Aster tripolium
— ruficiliana. Common among cowslips at Dar-
lington, Hartlepool, &c.
Lozopera straminea. Generally common
Xan those tia hamana. Generally distributed, but
not very abundant
— zoegana. Generally distributed, but not very
abundant
Tortricodes hyemana. Common in oak woods
TINEINA
This group has been very little collected in Durham. The following list has been
compiled principally from notes left by the late John Sang, which appear to have been
memoranda for future guidance rather than a regular diary, and from a list supplied by
Mr. John Gardner, F.E.S., of his own captures. Stainton's Manual has references to ' Da,J
Darlington, but as these referred rather to the residence of the captor than to the actual place
where the species were found I have added Stainton's Manual, in all cases where I have no
other knowledge of its occurrence. Sang, who, I believe, supplied Stainton with the list,
collected in Yorkshire — as far as Richmond inland, and down the coast to Redcar and Salt-
burn, and it is possible that some of these references ought to have been in the Yorkshire list.
No one has collected the Tineina in North Durham since the late George Wailes, and his
records are given in the Manual as ' Ne' Newcastle, so that it is impossible now to say which
were Durham species, and which Northumberland.
EXAPATID^E
Exapate gelatella. Generally common
Chimabacche phryganella. In woods, but not
common
— fagella. Abundant everywhere. Dark forms
often occur, but not so black as those I have
seen at Liverpool and elsewhere
Semioscopis avellanella. Occurs in Upper Teeidale.
Not common
— tteinkellneriana. The Manual gives DarRngton,
but Sang does not appear to have met with
it. I took a single specimen near the work-
house, Hartlepoot, many years ago
TINEID.*
Talxporia pseudo-bombycella. Barnard Castle and
Castle Eden Dene
Solenobia clathrclla. This insect was found by
Dr. Mason in a small collection formed by
John Sang, and purchased at his death by
Dr. Mason. They were all taken after
Sang's return to Darlington, and these
(two <Js and three $s) were there named
Triquetrella, as Clathrclla had never been
recorded as British. Dr. Mason wrote me
of his discovery that they were a new species
as soon as he had satisfied himself. There
is an incorrect reference to these specimens
in Tutt's work (vol. ii. 197). The syno-
nomy of the genus is much confused
Diplodoma marginepunctella. Sang found cases
of this insect ' low down on tree trunks '
near DarRngton
Ochsenheimera birdella. Taken by Mr. Gardner
near the mouth of Hesleden Dene
— bisontella. Found by Mr. Gardner with the
last, and also in Teesdale by Mr. Sang
— vacculella. Found by Mr. Gardner with the
last, and also in Tcesdale by Mr. Sang
127
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
Euplocamus boleti. I took a single specimen
of this insect in my own house in Hartle-
pool m 1862
Tinea rusticella. Generally common
— fulvimitrella. Teesdale and Hesleden Dene
— tapetzella. Generally common
— arcella. Middleton-One-Row and Hesleden Dene
— picarella. A very rare insect. Bred by Mr.
Gardner from fungi in Upper Teesdale
— corticella. Taken by the late W. Backhouse
in Kepler Wood near Durham
— parasitella
— granella. Common in granaries
— cloacella. Common
— albipunctella. DarRngton and Seaton Carew
— confusella. I took a single specimen of this
insect on the wing near the mouth of Hes-
leden Dene
— miscella. Castle Eden Dene and Black Hall
Rocks
— pellionella. Common in houses
— pallescentella. Common generally, especially
in timber yards
— lapella. Darlington (Stainton's Manual). Mr.
Gardner bred it from a bird's nest found
in Hesleden Dene
— biselliella. Very common in houses
— semifulvella. Birds' nests and in houses
— bistrigella. Generally distributed
Lampronia quadripunctella. Not uncommon in
South Durham
— luzella. Darlington, Castle Eden and Hesleden
Denes
— praelatella. Local, but plentiful where it
occurs
— rubiella. Common among both wild and
garden raspberries
Teichobia verhuellella. Mr. Sang found this both
at Castle Eden and Black Halls, and reared it
from larvae found there
Incurvaria musculella. Generally common
— canariella. Taken by Mr. Gardner among
Rosa spinosissima
— pectina. Teesdale, among birch. Not very
common
Nemophora swammerdammella. General in plan-
tations
— schwarziella. General in plantations
Adeia fibulella. Darlington, Castle Eden Dene, and
Hartlepool
— rufimitrella. Generally distributed
— viridella. Darlington. Common in the denes
— cuprella
Nematois cupriacellus. Darlington
MICROPTERYGID.E
Micropteryx calthella. Common
— seppella. Common
— allionella. Wolsingham
— thunbergella. Darlington
— purpurella
— salopiella. High Force
— semipurpurella. Teesdale. Common in Hes-
leden Dene
— sangii. Darlington
Micropteryx unimaculella. Teesdale
— sparmannella. High Force
— subpurpurella. Generally distributed
Swammerdamia apicella. Darlington, Hesleden
Dene, etc.
— caesiella. Darlington (Stainton's Manual)
— griseo-capitella. Darlington, Wolsingham, Hesle-
den Dene
— lutarea. DarRngton, Whessoe, etc.
— pyrella. Darlington, Hesleden Dene
Hyponomenta padellus. Teesdale and Weardak
— evonymellus. Among spindle near Hartlepool
— padi. Not uncommon
Anesychia funerella. Barnard Castle
Prays curtisellus. Common in woods
PLUTELLID^E
Plutella cruciferarum. Common. This some-
times appears in myriads
— porrectella. General in gardens
— annulatella. Hartlepool
— dalella. Waskerley
Cerostoma sequella. Teesdale
— radiatella. Common
— costella. Common
— lucella. Darlington, among young oaks
— scabrella. Generally common
— nemorella. Castle Eden and Hesleden Denei
— xylostella. Generally common
GELECHID^E
Orthotaelia sparganella. Hell Kettles
Anacampsis sangiella. DarRngton
Phibalocera quercana. Darlington (Stainton's
Manual)
Exsretia allisilla. Hartlepool and Durham
Depressaria costosa. Generally distributed
— liturella. Generally distributed
— umbellana. Generally distributed
— assimilella. Darlington (Stainton's Manual)
— nanatella. Hartlepool
— atomella. Darlington
— arenella. DarRngton, Castle Eden and Heskden
Denes
— subpropinquella. Black Halls
— alstrcemeriella. Common among hemlock
— conterminella. Darlington
— hypericella. Darlington, Hartlepool, and the
denes. Common among Hypericum
— angelicella. DarRngton, Hartlepool, and the
denes
— ocellana. Darlington (Stainton's Manual)
— applana. Very common
— ciliella
— pulcherrimella. Teesdale, Darlington, and the
denes
— weirella. Teesslde
— chaerophylli. Darlington
— nervosa. Greatham
— badiella. DarRngton
— pastinacella. Greatham
— heracliana. Generally common
Gelechia cinerella. Generally common
— rufescens. Greatham, Seaton Carew
— populella
— ericetella. Common on the moors
128
INSECTS
GeJchia mulinella. Generally distributed
— longicornis. Wolsingham
- terrella. Generally common
— desertella. Shield,, Hartlefool, Staton Careto,
probably on all coast sandhills
— politella. TeesJale, Hartlefool
— intaminatella. Darfmgton
— accuminatella. Generally common
— gracilella. South Shields
— senectella. Greatham
- obscurella. CrimJon Cut
— similis. CrimJon Cut
— affinis. TeesJale
— tetragonella. A new species, taken at Greatham
by Mr. Sang. It has been erroneously
recorded as occurring at Redcar (Yorks.)
— urabrosclla. South Shields
- rhombella. Common in crab-apple. The
insects are very dark grey, none light like
those in the south.
— proximella. Teesdalt and HesieJen Dene
— notatella. DarRngton and HesieJen Dene
— vulgella. DarRngton and HesieJen Dene
— fugitivella. Darlington
— aethiops. TeesJale and Weardalt
— solutella. Wolsingham
— distinctella. South Shields
- celerella. Hartlefool. Rare
- maculea. DarRngton and HesieJen Dene
— tricolorella Darlington
— fraternclla. DarRngton and Hartlefool
— viscariella. Darfington and HesieJen Dene
— marmorea. Castle Eden, Black Halls, Seaton
Carew. On the sea banks, probably all
along the coast
instabilella. Black Halls, Hartlefool, Greatham
Greatham Salt marsh
Greatham and Hartlefool
Darlington, Greatham, and Seaton
Castle Eden and HesieJen
Among juniper in the
— salicornix.
— atriplicella.
— obsoletella.
Careto
— plantaginella. Greatham. Plentiful
— sequax. Castle Eden to Hartlefool
— mouffetella. Darlington
- dodecella. Darlington and Cole Hill
— tenebrella. DarRngton and Wolsingham
— tenebrosella. DarRngton
— ligulella. DarRngton and Greatham
— vorticella. Darlington
— tzniolella. DarRngton (Stainton's Manual)
— sircomella. DarRngton
— anthyllidella. DarRngton and Greatham
— ungiella. DarRngton and Hartlefool
— albipalpella. DarRngton
— atrella. DarRngton, Castle Eden and HesieJen
Denes
— intaminella. DarRngton and Wtlsingham
— nstviferella. DarRngton and Barnard Castle
— hermanella
- pictella. Railway bank, Hartlefool
— osseella. DarRngton
— brizella. Greatham
- subocella. HesieJen Dene
Parasia lappella
- metzncriella. DarRngton, Seaton Carew, and
Hartlefool
— carlinella. DarRngton (Stainton's Manual)
129
Chelaria hubnerella.
Denes
Ypsolophas marginellus.
dales
Sophronia humerella. Castle Eden Dene
Pleurota bicostella. High Force
Harpella bractcella. This species was recorded as
British in the E. W. I. (iii. 179) from
specimens taken and bred at Shotley near
Gateshead, and I took a beautiful specimen
at light near Throston, Hartlefool in June 1 880.
It is therefore widely spread in the county,
but not enough is known of its habits for it
to be often taken. I believe less than a
dozen British specimens exist, all from
Durham but one. The larva feeds on rotten
wood
Hypercallia christiernella. Castle Edtn Dene
(ECOPHORID^E
Dasycera sulphurella. Generally common about
old hedges
CEcophora flavimaculella. DarRngton, Castle Eden
and HesieJen Denes
— similella. High land in west of county, Wol-
singham, Eggleston, etc.
— tubaquilea. High land in west of county
One at Black Halls
— pseudospretella. Swarms everywhere. I once
had larvz brought me from Stockttn-m-Tees,
where they had been feeding on flour in
casks. I expected to rear Kuhniella, but
this species only emerged
Endrosis fenestrella
Butalis fuscocuprea. DarRngton
— incongruella. Waskerley
Atemelia torquatella. Wolsingham, Castle Eden and
HesieJen Denes
Pancalia lewenhoekella. Wolsingham, Castle Eden
and HesieJen Denes
GLYPHIPTERYGID^E
Acrolepia granitella. Darlington
— betuletella. This rarity was first taken at
Castle Eden Dene, and has only been met
with there and once at High Force. Most
of the specimens in existence were taken by
the late John Sang. I have taken it but
once, my specimen being beaten out of yew
in October
Glyphipteryx fuscoviridella. Black Halls, dry
banks
— cladiella. Darfington
- thrasonella. DarRngton, HesieJen Dene, etc.
— fischeriella. Darfington, Hartlefool, etc.
Tinagra staneellum. Darlington
- resplendellum. DarRngton, at Hell Kettles
Douglasia ocnerostomella. DarRngton
ARGYRESTHID.S
Argyresthia ephippella. Darlington, common
— nitidella. Very common
- semitestacella. Generally distributed
— spiniella. High Force
— albistria. Not scarce among sloe
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
Argyresthia conjugella. Teesdale, etc.
— semifusca. Darlington, Hesleden Dene
— mendica. Darlington (Stain ton's Manual)
— retinella. Darlington, Castle Eden Dene
— dilectella. High Force, among juniper
— curvella. Cole Hill near Hartkpool
— sorbiella. Wolsingham and Teesdale
— pygmaeella. Darlington, Edder Acres, Hesleden
Dene, etc.
- goedartella. Darlington, Hartkpool, etc.
— brockeella. Generally distributed among birch
— arceuthinella. Wolsingham, among juniper
Cedestis farinatella. Darlington
Ocnerostoma piniariella. Woods near Darlington,
Hartlepool, etc.
Zellaria hepariella. Darlington, Castle Eden Dene, etc.
- insignipennella. Probably the same as last,
occurring at same places
Gracillaria swederella. Generally common
— stigmatella. Darlington
— stramineella. Upper Teesdale
— elongella. High Force, Darlington, Castle Eden,
Black Halls, etc.
- tringipennella. Generally distributed
— syringella. Generally distributed
- aurogutella Darlington, Castle Eden and Hei-
leden Denes
Coriscum cuculipennellum. Castle Eden Dene
Ornix avellanella. Darlington, Hesleden Dene
— anglicella. Darlington, Hesleden Dene
— betulae. Wolsingham, High Force
— torquillella. Darlington
— scoticella. Barnard Castle
— loganella. Wolsingham and Hesleden Dene
— guttea. Darlington
COLEOPHORID^E
Coleophora tengstromella. Darlington, Seaton Careni
— laricella. General among larch
— lutipennella. Darlington, Barnard Castle, etc.
— fuscedinella. Darlington (Stainton's Manual)
— viminetella. Darlington, Hartlepool
— siccifolia. Darftngton
~ gryphipennella. Darlington, Hartlepool, pro-
bably everywhere on rose
— nigricella. Darlington
- orbitella. High Force, Stanhope, Wolsingham, etc.
— paripennella. High Force
- albitarsella. Darlington, Hesleden Dene
- alcyonipennella. Stockton-on-Tees, Castle Eden, etc.
— frischella. Darlington, Hartlepool, etc.
— fabriciella. Darlington
— anatipennella. Darlington
— albicosta. Darlington, Wolsingham
- pyrrhulipennella. Wolsingham
- lixella. Castle Eden Dene and Black Halls
— discordella. Generally distributed
— onosmella. Darlington
— therinella. Darlington, Black Halls
- troglodytella. DarRngtm, Crindon Cut, etc.
— apicella. Darftngton
— annulatella. Darlington, Castle Eden, and Black
Halls
— murinipennella. Darlington, Greatham
— glaucicolella. Greatham
— cespititiella. Darlington
ELACHISTID^E
Bidella somnulentella. Generally distributed
Batrachedra preangusta. Darlington, Castle Eden
and Hesleden Denes
— pinicolella. Coniscliffe Moor
Oinophila v-flava. Wine cellar in Darlington
Chauliodus chaerophyllellus. Generally com-
mon
Laverna propinquella. Coniscliffe Moor, Castle
Eden and Hesleden Denes, &c.
— lacteela. Darlington, Dinsdale, Hesleden Dene
— miscella. Black Halls
— ochraceella. Rather common
— atrai. Rather common
Chrysoclysta shrankella. Hesleden Dene
— flavicaput. Darlington, Greatham, Hesleden
Dene
Asychnia profugella. Darlington
— terminella. Castle Eden
Chrysocorys festaliella. High Force, on wild rasp-
berries
Stephensia brunnichella. Generally distributed
Elachista trapeziella. Barnard Castle
— gleichenella. Barnard Castle
— apicipunctella. Darlington, Crimdon Cut
— albifrontella. Generally common
— cinereopunctella. Stockton-on-Tees
— luticomella. Darlington, Stockton, Hesleden
Dene, &c.
— atricomella. Darlington, Stockton, Hasleden
Dene, &c.
— kilmunnella. Hartlepool
— monticola. Darlington and Teesdale
— nigrella. Darlington and Hasleden Dene
— gregsoni. Darlington
— obscurella. Darlington, var. subobscurella.
The type occurs in Teesdale commonly
— perplexella. Generally distributed
— adscitella. Darlington, Stockton, Castle Eden,
&c.
— megerella. DarKngton, Castle Eden, Sec.
— zonanella. Generally common
— taeniatella. Darlington, &c.
— cerusella. Darlington (Stainton's Manual)
— rhyncosporella. Darlington and Hartlepool
— paludum. Hell Kettles
— biatomella. Darlington
— triatomea. Darlington, Greatham, &c.
— pollinariella. Darlington, Castle Eden and
Hesleden Denes
— subocellea. Castle Eden
— rufbcinerea. Abundant everywhere
— - cygnipennella. Abundant everywhere
Tischeria complanella. Generally distributed
— marginea. Darlington
LITHOCOLLETID.E
Lithocolletis amyotella. Darlington
— roboris. Darlington
— sylvella. Darlington
— cramerella. Darlington, Hesleden Dene
— heegeriella. Darlington, Batnard Castle
— alnifoliella. General among alder
— nigrescentella. Darlington
130
INSECTS
Lithocolletis insignitella. Very abundant between
Hart Station and Castle Eden, but not recorded
elsewhere in England. It is so very plenti-
ful that I have collected 1,000 mines within
twenty yards. It feeds here only on
Trifolium pratense, though medium and
repens are common. The insect occurs by
hedges or waste ground, and is especially
common on the railway side
— irradiella. DarRngton
- bremiella. Dorfingtort, Barnard Castle, &c.
— ulmifbliella. Generally common
— spinolella. Generally common
— sorbiella. Upper Teesdale
— salicicolella. Black Halls
— pomifoliella. Darlington and Greatham
- spinicolella. DarRngton and Hesleden Dene
- fcginella. DarRngton, Hesleden Dene and Teesaale
- coryli. DarRngton, Barnard Castle, &c.
— vacciniella. Stockton-on-Tees
- quinqueguttella. Castle Eden and Black Halls
— quercifoliella. Generally common
- messaniella. DarRngton (Stainton's Manual)
- scopariella. Teetdale and ConiscRffe Moor
— viminiella. DarRngton
— corylifoliella. Generally common
— caledoniella. Darlington and Hesleden Dene
— nicellii. DarRngton and Hesleden Dene
— dunningiella. Barnard Castle
— frolichiella. Stanhope, DarRngton, Hartlepool.
Not common
— stettinensis. DarRngton (Stainton's Manual)
— Klemannella. Stanhope, DarRngton, Edder
Acres, &c.
— emberizaepennella. DarRngton, Barnard Castle,
Hesleden Dene, &c.
- tristrigella. DarRngton, Hesleden Dene, &c.
— trifasciella
— compariella. jfycfijfe
LYONETID^E
Lyonetia derkella. Generally distributed.
Cemiostoma spartifoliella. DarRngton
— wailesella. DarRngton
- scitella. DarRngton, Barnard Castle and Greatham
Opostega salaciella
- crepusculella. DarRngton, Castle Eden, &c.
Bucculatrix aurimaculella. DarRngton
Bucculatrix cidarella. Hell Kettles
— crataegi. Dinsdale Wood
— maritima. Greatham
NEPTICUL*
Nepticula atricapitella. DarRngton
— ruficapitella. DarRngton
— pygmzella. DarRngton, Castle Eden
— pomella. DarRngton
— oxyacanthella. DarRngton
— viscerella. DarRngton
— aucupariella. Stanhope, Barnard Castle, &c.
— lapponica. High Force, &c.
— anomalella. DarRngton
— septembrella. DarRngton, Castle Eden, &c.
— cryptella. DarRngton, Castle Eden, &c.
— ulmivoriella. DorRr.gtm
— subbimaculella. DarRngton
— argyropeza. DarRngton
— trimaculelk. DarRngton
— salicis. DarRngton
— myrtillella. Barnard Castle
— floslactella. Barnard Castle, DarRngton
— luteella. Barnard Castle, DarRngton, H'otsingham,
&c.
— ignobilella. DarRngton
— arcuata. DarRngton
— angulifasciella. DarRngton
— atricollis. DarRngton
— microtheriella. DarRngton, Barnard Castle
— argentipedella. Among birch in the west.
Wobingham, High Force, Barnard Cattle, &c.
— betulicola. General in the west
— plagicolella. Darlington, &c.
— malella. DarRngton
— tityrella. DarRngton, &c.
— glutinosx. Stanhope
— gratiosella. DarRngton, &c.
— ulmivorella. DarRngton, &c.
— splendidellum. DarRngton, &c.
— regiella. DarRngton, &c.
— aeniofasciella. DarRngton, Castle Eden
— alnetella. DarRngton, Barnard Castle, Stanhope
— marginicolella. Darlington
— aurella. DarRngton, &c.
— splendidissima. DarRngton
Trifurcnla immundella. Darlington, &c.
— pulverosella. Darlington
PTEROPHORINA
These insects are now placed elsewhere and divided into other genera.
for convenience only.
Adactyla bennetii. Salt marsh at Greatham
Pterophorus ochrodactylus. Tees Side, near Dar-
Rngton
— bertrami. Late ConiscRffe
- trigonodactylus. Generally distributed and
common
- parvidactylus. Black Halls, very scarce, but
abundant on the sides of the railway-cutting
near Hesleden Dene
— hieracii. DarRngton
- bipunctidactylus. Darlington, Hesleden Dene,
Edder Acres, &c.
- plagiodactylus. South Shields, Black Halls, Dar-
Rngton, &c.
I follow Stainton
Pterophorus fuscus. Castle Eden and Hesleden Denes,
DarRngton, &c.
— lithodactylus. DarRngton, Edder Acres, Black
Halls, &c.
— ptcrodactylus. DarRngton, Castle Eden, Durham,
Hesleden Dene, &c.
— microdactylus. Hesleden Dene, Black Halls, Crim-
don Cut, &c.
— tetradactylus. DarRngton, Black Halls, &c.
- pentadactylus. Very common wherever con-
volvulus grows
ALUCITINA
Alucita polydactyla. Common
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
DIPTERA
Flies
In this county the two-winged flies have been neglected. The following list of species is
the result of observations and collections made during the six years which formed the close of
the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth, before which time no collections
had been made or records kept for this county. It is, therefore, very imperfect. But it shows
that the county, with its great diversity of natural features, is the home of a large variety
of flies.
Among the long grasses on the sand hills of the southern coast-line Asilidaa and Therevidae
lie waiting for their prey. Along the flower-clad cliff-tops bright Syrphids and more homely
Anthomyids disport themselves in the sunshine. In the rush-lined gullies worn in the boulder
clay, Leptidae and the larger Crane flies abound, while on the beach, among the heaps of
seaweed left by the receding tide are many species of shore flies, both the Fucellias, Orygma,
Chersodromia, and others. The deep wooded denes, so characteristic of this part of the
coast, are the haunts of swarms of sandflies and midges of many kinds. Farther inland,
along the marshy flats through which runs the sluggish Skerne, and on the upland burns
and among the rushes of the hill pastures, the water-loving Dolichopods skim over the streams
and pools or lurk among the herbage. By the banks of the numerous brooks and rivers
where willows hang over the waters, the black Bibio of St. Mark may be found, while its
smaller relative of St. John and several other species swarm among the herbage. Along the
field borders, and in the meadows or in the neglected corners, the numerous tribes of
Acalypterous Muscids, hovering Syrphids, and indeed flies of almost every family, hide them-
selves beneath the leaves, or feed on the yellow pollen. The upper dales and the many glens
which seam the hillsides are the resort of great numbers of the Limnobidas. And on
the heathery moors the hum of the bright wasp-coloured Sericomyia mingles with that of
the bees.
The county, therefore, with its considerable range of altitudes from the sea level to
over 2,000 feet, and its varied topography and vegetation, is well calculated to possess a fairly
wide range of insect life, notwithstanding its northern latitude, its eastern exposure, and its
often smoke-laden atmosphere. The following lists of species probably give only a small
proportion of those inhabiting the county.
CECIDOMYIDjE
The Gall Gnats of the county have not yet been studied, and although many species
have been collected and the galls of many more observed, the names of the species have not
been determined.
MYCETOPHILID^
The Fungus Gnats also have been but little worked out. The following very meagre
list contains all that have as yet been identified.
Sciara praecox, Mg. Lasiosoma luteum, Mcq. Macrocera centralis, Mg.
Mycetophila punctata, Mg. — hirtum, Mg. — stigma, Curt.
— signata, Mg. Sciophila ornata, Mg. Bolitophila fusca, Mg.
- cingulum, Mg. Macrocera fasciata, Mg. — cinerea, Mg.
Glaphyroptera fascipennis, Mg. — lutea, Mg.
BIBIONID^E
Several of this family are common throughout the county, especially the Fever Fly, and
the black, heavy-looking St. Mark's Fly. Its red-legged cousin is not uncommon in the
upper dales, and the smaller St. John's Fly and its woolly relative are generally to be found
near wooded streams. This county is the only recorded locality for D. femoratus.
Scatopse notata, L. Dilophus femoratus, Mg. Bibio nigriventris, Hal.
- brevicornis, Mg. Bibio pomonae, F. — laniger, Mg.
Dilophus febrilis, L. — marci, L. — johannis, L.
132
INSECTS
SIMULID.E
Reptans is the only common species of the Sandflies, and is sometimes to be met with in
countless swarms in the coast denes.
Simulium reptans, L.
Simulium latipes, Mg.
CHIRONOMID^:
The beautiful and delicately-coloured members of the Midge family are everywhere
present. The local species are very numerous, but the difficulty of preserving their colours
and the confused state of the British list render their identification difficult.
Chironomus plumosus, L.
— annularis, Dcg.
— flaveolus, Mg.
— venustus, Stseg.
— pcdellus, Deg.
— brevitibialis, Ztt.
— pictulus, Mg.
— nubeculosus, Mg.
Cricotopus tremulus, L.
— bicinctus, Mg.
— annulipes, Mg.
— sylvestris, F.
Orthocladius niveipennis, Ztt.
— stcrcorarius, Mg.
Tanytarsus tenuis, Mg.
Tanytarsus flavipes, Mg.
Metriocncmus fuscipes, Mg.
Tanypus varius, F.
— nebulosus, Mg.
— choreus, Mg.
— carneus, F.
— melanops, Mg.
The following small families have not been studied. The individuals of several species
of Gnats and Psychods are numerous enough, but at present they remain mostly unidentified.
Culcx ncmorosus, Mg.
CULICID^E
Culex pipiens, L. Culex ciliaris, L.
DIXIDJE
Dixa aprilina, Mg.
TIPULIDjE (Sensu lato)
The Crane flies, large and small, are very abundant, and a fair number of species have
been observed. The four kinds of Winter Gnats may all be seen on fine days throughout the
winter. The beautiful little Idioptera is to be found on the moors, and the Spotted
Acyphona in the woods of the coast denes. The large and handsome Pedicia and the Great
Crane fly are not uncommon. The Marsh Tipula (T. paludosa) seems to be more abundant
than the common Daddy Long-legs, and the large Orange Tipula is plentiful.
PTYCHOPTERIDjfc
Ptychoptera contaminata, L.
— lacustris, Mg.
Limnobia quadrinotata, Mg.
— nubeculosa, Mg.
— flavipes, F.
- tripunctata, F.
- trivitta, Schm.
Dicranomyia modesta, Mg.
— chorea, Mg.
- dumetorum, Mg.
Rhiphidia maculata, Mg.
An toe ha opalizans, O.Sack.
Empeda flava, Schum.
- nubila, Schum.
Gonomyia tenclla, Mg.
- scutellata, Egg.
Acyphona maculata, Mg.
Molophilus appendiculatus, Stzg.
— propinquus, Egg.
LIMNOBID^E
Molophilus bifilatus, Verr.
— obscurus, Mg.
Rhypholophus lineatus, Mg.
— nodulosus, Mcq.
— varius, Mg.
— hcemorrhoidalis, Ztt.
Erioptera flavesccns, Mg.
— macrophthalma, Lw.
— tcenionota, Mg.
— fuscipcnnis, Mg.
— trivialis, Mg.
Lipsothrix crrans, Wlk.
Idioptera pulchella, Mg.
Dactylolabis gracilipcs, Lw.
Limnophila Meigenii, Verr.
— dispar, Mg.
— lineola, Mg.
'33
Ptychoptera albimana, F.
— scutellaris, Mg.
Limnophila lineolella, Verr.
— ochracea, Mg.
— discicollis, Mg.
— lucorum, Mg.
— nemoralis, Mg.
Trichocera annulata, Mg.
— hiemalis, Deg.
— fuscata, Mg.
— regclationis, L.
Ula pilosa, Schm.
Dicranota bimaculata, Schm.
Amalopis immaculata, Mg.
— unicolor, Schm.
Pedicia rivosa, L.
Pachyrrhina crocata, L.
- histrio, F.
— maculosa, Mg.
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
Pachyrrhina cornicina, L. Tipula truncorum, Mg. Tipula vittat.i, Mg.
— guestfalica, Westh. — hortensis, Mg. — gigantea, Schrk.
— analis, Schm. — varipennis, Mg. — lutescens, F.
— quadrifaria, Mg. — scripta, Mg. — oleracea, L.
— lunulicornis, Schm. — plumbea, F. — paludosa, Mg.
— annulicornis, Mg. — lunata, L. — fascipennis, Mg.
Tipula pagana, Mg. — lateralis, Mg. — peliostigma, Schum.
- confusa, V. de Wulp — vernalis, Mg. — ochracea, Mg.
— longicornis, Schm.
RHYPHIDjE
Rhyphus fenestralis, Scop. Rhyphus punctatus, F.
STRATIOMYID^E
The Soldier-flies are not largely represented in this county. None of the three first sub-
families have as yet been observed, and of the rest only S. cuprarius and irridatus and
B. chalybeata are common.
Chrysonotus bipunctatus, Scop. Sargus iridatus, Scop. Beris vallata, Forst.
Sargus flavipes, Mg. Microchrysa polita, L. — chalybeata, Forst.
— cnprarius, L. — flavicornis, Mg. — geniculata, Curt.
Of the next five families only the Cleg is common among the Tabamdtt, although
C. c&cutiens is sometimes fairly plentiful. All the Leptidts are common, except L. lineola and
5. crassicornit. D. rufipes, among the Asilidte, is generally distributed and very common along
the banks of the Gaunless. Philonicus is only found on the sand hills near Hart. Our only
Bee-fly is common in April where primroses abound, and the two Therevidte are fairly
abundant among the Bent grass on the coast.
Hsematopota pluvialis, L. Therioplectes solstialis, Mg. Chrysopscoecutiens, L.
Therioplectes montanus, Mg. Tabanus autumnalis, L.
LEPTID^E
Leptis scolopacea, L. Leptis conspicua, Mg. Chrysopilus auratus, F.
— tringaria, L. — lineola, F. Symphoromyia crassicornis
ASILID./E
Dioctria rufipes, Deg. Philonicus albiceps, Mg. Dismachus trigonus, Mg.
BOMBYLID^
Bombylius major, L,
THEREVID^:
Thereva nobilitata, F. Thereva annulata, F.
EMPID.E
Several species of these two-winged robbers are among our commonest flies. They may
often be seen with their long snipe-like beaks buried deeply in the body of some unfortunate
victim. Most of them are generally distributed, but Chersodromia is confined to the shore
rocks, while Clinocera and Ardoptera have only as yet been found in the upper dales.
Hybos grossipes, L. Empis borealis, L. Hilara chorica, Fin.
— femoratus, Mull. — stercorea, L. — thoracica, Mcq.
Cyrtoma spuria, Fin. — trigramma, Mg. CEdalia holmgreni, Ztt.
Rhamphomyia nigripes, F. — punctata, Mg. Oxydromia glabricula, Fin.
— sulcata, Fin. — pennipes, L. Clinocera fontinalis, Hal.
— dentipes, Ztt. — vernalis, Mg. - bistigma, Curt.
- variabilis, Fin. — vitripennis, Mg. Ardoptera irrorata, Fin.
- umbripennis, Mg. - chioptera, Fin. Chersodromia arenaria, Hal.
- flava, Fin. Hilara maura, F. Tachydromia flavipes, F.
Empis tessellata, F. — manicata, Mg. - cursitans, F.
-- livida, L. - quadrivittata, Mg. - bicolor, F.
'34
INSECTS
DOLICHOPODIDiE
Several of the genus Dolichopuf are very common. The first five are numerous in marshy
places in the dales ; trivia/is, tfneus, and G. teroius are common everywhere ; of the others,
only a few have been met with here and there.
Psilopus platypterus, F.
Ncurigona quadrifasciata, F.
Dolichopus a tripes, Mg.
- vitripennis, Mg.
— atratus, Mg.
- picipes, Mg.
— plumipcs, Scop.
— pennatus, Mg.
— popular!*, W.
Dolichopus urbanus, Mg.
— griseipennis, Stan.
— trivialis, Hal.
— brevipennis, Mg.
— xneus, Deg.
Hercostomus nigripennis, Fin.
Gymnopternus cupreus, Fin.
— zrosus, Fin.
Chiysotiu gramincus, Fin.
LONCHOPTERIDJE
Argyra diaphana, F.
— argentina, Mg.
Syntormon pallipes, F.
Xiphandrium caliginosum, Mg.
— monotrichum, Lw,
Sccllus notatus, F.
Hydrophorus prjecox, Lehm.
Liancalus virens, Scop.
Campsicnemus curvipes, Fin.
Flies of this family are very common everywhere, and they seem to be of four varieties,
but whether these are really different species is open to question.
Lonchoptcra punctum, Mg.
— trilineata, Ztt.
Lonchoptcra lacustris, Mg.
— tristis, Mg.
The individuals of the next two families are by no means common ; one or two specimens
of a few species are all that have as yet been observed.
PLATYPEZID^E
Callimyia speciosa, Mg. Callimyia amoena, Mg.
Verrallia pilau, Ztt.
PIPUNCULIDjE
Pipunculus furcatus, Egg.
— terminalis, Thorns.
SYRPHID^E
Pipunculus campestris, Ltr.
— pratorum, Fin.
The Hoverer or Hawk-flies are fairly well represented in this county, about 4.0 per cent,
of the British species having been taken within its borders. Ischymyrphus glaucius was very
abundant at Gibside in 1896, but usually it is rather uncommon, though generally distributed.
Arctopkila mussitans is a strangely local fly. It has appeared year after year in fair numbers
within a day or two of the 28th August, at the corner of a certain field near Hesleden, but
has only once been observed at any other time or place. Merodon has been getting commoner
of late, doubtless owing to the importation of foreign bulbs.
Pipizella virens, F.
Pipiza noctiluca, L.
Liogaster metallina, F.
Chrysogaster hirtella, L.
Chilosia maculata, Fin.
— sparsa, Lw.
— pulchripes, Lw.
— variabilis, Panz.
- intonsa, Lw.
- illustrata, Har.
- imprcssa, Lw.
- albitarsis, Mg.
- fraterna, Mg.
I vernal is, Fin.
proxima, Ztt.
Platychirus manicatus, Mg.
- peltatus, Mg.
- scutatus, Mg.
- albimanus, F.
Platychirus clypeatus, Mg.
— angustatus, Ztt.
Pyrophxna granditarsa, Forst.
— rosarum, F.
Melanastomum mellinum, L.
- scalare, F.
Leucozona lucorum, L.
Ischyrosyrphus glaucius, L.
Catabomba pyrastri, L.
— selenitica, Mg.
Syrphus albostriatus, Fin.
— albostriatus var. confusus
— tricinctus, Fin.
— venustus, Mg.
— lunulatus, Mg.
— torvus, Ost. Sack.
— vittiger, Ztt.
— grossularix, Mg.
— ribesii, L.
'35
Syrphus vitripennis, Mg.
— latifasciatus, Mcq.
— corolla;, F.
— luniger, Mg.
— hifasciatus, F.
— balteatus, Deg.
— cinctellus, Ztt.
— cinctus, Fin.
— auricollis, Mg.
— auricollis var. maculicornis,
Ztt.
— umbellatarum, F.
- compositarum, Verr.
- labiatarum, Verr.
Sphacrophoria scripta, L.
- scripta var. nigricoza, Ztt.
— menthastri, L.
— menthastri var. picta, Mg.
— menthastri var. taeniata, Mg.
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
Eristalis tenax, L.
— intricarius, L.
— arbustorum, L.
— nemorum, L.
— pertinax, Scop.
— rupium, F.
— horticola, Deg.
Myiatropa florea, L.
Helophilus pendulus, Mg.
Merodon equestris var. narcissi,
F.
— equestris var. validus, Mg.
CONOPIDJE
Myopa buccata, L.
TACHINID.E
With the exception of Onesia and Sarcopkaga, most of the Tachtnidte are not common.
They are, during the larval stage, mostly parasitic in the larvae of Lepidoptera, and the
breeding cages of local lepidopterists have been the chief source of supply.
Baccha elongata, F.
Sphegina clunipes, Fin.
Ascia podagrica, F.
— floral is
Brachyopa bicolor, Fin.
Rhingia campestris, Mg.
Volucella bombylans, L.
— bombylans var. plumata.DeG.
— bombylans var. (a) haemor-
rhoidalis, Ztt.
— pellucens, L.
Eristalis aeneus, Scop.
Criorrhina floccosa, Mg.
Xylota segnis, L.
— lenta, Mg.
— sylvarum, L.
— abiens, W.
Syritta pipiens, L.
Chrysochlamys cuprea, Scop.
Arctophila mussitans, F.
Sericomyia borealis, Fin.
— lappona, L.
Chrysotoxum arctuatum, L.
— bicinctum, L.
Ceromasia spectabilis, Mg.
Gymnochaeta viridis, Fin.
Parexorista fugax, Rnd. I
— grossa, B. and B.
Blepharidea vulgaris, Fin.
Phorocera cilipeda, Rnd.
Aporomyia dubia, Fin.
Somolia simplicitarsis, Ztt.
Melanota volvulus, F.
Olivieria lateralis, F.
Micropalpus vulpinus, Fin.
— pictus, Mg.
Erigone rudis, Fin.
— consobrina, Mg.
Plagia ruralis, Fin.
Urophylla seria, Mg.
Digonochaeta setipennis, Fin.
Thryptocera crassicornis, Mg.
Siphona cristata, F.
— geniculata, Deg.
Stevenia maculata, Fin.
Brachycoma devia, Fin.
Cynomyia alpina, Ztt.
— mortuorum, L.
Onesia sepulchralis, L.
— cognata, Mg.
Sarcophaga carnaria, L.
— atropos, Mg.
— cruentata, Mg.
Of the remaining numerous families, the Muscidie proper, the nearer relations of the
House-fly, are well represented, most of them very common. The list of Anthomyds is, probably,
very incomplete, and the same applies to the Acalypterous Muscides. The more noticeable
species are, among the Antkomyidiz, Cienosia elegantula and tricolor and Lisporephala alma.
The red-legged variety of Fucellia (F. maritima) was fairly common on the shore, 1 900, but it
has not been observed since. Helomyza ustulata is a very rare species in this county. The
smaller Muscidte, sensu lato, have been very little collected, and there is nothing in the
following lists calling for further notice.
Stomoxys calcitrans, L.
Haematobia stimulans, Mg.
Pollenia vespillo, F.
— rudis, F.
Mysospila meditabunda, F.
Graphomyia maculata, Scop.
Musca domestica, L.
— corvma, F.
Polietes lardaria, F.
— albolineata, Fin.
Hyedotesia incana, W.
— lucorum, Fin.
— marmorata, Ztt.
— serva, Mg.
— nivalis, Rnd.
— obscurata, Mg.
— variabilis, Fin.
— longipes, Ztt.
— umbratica, Mg.
MUSCID.E
Cyrtoneura stabulans, Fin.
— pabulorum, Fin.
Morellia simplex, Lw.
— hortorum, Fin.
Mesembrina meridiana, L.
Pyrellia cyanicolor, Ztt.
— lasiophthalma, Mcq.
ANTHOMYID^E
Hyedotesia lasiophthalma, Mcq.
— rufipalpis, Mcq.
— populi, Mg.
— variegata, Mg.
— palida, F.
Alloeostylus flaveola, Fin.
Mydea vespertina, Fin.
— nigritella, Ztt.
— urbana, Mg.
— tincta, Ztt.
— pagana, F.
136
Protocalliphora groenlandica, Ztt.
Calliphora erythrocephala, Mg.
— vomitoria, L.
Euphoria cornicina, F.
Lucilia caesar, L.
— sericata, Mg.
— ruficeps, Mg.
Mydea impuncta, Fin.
— separata, Mg.
Sphecolyma inanis, Fin.
Spilogaster nigrinervis, Ztt.
— duplicata, Mg.
— communis, Dsv.
— duplaris, Ztt.
— ciliatocosta, Ztt.
Limnophora compuncta, W.
— solitaria, Ztt.
Melanochila riparia, Fin.
INSECTS
Macrorchis meditata, Fin.
Hydrotara occulta, Mg.
— irritans, Fin.
— dcntipes, F.
Ophyra leucostoma, W.
Drymia hamata, Fin.
Trichopticus hirsutulus, Ztt.
— pulcher, Mde.
Hydrophoria conica, W.
- linogrisea, Mg.
Hylemyia variata, Fin.
— seticrura, Rnd.
— pullula, Ztt.
— strigosa, F.
— nigrimana, Mg.
— coarctata, Fin.
Mycophaga fungorum, Deg.
Lasiops adclphc, Kow.
Lasiops ctenoctema, Kow.
Anthomyia pluvialis, L.
— radicum, L.
Chortophila trapczina, Ztt.
— sepia, Mg.
Phorbia floccosa, Mcq.
— pudica, Rnd.
— intersecta, Mg.
— trichodactyla, Rnd.
— ignota, Rnd.
Pegomyia rufipes, Fin.
— transversa, Fin.
— bicolor, W.
— nigritarsis, Ztt.
Homalomyia hamata, Mcq.
— manicata, Mg.
— scalaris, F.
— canicularis, L.
Homalomyia aCrea, Ztt.
— coracina, Lw.
— serena, Fin.
— indsurata, Ztt.
Azelia macquarti, Stacg.
— zetterstedti, Rnd.
— triquetra, W.
— aterrima, Mg.
Ccelomyia mollissima, Hal.
Caricea tigrina, F.
— intermedia, Fin.
Coenosia elegantula, Rnd.
— tricolor, Ztt.
— sexnotata, Mg.
Lisporephela alma, Mg.
Fucellia fucorum, Fin.
— maritim.i, Hal.
Parallelomma albipes, Fin.
Amaurosoma tibiella, Ztt.
Norellia spinimana, Fin.
CORDYLURIDjE
Spathiophora hydromyzinae, Fin.
Scatophaga inquinata, Mg.
— lutaria, F.
Scatophaga stercoraria, L.
— squalida, Mg.
PHYCODROMID^E
Orygma luctuosum, Mg.
Helomyza rufa, Lw.
— pectoralis, Lw.
- similis, Mg.
— laevifrons, Lw.
— ustulata, Mg.
Neuroctena anilis, Fin.
Dryomyza flaveola, F.
Sciomyza albocostata, Fin.
HELOMYZID^
Helomyza montana, Lw.
— zettcrstedtii, Lw.
— montana, Lw.
— palida, Fin.
SCIOMYZIDJE
Sciomyza cinerella, Fin.
Tetanocera elata, F.
— laevifrons, Lw.
Helomyza parva, Lw.
Blepharoptera serrata, L.
— iners, Mg.
Tephrochlamys rufiventris, Mg.
Tetanocera punctulata, Scop.
Limnia rufifrons, F.
Elgiva dorsal is, F.
Piila fimcntaria, L.
— rufa, Mg.
PSILID^E
Psila palida, Fin.
— nigricornis, Mg.
Psila villosula, Mg.
Lozocera arista ta, Pz.
MICROPEZID^E
Calobata cibaria, L. Calobata petronella, L.
Pteropaectria afflicta, Mg.
ORTALID^
Pteropaectria nigrini, Mg.
Pteropaectria frondcsccntix, L.
Acidia cognata, W.
- heraclei, L.
Spilographa zoe, Mg.
Trypcta onotrophes, Lw.
Lonchaca vaginalis, Fin.
— chorea, F.
— albitanis, Ztt.
TRYPETID^
Urophora solstitialis, L.
Sphenella marginata, Fin.
Tephrites miliaria, Schrk.
LONCHJEID^E
Palloptera ustulata, Fin.
— umbellatarum, F.
'37
Tephrites hyoscyami, L.
— vespertina, Lw.
— bardanz, Schrk.
Palloptera saltuum, L.
— arcuata, Fin.
18
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
SAPROMYZKLE
Sapromyza lupulina, F.
- decempunctata, F.
Balioptera tripunctata, Fin.
— combinata, L.
Sapromyza pallidiventris, Fin.
— obsoleta, Fin.
OPOMYZID^E
Opomyza germination is, L.
— florum, F.
Sepsis violacea, Mg.
Sepsis cynipsea, L.
Sapromyza rorida, Fin.
Lauxania aenea, Fin.
Pelethophila flava, L.
Nemopoda cylindrica, F.
PIOPHILID^E
Piophila casei, L.
GEOMYZID.E
Diastata nebulosa, Fin.
EPHYDRID^E
Parhydra aquila, Fin.
DROSOPHILID^
Drosophila confusa, Stzg. Drosophila funebris, F.
CHLOROPID^:
Chlorops taeniopus, Mg.
— laeta, Mg.
— scalaris, Mg.
Chlorops gracilis, Mg.
Oscinis albiseta, Mg.
Elachyptera cornuta, Fin.
Meromyza laeta, Mg.
Center cereris, Fin.
Chlorops didyma, Ztt.
— scutellaris, Ztt.
AGROMYZID.E
Agromyza pusilla, Mg. Ochthiphila polystigma, Mg.
PHYTOMYZIDJE
Napomyza lateralis, Fin. Phytomyza notata, Mg. Phytomyza flava, Mg. Phytomyza fuscula, Ztt.
BORBORID^
Borborus longipennis, Hal.
— equinus, Fin.
— nigrifemoratus, Mcq.
Trineura aterrima, F.
Ornithomyia avicularia, L.
Borborus geniculatus, Mcq.
Limosina fbntinalis, Fin.
— lutosa, Stnh.
PHORIDiE
Phora rufipes, Mg.
HIPPOSCID^E
Stenopteryx hirundinis, L.
Limosina pumilio, Mg.
— vitripennis, Ztt.
Phora incrassata, Mg.
Melophagus ovinns, L.
HEMIPTERA
Practically nothing has been done in the Hemiptera in Durham since Hold's time, and
the following list is chiefly his. The very names, Bugs, Plant Lice, and Cuckoo Spit, seem
to be enough to frighten young entomologists, although there is but one seriously objectionable
bug, while there are hundreds of others of great beauty both in form and colour; and
the life histories of the Plant Lice or Aphides, with their deeply interesting instances of
parthenogenesis, and their curious alternations of form and domicile, present most alluring
objects for investigation.
138
INSECTS
HEMIPTERA— HETEROPTERA
GYMNOCERATA
PENTATOMID.*
Cydnina
Schirus, Am. S.
— bicolor, Linn. Hedge-
banks (Backhouse)
Gnathoconus, Fieb.
— albomarginatus, Fab. Gib-
tiJf, very rare (V. R.
Perkins)
Pcntatomina
Pentatoma, Oliv.
— prasina, Linn. S/ia//( Back-
house)
Tropicoris, Hahn.
— rufipes, Linn. Common
on trees
Asopina
Zicrona, Am. S.
— czrulca, Linn. ^//(Back-
house). Blanchland( Bag-
nail)
Co RE I DA
Coreina
Enoplops, Am. S.
— scapha, Fab. Rjhope Dene
(John tiaindcock), Point,
SunderlonJ (Backhouse)
LVCX.IDX
Pachymerina
Stygnus, Fieb.
— pcdestris, Fall. Common
in sandy places
— arenarius, Hahn. Abun-
dant at the roots of
plants in dry places
Scolopostethus, Fieb.
— affinis, Schill. Common in
sandy places and among
nettles
Notochilus, Fieb.
— contractus, H.S. Abun-
dant beneath stones on
the sea-coast
Drymus, Fieb.
— sylvaticus, Fab. In moss,
etc., throughout the
district
— brunneus, Sahib. Common
in dead leaves, moss, &c.
TINGIDID.S
Tingidina
Monanthia, Lep.
— cardui, Linn. Glbslde.
Common on thistles.
HVDROMKTRID.K
Hydrometrina
Hydrometra, Latr.
- stagnorum, Linn. Not
uncommon among her-
bage on the borders of
ponds
Bug,
HYDRO METRIDJE (continued)
Veliina
Velia, Latr.
— currens, Fab. Very abun-
dant, but always without
wings
Gerridina
Gerris, Fab.
— paludum, Fab. (Back-
house)
— najas, De G. Abundant
on running water, all
without wings
— thoracica, Schum. Fre-
quents on pools of water
on the moors
— lacustris, Linn. Very
common on ponds and
ditches
Rnonnui
Nabidina
Nabis, Latr.
— lativentris, Boh. Very
abundant, always with
undeveloped wings
— limbatus, Dahlb. Common
— ferus, Linn. Glbslde
— rugosus, Linn. Not un-
common on heath and
generally of the fully
developed form
BttBHMI
Saldina
Salda, Fab.
— scotica, Curt. Banb of
the Dertvent
— C.-album, Fieb. Banks of
the Denoent
— saltatoria, Linn. Abounds
all over the district near
Tyneside
— cincta, H.S. Glbslde (V.
R. Perkins)
ClMICIDJE
Cimicina
Cimex, Linn.
— lectularis, Linn. The bed
bug. Too common in
dirty houses, also in coal
mines in the cracks of
the timber supporting
the roof
Anthocorina
Lyctocoris, Hahn.
— campestris, Fab. Abun-
dant in herbage.
Piezostcthus, Fieb.
— galactinus, Fieb. Common
in cut grass, &c.
Anthocoris, Fall.
— nemoralis, Fab. Very
abundant
'39
CIMICJD^E (continued)
Anthocoris sylvcstris, Linn.
Abundant
Tetraphleps, Fieb.
— vittata, Fieb. AxviellPark
CAPSIDJE
Capsina
Pithanus, Fieb.
— maerkeli, H.S. Unde-
veloped form is abun-
dant among grass in
woods
Miris, Fab.
- holsatus, Fab.
— calcaratus, Fall. Very
abundant
Megalocera, Fieb.
— ruficornis, Fall. Axu-eh
Park, on bushes, etc.
Leptopterna, Fieb.
— dolobrata,Linn. Common
among herbage
Monalocoris, Dahlb.
— filices, Linn. Common
Calocoris, Fieb.
— sexguttatus, Fab. Glbslde
— roscomaculatus, De G.
Marsden
— alpestris, Mey. Gibside
— bipunctatus, Fab. Com-
mon
Lygus, Hahn.
— contaminatus, Fall. Abun-
dant on flowers of
Umbellifene in woods
— pratensis, Fab. Common
- kalmii, Linn. Common
among herbage,
especially near the coast
— cervinus, H.S. Glbslde.
Rare
Liocoris, Fab.
— tripustulatus, Fab. Not
abundant. Durham
Rhopalotomus, Fieb.
— ater, Linn. Common on
grass, etc.
Dicyphus, Fieb.
- epilobii, Reut. Bishop
Auckland
— errans, Wolff. Not very
common
- pallidus, Fall. GibsiJe,
Axtvell. Common
vEtorhinus, Fieb.
— angulatus, Fall. Common
on bushes
Globiceps, Latr.
— flavomaculatus, Fab. Glb-
ilde. Rare. V.R. Per-
kins
Mecomma, Fieb.
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
CAPSIDJE (continued)
Mecomma ambulans, Fall. A-
bundant among herbage
— elegantulus, Meyer. Bol-
don Flats
Orthotylus, Fieb.
— nassatus, Fab. Common
on bushes, etc.
— concolor, Kb. Gibside.
Very rare
— ericetorum, Fall. Abun-
dant on heath
Heterocordylus, Fieb.
— tibialis, Hahn. Gibside,
Axtoell, in flowers of
broom
CAPSID./E (continued)
Psallus, Fieb.
— ambiguus, Fall. Very com-
mon
— - variabilis, Fall. Common
— varians, H.S. AxwellPark
Plagiognathus, Fieb.
— arbustorum, Fab. Abun-
dant on bushes
CRYPTOCERATA
Nepa, Linn.
— cinerea, Linn. Abounds
in ponds and ditches
NOTONECTID./E
Notonecta, Linn.
— glauca, Linn. Common
CORIXID^E
Corixa, GeofFr.
— geoffroyi, Leach. Abun-
dant in ponds
— sahlbergi, Fieb. Common
in ponds and ditches
— striata, Fieb. Abundant
in running water
— fabricii, Fieb. (nigro-
lineata, Fieb.) Very
common in ponds and
ditches
HEMIPTERA— HOMOPTERA
Cicadas, Fiend-flies, Lantern-flies, Frog-hoppers, Grass-flies, Aphides, etc.
CICADINA
MEMBRACID.S
Centrotus, Fab.
— cornutus, Linn. Not un-
common
CIXIIWE
Cixius, Latr.
— nervosus, Linn. Very
common, on trees,
among herbage, etc.
— pilosus,Ol. Not uncommon
DELPHACID.S
Liburnia, Stal.
— guttula, Germ. Gibside
— discolor, Boh. Common
— striatella, Fab. Gibside
— limbata, Fab.
Dicranotropis, Fieb.
— hamata, Boh.
CERCOPIDJE
Aphrophora, Germ.
— alni, Fin. In birch woods,
rather rare
Philanus, Stal.
— spumarius, Linn. Very
abundant
— lineatus, Linn. Near the
coast
PAROPIIDJE
Megophthalmus, Curt.
— scanicus, Fall. South Shields
BYTHOSCOPID./E
Macropsis, Lewis.
— lanio, Linn. Common
Bythoscopus, Germ.
— flavicollis, Linn. Common
Pediopsis, Burm.
— virescens, Fab. Derwentside
Idiocerus, Lewis
— adustus, H.S. Derwentside
— populi, Linn. Not rare
TETTIGONIDJE
Evacanthus, L. and S.
— interruptus,Linn. Common
Tettigonia, GeofFr.
— viridis, Liv. Boldon Flats
ACOCEPHALID.H:
Strongylocephalus, Flor.
— agrestis, Fall. Common
Acocephalus, Germ.
— bifasciatus, Linn. Abun-
dant at Gibside
— albifrons, Linn. Seabanks
at South Shields
— rusticus, Fab. Abundant.
(Bold). Probably ner-
vosus, Schr.
— adustus, Hardy. Dunston
(Bold). Probably ner-
vosus, Schr.
— flavostriatus, Don. South
Shields
JASSIDJE
Deltocephalus, Burm.
— abdominalis, Fab. Axwell
Park, rare
— ocellaris, Fall. Common
— socialis, Flor. AxwellPark,
abundant
— sabulicola, Curt. Abun-
dant on the Bents, South
Shields
— striatus, Linn. South
Shields, Derwentside
TYPHLOCYBID.S
Alebra, Fieb.
— albostriatella, Fall. Gib-
side
Kybos, Fieb.
— smaragdula, Fall. Dettvent
Eupteryx, Curt.
— notata, Curt. Common
— stachydearum, Hard. Ax-
well Park
— signatipennis, Boh. Axteell
Park
Typhlocyba, Germ.
— jucunda, H.S. Derwent
— ulmi, Linn. Gibside
— quercus, Fab. Winlaton
— geometrica, Schr. Gib-
side
140
II
SPIDERS
ARACHNIDA '
Spiders
The following list of the spiders of the county of Durham is almost entirely due to the
researches of the Rev. J. E. Hull, of North Shields, who in 1896 published a 'Catalogue of the
Spiders (Araneidea) of Northumberland and Durham.' * Out of a total of about 534 species of
spiders recorded for Great Britain and Ireland only 1 12 species have been taken in the county of
Durham, while of the Pitudo-scorpiones and Opi/iones there are none at all recorded, so far as I
can make out.
There is no doubt, however, that the number of spiders would be much increased if a
diligent search were instituted, for there are plenty of species which one can be quite sure must
inhabit a district whose physical characters are of the kind furnished by this county.
Of those recorded the following are worthy of special mention either on account of their
rarity or being of particular individual interest : Osnops pulchtr ; Cryphaeca diversa ; Cicurina
cinerea ; Meta menardi ; Centromerus sylvaticus ; Micryphantes cornigera ; Dicymbium tibiali ;
and Euryopis blackwallii.
ARANE^E
jtRJCHNOMORPHM
DYSDERID^E
Spiders with six eyes and two pairs of stigmatic ^. Segeitria senoculata (Linnxus).
openings, situated close together on the genital Durham ; Teesdale ; Ryhope (J. E. H.).
nma ; the anterior pair communicating with lung .
boob, the posterior with tracheal tubes. Tarsal Not common ; under bark of trees, in the cre-
claws, two in Djsaera, three in HarpatU, and vlce» of joose »one walls, and amongst detached
SfKitria rocks. Recognizable by its linear form and the
black diamond-shaped blotches on the dorsal sur-
I. Harpactes hombergii (Scopoli). face of the abdomen.
Durham ; Kepier Wood and Pelaw Wood ;
Teesdale; Falcon Glints; Harperley 3- O'onop, pulcher, Templeton.
(J. E. H.). Durham ; Pelaw Wood and Kepier Wood
Rare under bark of trees, and recognizable by it»
linear ant-like form, black carapace, and pale day- Not common ; usually beaten from over-hanging
yellow abdomen and three tarsal claws. grass on dry sunny banks.
DRASSID^E
Spiders with eight eyes, situated in two trans- 4. DraiioJts laplJosiu (Walckenaer).
verse rows. The tracheal openings lie just in front
of the spinners. The tarsal claws are two in Kynope (J . E. H.).
number, the anterior pair of spinners being set Very common under stones. Also known a*
wide apart at the base, and the maxillae are more [)ralsul lapidicolens.
or less impressed across the middle.
CLUBIONID.fi
Spiders with eight eyes, situated in two trans- 6. Clubiona terreitrii, Westring.
verse rows. The tracheal openings lie immediately
in front of the spinners. The ursal claws are two Durham ; Ryhope (J- K. H.).
in number, but the anterior pair of spinners are set Not uncommon in ^ 8ummer time, when it
dose together at the base ; the maxill* are convex ^ found wanderi about at night on the
and not impressed across the middle. ^ of outhou>e$> palings> etc. The female may
5. Zora splmmana (Sundevall). be found in a silken domicile with her cocoon
Urpeth (J. E. H.). under or between the leaves of shrubs. Known
Known also as Htctergf ip'tnimana or maculata. also as C. amaranth*, Blackwall.
1 By the late F. O. Pickard-Cambridge. Revised and corrected by the Rev. O. Pickard-Cambridge,
Bloxworth, Dorset.
» Natural Hiitory Traniactions of Northumberland, Durham, and Nttvcaitle-upon-Tjne, zm. part i.
'4'
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
7. Clubiona reclusa, O. P.-Cambridge.
Durham (J. E. H.).
A rarer species than the last ; usually beaten
from foliage and bushes in the summer time.
8. Clubiona httescens, Westring.
Durham (J. E. H.).
Pretty plentiful in the woods at Durham.
Sometimes fairly abundant where it occurs amongst
dry rushes and sedge grass in swampy places.
9. Clubiona palRduk (Clerck).
Durham (J. E. H.).
A larger species than any of the above, and
usually fairly common amongst bramble bushes,
where the female makes its egg-cocoon within the
folded leaves. Known also as C. epimelas, Black-
wall.
10. Clubiona compta, C. L. Koch.
Durham ; Teesdale ; Wolsingham (J. E. H.).
A very small species, whose abdomen is striped
diagonally on each side. Not uncommon amongst
the foliage of bushes and shrubs in the summer
time.
1 1 . Mtcatia puRcaria (Sundevall).
Durham, Shindiffe Mill (J. E. H.).
Known also as Drassus micans and nitens, Black-
wall.
THOMISID.E
Spiders with eight eyes, situated in two trans-
verse rows, two tarsal claws, and anterior spinners
close together at their base. Maxilla; not impressed.
The crab-like shape and side-long movements of
these spiders are their chief characteristics, enabling
them to be easily distinguished as a rule from the
more elongate Drassidee and Clubiomda.
i 2. Phihdromus aureolus (Clerck).
Durham ; Wolsingham ; Ryhope (J. E. H.)
A very abundant species, with usually a dull red-
brown abdomen, with yellowish central pattern.
It frequents the foliage of trees of all kinds, and
especially in the immature condition will out-
number all other species which fell into the um-
brella beneath the beating-stick.
13. Xysticus cristatus (Clerck).
Upper Teesdale (J. E. H.).
This is by far the commonest of the ' crab-
spiders,' and is found abundantly on foliage or
crouching on bare places in fields and commons.
Known also under Thomisus.
14. Oxyptilajlexa, O. P.-Cambridge.
Durham (J. E. H.).
An adult male and an immature female were
beaten from furze near the city in the summer of
1894.
SALTICID^E
The spiders of this family may be recognized in
a general way by their mode of progression, con-
sisting of a series of leaps, often many times their
own length. More particularly they may be
known by the square shape of the cephalic region
and the fact that the eyes are arranged in three
rows of 4, 2, 2, the centrals of the anterior row
being much the largest and usually iridescent.
Those of the second row are the smallest, while the
posterior pair is placed well back and helps to give
the quadrate character to the carapace. Otherwise
these spiders are simply specialized Clublonlds with
two tarsal claws and other minor characters possessed
in common with members of this latter family.
15. Salticus scenlcus (Clerck).
Durham ; Ryhope (J. E. H.).
A black species with white lateral stripes. Known
also under Epiblemum.
1 6. Euopbrys frontalis (Walckenaer).
Duham, Pelaw Wood (J. E. H.).
Not common. Known also under Salticus.
17. Neon reticulatus (Blackwall).
Durham ; Upper Teesdale ; Ryhope (J- E. H.).
Not common. Known also under Salticui.
1 8. Salticus clngulatus (Panzer).
Durham ; Harperley ; Wolsingham (J. E. H.).
Known also under Epiblemum.
1 9. Euopbrys erraticus (Walckenaer).
Durham, Pelaw Wood and Kepier Wood
0. E. H.).
Amongst grass, dead leaves, and under stones or
on rocks. Known also under Attiu and as Salticus
distinctus, Blackwall.
PISAURHXE
Spiders with eight eyes in three rows of 4, 2, 2 ; freely over the herbage, carrying its egg-sack be-
the small anterior eyes being sometimes in a straight
line, sometimes recurved and sometimes procurved.
Those of the other two rows are situated in the
form of a rectangle of various proportions, and are
much larger than the eyes of the anterior row. The
tarsal claws are three in number. Plsaura runs
neath the sternum ; while Dahmedei is a dweller
in marshes and swamps.
20. Plsaura mlrabllis (Clerck).
Durham (Rev. A. M. Norman).
Known also as Dohmedes or Ocyale mirablfis.
142
SPIDERS
LYCOSID,E
The members of this family are to be found
running freely over the ground, and carrying the
egg-sac attached to the spinners. Many of the
larger species make a short burrow in the soil and
there keep guard over the egg-sac. Eyes and
tarsal daws as in the PiiauriJ<e, with slight
differences.
21. Lycoia terricola (Thorell).
Durham ; Upper Teesdale Q. E. H.).
Fairly plentiful under stones in spring and
autumn. The female frequently excavates a re-
treat for herself and her egg-cocoon in the soft
earth. Known also under Trochosa and as Ljceia
agretyca, Blackwall.
12. Lycosa puherulenta (Clerck).
Durham, Widdy Bank Fell (]. E. H.).
Common everywhere, running in the sunshine
in grassy places. Adult in June. Known also
under Tarcntula and as Lycosa rapax, Blackwall.
23. Lycoia accentuate, Latreille.
Ryhope (J. E. H.).
A few taken in June at the root* of furze at the
top of the cliff. Adult in June. Known also
under Tarentula and as Lycosa andrenivora, Black-
wall.
24. Pardosa agricola (Thorell).
Harperley, Wolsingham 0- E. H.).
Adult in June and common on sandy and
pebbly stretches by the river. Known also under
Lycosa and as Lycosa fiuviatths, Blackwall.
25. ParJosa lugubris (Walckenaer).
Durham ; Wolsingham (J. E. H.).
Adult in May and June and common in woods.
Known also under Lycosa.
26. ParJosa pullata (Clerck).
Durham ; Upper Teesdale (J. E. H.).
Adult in May and June. Abundant on Widdy
Bank Fell on the banks of the streams. Known
also under Lycosa and as Lycosa obscura, Blackwall.
27. ParJosa nigricepi (Thorell).
Durham ; Upper Teesdale ; Wolsingham.
Common ; adult in the summer ; sometime*
ascends into shrubs ; especially furze. Known also
under Lycosa and as Lycosa congener, O. P.-Cam-
bridge.
28. Pirata hygrophiliu, Thorell.
Durham 0- E. H.).
Adult in early summer, and common in boggy
and marshy places. Known also as Lycosa pisca-
toria, Blackwall.
29. Pirata piraticiu (Clerck).
Durham, Upper Teesdale (J. E. H.).
Adult in June and abundant on the southern
side of Widdy Bank Fell. Known also under
Lycosa.
AGELENID^)
Spiders with eight eyes, situated in two trans-
verse rows. Legs with three tarsal claws. The
species of this family spin a large sheet-like web,
and construct a tubular retreat at the back of it,
which leads to some crevice amongst the rocks,
the roots of herbage, or the chinks in the walls of
outhouses, wherever the various species may happen
to be found. The posterior pair of spinners i*
usually much longer than the other two pairs.
30. Crypbceca sihicola (C. L. Koch).
Teesdale (J. E. H.).
Common in the hill districts, in the fell walls
and beaten from furze. Known also as Tegenaria
tylvicola, Blackwall.
3 1 . Cryphceca diversa, O. P.-Cambridge.
Durham, Pelaw Wood (J. E. H.).
Very rare. An immature female was taken
under a stone in the spring of 1893.
32. Garbles atropos (Walckenaer).
Durham ; Teesdale ; Wolsingham (J. E. H.).
Very common under stones on the fells and in
woods all the year round. Adult males are most
frequently met with in the spring ; for the rest of the
year adult females are perhaps ten times as numerous
as the males. A large spider and swift in its move-
ments. Known also as Collates saxatiRs, Blackwall.
3ia. Argjronela aquatua, Latreille.
Durham.
In ponds and ditches, in the neighbourhood of
the city. Not rare. (O. P.-Cambridge, 1856.)
33. Tegenaria atrica (C. L. Koch).
Winlaton (J- E. H).
A very large spider with long hairy legs, found
in cellars and outhouses as well as in holes in
banks or on sand-dunes. Two examples only are
recorded from this county.
34. Textrix denticulata (Olivier).
Durham 0- E. H.).
Common in inhabited houses and greenhouses,
also under stones. It constructs a fine web of the
form typical of the family, a strongly woven
horizontal snare narrowed at one corner into a
tubular retreat. A spider of graceful form and
exceedingly rapid movements. Adult in summer.
Known also as Textrix lycosina, Blackwall.
35. Cicurina cinerea (Panzer).
Durham, Kepier Wood (J. E. H.).
An immature female was taken under a stone in
May, 1895 ; and a small colony was found in a
disused quarry in Holywell Dene, of which some
of the females were adult, but no adult males.
Known also under Tegenaria.
36. AnAitea elegant (Blackwall).
Durham, Pelaw Wood (J- E. H.).
Immature examples of both sexes were taken in
a boggy place, but apparently not a common
species. Known also as Agtlena elegant, Blackwall,
and under Haknia.
»43
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
ARGYOPID^E
The spiders included in this family have eight
eyes, situated in two rows, the lateral eyes of both
rows being usually adjacent if not in actual contact,
while the central eyes form a quadrangle. The
tarsal claws are three, often with other super-
numerary claws. The web is either an orbicular
snare, or consists of a sheet of webbing beneath
which the spiders hang and capture the prey as it
falls upon the sheet. This immense family in-
cludes those usually separated under the names
Epemdie and Linyphiid<f.
37. Meta Menardl (Latreille).
Durham, Kepier Wood (J. E. H.), Finchal
Abbey (O.P.-C.).
Taken from overhanging rocks, old ruins, and in
caverns.
38. Meta segmentata (Clerck).
Common everywhere (J. E. H.).
A very abundant spider in the summer and
autumn amongst nettles and other herbage along
hedgerows. The spiders vary very much in size,
and spin an orbicular web having a clear space in
the centre as do others of the genus and also
Tetragnatha, thus differing from the genus Araneus
(Epeira). Known also as Epeira incKnata, Black-
wall.
39. Meta meriante (Scopoli).
Common everywhere (J. E. H.).
A larger species found in cellars and under
damp overhanging banks. Known also as Epeira
antrlada, Blackwall, and a variety with a white
band down the centre of the abdomen as E. celata,
Blackwall.
40. Tetragnatha extensa (Linnaeus).
Durham ; Wolsingham.
A very common species of elongate form which
sits in the centre of its web with legs stretched out
in front and behind. Not so entirely confined to
marshy localities as the next species, and easily
recognized by the silvery white band under the
abdomen. The jaws of the males of this genus
are very large and conspicuous.
41. Tetragnatha solandri (Scopoli).
Durham (J. E. H.).
Very similar to the last species in general
appearance, but almost entirely confined to river
banks and marshy swamps. Can be recognized by
the dull white bands beneath the abdomen and the
absence of any pale line on the sternum.
42. Pachygnatha clerckii, Sundevall.
Common everywhere (J. E. H.).
Resembles a Tetragnatha in the possession of very
large mandibles, but is not elongate and spins no
web to speak of. Found under leaves and at the
roots of herbage, especially in marshy places.
43. Pachygnatha Jegeerii, Sundevall.
Common everywhere (J. E. H.).
Smaller and commoner than the last species.
Found at the roots of herbage.
44. Nesticus cellulanus (Clerck).
Durham ; Teesdale (J. E. H.).
Known also as Linyphia crypticolens, Blackwall.
45. Linyphia triangularis (Clerck).
Common everywhere (J. E. H.).
A very abundant species in autumn, whose sheet-
like snares glistening with dewdrops form a con-
spicuous feature on the hedges and bushes in the
early mornings. The mandibles in the male are
very long, resembling those in Tetragnatha.
46. Linyphia pusilla, Sundevall.
Wolsingham (J. E. H.).
A smaller species than the last, with deep black
ventral region. The palpus in the male sex has a
long spiral spine. It spins its web near the ground
amongst herbage. Rare in this county. Known
also as L. fuRginea, Blackwall.
47. Linyphia Montana (Clerck).
Common everywhere (J. E. H.).
A large species whose habits are similar to those
of Triangularii. It is, however, often found also
in conservatories and outhouses. Known also as
L. marginata, Blackwall.
48. Linyphia hortensis, Sundevall.
Wolsingham ; Teesdale (J. E. H.).
Not a common species, somewhat similar to
pusilla in general appearance and habits. Known
also as L. pratens'u, Blackwall.
49. Linyphia clathrata, Sundevall.
Common everywhere (J. E. H.).
Resembles montana, but is smaller. Very common
amongst herbage. Known also as Neriene marginata,
Blackwall.
50. Linyphia peliata (Wider).
Durham ; Wolsingham (J. E. H.).
A very small and common species found amongst
the foliage of trees and bushes in the summer time.
A variety is known also as L. rubea, Blackwall.
51. Labulla thoracica (Wider).
Wolsingham ; Durham ; Teesdale (J. E. H.).
Not uncommon in outhouses or under over-
hanging banks and rocks. The male is remarkable
for the enormously long spiral spine on the palpal
bulb.
52. Drapetisca sociafis (Sundervall).
Durham ; Wooler (J. E. H.).
Not uncommon, often abundant, where it occurs,
sitting close to the bark of fir and other trees as
well as on rocks. Known also under Linyphia.
53. Bolyphantes luteolus (Blackwall).
Durham (J. E. H.).
Known also as Linyphia alticepi, Blackwall.
144
SPIDERS
J4- Lepthyphantei ftavipes (Blackwall).
Durham ; Upper Teesdale (J- E. H.).
A rare species. Known also under Linyphia.
55. Lepthyphantei crittattu (Menge).
Durham ; Teesdale (J. E. H.).
Not common ; amongst grass and dead leaves.
56. Lepthyphantei blackwaUil, Kulczynski.
Durham ; Wolsingham ; Upper Teesdale
(J.E.H.).
Often very common at the roots of herbage in
September. Known also as Linyphia tenebricola
(Wider), O. P.-C., and L. terricola, O. P.-C. and
Blackwall.
57. Lepthyphantei tenuii (Blackwall).
Common everywhere (J. E. H.).
Very similar to the last species and found under
the same conditions. Known also as Linyphia
tenebricola, O.P.-C.
58. Lepthyphantei minutus (Blackwall).
Durham ; Low Fell (J. E. H.).
Known also under Linyphia. Common amongst
loose stones and in angles of buildings.
59. Bathyphantei pullatui (O. P.-Cambridge).
Durham (J. E. H.).
Known also under Linyphia. Common in marshy
swamps. Adult in the spring.
60. Bathyphantei nigrintu (Westring).
Common everywhere (J. E. H.).
Known also as Linyphia pulla, Blackwall, and also
under Linyphia. Found in marshes and swamps.
61. Bathyphantes concolor (Wider).
Durham (J. E. H.).
A very common spider amongst loose stones,
heaps of rubbish, etc. Known also as Meridian
fiKpes, Blackwall, and under Linyphia.
62. Bathyphantet graciSi (Blackwall).
Durham ; Upper Teesdale ; Urpeth (J. E. H.).
Fairly common. Known also under Linyphia.
63. Bathyphantet Jonah (Wider).
Durham; Upper Teesdale; Urpeth (J.E.H.).
Common on the foliage of trees and bushes in
the summer time. Known also under Linyphia
and as L. claytoni<e, Blackwall.
64. Poeciloneta variegata (Blackwall).
Durham ; Upper Teesdale ; Wolsingham
(J.E.H.).
Common amongst grass in damp places. Known
also under Linyphia and Nfriene.
65. Centnmerut bicolor (Blackwall).
Urpeth (J. E. H.).
Common in September and October, running
on palings in the bright sunshine. Known also
under Linyphia, Neriene, and Tmtticui.
66. Ctntromerus silvafuui (Blackwall).
Urpeth 0- E. H.).
Rare. Adult from the middle of August.
Known also under Neriene and as TmeAcut lihatictu.
67. Micnmeta vlaria (Blackwall).
Harperley (J. E. H.).
Known also under Neriene.
68. Tapinopa bngiJeni (Blackwall).
Urpeth (J. E. H.).
Adult females only have been taken, from August
to October. This spider weaves a web of very
fine texture under stones. Known also under
Linyphia.
69. Macrargui abnormis (Blackwall).
Durham ; Upper Teesdale (J. E. H.).
Rare ; in tufts of grass by streams. An imma-
ture male and an adult female only taken, the
latter in May. Known also under Neriene and
Tmeticus.
70. Porrhomma fygaiteum (Blackwall).
Durham (J. E. H.).
Adult males only taken. Known also under
Neriene.
71. Porrhomma microphthalmum (O.P.-Cambridge).
Pelton coalpits near Chester le Street (R. H.
Meade).
Males and females were sent to Dr. Meade of
Bradford in 1860 from the coalpits. They had
probably been carried down the shaft amongst the
horse fodder, and lived gregariously in a common
web.
72. Mengea icopigera (Grube).
Urpeth (J. E. H.).
Plentiful among damp, long grass. Known also
as PeJina icopigera, Pedlna cristata, and Tmeticus
icopiger.
73. Micryphantes comigera (Blackwall).
Durham (J. E. H.).
Very rare ; two adult males only, bjr the river
Known also under Neriene.
74. Erigone Jentipalpii (Wider).
Durham (J. E. H.).
Often abundant on railings. Known also under
Neriene.
75. Tuo vagant (Blackwall).
Ryhope (J. E. H.).
Rare amongst dead leaves in woods and shrub-
beries. Known also under Neriene and as N. longi-
mana.
76. Gongytidlum rufipei (Linnzus).
Ryhope ; Barnard Castle (J. E. H.).
Not common. Known also under Neriene and
as N. munJa, Blackwall.
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
77. Gonatium IsabeHlnum (C. L. Koch).
Harperley ; Wolsingham ; Durham (J. E. H.)
Known also as Neriene rubella, Blackwall.
78. Dicyphus cornutus (Blackwall).
Durham ; Upper Teesdale (J. E. H.).
Known also under Neriene.
79. Hypomma bituberculatum (Blackwall).
Durham ; Upper Teesdale ; Wolsingham
(J.E.H.).
Known also under Neriene.
80. Dismodicus bifrons (Blackwall).
Durham ; Upper Teesdale ; Wolsingham
(J. E. H.)
Known also under Wakkenttra.
8 1. Kulczynskiellum retusum (Westring).
Durham (J. E. H.).
Known also under Neriene, and Erigpne, also as
Nerieue elevata, O.P.-Cambridge.
82. Kulcyzynikiellum fuicum (Blackwall).
Durham (J. E. H.).
Not common. September.
83. CEJothorax tuberosus (Blackwall).
Durham (J. E. H.).
Known also under Neriene.
84. BlackvialRa acuminate, Blackwall.
Durham ; Urpeth (J. E. H.).
Known also under the name Wakkenara.
85. Dicymbium tibiale (Blackwall).
Urpeth (J. E. H.).
A rare spider. Adult males, August and Sep-
tember.
86. Plas'iocr<grus alplnus (O.P.-Cambridge). 1
Upper Teesdale (J. E. H.).
87. Wlderia antica (Wider).
Durham ; Upper Teesdale (J. E. H.).
Not uncommon ; adult in spring. Known also
under Wakkenitra.
88. Diphcephalus humilis (Blackwall).
Durham 0- E. H.).
Under stones and at the roots of grass in spring
and autumn.
89. Diphcephalus picinus (Blackwall).
Durham (J. E. H.).
Rare ; adult males in spring amongst grass.
90. Pocadicnemis pum'tla (Blackwall).
Durham ; Ryhope (J. E. H.).
Rare ; among grass in spring and summer.
Known also under Walckenara.
91. Cornicularia cuspidata (Blackwall).
Durham ; Upper Teesdale (J. E. H.).
Not rare ; on grassy banks. Known also under
Wakkenara.
92. Cornicularia unicornis (O.P.-Cambridge).
Durham (J. E. H.).
Rare ; amongst grass in the spring. Known
also under Wakken<era.
93. Troxochrus icabriculus (Westring).
Durham (J. E. H.).
Rare. Known also under Erigone and as Walck-
en<era aggerii, O. P.-Cambridge.
94. Lophomma punctatum (Blackwall).
Durham (J. E. H.).
Not common ; under stones, spring and autumn.
Known also under Wakkenitra.
95. Peponocranium ludicrum (O.P.-Cambridge).
Upper Teesdale (J. E. H.).
A single adult male in May at an altitude of
1,200 feet. Known also under Wakkeniera.
96. Microctenonyx subitaneus (O.P.-Cambridge).
Durham (J. E. H.).
A single adult male in June, among loose stones.
Known also under Wakkentera and Tapinocyba.
THERIDIID.E
The members of this family have eight eyes
situated very much like those of the Argyopidtt, but
the mandibles are usually weak, the maxilla: are
inclined over the labium, and the posterior legs
have a comb of stiff curved serrated spines beneath
the tarsi. The web consists of a tangle of crossing
lines, and the spider often constructs a tent-like
retreat wherein the egg-sac is hung up.
97. Iheridion variant, Hahn.
Durham ; Wolsingham ; Ryhope (J. E. H.).
A very much smaller species, varying consider-
ably in colour, found abundantly in greenhouses
and also amongst shrubs in the open garden. This
species makes no tent-like retreat, but sits close to
the one or more pale rounded egg-sacs usually spun
up against a beam or window-sill.
98. Tberidion denticulatum (Walckenaer).
Durham ; Wolsingham (J. E. H.).
Also a very small and abundant species, occurring
on the outside of windows and outhouses and also
on walls and palings. It makes no tent-like retreat
and the habits are very similar to those of the last
species. Also taken on shrubs and tree trunks.
99. Theridion sisyphmm (Clerck).
Durham ; Wolsingham ; Ryhope (J. E. H.).
Very common on gorse and holly bushes, where
they construct a tent-like domicile and spin up
1 This species has been expunged from the Brit. List (Proc. Dart. Nat. Hist., and A. F. Club, xxiii. p. 23, 1902). All
the examples hitherto recorded as P. Alpinui have been ascertained to be Diphcephalus (Pleetiocrterut) larifrons, O. P.-Camb. ;
and I feel no doubt but that the spider recorded here is also of this last species, though I have not had an opportunity of
examining the specimen. O. Pickard-Cambridge, April 1410, 1905.
I46
SPIDERS
within its shelter the small greenish egg-sacs. The
young when hatched pass also their earlier days
within the tent, but on the death of the mother
spider they scatter, taking up positions for themselves
amongst the neighbouring foliage. Known also as
T. nervosum, Blackwall.
100. Iheridion pictum (Walckenaer).
Durham ; Teesdale ; Wolsingham (J. E. H.).
A very beautiful species, resembling a large ex-
ample of T. variant with a bright red and white
dentated band on the dorsal side of the abdomen,
found, often abundantly, on holly and other bushes,
where they construct, a large and very perfectly
formed thimble-shaped domicile covered with dry
chips of leaves and twigs, often decorated with the
wings, legs, wing-cases and other debris of the
victims which have served them for food.
10 1. Ihtridion ovatum (Clerck).
Durham 0- E. H.).
A very common species. The female lives in
the folded leaf of a bramble, or that of some other
shrub, spinning the edges together. Within this
domicile she constructs a round sea-green egg-sac
about as large as the seed of the sweet-pea. The
spider has a pale yellow abdomen with a broad
pink central dorsal band or two pink bands, one
on each side. The male and female can often be
found together within their leafy domicile. This
spider is also known under the name Pkyllontthii
fineata.
102. TheriJim pallets, Blackwall.
Durham ; Wolsingham ; Urpeth (J. E. H.).
This minute Theridioid, pale yellow in colour,
with often a dark, or paler, dorsal spot on the
abdomen, lives beneath the leaves of shrubs and
trees, laurel, elm, lime, etc., where it spins its
minute pear-shaped pure white egg-sac, which rests
on its larger end and has several small cusps towards
the sharp-pointed stalk.
103. SteatoJa bipunctata (Linnseus).
Durham ; Teesdale (J- E. H.).
A dark brown shiny rather flattened spider,
living in chinks of walls, angles of windows and
crevices in the partitions of old stables, etc.,
emerging usually at nightfall. The males are re-
markable for their very large palpi and also for the
possession of a stridulating organ, formed by a series
of chitinous ridges in a hollow at the anterior part
of the abdomen, which move over some cusps on
the conical posterior of the carapace.
104. Euryop'u blacktoalRi (O.P.-Cambridge).
Durham ; Shincliffe wood (J. E. H.).
A single adult female only. Known also under
TheriJion.
105. PfJanostfthut KviJut (Blackwall).
Durham ; Teesdale (J. E. H.).
Adult in summer and common under stones in
damp places. Known also under Ncriene.
106. Erojvrcata (Villiers).
Durham ; Wolsingham ; Teesdale ; Ryhope
(J.E.H.).
A widespread species, but nowhere abundant ;
chiefly found amongst thick grass. Known also as En
thoraclca, Wider, and Iberidm caritgatum, Blackwall.
DICTYNID.E
The spiders belonging to this family possess three
ursal claws, and the eyes, eight in number, are
situated in two transverse rows, the laterals being
in contact. The cribcllum (or extra pair of
spinning organs) and the calamistrum (a row of
curving bristles on the protarsi of the fourth pair
of legs) are present in all members of the family.
They construct a tubular retreat with an outer
sheet of webbing, which is covered with a floccu-
lent silk made with the calamistrum from threads
furnished by the cribellum.
107. Amaunbius limilit (Blackwall).
Durham ; Teesdale (J. E. H.).
A very common species in greenhouses, stables
and other outhouses. The males may often be
found wandering about the walls of dwelling-
houses after nightfall. Known also under the
name Ciniflo.
108. jfmaunbiui fenestraRi (Stroem).
Durham ; Teesdale ; Wolsingham (J. E. H.).
Common under stone* throughout the year,
especially in woods and on the moors. Known
also as Ciniflo atrox, Blackwall.
109. Amaunbius ferox (Walckenaer).
Birtley (J. E. H.).
A much larger species, shiny purple-black with
pale markings, found in cellars and also beneath
rocks and stones on the coast or in crevices of
banks in the open country. Known also under
the name Ciniflo.
1 1O. Dictyna uneinata, Thorell.
Durham ; Wolsingham (J. E. H.).
Plentiful on low shrubs, such as box. The
female may be found guarding her cocoon in May
and June.
111. Ditty na arunJinacea (Linnxus).
Durham ; Wolsingham ; Ryhope (J. E. H.).
Not very common on gorse- bushes.
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
ADDENDA
COLEOPTERA
Beetles
The following species and varieties have been found in the county of Durham since the
main list was printed, through the untiring energy and perseverance of Mr. R. S. Bagnall.
CARABID-ffi
Notiophilus, Dum.
— quadripunctatus, Dj. Rare
(Bagnall)
Ncbria, Lat.
— gyllenhali, Sch. v. rufescens,
Strcem. Rare. Dement
Valley (Bagnall)
Harpalus, Lat.
— rufimanus, Marsh. Wmlaton
(Bagnall). This is in-
stead of froelichi, Stm.
in the main list ; froelichi
has not yet been found in
Durham
Amara, Bon.
— anthobia, Vill. One speci-
men at Hartlepool (Wil-
loughby Ellis)
— continua, Th. Rare (Bag-
nail)
DYTISCIDJS
Platambus, Th.
— maculatus, L. v. immaculatus,
Donis. Very local and
rare and unaccompanied
by the type. Gibside
(Bagnall)
HYDROPHILID^E
Laccobius, Er.
— sinuatus, Mots. Common
(Bagnall)
Limnebius, Leach
— nitidus, Marsh. Wbitburn
(Bold)
Helophorus, F.
— brevipalpis, Bed. (?) (Bagnall)
Sphaeridium, F.
— bipustulatum, F., v. mar-
ginatum, F. With the
type at Wmlaton (Bagnall)
Cercyon, Leach
— littoralis, Gyll., v. binota-
tum, Steph. With the
type, but rare. Roker
(Bagnall)
— marinus, Th. Not uncom-
mon (Bagnall)
STAPHYLINIDJE
Leptusa, Kr.
— analis, Gyll. Teesdale, two
males (Gardner)
Quedionuchus, Shp.
— laevigatus, Gyll. From
beneath beech-bark at
Gibside (Beare, Bagnall).
This is the only English re-
cord of this Scottish species
SILPHID^E
Agathidium, 111.
— seminulum, L. Gibslde, under
beech bark and in fungi
(Bagnall)
Anisotoma, 111.
— dubia, Kug. v. bicolor,
Schm. With the type
(Gardner, Bagnall)
— lunicollis, Rye. One speci-
men at Hartlepool (Gard-
ner)
EROTYLID^E
Dacne, Lat.
— rufifrons, F. Found in
numbers in Teesdale by
Sang (Gardner)
LATHRIDIID^E
Lathridius, Hbst.
— angulatus, Man. Derwent
Valley and Weardale.
Rare (Bagnall)
CRYPTOPHAGID^E
Atomaria, Steph.
— fimentarii, Hbst. Rare.
Gibslde (Bagnall)
— mesomelas, Hbst. Local.
Hartlepool (Gardner)
— ruficornis, Marsh. South Hylton
(Bagnall)
PARNID^E
Elmis, Lat.
— parallelopipedus, Mull. Tyne
(Bold)
— subviolaceus, Mull. Rare.
Derwent (Bagnall)
SCARAB^EID^E
Geotrupes, Lat.
— spiniger, Marsh. Common
(Bagnall)
148
ELATERID^E
Cryptohypnus, Esch.
— dermestoides, Hbst. v. quad-
riguttatus, Lap. With
the type (Bagnall)
Corymbites, Lat.
— quercus, Gyll. v. ochropterus,
Steph. With the type.
South Hylton (Bagnall)
TELEPHORHXE
Telephorus, Schxf.
— nigricans, Mull. v. discoideus
Steph. Derwent Valley
(Bagnall)
— paludosus, Fall. Near Row-
land's Gill. Very local.
(Beare, Bagnall)
CISSID^E
Cis, Lat.
— micans, Hbst. Teesdale
(Bagnall)
— alni, Gyll. (?) Gibside (Bag-
nail)
— vestitus, Mel. Teesdale
(Gardner, Bagnall)
CERAMBYCIDjE
Aromia, Serv.
— moschata, L. One specimen.
Derwent Valley (Bagnall)
Leptura, L.
— pubescens. Hartlepool, intro-
duced (Gardner)
— testacea. Hartlepool, intro-
duced (Gardner)
— revestita. Hartlepool, intro-
duced (Gardner)
Semanotus.
— undatus. Hartlepool, intro-
duced (Gardner)
Strangalia, Ser.
— aurulenta, F. Hartlepool, in-
troduced (J. E. Robson)
CHRYSOMELID^E
Phytodecta, Kirb.
— olivacea, Forst. v. litura, F.
With the type (Bagnall)
NOTE. — OH page no of tbt
main fat, after Gastroidea poly-
goni, L., a whole page of copy hat
by some meant been omitted. The
line 'tcnella, L. (Bold, Gardner)'
should be deleted and the following
twenty names Inserted In its place.
Phaedon, Lat.
— tumidulus, Germ. (Bold, Bag-
nail, Gardner)
— armoraciz, L. Very rare
(Bold, Bagnall)
— cochleariz, F. (Bold, Bag-
nail, Gardner)
PhyUodecta, Kirb.
— vulgatissima, L. (Bold, Bag-
nall, Gardner)
— yitellinz, L. (Bold, Robson,
Bagnall, Gardner). Also
the rare blue variety (Bag-
nall)
Hydrothassa, Th.
— ancta, F. (Bold, BagnaU)
— marginella, L. (Bold, Bag-
nail, Gardner)
Prasocuris, Lat.
— junci.Brahm. (Bold,Gardner)
— phellandrii, L. (Bold, Bag-
nall, Gardner)
Luperus, Geof.
— nigrofasciatvu, Gcez. Very
local and rare. Wlnlaton
Mill (Bagnall)
— rufipes, Scop. (Bold, Bagnall)
— flavipes, L. (Bold, Bagnall)
Lochmxa, Weise
— caprex, L. (Bold, Gardner)
— suturalis,Th. (Bagnall, Gard-
ner)
T. nigrita, Weise. On the
moors with the type
(Bagnall)
Galerucella, Crotch
— viburni, Pk. (Bold) Winlatm
Mill (Bagnall)
ADDENDA
Galerucella, Crotch
— nymphxx, L. (Bold, Bag-
nall)
— sagittarix, Gyll. Rare (Bold)
— lineola, F. (Bold).
— tenella, L. (Bold, Gard-
ner)
FURTHER ADDENDA
Longitarsus, Lat.
— anchusz, Pk. Hartlepool
(Gardner)
Haltica, Geof.
— oleracea, L. (?) (Bagnall)
Aphthona, Cher.
— nonstriata, Gcez. Dertvent
Valley and Ryton (Bagnall)
Batophila, Foud.
— strata, Marsh. One speci-
men. Winlatm Mill
(Bagnall)
Mantura, Steph.
— rustica, L. v. suturalis,
Weise. Weardak and
Dement Valley (Bagnall)
— matthewsi, Curt. Very
rare. Hartkpto/(Giidner)
Psylliodes, Lat.
— chalcomera, 111. One speci-
men. Hartlepool (Gard-
ner)
— hyoscyami, L. (?) One speci-
men. Hartlepool (Gard-
ner)
MORDELLID.fi
Anaspis, Geof.
— gcoffroyi, Moll. v. subfasciata,
Steph. One specimen.
TeesJale (BagnaU)
ANTHICID.fi
Anthicus, Pk.
— floralis, L. v. quisquilius, Th.
With the type (Bagnall)
CURCULIONID.fi
Apioo, Hbst.
— genistae, Kirb. Winlaton
Mill (BagnaU)
— minatum, Germ. Very rare.
Near Winlatm Mill (Bag-
nail)
— hydrolapathi, Kirb. Wear-
dale and Dertcent Valley
(BagnaU)
Erirhinus, Sch.
— scirpi, F. Very local and
rare. South Hyltm (Bag-
naU)
Dorytomus, Steph.
— maculatus, Marsh, v. costi-
rostris, Gyll. (?) One
specimen (Bagnall)
— melanophthalmus, Pk. r.
agnathus, Boh. Axwell
Park and Winlaton Mill
(Beare and Bagnall) (con-
firmation)
SCOLYTID.fi
Cryphalus, Er.
— tiliz, Pz. (?) One specimen
(Gardner)
Dryocxtes, Eich.
— autograph us, Ratz. (?) Gib-
siJe, one specimen (Bag-
nail)
— alni, Georg. Denoent Valley,
under beech bark (Bag-
nall)
Tomicus, Lat.
— sexdentatus, BOrn. One
specimen (Gardner)
— typographus, L. (Gardner)
— acuminatus, Gyll. One
specimen. South Hylton
(BagnaU)
Pityogenes, Bed.
— chalcographus, L. (Gardner)
LIMNOBID.fi
Limnophila fuscipennis, Mg.
STRATIOMYID.fi
Oxycera pygmxa, Fin.
EMPID.fi
Hemerodromia precatoria, Fin.
DOLICHOPODIDjE
Achalcus flavicollis, Mg.
Hydrophorus ncbulosus, Fin.
— bisetus, Lw.
DIPTERA
F/ies
SYRPHID^E
Platychirus scambus, Stxg.
Syrphus annulatus, Ztt.
— annulipes, Ztt.
Criorrhina ranunculi, Pz.
TACHINID.fi
Erigone strcnua, Mg.
SAPROMYZID^E
Sapromyza fasciau, Fin.
CHLOROPID.E
Meromyza pratorum, Mg.
Chlorops Ixta, Mg.
— gracilis, Mg.
AGROMYZID^;
Agromyza lutea, Mg.
PHORID.fi
Phora lutea, Mg.
CRUSTACEANS
When Robert Surtees, of Mainsforth, F.S.A., published The History
and Antiquities of the County Palatine of Durham between eighty and ninety
years ago, he gave not the smallest consideration to carcinology. The
most direct reference that he makes to the existence of crustaceans is to be
found in his third volume, where he describes ' the providential escape of
a shrimper,' who ' was pursuing his occupation on the sand island in the
Tees.' ' His situation in the river was two miles from the Durham
coast, and three from Yorkshire in the midst of the Tees ./Estuary, with
the wide ocean full in front at the river mouth.'1 The inference is in-
evitable that a shrimper would never have been pursuing his avocation
in Durham waters without the expectation of catching Durham shrimps.
From other remarks made by Surtees in the course of his history it is
easy to deduce that sundry remarkable crustaceans, quite distinct from
the commercial kinds, have at times visited the county. Notice will be
taken of these under the appropriate heads of classification.
Surtees informs us that 'the County of Durham arose gradually out
of Northumberland (a term which originally included everything North
of the Humber), together with the increasing patrimony of the Church;
and, besides the main body of the County, lying betwixt Tyne, Tees,
and Darwent, includes several scattered members of that Patrimony :
i. Norhamshire and Islandshire, including Holy Island, and the Fame
Isles, and a portion of the mainland extending from the Tweed North
and North-west, to the sea on the East, and separated from Northumber-
land on the South partly by the course of the Till, and partly by an
imaginary line. 2. Bedlingtonshire, lying in the heart of Northumber-
land, betwixt the rivers Blyth and Wansbeck. These are usually termed
the North Bishopric, and are included in Chester Ward. 3. The
insulated territory of Crake in the wapentake of Bulmer in Yorkshire,
which is considered as parcel of Stockton Ward.' * However little it
could have been foreseen by monks and prelates, the ecclesiastical history
of the county is not without its bearing upon the present chapter, and
for all the ecclesiastics knew of the matter the bearing might have been
more important than it actually is. At a time when religion and law
combined to enjoin upon the whole community the use of fish as a
necessary element of diet, the unlettered laity and learned churchmen
were alike unconcerned about the food on which fishes themselves are
nourished. But there is now reason to believe that fishes eat with
1 Surtees, Hist, of Dtir., iii. 141 (1823). s Op. cit., i. pt. ii. p. iii. (1816).
150
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
avidity every sort of crustacean that they can catch and swallow. Never-
theless, the land and freshwater crustaceans of Yorkshire and Northumber-
land are so little likely to differ from those of the intervening district
that they would have been no proper objects for cupidity. On the other
hand, in regard to marine species, the wresting of Norhamshire and
Islandshire from its northern neighbour is calculated to give Durham
much assistance in producing a competitive catalogue.
In the present chapter the records referring to Lindisfarne and the
Fame Islands will be claimed for Durham. The disentangling of those
relating to the other dislocated areas will be neglected as in a great
measure impracticable, and if accomplished of doubtful value. The
distinctive glory of a county, with respect to its natural history, depends
indeed far less on the number of species it may be asserted to possess
than on the men who, within its borders, have increased the sum of
natural knowledge by their industrious accuracy and have left to those
who follow in their footsteps means of testing the fidelity of their
observations and records. From this point of view it will be found that
Durham has been singularly fortunate in having had long resident within
it carcinologists of such eminence as Dr. Norman, F.R.S., and Professor
G. S. Brady, F.R.S. The names of some others who have in their
measure rendered useful service will be mentioned in due course.
The extent of our subject will be best understood from a brief
sketch of the classification here adopted.
Crustaceans can be divided into three principal groups, Malacostraca, Entomostraca, and
Thyrostraca. The first of these combines in really close relationship a set of animals which,
to judge only by their outward appearance, habits, and names, might be deemed most
disunitedly multifarious. They comprise true crabs and false crabs, hermits and lobsters,
prawns and shrimps, wood-lice and sand-hoppers. There are also praying shrimps and
skeleton shrimps, as different as possible each from other and both from the common shrimps,
and 'little lobsters' almost microscopic, and huge fish-lice, and other swarms for which
' Dan Chaucer's well of English undcfiled ' found not nor is likely to find any vulgar names.
Beginning with the true crabs, stalk-eyed, ten-legged, with short inflexed tails, the
Brachyura Decapoda, it is well to observe what is in their case the standard of truth. Their
thinly flattened tail or ' pleon,' which is more or less distinctly composed of seven segments,
is bound to have the last but one of these segments destitute of appendages. The true
crabs are divided into four tribes, Cyclometopa, Catometopa, Oxyrrhyncha, and Oxystomata,
very unequally represented in the records here dealt with. To the first of them, the arch-
fronted tribe, belongs Cancer pagurus, Linn., the great eatable crab, in aspect so familiar to
everyone, but for all that having a character which at the first glance distinguishes it not only
from all other English crabs, but from the great majority of crabs all over the world. This
much valued article of food is taken in more or less abundance all round our coasts, and is
specially recorded from the Fame Islands by Mr. George Tate, who also mentions the
occurrence there of Portunus puber (Linn.) and P. depurator.1 Dr. George Johnston likewise
includes it, along with Carcinus nuenas, in his Catalogus Animalium tt Plantarum
quae in Insula Linditfarnense visa sunt mense Mala A.D. 1854.'* Two other species
of Portunus were added to the Durham Cyclometopa by Dr. Norman in his Reports of
Deep-Sea Dredging on the Nortb-Eait Coast of England, namely P. holsatus, Fabricius,
and P. pusillus, Leach.8 While all the species mentioned agree in having an arched front to
the carapace, the shell of Cancer pagurus differs from the rest, not only in being much
1 Hiit. of the Bena'ukihirt NaturaRttf Clul, 1850-1856, iii. 238 (1857).
» Op. cit., vol. for 1876, p. 48.
8 Nat. Hist. Trans, of titrtimmb. and Dur., i. I z (1867).
CRUSTACEANS
broader in proportion to the length, but in having its antero-lateral margins nine-lobed instead
of five-toothed. Carcinus m&nas (Linn.), the common shore-crab, though in general shape
and appearance very near to the species of Portunus, is readily distinguished by the last pair
of legs, in which the terminal joint is narrowly lanceolate, not as in the other genus widened
into an oval swimming paddle. Portunus puber, the velvet crab, is well marked by the
pubescent or velvety coat to which it owes its specific and vernacular names. Mr. Alexander
Meek says, ' The velvet crab is not uncommon near the Longstone, and is sometimes
procured also at other of the outlying Fames.'1 In P. depurator (Linn.) it should be noticed
that the part between the orbits, known as the ' front,' has the centre tooth prominent,
whereas in P. holsatus this tooth is about on a level with its companions on either side.
P. puslllus, Leach, is notably smaller than the other species.
The Catometopa owe their title to a depression of the ' front,' which is prevalent among
them, but which in no way indicates depression of spirits, for this group includes many of the
most active, vivacious, and enterprising crabs that anywhere exist. In this county it is
represented only by one of its hundred members, the little pea-crab, Pinnotheres pisum (Linn.),
of which Mr. Meek reports that ' A male was got four miles off Seaham, 291)1 September,
1897.'* Small as the female is, the male is much smaller. Also his coat is much more
firmly calcified than hers. In Bell's opinion the remarkable softness of the female is ' doubt-
less the cause of its requiring the efficient protection of the shells of Mollusca.' * The
speculative philosopher in these days would rather argue that it is the consequence, not the
cause ; just as one may feel certain that hermit crabs have acquired soft twisted tails through
residing in firm spiral shells, not that they took to those shells because their tails were soft
and twisted.
The Oxyrrhyncha, or 'sharp beaks,' commonly have the front produced to form a
rostrum. Of these Hyas araneus (Linn.) is recorded by Mr. George Tate from the Fame
Islands, and by Dr. Johnston in the Lindisfarne Catalogue along with Stenoryncbus phalangium ;
Bell quotes Stenoryncbus tenuirostris and Inachus dorsettensis from Embleton's list of the Crustacea
of Berwickshire and North Durham; Dr. Norman in the dredging list for 1864 adds
Inacbus dorsettensis and Hyas coarctatus as found on the Durham coast.* All these spider crabs,
as they are called from the spindly legs of many among them, have the custom of costuming.
They do not for this purpose use the spoils of vegetables or of other animals as we do, but
the living organisms themselves, which they either allow to settle on their backs or forcibly
instal, many parts of the carapace and limbs being provided with hairs and spines of various
forms to secure the adhesion of their selected garments. Of the three genera above mentioned
Stenoryncbus or ' narrow beak ' is more properly called Macropodia or ' long foot,' name and
synonym together intimating two of the characters. The two species should be named
respectively M, rostrata (Linn.), with the longirostris of Fabricius for a synonym,6 in which
the rostrum is shorter, and M. tenuirostris, Leach, in which it is longer, than the peduncle
of the second antennae. Here the eyes are not retractile as they are in the other two genera.
In Hyas the pleon or tail has all its seven segments distinct in both sexes, whereas in the
other two genera this part has the last two segments coalesced. Between H. araneus (Linn.)
and H. coarctatus, Leach, the most obvious difference consists in the circumstance that the
carapace of the latter behind the post-orbital process has a strong constriction, to which the
specific name coarctatus alludes. The French authors MM. Alphonse Milne-Edwards and
E. L. Bouvier further observe that the first free joint of the second antennae is broader in
front in this species than in the other, and that the hairy crest on the sternum or ventral
surface, which is continuous in H. araneus, is here interrupted at the centre. That H. coarctatus
is the smaller of the two, or that its ambulatory legs are relatively shorter, can scarcely be
maintained in face of the measurements which they give.6 For distinguishing Inachus
dorsettensis (Pennant) from /. dorynchus, Leach, the same authors have drawn attention to
differences in the third maxillipeds, the fourth joint of these organs in the former species
1 Northumb. Sea Fisheries Committee Rep. for the year 1902, p. 65.
8 Op. cit., p. 66.
8 Brit. Stalk-eyed Crustacea, p. 1 20 (1853).
* To save repetition it may suffice to say that Mr. George Tate's records are all quoted from the
Hut. of the Berwickshire Naturallitf Club, iii. 328 ; those of the Lindisfarne Catalogue from pp. 48,
49, in the volume of the same history published in 1876 ; and Norman's dredging lists for 1863, 1864,
from the Nat. Hut. Trans. Northumb. and Dur.,\. 23-26 (1867).
6 M. J. Rathbun, in Proc. Bio/. Soc. Washington, xi. 155 (1897).
6 Resultats des campagnes de FHirondelle, vii. 19 (Monaco, 1896).
152
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
being subtriangular, but in the latter suboval and longer in relation to the non-salient portion
of the third joint.1 Earlier authors have noticed that in the former species the tips of the
bifid rostrum are slightly divergent, but not so in the latter.
The Oxystomata are so named not from their sharpened or narrow fronts, but from the
narrowing of the oral cavity. This buccal frame or cndostome in the other three tribes is
more or less quadrate, but here it becomes triangular. In all it is more or less closed on the
ventral surface by the third maxillipeds, which when their inner edges meet block out of view
the other mouth-organs, namely, the mandibles, first and second maxillae, and first and second
maxillipeds. All these parts though lost to sight should be to memory dear with every student
who is desirous of understanding or of improving the classification of the Malacostraca.
Norman's dredging list for 1864 provides the Durham coast with two species of one genus
from the Oxystome family of the Leucosiidae, these being Ebalia tuberosa (Pennant) and
E. crancbii, Leach. MM. A. Milne-Edwards and E. L. Bouvier distinguish the latter from
the former as having the carapace less inflated, more regularly hexagonal, the front more
advanced, and the antcro-lateral margins entire, not as in the other species having a very
characteristic fissure between the hepatic and the branchial regions.9
The Macrura, or long-tailed Decapods, are in much closer relation to the Brachyura
than a man might suppose who was offered for his meal a choice between the tail of a crab
and the tail of a lobster. Lithodes mala (Linn.), the northern stone crab, recorded from the
Fame Islands by Mr. Tate and from Lindisfarne by Dr. Johnston, is not a true crab, though
it is deceptively like one. It has a short uneatable tail, and yet anomalously belongs to the
Macrura. But it is the special mark of a Macruran to have appendages on the penultimate
segment of the pleon, and of these Lithodes is destitute. On the other hand this tail-piece
is conspicuously unsymmetrical in the female. This and other characters make it probable
that the form has been evolved from among the hermit crabs, from hermits that have been
unable to find a hermitage. In the struggle for existence it is likely enough that such
unsheltered vagrants would have recourse to folding their tails for protection under their own
bodies. Of ordinary hermits Pagurus bernhardus (Linn.) is recorded by Mr. Tate from the
Fame Islands, by Dr. Johnston from Lindisfarne, by Dr. Norman from the Durham coast.
The last author mentions with it in his Durham dredging lists for 1863 and 1864 P. pubescent,
KrOyer, and P. /avis, Thompson. The first two species are now placed in the genus
Eufagurui, the third in Anapagurus, the latter genus being distinguished from the former by
the presence of a short curved appendage at the base of the fifth leg on the left side in the
male. Eu. pubescens is discriminated from Eu. bernhardus by the greater slenderness of the hand
in the larger cheliped, which is usually on the right, and by the strong pubescence of the
ambulatory limbs.
Porctllana longicornis (Linn.) is recorded by Mr. Tate from the Fame Islands, and
Mr. Meek mentions the capture of 'a specimen from 4 miles off Seaham, 9 September,
iSgy.'1 This little smooth species, with a flat, nearly circular carapace, scarcely a quarter
of an inch in diameter, and its tail doubled up beneath it, looks remarkably like a crab.
But an inspection of the tail shows the macruran mark, appendages to the penultimate
segments, well developed. Between this and the common shore species, P. platycheles
(Pennant), Professor Bouvier has pointed out a singular difference, namely, that in the latter
the nerve-chain is confined to the thorax or trunk as in the true crabs, while in P. longi-
cornis it runs all along the pleon, as in the lobster-like Galatheidae.* Of this family
Mr. Tate reports Galathea strigosa (Linn.) from the Fame Islands, and Mr. Meek records
Munlda rugosa (Fabricius), 'a splendid male specimen from near St. Mary's Island caught
in crab pot, 28 April, 1900.'* The latter species is remarkable for its very elongate chelipeds.
The specific name given it by Fabricius in 1775 takes precedence of the synonymous
Astacus Bamffius, Pennant, 1777, and Munida Rondeletii, Bell, 1853.
Turning now from the anomalous to the genuine Macrura, in which the pleon,
abdomen, or tail has a powerful muscular development, we find no record at present in
this county of the common river crayfish, though it is likely enough or almost certain to
occur in some of the streams. The common lobster, Astacus gammarus (Linn.), under the
less proper name of Homarus vu/garis, is included in the Lindisfarne catalogue by Dr. Johnston,
1 Op. cit., xiii. 45 (Monaco, 1899). * Op. cit., vii. 54.
1 Northumb. Sea Fisheries Committee Rep. fir 1902, p. 66 (1902).
* Ann. Sri. Nat., sir. 7, Zoologie, vii. 93 (1889).
1 Northttmb. Sea Fisheries Committee Rep. fir 1902, p. 67.
1 153 20
0
CRUSTACEANS
and of the pretty Nephrops norwegicus (Linn.) Mr. Meek says that ' large quantities are brought
to Shields market by trawlers.'1 Of shrimps the Lindisfarne catalogue names the common
Crangon vulgaris, which Mr. Meek also states to be fairly common in the harbour at Holy
Island.8 The same writer says of the closely allied Crangon al/mani, Kinahan, that ' specimens
have been obtained by Dr. Brady in 20 to 40 fathoms off the Durham coast.'3 C. nanus,
Kroyer, appears in Dr. Norman's Durham dredging list of 1864. The correct name of this
species would appear to be Philocheras bispinosm (Westwood), since Kroyer's species has been
successively referred to Cheraphilus and Philocheras generically, and is recognised as specifically
identical with the earlier Crangon bispinosus of Westwood. Dr. Norman says of Crangon
fasciatus, Risso, ' a single specimen of this shrimp, which had not previously been met with
on any part of the eastern coast, was dredged in shallow water within the Fern Islands.'4
Between jEgeon fasciatus (Risso), as this species is sometimes called, and Philocheras neglectus
(Sars), it is now known that there is a confusing similarity of colouring, both having transverse
brown stripes across the fourth segment of the pleon and the tail-fan. Possibly, therefore,
it is the second species rather than the first that should be attributed to the Fame Islands'
fauna. In the Durham Dredging list for 1864 Dr. Norman includes Pandalus annulicornis,
Leach, and P. brevirostris, Rathke, Hippolyte varians, Leach, and H. securifrons, Norman.
The first of these should rather be called Panda/us montagui, Leach. It has a long rostrum,
attains a considerable size, and might claim to be called a prawn, if that name had any really
distinctive value. The second species, which Bell in ignorance of Rathke's earlier description
named Hippolyte thompsoni,* has been transferred by Dr. Caiman to a new genus, Panda/ina.*
Its rostrum is only about half the length of the carapace, and the ' wrist ' or antepenultimate
joint of the second leg on the right side of the animal is subdivided into only four segments,
not into about twenty as in P, montagui. H. securifrons, marked by a powerful and strongly
dentate rostrum, is now placed in the genus Spirontocaris, Bate, in which also stands the earlier
and perhaps identical Hippolyte spinus, Sowerby.
The 'cloven-footed Schizopoda owe their name to a character of which they by no
means have a monopoly, and which needs a little explaining. Between the eyes and the
terminal segment of a Malacostracan there are nineteen segments, each of which potentially
carries a pair of appendages. Under all reserve for controversial topics, the theoretical
appendage may be described as seven-jointed.7 From the first joint there is often developed
a branch called the epipod, and from the second a branch called the exopod. When this
latter is present, the remaining five joints are distinguished from it as the endopod or inner
branch, the first two joints being then regarded as the stem or peduncle from which the two
branches spring. The five pairs of legs in the Brachyura never, and in the Macrura very
seldom, carry exopods. In the Schizopoda, however, they are found as swimming branches
not only on the five pairs of legs but also on the two or sometimes all the three pairs of
maxillipeds that precede them. The comparative study of crustaceans shows indeed a
remarkable plasticity throughout the series of appendages. They readily interchange form
and function. The mouth-organ of one species is homologous with the claw or the walking-
leg of another. Antennae which in one group are fine-drawn elongated threads, in another
are developed into powerful spades for digging. The family of Schizopoda with which we
are here particularly concerned is known as the Mysidae, and is distinguished from the other
families, and in fact from most Malacostraca, by having no true branchiae. That they can
dispense with these breathing organs is probably due to the delicacy of their general structure
and the vivacity of their movements, so that respiration is effected through the skin. The
genera are very numerous. Concerning Leptomysis lingvura, Sars, Norman writes in 1892,
' This species has been known to me as a member of the British fauna for the last twenty-six
years, at which time I took it abundantly between tide-marks at Cullercoats, Northumberland,
and within a year or two afterwards at Howden and Seaham Harbour on the Durham coast.'8
From Seaham he also records Hemimysis lamornae (Couch) * ; Schistomysis spiritus, Norman,
from ' Blackball Rocks, Co. Durham, tide-marks,' 10 and S. ornata (Sars) from ' off Seaham, on
the Durham coast.'11 All the four species, it should be added, are fully described as well as
recorded in Dr. Norman's valuable paper on the British Mysidae. Mr. Meek in 1900
1 Loc. cit. p. 67. * Ibid., p. 67. 8 Ibid., p. 67.
* Nat. Hist. Trans. Northumb. and Dur. i. 12. 6 Brit. Stalk-eyed Crustacea, p. 298.
6 Ann. Nat. Hist., sen 7, iii. 37 (1899). 1 Brit. Stalk-eyed Crustacea, p. 298.
8 Ann. Nat. Hist., ser. 6, x. 245. 8 Loc. cit., p. 249.
10 Loc. cit., p. 255. u Loc. cit., p. 256.
154
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
reports, under the name of Macromysis foxuosa (Mailer), the schizopod which should rather be
called Praunus Jiexuosus, from ' Holy Island (where it is very abundant in the harbour and
on Fenham flats),' and from the same island Siriel/a ja/tensis, Czerniavski, and S. armata
(Milne-Edwards).1
The crustaceans considered down to this point have all agreed in one particular. They
have had eyes placed on movable pedicels. There remain to be discussed three groups of
Malacostraca which are not stalk-eyed, but which all agree in having eyes not capable
of independent movement. These sessile-eyed groups are the Sympoda, Isopoda, and
Amphipoda.
The Sympoda can scarcely be said to be more commonly called Cumacea, because they
are not commonly called by any name whatever, society at large having been supremely
indifferent to the existence of these little, unobtrusive, but intrinsically interesting animals.
The list of them connected with Durham would have been reduced to a vanishing point but
for a very recent report by Dr. G. S. Brady, 'On Dredging and other Marine Research off
the North-East Coast of England in 1901.'* Therein he records Cuma xorpioides (Montagu)
from ' 30 miles off Sunderland, 45 fathoms ' ; Hcmilamprops rtsea (Norman) and 'Leucon nasicus,
KrOyer,' from the same situation ; Eudarella truncatu/a, Bate, from ' 5—6 miles off Souter
Point, 30 fathoms ' ; Eudorellopsis deformit (KrOyer), as taken ' in the surface net near
Sunderland'; Diastylis rathkei, KrCyer, from '2^ miles off Souter Point, 21 fathoms';
Diastylopiis resima (KrOyer), from the dredging station 5—6 miles off the same Point ; *
Diattyloides biplicata, Sars, 'in 45 fathoms 25 miles off Sunderland, muddy sand'; Leptostylis
ampullacea (Lilljeborg), ' in a depth of 40 fathoms 30 miles off Sunderland ' ; Pseudocuma
cercaria (van Beneden) ' in a depth of 4 fathoms off Seaton Carew abundantly,' ' plentifully
in the surface net at Sunderland ' ; and at the two stations above mentioned off Souter Point ;
Pieudocuma similis, Sars, ' in a depth of 28 fathoms off Marsden ' ; Campylaspis rubicunda
(Lilljeborg), 'off Hawthorn, 25 fathoms'; C. glabra, Sars, 'off Marsden, 28 fathoms'; and
Cumella pygnuea, Sars, ' in the surface net at Sunderland.'4
As the name Cuma proves to have been preoccupied,1 Bodatria, Goodsir, takes its place,
and, while the general title Cumacea gives place to Sympoda, the family Cumidae becomes
Bodotriidae, this being one of nine families among which this increasing group is now
distributed. It would take long to explain all the peculiarities of form by which the species
above named are distinguished. Some features may be mentioned which are common to all
or almost all. The carapace leaves uncovered the last five segments of the trunk, the five
leg-bearing segments, to which in crabs, lobsters, and decapods in general, it forms a
consolidated dorsal shield. Instead of having many pairs of gills, attached to the legs and
some of the mouth-organs, as in most of the previously-mentioned Malacostraca, the Sympoda
are content to have branchial sacs only (and not invariably) attached to the singular respiratory
apparatus of the first maxillipeds. Commonly the anterolateral lobes of the carapace are drawn
towards one another in advance of the true front. At least one pair of the legs are furnished
with exopods. The tail is usually quite slender compared with the head and trunk, giving
the scorpion-like appearance alluded to in the name of Bodotria scorpioidei (Montagu). The
fifth segment of the tail is almost always the longest. The seventh segment or telson varies
from conspicuous length and distinctness to evanescence.
Of the fourteen species above recorded four are included in the extensive family of the
Diastylidae, one in the Lampropidz, two in the Pseudocumidae. These families are three
out of the four which have the telson distinct, this segment being very small in the
Pseudocumidx, but in the other two generally large and conspicuous. Diastylis ratbkei
(KrOyer) is spoken of by Professor Sars in his fine work on the Crustacea of Norway as
' one of our largest and finest species.'4 The student will therefore be prepared for the task
of examining these miniature lobsters by being told that one of the leading forms in Norway
is just under two-thirds of an inch long, although specimens from the Siberian polar sea may
attain the more encouraging length of just over an inch. In Diastylopiis resima (KrOyer)
the third and fourth uncovered segments of the trunk are in the female dorsally coalesced.
The tip-tilted nose implied in the specific name alludes to the upturning of the pre-frontal
l Nortbumb. Sea Fuberiet Committee, Rep. fir 1900, pp. 70, 71.
• Nat. Hiit. Trout. Nortbumb., Dur. and NewcasiIe-upn-Tjne, xiv. (i), 87 (1902).
8 Loc. cit., p. 94. * Loc. cit., p. 95.
• Stebbing, in Willey'i Zoological Reiultt, pt. v., p. 610 (1900).
• Op. cit., iii. 45 (1899).
155
CRUSTACEANS
lobes which form a pseudo-rostral projection. Diastyloides biplicata, Sars, has the telson
strongly bent in the male, and in both sexes two oblique pleats or ridges sculpturing the broad
carapace. Leptostylis ampullacea (Lilljeborg) has the uropods, that is, the appendages of the
penultimate segment, very slender, but the front part of the body at least in the female
swollen out. This genus is a sort of connecting link between the Diastylidae and Lam-
propidas, since here as in the latter family the third and fourth legs of the female have
rudimentary exopods. While, however, the males of Diastylidae have two pairs of pleopods,
those of the Lampropidae have either three pairs or none. Hemilamprops rosea (Norman)
has the ' eye very large and conspicuous, with beautiful red pigment and 8 corneal lenses.'1
The family name refers to the brightness of the eye, but, as in the preceding family, the
presence of an effective eye is not one of the essential characters. For Pseudocuma cercaria
(van Beneden) the name P. longicorne (Bate) should be adopted as the earlier, though this
specific name is not particularly appropriate, since it refers to the long second antennas which
are found only in the male, and which are found in that sex of other species. No females
among the Sympoda have these antennas elongate. P. simiIis,~Sa.rs, preferably called P. simile,
is a larger and less slender species than the preceding, reaching a fifth of an inch in length or
rather more, instead of barely a sixth.
The remaining species of this list agree in having no distinct telson. The Bodotriidas
have five pairs of pleopods in the male, and exopods only on the first pair of legs in both
sexes. To this family belongs Bodotria scorpioides. The Leuconidas have the negative
distinction of being, so far as is known, always devoid of eyes. They have exopods on the
first four pairs of legs in the male, and on the first three pairs in the female, and pleopods on
the first two pleon-segments in the male. Leucon nasica (not nasicui) has an upturned pseudo-
rostral projection. In choosing the specific name, no doubt the classically-minded KrSyer
inferred that some ancestor of the virtuous Roman, Publius Scipio Nasica, must have had the
end of his nose directed heavenward at a similar angle. In Eudorella truncatula, Bate,
belonging to the same family, there is also upturning of the pseudo-rostral lobes, but it is
carried out in such a way that the medio-dorsal line of the carapace is continuous with the
margin of the lobes, showing no nasal prominence. Such is the case also in Eudorellopsis
deformis (KrSyer), with the distinction that here each lobe uplifts a little horn-like process
breaking the evenness of the dorsal line. The Campylaspid* agree with the preceding
family in having exopods on the first four pairs of legs in the male, but differ by having
them on only the first two pairs in the female, and by having no pleopods in the male, a
deficiency which is shared by the females in all the Sympoda. In Campylasph the great
swollen carapace is, especially in the gentler sex, in marked contrast with the slender pleon.
C. rubicunda (Lilljeborg) was named from its bright red colouring, whereas the little C. glabra,
Sars, is whitish. Finally, the Nannastacida: are a family in which all the known species have
eyes, in contradistinction to the Leuconidas in which none have them, and to the other
families in all of which some species are seeing, and some sightless. In Nannastacus the
eyes are paired. But in Cumella they are confluent, as is customary in this group of animals.
C. pygmtea, Sars, justifies its name by being only about a tenth of an inch long, even so
however not being absolutely the smallest of the Sympoda that has been described.
The Isopoda, so named on the supposition that all their legs were very much alike and
pretty nearly equal, come under popular notice chiefly as ' rock-slaters ' and ' wood-lice.'
They are strongly distinguished from all crustaceans hitherto noticed in this chapter, by the
respiratory apparatus. Instead of being sheltered under the carapace and attached to
appendages of the head and trunk, in the genuine isopods it is developed in the appendages
of the pleon. There is, however, a detachment of anomalous isopods, which some authorities
would place in a quite separate division, because their breathing arrangements are in fact in
the cephalothorax, and their eyes when present, though not stalked, are on well-defined
lobes of the head. Of this set Dr. Brady records Leptognathia longiremis (Lilljeborg) from
' 5-6 miles off Souter Point, 30 fathoms,' and from ' a depth of 4 fathoms off Seaton
Carew.' 8 The uropods are relatively long, but the whole animal is less than a sixth of an
inch in the female, and less than an eighth in the male, although ' this is the largest and
finest of the Norwegian species ' of Leptognathia.*
Several of the normal Isopoda are mentioned by Bate and Westwood as occurring on
the Durham coast. Thus, they say of Mga bicarinata, Leach, in the family ./Egidas, that
1 Loc. cit., p. 22. 3 Nat. Hist. Trans. Northumb., etc., xiv. (i), 95.
8 Sars, Crustacea of Norway, ii. 27.
156
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
they ' have received it from Dr. Norman, who has taken it on the coast of Durham.' * But
it is now known that the specimen in question belonged really to ALga strSmii, Lotken, a
stoutly built species, nearly two inches long, with very large contiguous eyes. Schiodte and
Meinert, who had Norman's own authority for the correction, make Bate and Westwood
guilty of the further mistake, with which they had nothing to do, of stating that the specimen
was captured ' at the shore of the town which is called Durham.' » Of the family Eurydicidae
(formerly, but less correctly called Cirolanidae) ' Eurydice pu/chra, Leach,' was sent to Bate and
Westwood from the Durham coast also by Norman.* This vicious little animal is now again
called by its earlier specific name Eurydice achata (Slabber). In his dredging list for 1 864, Arcturus
longicornis, Leach, is recorded from the same coast by Dr. Norman, and as Leacia longicornis the
same species is noted in the Lindisfarne catalogue. In 1892, under the now accepted name
Astacilla longicornis (Sowerby), Dr. Brady reports it from 2$ miles offSouter Point, 21 fathoms.
In the family Astacillidae, to which this genus belongs, there is a strong contrast between the
front pairs of legs, slender and fringed with long setae, and the three hinder pairs, compact and
uncinate. On the other hand, in the Idoteidae, a companion family, though the seven pairs of
legs are not strictly speaking all alike or all equal, they are quite sufficiently isopodous to justify
the ordinary designation, so far as they are concerned. Idotea emarginata, Fabricius, and /. lineata
(Linn.) are both recorded by Bate and Westwood on Norman's authority from the coast ol
Durham.4 Both species have the pleon apically emarginate, but whereas /. lineata is parallel-sided,
the other form has the peraeon or trunk pretty strongly dilated. The Asellidae are an important
family containing our one freshwater isopod, Asellus aquaticus (Linn.), a species as curious as it
is common, found in ponds and ditches all over England. For its occurrence in this county
I have Dr. Norman's manuscript authority. *Janlra maculosa, Leach, taken by the same
investigator, represents the family Janiridae.1 It carries a scale-like appendage on the third
joint of the second antennas, in this possessing a rare feature. The Munnidz are represented
by Munna krSyeri, Goodsir, found by Norman at Seaham * ; M. limico/a, Sars, from 2 1 fathoms
off Souter Point ; Paramunna bilobata, Sars, a bright red species, scarcely more than a
twenty-fifth of an inch long, from 30 fathoms off the same Point ; Pleurogoniam rubicundum,
Sars, also bright red, a fifteenth of an inch in length, from 21 fathoms off Souter Point and
30 fathoms off Marsden ; P. inerme, Sars, in size rather larger, in colour more pale, from
30 fathoms off Marsden and Souter Point, and from 40 fathoms 3 miles off Sunderland, all
four of these minute slender-limbed forms having been obtained by Dr. G. S. Brady.7 The
mud-dwelling Munna limico/a is distinguished by the elongation of its legs. Sars found it
only at depths between 60 and 300 fathoms. Its addition to the English fauna shows it
capable of living a good deal nearer to the surface. Dr. Brady further obtained Eurycof>e
cornutay Sars, from 30 fathoms off Souter Point. This is a small representative of a remarkable
family, the Munnopsidae, in which the inequality and unlikeness between the front and rear
sets of trunk-limbs make the term Isopoda in its literal meaning singularly inapplicable. The
anterior legs are notable for their tenuity, whereas the three hinder pairs are in accord with
the generic name Eurycope, meaning ' broad oars.' They have the ultimate and penultimate
joints broadly expanded and fringed with long plumose setae, being thus adapted excellently
for swimming paddles after the fashion of the hindmost legs in the fiddler crabs.
The Terrestrial Isopoda, or woodlice, have probably not yet been diligently sought after
in this county. Dr. Norman is my authority for the occurrence here of Philoscia muscoram
(Scopoli) ; Trichoniscus pusillus, Brandt 8 ; Oniscus asellus, Linn. ; Porcellio scaber, Latreille ;
Metoponorthus pruinosus (Brandt),* of which many years ago he gave me two specimens from
his collection at Burnmoor ; and Armadillidium vulgare (Latreille). Bate and Westwood say
of Oniscus fossor, Koch, 'The Rev. A. M. Norman records it from Sedgefield, Co. Durham.'10
But the distinctness of the species from 0. asellus is somewhat doubtful. Porcellio scoter is
mentioned in the Lindisfarne catalogue.
The last of the Malacostracan divisions enjoys the name Amphipoda, intended to imply
that the feet arc extended round about, forward, sideways, and backward. Latrcille probably
1 Brit. SesstU-ejed Crustacea, ii. (17), z8o (1867).
* Naturh'ut. TiJukrifi, »er. 3, xii. 283 (1879).
8 Brit. Sen. Crust., ii. 312. * Loc. cit. pp. 387, 389.
1 Loc. cit., p. 340. e Loc. cit., p. 328.
7 Nat. Hist. Trans. Northumb. ttc., rir. (i), 96.
8 See also Norman, Ann. Nat. Hist., «er. 7, iii. 73 (1899).
9 Loc. cit., p. 74. 10 Brit. Sess. Crust., ii. 471.
157
CRUSTACEANS
took his idea of the name from the sandhoppers, which contrive to walk on land by spreading
out their legs in all directions. Their slow, awkward gait suggests an easy capture, but when
the hunter is about to seize his quarry, a stroke of the creature's indexed tail sends it skipping
ever so far out of reach. In allusion to this action Latreille named the primary genus of
sandhoppers Talitrus, ' a fillip.' Talitrus locusta (Linn.) is noted in the Lindisfarne catalogue.
Talorchestia deshayesii (Audouin), under the name of ' Orchestoidea Desbayesii,' is recorded by
Dr. Norman from Ryhope.1 This border family of the Talitridae with its affections divided
between land and sea is commonly placed in the forefront, because it is best known to mankind
in general. But the Amphipoda are essentially an aquatic tribe, and their most primitive
forms are likely to be found among marine species. Many hundreds of these are now known
from different parts of the globe, and a goodly number even from the Durham coast, which
till lately had but few to boast of.
The extensive family of the Lysianassidae have the first joint of the upper antennae
remarkably stout, and an accessory flagellum accompanies the principal flagellum or lash of
these appendages. Included in the family are the following species : Acidostoma obesum (Bate),
reported by Meek from depths of 39 to 59 fathoms off Durham8 ; Orchomene bumilis (Costa),
' Durham coast,' by Dr. Norman, who deems it identical with 0, batei, Sars ; s Hippomedon
dentlculatus (Bate) near Fame Islands, Norman,4 and this together with H. propinguus, Sars, in
39 fathoms off Durham, Meek ;6 Callisoma bopei, Costa, reported from ' Seaham, Co. Durham,'
by Norman, who holds that Costa's species is identical with Bate's later C. crenatum, Bate's
generic name Scopelocheirus meantime lying in wait for revival in lieu of Costa's Cal/isoma,
which seems to have been circuitously preoccupied ; Tmetonyx cicada (O. Fabricius), reported
from Durham coast by Norman, who calls the genus Hap/onyx by an obvious slip of the pen
for Hoplonyx ; Trypbosites longipes (Bate and Westwood), Durham coast, Norman,* and ' from
39 fathoms off Souter,' Meek ; 1 and lastly, Orchomenella nana (Kroyer), Durham coast,
Norman, who records it as Tryphosa nana,9 in opposition to the view of Professor Sars, a
controversy which cannot be fought out here. The name Hoplonyx above mentioned was
chosen by Sars with reference to the armature of the finger in the first gnathopods. Being
preoccupied it must be discarded, and Hap/onyx cannot be used in its place, since it would
imply that the finger (or nail) is unarmed, in contradiction to the very character on which
the genus was founded.
The Ampeliscidae are easily recognised by the tapering, apically truncate head, and,
when eyes are present, by the shining single lens with which each visual organ is provided
externally, although the internal apparatus is sufficiently complex. In Ampelisca the eyes,
when present, are four in number. Of this genus Norman reports A. typica (Bate) from
Durham coast ; A. tenutcornis, Lilljeborg, off Seaham (to which Meek in 1902 adds ' 2 J miles
off Souter Point, 21 fathoms') ; A. spinipes, Boeck, off Seaham' ; A. assimilis, Boeck (a species
scarcely distinct from Costa's^. diadema), ' off Marsden, Co. Durham, 10 fathoms' ; A. brevi-
cornis, Costa, Durham coast 10 ; and Meek notes A. macrocephala, Lilljeborg, from ' 5—6 miles
off Souter Point, 30 fathoms.'11 In 1864 Norman's dredging list contains A. Gaimardii,
Krfiyer, and A. Bel/tana, Bate, subsequently recognised as A. typica and A. breuicornis. The
true A. gaimardii, KrSyer, now placed in the neighbouring genus Byblis, is recorded by
Dr. Norman as occurring off Seaham. The same authority reports Hap/oops tubico/a, Lilljeborg,
both from Durham coast and from near Holy Island.13 The genus Haploops is distinguished
from the two preceding genera in that the eyes, when present, are only one pair. The name
of the species refers to the habit these animals have of constructing dwelling-tubes out of the
mud in which they live, their habitat being in strange contrast with the refinement of structure,
colour, and polished surface exhibited in this family.
In the family Haustoriidas (formerly called Pontoporeiidas), which, unlike the
Ampeliscidae, have an accessory flagellum to the upper antennae, and their hind limbs adapted
1 Ann. Nat. Hist., ser. 7, v. 140 (1900).
2 Nortbumb. Sea Fisheries Committee Rep. for 1901, p. 55.
3 Ann. Nat. Hist., ser. 7, v. 202 (1900). * Loc. cit., p. 201.
6 Nortbumb. Sea Fisheries Committee Rep., p. 55.
6 Ann Nat. Hist., ser. 7, v. 207.
7 Nortbumb. Sea Fisheries Committee Rep., p. 55.
8 Ann. Nat. Hist., ser. 7, v. 203. * Ann. Nat. Hist., ser. 7, v. 341.
10 Loc. cit., p. 342. u Nat. Hist. Trans. Northumb. etc., xiv. (i), 97 (1902).
J» Ann. Nat. Hist., ser. 7, v. 345.
158
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
for burrowing, the beautifully setose sand-furrowing Haustorius arenarius (Slabber) is recorded
by Dr. Norman from near Sunderland, the allied Urothoe marina (Bate) from near Holy
Island, and Bathyporeia guilliamioniana (Bate), doubtfully under the name B. norvegica, Sars,
as having been taken by Dr. Brady at Whitburn, co. Durham.1 In this family the fourth
pair of peraeopods are not greatly longer than the fifth, as they are in the next family, the
Phoxocephalidae. This latter supplies Harpinia neglecta, Sars (more properly called H. anten-
naria, Meinert) from Durham coast, Norman.8 It may be remarked that the Amphipoda,
like the Isopoda, have seven pairs of trunk-legs, the first two pairs known as gnathopods being
homologous with the second and third maxillipeds in the crabs and other higher crustaceans.8
Of the Amphilochidse Meek reports Amphilochoides pusillus from 21 fathoms off Souter Point.
A species was indeed so named by Sars in 1892, but that distinguished author in 1895 recognised
that the form in question was A. odontonyx (Boeck), which is probably therefore the species
intended also by Mr. Meek.* In the Metopidte Meek records Metopa palmata, Sars, from
5—6 miles off Souter Point, 21 fathoms.1 Of the Stenothoidae, which are distinguished from
the Metopidae by having no palp to the mandibles, Norman mentions Stenothoe marina (Bate)
from Durham coast, and 5. monoculoides (Montagu) from Fame Islands.8 Of the Iphimediidae
Iphimidia obesa, Rathke, appears in Mr. Meek's list from the often quoted station 2\ miles
off Souter Point.
The very extensive family of the CEdicerotidae, which have no accessory flagellum to the
first antenna;, and the fifth peraeopods much longer than the fourth, are represented in
Mr. Meek's lists by ' Halimedon mulleri (Boeck),' which, in my opinion, should be called by the
earlier name Westwoodilla c&cula, Bate, from 2^ miles off Souter Point ;7 Monoculodes carinatus
(Bate), ' a young specimen from near the inner Fame Island, 22nd June, 1898 ' ; * Synchelidium
brevicarpum (Bate), ' specimens from near Inner Fame ' » ; and Perioculodef longimanus (Bate),
from ' 5—6 miles off Souter Point in 30 fathoms.' 10 The last species was taken also by
Dr. Norman, ' off Marsden,co. Durham, 10 fathoms.' u It has bright scarlet eyes, and the genus
owes its name to the arrangement of the lenses all round the front of the head, producing the
effect of a single eye rather than a confluent pair, such as are found in the genus Monoculodes.
In the Tironidae (formerly called Syrrhoidae), which also have more or less coalescent eyes, Tiron
acanthurw (Lilljeborg) is remarkable as having a pair of minute accessory eyes below the prin-
cipal pair. It is recorded by Meek in 1892 from 5-6 miles off Souter Point.
The Gammaridae may be considered the central family of the Amphipoda, as representing
the forms from which the rest have in various ways diverged. Whatever in other families may
be regarded as commonplace and not peculiar is to be expected in the genus Gammarus. That
genus also in itself shows considerable adaptability, a character of no mean advantage for the
dispersion of a numerous progeny. We find the species Gammarus locwta (Linn.) quite at home
in deep water, G. marinus (Leach), mixing with it on the shore, and G. pulex (de Geer)
inhabiting fresh water in great aburuiance, yet all the three are closely alike in appearance
and structure. The last of these, under the name of Gammarus aguaticus, is evidently intended
in Dr. Johnston's Lindisfarne catalogue. It is no doubt only the commonness of all three that
has hindered authors from specifying localities where they occur. ' Niphargus subterraneus
(Leach),' another freshwater Gammarid, one of the well-shrimps, occurs in this county, as
Dr. Norman kindly informs me by letter, but as to the name he agrees with me in thinking that
1 N. aquilex, Schiodte,' should be preferred, Leach's description of subterraneus being too vague to
be relied on. To the same family belong Amathilla homari (J. C. Fabricius), Durham coast,
Norman 19 ; Mara othonis (Milne-Edwards), from the same coast ls ; Chelrocratus assimilii
(Lilljeborg), off Holy Island,1* described as ' Ch. mantis, n. sp.,' by Norman in 1 865 from the
locality mentioned " ; Ch. tundevalli (Rathke), off Holy Island (Norman),14 and 2^ miles off
1 Loc. cit., pp. 330-333. » Loc. cit., p. 337.
1 Nat. Hut. Tram. Northumb. etc., xiv. (i), 97.
* Cruitatea of Norway, i. 221, 690.
1 Nat. Hiit. Trans. Northumb. etc., xiv. (i), 97.
' Ann. Nat. Mitt., set. 7, vi. 39.
1 Nat. Hist. Trans. Northumb., etc., xiv. (i), 97.
8 Northumb. Sea Fisheries Committee Rep. for 1901, p. 56 (1901).
• Loc. cit., p. 56. »o Ibid., p. 56. u Ann. Nat. Hist., ter. 7, vi. 51.
14 Ann. Nat. Hist., ter. 6, iv. 120. 13 Loc. cit., p. 126.
14 Loc. cit., p. 130. uNat. Hist. Trans. Northumb. and Dur., i. 13.
18 Ann. Nat. Hist., ser. 6, iv. 13*.
159
CRUSTACEANS
Souter Point (Meek).1 In the neighbouring family Callioptidie, Meek records Apherusa borealls
(Boeck), which is probably identical with the earlier A, cirrus (Bate), from off Souter Point at
5—6 miles and 2^ miles ; and from the latter station A.jurinei (Milne-Edwards). From the
same two stations the same author notifies Melpbidippella macro (Norman), belonging to the
family Melpbidippldee. Of the Aorides he records in his earlier list Aora graci/is, Bate, found
in Holy Island harbour, and in his later list the same species together with Lembos websteri,
Bate, at 2^ miles off Souter Point ; also from the latter locality several members of the Photidae,
Photis reinhardi (Kroyer), Gammaropsis maculata (Johnston) under the later name G. erythroph-
thalmuif Lilljeborg, the same species also appearing as Eurystheus erythrophthalmus, Lilljeborg, in
Norman's dredging list for 1864 ; G. palmata (Stebbing and Robertson) under the later name
G. nana (Sars) ; Podoceropsis excavata (Bate), for which P. rimapalma (Bate) is to be preferred ;
and, lastly, Megamphopus cornutus, Norman. He also gives from this locality Ericthonius
bunterl (Bate) in the family Podoceridae, from which it should be transferred to the Corophiidae,
to which also belongs Unciola planipes, Norman, 'dredged in July, 1864, off Holy
Island.' »
All the preceding Amphipoda are included in the tribe Gammaridea. From these the
Hyperiidea are distinguished, among other things, by having no ' palp' to the maxillipeds. In
other words, the fourth pair of mouth organs are here devoid of all the last four joints. In most
Gammaridea these joints are well developed, and are never all of them wanting. Norman
records that the Hyperiid Paratbemisto oblivia (KrSyer) has been taken by Dr. Brady off the
mouth of the Tees.8
The tribe Caprellidea, distinguished from the other two by the degradation of the tail-
part or pleon, has a rather less niggardly representation. From the often-mentioned stations
off Souter Point Mr. Meek's list contains, of the family Caprellidae, Pariambus typicus (Kroyer),
a skeleton shrimp of the most unassuming proportions, with a length not a third of an inch, no
breadth worth speaking of, and of its legs one pair dwindled and two pairs altogether lost.
Phtisica marina (Slabber), taken at 2^- miles off Souter Point, is better off in the matter of legs,
and longer, but still a poor wisp of a thing, the generic name implying that nothing but a severe
attack of phthisis could account for its wasted appearance. The whale-lice are first
cousins to these skeletons, but have a more flourishing aspect, due perhaps to easy feeding
on the oleaginous skin of the whale. That some of these Cyamidx have been at times
found on the Durham coast may be fairly argued from the circumstance that 'In 1387
Bishop Fordham issued a Commission, . . . stating in the preamble that all whales,
sturgeons, porpeis, and thulepolls, wrecked on the coast of the royal franchise of Duresme by
violence of the Sea, were the undoubted right of himself and his predecessors.'4 It could not
have been worth the bishop's while to claim for his predecessors the right to whales, if none of
these monsters had ever been known to arrive. But if the whales came, the suitable species
of Cyamus would certainly have made it their business to come with them.
The Entomostraca are far from having that fixed number of segments which forms so
remarkable a bond of union among the Malacostraca. On the contrary, the segments here
may be either fewer than these or considerably more numerous. They are fewer in all the
groups at present recorded from this county. These groups contain as a rule animals of
very small size, some of them quite minute. To discriminate the numerous species would be
impracticable without a fulness of detail which is here out of the question. Three orders have
to be discussed, the Cladocera, Ostracoda, and Copepoda.
The Cladocera are named from their biflagellate second antennas. These form conspicuous
appendages of the more or less distinct head, which carries also the first antennas, the single
eye, the palpless mandibles and the one pair of maxillae, the body with from four to six pairs of
legs being for the most part included in the bivalved chitinous cover or carapace. About three
dozen species of these little ' water-fleas,' as the ignorant are pleased to call them, have been
recorded from the waters of Durham. The division of the Calyptomera embraces those in
which the feet are well covered by the shell, though that is often too transparent to conceal
them. This division is subdivided into two tribes, the Cten6poda and Anomopoda. In the
former stands the family Sididas, to which belong Sida crystallina (O. F. Mttller) and
1 Nat. Hist. Tram. Northumb. etc., xiv. (i), 98.
8 Op. cit., i. 15.
3 Ann. Nat. Hist., ser. 7, v. 131 (1900).
* Surtees, Hist. Dur., i. (2), 1 7
1 60
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
Diaphanosoma brachyurum (LieVin ; Norman in litt.).* The four following families belong to
the second tribe. The Daphniidae furnish this county with Daphnia pulex (de Geer) from
Shotton (Brady) ; D. obtuia, Kurz, taken by the Rev. Canon Norman at Bishopton (Brady) ;
D. hamata, Brady, taken by Norman ' in a pond near the East Gate of Lambton Park '
(Brady) 5 D. lacustris, Sars, from Holy Island Lough (Meek and Brady) ; D. magna, Straus,
which Brady calls Dactylura magna, remarking as to its occurrence : ' Dr. Norman has found it at
Layton Farm, near Sedgefield, co. Durham, and I have myself taken it in a pond at Canal
Farm, High Barnes, near Sunderland ' (Brady) ; D. longispina (O. F. Mailer) ; (Norman in
litt.) ; Ceriodaphnia quadrangula (O. F. Mailer), Holy Island Lough (Meek and Brady) ;
C. reticulata (Jurine) ; C. pulchella, Sars ; C. laticaudata (O. F. Mailer) ; this and the two
preceding from Durham county proper (Norman in litt.) ; Simocephalus vttuius (O. F. Mailer),
Holy Island Lough (Meek and Brady), and from Durham proper (Norman in litt.) under the
new name Slmesa vetula, recently substituted by Norman, Simocephalus being preoccupied.
The Bosminidae are represented by Bosmina longirostris (O. F. Mailer) ; (Norman in litt.). The
Macrotrichidae comprise Macrothrix laticornis (Jurine), found ' at Fardingslake, and in the Glebe
Engine Pond, Sunderland,' by G. S. B. (Norman and Brady) ; M. htrsuticornis, Norman and Brady,
concerning which these authorities say in 1867, ' the only locality at present known for this
new species is a slowly running stream at Ashburn, Sunderland, where it was found by G. S. B.
in 1864 ' ; Ilyocryptus sordidus, Lievin, for which the same writers report ' two localities in the
neighbourhood of Sedgefield, where /. sordidus first occurred in Britain, and was noticed by
Mr. Norman.' The Chydoridae are numerously represented, containing Chydorus sph&ricus
(O. F. Mailer) ; Eurycerau lamellatus (O. F. Mailer) ; Acropenu harp*, Baird ; all three
signalised alike by (Meek and Brady) and by (Norman in litt.) ; Alona tenuicaudis, Sars, from
Sedgefield ; A. costata, Sars, ' found in old colliery pond at Bishop Middleham, and in a pond
near Houghton-le-Spring ' ; A. guttata, Sars, ' first found in Great Britain in a small pool at
East Herrington,' subsequently ' also in ponds at Marsden ' ; A. tesiudinaria (Fischer), since
transferred to Graptoleberis, from ' Boldon Flats, Fardingslake, and Hardwicke ' ; Alonopsit
elongata, Sars ; Acroperus nanus, Baird, which has since become Alonella nana (Baird) ;
PIcuroxui Itevls, Sars, ' at " Hell Kettles," near Darlington ' ; P. trigontllus (O. F. Mailer),
found ' by A. M. N. in Hardwicke Lake and the Forge Dam, near Sedgefield,' and by
' G. S. B. at "Hell Kettles," county of Durham* ; the foregoing eight species being recorded
in 1867 (Norman and Brady), and Alona costata also in 1902 (Meek and Brady). Norman's
manuscript list adds Alona quadrangular'^ (O. F. Mailer) ; A. affinis, Leydig ; Pleuroxus adunc us
(Jurine) ; P. uncinatus, Baird ; Peracantha trvncata (O. F. Mailer) ; Leydigia /eydigii,Sch8d\er.
As a sample of the characters which distinguish these families, it may be mentioned that the
first antennas of the female are fixed in the Bosminidae, but movable in the Macrotriehidae ;
the five pairs of feet are equally spaced in those two families, but in the Daphniidz the fifth
pair is remote from the others ; in all the three the second antennae have the dorsal branch or
flagellum four-jointed and the ventral one three-jointed, but in the Chydoridae both branches
are three-jointed. From the first two families and part of the third the Chydoridae are also
separated by the curious characteristic of having a looped intestine. To maintain the extra-
ordinary activity which some species in this family display, one may surmise that a largq
supply of food is needed, and the storage of this within their minute shells may well need an
unusual arrangement of the digestive apparatus.
The Gymnomera are distinguished from the Calyptomera by having the carapace small,
not covering the thoracic feet, of which in the tribe Onychopoda there are but four pairs. Its
single family, the large-eyed Polyphemidae, is represented in the fresh waters of Durham by
Polyphemus pediculus (Linn.), (Norman in litt.) ; and in the sea by Evadne nordmanni, Lov£n,
and Pleopts polyphemoides, Leuckart, both reported by Brady from ' Durham coast (off Ryhope),
common.'* For Pleopts the generic name now accepted is Lilljeborg's Podon. This has the
marsupial part round-ended, as distinguished from Evadne, in which that part is triangular.
1 To save a confusing repetition of references it may be expedient here to note that ' Norman in litt.'
applies to a manuscript list kindly supplied me by Dr. Norman ; localities attested by the name of
' (Brady) ' are from that author's paper ' On the British species of Entomostraca belonging to Daphnia and
other allied genera,' in Nat. Hilt. Tram. Northumb., Dur., and Newcastle-upon-Tyne, xiii. (2), 217-248 ; the
localities given from ' (Meek and Brady) ' refer to Mr. Meek's Holy Island collection determined by
Dr. Brady, in the Report for 1902 of the Northumberland Sea Fisheries Committee, p. 49 (1902); the
data referred to ' (Norman and Brady) ' are from the Nat. Hist. Trans. Northumb. and Dur., i. 354, etc.
(1867).
*Nat. Hiit. Trans. Northumb. and Dur., i. 30 (1867).
1 I6l 21
CRUSTACEANS
They are both devoid of the neck-like constriction which distinguishes head from trunk in
Polyphemus.
As to the Entomostraca taken from Holy Island Lough by Mr. Meek the following
explanations are given : — ' This gathering was made on 27th June. The pond is a shallow
one. The average depth is about 3 feet, and the bottom consists of soft black mud. It is
to a large extent overgrown with Equisetum timosum, amongst which the coot and the black-
headed gull meet. It gives origin to a small stream which runs close to the village, and
was until recently used more or less for domestic purposes. The only fish life obtained was
the three-spined stickle-back. . . The gatherings were made by means of a bottom net
worked from a canvas boat kindly lent for the purpose by Mr. Newbigin. The proceeds
consisted chiefly of Simocephalus vetulus, all the other species, with the exception of Pionocypris
vidua, Cyclops viridis, and C. serrulatus, being very poorly represented.'
The Ostracoda are so completely enclosed between their valves that externally they
might be tr.ken for little molluscs rather than crustaceans. The body is seldom segmented,
and never carries more than seven definite pairs of appendages. The tribe Myodocopa
generally have a heart, which the other tribe, the Podocopa, manage to do without. From
the former Brady and Norman report Philomedes brenda (Baird), belonging to the family
Cypridinidts, off the coast of Durham, near the Dogger Bank, 1862 (A. M. N.),1 and in the
family Polycopidae Polycope orbicularis, Sars, at ' several points off the coasts of Durham and
North Yorkshire.' 8 These are interesting marine species, over which it is impossible to linger,
in view of the vast number of species, both freshwater and marine, from the other tribe,
which the researches and writings of Brady and Norman have brought to light in connexion
with this county.
In the Podocopa the family Cyprididae supplies the district with Cypria exsculpta (Fischer),
found at Seaton Carew ; » C. opbtbalmica (Jurine), (N. in litt.) ; C. leev'n (O. F. Muller) and
C. serena (Koch), from Holy Island Lough (Meek and Brady), the two latter species, under
the more recently accepted name Cyc/ocypris, being reported also from Durham proper (N. in
litt.) ; Cypris fuscata, Jurine (N. in litt.) ; C. incongruens, Ramdohr (transferred to Cyprinotus
by Sars),* Rainton and Seaton Carew ; C. pubera, O. F. Muller, freshwater pond on Seaton
Marsh ; C. v'trens (Jurine), between the typical shape of which and the variety ventricosa ' an
intermediate form has been found by A. M. N. at Lumley Dene ; C. elliptica, Baird, ' found in
a pond in Foxton Lane, Sedgefield, co. Durham (A. M. N.) ' ; C. reticulata, Zaddach, at
Foxton, near Sedgefield ; C. ornata, O. F. Muller, ' the only known British specimens of this
species were taken in a pond at Shotton Hall, co. Durham, in May, 1855 (G. S. B.) ' ; Cypri-
notus salinus (Brady), originally established as Cypris sa/ina, of which Brady says, ' I first met
with C. salina in a cooling pond at Monkwearmouth Colliery, where it lives in great numbers
together with Cypridopsis acu/eata, Cypris reptans, and other species, in water which often
reaches a temperature of 100° Fahr., and is so impregnated with earthy salts as to deposit
a thick coating of carbonate of lime on the leaves of the plants which it supports';6
Erpetocypris reptans (Baird), the species just mentioned as Cypris reptans ; E. strigata (O. F.
Mailer), ' stream in Fulwell Cemetery, Sunderland (G. S. B.) ' ; E. tumefacta (Brady and
Robertson), ' near Sunderland (G. S. B.) ' ; Ilyodromus olivaceus (Brady and Norman) (N. in
litt.) ; 6 Prionocypris serrata (Norman) 7 (N. in litt.) ; Pionocypris vidua (O. F. Mailer), Holy
Island (Meek and Brady), Durham proper (N. in litt.) ; P. obesa (Brady and Robertson) (N.
in litt.) ; Cypridopsis aculeata (Lilljeborg), Cowpen Marshes (A. M. N. 1868), Monkwearmouth
Colliery, and very 'abundant at Monkton Paper Mills, co. Durham (G. S. B.) ' ; C. villosa
(Jurine), found by Brady ' in ponds at Silkswell and Fulwell, near Sunderland ' ; 8 Pota-
mocypris fuha, Brady, ' at Fulwell Cemetery, Sunderland ' ; Notodromas monachus (O. F. Muller),
many places in Durham ; 9 Candona Candida (O. F. Muller), of which ' the variety claviformis
1 Trans. R. Dublin Sac., ser. 2, v. 655 (1896). * Loc. cit.,p. 707.
8 Trans, R. Dublin Soc.,sei. 2, iv. (1889). Monograph of the Podocopa by Brady and Norman. Where no
other reference is given the reader is requested to understand that the special localities for the Podocopa
are taken from this work. (N. in litt.) signifies that the occurrence of the species in the county of
Durham proper is guaranteed by Dr. Norman's manuscript list.
* Crustacean Fauna of Central Asia, pt. iii, p. 28 (1903).
6 Trans. Linn. Soc., London, xxvi. 368 (1868). Brady's Monograph of the British Ostracotta. This
work will be cited as Man. Brit. Ostrac.
6 Trans. R. Dublin Sot. ser., 2, v. 724. 7 Loc. cit., p. 725.
8 Man. Brit. Ostrac., p. 377. • Loc. cit., p. 381.
162
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
was found in a pond at Sedgefield ' by Norman ; C. neglecta, Sars (N. in litt.) ; C. lactta
Baird (N. in litt.) ; C. zencteri, Sars, of which Brady and Norman say in 1896, ' it is a British
species, having been found by A. M. N. in a pond at Ferryhill in the county of Durham ' ;*
C. compresfa, Koch,8 for which, under the name C. pubescens (Koch), Brady and Norman in
1889 give among other localities, 'pond in Lumley Dene, Seaton Carew Marshes, and
Sedgefield, all in the county of Durham ' ; C. zetlandica, G. S. Brady, with which C. fFeltneri,
Harting, is synonymous (N. in litt.) ; Ilyocypris gibba (Ramdohr) (N. in litt.) ; /. bradyi, Sars
(N. in litt.) ; the rare marine species Pontocypris acupunctata, Brady, ' off Marsden, Durham,
10 fathoms (G. S. B.)' ; Argillaecia cylindrica, Sars, 'off Seaham and Marsden, Durham coast
(G. S. B.).'
The family Cytheridae enriches the county with Cythere lutea, O. F. Muller, ' abundant
in tide pools on the coasts of Northumberland and Durham,' * including C. viridis, Brady (not
Muller), ' in tide-pools near Sunderland ' ; * C. pellucida, Baird, on the union of which with
C. castanea, Sars, and its distinction from C. confusa, Brady and Norman, the monograph of
1889 should be consulted ; C. tenerat Brady, 'off Seaham Harbour, Durham, 15 fathoms* ;
C. albomaculata, Baird, ' on the Durham coast ' ; * the blind mud-lark C. limicola (Norman),
Durham coast ; * C. (?) semipunctata, Brady, off coast of Durham ; C. gibbosa, Brady and
Robertson, ' Seaton Carew Marshes ' ; C. borealis, Brady, of which it is said that ' the only
British station in which this species has been found is at Seaton Carew, in the county of
Durham, on mud-covered rocks, near low-water mark (G. S. B.) ' ; C. quadridcntata, Baird, off
coast of Durham ; C. emaciata, Brady, off Durham ; C. tuberculata, Sars, ' in 40 fathoms,' 1
this and the next five species from the same coast being referred to Cythere in 1889, but in
1 896 transferred to Cythereis ; C. concinna (Johnston) ; C. finmarcbica (Sars) ; C. angulata
(Sars) ; C. dunelmeruis (Norman) ; C. jonesii (Baird) ; the freshwater species Limnicythere
inopinata (Baird), from ' Hardwick Lake and Raby Park, county Durham (Rev. A. M. Norman);
Fulwell Cemetery, Gibside, and in a millstream at Hedworth, county Durham (G. S. B.) ' ; 8
Cytheridea elongata, Brady, ' in tide-pools at Sunderland,' ' in all probability a washed-up
specimen, as the valves were empty ' ; * C. papillosa, Bosquet, off the coast of Durham ; C.
torosa (Jones), Sedgefield, in freshwater (A. M. N.) ; 10 C. punctilio ta, Brady, Seaton Carew ;
Eucythtre declivis (Norman), Durham coast, including Eu. argus (Sars), from ' off Holy Island,'
and Eu. anglica, Brady, 'dredged off the Durham coast (G. S. B.) ' ; ll Krithe bartonensis (Jones),
off the coast of Durham ; Loxoconcha impressa (Baird), rock-pools, Sunderland ; 18 L. tamarindus
(Jones), ' in tide-pools, Sunderland,' as well as in 30 fathoms depth off Durham coast ; 18 L.
guttata (Norman), deep water off Durham coast ; 14 L. multifora (Norman), Durham coast ; 1§
L. pusilla, Brady and Robertson, ' off Seaton Carew, co. Durham, 4 fath.' ; Xestoleberis
depressa, Sars, Durham coast ; 18 Cytherura nigrescent (Baird), ' in rock-pools at Sunderland ' ; "
C. producta, Brady, ' off the coast of Durham ' ; C. clathrata, Sars, coast of Durham ; C. acuti-
coitata, Sars, ' off Holy Island ' ; w Cytheropteron Jatissimum (Norman), Durham coast ; ll C.
nodosum, Brady, off coast of Durham ; Bythocythere constricta, Sars, B. turgida, Sars, and B. simplex
(Norman), all three off the aforesaid coast, the last having also been taken off Holy Island in
45 fathoms ; 80 Pseudocytbere caudata, Sars, off Holy Island ; 81 Sclerochilus contortus (Norman),
Durham coast.8*
To the family Paradoxostomatidae are assigned Paradoxostoma variabi/e (Baird) ; P. normani,
Brady ; P. hibernicum, Brady ; P. hodgei, Brady ; P. flexuosum, Brady ; all from various depths
off the coast of Durham ; and Machterina tenuissima (Norman), taken off the same coast
between 15 and 30 fathoms.
From the vast and ancient group of the Ostracoda we pass to another which is also very
extensive, but less adapted for fossil preservation. The Copepoda are not enclosed in a bivalved
1 Trans. R. Dublin See., ter. », v. 730. * Loc. cit., p. 728.
8 Mm. Brit. Oitrac., p. 396. * Loc. cit., p. 397.
1 Loc. cit., p. 403. * Loc. cit., p. 406.
1 Ibid. 8 Loc. cit., p. 420.
• Loc. cit., p. 4*2. > Loc. cit., p. 426.
» Loc. cit., pp. 430, 431, 475. ' Loc. cit., p. 434.
18 Loc. cit., p. 436. M Ibid.
11 Loc. cit., p. 450 (compared with Man. 1889, p. 185).
" Mm. Brit. Ostrac., p. 438. " Loc. cit., p. 440.
18 Loc. cit., p. 446. 19 Loc. cit., p. 448.
10 Loc. cit., p. 45 1 81 Loc. cit., p. 454.
M Loc. cit., p. 456.
163
CRUSTACEANS
shell, but allow us to distinguish eleven segments, the first, however, being composite, to form
what may be called the head, carrying the two pairs of antenna, the mandibles, first and
second maxillae, and the maxillipeds. The next five segments are thoracic, each normally
with its pair of appendages, and these are followed by five which bear no appendages, forming
the tail, abdomen, or pleon. Still it sometimes happens that the last thoracic segment seems
more closely united with the pleon than with the rest of the thorax. Hence Giesbrecht draws
a line between the Gymnoplea which have the pleon bare of limbs, and the Podoplea, which
have, or, more strictly speaking, seem to have a pair of limbs on the pleon.
Since it will be impossible here to explain or discuss all the latest changes in classification,
and since our knowledge of Durham localities for most of the species about to be mentioned is
derived from the Monograph of British Copepoda which Dr. G. S. Brady wrote for the Ray
Society, it will be convenient to follow the arrangement adopted in the volumes of that
learned and well-known work. The distribution, however, of the genera into families is based
on systematic essays of later date, which still show some variety of opinion among leading
experts, and make it clear that new students of the Copepoda will not find their field of
research already exhausted. To the family Temoridae are assigned Eurytemora velox (Lilljeborg),
recorded by Brady as found ' in salt-marshes at Hylton (county Durham),' with the added
remark, 'the few specimens which I have recorded as being taken in the sea at Sunderland,
must, I think, be looked upon as waifs and strays ' ; * Eu. affinis (Poppe), ' in pools near Hartle-
pool Slake, county Durham,' this being, according to Brady, a species apparently very liable to
be confused with neighbouring forms.3 The family Diaptomidas includes Diaptomus castor
(Jurine), from ' ponds at Chester Road, Sunderland ; Shotton and Wardley, county Durham
(G. S. B.).' 8 The family Centropagidae offers Centropages hamatus (Lilljeborg), of which Brady
says that it is not uncommon at the surface in the open sea, adding, ' I have once taken it
between tide-marks, amongst Algae in rock-pools, near Ryhope.' * The family Parapontellidae
is represented by Parapontella irevicornis (Lubbock), ' in tide-pools on the Durham coast.'
For Misophria pallida, Boeck, ' taken off Hawthorn (Durham coast) on a sandy bottom in a
depth of 27 fathoms,' Sars establishes a family Misophriidae in the great group of Arpacti-
coida.6 The family Pseudocyclopidae (not to be confused with the JPseudocyclopiidas) has
Pseudocydops crassicornis, Brady, dredged off Seaham Harbour in 20—30 fathoms. The family
Cyclopidae is more copiously represented, containing Oithona spinifrons, Boeck, possibly the same
as the earlier 0. helgo/andica, Claus, observed ' in the North Sea off Sunderland ' ; Cydopina
littoraltSy Brady, ' amongst weeds between tide-marks,' Ryhope, and off the Durham coast in
depths of 4—45 fathoms ; C. (?) ovalis, Brady, 'one specimen only taken off Sunderland in the
surface net ' ; Cyclops strenuus, Fischer, ' Seaton Marsh, county Durham ' ; 6 C. bicusptdatus,
Claus, ' in gatherings from Lambton Park (A. M. N.)' ; 7 C. viridis (Jurine), with C.fuscus and
C. albidus of the same author, reported in Norman's manuscript list ; C. insignis, Claus, ' at
Hartlepool, where it occurred in brackish pools near the border of the slake ' ; C. serrulatus,
Fischer (N. in litt.) ; C. fimbriatus, Fischer, ' in gatherings by the Rev. Dr. Norman from
Rainton Meadows, county Durham ' ; 8 C. kaufmanni, Uljanin, a rare species hailing from
Turkestan, taken freely by Norman from ' pond in Lambton Park (Durham),' and since found
by Brady in Hampshire, not known elsewhere ; 9 C. helleri, Brady, taken at Whitburn, but
subsequently regarded with doubt ; 10 C. phaleratus, Koch, pond at Gibside ; C. sa/inus, Brady,
' got at Holy Island ' ; u Pterinopsyllus insignis, Brady, the earlier generic name, Lophophorus,
being discarded on account of pre-occupation,is ' three specimens only of this very distinct and
beautiful Copepod occurred in a dredging made by Mr. Robertson and the Rev. A. M. Norman,
six miles off the Durham coast, near Hawthorn, on a sandy bottom, and in a depth of
27 fathoms.'
1 Nat. Hist. Trans. Northumb., Dur., and Netocastle-upon-Tyne, xi. (i), 106 (1891). (For the
synonymy of the species the student should compare Sars, Crustacea of Norway, iv. 100. 1903.)
2 Loc. cit., p. 108. 8 Loc. cit., p. 94.
* Monograph of the Free and Semi-parasitic Copepoda of the British Islands, by G. Stewardson Brady, M.D.,
F.L.S., etc., vol. i. Ray Society (1878). It may be accepted that species named and explanatory
quotations, without further reference, are given on the authority of this work.
6 Crustacea of Norway, v. 4 (1903). ' Nat. Hist. Trans. Northumb. etc. xi. (2), 73.
1 Loc. cit., p. 79. 8 Loc. cit., p. 9 1 .
9 Loc. cit., p. 89. 10 Loc. cit., p. 91.
11 Nat. Hist. Trans. Northumb. etc., new ser. i. 5 (1903).
18 Monograph, iii. 23, Ray Soc. (1880).
164
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
The family Notodelphyidae, in which the egg-pouch of the female forms a strange dorsal
protuberance, furnishes Notodelphys cerultea, Thorell, ' in Axld'ia parallelogramma, off Haw-
thorn'; N. agilis, Thorell, in Ascidians taken off the coast of Durham, at depths of
20-30 fathoms. The family Doropygidse, with a like peculiarity, contains Doropygus pulex,
Thorell, of which many immature specimens have been found in Ascidians dredged off the
coast of Durham ; D. porclcauda, Brady, found in Ascidia parallelogramma dredged from
27 fathoms off Hawthorn. The family Ascidicolidz, which is extended by some authors to
embrace a large assortment of families similar in their habits, in a restricted sense contains
Atcidicola rosea, Thorell, from Ascidians dredged off the Durham coast, this species (as noted
by Mr. Eugene Canu) sometimes occurring in great abundance actually in the stomach of a
large Aicidiella,1 a position one might suppose more suited for their sepulchre than their living-
room.
The great group of the Arpacticoida or family Arpacticidse in the large sense has been vari-
ously divided into subfamilies or restricted families. As these are at present more or less in an
evolutionary or revolutionary condition, it will be convenient to mention the following species
simply as members of the higher assemblage. Longipedia coronata, Claus, is reported as taken by
Brady ' abundantly on a sandy bottom off Seaton Carew (Durham), four fathoms ; off Marsden,
Sunderland, and Seaham, twenty to thirty fathoms ' ; * Ectinosoma spinipes, Brady, with the
preceding at various points, but not so abundant ; E. erythrops, Brady, dredged in 5—
30 fathoms off the coast of South Durham ; Zasime typica, Boeck (the identity of which is some-
what doubted by Brady himself), off Hartlepool on sand in 25 fathoms ; Tachidius brevicorn'n
(O. F. Muller), in brackish marsh pools, Hylton Dene and Hartlepool ; Robertionia tenuis
(Brady and Robertson), off Hawthorn on sand at 27 fathoms, and off Seaham amongst mud
IO fathoms deeper ; Amymone sphterica, Claus, which in spite of its spherical surname has
the ' body much compressed,' entered as taken 4 miles off Marsden among rough sand, is
corrected in 1 903 to A. rubra, Boeck,* and in the same year has its pre-occupied generic name
altered to Tegastes by Norman ; * T. longimanus (Claus), off Hawthorn in 27 fathoms depth,
the creature itself a fiftieth of an inch in length ; Stenhelia hispida, Brady, off Hartlepool in
5 and off Marsden in 30 fathoms; 5. imat Brady, in 10-35 fathoms off Marsden ; 5.
ktrdmani, A. Scott, from ' Laminaria roots at Holy Island '; * Ameira longipes, Boeck, in 25—
45 fathoms off Sunderland and Seaham ; Jonesiella spinulosa (Brady and Robertson), which, it
appears, must yield precedence to the earlier named Danielssenia typica, Boeck,* ' dredged off
Hartlepool on a sandy bottom ; and in a depth of thirty-seven fathoms sixteen miles off
Hawthorn (Durham) on a muddy bottom ' ; Delavalla rtflexa, Brady and Robertson, 5 miles
off Hartlepool on sand ; D. rotusta, Brady and Robertson, in depths of 25-35 fathoms in
several places off the coast of Durham ; Cantbocampus minutui (O. F. Muller), of which the
generic name is commonly but wrongly given as Canthocamptus, and of which as a species
Brady says that it prefers shallow pools in which vegetation is abundant, its colouring varying,
' with the character of the plants and infusoria on which it probably feeds,' adding, ' the only
considerable pieces of water in which I have found it are the lake in Axwell Park near Gates-
head, and Holy Island Lough (Northumberland) ; but both these are really, as to size and
character of vegetation, big ponds rather than lakes ' ; C. palustris, Brady, a brackish-water
species (N. in litt.) ; Attheyella spinosa, Brady, of which the first specimens ' were found in
an old engine-pond at Murton Junction, near Sunderland ' ; A. crassa, Sars (N. in litt.) ;
A. pygmaea, Sars (N. in litt.) ; Laophonte similts, Claus, ' between tide-marks at Sunderland ' ;
L. longicaudata, Boeck, dredged off ' Hartlepool ; Seaham, 20-30 fathoms ; Hawthorn,
27 fathoms* ; L. lamellifera (Claus), ' on Laminaria and on muddy rocks near Sunderland' ;
L. hispida (Brady and Robertson), 4—10 fathoms off Durham coast ; Normanella dubia (Brady
and Robertson), 10-30 fathoms off Marsden and Hartlepool ; Cletodei limico/a, Brady, in 2O-
24 fathoms off coast of Durham ; C. kngicaudatus, Brady and Robertson, in 5 fathoms off
Hartlepool ; C. propinquus, Brady and Robertson, in 35 fathoms off Marsden ; Dactylopusia
tiiboides (Claus), from ' Durham coast, amongst Laminari*,' the older generic name Dactylopus
1 Les Copfpodes du Bouhnnais, p. 209 (1902).
» The references from this point are to the Monograph of Brit. Cofepoda, vol. ii.f Ray Soc. (1880).
1 Brady, Nat. Hist. Trans. Northumb. etc., new ser. i. J.
* Ann. Nat. Hut., ser. 7, xi. 368.
1 Brady, Nat. Hist. Irons. Northumb. etc., new ser. i. 3.
• Sars, Cladocera, Copepoda, and OstratoJo of the Jana Expedition, p. 20. St. Petersburg.
165
CRUSTACEANS
being now discarded as pre-occupied ; l D. tenuiremis (Brady and Robertson), in 45 fathoms
2O miles off Sunderland, amongst muddy sand ; D. flava (Glaus), in 27 fathoms off Hawthorn ;
D. brevicornis (Claus), on Laminaria at Sunderland ; Thalestris helgolandica, Claus, in
27 fathoms off Durham coast; T. rufocincta, Brady, 'off Marsden, 10 fathoms, Hawthorn,
27 fathoms' ; T. clausii, Norman, Durham coast, littoral among weeds, and from surface of
open sea ; T. longimana, Claus, between tide-marks, ' Sunderland, Ryhope, etc. ' ; Westwoodia
nobilis (Baird), a brilliantly coloured species with a pre-occupied generic name, found by Brady
rarely on Lamtnaries near Sunderland ; Arpacticus chelifer (O. F. Mtiller), from many places on
coast of Durham, and as to the young from roots of Laminaria Brady notes that specimens
from Holy Island and tide-pools at North Sunderland were generally ' extremely melanotic ' ; *
Pontopolites typicus, T. Scott, from Holy Island ; 8 Zaus spinatus, Goodsir, coast of Durham,
usually amongst Laminaria saccharina or other fuci ; Alteutha depressa, Baird, at Sunderland,
chiefly from Laminariee, the genus distinct from Peltidium ; * A. interrupta (Goodsir), in
10 fathoms off the Durham coast ; Scutellidium tisboides, Claus, at Roker, near Sunderland, on
Laminaria; and S.fasciatum (Boeck), plentiful on Durham coast wherever Laminaria sac-
charina grows.
Leaving at this point the Arpacticoida, we come to creatures of usually semi-parasitic
habits, of which some have been already mentioned in the family Ascidicolidae. Cylindropsyllus
l<evis, Brady, was dredged by Brady off Hartlepool in muddy sand at 5 fathoms ; 6 Lichomolgus
fucicola (Brady), amongst fuci, near low-water mark, Ryhope, and 4 miles off Hawthorn
and Marsden, amongst rough shelly sand, in about 25 fathoms ; L. liber, Brady and Robert-
son, from the last-mentioned localities, in 20—27 fathoms ; L. arenicola, Brady, off Seaton
Carew, on sand in 4 fathoms ; L. thorelli, Brady and Robertson, off Marsden, in 25 fathoms,
and off Hawthorn a little deeper ; Cydipicera nigripes, Brady and Robertson, from the same
localities as the last-named species ; C. /ata, Brady, in tidal pool at Roker, near Sunderland ;
Artotrogus normani (Brady and Robertson), 6 miles off Hawthorn, in 27 fathoms ; Dyspontius
striatus, Thorell, at the last-named locality, where also was taken Acontiophorus scutatus (Brady
and Robertson).
From the foregoing catalogue it will be understood how numerous are the species which
the enlightened industry of a very few enthusiasts can add to the known fauna of a county.
But for the three or four naturalists whose names have so frequently recurred, Durham might
have passed as a district singularly eschewed by the wide-ranging Copepoda, instead of being
conspicuously rich in representatives of their microscopic multitudes. Small as the free-living
and semi-parasitic forms usually are, there is another set derived from them, the truly parasitic,
which sometimes attain a considerable size, and of these it may be said that Surtees in his
history tells us something, without either intending to do so or being conscious that he was
doing it. He informs us that Bishop Cosin in 1662, having had to pay a bill of £5 17*. id.
for five sturgeon, which were chiefly given away in presents, desired his steward at Howden
' to catch no more sturgeons.' 6 The episcopal right once fought for was evidently becoming
a burden. But relying on this unwelcome abundance of sturgeons, one may without hesi-
tation add to the Durham fauna the singular parasitic Copepod Dichelestium sturionis, Hermann,
which frequents the gills of the great cartilaginous scale-armoured fish after which it is named.
Similarly other fishes of the county, whether mentioned by Surtees or elsewhere, would in a
general way justify the enumeration of their various ordinary parasites as belonging to the
fauna of this region.
Among the Thyrostraca, commonly called cirripedes or barnacles, certain parasitic forms
of a very interesting character were recorded from Durham waters by Norman in his dredging
list for 1863, namely, Pehogaster paguri, Rathke, as 'very rare'; P. sulcatus, Lilljeborg,
' rare ' ; and Clistosaccus paguri, Lilljeborg, ' one specimen.' 7 All these are parasitic on hermit-
crabs, the first and third according to Lilljeborg being found on Eupagurus bernhardus (Linn.),
1 Norman, Ann. Nat. Hist., ser. 7, n. 368.
* Nat. Hist. Trans. Northumb. etc., new ser. i. 4.
8 Loc. cit., p. 4, pi. i. figs. 4-12.
* Brady in Fifth Ann. Rep. of the Fishery Board for Scotland, App. F, No. ri. p. 329.
6 Mm. Brit. Copepoda, in., Ray Soc. (1880).
6 Surtees, Hist. ofDur. i. (2), 17.
7 Nat. Hist. Trans. Northumb. and Dur. \. 26.
166
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
though not confined to that species, while as hosts for the second he specifies the forms now
known as Eupagurus cuanensis (Thompson) and Anapagurus chiracanthus (Lilljeborg).i
Several species of normal cirripedes are no doubt to be found in the district, such as
Balanus balanoides (Linn.) ; B. hameri (Ascanius) ; Coronula diadtma (Linn.) on the immigrant
whale ; Verruca str8mia (O. F. Mtlller) ; Trypetaa lampas (Hancock), till recently known by
the pre-occupied name Alcippc? and Conchoderma auritum (Linn.), a common companion of
Coronula. These and many more trophies of ardent investigation may be left for discovery or
verification by some future chronicler.
1 Lilljeborg in Nova Acta Reg. Sot. Sci. Upsala, ser. 3, Hi. 27, 28 (Extr. 1859), and Supplement,
pp. II, 22 (Extr. 1860).
* Norman, Ann. Nat. Hist., ser. 7, xi. 368.
167
FISHES
Attempts have been made from time to time by the authors of the
county and parochial histories to give accounts of the fishes, but the
work of compiling the following list of Durham fishes has been rendered
especially light by the excellent catalogue of the fishes of Northumberland
and Durham published by the late R. Howse,M. A., curator of the Hancock
Museum, Newcastle. I have, however, been able to add definitely to the
list of our local fauna, species about which Mr. Howse was doubtful, and
to add others which have come to our knowledge since his list was
published (1890.)
It is rather curious that while not infrequent records of rare
stragglers have been made for the coasts of Northumberland and York-
shire, the majority of these have not visited, or if they have visited have
not been recorded for Durham. Such it has been necessary therefore
to exclude from the present list, but I have ventured to add species
which from their well-known occurrence to the north and the south
may be presumed to belong also to the Durham coast.
Fresh- water fishes are distinguished by an asterisk (*), and those
which occur in both fresh and salt water by two asterisks (**).
TELEOSTEANS
ACANTHOPTERYGII
*I. Perch. Pe rca fluviatilis, Linn.
In the Tees, Billingham Beck, in lakes and
ponds, and in artificial ponds. ' Probably
introduced into the district.' — Howse.
**
2.
Haddock. Sehastes norvegtcus,
Bass. Morone labrax, Linn ; Labrax
lupus, Cuv.
Occasionally caught inshore and in the
Tyne.
3. Common Sea Bream. Pagellus centrodontus,
Delaroche.
Rare ; sometimes caught by trawlers.
4. Black Sea Bream. Cantharus lineatus,
Fleming.
Hartlepool. — Sir Cuthbert Sharpe, 1816.
Also said by the late Mr. J. F. Spence to be
landed at North Shields by trawlers occasionally.
A recent local record is wanting.
5. Gilthead. Chrysophrys aurata. Linn.
« Whitburn ? ' ;— Howse.
1 68
6. Norway
Cuv.
Rare.
7. Maigre. Sci<sna aquila, Lacep.
Rare; 'Jarrow Slake, on the Tyne, 1838,
Rudd ; Sunderland.' — Howse.
8. Swordfish. Xiphias gladius, Linn.
'A specimen brought in by a trawler,
North Shields, W. S. Corder.'— Howse.
9. Red Mullet. Mullus barbatus, Linn.
Occasionally landed at North Shields from
off the coast.
10. Common or Ballan Wrass. Labrus
maculatus, Bloch.
Locally, Sea Sow and Old Wife.
Not uncommon from rocky ground near
the coast.
11. Goldsinny Wrass. Ctenolabrus rupestris,
Linn.
Specimens have been got at Cullercoats
(J. Hancock) and at Redcar (Meynell).
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
*I2. Miller's Thumb. Cottus gobio. Linn.
Locally, Bullhead.
Common in the Tees and most streams.
Mentioned by Brewster and by Surtees.
13. Father-lasher or Bull Head. Cottus scorpiusy
Linn.
In rock pools and near the rocks ; common.
14. Grey Gurnard. Trig/a gurnarduSy Linn.
Very common.
15. Red Gurnard. Trig/a cucu/us. Linn.
Occasionally visits the coast. Mentioned
by Fordyce, 1857.
1 6. Streaked Gurnard. Trig/a Kneata, Linn.
' Occasionally taken on our coast.' — Howse.
17. Sapphirine Gurnard or Tub-fish. Trigla
hirundoy Linn.
An occasional visitor.
1 8. Pogge or Armed Bull-head. Agonus cata-
phractuSy Linn.
Common.
19. Lump Sucker or Paddlecock. Cyclopterus
lumpusy Linn.
Common.
20. Sea Snail. Liparlt vulgarity Flem.
Rare.
21. Montagu's Sucker. Liparlt montagui,
Donovan.
Common.
22. Spotted Goby. Gobius minutus, Gmel.
23. Two-Spotted Goby. Gobius ruthensparriy
Euphras. ; Gobius pusillus, J. Lowe.
Common in rock-pools.
24. Blackfish. Centrolophus pompilus. Linn.
' One specimen from a Cullercoats fisherman,
and another recorded from Redcar.' — Howse.
25. John Dory. Zeus faber. Linn.
An occasional visitor.
26. Scad or Horse mackerel. Caranx tra-
churuSy Linn.
' Frequently caught in the herring nets. —
J. F. Spence.' — Howse.
27. Ray's Bream. Brama raiit Bloch.
Occurs occasionally.
28. Opah or Kingfish. Lampris /una, Linn.
Sometimes caught by trawlers and also
rarely on the coast to the north and south.
29. Mackerel. Scomber scombrus. Linn.
Locally, Bret.
Migrates to the coast, July to September.
Recorded by Surtees, 1823.
30. Tunny. Orcynus thynnuSy Linn.
' Frenchman's Bay in salmon nets — Mr.
Clift, South Shields, August, 1885.'— Howse,
who also records a shoal of small tunnies to
the coast near Cullercoats in June, 1884.
31. Bonito. Orcynus pelamys. Linn.
A straggler caught off Sunderland recorded
by Professor G. S. Brady, 1870.
32. Greater Weever. Trachlnut draco. Linn.
33. Lesser Weever or Stinger. Tracbinus
vipera, Cuv. and Val.
More common than preceding.
34. Fishing Frog or Angler. Lophius pltca-
toriuSy Linn.
Sometimes called ' Mermaid.' Common
and frequently sold like the cat-fish as ' rock-
turbot.'
35. Dragonet. Callionymus fyra, Linn.
Locally, Gowdie.
Common.
36. Wolf or Cat-fish. Anarrhlchat lupus,
Linn.
Common, sold as ' rock-turbot.'
37. Gattorugine or Tompot. B/enniui
gattoruginey Bloch.
Mentioned in the list of Hartlepool fishes
by Sir Cuthbert Sharpe.
38. Shanny. Blennius pholisy Linn.
Common in the rock-pools.
39. Yarrell's Blenny. Carelophus ascanii,
Walb.
Rare.
40. Gunnel or Butter-fish. Centronotus gun-
nelluiy Linn.
Common between tide marks.
41. Viviparous Blenny. Zoarces viviparus,
Linn.
Common between tide marks.
42. Sharp-tailed Lumpenus. Lumpenut lampe-
triformis, Walb.
An example was got at Cullercoats in Feb-
ruary, 1 903 ; but it is more than likely gene-
rally, if rarely, distributed in the district.
169
22
FISHES
ANACANTHINI
43. Cod. Gadus morrhua, Linn.
The young are called codling.
44. Haddock. Gadus eeglefinus, Linn.
45. Bib or Pout. Gadus luscus, Linn.
Locally, Brassie and Scotch Haddock.
Fairly common.
46. Poor Cod. Gadus minutus, Linn.
Not uncommon.
47. Coal-fish, Saithe, or Black Jack. Gadus
virens, Linn.
The successive stages of growth are named
hallins, poddlers or billet, half-waxers, coal-
saithe and black jack.
48. Whiting. Gadus merlangus, Linn.
49. Pollack or Lythe. Gadus pollachius, Linn.
50. Hake. Merluccius vulgaris, Cuv.
*5i. Burbot or Eelpout. Lota vulgaris, Cuv.
Surtees recorded this species as occurring in
the Skerne.
52. Ling. Molva vulgaris, Flem.
53. Five-bearded Rockling. Motel/a mustela,
Linn.
54. Four-bearded Rockling. Motella cimbria,
Linn.
Common about 3 to 6 miles or more off
the coast.
55. Three-bearded Rockling. Motella tricir-
rata, Bloch.
Rare.
56. Lesser Fork-beard. Raniceps rantnus,
Linn.
Rare.
57. TorskorTusk. Brosmius brosme, Mailer.
Rare.
58. Halibut. Hippoglossus vulgaris, Flem.
Still frequently called ' Turbot.'
59. Long Rough Dab. Hippoglossus liman-
doides, Bloch.
60. Turbot. Rhombus maximus, Linn.
Locally, Brat.
61. Brill. Rhombus Itevis, Linn.
Not common.
62. Common Topknot. Zeugopterus punctatus,
Bloch.
Rare ; usually caught in crab-pots. It is
more than likely this species some of the
fishermen call ' hard-ground soles.'
63. Megrim. Lepidorhombusmegastoma. Donov.
Rare.
64. Plaice. Pleuronectes platessa, Linn.
65. Pole Dab or Witch. Pleuronectes cyno-
glossus, Linn.
66. Lemon Dab. Pleuronectes microcephalus,
Donov.
Commonly called ' Lemon Sole.'
67. Dab. Pleuronectes limanda, Linn.
**68. Flounder. Pleuronectes flesus, Linn.
69. Sole. Solea vulgaris, Quensel.
Small examples are called ' slips.'
PLECTOGNATHI
70. Short Sun-fish. Orthagoriscus mola, Linn.
An occasional straggler reaches the coast.
PERCESOCES
**7i. Grey Mullet. Mugil capita, Cuv.
' In the Tyne. — J. Hancock.' — Howse.
**72. Lesser Grey Mullet. Mugil chela, Cuv.
Said to visit the coast in the autumn.
73. Larger Launce or Sand-Eel. Ammodytes
lanceolatus, Le Sauv.
74. Lesser Launce or Sand-Eel. Ammodytes
tobianus, Linn.
More common than the preceding.
75. Garfish. Belone vulgaris. Flem.
' Taken in the autumn by men and boys
fishing with rod and line from the rocks in
Frenchman's Bay, on the Durham coast.' —
Howse. Also caught at the mouth of the
Tees in the autumn.
76. Saury Pike or Skipper. Scombresox saurus,
Walb.
Rare.
HEMIBRANCHII
**77- Three-spined Stickleback. Gastrosteus
aculeatus, Linn.
Common at the seaside in some places, in
brackish water, and in fresh water ponds,
lakes, streams and ditches. The sea speci-
170
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
mens are usually ' mailed ' or ' rough-tailed,'
and the fresh-water examples are ' smooth-
tailed.'
"78. Ten-spined Stickleback. Gastrosteus pun-
gitius, Linn.
Recorded in Sir Cuthbert Sharpe's History
of Hartlepool. Occurs in a pond at Picton,
near Stockton.
79. Fifteen - spined Stickleback. Gastrosteus
spinachia, Linn.
LOPHOBRANCHII
80. Greater Pipe-fish. Syngnathus acus, Linn.
8 1. Snake Pipe-fish. Nerophis tequoreus. Linn.
Not so common as the preceding.
HAPLOMI
•82. Pike. Esox lucius, Linn.
Wynyard Park, and other ponds, Tyne,
Tecs, Billingham Beck, Skerne. Small ex-
amples are called ' Jack.'
OSTARIOPHYSI
*8j. Carp. Cyprinus carpia, Linn.
Introduced into Wynyard Park and other
ponds. ' In becks near Stockton, escaped
from Wynyard ponds. — J. Hogg.' — Howse.
•84. Gudgeon. Gotta fluviati/is, Flem.
Common in the Tees and its tributaries, the
Derwent, and other streams. Mentioned by
Surtees.
•85. Rudd. Leuciscus erythrophthalmus. Linn.
'Introduced into ponds . . . formerly in
ponds near Marsden.' — Howse.
*86. Roach. Leuciscus ruti/us, Linn.
In the Tync and the Tees. Recorded by
Surtees.
•87. Chub or Skelly. Leuciscus cephalus, Linn.
In the Tyne and the Tees. Recorded by
Surtees.
*88. Dace. Leuciscus dobula. Linn. (L. vu/garis,
Yarrell, Day, &c.).
Common in rivers. ' Recorded by Wallis,
Surtees, and J. Hogg.' — Howse.
"89. Minnow. Leuciscus phoxinust Linn.
Common in rivers and streams.
"90. Tench. Tinea vu/garis, Cuv.
Introduced into Wynyard Park and Raby
Park ponds.
*9i. Bleak. Alburnw lucidus, Heck. & Kner.
Recorded by Clarke and Roebuck as com-
mon in the lower waters of the Tees.
*92. Loach. Nemachilus kariatu/us, Linn.
Common in small streams.
MALACOPTERYGII
93. Argentine. Maurolicus borealis, Nilsson.
'In former years (1859-60) I frequently
found this little fish washed up on the shore
at high-tide mark on South Shields sands and
in Marsden Bay during winter.' — Howse.
**94- Salmon. Salmo sa/ar, Linn.
In the Tyne, the Tees, and more rarely in
the Wear. Caught also near the coast with
drift-nets.
**95. Trout. Sa/mo trutta, Linn.
The Brown Trout is common in rivers and
streams. The Sea Trout and the Bull Trout
ascend the Tyne, the Wear, and the Tees, and
are caught also in drift-nets near the coast.
The Bull Trout and the Sea Trout are more
common in the Wear than in the Tyne or
the Tees. Loch Leven Trout were introduced
into the Tees ten years ago and are still caught.
96. American Brook Trout. Salmo fontinalh.
Mitchill.
Introduced into the Tees.
*97- Grayling. TbymallusvtxilKftrt Linn.
Rare. In the Tyne and the Tees. Intro-
duced into the Tees in 1839 by J. C.
Chaytor. ' Introduced into the Derwent
about six years ago. — Rev. W. Feathcrston-
haugh, May, 1890.' — Howse.
•98. Smelt or Sparling. Osmerut eper/anus,
Linn.
In the Tyne and the Tees. Recorded by
Wallis and by Surtees.
99. Herring. Clupea barengui, Linn.
100. Pilchard or Sardine. Clupea pi/char dust
Linn.
An occasional visitor. Mentioned by For-
dyce.
101. Sprat. Clupea sprattus, Linn.
Occurs with young herrings in the summer,
and in 1902 both were present in extraordi-
nary abundance all along the coast.
171
FISHES
**I02. Shad.
Rare.
Clupea alosa, Linn.
APODES
**I03. Eel. Anguilla vulgaris, Turt.
Common on the coast and in rivers and
streams and ponds. The elvers ascend the
rivers in vast numbers in early summer.
104. Conger Eel. Conger vulgaris, Cuv.
Common. The larva, Leptocephalus morrisii,
was obtained at Whitburn by W. Hutchinson,
and recorded by R. Howse.
GANOIDS
""105. Sturgeon. Adpenter sturio, Linn. 141 lb. was caught at Scotswood on the
Landed by trawlers occasionally. Sometimes Tyne in 1894. — Howse.' Mentioned by
caught in the Tees. 'A specimen weighing Surtees and by recent writers.
CHONDROPTERYGIANS
106. Rough Hound or Small-spotted Dogfish.
Scyllium canicula, Linn.
Sometimes caught by trawlers off the
coast.
107. Porbeagle. Lamna cornubica, Gmel.
Frequently recorded.
108. Thrasher. Alopias vulpes, Gmel.
An occasional visitor.
109. Smooth Hound. Mustelus leevis, Flem. ;
(M. vulgaris, Day.)
It has not been recorded for the Durham
coast, but it occurs to the north and the
south, and has therefore likely been over-
looked.
no. Tope. Galeus vulgaris, Flem.
'Whitburn.' — R. Howse. Occasionally
landed at North Shields by trawlers and liners
from the nearer fishing grounds.
in. Picked Dogfish.
Risso.
Common.
Acanthias vulgaris,
112. Greenland Shark. Lxmargus microce-
phalus, Bl. Schn.
' OffSunderlandand the Tyne.' — R. Howse.
Occasionally caught by trawlers.
113. Spinous Shark.
Blainville.
Ecbinorhinus spinosus,
Taken off the mouth of the Tyne in 1869
and in 1876. — J. Wright.
114. Monk-fish or Angel-fish. Rhina squa-
tina, Linn.
' Occasionally brought in by the trawlers
and fishermen — sometimes three feet in length.'
— R. Howse. This is still the case.
115. Torpedo or Electric Ray. Torpedo
nobiliana, Bonop.
A large example caught in a trawl net off
Sunderland, June 18, 1896, and preserved in
the Hancock Museum.
1 1 6. True Skate. Raia baits, Linn.
Common.
117. Sharp-nosed Skate or White Skate. Raia
alba, Lac6p.
Common.
1 1 8. Long-nosed Skate. Raia oxyrhynchus,
Linn ; R. fullonica, Yarrell.
Fairly common.
119. Homelyn or Spotted Ray. Raia macu-
lata, Montagu.
Not common.
1 2O. Cuckoo Ray. Raia circular is, Couch.
Not common.
121. Thornback. Raia clavata, Linn.
Common.
122. Starry Ray. Raia radiata, Donov.
Locally, Jenny Hanover.
Very common.
123. Sting Ray. Trygon pastinaca, Linn.
A rare straggler.
124. Eagle Ray. Myliobatis aquila, Linn.
' A small specimen was taken at Culler-
coats, 1875.' — R. Howse.
172
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
CYCLOSTOMES
**I25. Sea Lamprey. Petromyzon marinut, *12J. Mud Lamprey or Pride. Pttromyzon
Linn. branctlalii, Linn.
Not common. , In strcams- Recorded by Surtees for the
Skerne.
•126. River Lamprey. Pttromyzon fluviatiKs, I28. Hag. Myxine glutinoia, Linn.
Locally, Sucker.
In the rivers and streams. Abundant.
173
REPTILES
AND BATRACHIANS
Little more than a list can be given of the reptiles and the
batrachians of the county of Durham, as attention appears only to have
been paid to them in a very general way. All the common species are
known in the county with the exception of the grass snake (Tropidonotus
natrix) ; but there is no record of the natterjack toad (Bufo ca/amita),
and the remaining rarer British species are hardly likely to occur.
REPTILES
LACERTILIA tne late Richard Howse (quoted in Leighton's
_ T • j r ••,. T British Serpents}, but Howse did not believe
1. Common Lizard. Lacerta wiipara. lacq. , . ,< T ,
f ' J ^ the species ever occurred naturally. It has
Bell — Zootoca vivtpara. *, ., , . . ' . ,
been described in certain newspaper articles as
Often to be seen in dry places and about frequent, but no confirmation has ever been
old walls, and probably abundant in most parts forthcoming. If the grass snake is an inhabi-
of the county. tant of the county at all it is undoubtedly
2. Slow-worm or Blind-worm. Anguis fra- Vel7 scarce and by no means generally
gilis, Linn. distributed.
Common ; often seen on roads. ^ Common Viper or Adder. Vipera bertu,
Linn.
OPHIDIA Bell— PeRas berus.
3. Ringed Snake or Grass Snake. Tropi- Common, especially about dry, scrubby
donotus natrix, Linn. woods and the borders of moorlands. Full-sized
Bell — Natrix torquata. local examples are in the Newcastle Museum.
It seems doubtful whether the grass snake Colour variations are met with here as else-
has a real place in the fauna of the county, where, and Howse states (loc. cit.) that
It has undoubtedly occurred as an « escape ' ; an individuals of the extreme types known as the
instance of this at Sunderland was recorded by black and the red adder have been taken.
BATRACHIANS
The following appear to be as common 2. Common Toad. Bufo vu/garis, Laur.
here in suitable situations as they are in other
parts of England.
CAUDATA
EC AU DATA 3. Crested Newt. Molge cristata, Laur.
i . Common Frog. Rana temporaria, Linn. 4. Common Newt. Molge vu/garis, Linn,
174
BIRDS
The county of Durham is not naturally, and still less in its present
economical conditions, favourably adapted for either abundance or variety
of bird life, except in certain districts.
Roughly speaking, the county may be compared to a wedge, an
isosceles triangle, driven in between Northumberland and Yorkshire,
having its base at the sea and its apex among the hills of the Pennine
Chain, the Tyne forming its northern boundary from the coast for over
twenty miles, and then generally the Derwent ; and the Tees, from its
source to its mouth, bounding it on the south. The Wear, for its whole
length, divides it into two unequal parts. These and their tributaries
are its only rivers. From the Tyne to the watershed of the Tees Valley
extend the coal-measures, covering two-thirds of the county, the western
portion of the apex being mountain limestone or millstone grit, while
the new red sandstone forms a strip along the lower part of the Tees
Valley. The coast line affords little encouragement, and no protection,
for sea birds. While Northumberland has its islands, Holy Isle, the
Fames, and Coquet, some of them with magnificent cliffs, as breeding
resorts, and Yorkshire its bold headlands from Whitby to Flamborough
Head, the Durham beach from the Tyne to Hartlepool is slightly
elevated from 50 to 100 ft., frequently broken by the narrow openings
of little glens, or ' denes ' as they are locally termed. From Hartlepool
to Teesmouth there is simply a succession of sand dunes. The Tyne and
the Wear cannot be said to have any estuaries, and their banks are fringed
by manufactories and docks down to the sea shore. The Tees has an
estuary which has provided us with most of our water-fowl, but the river
itself is now lined with ironworks and docks until it reaches the sea.
Thus there is no shelter and little inducement for the passing sea-
fowl to halt on our coasts. The little dells which open to the sea
between Wearmouth and Hartlepool, some of which (as Castle Eden
Dene) preserve remains of the primeval forest, afford refuge to many
smaller birds, and a resting place to some few passing immigrants.
When we leave the coast, the collieries and coke ovens which stud
two-thirds of the county, destroying by their fumes trees and hedgerows,
and bringing a vast population, have in many places driven away all the
winged inhabitants save the house-sparrow. Happily there are not a few
parks and sheltered river banks, shielded from the fumes, well stocked
with the smaller passerines. The steep and often precipitous well-wooded
banks of the Wear, even in the centre of the colliery districts, the
sheltered trees escaping the effects of the smoke, are the resort of many
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
of our common species. In spite of relentless persecution the kingfisher
may still be found, though in diminishing numbers, all along the course
of the Wear, the Tees, and the Browney ; and I know of one secluded
spot, close to the river Wear, where the wild duck still breeds. It is
needless to say that outside the parks and preserved plantations there is
but little game in the central portion of the county ; while the mistaken
zeal of the gamekeeper has wellnigh exterminated every raptorial bird,
even the beautiful and harmless kestrel being but rarely seen. The
lapwing, in my younger days most abundant, is now very scarce in the
breeding season in the east of the county. From these remarks the
lower Tees Valley, still agricultural and free from collieries, must be
excepted.
But when we pass from the coal-measures, to the west of Bishop
Auckland and Barnard Castle, we are in a region which may well rejoice
the ornithologist's heart. As we get on the mountain limestone the
features of the country are entirely changed. There is little arable
culture, meadow land predominates, till we rise to the grand expanse of
moorland, stretching to the watershed when we touch Cumberland. Here
and there are scraps of primeval forest. We have evidence that prior to
the denudation of the forests in the Roman times, for the working of the
lead mines, the district was well wooded, chiefly with the Scotch fir, of
which the stumps are found in the peat. Many streamlets run down
tiny dells fringed with stunted oak, rowan, and other trees. The dipper
or water-ousel may often be seen dipping and perching on a stone even
on the smallest brooklet. The ring-ousel remains on the moors from
early spring to late autumn, and fully appreciates the bird-cherry and
the rowan berry. A careful observer, as he strolls by the bed of the
upper Wear, may detect the pied flycatcher and perhaps the haw-
finch. When he ascends on to the moors he is greeted by the shrill
cry of the whaup (curlew) overhead, the wheatear jerks its tail as it
drops among the stones of a crumbling dyke, the ring-ousel skims
from a whin (furze) bush or perhaps at the foot of a neighbouring cliff;
and if it be before the dreaded 1 2th of August the grouse springs from
almost under his feet and startles him with its whirring flight. A few
years ago the merlin might often be seen skimming over the heather ;
now, alas, these beautiful little falcons are rarely seen, thanks to the
ignorant zeal of game preservers and their keepers. The peewit and, on
Kilhope Fell, the golden plover are plentiful, and occasionally a heron
from Raby lazily flaps its wings as it soars up from some pool in a
mountain burn. The true dotterel is said to have bred on the heights,
but I can find no proof of this, and the nearest breeding locality I know
of is Crossfell in Cumberland, where fifty years ago I took a nest of three
eggs. In one part of the upper Wear valley there has been extensive
planting of conifers within the last forty years, and in these woods the
crossbill has bred, and I believe does so still. One valuable game bird,
the blackcock, has very much diminished of late years, owing probably
to the reckless shooting of the hen birds by yearly game tenants, whose
176
BIRDS
only idea is to swell their bags, and who are perhaps not aware that the
blackcock is polygamous. The drainage of the marshy bottoms, with
their clumps of marsh myrtle in which these birds delight, has also
contributed to their threatened extinction.
Excluding these few species, the avifauna of West Durham is not
far different from what it was in past centuries except — but it is a very
great exception — the raptorial birds. Of these the peregrine falcon, the
kite, the buzzard, the marsh and hen harriers have vanished within living
memory. Of the golden eagle as a resident we find no trace, though the
name of EaglesclifFe, a village on the rocky bank of the Tees, may attest
its former existence. It very rarely passes over the county. On one
occasion, some thirty years ago, in the month of November, I was crossing
on foot from Teesdale to Nenthead above the source of the Wear. In
passing over Kilhope Fell a dense fog came on. The course, for there
is scarcely a road, is marked by tall posts at intervals for the benefit of
travellers during the winter snows. At the foot of one of them I sat
down till the mist should lift, for I could not see a yard in front of me.
Suddenly it lifted, I looked up, and to my amazement a golden eagle in
young plumage with its white tail was perching on the top of the pole.
I know not which of us was most astonished at the mutual recognition —
it was off in a moment. A day or two after I read in a local paper that
a golden eagle had been seen near Redcar, and soon afterwards, alas, that
one had been shot in the East Riding.
The exhaustion of the lead mines, for centuries the chief industry of
West Durham, and the consequent diminution of the population, seem
likely to promote the increase of all the feathered tribe, except the birds
of prey, in our moorlands.
What the ornithological fauna of the coast once was may be gathered
from the following extract from the Cott. MS. (Grove's Hist, of Cleve-
land, p. 399) about the date 1670.
' Neere unto Dobham the Porte of the mouth of the Teese,' (now
known as Cargo Fleet, and covered with iron and cement works) ' the
shore lyes flatt, where a shelf of sand, raised above the highe water
marke, entertaines an infynite number of sea-fowle, which lay theyr
Egges heere and there, scatteringlie in such sorte, that in Tyme of
Breedinge, one can hardly sett his foote so warylye, that he spoyle not
many of theyr nests.'
The number of species which may be enumerated as of the county
of Durham, in accordance with the custom which includes every bird
which has ever occurred in a state of nature within its limits, is 249.
Of these the number of species permanently resident or breeding is 105.
Regular winter visitors, 33. Irregular but frequent visitors, 39. Merely
accidental visitors, 72. The following are extinct as breeding species
within our limits, though some of them still occur occasionally : — Nut-
hatch, raven, marsh-harrier, hen-harrier, Montagu's harrier, kite, buzzard,
peregrine falcon, bittern, sheldrake, pintail duck, pochard, dotterel, ruff,
black-headed gull, lesser black-backed gull.
i 177 23
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
SYSTEMATIC LIST OF SPECIES
1. White's Thrush. Turdus varius, Pallas.
A specimen, the eighth recorded in Britain,
was taken 31 January, 1872, in Castle Eden
Dene, having been shot and wounded a fort-
night before, by Mr. Rowland Burdon. It
lived three weeks after its capture. Mr. Bur-
don gave it to me. On examination the
furculum was found to have been long since
fractured, but to have coalesced, though very
clumsily.
2. Missel-Thrush. Turdus viscivorus, Linn.
Resident, but not numerous, in suitable
localities. Had largely increased within the
last sixty years, but has latterly diminished,
probably from the increase of human popu-
lation.
3. Song-Thrush. Turdus musicus, Linn.
Abundant except in winter, when most
migrate. A few remain, even in the severest
seasons, but they will not venture to come to
the window sills for food until several days
after the blackbirds have set them the example.
I have observed that in a hard frost while
numbers of redwings perish, the song-thrush
survives.
4. Redwing. Turdus Uiacus, Linn.
A regular winter visitor. In mild seasons
it generally disappears till the beginning of
spring, while in severe winters many remain
only to succumb to a long frost.
5. Fieldfare. Turdus pi/aris, Linn.
A winter migrant, arriving generally in large
flocks about the end of October. If there be
a continuance of severe frost they disappear
as soon as they have stripped the rowan and
holly berries, halting again for a few days on
their return north in spring.
6. Blackbird. Turdus meru/a, Linn.
Very abundant. Remains through the
severest weather.
7. Ring-Ousel. Turdus tort/uatus, Linn.
A regular summer resident, arriving in April
and remaining till October in the moorlands
of the west of the county. It is by no means
gregarious during its stay.
8. Wheatear. Saxicola aenanthe (Linn.).
Abundant in the 'wild west' of the county;
a few in other parts arrive at the beginning of
April. It affects the dry stone dykes of Wear-
dale and Teesdale, where it nests.
9. Whinchat. Pratincola rubetra (Linn.).
Locally, Haychat.
A summer resident, not uncommon even
in populous districts. Arrives towards the end
of April and leaves in October.
10. Stonechat. Pratincola rubicola (Linn.).
A resident in small numbers and generally
distributed, especially about fox coverts. It
builds almost always in whin (furze) bushes,
and should really be called whinchat, rather
than its congener.
1 1 . Redstart. Ruticilla phtenlcurw (Linn.).
A regular spring and summer resident,
arriving about the middle of April, but by no
means numerous. A few years ago, a pair
bred in an ivy-clad tree close to a public walk
in the 'Banks ' in the city of Durham.
12. Black Redstart. Ruticilla titys (Scopoli).
A rare occasional visitor. But while in the
south of England it is looked upon rather as
a winter visitor, here it has only been noticed
from spring to autumn. In the year 1845 a
pair built their nest on a cherry tree trained
on a wall in the garden of the Rev. Dr. Raine,
at Crook Hall, in the suburbs of Durham city.
I regret to say the birds were shot. The
male is in Durham Museum ; the nest and an
egg were given to the late John Hancock.
13. Red-spotted Bluethroat. Cyanecula suecica
(Linn.).
One obtained by H. G. Stobart, Esq., at
Wolsingham, 26 September, 1893. Another
at Chester-le-Street about the same date, and
another two or three years ago.
14. Redbreast, or Robin. Erithacus rubecula
(Linn.).
Universal.
15. Whitethroat. Sylvia cinerea. (Bechstein).
An abundant summer visitor everywhere.
1 6. Lesser Whitethroat. Sylvia curruca (Linn.).
A summer visitor, breeding in several parts
of the county, but extremely scarce and local.
Mr. Hancock mentions a nest taken close to
Newcastle but in the county of Durham.
17. Blackcap. Sylvia atricapilla (Linn.).
Very common from early spring to late
autumn. Occasionally met with as late as
December.
1 8. Garden-Warbler. Sylvia hortensis (Bech-
stein).
Not so common as the last, arriving later.
19. Goldcrest. Regulus cristatus, K. L. Koch.
A resident, and abundant in all our fir
plantations. Its numbers are largely rein-
forced towards the end of autumn.
178
BIRDS
20. Firecrest. Regulus ignicapillus (Brehm).
A rare and accidental visitor. I possess a
specimen shot at Brancepeth by Mr. Dale,
keeper to Lord Boyne, in April, 1852.
21. Chiffchaff. Phylloscof>us rujus (Bechstein).
Our first spring arrival, and abundant
wherever there are old trees, and in pleasure
grounds.
22. Willow- Warbler, or Willow -Wren.
Phylloscopus trochilus (Linn.).
The most abundant of all our summer
visitors, arriving early in April.
23. Wood-Warbler, or Wood-Wren. Phyllo-
scopus sibilatrix (Bechstein).
Arrives about the beginning of May. Is
plentiful in wooded districts only.
24. Reed-Warbler. Acrocephalut streperui
(Vieillot).
The only known instance of its occurrence
is a nest of four eggs taken by Mr. T. Thomp-
son, of Winlaton, nearly forty years ago, between
Blaydon and Derwenthough. The nest has
been carefully preserved, and is unmistakable.
(N. H. Trans. Northumh. and Dur. xiv. 1 1 9.)
25. Great Reed-Warbler. Acrocephaltu tur-
doides (Meyer).
The first specimen of this species known
to have been taken in Britain was shot at
Swalwell on the Tyne on 28 May, 1847
(Ann. and Mag. xx. p. 135). It has not since
occurred in the district.
26. Sedge-Warbler. Acrocephalus phragmitis
(Bechstein).
An abundant summer visitor. A few years
ago a pair bred in the dwarf willows on the
banks of the Wear in the city of Durham,
close to the public walk.
27. Grasshopper-Warbler. Locustella ntrvia
(Boddaert).
A regular summer visitor to certain loca-
lities, especially the banks of the Tyne and
the Derwent. I once had three nests with
their unmistakable eggs brought to me from
near Gateshead.
28. Hedge-Sparrow. Accentor modularis, Linn.
Common except on the moors.
29. Dipper or Water Ousel. Cinclus aquaticus
(Bechstein).
Resident on all the burns and rocky streams
in the west and occasionally by the streams
near the coast. Much persecuted through the
ignorance of anglers.
30. British Long-tailed Tit. Atredula rosea
(Blyth).
Generally distributed throughout the county,
but not very numerous. The whiteheaded
continental form A. caudata (Linn.), though
more than once taken on the north bank of
the Tyne, has not yet been recorded within
our limits.
31. Great Tit. Parus major , Linn.
Abundant everywhere. Resident through-
out the year.
32. Coal-Tit. Parus atert Linn.
Common, but by no means as numerous as
the preceding species.
33. Marsh-Tit. Parus palustris. Linn.
Plentiful, and I think more numerous in
this county than the coal-tit, but more shy,
resorting generally to ' woods and scrub.'
While the three other species come regularly
to a window sill to be fed, it is only after a
long continued frost that the marsh-tit ven-
tures to approach.
34. Blue Tit. Parus carru/eus, Linn.
Quite as numerous as the great tit. Resident.
35. Nuthatch. Sitta aesia, Wolf.
Now only an accidental straggler. A cen-
tury ago it appears to have been well known
in suitable localities in the county. Sixty
years ago it used to breed in Auckland Castle
Park, but for the last fifty years the only record
I can find of its occurrence is one shot at
Wolsingham in 1873, and another at Elton
about ten years ago.
36. Wren. Troglodytes parvu/us, Koch.
Resident. Common everywhere.
37. Tree-Creeper. Certhia familiaris, Linn.
A permanent resident wherever there are
woods, and especially old trees.
38. Pied Wagtail. Motacilla lugubrii, Tem-
minck.
Common. A few remain through the
winter, but the majority go south.
39. White Wagtail. Motacilla atta, Linn.
This, the continental form of the preceding,
is an accidental visitor. One was brought to
me in the spring of 1904. Noticed in the
4 Banks ' at Durham by Mr. Cullingford the
same year.
40. Grey Wagtail. Motacilla melanopey Pallas.
Generally distributed in summer. A few
remain through the winter.
179
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
41. Blue-headed Wagtail. Motacilla flava,
Linn.
An irregular spring and summer visitor.
Has bred several times between the Tyne and
the Derwent.
42. Yellow Wagtail. Motacilla rait (Bona-
parte).
A regular summer visitor arriving early in
April, and leaving in September.
43. Tree-Pipit. Anthus trivialis (Linn.).
A summer visitor. Abundant. Arrives in
the middle of April.
44. Meadow-Pipit. Jlnthus pratensis (Linn.).
A resident species, abundant in the west,
but found wherever there is open ground.
45. Rock-Pipit. Anthus obscurus (Latham).
Frequently obtained on our coast. I am
not aware of its breeding here, though it
does on the coasts of Northumberland and
Yorkshire.
46. Golden Oriole. Oriolus galbula, Linn.
A female was taken at Hebburn in 1831,
now in Newcastle Museum.
47. Great Grey Shrike. Lanius excubitor,
Linn.
A winter seldom passes without one or
more captures being reported. A few years
ago one remained for several days about the
shrubberies and gardens near Durham city.
The bird with only one bar on the wing,
known as Lanius major (Pallas) has frequently
occurred.
48. Red-backed Shrike. Laneus collurio, Linn.
A rare accidental visitor.
49. Waxwing. Ampelis garru/us, Linn.
An irregular winter visitor. When it does
arrive, it is generally in considerable numbers.
In 1849 and 1866 it was very numerous in
South Durham. Though not in flocks, I
noticed daily, walking in different directions,
three or four perched on trees by the highway.
Another flight was in 1876, and a few in 1871.
50. Pied Flycatcher. Muscicapa atricapilla,
Linn.
A summer visitor, not so rare as is generally
supposed. It breeds regularly in several parts
of the county. One year a pair inhabited the
' Banks,' a public wooded walk by the river
side, in the city of Durham, for nearly a
month. They were undoubtedly breeding
when they were shot by a miscreant. In
1866 several pairs bred near Barnard Castle,
and in 1901, many pairs about Wolsingham
and Stanhope.
51. Spotted Flycatcher. Muscicapa griso/a,
Linn.
A most abundant summer visitor. Found
anywhere from the end of April.
52. Swallow. Hirundo rustica, Linn.
Nothing can be more distressing to the
lover of nature, than the rapid diminution of
the swallow tribe within the last ten years.
Where there used to be fifty skimming about,
there are now but two or three. This year
there is scarcely a swallow to be seen in the
neighbourhood of the city of Durham. I am
at a loss to account for the disappearance, for
it is not from persecution on the spot, and the
reduction has been gradual. Perhaps it is
due to the awful slaughter of the returning
migrants on the south coast of France.
53. House-Martin. Chelidon urbica (Linn.).
Arrives generally a day or two later than
the swallow. Formerly most abundant, but
of late years becoming fewer and fewer, till
now in the eastern and central parts of the
county it is almost extinct. Ten years ago
it nested in numbers about the Cathedral
windows, and on many houses in and about
the city of Durham. This year there is not
one. The destructive instincts of urban
housemaids, but chiefly the seizure of its nests
by that avian rat, the house-sparrow, may
partly, but only partly, account for the
change.
54. Sand-Martin. Cattle riparia (Linn.).
Generally arrives a few days before its con-
geners. It seems to have maintained its num-
bers fairly, wherever there are suitable banks
for nesting.
55. Greenfinch. Ligurinus chloris (Linn.).
A common resident. Often seen in flocks
during the winter.
56. Hawfinch. C/3ccothraustesvulgaris,Pa\lzs.
Formerly a rare casual visitor, but of late
years steadily increasing, and that in all parts
of the county. In 1902 I knew of nests in
a garden near Durham, also in the most
secluded part of Upper Weardale, and in other
places too numerous to mention.
57. Goldfinch. Carduelis elegans, Stephens.
An occasional visitor, generally in autumn.
I have been unable to find any proof of its
having bred in the county, though it is said to
have done so near the Tees.
180
BIRDS
58. Siskin. Carduelis spinus (Linn.).
A regular winter visitor ; sometimes, but
rarely, remaining to breed. The nest and
eggs have been taken several times ; the first
recorded was at Brancepeth, 5 May, 1848.
I had a nest and four eggs from Weardale in
1874.
59. House-Sparrow. Passer domesticus (Linn.)
Everywhere, except on the moors, an in-
creasing nuisance.
60. Tree-Sparrow. Passer montanus (Linn.).
A constant resident in a few localities,
where it especially affects old trees. Always
to be found among the trees on the ' Banks '
of Durham city.
61. Chaffinch. Fringilla caflebs, Linn.
Common and universal. The females, and
apparently some of the males, leave us in
winter.
62. Brambling. Fringilla montifringilla, Linn.
A regular winter visitor, but in very varying
numbers ; in some seasons large flocks are
met with.
63. Linnet. L'nota cannabina (Linn.).
A common resident.
64. Meally Redpoll. Linata linaria (Linn.).
A frequent winter visitor.
65. Greenland Redpoll. Linota hornemanni.
Holboell.
The only recorded example from the
British Isles was taken on Whitburn
sea banks on 24 April, 1855. It had been
noticed flying about there for some days. It is
now in the Hancock Museum, Ncwcastle-on-
Tyne.
66. Lesser Redpoll. Linota rufescens (Vieillot).
Not very plentiful except at the seasons of
migration, but many are resident, and breed
in young plantations and thickets.
67. Twite. Linota flaviros tris (Linn.).
A resident on all our moors, where it breeds.
68. Bullfinch. Pyrrhula europtra, Vieillot.
A constant resident, but not very abundant.
69. Crossbill. Loxia curvirostrat Linn.
A constant resident in woods and fir planta-
tions in Weardale. It breeds as early as Feb-
ruary. It was first noticed as a nesting bird
in the county in 1838, but since then has
certainly increased.
70. Corn-Bunting. Emberiza mi/iaria, Linn.
Common and resident.
71. Yellow Hammer. Emberiza citrinellay
Linn.
Common and resident. Decreased much
in numbers of late years.
72. Little Bunting. Emberiza pusilla, Pallas.
The second recorded occurrence of this
Siberian wanderer in Britain was a male bird
taken at Bishop Auckland, II October, 1902
(Zoologist, 1902, p. 466).
73. Reed - Bunting. Emberiza schatniclus,
Linn.
Resident. Not uncommon by streams and
in marshes.
74. Snow - Bunting. Plectrophanes nivalis
(Linn.).
A regular winter visitor, often in large
flocks.
75. Lapland Bunting. Plectrophanes lapponicus
(Linn.).
An accidental winter visitor. One was
shot in January 1860, out of a flock of
snow-buntings close to Durham, and is now
in our Museum.
76. Starling. Sturnus vu/garis, Linn.
Most abundant. Has enormously increased
of late years. Its numbers diminish in
winter.
77. Rose-coloured Starling. Pastor roseus
(Linn.).
An accidental wanderer. More than a
dozen instances of its capture in the county
have been reported in the last few years.
78. Jay. Garrulus glandarius (Linn.).
The misdirected energies of the game-
keeper have all but exterminated the jay in
the eastern and central parts of the county,
where in the memory of man it was not
uncommon. A few may be seen in Wear-
dale and in Raby Park.
79. Magpie. Pica rustica (Scopoli).
The magpie, like the jay, has almost dis-
appeared, and from the same cause. Very
occasionally a brood may be raised in some
sequestered wood.
80. Jackdaw. Corvus montdula, Linn.
Abundant, though not so numerous as ten
years ago.
181
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
81. Raven. Corvus corax, Linn.
Never now seen, save as a chance wan-
derer. Within my memory bred in several
places, but the native race has been utterly
exterminated.
82. Carrion-Crow. Corvus carone, Linn.
Very rare except on the moors, where it
may occasionally be seen.
83. Hooded Crow. Corvus cornlx, Linn.
Very common in winter, especially on the
sea coast.
84. Rook. Corvus frugilegus. Linn.
Abundant in every wooded domain.
85. Sky-Lark. Alauda arvensis. Linn.
Common in spring, but in rapidly diminish-
ing numbers. Many migrants from the
north visit in late autumn.
86. Wood-Lark. Alauda arbor ea, Linn.
I know only of one instance of its capture
in the county. A pair were shot at Swal-
well in March 1844, and are now in the
Hancock Museum, Newcastle.
87. Shore-Lark. Otocorys alpestris (Linn.).
An irregular winter visitant. Several
were captured in 1855, 1857, ant^ 1867.
In the winter of 1870—71, four specimens
were taken on Seaton Snook, and several
others seen.
88. Swift. Cypselus afus (Linn.).
This charming bird was very common
twenty years ago, but alas, is now really
rare. Formerly at least twenty pair nested
in the western towers of Durham Cathedral ;
but during a so-called restoration every resort
of the swift, as of the barn-owl, was carefully
plastered up, and not a bird remains. One
solitary pair were the only ones left in the
city or vicinity in 1903.
89. Nightjar. Caprimulgus europ&us, Linn.
Not a very uncommon summer visitor,
especially on our western moorlands. In the
summer of 1862 a pair nested in a corner of
Greatham churchyard, not far from the
coast.
90. Wryneck. Jynx torquilla. Linn.
Only an occasional visitor, though it has
been known to breed several times in the
county.
91. Green Woodpecker. Gecinus viridis
(Linn.).
Formerly common, now rare. It still
breeds in a few woods and parks, as at Raby.
92. Great Spotted Woodpecker. Dendro-
copus major (Linn.).
Occasionally met with at all times of the
year in the wooded parts of the county, and
breeds regularly in some few localities.
93. Kingfisher. Alcedo ispida, Linn.
In spite of relentless persecution the king-
fisher maintains its existence, though in
diminishing numbers, on all our rivers and
streams.
94. Roller. Coradas garru/us, Linn.
A rare accidental visitor. One was taken
in 1847 on the Tees, and another by Mr.
Gornall at Bishop Auckland, 25 May, 1872.
95. Hoopoe. Upupa epops, Linn.
A rare accidental visitor. Mr. T. H. Nel-
son has one obtained by the late Mr. Gornall
of Bishop Auckland, and Mr. Cullingford had
one which was killed near Durham twenty
years ago.
96. Cuckoo. Cuculus canorus, Linn.
A common spring visitor, universally dis-
tributed. Arrives about the middle of April.
97. White or Barn-Owl. Strix flammea,
Linn.
A resident species, formerly common, now
becoming rare.
98. Long-eared Owl. Asia otus (Linn.).
A resident in wooded districts, but threat-
ened with extermination by gamekeepers.
99. Short -eared Owl. A»o accipitrinus
(Pallas).
Generally an autumnal visitor, but some
remain on the moors throughout the year.
It has been known occasionally to breed. I
once took a nestling which I kept alive for
two years. In the year of the visitation of
field voles this owl was very common.
Their numbers vary greatly in different
years.
100. Tawny Owl. Syrnium aluco (Linn.).
The least rare of all the owls. A perma-
nent resident. Two or three pairs frequent
the ' Banks ' in the city of Durham, nesting
in ivy-clad trees in the gardens close to the
houses. Two years ago a pair bred in the
garden of the Rev. Dr. Greenwell. He was
in the habit of feeding them daily, and on
leaving home charged his servant to feed them
every evening. On his return after some
weeks, the servant told him she had set por-
ridge regularly for the owls, and that they
had always eaten it. On his exclaiming
182
BIRDS
' Nonsense ! ' and going to the tree, he found
abundance of pellets, showing that the por-
ridge had been a successful bait for the rats
and mice and saved the owls the trouble of
going far afield.
101. Tengmalm's Owl. Nycta/a tengmalmi
(J. F. Gmelin).
An accidental visitor. One was taken at
Whitburn, n October, 1848, now in the
Hancock Museum. Several others have been
reported since that date.
The Scops Owl, Seeps giu (Scopoli), has been
set down as occurring in Durham but with-
out sufficient evidence.
102. Snowy Owl. Nyctea xandiaca (Linn.).
One was shot near Bishop Auckland on
7 November, 1858.
103. Marsh-Harrier. Circus * ruginesus(L,\nn.).
Formerly resident, and nesting. Now ex-
terminated. The last bird of which I have
heard was in 1840. In my youth I have
several times taken the nest.
104. Hen-Harrier. Circus cyaneus (Linn.).
Common and bred regularly in certain
localities till about the year 1876. Now
only an accidental visitor.
Circus
cmeracem
105. Montagu's Harrier.
(Montagu).
Formerly a resident breeding, but now
extinct. The last known nest was in 1835.
Three or four specimens have been taken in
the last fifty years.
106. Common Buzzard. Buteevu/garis,L,each.
Locally— Glede.
Now a rare occasional straggler. Within
living memory it regularly bred in many
parts of the county, but has been exterminated
by game preservers aided by egg collectors.
I remember, when a boy, having taken three
nests of four eggs each, in one season, I think
in 1 834, none of the nests being a mile apart.
107. Rough-legged Buzzard. But to lagopus
(J. F. Gmelin).
A rare winter visitor. One in Newcastle
Museum was taken by the late G. T. Fox at
Marsden. Several were shot on the Tees,
and one at Bishop Auckland in 1840. I
only know of one other instance since that
date. The late Raph Carr Ellison of Hedge-
ley informed me that in the seventies a solitary
rough-legged buzzard took up its quarters for
three winters running, in the woods close to
his house. Being a keen naturalist, the bird
was strictly preserved by him, and never left
the place, which swarmed with rabbits. I
saw the bird myself on one occasion.
1 08. Golden Eagle. Aquila chrysaftus (Linn.).
We have no record of the golden eagle
nesting in this county, though it bred in North-
umberland on Cheviot as late as about 1760.
It is now the rarest of casual visitors. One
in first year's plumage was seen by me, as
mentioned in the introduction, on Kilhope
Fell. Seldom a year passes but there is a
statement in the newspapers of an eagle being
seen, generally near the coast, but of which
species cannot be ascertained.
109. White-tailed or Sea Eagle. Haliaftus
albicilla (Linn.).
A very rare visitor. A specimen was shot
on the Tees on 5 November, 1823. Mr.
Hancock observed closely a bird of this species
in Lambton Park for several days. It went
thence on to Ravensworth, where it remained
for some time, and finally departed unharmed.
no. Goshawk. Astur palumbarius (Linn.).
Does not seem ever in historic times to
have been a resident. It is now the rarest of
occasional visitors to the county. One, a female,
shot in Castle Eden Dene in 1872, and which
I saw in the flesh, now in the possession of
Col. Rowland Burdon, is the only unquestioned
instance I can find.
111. Sparrow-Hawk. Accipittr nisus (Linn.).
Very rarely to be seen. In Upper Wear-
dale, and in woods near the Tees, a few pairs
have hitherto escaped destruction.
112. Kite. Milvus ictinus, Savigny.
Locafy—Rcd Glebe.
Formerly bred in our woods. Now extinct.
Three were shot at Bishop Auckland in 1834,
one of which is in Newcastle Museum. I
have heard of one or two instances in later
years of its occurrence near Stockton.
113. Honey-Buzzard. Pernis apivorus (Linn.).
Occurs not infrequently on spring and
autumn migration. Though it is known to
have bred in Northumberland, I cannot ascer-
tain that the nest has ever been taken in
Durham.
Falco pertgrinus.
114. Peregrine Falcon.
Tunstall.
Stated by Selby eighty years ago to be 'not
uncommon.' Up to 1860 it bred near
Weardale Head. The late Mr. Rowland
Burdon, of Castle Eden, has often pointed out
183
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
to me the niche in the cliff above Gunner's
Pool in Castle Eden Dene, where the pere-
grine annually bred in his boyhood (circ.
1810), strictly preserved by his father. When
the falcons disappeared the little platform was
taken possession of by a pair of kestrels, and
for many years the kestrels reared their young
there. Now the peregrine is seen occasionally
on the coast and rarely on the moors, in any
case only a passing stranger.
115. Hobby. Falco subbuteo. Linn.
A casual visitor, but has frequently occurred.
Mr. Hogg mentions one shot at Norton ;
Mr. Hancock had one taken in Streatlam
Park ; a specimen in Durham Museum was
shot at Thornley, in November 1822, and I
obtained one at Greatham in 1868. It has
been stated, though without sufficient proof,
to have nested in Streatlam Park.
1 1 6. Merlin. Falco aesalon, Tunstall.
This beautiful little falcon was formerly
one of the most interesting objects on all our
moors, where it bred regularly among the
heather or the rocks. It is now but rarely
seen, owing to the exterminator, the game-
keeper. There may be a few pairs on the
Weardale moors, but I have not seen any of
late years.
117. Red-footed Falcon. Falco vespertinus,
Linn.
Once recorded from the county; a specimen,
now in Newcastle Museum, in full male
plumage, having been shot near South Shields
in October 1836.
1 1 8. Kestrel. Falco tinnunculus, Linn.
The commonest of our raptorial birds,
though vastly reduced in numbers within the
last fifty years. Some intelligent game pre-
servers, recognising its value, have forbidden
its destruction. I once met a gamekeeper
who had just killed a kestrel, averring that its
crop was full of young partridges. We opened
it — it contained 127 wire-worms. The
keeper was silent.
119. Osprey. Pandion haliaftus (Linn.).
A rare occasional visitor, and probably
never resident. One, now in the Newcastle
Museum, was taken near Heworth on 23 Sep-
tember, 1841. Another was shot at Aldin
Grange, near the city of Durham, on 22 Oc-
tober, 1883.
1 2O. Cormorant. Pbalacrocorax carboa, Linn.
Frequent on the coast. Does not now
breed in the county. Many years ago it
nested on Marsden rocks. It often ascends
the rivers many miles into the interior.
121. Shag or Green Cormorant. Pbalacrocorax
graculus (Linn.).
Not uncommon on the coast, but not so
frequent as the former species.
122. Gannet or Solan Goose. Sula bassana
(Linn.).
Frequently seen on the coast, occasionally
far inland.
123. Heron. Ardea cinerea. Linn.
The only remaining heronryin the county
is that in the park of Raby Castle. There
was formerly another at Ravensworth, the
seat of the Earl of Ravensworth, but some of
the trees having been cut down the whole
colony forsook the neighbourhood, and took
to an island in Lake Derwentwater, where
they nested on the brushwood. In the
beginning of the nineteenth century there
were heronries near Sedgefield and Gainford.
1 24. Little Bittern. Ardetta minuta (Linn.).
Is recorded as having once been taken at
Stanhope in 1869 (Zoologist, 1884, p. 101),
though it has occurred several times in North-
umberland and frequently in Yorkshire.
The squacco heron Ardea ralloides, Scopoli,
is said by Seebohm to have occurred once in
Durham, but I have been unable to verify
this statement. Mr. Saunders (Yarrell, iv.
196) mentions Durham as an accidental
locality for the night-heron Nycticorax griseus
(Linn.). I think this is doubtful.
125. Bittern. Botaurus stellarls (Linn.).
The bittern was a resident in some marshy
districts within living memory. It is now
only an irregular winter visitor, but always
late, generally in the month of February. An
aged fowler told me some forty years ago,
that in his youth a pair always bred in Cowpen
marshes, near Stockton. One was shot there
in January 1901. Several have been taken
near the Tees.
126. Black Stork. Ciconla mgra (Linn.).
One morning in August, 1862, my children
came running into my study at Greatham
Vicarage, to tell me a black stork was walk-
ing about in the Seaton fields. (They were
familiar with the bird, as a mounted specimen
stood in the hall.) I went out and watched
the bird for an hour, marching about in a
swampy meadow. The next morning it was
still there, but was shot in the afternoon by a
man from Hartlepool. It is now in the
Hartlepool Museum.
184
BIRDS
127. Glossy Ibis. Plegadisfalcinellus(Linn.).
The only occurrence of this occasional
straggler to our coasts, was one shot at Billing-
ham, near Stockton on 25 November, 1900.
128. Grey Lag-Goose. Anser cinereus, Meyer.
Generally occurs in the marshes near Tees-
mouth in winter, but in very small numbers.
The scarcest of all our familiar wild geese,
though for thirteen years that I lived close to
the marshes seldom a season passed without
one specimen at least being brought to me.
in twelve years by the gunners on Cowpen
Marsh. None of them showed any signs of
having been in captivity.]
135. Whooper Swan. Cygmu musicus, Bech-
stein.
Frequently taken, especially in hard winters,
on the coast.
1 29. White-fronted Goose.
(Scopoli).
A not uncommon winter visitor on the
coast, especially in hard weather. Seldom in
any large number.
130. Bean-Goose. Amer segetum (J. F.
Gmelin).
The most abundant of all our geese in
winter, arriving early in November. They
often come far inland to feed, but always
roost by the sea shore.
136. Bewick's Swan. Cygmu bewicki. Yarrell.
By no means so rare as is frequently sup-
posed. It visits us irregularly in hard winters,
sometimes in flocks. Three were taken to-
Anser albifrons gether at Blaydon in February 1887.
131. Pink-footed Goose. Anser brachyrhynchus
Baillon.
Frequent in winter on our coast and in the
estuary of the Tees.
132. Red-breasted Goose. Bernicla ruficollit
(Pallas).
The first two specimens of this bird known
to have occurred were taken at the beginning
of the year 1776. One shot near London,
which came into the possession of Mr. Tun-
stall, is now with the rest of the WycliflFe
Museum in Newcastle Museum, and is figured
by Bewick ; the other was taken alive on the
Tees, and lived for nine years with ducks on
a pond near Mr. TunstalPs residence. One
is stated to have been shot in 1845 m Cowpen
Marsh, which has produced so many rarities,
by Mr. J. Hikely, and two are said to have
been seen the same year on the Tees.
133. Bernacle Goose. Bernicla leucopsis
(Bechstein).
A winter visitor. Not so common as the
brent.
134. Brent Goose. Bernicla brenta (Pallas).
A common autumn and winter visitor to
the coast.
[Egyptian Goose. Cbenalopex tegyptiacus
(Linn.).
Shot several times on the coast, never inland.
Three were brought to me at different times
137. Mute Swan. Cygmu olor (J. F. Gmelin).
Not unfrequently shot in winter. These
may very possibly be wild birds from their
northern homes in Sweden and Denmark.
138. Common Sheldrake. Tadorna carnuto
(S. G. Gmelin).
Formerly a well-known breeding species on
the sandhills and rabbit warrens by the coast,
especially about Seaton and Teesmouth. Sixty
years ago there were several pair in the rabbit
warren of Middleton, now in the heart of
West Hartlepool. The bird is now only an
occasional straggler, though in Northumber-
land it still breeds.
139. Ruddy Sheldrake. Tadorna casarca
(Linn.).
The only recorded occurrence is the appear-
ance of a small flock in the interior of the
county, one of which was shot and brought
to Mr. Cullingford for preservation on 23 Sep-
tember, 1892.
140. Mallard or Wild Duck. Anas boscbas,
Linn.
Still found in all suitable localities. In
many, a breeding species.
141. Shoveller. Spatula clypeata (Linn.).
A rather scarce spring and autumn migrant,
sometimes breeding. A pair nested at Sal-
holme in 1 88 1. (Zoologist, 1882, p. 90.)
142. Pintail. Dafila aceta (Linn.).
A rather scarce winter visitor. Said to have
formerly bred in the county.
143. Teal. Querquedula cricca (Linn.).
A resident. Still breeds in small numbers
in Upper Weardale and Teesdale.
144. Garganey. Querquedula cireia (Linn.).
A rare visitor. One was shot in Cowpen
Marsh on 3 September, 1882.
185
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
145. Wigeon. Mareca penelope (Linn.).
A common autumn and winter visitor.
146. Pochard. Fuligula ferlna (Linn.).
Frequently met with throughout the winter.
Said to breed here occasionally, but I have no
certain proof, though it breeds sometimes in
North Yorkshire and Northumberland.
147. Ferruginous Duck. Fuligula nyroca,
(GUldenstadt.).
Has been shot twice at the mouth of the
Tees.
148. Tufted Duck. Fuligula cristata (Leach).
A not very common winter visitor, though
breeding in Northumberland. A pair shot at
Elton, near Stockton, by Mr. Sutton.
149. Scaup-Duck. Fuligula marila (Linn.).
Abundant in winter on the coast.
150. Goldeneye. Clangula glaucion (Linn.).
A common winter visitor on the coast,
generally females or young.
151. Long-tailed Duck. Harelda glacialis,
(Linn.).
Occuis frequently on the coast in winter.
Many were shot at Teesmouth in 1887.
152. Eider Duck. Somateria mo/lisstma(Linn.').
Though largely increased, owing to protec-
tion in its breeding places in Northumberland,
it is only a winter straggler to the Durham
coast.
153. Common Scoter. (Edemia nigra (Linn.).
Common in winter on the coast.
154. Velvet-Scoter. (Edemia fusca (Linn.).
An irregular winter visitor, often in com-
pany with the common scoter. On the Tees
one was taken 18 October, 1881, and another
19 November, 1889. These were early visi-
tors.
155. Goosander. Mergus merganser, Linn.
A not uncommon winter visitor, often found
some distance up our rivers, and on inland
tarns. One was taken lately on the Wear in
the city of Durham.
156. Red-breasted Merganser. Mergus $er-
rator, Linn.
Scarcely so common as the last species, nor
does it habitually go so far inland, but found
every winter.
157. Smew. Mergus albellus, Linn.
An irregular and rare visitor. In the winter
of 1869—70 two males in full plumage were
taken in the city of Durham, and one at Bishop
Auckland in January 1838. All those that I
have known of have been taken inland.
158. Ring-Dove or Wood-Pigeon. Columba
palumbus, Linn.
A permanent resident, rapidly increasing.
In autumn its numbers are recruited by large
flocks from the north.
159. Stock-Dove. Columba anas, Linn.
Formerly utterly unknown in the north.
Its first recorded appearance was at Elton in
1862 or 1863. In 1867 and perhaps a year
or two earlier it bred there. It was first
noticed in Castle Eden Dene on 26 October,
1869. The specimen is now in Durham
Museum. In 1871 it bred in Castle Eden
Dene, as well as at Elton, and close to Dur-
ham. Since then it has spread over the whole
county as a spring and summer migrant. It
nests regularly in the ' Banks ' in the city of
Durham. I should mention that the Wear
forms a peninsula, and on both sides is the
city. The banks of the river are steep and
well wooded, with many old gardens sloping
to the water's edge. The stock-dove nests
in the old trees and in drains. There were
seven nests in 1902. A pair have regularly
laid their eggs in a drain in the centre of the
Prebends' Bridge, entering by a gurgoyle
quite out of the reach of boys. Another
took possession of a drain by the side of the
cathedral, entering by a similar gurgoyle in
the face of the cliff, and made their nest
immediately under a grating in the middle of
the gravel walk in the monks' garden. The
eggs were swept away by a thunder shower.
1 60. Rock-Dove. Columba Kvia,].F. Gmelin.
Breeds in decreasing numbers in Marsden
Rocks, and occasionally in the Blackball
Rocks near Castle Eden.
161. Turtle-Dove. Turlur communis, Selby.
Formerly unknown save as an occasional
straggler. Now a few are found every spring,
and 1 have reason to believe have bred at
Castle Eden, and near Sedgefield and Wol-
singham.
162. Pallas's Sand-Grouse. Syrrhaptes para-
doxus (Pallas).
This sand-grouse, first observed in Britain
in 1859, did not occur in Durham till the
great irruption of 1863. From the month
of May to July many were seen and taken
on the coast, on the sandhills of Seaton, and
Cowpen marshes. I saw a flock of nearly
twenty for several days, but I regret to say
186
BIRDS
most of them were shot. Another irruption,
during which numbers were shot all over the
county, was in the spring of 1888, when
Mr. Cullingford had over sixty specimens
brought to him.
163. Black Grouse. Tetrao tetrix, Linn.
Locally — M oor- fo wl .
Formerly very abundant, and found in
every suitable part of the county. Now re-
stricted to a few wild localities in the west of
the county, where its numbers are every year
diminishing, chiefly from the indiscriminate
slaughter of the hens by strangers who hire
the shooting for a year. In the leases of the
Prior and Monks of Durham in the fourteenth
century we find conditions of supplying so
many moor-fowl a year. The grandfather of
the present Rowland Burden, of Castle Eden,
used to shoot black game on his estate close
to the sea a hundred and twenty years ago.
164. Red Grouse. Lagopus scoticus (Latham).
Abundant on the moors in the west. The
Durham and North Yorkshire moors are said
to be the best stocked in the country, and the
birds are decidedly heavier than the Scottish
ones. A hundred years ago grouse still lin-
gered on the patches of heath and moorland
in the east of the county, as at Hartbushes
near Castle Eden.
165. Pheasant. Phasianus coichicus. Linn.
Universal wherever preserved. Generally
shews traces of the ringnecked species.
1 66. Partridge. Perdix cinertat Latham.
Plentiful in ordinary seasons.
167. Red-legged Partridge. Caccabis rufa
(Linn.).
A rare accidental straggler. Breeds in the
East Riding of Yorkshire. A number were
turned out by Prince Duleep Singh when he
leased Mulgrave Castle, and since then they
are occasionally shot north of the Tees, as at
Elton.
1 68. Quail. Coturntx communis, Bonnaterre.
An irregular spring and summer visitor,
occasionally nesting. In the year 1868 a
brood of at least eight was raised in a meadow
at Greatham. Two young birds were shot
in September. The remainder I have every
reason to believe got away safely, but none
returned the next year.
169. Corn Crake, or Land-rail. Crex fra-
tensii, Bechstein.
A regular spring and summer visitor, but
much diminished of late years.
170. Spotted Crake. Porzana maruetta
(Leach).
A summer visitor, less rare than is com-
monly supposed. It has not unfrequently
nested in different parts of the county — near
Durham city, and for several years on Bolden
Flats. It has been taken as late as 19 No-
vember.
171. Baillon's Crake. Porzana bailtoni
(Vieillot).
One specimen shot on the banks of the
Derwent, 12 July, 1874. Bewick mentions
the capture of the ' little crake,' but there
are no means now of ascertaining the species.
172. Water-Rail. Ral/us aquaticus, Linn.
Not uncommon in suitable localities.
Breeds occasionally.
173. Moor Hen, or Water Hen. Gallinula
chloropus (Linn.).
Very abundant. Resident throughout the
year.
174. Coot. Ful'tca atra, Linn.
By no means uncommon. Inhabits our
larger ponds and tarns.
175. Pratincole. Glareola pratincola. Linn.
The only instance on record is one taken
at Stanhope on 10 July, 1876.
176. Stone-Curlew. CEdicnemui scohpax (S.
G. Gmelin).
A rare accidental visitor. One was taken
near South Shields on 4 February, 1864, and
another at Teesmouth on 1 1 January, 1901.
177. Dotterel. Eudromias morinellus (Linn).
Passes every year in some numbers both at
spring and autumn migration. It is said to
have bred formerly on Kilhope, but not in my
memory.
178. Ringed Plover. /Egialitis hiaticula (Linn.).
A resident by the sea shore, where it
breeds on gravelly beaches.
179. Golden Plover. Charadrius p/uvia/is,
Linn.
A resident on the moorlands in the west,
where it breeds. In winter common by the
sea shore along with the lapwing.
1 80. Grey Plover. Squatarola helvetica (Linn.).
Not uncommon, chiefly on the coasts in
winter, but occurs at other seasons. In the
collection at Elton is a specimen in full
summer dress, shot there by Mr. Sutton.
Mr. Hancock mentions several other instances.
187
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
1 8 1. Lapwing or Peewit. Vanellui vulgaris,
Bechstein.
Locally — Peesweep.
Common in the east, though in sadly
diminishing numbers. In the wilder parts of
the county very abundant.
182. Turnstone. Strepsilas interpret (Linn.).
A regular visitor to the coast.
183. Oyster-catcher. Hamatopus ostralegus,
Linn.
Not uncommon on the coast. Breeds here
occasionally.
184. Avocet. Recurvirostra avocetta, Linn.
Saunders' edition of Yarrell mentions its
having been taken two or three times at
Teesmouth. I have not been able to find
the authority. It has been taken at Hartley,
but that is in Northumberland.
185. Grey Phalarope. Phalaroptu Julicarius
(Linn.).
An irregular visitor on the coast. Two
taken in 1824 at Haverton Hill are mentioned
by Hogg.
1 86. Woodcock. Scclopax rusticula, Linn.
Has for over ten years bred in the county
and does so still, but the number shot have
considerably diminished of late years. Two
years ago there was a nest close to Durham
city.
187. Great Snipe. Gallinago major (J. F.
Gmelin).
Rarely an autumn passes without one or
more specimens being recorded. Selby men-
tions their appearance in 1826. I possess a
specimen, adult, shot in that autumn by Lord
Barrington's keeper at Sedgefield.
1 88. Common Snipe. Gallinago ccelestis
(Frenzel).
Still breeds in a few favoured and undrained
localities. By far the larger number are
migrants.
189. Jack Snipe. Gallinago galllnula (Linn.).
A regular autumn and winter visitor, but
in small numbers.
190. Pectoral Sandpiper. Tringa maculata,
Vieillot.
Accidental. Has been recorded three
times, from Hartlepool, Teesmouth, and
Bishop Auckland.
191. Dunlin. Tringa alfiina, Linn
In large numbers on the coast in winter.
Formerly bred on the moors in the west, and
possibly does so still in small numbers.
192. Little Stint. Tringa minuta, Leisler.
A rare visitor on its autumnal migration,
generally in September.
193. Temminck's Stint. Tringa temminci,
Leisler.
A very rare autumnal visitor. Has been
taken in the estuary of the Tees.
194. Curlew-Sandpiper. Tringa subarnuata
(Gttldenstadt).
In small numbers on the sea shore and
estuaries in winter, often in company with
dunlins.
195. Purple Sandpiper. Tringa striata,
Linn.
Occurs occasionally on the sea shore in
autumn and winter.
196. Knot. Tringa canutas, Linn.
A fairly common autumnal migrant. A
few remain on the coast through the winter.
197. Sanderling. Calidrii armaria (Linn.).
Common on the coast in autumn and
winter, especially in October. It has been
shot several times in June in full summer
plumage at Seaton and Teesmouth.
198. Ruff and Reeve. Machetes pugnax
(Linn.).
Now a rare and uncertain visitor. Bred in
Northumberland up to 1853, and said on
reliable authority to have formerly nested on
Bolden Flats. Was taken in Cowpen Marsh
on 3 September, 1881.
199. Common Sandpiper. Totanus hypoleucus
(Linn.).
A regular spring and autumn migrant,
breeding in suitable localities.
ZOO. Wood Sandpiper. Totanus glareola
(J. F. Gmelin).
A rare and uncertain autumn migrant.
201. Green Sandpiper. Totanus ochropus
(Linn.).
A rare and irregular visitor, generally inland.
Has been recorded from Hilton Castle, Octo-
ber, 1830; Streatlam Park, 1838; Elton,
1 88 ? Castle Eden Dene, 1860 ; Bishop
Auckland, 1849; Mainsforth, 1903.
188
202. Redshank. Totanus calidris (Linn).
Common in winter ; a few remain through-
out the year, but their former nesting resorts
are now drained. I am assured a few still
nest in Upper Weardalc.
203. Spotted Redshank. Totanus fusau
(Linn.).
An accidental straggler, recorded from
Blanchland 12 August, 1840, also Jarrow and
Elton, dates uncertain.
204. Greenshank. Totanus canescens (J. F.
Gmelin).
Occurs occasionally at spring and autumn
migration. Taken at Castle Eden and Elton.
205. Bar-tailed Godwit. Limosa lapponica
(Linn.).
Not uncommon in autumn on the coast.
A few occur occasionally in winter and
spring.
206. Black-tailed Godwit. Limosa tegtcepbala
(Linn.).
A rare visitor on autumnal and vernal
migration. I find no trace of its ever having
nested in the county.
207. Curlew. Numenius arquata (Linn.).
Local — Whaup.
Resident. Many breed on the moors in
the west. In winter great numbers frequent
the sea shore and marshes.
208. Whimbrel. Numenius phaopus (Linn.).
Spends the winter regularly on the coast in
small parties, frequenting the salt marshes of
Cowpen.
209. Black Tern. Hydrochelidon nigra, Linn.
An occasional visitor. Specimens are in
the Castle Eden and Elton local collections.
One was taken in the Tees, 7 August, 1886.
210. White-winged Black Tern. Hydro-
ckelidon leucoptera, Schinz.
Once obtained at Port Clarence,Teesmouth,
on 1 5 May (year unknown), now in the New-
castle Museum.
211. Sandwich Tern. Sterna cantiaca,]. F.
Gmelin.
Not infrequent in summer, as numbers breed
in Northumberland.
BIRDS
213.
Sterna macrura. Nau-
Arctic Tern.
mann.
Common in summer and early autumn.
214. Little Tern. Sterna minuta, Linn.
A summer visitor, rather rare.
215. Sabine's Gull. Xema sabinii, J. Sabine.
One was shot at Seaham Harbour on
IO October, 1879, and is now in Newcastle
Museum.
2 1 6. Little Gull. Larus minutus, Pallas.
An almost regular autumn and winter
visitor, occurring in most local collections.
I had three specimens brought to me from
Cowpen Marsh in different years. Mr. Abel
Chapman shot one in 1886, at Whitburn, as
early as 28 August.
217. Black-headed Gull. Larui ridlbundm,
Linn.
Very common, though it has no breeding
place left in the county. Comes far inland,
and may be seen following the plough thirty
miles from the coast.
218. Common Gull. Larus canui, Linn.
Abundant, and resident throughout the year,
but does not breed in the district.
219. Herring Gull.
Gmelin.
Larus argentatuSy J. F.
A non-breeding resident.
Abundant.
Larus fui
220. Lesser black-backed Gull.
Linn.
A very common species. Resident through-
out the year, but breeding in Northumberland.
221. Great black-backed Gull. Larus marinus,
Linn.
Not abundant, but always to be found off
the coast in winter.
222. Glaucous Gull. Larus g/aucus, Fabricius.
A not very rare winter visitor, generally
in immature plumage.
223. Kittiwake. Rissa tridactyla, Linn.
Common throughout the year, but has no
breeding station.
224. Ivory Gull. Pagopbila eburnea, Phipps.
A specimen in immature plumage was taken
at Seaton Carew in February 1837, and is
now in Sunderland Museum.
212. Common Tern. Sterna fluviati/is, 225
Naumann.
In summer, but not so abundant as the
Arctic tern.
Great Skua. Stercorarius catarrbactes,
Linn.
A rare winter visitor. One was captured
off the Tees on 14 October, 1887.
189
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
226. Pomatorhine Skua. Stercorarius poma-
torbinus, Temminck.
Occurs not unfrequently, especially in the
estuary of the Tees.
227. Arctic or Richardson's Skua. Sterco-
rarius crepidatus, J. F. Gmelin.
Frequent on the coast, chiefly in early
winter.
228. Long-tailed or Buffon's Skua. Sterco-
rarius parasitictu, Linn.
Occasionally in winter. At Whitburn in
1837. Several off the Tees in 1879. I know
of five other specimens trken in the county,
dates uncertain.
[Great Auk. Aha impennis, Linn.
Though we have every reason to believe
that the great auk was taken in Northumber-
land in the early part or middle of the
eighteenth century (Hancock, Birds of North-
umber land and Durham, p. 165), yet there is
no trace of it in Durham in historic times.
But it may claim a place here, from the dis-
covery in the spring of 1878, in one of the
seaworn caves in the face of the Whitburn
Lizards, of the remains of the great auk. The
birds had evidently been eaten by man, for
many human bones, including five skulls,
were found in the caves, as well as those of
all our domestic animals, and of the red deer,
roe, badger, marten-cat, and many others.
The bones are now in the Newcastle Museum.
See Nat. Hist. Trans,, Nortbumb., vii. 361,
Mff.]
229. Razorbill. Aha torda, Linn.
Common on the coast throughout the year.
230. Common Guillemot. Una troile, Linn.
Abundant at all seasons, but, like the razor-
bill, not breeding in our limits.
231. Black Guillemot. Uria grylle, Linn.
Occurs only in winter. Not uncommon.
232. Little Auk. Mergulm alle, Linn.
An uncertain winter visitor, sometimes
arriving in great numbers. One of these
irruptions was in October 1841, when hun-
dreds appeared off Hartlepool and the Tees,
and many were picked up far inland. An-
other invasion was on 5 December, 1895
to January 1896, when between thirty to
forty specimens were brought to Mr. Culling-
ford, Durham Museum, of which one at least
was picked up dead in the city.
233. Puffin. Fratercula arctica, Linn.
Common on the coast. Resident, but has
no breeding stations.
234. Great Northern Diver. Coiymbus gla-
cialis, Linn.
Occasional in winter. Seldom a season
passes without one or two being taken at
Teesmouth. Its occurrence in summer plum-
age is very rare.
235. Black-throated Diver. Colymbus arcticus,
Linn.
More frequent than the last. One was
captured on the Wear, near Durham city, in
full summer dress.
236. Red-throated Diver. Colymbus septen-
trionalis, Linn.
Not uncommon in winter, and occurs at
other seasons. I have had three specimens
from Cowpen Marsh in nuptial dress.
237. Great Crested Grebe. Podicipes cristatus,
Linn.
A rare straggler, only on the coast. One
at Elton, another taken at Teesmouth,
12 January, 1901.
238. Red-necked Grebe. Podicipes griseigena,
Boddaert.
An occasional winter visitor. There are
specimens in all our local museums, but with-
out dates. Off the Tees, 19 November, 1892.
239. Slavonian Grebe. Podicipes auritus,l,mn.
Not uncommon in winter. Hogg mentions
one near Stockton in 1823, but of late years
it has been frequently taken.
240. Eared Grebe. Podicipes nigricollis, Bre.
A very rare visitor. I only know of one
Durham specimen, in Mr. Sutton's collection.
241. Little Grebe or Dabchick. Podicipes
fluviatilis, Tunstall.
Still breeds on the Tees, and occasionally
on tarns and ponds throughout the county,
generally distributed.
242. Storm-Petrel. Procellaria pelagica, Linn.
Not unfrequently found after a storm, and
has been picked up dead some distance inland.
In December 1895 and January 1896 many
were taken. One was picked up dead in an
inn yard in the city of Durham.
243. Leach's Fork-tailed Petrel. Oceano-
droma leucorrhoa, Vieillot.
Accidental. One specimen washed ashore
north of Hartlepool, date uncertain.
190
BIRDS
244. Great Shearwater.
Fabri.
Puffinus major,
One captured off the Tees, January or
February 1874. A few years ago one was
picked up dead about the same place and
brought to Mr. Cullingford, Durham Museum.
Puffinus griseus, J. F.
245. Sooty Shearwater.
Gmelin.
A single specimen shot on the Tees off
Redcar. (Zoologist, 1884, p. 147.) The
first recorded British example was shot at the
mouth of the Tees in August, 1828 (Proc.
Zoo/. Soc., 1832, p. 129), described by Strick-
land.
246. Manx Shearwater. Puffinus anglorum,
Temminck.
An occasional visitor in winter. Has
occurred at Castle Eden, Hartlepool, and
Seaton Carew.
247. Fulmar. Fulmarus giaeialis, Linn.
A rare winter visitor. Has been obtained
five times of late years on our coast.
191
MAMMALS
The varied surface of the county of Durham offers, or has
offered in the past, congenial haunts for most of the British mammals.
In the western part of the county the extensive moorlands and the
secluded and wooded valleys have served as retreats for some of the
wilder species ; and though the coal mining and other industries have
had, from the naturalist's point of view, an unfavourable influence on the
eastern part, this has not been the case to nearly the extent that might
have been expected. The coast line also enriches the fauna by the
addition of a number of marine mammals, whilst the operations in caves
and bogs, and in the dredging of the larger rivers, have brought to light
many interesting evidences of the former presence of animals which have
long since disappeared from the district. The paucity of records for the
county of Durham in comparison with those for many other counties is
regrettable. An excellent summary of the known facts relating to the
mammal fauna up to the year 1863 is given in the catalogue by Messrs.
Mennell and Perkins1; but since that time very little systematic observa-
tion has apparently been attempted. An especially interesting field for
investigation is presented by the local bats, to which hardly any critical
attention has been paid for many years. A few points regarding particular
animals are worthy of special note. The wild cat (Fe/is catus) appears to
have survived in the county until about fifty years ago ; the pine marten
(Mustela martes) and polecat (Putorius putorius) have only been exterminated
within comparatively few years, and recent occurrences in the neighbour-
ing counties even render it not altogether improbable that one or both
may yet stray within the borders again ; the old English black rat is
almost certainly still in existence in one or two towns within the county.
In reference to the cetaceans, it is a curious fact that while I am only able
to record five species for this county, at least double the number have been
obtained on the coast between the Tyne and the Tweed.
CHEIROPTERA
1 . Long-eared Bat. Plecotus auritus, Linn. in the southern part of the county. It is
This bat is abundant in the county, and is plentiful in places a little south of the Tees,
perhaps the commonest species. and * have the following records for the county
itself : Mr. H. G. Stobart has shot it at Croft ;
2. Great or White s Bat (Noctule). Plfu- Mr> j Greenweli describes a bat, evidently of
trellm noctula, Schreber. this spedeS) which he frequendy sees at Es_
~Bz\\—ScotophiIiis noctula. White— Vespertine combe ; in the Naturalist for 1 886, Mr. W. D.
altivolans. Roebuck records the taking of twenty-five
I believe this fine species is not uncommon noctules from an oak near Barnard Castle ; and
1 Trans. TytttsiJe Naturalists' Field Clul, vi.
192
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
in the same volume Mr. T. H. Nelson men-
tions that one was shot at the Flats, near Bishop
Auckland, in the summer of 1885. Mennell
and Perkins do not give the species, but the
bat taken at Cleadon in 1836 and referred to
in their catalogue as a serotine has been
examined in the Newcastle Museum by
Messrs. Roebuck and Southwell and found by
them to be a noctule (Zoologist, 1887).
3. Pipistrelle. Pipistrellus pipistrellus, Schreber.
Bell — Scotopbilus plflstrtUus.
This species is common throughout the
county.
4. Natterer's Bat. Myotis nattereri, Kuhl.
Bell — yesfertiRo nattereri.
Mennell and Perkins record the taking of a
Natterer's bat ' on a tree in Hoffal Wood,
Durham,' on the authority of the late W.
Backhouse. I cannot hear of any subsequent
instance of the capture of this species in the
county.
5. Daubenton's Bat. Myotis daubentani,
Leisler.
Bell — Vespertine daubentmll.
W. Backhouse, quoted by Mennell and
Perkins, reported the occurrence of this bat at
Darlington, apparently on good evidence. In
the same catalogue a white variety is men-
tioned, taken at 'Auckland St. Andrew,
Durham.' As the species is widely distributed
in Scotland and is also found in Yorkshire,
there is a strong probability that it occurs
fairly frequently in Durham.
6. Whiskered Bat. Afyotiimystacinus,L,eis\cr.
Bell — Vespertine mystaclniu.
The whiskered bat is pretty generally dis-
tributed in Yorkshire (Roebuck and Clarke),
and has been taken several times in Cumber-
land (Zoologist, 1 890). It is therefore probably
not rare in the county of Durham ; but the
only records I know of are those of W. Back-
house from ' Shotley Bridge (Darlington ?),'
quoted in Mennell and Perkins' catalogue, and
the allusion in the Zoologist for 1888 to a
specimen from Durham.
INSECTIVORA
J. Hedgehog. Erinaceui europteus, Linn.
This animal is common in all the more
wooded parts of the county.
8. Mole. Talpa europtea, Linn.
Moles are as abundant here as elsewhere.
Varieties of a cream or silver-grey colour are
by no means uncommon, and I have records
of such from many parts of the county. These
varieties often have a more or less brilliant
tinge of orange on the under-side and flanks.
Several instances of this have been reported
from Winlaton by Mr. Thos. Thompson, and
a silver-grey mole with the orange tinge was
sent to the Newcastle Museum in 1903 from
the Woodlands, Consett, by Mr. W. B. van
Haansbergen.
9. Common Shrew. Sorex araneus, Linn.
This species is very abundant, as in all
parts of the country.
10. Pigmy Shrew. Sortie minutus, Pallas.
Bell — Sorex pjgmteiu.
The only positive evidence of the occur-
rence of the pigmy shrew that I have been
able to find is that afforded by a specimen in
the Newcastle Museum. This is labelled as
having been taken at St. John's, Wolsingham,
by Wm. Backhouse ; it was sent by him to
John Hancock about 1850. The species is
probably not so scarce as the absence of further
records might suggest.
II. Water Shrew. Neomys fodiens, Pallas.
Bell — Cnssopus fidiens.
This species is probably distributed gene-
rally through the county on quiet streams
and ponds, but is not often noticed, as is fre-
quently the case where it is quite common.
Mennell and Perkins gave records from Castle
Eden and Darlington ; Mr. R. Lofthouse
mentions it (Naturalist, 1887) as occurring on
the lower part of the Tees, and I have the
following additional records : — near Wolsing-
ham, common (W. Backhouse) ; Upper
Teesdale, fairly common (W. Walton) ; on a
pond close to the city of Durham (J. Culling-
ford) ; on the small ' stells ' about Hartlepool
before these were built over (J. £. Robson).
CARNIVORA
12. Wild Cat. Ftlii catui, Linn.
The wild cat held its ground in the county
of Durham down to considerably more recent
times than was the case in most parts of Eng-
land, as might have been expected from the
character of much of the district. Exact re-
cords are, however, almost entirely wanting ;
but the fact stated by Canon Tristram, that it
193
MAMMALS
was to be found up to about the year 1 840 in
Castle Eden Dene, by no means one of the
most secluded parts of the county, renders it
probable that in the more remote and unculti-
vated parts the wild cat was not exterminated
until at least the middle of the last century.
It is rather remarkable that no remains of this
animal appear to have been noticed in any of
the limestone caves that have been explored,
though bones of the wolf, badger, and even of
the marten, are not scarce.
13. Fox. Fulpes vu/pes, Linn.
Bell — Vulpes vulgaris.
Foxes are plentiful in almost all parts of the
county.
14. Pine Marten. Mustela martes, Linn.
Bell — Martes abietum.
At the time when Mennell and Perkins
were compiling their catalogue (1863) they
were able to say of the pine marten that
' although the animal cannot be called common,
it is widely distributed over both counties.' It
is difficult to imagine that the marten was not
somewhat scarcer at that date than the word-
ing of this statement might be taken to imply,
though its final extermination, due largely to
the increased use of steel traps, probably took
place very rapidly. The last known capture
in this county was on 31 May, 1882, at
Hoppyland, a few miles west of Bishop
Auckland ; it is recorded (Zoologist, 1882) by
Mr.X.H. Nelson, who also refers to the taking
of a nest with three young at the same place
thirty-three years previously. It is an interest-
ing fact that from among the remains of
human and other occupants discovered in a
cave near the coast at Whitburn, bones of the
marten were identified by the late Mr. John
Hancock (Nat. Hist. Trans. Northumb. and
Durham, vii.).
15. Polecat. Putorius putorius, Linn.
Bell — Mustela putorius.
From the information I have been able to
obtain, it would appear that the polecat has
been exterminated in the county only within
the last ten or twelve years. Mr. J. Culling-
ford had several before that time, but has had
none since ; and Mr. W. Walton reports two
killed near Middleton-in-Teesdale about fifteen
years ago, one being still in his possession.
Mr. G. E. Crawhall tells me that up to forty
years ago polecats were not infrequently killed
in Weardale, but that he has heard of none
there in more recent years. He remembers
a female and litter of young being caught
near Wolsingham. Mennell and Perkins de-
scribe it (1863) as 'still plentiful in both our
counties ' ; and the following is also quoted
from their catalogue : ' The Rev. G. C. Abbes
tells us that a very fine polecat visited his
garden at Cleadon a few years ago, and was
so bold and fearless that it came close to him
when gardening, and suffered him to push it
back with his rake when it interfered with his
work.'
1 6. Common Stoat. Putorius ermineus,
Linn.
Bell — Mustela erminea.
The stoat is abundant in nearly all parts
of the district. Examples in the white winter
coat and in all stages of approach to it are
frequently killed or seen.
17. Weasel. Putorius nivalis, Linn.
Bell — Mustela vulgaris.
As common here as elsewhere. An albino
example from upper Teesdale is reported by
Mr. W. Walton.
1 8. Badger. Me les melesy Linn
Bell — Meles taxus.
The badger has held its ground successfully
in the county of Durham. It is fairly plentiful
in the more secluded western half of the county,
and also inhabits some of the quieter woodlands
of the eastern half. The Rev. Canon Tristram
has given me some interesting information
regarding the badgers in Castle Eden Dene.
They were common there at one time, but dis-
appeared for some years ; for the last five 01
six years, however, several pairs have been
known to be in the dene. A female with a
litter of young was once kept there in confine-
ment, living on good terms both with her
captors and with the pigs. Canon Tristram
tells me,' the local name of the badger is " pate,"
and a small subsidiary glen is known as the
" Pate-priest's Dene," from a French refugee
priest who lived a hermit life 1 1 o years ago
in the glen, and was much given to badger
hunting.' A large number of bones of the
badger were found in the Whitburn cave.
The late Richard Howse in mentioning this
fact (Nat. Hist. Trans, vii.) states that the
badger 'has now disappeared from our locality'
and only survives in some of the southern
counties, an opinion which seems to have been
general at the time (1878).
19. Otter. Lutra /utra, Linn.
Bell — Lutra vulgaris.
Otters are still plentiful on the streams and
rivers of the county and frequently descend
to the neighbourhood of the towns. They
are occasionally seen near the bridges at Durham
(J. Cullingford), and individuals have been
194
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
captured in Middlesborough and Stockton
(R. Lofthouse).
20. Common Seal. Pboca vitulina, Linn.
A large colony of seals formerly existed and
bred on Seal Sand at the mouth of the Tees ;
but the great development of the Cleveland
iron industry and the consequent increase of
traffic on the river, together with the extensive
works of the Tees Commissioners, have led to
the complete desertion of the place. Mennell
and Perkins state that about a thousand seals
frequented the Tees mouth between 1820 and
1830 ; from the excellent account of the
colony given by Mr. R. Lofthouse in the
Naturalist for 1887, it appears that it was
reduced to twenty or thirty seals by about the
year 1867. The final desertion probably took
place not long afterwards. But seals are still
frequently seen on the coast (Canon Tristram,
R. Lofthouse, and others), and sometimes enter
the rivers. They appear to retain a preference
for the vicinity of Hartlepool and the Tees.
21. Grey Seal. Halich&rus grypus, Fabr.
This large seal probably visits the Durham
coast only very rarely. One was found at
Seaton Snook in 1871 (Clarke and Roebuck) ;
and Mr. R. Lofthouse mentions several
instances in which large seals, probably of this
species, have been seen about the mouth of
the Tees.
RODENTIA
22. Squirrel. Sciurus leucourus, Kerr.
Bell — Sciurus vulgaru.
The squirrel is plentiful in the wooded parts,
though perhaps hardly so abundant on the
whole as in the more southern counties.
Formerly it appears to have been scarcer or at
least less evenly distributed than at present.
Canon Tristram writes,' in my boyhood it was
unknown here,' that is, about the city of
Durham, and in Mennell and Perkins'
catalogue he reported it as having been
' once seen ' at Castle Eden.
23. Dormouse. Mutcardinta avellanariust
Linn.
Bell — Myoxtu avtllanaritu.
The dormouse is certainly rare in the county,
but the recorded instances of its occurrence
suggest that it might be found more frequently
by careful watching. Mennell and Perkins
state that ' it has been taken occasionally in
the woods which clothe the valley of the
Derwent, at Gibside, Winlaton Mill, and
near Ebchester (Trans. Nat. Hist. Soc. i., p. 335).'
It has also been seen by Mr. N. M'Lachlan
at Headlam (Zoologist, 1885); Mr.J. Grecnwell
mentions 'one taken near Hamsterley about
fifty years ago,' and Mr. J. Cullingford in-
forms me that he has had two from close to the
city of Durham within the last four years. A
mouse described by Mr. F. Fenwick from the
Wolsingham district is most likely of this
species — ' chestnut coloured, with white breast,
builds its nest in hazel bushes of dried grass ;
rare.'
24. Brown Rat. MM dtcumanus, Pallas.
As common here as elsewhere. Mr. R.
Lofthouse (Naturalist, 1 887) notes the fact that
it 'swarms in all the reclamation embankments
constructed by the Tees Commissioners, par-
ticularly those constructed of slag.'
25. Black Rat. Mm rattus, Linn.
This interesting species is probably not yet
quite exterminated in the county of Durham.
Mennell and Perkins, in 1863, were able to
mention ' Stockton, where, as in many other
places in our district, the species still lingers,
though in constantly diminishing numbers.'
It still existed in old warehouses at Stockton
in 1887 (Lofthouse), and in all probability
survives there at the present day. Examples
from Stockton (1868) are in the Newcastle
Museum, and Canon Tristram also has one
from there (1873). For particulars of its
former presence in Durham I am again
indebted to Canon Tristram, who tells me in
a letter, ' There was a colony of black rats in
and about Durham Cathedral which had been
there from time immemorial. When at
Durham School, in the thirties,! knew of them,
and they were said to visit the school, which
was then in the churchyard. The last known
to have been taken was in the year 1879 ; a
trap was set for it by the verger.' Mr. J.
Cullingford doubts whether the black rat is
even now exterminated in Durham, and tells
me that about seven years ago one was killed
near the town by the late Mr. F. Greenwell.
26. House Mouse. Mus musculus, Linn.
Very common about habitations everywhere.
27. Long-tailed Field Mouse. Mus sylvaticus,
Linn.
This species is plentiful, at any rate in the
wooded and cultivated parts of the county.
28. Harvest Mouse. Mus minutus, Pallas.
The harvest mouse appears to have been
very rarely noticed in the county of Durham
195
MAMMALS
and is doubtless scarce ; though I have lately
seen it myself a very short distance north of
the Tyne.
Mr. W. Backhouse found it at St. John's,
Weardale, 800 feet above sea level (Trans.
Tyneside Nat. Field Club, iv.), and Mr. J.
Cullingford has had the nest recently from a
cornfield close to the city of Durham.
29. Water Vole. Microtus amphibius. Linn.
Bell — Arvicola amphibius.
Common along all the streams.
30. Field Vole. Microtus agrestis, Linn.
Bell — Arvicola agrestis.
Very abundant. A quiet observer may
often see it sitting at the entrance to its burrow
in a hedge bank. Mr. V. A. Reppon records
the killing of a black field vole in his park at
Frosterley in 1889.
31. Bank Vole. Evotomys glareolus, Schreber.
Bell — Arvicola gkreolus.
The bank vole is doubtless as common in
the county of Durham as elsewhere ; for
Mr. R. I. Pocockhas shown (Zoologist, 1897)
that its supposed scarcity was due to the fact
that it is not to be trapped in the same way as
the field vole. Before this became generally
known the bank vole was sometimes recorded
as a comparative rarity from the county. The
Rev. H. H. Slater (Zoologist, 1887) had, how-
ever, found it to be by no means scarce in the
eastern district.
32. Common Hare. Lepus europteus, Pallas.
Bell — Lepus timidus.
Hares are as numerous in many parts of the
county as in other similar districts in England,
though they seem to me to be hardly so abun-
dant on the whole as in Yorkshire. They
are naturally rather scarcer on the higher
moorlands. Mr. R. Lofthouse mentions
that they show a particular fondness for the
reclaimed land about the estuary of the
Tees.
33. Rabbit. Lepus cuniculus, Linn.
Very numerous in all suitable places.
UNGULATA
34. White Park Cattle. Bos taurus, Linn.
Herds of white cattle, such as the one still
maintained at Chillingham in Northumberland,
were formerly kept at Bishop Auckland and
Barnard Castle. A manuscript of the year
1635, quoted in the Annals of Nat. Hist. 1839,
describes the park at Bishop Auckland as
' a daintie stately parke wherein were wild
bulls and kine, wch had two calves runers ;
there are about twenty wild beasts, all white,
will nott eridure yo'r approach, butt if they
bee enraged or distressed, verye violent and
furious ; their calves will bee wondrous fatt.'
The Barnard Castle herd is alluded to by
Mr. J. Watson in the Naturalist for 1887.
35. Red Deer. Cervus elaphus, Linn.
The former abundance of the red deer in
the district is proved not only by old chronicles
(e.g. Leland's Itinerary, quoted by Mennell
and Perkins), but also by the numerous remains
found in all parts of the county in peat bogs,
river beds, caves and ancient camps. The
descendants of the original wild red deer of
Weardale were maintained in the bishop's park
at Stanhope until about 1640; in Teesdale
they were preserved to a somewhat later date,
for four hundred are recorded to have perished
there in the snow in 1673 (Egglestone's
Stanhope).
Well preserved antlers and bones of red
deer from Hartlepool, Whitburn Cave, and the
bed of the Tyne, amongst other places in the
district, are in the Newcastle Museum.
36. Fallow Deer. Cervus dama, Linn.
This is an introduced species kept in some
of the parks.
37. Roe Deer. Capreolus capreolus, Linn.
Bell — Capreolus caprea.
Apart from the known fact that the roe
deer was once generally distributed in England,
there is definite evidence of its former presence
in the county of Durham. Its remains were
found in the Heathery .Burn Cave, near Stan-
hope, and in the Whitburn Cave on the coast.
Bones from the Whitburn Cave are in the
Newcastle Museum.
CETACEA
38. Cachalot — Sperm Whale. Physeter mac-
rocephalus, Linn.
Mennell and Perkins allude to the bones of
a young cachalot deposited in the crypt of
Durham Cathedral, and state that the animal
was ' stranded near Hartlepool and sent to the
Bishop of Durham in the days when he
claimed " Jura Regalia " within the limits of
the See.' Canon Tristram informs me that
some of the bones still remain, and that it was
196
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
in the reign of Charles II. that the stranding
of this whale occurred. The authors quoted
above also record that ' the atlas of another
individual of this species was recently found
by Edward Backhouse, Esq., buried at some
depth in the sand near Scaton.'
39. Bottle-Nosed or Beaked Whale. Hy-
peroodon rostratus, Chemnitz.
Bell — Hype root/on Butzkopf.
A skeleton of this species was found in the
bed of theTyne near Newcastle in 1857, and
is described in the Transactions of the Tyneside
Field Club, iv. This is one of the commoner
whales in British seas and has probably often
visited the Durham coast. One was captured
only just north of the Tyne about 1850.
40. White Whale — Beluga. Delphinapterw
leucasy Pallas.
Bell — Beluga leueat.
This forms the most recent and perhaps the
most interesting addition to the cetacean fauna
of the county. A full grown male, fourteen
feet in length, was captured at the South
Shields sands on 10 June, 1903, and after a
prolonged struggle was landed at North
Shields. Its skeleton is in the Newcastle
Museum.
Full details and a photograph are given in
the Transactions of the local natural history
society1 by Mr. A. Meek, M.Sc., who
also reports the fact that since this capture
another white whale, possibly the mate, has
been seen at various points off the coast from
Northumberland down to Flamborough Head.
This is the first recorded occurrence of the
species on the east coast south of the Forth.
41. Grampus. Orca gladiator, Lac£pede.
Bell — Pboctfna orca.
I know of no instance of the actual strand-
ing of an individual of this species on the
Durham coast, but it is by no means uncom-
mon in the North Sea. I saw a grampus, or
at least its unmistakable dorsal fin, on one
occasion during the summer of 1901 a few
miles off the coast. Sir Cuthbert Sharp* men-
tions the grampus in a list of local animals.
42. Porpoise. Phoctena communis, Cuvier.
Porpoises arc abundant off the Durham
coast.
1 Train. Nat. Hist. Sot. Nortbumb. and Durham (new ser.), i.
• History of Hartlepool, 1816.
I97
HISTORY OF DURHAM
PRE-HISTG
The Einburgb G«>jr«plii«l
THE VI CTORIA H1STORV
C REMAINS.
16'
RlrtRINCI
*f •iKMllaneoui Flndi, XtoUOtic Imflimatlt. Ooua. tit.—
X BroaB* Implements
:.:.
.'.a'
40'
E COUNTIES OF ENGLAND
T
EARLY MAN
f • ^HE rarity of prehistoric antiquities in the county of Durham is a
circumstance to which more than one writer on the subject has
called attention. The county of Durham, though it lies between
districts which abound in the various remains of pre-Roman
times, and though it presents natural features apparently well adapting it
for early occupation, is markedly deficient in discoveries of weapons and
implements of the stone and bronze ages, as it is also wanting in fortified sites
and places of burial, of which latter only thirteen have been met with during
the various operations of agricultural and other work.1 No remains of the
palaeolithic age have been found within the county, though the bones of
animals associated with that period have in a very few cases been discovered.
Nothing has ever come to light to prove that man occupied any part of
England as far north as Durham, or within a great distance south of it, in
palaeolithic times, and even at a very much later date, during the neolithic and
bronze periods, everything goes to show that Durham was a sparsely-populated
district. Nevertheless, some of the discoveries belonging to pre-Roman times,
particularly two of the bronze age, are of the highest importance, and have
furnished data of a very valuable kind.
THE NEOLITHIC AGE
The various stone implements and other objects which may be referred
to the neolithic age are not numerous, and many of them may belong to the
bronze age. These remains consist of ground or polished axes made of basalt
and other hard stone; axe-hammers of stone, quartzite hammer-stones, and
arrowheads of flint, some beautifully formed and finished ; and knives and
scrapers of the same material. One scraper of flint, now in the British
Museum, was associated with an interment at Copt Hill, Houghton le Spring;
it was found in a cinerary urn, and probably belonged to the bronze age.
The following is a list of stone weapons and implements found in the
county : —
DURHAM COUNTY. — Two ground axes, respectively 7} inches and 5^- inches in length.
GAINFORD. — Perforated stone hammer. (Proc. Sac. Antiq. Newcastle, ser. iii. vol. ii. p. 74.)
HAMSTERLEY. — Many arrowheads, scrapers, flakes, etc., of flint.
HOLLY BUSH (parish of Lanchester). — Leaf-shape arrow-head of flint.
JARROW. — Two axes with surfaces entirely ground, 7^- inches and 5$ inches long respectively.
(Archttologia Mliana, N.S. vol. v. p. 1 02 ; Evans, Stont Imp!, and ed. p. i o I .)
LANCHESTER COMMON. — Arrow-head with square-ended barbs, now in the museum of the Soc. of
Antiq. of Ncwcastle-upon-Tyne. (Evans, Stone Im/>/., p. 383.)
MILNE HOUSE (near Frosterley). — Perforated hammer made of micaceous sandstone.
NEWTON KETTON. — Large numbers of flint arrow-heads and other flint implements.
QUEBEC. — Polished stone axe belonging to Rev. F. G. Wesley, Hamsterley.
RABY CASTLE. — Dark grey stone axe, ground, but of somewhat rough workmanship, nearly 7 inches
in length. (Evans, Stone Imp/. 2nd ed. p. 105.)
REDWORTH. — A large axe-hammer.
1 Greenwell, British Barrows, p. 440.
199
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
SHERBORN HOSPITAL. — Ground axe, 5$ inches long, oval in section and with conical butt, in the
collection of Dr. Sturge.
STANLEY (parish of Brancepeth). — Well-made axe-hammer.
SUNDERLAND (in the river Wear, above the bridge). — Axe-hammer beautifully made, in the museum
of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
SUNDERLAND (Millfield). — Large axe-hammer, perforated for handle, in the collection of Dr. Sturge.
(Evans, Stone Impl. 2nd ed. p. 194.)
WEARDALE (Cowshill). — Ground basalt axe, 9^ inches long, in the collection of Dr. Sturge. (Evans,
Stone Impl. 2nd ed. p. 106.)
WOLSINGHAM (Coves Houses). — A circular-perforated article of basalt, 3 J inches in diameter, in the
collection of Dr. Sturge. (Evans, Stone Impl. 2nd ed. p. 229.)
The only burial-place which can be attributed to the neolithic period is
a barrow at Copt Hill, Houghton le Spring. It appears to have originally
been used for interments during the neolithic age. The original burials
consist of burnt bodies, and the way in which they had been burnt and the
manner of their deposit was of such a nature as to show they were of persons
living in the neolithic age. Secondary burials of the bronze age were also
found, one of which, that of a burnt body, was enclosed in a cinerary urn,
accompanied by a flint scraper. Near the surface was an Anglian burial of an
unburnt body in a cist of stone.
The association of this series of burials, quite distinct in time, is not
probably to be accounted for by their having been of persons who were in any
way connected, or of any sacredness or sentiment attached to the place. A
mound had been thrown up as a memorial to people living in neolithic days,
who were buried there. Sometime afterwards bronze-age folk dwelling in the
locality had made use of an existing barrow for their own burials, and had
enlarged and altered the shape of the original mound ; and still later on,
actuated by the same motives, Anglian settlers had utilised a conspicuous barrow
as a convenient mode of making a monument for their own dead, without the
labour of erecting one. Such a continuance of the use of a burial mound
over different and distant times has occurred elsewhere.
THE BRONZE AGE
The discovery of the uses of metal and the method of smelting and
working it indicates the beginning of a new era of human culture. It is
difficult to over-estimate the importance and value of this discovery. It must
have meant for stone-using man an advance as great as the general use of steam
or electricity in modern times.
One of the most interesting discoveries in Durham of articles be-
longing to this age was made before the year 1812. A hoard of bronze
weapons and implements was found near Stanhope, in the valley of the
Wear, in the western part of the county. An account of the discovery,
written by the Rev. W. Wilson, rector of Wolsingham, and published by the
Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle-upon-Tyne x in 1 8 1 6, gives some interesting
particulars and some rather amusing speculations as to the nature of the several
components of the hoard. 'They were found,' writes the author 'by a
labourer, upwards of four years ago, in the parish of Stanhope, in the county
of Durham, under some large rough stones casually scattered upon the
pa JEliana, 410. ser. i. 13-16.
200
EARLY MAN
GOLD AULI.T.
HOLLOW GOLD RING.
BRONZE SOCKETED Kxin.
BitoNzt SOCKITID K.MFL.
BRONZE SHAR-READ.
B»ON« SOCKETED AXE.
HALF A CELT MOULD.
BRONZE TANGRD RAIOE.
ARTICLES FOUND IN HEATHERY BURN CAVE. — I.
201
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
declivity of a mountain, and covering nearly an acre of land. The place is
at a little distance from the river Wear . . . They had probably been hidden
there by some deserter, and, in my opinion, are the arms, etc., of a single
Roman foot soldier, one of the velites, consisting of five spear-heads or hastae,
in sequences of different sizes, part of a sword, fragments of a pectorale or
breast-plate, together with all the tools or accoutrements for repairing,
sharpening, and burnishing these arms.'
There can be no doubt that this hoard was a deposit of the bronze age,
none of the objects showing any trace of Roman influence. The sword,
leaf-shape spear-heads with their rather pronounced midrib, socketed axes,
gouge, and portions of what may be decorative discs worn on the breast, point,
however, to the later part of that period, when the art of casting and elaborately
finishing articles in bronze had reached its highest development. The whole
find corresponds, to a great extent, with the articles found in Heathery Burn
Cave, and the weapons, etc., are so similar in each case that they might
have come from the same workshop.
The Heathery Burn Cave discovery is justly regarded as one of the most
valuable finds of the bronze age ever made in Britain, and it requires a some-
what detailed description. The cave was situated a little more than a mile to
the north of Stanhope, 800 feet above sea-level, and more than thirty miles
distant from the coast. It opened out from the side of a ravine formed by
Heathery Burn, a small affluent of Stanhope Burn, a tributary of the Wear.
The floor of the cave was about 10 feet above the present level of the burn,
which runs through a narrow and steep-sided gorge, clothed, as it probably
always has been, with wood. The rock here is carboniferous or mountain
limestone, and the cavern has evidently been formed by the chemical and
physical action of water passing through a fissure in it.
As long ago as 1843, when the entrance to the cave was destroyed
in making a tramway, eight bronze rings were found. They were plain in
character, of different sizes, and similar to other rings which have since been
discovered in the cave. They are said to have been placed when found on a
piece of bronze wire.
Further discoveries were made in 1859, and at various intervals between
that year and 1 872, but owing to the discontinuance of the quarrying at the spot
nothing since then has been found. Before the place where the quarrying
ceased was reached all signs of occupation had disappeared; nor is it likely
that anything remains in that part of the cave which has not been explored.
A good many accounts1 of the cave and its remarkable contents have been
published. The great importance of this discovery consists in the fact that
the objects found in the cave constituted the whole equipment of a family of the
bronze age. Everything which was in the dwelling-place when the occupants
perished, probably by drowning, had remained there undisturbed on the floor
under a layer of stalagmite until the time when the various relics were acci-
dentally found.2 More remarkable and valuable than the actual remains were
the nature and circumstances of the discovery itself. Other sites have yielded
bronze-age objects in greater numbers and of equally skilful workmanship,
1 Arch. liv. 87-1 14 ; Proc. Soc. Antiq. of Land. (2nd ser.), ii. 127 and v. 426 ; Arch Journal, xix. 358 ;
Geologist, v. 34, 167 ; etc.
* Guide to the Bronze Age Antiquities in the B.M.
2O2
EARLY MAN
BRONZI ARMLIT.
BRONZI ARULIT.
BRONU PIN.
BRONZI Piss.
BRONZI BOTTOM : FRONT AND BACK
BRONZE Due : BACK AND FRONT.
ARTICLES FOUND IN HEATHERY BURN CAVE. — IL
203
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
but in no other case has the entire personal property of a family at the moment
when they were living and were dead been found.
With reference to the cave itself it may be explained that its main axis
had a direction nearly north and south, and was, more or less, parallel to the
ravine through which Heathery Burn finds its course. At the south end it
came in contact with a vein of ironstone, which stopped its further extension
in that direction. It then turned abruptly at a right angle to the east, and so
continued for a distance of 65 feet, forming an eastern limb or extension
which had an average width of about 12 feet.
The limestone floor of the cave had become covered with a deposit of
gravel and sand which was not continuous over the entire floor, nor was it of
uniform thickness, the average being about a foot. Above it was a bed of
stalagmite varying in thickness from 3 to 6 inches. The height did not in
any part exceed 10 feet, and in some parts it was much less. The width
varied from 10 feet to 30 feet, but in one part it was only 2 feet.
The following list comprises the most important articles found in the cave: —
An armlet of gold of penannular form, with the ends slightly dilated, made by a narrow band
of thin metal, with the edges turned over.
Penannular hollow ring of gold, skilfully made by joining two thin plates, one turned over the
other at the outer edge. This, which is no doubt to some extent an ornamental object, has usually
been found associated with armlets ; its use is uncertain.
Bronze swords, two complete specimens, one of which is broken into three pieces, and a portion
of a third ; they are of the ordinary leaf-shape form, well cast and finished, with handle-plate and
rivet-holes for the attachment of bone or wood to complete the handle.
Bronze spear-heads, eight or more in number, all of leaf-shape pattern, varying in length from
6f inches to n£ inches. They are very well made, and two are beautiful specimens of graceful
form and good proportion, having a slight rib, which runs on each side parallel to the midrib, or
socket-ridge, which forms a most tasteful addition to them.
Implements, as might be expected, are more numerous than weapons. They consist of several
kinds, namely : —
Three knives, two of which have sockets with rivet holes, and a third a tang. One of the
socketed knives is ornamented with six knobs, survivals, no doubt, of the heads of rivets. The tanged
one shows signs of long-continued use on its whetted edges.
One bronze 'razor' with a tang, and the usual triangular-shaped notch with a small perforation
beneath its point. This class of implement may have been used for cutting leather or hides rather
than for shaving, but they more probably served as razors.
At least nineteen socketed axes, which varied in length from 3^ inches to 4 inches. The
larger proportion are decorated with three vertical ribs, a very common feature, which occurs in one
of the axes in the Stanhope hoard. Others are quite plain ; but one has an ornament now and then
met with on socketed axes which suggests the survival of the curved wings of the flanged axe.
Half of a celt mould, a pair of tongs, a waste runner of bronze, and a piece of rough copper,
found in the cave, afford sufficient evidence that these people made their own tools. Some of the
axes were probably cast in the mould, of which one-half was found.
Two small bronze chisels, one socketed, the other having the opposite end pointed as if it were
intended to be used as an awl or borer.
Three socketed gouges, or hollow chisels.
Fifteen or more bronze pins, of lengths varying from 2% inches to 5f inches.
Fourteen or more rings, in addition to the eight already mentioned as having been found in
1 843. They are all quite plain, and of varying sizes and thickness.
Three bronze armlets, and a portion of a fourth. Two of them are penannular with expanding
ends ; the third, however, is of a quite different form, being made of a piece of thin wire doubled
over with a loop in the middle, having the two ends of the wire so bent round as to clasp the loop.
Eight cylindrical hoops of thin bronze, probably armlets. They have been cast in one piece
with great skill, and have on the inside a groove which corresponds to a raised rib running round the
middle of the armlet outside. If they were armlets, of which there cannot be any doubt, they were
probably worn on the upper part of the arm. They are certainly not, as has been suggested, the naves
of chariot wheels.
204
EARLY MAN
PixrotATiD OBJECT or Dm HON.
OIJECT or Dill Ho«s.
AUU.CT or LIGNITE.
BONE SriNDLt-WHOBL.
BONI IMFLIMENT.
BONE PIN.
BONE PIN.
ARTICLES FOUND IN HEATHERY BURN CAVE. — III.
205
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
Six discs of bronze, four of which have a diameter of 5f inches and two of sj inches, slightly
convex, with a hole in the centre, a raised rounded moulding at the edge, and four loops at the back
for attachment to some soft material. They are of rare occurrence, and probably formed ornamental
adjuncts to a dress, and were worn as decorations for the breast, serving the same or a similar purpose,
as the bronze plates found in the Stanhope hoard.
Two bronze buttons — one ornamented with nine concentric raised ribs on its face, and having
five loops for attachment at the back ; the other having a boss on the upper side and a loop on the
under side.
One bronze finger ring(?) made out of a thin piece of wire, the ends of which, after having
been flattened and widened, have been turned over, the one upon the other.
One bronze cauldron (18 inches high and 14^ inches wide at the mouth), made of three sheets
of metal neatly riveted, and furnished with two massive handles and strengthening frame on the
bottom. It had been used for cooking purposes, and when found had a deposit of carbon upon it.
There were various other objects of metal found above the stalagmite bed which had no relation
to the bronze-age occupants of the cave ; among them was a bronze key, probably Roman, and a
penny of George II.
Implements of stone found in the cave comprise a thick flake of flint 3^ inches long, possibly
used as a strike-a-light. Three other flakes of flint — one may have been used as a borer — were also
found. There were also a well-shaped circular and perforated piece of limestone, perhaps a spindle-
whorl, and two whetstones.
Ornaments of stone comprised four armlets of lignite, three of which were imperfect ; two
beads formed of stalagmite, a single bead of dark-coloured amber, a long bead of bone, and two small
perforated water-rolled pebbles of stone. There was also a humble necklace of three sea-shells, viz.,
two periwinkles and a small whelk.
Bone and deer's horn implements were rather numerous. They comprised a long, narrow
implement made of the leg-bone of a deer or some such animal, shaped like a modern paper-knife,
of which a number were found. They may have been skinning knives, or perhaps implements used
in weaving for driving back the woof in the manufacture of woven goods. There was also a knife
made from the split and sharpened tusk of a boar. Bone pins in considerable number and one of
lignite were found, of which at least twenty-three have been preserved. They have usually been
manufactured out of the leg-bone of some small animal. There were also found three bone
spindle-whorls, or they may have served as buttons ; also three horse's and two dog's teeth pierced for
suspension, and used as pendent ornaments.
Some enigmatical objects, made from tines and beams of the antlers of the red deer, were
discovered. They are both straight and curved in form, five of them are pierced with three holes,
of which the middle one is larger than those at the ends, and pierces the horn in a direction at right
angles to them. Similar curved articles of deer's horn have been found in lake dwellings of the
bronze age in Switzerland, and in the river Thames. The suggestion has been made that they have
served as the cheek pieces of bridle bits, but this theory lacks proof. Several straight pieces of deer's
antlers perforated at the middle were also found. In addition to the above there were other imple-
ments of bone, horn, etc., the precise use of which cannot be determined. There was no complete
vessel of pottery found, but several small fragments were preserved. It had all been hand-made, and
was principally unornamented, of a pale yellowish tinge with a tendency to red. Some bones,
including three imperfect skulls, of the occupants of the cave, were recovered, and were examined
by Professor Huxley and Mr. Carter Blake. They have unfortunately been lost.1
There were very numerous remains of animals in the form of bones, horns, tusks, teeth, etc.
Many of the bones had, as usual, been broken in order that the marrow might be extracted.2
It is evident, judging from the large number and variety of objects found
here, that this cave, damp, dark, and inconvenient as it must have been, was
the dwelling place of several people for a considerable period. It may not
have been the permanent living place of this family, but occupied only on
special occasions and for some special purposes.
In addition to the discoveries in Heathery Burn Cave, and the hoard of
bronze weapons, etc., both in the parish of Stanhope, some other bronze-age
antiquities have been found in various parts of the county.8
1 Geologist, v. 204.
8 There is a full account of this cave and its remarkable contents in Arch. vol. liv. 87—1 14.
* Thanks are due, and are hereby accorded, to Mr. Robert Blair, F.S.A., Dr. Sturge, and Mr. E. Wooller
of Darlington for some of the information contained in this list.
206
111
DRINKING CUP FROM SACRISTON.
BRONZE SWORD
FROM RIVER TEES
OPPOSITE
MIDDLESBROUGH.
BRONZE RAPIER-
BLADF. FROM
RIVER TYNE AT
NEWCASTLE.
BRONZE DAGGER
FROM
RIVER TYNE
ABOVE
NEWCASTLE.
BRONZE SPEAR-HEAD
FROM Kl\m TYNJ
ABOVE NEWCASTLE.
•BRONZE RAPIER-
BLADE FROM RIVER
TYNE AT
NEWCASTLE.
BRONZE RAPIER-
BLADE FROM RIVER
WEAR AT
CLAXHEUGH.
To fact fap 106.
EARLY MAN
BARNARD CASTLE. — A sepulchral urn was found here which is now in the British Museum.
BRANDON. — Socketed axe.
BROOMYHOLME. — A circular bronze shield with central boss was discovered there, but the finder,
who was unaware of its archaeological value, in order to gratify his friends, cut it up like a
cake and sent to each a slice. The greater part is preserved in the Museum of the Society of
Antiquaries of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. It is of the usual type of the British shields of the
time, the face covered with concentric, alternate bands of raised ribs and of rows of dots.
CHESTER LE STREET. — A bronze axe was found at this place and is now in the Museum of the
Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
DURHAM CITY. — A flat copper celt which was found here is now in the British Museum. It is of
the early type, and the composition of the metal, as shown by analysis by Professor Gowland,
contains only a very slight proportion of tin.
ESHWOOD NEAR FiAss. — Flanged axe.
FAWNLESS NEAR WOLSINGHAM. — Flanged axe.
HARTON. — Socketed celt or axe-head, found on the Trow Rocks. It has one loop and longitudinal
ribbed ornamentation. (Information from Mr. Robert Blair, F.S.A.)
HOUGHTON LE SPRING, COPT HILL. — An urn 13 inches high, containing burnt bones, and a flint
scraper, found in a barrow, are now in the British Museum. The rim of the urn is decorated
with oblique incised lines.
HOWDEN-LE-\VEAR. — Looped palstave, now in the British Museum.
HURBUCK, NEAR LANCASTER. — Two stone moulds for casting the plain flat axes were found here.
They are both about the same size (7 J inches by 5^ inches and 3 inches thick) and each contains
the hollows for casting three axes, two on one face and one on the other. The largest axe
would have been 6 inches long and 4$ inches wide at the cutting edge, the smallest 2$ inches
long and I J inches wide.
MEDOMSLEY. — Leaf-shape bronze sword, accompanied by two rings used in connection with the
belt. Several bronze articles were also found at another place near Medomsley.
MORDEN CARR. — Socketed axe.
PIERCEBRIDGE. — Flanged axe.
SOUTH SHIELDS. — A flint knife found with an unburnt body in a cist at the Trow Rocks, Westoe,
near South Shields, is now in the British Museum.
SUNDERLAND, HILTON (in river). — Socketed axe.
TEESDALE, HOLWICK. — In the British Museum there are two jet beads approximately square in
form, and ornamented with series of dots or short dashes arranged in parallel lines so as to
occupy spaces of somewhat elongated lozenge shape.
TRIMDON GRANGE, TRIMDON. — Fragment of cinerary urn found in a barrow, and now preserved
in the Greenwell Collection at the British Museum.
RIVER TEES, OPPOSITE MIDDLESBROUGH. — A leaf-shape sword with long slot in handle-plate and
four rivet-holes for attachment to handle.
RIVER TYNE, BELOW NEWCASTLE. — An extremely fine bronze sword (27^- inches long and ij- inches
wide), the broad tang or handle-plate being pierced with eight holes for securing the handle ;
now in the Greenwell Collection at Durham. A very similar sword, found in the Tyne at
Newcastle, is now in the Museum of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle-on-Tyne.
RIVER TYNE, KING'S MEADOWS, ABOVE NEWCASTLE. — A socketed spear-head, with two lunate
openings in the blade : also a massive dagger (13 inches long) with three rivets and two narrow
ribs running the entire length, one on each side of the curved midrib.
RIVER TYNE, NEWCASTLE. — A beautifully shaped rapier blade (19^ inches long), with pronounced
narrow midrib, and two small nicks for attachment to the handle : also a well-shaped rapier
blade (15^ inches long). Two rivets in handle-plate.
RIVER TYNE, ABOVE NEWCASTLE BRIDGE. — Large spear-head.
RIVER WEAR, NORTH SHORE, AT CLAXHEUGH, ABOVE SUNDERLAND. — A rapier blade, with two rivet
holes in the handle-plate.
BARROWS AND OTHER SEPULCHRAL DEPOSITS
The prehistoric burials in the county of Durham, as is the case with the
implements, weapons, and other traces of early man, appear to belong almost
entirely to the age of bronze, but the burial mound at Copt Hill, Houghton
le Spring, was originally a neolithic barrow, with secondary interments
belonging to the bronze age introduced.
207
HISTORY OF DURHAM
ANGLO-SA:
26
'<U-h L.*,i, T.,l,-,n.,~^^y^^ Sl^,,
r-' iW -i\.'V.y''//, V.R-r/v » J^/v,,7i.v.;
, V<,tlH.;..,k ! ' fiKZSi , <T^T--^ '-'^^ ~^''\^.fl:^^S^^^f4'"''l''':'lr^~-^^
';:/,../;-. ' •JL^rr'--'" '•' — ^^ru^ataiiworiK1 \^f~ '^M-rf-^^il ~> « " P"**^™
; "£%%%'''' .,'::';;'::;, I,. ,w,' ^-^•je^/'f^^, £ZLu
J""Jf"" . J.) 'Jjl""W'i" \ J-.n.fcVA"" ^i
— »,A "!»• \
/ '»» ••
HM KAj^mr^v Gcogpnjiic J In«tit..lf
THE VI CTORIA HI STORY C
IN REMAINS.
REFKRENCI
• Inurnwnu — 55
Ml»collineou» F1nd>
O Sculptured Stonn
A Sundials
TEES & A Y
E COUNTIES OF ENGLAND
ANGLO-SAXON
REMAINS
WITH the exception of sculptured memorial crosses of standing form,
and recumbent grave-covers, complete or in a fragmentary con-
dition, the remains indicating the state of the arts and cultiva-
tion in the present county of Durham during the post-Roman and
the pre-Norman periods, are exceedingly meagre. Of glass vessels only one is
available for description, and bronze ornaments for personal use are very scarce.
Again, in the matter of weapons, with the exception of the valuable hoard
from Hurbuck, there are few to be mentioned. Cemeteries have been found
at Hartlepool and Monkwearmouth directly connected with churches, and at
Darlington where no such connection is apparent, while single burials that
may indicate sites of cemeteries have been brought to light at Castle Eden
and Heworth,1 which also were probably connected with churches.
The discovery at Darlington, perhaps the most important, was made in
1876, by Mr. Haxby Dougill, a builder of that town, when making excava-
tions for a sewer, to be laid between Dodd Street and Selborne Terrace on
the Greenbank estate, which lies to the north of the parish church. The
importance of the find was fortunately realized by a local antiquary, Mr. J. T.
Abbott,* who made observations on the site, and collected a number of objects
found associated with the burials. About a dozen skeletons of males, females,
and children were found, and, at the head of each, was a small urn, of burnt
clay. The bodies had been laid with the feet to the east. Among the articles
accompanying them were a number of brooches, of various sizes, some of
which showed traces of gilding ; two circular brooches ; a pair of tweezers ;
a number of broken brooches and pins ; and two large cruciform brooches,8
all of bronze ; also a necklace composed of amber, glass, and stone beads, and
, a chalk object, no doubt a spindle whorl, which may have been round the
neck of one of the persons interred. The weapons found were iron swords
and spear-heads, and two or more iron bosses of shields. The period to
which these articles point is that of the very early Anglian occupation, possibly
before the introduction of Christianity into Northumbria. Three spear-heads
preserved measure respectively loj inches, I2j inches, and 16 inches in
length. They are of the early Anglo-Saxon form, the sockets being split
up to show part of the shaft. The three spear-heads and a fibula are in the
possession of Mr. Edward Wooler of Darlington, the shield bosses are in that
of Canon Greenwell of Durham, and some other objects are in the collection
of Sir John Evans.
1 The rock burial at East Boldon to be referred to below may be mentioned in this connection.
* Mr. Abbott contributed an account of the find to the Nortb-Eastern Independent of Saturday, I February,
1879.
1 Five similar examples are figured on Plate V. of The Induitrial Artt of the Anglo-Saxont, De Baye.
211
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
The cemetery at Hartlepool was discovered in July, 1833, during
excavations in a field called Cross Close, about 150 yards south-east of the
ancient church of St. Hilda, and was possibly connected with the nunnery
over which that saint presided about the middle of the seventh century.1 It
is a misfortune that no accurate observations were made at the time of the
discovery by any competent archasologist, as many of the stones accompanying
the burials were dispersed and destroyed before their unusual and interesting
character was noticed. Several skeletons were found buried at a depth of
of about 3! feet and lying on the limestone rock. They were laid north
and south with their heads resting on small, square flat stones (hence called
pillow-stones) ; while above the skeletons were other stones of a memorial
character. Of these, only seven complete stones have been preserved;
the number originally found is unknown. Four of them are in the British
Museum, two in the museum of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle-
upon-Tyne, and one is in the Cathedral Library at Durham. They are all
of rectangular form and vary in size, the greatest length being only 1 1 J inches.
Some fragments of another stone of circular form, 13! inches in diameter,
were found. When complete this stone had contained, in incised lines, an
elegant cross, with circular boss in the centre, and circular terminations to the
four arms. A border of lines and sunk circles surrounded the stone, and the
remaining fragments contained most of the letters forming the words
REQUIESCAT IN PACE. The letters are of the Saxon form, the square c being
used.
In referring to these stones, it will be convenient to number them as in
Dr. Haigh's list.8 Nos. 3, 5, 7 and 8 are in the British Museum. No. 3
is 7^ inches by 5^ inches, and shows a raised cross and border formed by
sinking the field. The cross has semicircular terminations, or half bosses,
at the extremities of the limbs, and a boss at the intersection. Across
the lower part the letters EDILUINI in Saxon minuscules are incised. No. 5
is 8J inches by 7 inches, and has also a raised cross and border formed in
the same manner. The cross is of a very unusual form ; its limbs termi-
nate in steps of two degrees on either side each limb, and the centre boss is
of the lozenge form stepped into four degrees in each angle. On the field
is incised an inscription in five lines in minuscules, ORATE PRO EDILUINI
ORATE PRO UERMUND ET TORTHSUiD, which is remarkable, as it repeats
the names which occur singly on three other stones. No. 7 is 8 inches by
7! inches, and has again the characteristic type of cross, but formed by in-
cised lines only, with the name HANEGNEVB also incised ; the letters are
uncial with the exception of the G, which is minuscule. No. 8 is lof inches
by 8| inches, and has an elegant cross formed of broad double and treble in-
cised lines, the arms ending in circles with outer circles and curious scroll
terminations. The surface is unfortunately damaged, but retains the letters
. . . OUGUID in minuscules. The two fragments of the circular stone, and
No. i on Dr. Haigh's list are lost.
The two rectangular stones preserved at Newcastle (2 and 4) have each
a cross of the same form, in one case in relief, in the other incised. The
1 The fact that the bodies were laid north and south, it has been argued, is against the suggestion that
they were the remains of Christians.
* Brit. Arch. Assoc. Journ. i. 185-196. Arch. xxvi. 497, pi. Hi.
212
•
w
HARTLEPOOL : GRAVESTONE No. 3.
HARTLEPOOL : GRAVESTONE No. 7.
HARTLEPOOL : GRAVESTONE No. 8.
ANGLO-SAXON REMAINS
inscription on the former is, in Saxon letters, ORA PRO VERMVND TORHTSVID,
and that on the latter, in runes, the female name HiLDDiGYTH.1 The stone
at Durham (6) has also a cross in incised lines. In the upper part are the letters
Alpha and Omega, and below is the name BERCHTGYD in minuscule characters.
Further discoveries were made in the year 1838 and also in 1843,
when some pieces of coloured glass and a bone needle were found.
A curious object which accompanied one of the interments is in the
possession of the Rev. Canon Greenwell. It is composed of hard limestone,
and is in the form of the small mortars used for pounding drugs. It measures
7! inches in length and 5 inches in width, and 4$ inches in height. The
interior is 3! inches in diameter, and on one side is a sinking in the rim, no
doubt for the purpose of guiding the passage of the contents when reduced to
a powder. Its general appearance is that of the ' creeing trough ' of later
periods.
The only relic of the cemetery at Monkwearmouth which has been
discovered is the small stone, now in the British Museum, bearing upon it the
name TIDFIRTH,* in runes. This was found in 1834 at a great depth, about
20 feet from the south side of the ancient church of St. Peter, and within the
area of what is called the Manor House, where, probably, was the cemetery
connected with Biscop's Monastery. Tidfirth was the last bishop of Hex-
ham, and was deposed about the year 821. The occurrence of the stone
with his name at Monkwearmouth has been thought to imply that he was
on a journey, possibly to Rome, and having died before his intended
embarkation, was buried there.
Among the bronze ornaments of this period is a curious brooch or
buckle preserved in the museum of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle-
upon-Tyne and found probably about the beginning of the nineteenth century
(the date has not been recorded), associated with a burial in a rock tomb at
East Boldon, near Sunderland, and was presented to the society by the late
Rev. G. C. Abbes of Cleadon. It is ornamented with three small circular
bosses of gold to enclose polished garnets, one of which is wanting.
The most important series of weapons of this period in the county came
to light in the year 1870, on the farm at Hurbuck, near Lanchester. They
were noticed by the late David Balleny, the owner of the farm, when fishing
in the Smallhope Burn, 2 miles west of Lanchester.8 The hoard comprised
two swords, four scythes, two tools, one of which resembles a gouge, two
buckles or brooches, without pins, eight axes of different forms, several of
them being of the francisca type, and the pointed butt of a spear shaft,
which is slit up for half its length and retains the rivet which secured it to
the shaft. Of the above articles seventeen are in the possession of
Mr. Edmund Balleny of Little Greencroft, and two axes in that of Canon
Greenwell of Durham. The late Dr. Edward Charlton, of Newcastle, pro-
cured from the hoard one scythe and one axe, the present location of which
is unknown. The two swords are in very different states of preservation ;
the more perfect is an example of the long iron sword or spatha, and is 2 feet
1 1 inches long. The blade is double edged, 2 inches wide at the guard,
1 Brit. Arch. AUK. Journ. \. 185-196.
1 The Priory ofHexbam (Surtee* Soc.), vol. 44, introd. p. zl., and Arch. jERana, vi. 1 96.
8 Arch. Journ. xviii. 67.
213
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
and i inch at the tip. It is entirely of iron and a solid forging, and very
closely resembles a sword found at Canwick Common, near Lincoln.1 The
guard is of the curved form, the hilt 3 inches long, and the pommel has a
curved base, the knob being solid and heavy in order to counterbalance the
weight of the blade. The attenuated form of the handle indicates that it
was furnished with a leather wrapping or wooden mount. The other sword
is now 28 inches in length, and is much corroded. It has been very highly
finished, and some portions of its polished surface retain considerable traces of
inlaying with gold. All indications of the guard, the hilt, and the pommel
are gone, and it is not unlikely that its original length was as much as
3 feet.
The scythes average 15 inches in length with blades if inches in width.
They have tangs at right angles to the blades, one of which is 4 inches
long, with which they were attached to whatever form of handle was used
to wield them. Two rings are possibly the remains of harness buckles.
The larger one is circular, 3^ inches in diameter, the ends overlap, and are
welded together with a strap, very rudely attached. The smaller one is of
rectangular form, 3^ inches by 2 inches. The two objects for which it is
most difficult to suggest a use are two bars, respectively 18 inches and
1 3 inches in length ; the longer one has a circular section and is pointed at
both ends, a long tapering point at one end and a blunt point at the other.
Its general appearance is that of a modern crowbar. The shorter tool has
also a circular section for the greater portion of its length, f inch in diameter ;
one end is widened out to the extent of an inch and flattened, the other is
also expanded to an inch in width, and resembles a rudely-formed spoon. It
may have been used as a gouge for shaping timber.
The eight axes are of special interest. They vary in form ; some of them
being of the Saxon8 type, others resemble the francisca. The blade of the
largest axe is of the former kind, and is i o inches in length from the out-
side of the socket to the cutting edge of the blade. This is expanded and
measures 12 inches from one point to the other, with an average width of
an inch. The neck connecting the socket with the blade is f inch wide, and
has an average thickness of f inch. The socket measures if inches width
and depth, and is perforated to accommodate a shaft, of the usual oval form,
2 inches by i inch. Two smaller axes of the same form measure respectively
5! and 6 inches in total length. Another, of the francisca type, is 8 inches
in length, and 2j inches wide on the cutting edge. Two others are of a
similar form.
The last object to be described exactly resembles a miner's pick of the
present day, and was, no doubt, used for similar purposes. It is loj inches
long, pointed at both ends, and perforated in the centre to accommodate a shaft
2 inches by i inch. Viewed from the side, it is fashioned to a curve of about
i foot in radius ; while at the centre, the socket is expanded to a depth of
ij inches.
Of the two axes in Canon Greenwell's possession, one is of the Saxon
type, and is 9! inches long from the extremity of the socket to the edge of
1 Social England, i. 259. Notes to Illus. p. xxi.
8 Richard F. Burton, The Book of the SworJ, p. 94, fig. 98 ; Kemble, Horte Feraks, pi. 26 and 27,
pp. 207-208. Akerman's Pagan SaxonJom, pi. xxiii. ; Inventarium Sepulchrale passim, Lindenschmit Altertkummer,
vol. ii. heft iii. tof. 2 ; Lindenschmit, Handbuch, pt. i. 192-3 ; Demmin, Arms and Armour, 155.
214
g
'So
s
u ^
z g
J
ac ^
t-
•8
-
o
M
o '
o
z
<
w
I
h-
cr
O
ec
3
•£
6
S
o
i.
-
To face fa ft 114
ANGLO-SAXON REMAINS
the blade. The blade measures 12 inches in length. The axe of the fran-
cisca form is 5^ inches long and 3^ inches wide at the cutting edge, this
being set at an angle of 21 degrees to the axial line. Remains of the
wooden handle are in the socket.
In the excavation that was undertaken on the site of the destroyed portion
of the Chapter House at Durham in 1 874, an iron spear-head, coated with gold,
was found in association with one of the burials at a lower level than that at
which the bishops were interred. It therefore belonged to an interment of
the period between 995 and 1083. Such a spear was a common accom-
paniment of a male burial of the period. It measures 7 inches in length
and I*, inches in width. The socket is I inch in diameter, and retains the
rivets and a part of the shaft. It is preserved in the Cathedral Library, Durham.
Only one glass vessel of the Anglo-Saxon period is known to have been
found in the county. It is of singular interest and beauty, and was discovered
in 1775 at Castle Eden by some workmen employed in uprooting a hedge
about 100 yards from the bridge which spans the burn dividing the
church from the castle. It was associated with a burial, and the con-
temporary description of the find states that ' The mouth of the vase was
applied to a human skull, so near the surface, as to leave the bottom of the
vase exposed in the gutter of the hedge, the body had been deposited
horizontally with the head towards the east and had been covered with a
heap of common field stones. The labourer represented the skull and bones
as appearing entire ; but he was prevented by the clergyman of Castle Eden
from making any further research. The ground was, however, again opened
soon after by Mr. Burden's directions ; and a cavity was discovered beneath
the cairn, or heap of stones, large enough to contain a body of ordinary
dimensions, with a quantity of deep coloured soil, the remains probably of
the bones which had mouldered on the admission of the air. The vase was
full of earth, and, when emptied, appeared to retain a subtle, aromatic smell.'
It may be added that the place of discovery is almost exactly opposite the
spot where the grant of William de Thorp fixes the cemetery of the ancient
chapel of St. James in the twelfth century : ' Costera sub cemeterio.'
This glass cup, which belongs to a well-known type, is quite isolated in
the north of England and deserves more than a passing notice. It is in
excellent preservation, and its blue colour is somewhat exceptional, glass of the
period being generally of an amber yellow or an olive green. Several examples
are included in the national collection, but it is very seldom that a specimen is
found entire. Continental examples from the Rhine valley and Normandy
have long been known, and it would be unwise to claim an exclusive Anglo-
Saxon origin for them, though many have been found in Kent and our
southern counties, and fragments have been obtained as far north as Northants.1
Of itself the Durham specimen proves nothing as to the tribal connections of
the inhabitants during the sixth and seventh centuries, as it might easily have
been obtained by commerce, or in a raid on the south ; but it should always
be borne in mind that the so-called Anglian cinerary urns practically cease at
the Yorkshire border. It would be interesting, however, to derive some clue as
to the earliest Anglo-Saxon occupants of what is now Durham from the contents
of the graves. In this connection it may be noticed that though at Darlington
1 y. C. H. Northants, \. 244.
215
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
the skeletons lay with their feet at the east end of the grave, obviously
Christian interments in the cemetery of Hartlepool nunnery were north and
south. The presence of weapons and grave furniture in the former case
seeming to imply that the east-and-west burials at Darlington were not those
of Christian converts. Orientation may eventually prove of importance in
determining the date and character of Anglo-Saxon burials.
A curious coincidence should be mentioned in connection with a barrow
(grave-mound) at Cambois, Northumberland. With a burial were found an
enamelled bronze brooch and part of a bone comb,1 which can be approxi-
mately dated. Many combs of this kind, with a stout handle tapering to the
head of the comb, and one row of teeth, are to be seen in the York Museum,
and can be assigned with little hesitation to the Danish period. Apart from
this association it would be difficult to place the brooch, which has a flat
circular centre enclosing a bird, apparently with a branch in its beak, the
ground being filled with blue, green, and white enamel of the c&/eve kind.
Round the centre, but on a lower level, is a band of embossed work, probably
meant for running-scrolls. Another, modelled perhaps from the same original,
but further from the prototype, and somewhat debased and smaller was pro-
bably found on the site of Hyde Abbey, near Winchester, well-known as the
burial place of Alfred. The enamel colours are somewhat indistinct, but the
design is the same, and the diameter is about if inches.8 That these two
enamelled brooches were of Danish manufacture is not probable, and they
may be English work, or have come from Gaul or the Rhine district, where
the bird was in use as a Christian symbol.
The only hoard of coins of this period which has been discovered in
the county was a small one of about a dozen pieces, found while digging
a grave in the burial ground attached to the chapel at Heworth, near Gates-
head, about the year 1822. They were contained in a curiously shaped
vessel of coarse earthenware, poorly glazed, 2j inches high and 2 J inches in
diameter in its widest part. The mouth measures if inches by i inch
inside, and is formed into a rudely formed lip. Opposite to the lip a broken
patch seems to indicate that the vessel was originally supplied with a handle
in the form of a hook. It may be generally described as somewhat resem-
bling a small cream jug. In two places blackened patches show that it had
been in contact with fire. The coins are of bronze, of the type known as
stycas, and are all of the reign of Ecgfrith (670—685). On the obverse they
bear the letters, + ECGFRID REX, and on the reverse the single word LVX ; inter-
spersed with these three letters are a number of radiating lines which may
represent the rays of the sun. The Rev. John Hodgson,8 in exhibiting one
of the coins at a meeting of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle-upon-
Tyne, conjectured that the motto LVX was either complimentary to the
character of Ecgfrith, or as an allusion to the flourishing state of Christianity
during his reign.
Mr. LongstafFe mentions four silver pennies of Alfred's time, found at
Gainford about 1865.* They were then in the possession of the Rev. J.
Edleston, and were discovered together outside the north-west angle of the
chancel of Gainford church.
1 Both are in the British Museum. » V. C. H. Hants, i. 397.
8 Arch. sESana, i. 1 24, pi. vi. * Ibid. vi. 233-4.
316
GLASS VESSEL FOUND AT CASTLE EDEN IN 1775.
To fatt fag, 216.
ANGLO-SAXON REMAINS
SCULPTURED STONES
The county of Durham contains a very large number of architectural
and sculptured remains of the period. In this section, only the sculptured
stones which are of a memorial character will be dealt with. Those which
are clearly architectural details will be referred to in the section on archi-
tecture. The art of the memorial stones may be said to be entirely of
Christian character. The earlier examples are the more beautiful, and dis-
tinctly of the Anglian school ; while the later are manifestly inferior both in
design and execution. Dealing in detail with the various stones it will be
convenient to adopt a topographical and alphabetical arrangement.
Auckland, — In the church of St. Andrew, commonly called South
Church, is a very interesting collection, nearly the whole of which was
taken out of the walls of the south transept at the time it was rebuilt in
1 88 1. The existence of these stones in the walls of this part of the church
is a fact of some interest, as the transept was an extension of an earlier
building, and was built upon a portion of the ancient burial-ground on the
south of the older church. The crosses, therefore, were probably in situ
when the extension was made, and were broken up and used in the walls as
building material.
Five of the fragments belong, apparently, to the same memorial, and
may conveniently be described together. They consist of a portion of the
pedestal or base-stone which carried the shaft and cross, the latter being
represented by three other pieces. The base was apparently split up into
eight portions for use as walling stones. Of these, three remain, and show
the width and height of the original. There is considerable ' batter ' on all
four sides, and a triple bead-moulding is carried round the upper angles and
down the sides to the termination of the figure subjects. The side which is
most perfect contains three nimbed figures, the centre one of which has a
book in the left hand, with the right hand raised and the two first fingers
pointing towards the figure on the left. Of the two outer figures one has
the right hand raised, and the other the left, the open hand points to the
central figure.1 Portions of two of the returned faces remain, each containing
the greater part of a nimbed figure.
The two pieces of the shaft of the cross show that it was one of great
interest and beauty, and has higher artistic merits than any other example of
like work in the county. A small portion of the bottom of one of the sides,
when compared in its width with the much larger fragment, indicates that
the shaft was a lofty one and that the greater part of it is wanting. This
comparison, assisted by the arrangement of the sculpture on the Bewcastle
cross, shows pretty clearly that the larger fragment came from near the top
of the shaft. The front and back of the shaft have pictorial subjects in
panels, the upper of which in each case is almost entire and has a semicircular
head. Each contains two figures, of which one holds in his hand a sceptre
tipped with three balls; another, in the other picture, a scroll rolled up.
The drapery of the figures represented with raised hands, flows over the arm
in easy folds, while the vestment in another case is enriched with bands
1 The Rev. J. F. Hodgson conjectures that the scene is one of the later events in the life of our Lord.
Arch. jEliana, xz. 30.
I 217 28
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
containing lines of raised pellets. Below are portions of two other subjects.
One of these is a Crucifixion with three nimbed figures having curled hair
like that of the evangelists in the Lindisfarne Gospels, and of David in the
Durham Cassiodorus.1 This is important as suggesting that this memorial
is probably as early as c. 700. In any case it seems to belong to the very
best period of Anglo-Saxon sculpture. Over the head of the figure of our
Lord is a square panel with the letters p A s, an abbreviation of ' passus est,'
the final letter being of the Greek form as used in the pictures of the
evangelists in the Lindisfarne Gospels. The angles are treated with the
usual triple bead, the outer bead being worked into a cable moulding.8 These
beads are carried across the shaft as divisions between the subjects. Both
sides are ornamented with a very finely sculptured rolling scroll, similar to
those on the stones at Jarrow, Jedburgh, Bewcastle, Ruth well, Easby and
elsewhere. The whorls enclose animals and birds, which are represented in
all cases as eating the fruit which forms the terminations of the various stems.
At the lower termination on one side is the upper part of a human figure,
the upraised hands of which hold a bow and arrow, pointed at one of the
animals. The small fragment which formed the foot of one of the sides has
upon it the commencement of a scroll of that peculiar expanded form which
occurs at Bewcastle and Ruthwell. Standing upon this is a figure repre-
sented as ascending, only the feet and legs of which remain.
Another stone is an almost perfect example of a horizontal grave-cover,
or possibly a headstone. It is a rectangular slab 2 feet 6 inches by I foot
8j inches, and has upon it a cross, the head of which is of the square patee
form. At the intersection of the arms is a boss, and the arms and the stem
are covered with shallow knot- work. In the spaces on either side of the
shaft are long shallow knots with double cords. Above the arms are ten
raised pellets in each space, probably meant to represent stars.1
Ayclijfe. — There have been found here twelve fragments of cross-shafts
and headstones, (i) A small head or foot stone, 1 6 inches high, 1 1 inches
wide, and 7 inches thick, now deposited in the museum of Archaeology and
Ethnology, Cambridge. The sides are tapered and the head is semicircular.
The edges are worked with flat knot-work, very much decayed ; the front
and back have each two nimbed figures of full height. They are represented
as clad in short tunics, hollowed or raised above the knees ; the legs are
bare, the hands folded and pressed on the breast. The faces are thin and of a
pointed oval form, around which the hair is indicated. One of the figures
holds an object with a trefoil pointed end, possibly a lily. As the two figures
are slightly different in height they may possibly be intended to commemorate
two children, (ii) A small semicircular headstone measuring 1 3 inches high,
14^ inches wide, and 6 inches thick, has on either face a cross of the Anglian
form, raised on a sunk ground. At the intersection of the arms is a circular
boss. A single cord passes over the whole, and is knotted at each termination
in three loops. The angles are beaded, and the same design occurs on both
faces, while carried round the edge of the stone is a flat-knotted band of a
1 Dur. Cath. Libr. MSS. B. II. 30.
s Rev. G. F. Browne (the bishop of Bristol), Magazine of Art, part 52, pp. 156-7.
3 Similar pellets occur on a stone, clearly of early Saxon date, at Simondburn in Northumberland, and on
the tympanum of an early Norman doorway at Wold Newton in Yorkshire, where they are associated with an
annular object probably intended to represent the moon. Keyser, 'Norman Tympana and Lintels, fig. 1 6.
218
7
;
:
-
o
s.
2 t
C/3 <
r<>/«« /j^, us
ANGLO-SAXON REMAINS
single cord, (iii) A fragment of the arm of a cross of Anglian form. It has
knot-work of simple character on the two faces and the end of the arm.
(iv) A piece of a cross-shaft 12 inches by 9 inches by 5^ inches, having the
lower portions of two figures, and beneath them the head and part of the
twisted body of a monster. One edge has a well-cut double plait, the other
a single plait, (v) Another exhibits on one side two nimbed figures with
their hands clasped, and on the other an eagle preening its feathers. The
edges have well-cut knot-work, (vi) Another has portions of only two
sides decipherable. One side has two figures precisely similar to the last,
while a simple flat knot occurs on the other, (vii) A fragment which has
been worked for a window sill and only shows its original use on one side.
This has been divided into panels, each containing knot-work. One of these
has a large, complicated plait, of which but a portion remains, while below
it is a narrow panel crossing the shaft, with a simple four-cord knot, (viii) A
fragment used to form the bowl of a thirteenth-century piscina. It has a
delicate and finely worked six-cord plait on one side, but from the other the
original ornament has been obliterated.
All the above stones, except that now at Cambridge, are lying in the
porch or the churchyard, and were taken out of the walls of the church
during the restoration of 1881—2.
(ix, x) Built into the south wall of the chancel, inside, are two frag-
ments, the larger of which has two panels, each containing two figures of
similar character to those already described. The other, much smaller, is
part of a broader stone which has had panels, each containing three
figures. Only the heads of one triplet and the feet of another have survived.
(xi, xii) In the churchyard are the remains of two large and important
crosses. One stands just outside the south door of the chancel, and the other
some yards to the south-west of it. The base stone of the former is ancient,
and the lower part of the shaft appears never to have been removed from it.
The shaft is now complete for its whole length, and the only portions wanting
are the arms or keys of the cross-head. About 1845 the upper part of this
cross and the remaining portion of the shaft of the other, which was originally
very much larger and sculptured in a better manner, were used as lintels over
openings in the tower of the thirteenth-century church. They were subse-
quently erected inside the tower,1 but some years ago the upper portion of
the smaller cross was added to the piece of the shaft in the base in the
churchyard,* and the shaft of the larger one fixed into a modern base stone.
The dimensions of the more perfect cross are : base stone, 2 feet 3 inches by
I foot 9 inches by 2 feet ; shaft, 5 feet 1 1 inches high/ and the base to the
top i foot 5 inches wide and 7 inches thick. On the south side the greater
portion of the shaft is occupied with a design in which two monsters with
their heads downwards and having prominent snouts and ears arc involved
with interlacing bands which originate in the feet of the monsters. Rising
to the head they form a large number of irregular loops, and returning down-
wards seem to terminate in the mouths of the beasts. The central part of the
crosshead is a large circular disc, and is treated similarly on both sides. The
cross symbol is emphasised by the disc being divided into four portions, each
> Arch. Journ. iii. 259-261. * LongstafFe, History of DarGagfon, 215.
1 Trans. Dur. Northumb. Arch. Sat. iii. 5 I .
219
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
of which is filled with a ' triquetra.' These are connected together so that
the whole forms a large and symmetrical circular interlacement. The north
side has at the foot a band of fine plait-work crossing it ; above this, in a
panel almost square, is a curiously drawn centaur. The right arm grasps a
spear, while the left is turned back along the body and grasps the tail. This,
above the point where it is held by the hand, is formed into a knot of seven
loops. In the longer panel above are two monsters with their heads upwards,
having in the mouths of each two balls, while between the heads are two
rings. The necks are in each case divided into two, thus forming four bands
which interlace over the whole panels in a much more regular manner than
similar bands on the opposite side. In the remaining upper arm of the cross
is a piece of simple knot-work. The two side arms were cut off to adapt the
' stone for use as a lintel. The side facing west has a monster with its head
downwards and its body rising in undulations to the top, returning to the
bottom again and forming a knot in the spaces left by the undulations.
The other cross-shaft is clearly very much reduced from its original
height, as the upper part is wanting. The remaining portion is 4 feet
9 inches in length. It is worthy of notice that the sides have hardly any
taper as they rise. On the side now facing east are four panels : the lower
contains a Crucifixion, the cross of which has rectangular arms and head.
The body of our Lord is represented standing on the ground with the face
turned to the left. Beneath are the two soldiers, the one to His right
holding a spear, the other an annular object on a long shaft, representing
the sponge or cup. In the spaces above the arms of the cross the sun and
moon are shown. The panel above is a transverse band, containing knot-work ;
over it is a larger panel with three nimbed figures all alike, their feet turned
sideways to the right and the hands clasped on the breast. They wear long
tunics which descend almost to the ankles, with girdles somewhat below the
waist. The remaining portion of the upper panel has the tails of two
monsters, which curling outwards are reduced to bands which entangle the
bodies. On the opposite side, now facing west, are four divisions, the lowest
a transverse band of knot-work, above which are three equal panels, the first
containing three figures all alike with feet pointing outwards. They wear
girdled tunics, and the hands are bound with cords. What is apparently a
nimbus may be a cord binding the heads, as it is a continuous band passing
from one to the other. The panel contains above this two figures only,
similarly vested and bound. The cord (?) passing over the heads is looped
into three loops between the heads and beyond them. In the uppermost
panel are two figures, their heads unfortunately much shattered. Each one
holds in his hand a weapon in an inclined position with the point to the
right. One weapon looks like a mace and another a spear. They are
habited very differently from the other figures, the skirts of their tunics
having loose folds and scallops. No doubt the whole six panels have a
symbolical meaning, and the two figures holding weapons may be meant
to represent soldiers guarding the five bound figures below them.1
The two sides are very differently treated : that now facing south has
three divisions, the lowest containing two four-legged creatures with long
1 The Rev. W. S. Calverley attempts to show that the sculptures on some of the crosses represent subjects
described in the heathen sagas. Arch. Journ. xl. 143 ; P. C. H. Cumb. i. 266.
220
i
3
U
x
u
a
co
X
o
>5
I
s
<J
ct
U
ANGLO-SAXON REMAINS
bodies, the legs and tails of which form interlacing bands, hampering the
bodies, which are strikingly similar to those which occur so frequently in the
illuminations in the Lindisfarne Gospels and other contemporary manuscripts.
The division above contains a crucified figure with the head downwards.
The head and arms of the cross are rectangular and very broad. The feet
are placed facing outwards and the tunic is long and girdled. Above this is
a division containing knot-work. On the other side the lower panel has
been obliterated. In the upper portion are two panels of well-designed and
skilfully-executed knot-work.
EUlingham. — Built into the walls of the tower of the church are several
pieces of cross-shafts with sculpture of this period. Three of these can be
identified among the larger stones on the south side. They are, however, in
such an advanced state of disintegration on the exposed surfaces that unless
they are removed from the walls no accurate description of them is possible.
In the porch of the same church is a very beautiful fragment of sculpture,
but as this is an architectural detail it will be dealt with in the description ot
the church.
In the British Museum is a fragment of an interesting small grave-
cover of the Hartlepool type, which originally measured about 10 inches by
14 inches. The cross border lines and letters are all incised. The cross has
semicircular terminations to the arms, and no doubt had a circle at the inter-
section. In the upper part of the field were the letters A and n in large
Roman Capitals. The A only remains. In the border, between incised
lines, was an inscription in uncials, of which only the letters ORATE PRO
p . . . remain. In the more perfect arm of the cross are some other and
smaller letters, forming apparently the word nimbus.
In the cathedral library, Durham, is a small stone from Billingham. It
is sculptured on all its four sides. On one face a seated figure is represented
as resting on a straight plank, great prominence being given to the knees.1
Beneath the figure are small remains of some scroll foliage of an unusual type.
On the opposite face the only remaining details are the legs of a human
figure, ' representing probably part of the figure of our Lord upon the cross.'
A third side has portions of two panels of good knot-work, and the remaining
side has a creature resembling a bird.
Chester le Street. — The church here contains in its walls some portions of
pre-Conquest work, and from time to time numerous pieces of sculpture have
been found. A number of these stood for many years in the porch,
and about 1882 one of the finest disappeared and has been searched for in
vain. The largest of the stones is in the room above the * anchorage.' It
is the base stone of a memorial cross and measures 2 feet 3 inches in height,
i foot 7 inches in width, and i foot 4 inches in depth. The sinking, to
contain the foot of the cross-shaft, measures 14 inches by loj inches by
3 inches, and in the centre of the bottom of it is a dowel hole 2 inches in
diameter and 4 inches deep. The stone is rectangular and its sides are
vertical. It is fortunately entire, except that the sculpture has been cut away
from one of its sides. On the face a scene is represented which is thus
1 Haverfield and Greenwell, Cat. Sculptured and Inuribtd Stones Dur., 95, No. xxix. This curious treat-
ment of the knees is observable in the representation of the human figure at this period both on stones and in
illuminations. It is particularly noticeable in the tenth century MS. of Cacdmon's Metrical Paraphrase.
Arch. vol. xxiv., pi. is. z. etc.
221
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
described by the bishop of Bristol.1 ' The main subject must represent our
Lord fulfilling the promise that the seed of Eve should bruise the serpent's
head. On the highly interesting stone at Dereham in Cumberland2 there
are three figures in a row, under semicircular arcades, with a gross serpent
rolling under their feet, the right foot of the dexter figure on the creature's
mouth. At Kirkdale the serpent lies beneath the feet of the Saviour on the
cross. At Chester le Street, as elsewhere, the serpent becomes a dragon, and
the form of dragon selected here is of the deer-shaped type, with huge teeth.
Its attitude betokens overthrow, while still it rears its neck and tries to tear
the feet which trample on its head. One fore leg seems to be helpless in the
corner of the panel, the other is held up under the head and is hampered
by the tail. . . . The figures on each side of our Lord may have either
of the meanings, while it is quite possible that they may mean something very
different from both. ... If the dexter figure has a cock's head and the
similar figure the head of the fox they will represent pride and avarice, two
of the sins which have been named as slaying our Lord.' 3 The opposite side
has had two large holes cut in it. The remaining surface contains an inter-
laced design of a very rude and irregular character. The remaining side has
a bold example of interlacing bands, in the upper part of which an indepen-
dent circle occurs.
The other stones are collected in the Parochial Institute, which
is on the opposite side of a lane to the west of the church. Four of these
are portions of cross-shafts, and are placed on small wooden pedestals against
the east wall of the room. The one at the south end measures 33 inches by
10 inches by 8 inches. The sides exhibit various patterns of plaited cords of
flat and somewhat coarse workmanship. The next stone, measuring 30 inches
by i ij inches by 8jinch.es, has on the front a tolerably well cut four-cord
plait, the cords being double. The sides have four-cord twists. The angles
are worked with a cable moulding.
The next is a more important relic than any of the others, as it contains
a figure subject, consisting of a mounted warrior on whose left arm is a large
circular shield with a well-developed boss.* Above him are the heads of two
dragons, pointing downwards towards the horseman. Above their bodies and
partly upon them are the letters E A D M v N r>, the M and N being runes.
Bishop Browne remarks that this subject represents the evil spirits being
withstood by the Scandinavian hero, as on the cross at Gosforth in Cumber-
land. The two panels below are boldly executed but ill designed, with
interlacements of circular form independent of one another, the upper one
having two concentric and independent circles, with an endless band interlaced
with them, while the lower one consists of a circle with two pairs of diagonal
bands, the ends of which interlace with an independent circle. The bands
are all double. The sides have four-cord plaits of a design which occurs in
various places, as at Brescia, Hexham, Ripon,6 Hart, etc.
The last of these cross-shafts measures 25 J inches by loj inches by
8j inches, and has on the upper part of the face for about half its length a
1 Blunt, A Thousand Tears of the Church in Chester le Street, 185.
2 V. C. H. Cumb. i. 276. » Blunt, of. fit. 185. * Arch. Mliana, x 88.
6 Romilly Allen, Analysis of Celtic Interlaced Ornament: Proc. Sac. Ant. Scot. xvii. 225 sqq. fig. 123;
Cattaneo, Architecture in Italy, Engl. ed. 151.
222
ANGLO-SAXON REMAINS
four-cord divided plait, the rest of the surface being left plain. The ornament
on the other three sides has been chiselled away.
Lying in one corner of the room are a large number of detached frag-
ments of various dates. Ten of these are pre-Norman. The largest and
most important is half of the base stone or pedestal of a standing cross. It is
27 inches high and 18 inches wide, and the depth of the remaining
portion is 12 inches. The front is occupied by a large cross of the patee
form, the centre of which is emphasised by an incised circle. Above it is a
transverse band of knot-work, the upper portion of which has been cut away.
The dexter side bears two human figures which Bishop Browne assumes to
represent the Salutation or the Return of the Prodigal, for one of the figures
is kneeling with head bent down. The sinister side has a monster or dragon
with twisted body and a tail placed in the mouth. The remaining fragments
are : (i) a piece 12 inches by 8 inches carved with a lacertine monster; (ii) a
piece of a cross-shaft 16 inches by 12 inches by 9 inches, on one side a rudely-
drawn nondescript animal, on the others simple knot-work very much worn ;
(iii) fragment of a cross-head 1 2 inches by 1 1 inches by 6 inches, containing
cross knot-work with double cords ; (iv) piece of a shaft 1 1 inches by 8 inches
by 6 inches with knots on its four sides, similar to that on the lower panel of
the 'Eadmund' stone; (v) a piece of shaft n inches by 7 inches by 9 inches
long, knot-work on two of its sides, a key pattern on another, and a lacertine
monster on the last; (vi) a fragment 16 inches by 1 1 inches by 7 inches, with
large knots coarsely worked on two sides, the other two surfaces broken away;
(vii) a fragment 1 5 inches by 1 1 inches by 7$ inches has on the face a four-
cord plait divided, on the side is a simple looped cord, the angles worked
with a cable moulding; (viii) a fragment 15 inches by 9^ inches by
6J inches, knot-work on three of its sides, on the other a triple spiral
figure and circles in the unoccupied angles. The last fragment (ix) is a
portion of a sundial, which will be dealt with among the other sundials.
Coniscliffe. — There was a church here in Anglo-Saxon days dedicated in
honour of St. Edwin. Traces of this building are to be found in several
fragments of sculptured crosses built into the present church, which dates
from the last years of the twelfth century. On the north side of the tower
is a small fragment 8 inches by 6 inches, the exposed face of which shows a
few loops of an undivided plait design. On the west side of the tower, about
1 5 feet from the ground, is a stone 1 6 inches by 5 inches on the face, appa-
rently a portion of the upper part of one side of a cross-shaft. A bead is run
round its angles, and the design upon it begins with a four-cord plait, which
after making four or five crossings changes into a series of interrupted knots,
of which two remain.
A more interesting and important relic is an early grave-cover, which is
built in, face downwards, as a lintel in the western window in the third stage
of the tower. The visible portion is 2 feet 6 inches long, 1 1 inches wide at
one end and 10 inches at the other. One part of its surface is covered with
a four-cord plait, without breaks, divided from which by three transverse
beads is a pair of shears 9 inches long, of the form used to indicate the burial
of a female, and a design consisting of a series of sunk triangles placed alter-
nately point to base in parallel rows, a design commonly used in surface
ornament in the Norman period. This is the only instance which has come
223
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
under the writer's observation of the shears occurring in association with
ornament which in all probability is anterior to the middle of the eleventh
century.
Darlington. — In the fine church of St. Cuthbert are preserved the heads
of two pre-Conquest crosses. The larger one is complete and retains a part
of the upper portion of the shaft, showing that the head and shaft were all
worked out of one stone. Both sides are alike and have a raised boss in their
centres. The form of the head is Anglian, and is ornamented with a double
continuous band which, passing the boss, is carried into each of the four
arms, where it forms triquetras. The smaller fragment has lost two of the
arms. The raised boss is larger than in the other cross and the interlacing
band is single but similarly treated.
Dinsdale. — Eight fragments of pre-Conquest crosses are built into the
walls of the porch of this church. Amongst them are two cross-heads, one
of which has two birds upon it, and the other interlacing designs. One
portion of a cross-shaft shows the lower part of a panel containing two human
figures. In the chancel is the greater part of a hog-backed stone of exactly
the same type as the stones found at Brompton in Allertonshire, Arncliffe in
Cleveland, and Sockburn. At either end is the large muzzled bear, while on
the sides are three separate square panels, each containing two pointed loops
interlaced.1 Along the top is a simple square fret. In the lower part of
each side is a semicircular-headed recess, which occurs on similar stones at
Brompton and Sockburn, and very conspicuously on that from Arncliffe ; * its
purpose has yet to be explained.8 In the churchyard is the lower portion of
the shaft of a large memorial cross, fixed in the ground. It bears coarsely
executed interlaced designs on a large scale. On the side facing west is the
unusual feature of a compartment in the form of a heater-shaped shield,
containing a curious design with triquetra terminations and small isolated
bosses. A somewhat similar feature occurs on one of the stones at Sockburn.
Lying near to this cross is a huge and rudely worked stone coffin with
its lid complete. There is little doubt that this is of pre-Conquest date.
The lid is slightly coped and along its ridge is a large plain cross in high
relief.*
Durham. — In the city of Durham two distinct groups of pre-Conquest
stones have been brought to light. These groups are both of unusual
importance and interest and stand out in marked contrast to the other small
and isolated fragments which have been from time to time discovered, but
which have no connection with these two series. The tradition which has
come down from Leland's time, of the bearers of St. Cuthbert's body bringing
with them a carved stone cross from Lindisfarne6 and setting it up at
Durham, no doubt rests on a foundation of fact, but the identification of this
particular cross with one in the wall of St. Oswald's church must now be
regarded as an archaeological error of the last century. St. Oswald's church, on
the evidence of no less than five pre-Conquest crosses found in its walls
and vicinity, appears to have bad a predecessor, at a date anterior to the
1 Proc. Sac. Antiq. Neivtast/e-on-Tyne, ix. 62. » Haverfield and Greenwell, of. cit. iz6, No. bciv.
8 Canon Greenwell suggests that these recesses are meant to indicate the doorways of man's last house,
which the hog-backed stone is believed to typify.
* Hodges, Refyuary, New ser. p. 79. ' f Symeon of Durham (Rolls Ser.), i. 101.
224
BILLINGHAM : FRAGMENT OF GRAVESTONE, NOW IN BRITISH MUSEUM.
ST. OSWALD'S, DURHAM :
PORTION OF CROSS-SHAFT.
JARROW : FRAGMENT OF CROSS-SHAFT IN NORTH PORCH.
DURHAM : COPED GRAVE COVER IN CATHEDRAL LIBRARY.
To fact ffft 124,
ANGLO-SAXON REMAINS
arrival of the congregation of St. Cuthbert and the building of the first
church on the plateau.
The most important of these crosses was built into the west wall of the
fifteenth-century tower of the existing church and was in two pieces. One
piece was removed from the church to the Cathedral Library in 1880. A
few years later another portion of the same cross was taken from the tower,
and these two were found to fit each other. In 1895 the other stones
forming this group were taken out of the wall of the churchyard which
divides it from Church Street.1 As there can be no question of their early
date, the finding of those additional examples is an important factor in the
history of this portion of the city. The ornamentation on the largest cross
is well executed and extends to all four faces. Two of the designs exhibit
the lacertine monsters already referred to in other cases. One of these has
two beasts, their heads respectively pointing upwards and downwards, their
bodies contorted, and the limbs and tails elongated into bands, which are
interlaced with, and hamper, the bodies. On the opposite side the lowest
panel also has two somewhat similar monsters, but differently treated. Their
bodies are crossed saltire-wise and their heads and tails roll inwards in a
spiral form. The remaining panels contain interlaced designs similar to those
of the local type. Another cross-shaft is 4 feet 1 1 inches long, i foot 6 inches
wide and 9 inches thick. The lower portion of the cross-head remains, and
as the shaft is complete at the foot it is evident that the whole was worked
out of one stone, and when complete would be about 8 feet in height.
The knot-work is flatly executed and is of simple but effective character.
The two sides are alike and contain two groups, each of them independent
circles, through which four bands are plaited and joined at their ends. One
of the narrow sides has five parallel bands interlaced at either end and at two
intermediate places. The other side has similar bands treated somewhat
differently. The angles have a bead moulding, which is double on the two
broader sides. Another cross, of practically the same size, also containing
the lower portion of the head, has on either of its sides a single ornamented
panel consisting of two complete circles through which are passed diagonally
four bands joined at their ends. The sides are plain. A small fragment of
the head of a cross is I foot 10 inches long and 9 inches wide. It seems to
be the upper and lower arm, and is ornamented with knot-work. In the
centre is a raised boss. A fragment of a cross-shaft, 8 inches high, has a
portion of one side and the half of the two faces. It is ornamented with
knot-work of the local type. It was found loose under the ' Black Staircase '
at Durham Castle, and there is no record of its previous history.
The most important find of sculptured stones in the city of Durham occurred
in the spring of 1891, when the foundations of the eastern portion of the
Chapter House, part of which had been erected during the episcopate of Geoffrey
Rufus (1133-1140), and destroyed in 1796, were taken up to be replaced
with new foundations. It is known that the cemetery of the monks was in
the open ground to the south of the quire, and east of the Chapter House,
and occupied the same spot as the cemetery of the old congregation of
St. Cuthbert, which occupied the church at Durham from 995 to 1083.
l Haverficld and Greenwell, tf. (it. 73, 78 ; Trani. Dur. Ntrthumb. Arch. Sor. iii. 32 and plate ; iv. 281,
pi. 1-4.
1 225 29
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
The east end of the Chapter House encroached on the site of the cemetery,
and the memorial crosses and grave covers must have been broken up and
used in the foundations of the new building. They consist of the heads,
more or less complete, of four crosses, the greater portion of a large coped
grave cover, broken into three pieces, and a smaller grave cover, with a cross
in relief upon it. The accompanying illustrations render a minute description
unnecessary. It will
be convenient to
mention them in the
same order as that in
which they occur in
the Durham Cata-
logue.1
(A) This is the
largest and most com-
plete of the series.
The head, which is of
the Anglian type, has,
within a circle in the
centre of one face,
the Holy Lamb, re-
presented as standing
in front of a cross
fixed in a base on the
ground. In front of
the lamb is a circle,
the meaning of which
is obscure, unless it is
meant to represent
the sun.* In the up-
per limb is an angel
with four wings, and
on either side of the
angel's head is a
human face, looking
outwards. The side
limbs contain figures
of winged monsters
and cherubs. The
other face has in a cir-
cle a group of three
figures, which no
BACK OK PORTION OF CROSS (A) FROM THE CHAPTER HOUSE, DURHAM. d°ubt rePresentS the
baptism of Christ.3
In the upper limb is a bird with wings extended and a long tail. The side
* In Canon Greenwell's Paper on these crosses, Trans. Dur. Northumb. Arch.Soc. iv. 123, plates 1-6, this
order is reversed.
» It does not occur in any one of the examples of this emblem on the Norman tympana illustrated i
Mr. Keyser's work. Figs. 98 to 108.
3 A similar subject occurs on across in Kells churchyard, co. Meath. Illus. Arch. i. 165.
226
FROST OF PORTION OF CROSS (A) FROM THE CHAPTER Housi, DURHAM.
in
FRONT OF PORTION OF CROSS (C) FROM THI
. CHAPTER HOUSE, DURHAM.
ANGLO-SAXON REMAINS
limbs have each the same subject, two figures holding books ; the outer
figure is the larger, and holds a cross as well as a book. The ends of
the arms and the sides of the upper limbs have upon them panels of interlaced
work.
(B) This fragment consists of a cen-
tral portion and side limbs only. On
one side it has the representation of a
Crucifixion. The figure of our Lord is
nearly all broken away. On either side
of the cross are two figures, with the
arms folded. In the side limbs are again
the same figures as described in A. On
the opposite side is the representation of
the Baptism of our Lord as on A.
(C) This fragment has the centre,
one arm, and the lower limb of a cross
head. In the centre, within a circle, is
the Crucifixion, with a single figure on
either side of the cross. In the side
limb are two monsters placed in saltire,
the heads outwards, and the bodies ham-
pered by an interlaced band. In the lower limb is a draped kneeling figure
holding a tree, beyond which is a long-legged bird looking towards the
figure. The trees have terminations like bunches of grapes. On the opposite
side the Baptism occurs again, and above it the tail of a bird, as in A. In
the lower limbs is an animal, which may represent a lion combating with
a snake which is biting the lion's ear. On the body of the lion are incised
lines, representing a twisted
band with three loops.
All these three cross heads
are made of the same kind of
stone, and were probably all
carved by the same hand, and
at nearly the same time.
(D) Head of a cross nearly
complete, of much coarser stone
and ruder workmanship than
the others. On one face is a
figure having arms of a length
out of all proportion to the
figure itself, and which are ex-
tended and grasp the limbs of
two monsters which occupy the
side limbs of the cross, and are
FRONT or PORTION OP CROSS (D) FROM THE CHAPTER HOUSE, . , j ... . , , . ,
DURHAM, involved with interlaced bands.
In the triangular spaces above
and below the arms of the figure there are, in those above, two birds with their
beaks touching, while below are triquetras. On the opposite face, within a
circle, the Holy Lamb, behind which is the cross standing on the ground, and
227
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
over the back the circular object previously mentioned. The upper limb has
two monsters involved with interlaced hands. The side limbs have knot
work. The lower retains a small portion of the body of a monster. The ends
of the arms have knot-work
upon them.
The remains of the massive
coped grave cover are of espe-
cial interest, and it is to be
regretted that the whole of it
was not recovered ; something
like one quarter is wanting.
The sloping sides are divided
into panels, each of which con-
tains an intricate design of
interlacing knot-work. On
the remaining end, although
the stone itself is rectangular,
the ornament finishes in a
semi-circular form. The tri-
angular spaces thus produced
are filled with interlacements
which accommodate them-
selves to the spaces. Two of these are correctly worked out, but that filling
the end space is very irregular, and the under and over principle is not
consistently maintained. The chief interest lies in the way in which the ridge
and hips of the coped top of the stone are treated. Along the ridge are the
bodies of two serpents, carried parallel to one another. They descend along
the angles or hips, whence their heads point outwards. The stone is much
defaced on the ridge, but it is probable that the bodies crossed at the point
where they reached its end. The tails were on the piece which is wanting.1
The dimensions are 4 feet 6 inches long (originally probably 6 feet), I foot
10 inches wide, and i foot 2 inches high.*
The larger portion of a flat grave-cover with raised cross has the sculpture
very rudely worked. In the centre of the cross is a circle containing a cross
patee. The upper limb is broken away. Each limb contains a figure, two
of which are beasts and one human. They were no doubt intended to
represent the evangelistic symbols. On the shaft of the cross is a human
figure with wings and nimbed. A small fragment, 9 inches high, has sculp-
ture on one of its sides representing portions of two human figures.8
A fragment which once formed a side limb of a cross-head,
measuring 8j inches long, 8j inches wide, and 3^ inches thick, has well
designed and carefully executed knot-work on the two sides and the end of
the arm.*
BACK OF PORTION OF CROSS (D) FROM THB CHAPTER HOUSE,
DURHAM.
1 Twisted serpents occur on the jambs of the western doorway of the ancient church at Monkwearmouth,
where the tails terminate in a curious expansion instead of a tapering point. Trans. Dur. Northumb. Arth. Sw.
i. pi. 4, 7; ReKjuary,vii. 145.
* Trans. Dur. Northumb. Arch. Soc. iv. pi. E.F. Pre-Conquest grave covers of this form are rare.
Boutell figures two examples from Bakewell and St. Dionys, York. Christian Monuments, 12, 14.
* Haverfield and Greenwell, of. fit. 89, No. xxvi.
* Found since the Catalog* was published in 1 899.
228
ANGLO-SAXON REMAINS
Elivick Hall. — Built into the wall on either side of the chancel arch of
the church are two stones, on one of which is a sculpture said to represent
the expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise. The figures seem to repre-
sent the angel and Adam and Eve, with trees above them. The other stone
has a cross head of Anglian form in relief, with beaded angles formed by an
incised line, and two incised circles at the intersection. The head of the
stone is semicircular and the triangular spaces above the arms of the cross each
contain a ' triquetra.' Below the arms are the beginnings of interlaced
designs, consisting of four-cord plaits which have continued down the sides
of the shaft, showing that the remaining portion is only the head of a head-
stone or a grave-cover.1
Escomb. — Preserved in the ancient church are five stones of the pre-
Norman period. Two of these are portions of a cross-shaft bearing upon
them well-designed scrolls containing birds and animals interspersed with
foliage scrolls belonging to the same school of work as those which have been
described as being of the Hexham type. The angles of this cross have been
worked with a cable moulding. Another fragment has interlaced work upon
it. There is also in the chancel a grave-cover with a plain cross in a sunk
panel with semicircular head, on the cross are raised bosses, and on the side
of the shaft two raised circles.* The cross has a tapering shaft and a square
base. The other is only a small portion of a semicircular headstone of
tapering form. It has a plain square-limbed cross worked on either of its
sides, and is probably not earlier than the eleventh century.* On a rockery
in the vicarage garden are one or two small fragments with interlaced work
upon them. From the wall of a house in Escomb there has been removed to
Durham * a small stone measuring 9 inches by 5 inches, having upon it part
of a very beautiful design of foliage and grapes.
Gainford on the Tees. — The church here has produced a larger number
of fragments of this period than any other in the county. Nineteen of these
stones were removed to the Cathedral Library at Durham in 1896." The
largest is a cross, complete, with the exception of the side limbs of the head.
It has raised bosses on either side at the intersection. One face has a long
panel in which are two monsters one above the other interspersed with
knotted bands. Below is a panel containing regular plait work without any
break." The opposite face has three panels, the upper one containing a com-
bination of a regular plait with knots above it ; the centre one two figures
which appear to be bound together at their waist, and the third, a rectangular
panel containing a circular knot-work design. The sides have bands of knot-
work, and similar ornament fills the spaces in the arms of the cross. A con-
siderable portion of the lower part of the shaft is left plain.
Another portion of a shaft of a large cross has upon one face two monsters
in similar relative positions to those already described. They are in a better
state of preservation, and have their limbs and bodies bound and hampered
with very irregularly drawn knotted bands. The opposite face has a monster
1 Prix. Sof. Ant. Newcaitk-on-Tjne. ' Building Newt, Nov. 28, 1879.
* Ibid. ii. 97; Reliquary, viii. 69 ; lUtu. Arth<tologitt, i. 225 ; Baldwin- Brown, Tht Arti in Early England,
\\. passim.
4 Since the Catalogue of the stones there was published.
1 Havcrficld and Greenwe!!, of. fit., Nos. xxzi-xlviii.
' Romilly Allen, Celtic Ait in Pagan and Christian Timtt, p. 259.
229
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
curled in spiral fashion, its body divided into three sections by parallel lines.
Its tail divides on leaving the body, and forms a regular plait, without break,
of double cords ; it returns and crosses the body, and disappears where the
stone is broken. The sides have knot-work designs.
The head of a cross, almost complete, has raised bosses at the intersec-
tions, containing four triquetras joined together. The arms are filled with
interlacing plaits divided down the middle. A small fragment is the central
part of a crosshead and has an open cross in the boss and knot-work on the
surface. A still smaller fragment is the centre of a cross-head, the circular
boss of which contains a key pattern. Another fragment is part of a limb of
a cross-head, much weathered, but on one face an interlaced pattern is visible.
Another consists of a portion of the lower limb and the upper part of the
shaft of a cross. It is ornamented with knot-work, having divided bands
arranged in a very unusual manner.
Two more fragments are parts of the limbs of cross-heads with simple
but bold knot work.
The next is a portion of a shaft of a cross. On one face is a complete
panel and a portion of another. The former contains three figures with their
arms raised and placed together, behind
which passes a bar or cord which binds
them all together. In their hands are square
objects which may represent books. The
broken panel contains the lower portions of
two figures. The other face has what ap-
pears to be the stem of a cross, tapering,
and divided into three.
The next is a portion of the top of a
cross-shaft, sculptured on all four sides. On
one face is a man on horseback, his hair
curled behind, and a spear on his right side.
On the opposite face is part of a figure with
hair curled on two sides of the head. An-
other face has the head of an animal, a com-
plete bird, and knot-work combined with
them. The last face has a simple knot-work
design with a divided band.
Four small fragments have carving on
two of their sides, mostly of simple knot-work. One has a fret pattern on
one of its sides.
A portion of a grave-cover is of very unusual character. Its angles are
beaded, one having a cable moulding, another a plaited cord moulding. On
one of the edges is part of a much-worn inscription which appears to read :
ALDIHESETAE.
Two pieces of another grave-cover have on one side two bands of
carving, the upper showing a twisted band forming a continuous looped
cord,1 the lower a four-cord plait with divided bands.
Another grave-cover to be noticed here is of a very unusual form.
It is rectangular with straight and slightly tapering sides, with a flat top.
1 Romilly Allen, Proc. Soc. Ant. Scot. xvii. 225, Fig. n.
230,
PORTION OF CROSS SHAFT FROM GAINFORD.
ANGLO-SAXON REMAINS
Along the top is a band with an interlaced ribbon. The ornamented side
has an arcade of six members worked upon it. The arches are semicircular,
and have capitals and columns beneath them. The wider end has two arches
of the arcade worked upon it, the other a square cross patee. As one side
is plain it is probable that this stone was placed against a wall inside the
early church. There are still remaining at Gainford a number of stones.
In the porch of the church are two flat grave covers, used as portions of the
stone seats. That on the east side has a cross, with broad tapering shaft
worked in a sunk panel with semi-circular head. The angles of the shaft
are beaded. The cross-head is of the circular patee form, and all four
limbs are completely developed. In the spaces between the limbs are large
balls. The panel has beaded angles produced by grooves.
That on the west side has a square cross patee with all the limbs equally
developed and enclosed by a circle. The stem has parallel sides for a distance
equal to the diameter of the circle. It then divides and forms two and
a half lozenges before it reaches the foot. The lozenges enclose smaller ones,
and the spaces between them become chevrons, or they may be described as
three parallel chevroned bands produced by four incised lines. The whole
design seems to anticipate the chevron work of the Norman period. In
general character however it appears to be of early date, and as similarly
formed chevrons occur on the portion of a cross-shaft in the tower, associated
with distinctly pre-Conquest designs, there can be little doubt that this grave-
cover also belongs to this period.
Built into the walls of the porch are several other stones. One of these
is a headstone with rounded top, 14 inches wide and 16 inches high. The
bottom is left rough for inserting into the ground. The upper part has a
sunk panel containing a small cross patee 6 inches square, with a shaft only
i J inches high. In the north angle of the porch are two small fragments
with some remains of sculpture with lacertine designs, but not sufficient to
indicate what they may have been.
Over the doorway, between the newel staircase of the tower and the
ringing chamber, and forming the lintel to it, are two pieces of cross-shafts.
The position they occupy only allows one side of one of them and two sides
of the other to be examined. On one is a series of designs produced by
incised lines, two of which are visible. One has eight chevrons with their
points towards the centre of the shaft, the other is a surface pattern produced
by lines crossing at angles of about 40 deg. and i£ inches apart, forming a
series of small lozenges. The other stone has on the face a design very
similar to the spiral monster with tail forming the regular plait-work
described above. l The side visible has upon it an interlaced design with a
series of circles looped together with a continuous band.
At the east end of the south aisle is a small fragment measuring 7 inches
by 7 inches on the face, with a plain knot design. On the east side of the
exterior of the porch is another piece 16 inches by 9 inches with a six-cord
plait of divided bands. In the same wall is another stone, which appears to be
the edge of a grave-cover, worked with a design resembling an interlaced arcade.
In the garden wall of the vicarage is a stone measuring 1 1 inches by
9 inches with knot-work on the face.
1 Havcrfield and Grcenwell, tf. cit. 99, No. xxiii.
231
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
Hart. — In the church are six portions of pre-Conquest crosses, a sun-
dial, and two pieces of turned balusters. One of the fragments built into the
west wall of the nave is part of the shaft of a cross, with a panel with two
figures in relief upon it. The fragment with the best work measures
1 8 inches by 1 1 inches by 7$ inches. From one side the ornament has been
chiselled away. The remaining face shows that the fragment is from the
top of a cross-shaft. The angles are beaded. The ornament begins with
two conjoined ' triquetras,' below which is the frequently recurring design of
three complete circles, through which four bands, placed saltire-wise, interlace
and have their ends joined. The other face also has the design already
described in connexion with the ' Eadmund ' stone at Ch ester- le-Street.
In the Hart example the design is well set out, and there is a sequence
of three loops on either side of a centre line, occupying a length of
iij inches. On the uninjured side the same design occurs again on a
smaller scale, but as the width is less, a sequence of four loops is required
to fill the same length.
Another fragment measures 15 inches by 10 inches by 6 J inches. Upon
the uninjured face the design just described occurs again. It is divided
into two sections by a transverse band, the surviving portions being therefore
the lower portion of one and the upper portion of another. The sides
contain four-cord plaits.
Another fragment measures 17 inches by 11 inches by 7 inches. One
face contains a panel filled with regular plait-work. Below this is the upper
portion of the figure of a man on horseback, with a spear in his right hand
and appearing over his shoulder. The opposite face has the same plait.
The two sides are occupied with knot-work, one of which is No. 1 1 in
Mr. Romilly Allen's Analysis? The other is similar to No. 106 in the
same list.
Another is a portion of the end of the arm of a cross with knot-work
on the end and one of the sides.
Another is a small fragment of a cross-shaft with knot-work on three of
its sides.
Another fragment has sculpture on two of its sides, one of which
indicates that it is part of the head of a cross which had a circular cross
patee in a circle.
The sundial is described among the others below.
Haughton-le-Skerne . — The ancient church here was one of the last in
the county to undergo the process of enlargement and restoration, which
took place in 1890. In the walls of the chancel were several portions of
pre-Conquest crosses. These were taken out, but others, which were found
during the alterations, were unfortunately built into the walls of the porch
and the north wall of the nave, and much of their interest has been lost.
The two stones in the porch are small ; one shows some irregular knot-work
on its face, and the other, not quite half of a small cross patee, is no doubt
a portion of a grave-cover. The other stones are arranged in two groups in
recesses in the north wall of the nave. In the western group are four
stones, the most important being a small grave-cover or headstone, 2 feet
long and 1 1 inches wide. It has a semicircular head and contains a cross
1 Prof. Sac. Ant. Scotland, xvii. 232, 248.
232
ANGLO-SAXON REMAINS
patee, the lower arm of which disappears in the shaft. It is represented as
having beaded edges, but no other ornamentation. Two of the other stones
in the same group are fragments of cross-shafts, having crudely executed
knot-work upon them. Another very small fragment, only 8 inches long
and 4 inches wide, appears to be a portion of the ridge of a hog-backed stone,
as it has upon it the fret ornament which occurs on more than one of this
class in the Durham collection.
In the eastern group are three stones. One of these is a portion of a
cross-shaft, measuring 4 feet in length and 14 inches in width, and about
5 inches in thickness. The surface is very much defaced, but it appears to
have had panels containing monsters in connexion with interlacing bands.
The side visible has a simple interlaced design upon it. The other stones
are all of small dimensions. One has a rudely worked key pattern, and
another a portion of a panel with simple plait-work. The last is the most
important of all. It is a fragment measuring 15 inches by 6 inches, and has
upon it a beautifully executed sculpture, in a good state of preservation, of
twisted monsters. It is remarkable that such a delicate piece of work should
be found here, where all the other specimens are of crude and debased
character.
Hurworth. — The church has been entirely rebuilt. A single stone,
contemporary with the earliest church here, is in the Durham collection, and
is here figured. It is a small
portion of one of the upper
angles of the base stone of a
cross, and is i foot 3 inches
long, 10 inches high, and
6 J inches wide.1 It has sloping
sides and the usual triple bead
on the angles. The larger face
has a well executed key pattern.
The other has a small portion of
a panel filled with knot-work.
In both cases the bands are
divided.
Jarrow. — The classic site of
the monastery of St. Paul still retains some fragments of the sculpture of
this period. In the porch attached to the modern nave are several stones
which must be dealt with in this section, although by far the larger number
of them are detached architectural details.
On the west side of the porch are two small stones which are possibly
both fragments from the same cross. They contain sculpture of the highest
artistic merit, and belong to the time when the Anglian school was at its
zenith. One has a single whorl of a rolling scroll with trefoil and other
foliage terminations to its stems, and involving a human figure of juvenile
appearance, holding in the left hand a small circular shield, and in the right
some weapon with which he attacks a creature in the scroll facing him.
The other has double scrolls starting from a central vertical stem. The two
whorls, which are nearly complete, have birds perched upon stems with
1 Haverfield and Grcenwcll, of. cit. 96, No. zzx.
I 233 30
PORTION OF BASE STONE OF CROSS FROM HURWORTH
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
trefoil foliage terminations. On the opposite side of the porch is a portion
of a cross-shaft with three separate designs upon it ; the upper one very
imperfect, the intermediate one the plait mentioned as occurring at Chester
le Street, Hart, and elsewhere ; the lower the regular plait without breaks.
Perhaps the most interesting stone of all is given a conspicuous place in
the centre of the group. It is part of a grave-stone, and retains the lower
arm and shaft of a cross of the form which had square block terminations
to its limbs and a similar block at the intersection. The surface of the stone
round the cross is sunk and the angles of the cross beaded. The angles of
the slab have a cable moulding, and the surface contains a portion of an
inscription which reads: IN HOC SINGVLAR[I SIG]NO VITA REDDITVR MUNDo.1
A portion of the same cross appears to have been worked on the edge of an
inscribed Roman stone, now in the Black Gate Museum, Newcastle-upon-
Tyne, as it contains the side limbs and intersection of the cross, and the cable
moulding on the angle. If this assumption is correct it would appear that
the memorial was incorporated with the wall of some building, the stone
which is worked on the edge serving the purpose of a bonding or tie stone,
while above and below it were two slabs, carrying the remainder of the design.
In the Durham collection is the stone here figured from Jarrow. It
was found outside the churchyard to the south-west of the church.
In the Black Gate Museum at Newcastle-upon-Tyne is another portion
of a memorial slab with a cross upon it, in a semicircular recess. The cross
is of the form just described as remaining at Jarrow, but has bosses which
appear to have had interlaced work upon them in each of the five squares.
The stone measures i foot loj inches long, i foot 9} inches wide, and
6J inches thick. There are no traces of an inscription.*
Monk-wear mouth. — There are considerable remains of the ancient church
in the vestry of the existing church, a large collection of fragments of various
dates having been built into its walls. Amongst them are some architectural
details and portions of sepulchral memorials. One is a large slab bearing
a cross, with square block terminations to the head, the two side limbs, and
the foot of the shaft. It bears the inscription : HIC IN SEPVLCRO REQVIESCIT
CORPORE HEREBERICHT pRB. The angles of the slab have a bead moulding
which has ended, just above the head of the cross, in two scrolls. There
are two small fragments, each of which contains interlaced designs of con-
siderable intricacy and refinement.* In addition to these is a small portion
of a panel which has upon it the representation of a combat. The two
figures engaged have short tunics and bare legs. The sculpture is very much
broken and the heads are both gone. The dexter figure has a circular shield
in the left hand. He appears to have disarmed his opponent, as a sword of
the ' spatha ' form is doubled up and lying on the ground.
Norton. — Built into the jamb of the chancel arch of the church is a
small fragment measuring 14^ inches by 9 inches. It exhibits portions of
two panels containing knot-work, both incomplete.
1 Hlibncr, Inscrif times Britanniif Christian*. Berlin, 1876; Arch. MRana (New ser.), x. 195
xi. 27 ; zxii. 30.
1 The dedicatory inscription at Jarrow will be dealt with in connection with the church itself.
8 Described by the bishop of Bristol ' it comes nearer to a representation in stone of one of the marvellou
pages of the Lindisfarne Gospels than anything else which can be shown.' Notes on Church of St. Peter,
Monkwearmoutk, 1886, p. 13.
234
MONKWEARUOUTH I GRAVESTONE OF HtRhBtRIUM.
To fact ffge 134.
ANGLO-SAXON REMAINS
Sockburn. — The ruined church here occupies the southernmost point of
the county. The ruins were cleared of rubbish and the Conyers porch
repaired and roofed in 1900. It was known, before this was done, that a
large number of remains of the pre-Conquest period existed on the site,
for when the church was unroofed and abandoned in 1838 many fragments
were taken from the walls. All these are now collected together in the repaired
Conyers porch, and are arranged so that they can be examined without
difficulty. Twenty-five are of the pre-Conquest period. For convenience
of reference it has been thought well to take them as they would naturally
be referred to from a plan of the porch. Facing east, and ranging from left
to right, there are six rows of stones fixed in bases or lying on the floor.
The others are detached fragments. The larger cross-shafts are fixed in
stone bases, the smaller ones are cemented to the floor. The first measures
2 feet 3 inches high, i foot wide, and 8 inches thick. Only the side facing
west retains its ornament. In the upper part are the lower portions of the
bodies of four serpents twisted together in pairs, while below these the surface
is covered with an undivided plait without breaks.
The second stone measures 3 feet high by i foot 8 inches wide by 7 inches
thick. The remaining ornamentation is confined to the side facing west, and
is in a very damaged condition. It seems to consist of a very irregularly
arranged double band connected with monsters.
The next is of a very coarse-grained sandstone and measures 2 feet 3 inches
by i foot 7 inches by 6 inches. The ornament is again confined to the west
face and consists of a series of circular rings forming a chain, with a straight
band carried vertically through their centres. All are double or divided.1
The second row are hog-backed stones, which are all described together
below.
The first in the third row is a portion of the upper part of a cross-shaft
which measures 2 feet 9 inches high, i foot i inch wide, and i o inches thick,
and shows that the whole was in one stone, as it retains part of the lower
arm of the cross. Carving remains on all four sides, that facing west showing
that the head of the cross was ornamented with the usual triquetras with
divided bands. Below this a large serpent appears, his body tied into a knot
and his head downwards. Beneath is a man on horseback, hawking. His
right hand holds the bridle, his left the hawk. The horse, with head inclined
downwards, stands on a transverse twisted band. Under this is a portion of a
scene representing a combat between two men. Their arms are crossed, and
the dexter figure appears to be wounded in the head. Between them, and
below their arms, is a circular shield with a boss. On the side facing east
are again two figures apparently in combat, much damaged, but they appear
to wear helmets. Under them is a double spiral, and below that a six-cord
plait with divided bands. The side facing north has a very curious and
unusual design of a chain, the links of which consist of triangular objects with
rounded tops, and are double, or divided by a line. Only a very small
portion of the fourth side remains. It shows the bodies of two monsters
twisted together.
The next measures 2 feet 2 inches by i foot 2 inches by 9 inches, and
has upon its west face a panel containing an animal, probably a deer. Its
1 Rorailly Allen, Prof. Soe. Ant. Scot. xvii. 125, Fig. 17.
235
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
head, which was turned backwards, looking towards the tail, is broken away.
The north face exhibits the legs only of two figures, and that towards the
south the termination of a shield-shape panel.
In the fourth row the first stone measures 2 feet 4 inches by i foot
by 7J inches. It has a panel which contains the standing figure of a warrior.
He has a circular shield on his left arm, and his right hand grasps a spear, the
shaft of which rests upon the ground and the point rises above his head. He
wears a helmet.
The next stone is apparently not part of a cross-shaft. It measures
1 2 inches in height, 2 feet i inch in length, and 9 inches in thickness. On
the side facing the east are two warriors on horseback. The horses are shown
as if trotting, their heads raised. Their tails are long and tied into knots.
The men wear helmets, and hold the bridles in their left hands, and in their
right long spears with the points inclined downwards. The saddles have high
peaks at the back which end in knobs. Altogether, this is the most inter-
esting sculpture of the series. The forms represented should be compared
with those of the knights in the woven silk tissues which were taken from
St. Cuthbert's body.1 The top of the stone is broken ; the ends and foot are
plain. The other side has a knot-work design of intricate character, but in
an advanced state of dilapidation. It seems to consist of a six-cord plait,
every alternate crossing of which is bound by a continuous ring.
The fifth row has three hog-backs.
The first in the sixth row is a portion of a cross-shaft 2 feet 1 1 inches
high, i foot 2j inches wide, and 1 1 inches thick. It retains ornament on all
its four sides. On that facing west is an interlaced design of a six-cord plait
with divided bands. That facing east has in the upper part two figures very
much damaged. Below them the plait is repeated for a short distance, and
below this again two figures appear apparently in combat. The two sides
have each the chain of curious triangular links previously described. In
one the links form a simple chain, in the other they are more closely com-
bined, each link interlocking with two others on each side of it.
The next one measures 3 feet i o inches by 1 1 inches by 8 inches. The
west face retains three panels, the upper one having a six-cord plait, undivided.
The next shows a man who wore a helmet of conical form. The portion of
the stone carrying the helmet and the head has unfortunately flaked off. The
right hand grasps a long spear, and in the left is a short sword with a broad,
double-edged blade. Below is a stag. The opposite face has three panels,
with a six-cord plait in the upper one, two divided loops with pointed ends
interlaced in the next, and in the lower a dog with curled tail and head looking
backwards. The two sides have double looped cords,* and below them, on the
side facing north, is a triquetra.
The next is the largest stone in the series. It is the greater portion of
the shaft of a tall cross and measures 7 feet in height, i foot 2 inches by
9 inches square at the base, and 9 inches by 5! inches at the top, where it is
broken away. For a distance of 4 feet 4 inches from the base the surface is
plain, from which point to the top it is ornamented on all four sides. The
character of this ornament is so unusual and of such interest that it is much
to be regretted that the remainder was not recovered. The side facing west
1 Tram. Dur. Nortbumb. Arch. Sue. i. 53. » Romill/ Allen, op. cit. No. 12.
236
SOCKBURN : PORTION OF CROSS-SHAFT
(FIRST IN SIXTH Row).
SOCKBURN : UPPER PART OF CROSS-SHAFT
(FIRST IN THIRD Row).
, SOCKBURN : STONE WITH Two WARRIORS ON HORSEBACK (SECOND IN FOURTH Row).
To fact fagt 2}6.
ANGLO-SAXON REMAINS
is divided into panels. The upper one is rectangular and is filled with a key
pattern, the next has a six-cord plait, and the next a monster with a bushy tail
curled over its back and a ball in its mouth. The lowest panel is in the form of
a shield ornamented with a key pattern. Between the panels and the angle
beads on this side is a band which is split at the angle of each panel and the
portions interlocked, thus forming a kind of square-linked chain. The
opposite side contains a series of interlaced monsters of intricate form. The
side facing north has a combined knot pattern l of common occurrence, here
particularly well wrought. The side facing south has a knot pattern similar
to one which occurs at Gainford and other places.8 Near the centre of the
length the knot is curiously changed with a special form for one division.
The angle beads are a line of barrel-shape balusters divided by narrow bands.
Below they become plain and are carried to the centre of each face of the
cross in the form of inverted arches, ending in heads, and similar heads are
worked where the bands divide the angles.
The next stone, which measures 2 feet 8§ inches by I foot 6 inches by
9 inches has a cable moulding at each angle between two beads. The east
face contains two incised spirals; their connection with anything else it would
be impossible to guess at.
The last of the fixed stones is 3 feet 2 inches high, I2j inches wide, and
9 inches thick. It is a portion of the upper part of the shaft of a cross, but is
without ornament.
Lying near the door of the chapel is a flat grave-cover broken into two
pieces, 4 feet 4$ inches long, 15 inches wide, and 7 inches thick. It has upon
its surface a cross with square terminations to the arms and head ; the foot
being of an expanded or pyramidal form. A narrow border is carried all
round it, beyond which the surface is ornamented in the spaces at the sides of
the head, one filled with triquetras, and those at the sides of the shaft with a
four-cord plait with divided bands.
The hog-backed stones are an interesting group. The first in the second
row is merely a fragment. The next is in two pieces, but is otherwise
complete. It has bears at either end, which have all their four paws shown.
Along the top is a fret pattern, while each side is ornamented with a four-
cord plait. The next has the top broken away. It has bears at the ends,
which occupy an unusually large proportion of the surface. Either side
contains three panels of four-cord knots. In the base are the semicircular
recesses.
The next is almost a replica of that just mentioned, but of somewhat
coarser workmanship.
The three stones in the fifth row are of a totally different class. The
first is only half of a hog-backed stone. It has a triple ridge and three rows
of tegulations on each side, the points of which are of a pointed arch form.
The next is complete and is of similar design, except that the tegulations
arc of a triangular form. These two have their ends embraced by animals of
nondescript form and of very minute proportions when compared with the
large bears on the earlier stones.
The last is one of the most remarkable existing examples of this singular
class of memorial. It is 5 feet 7 inches long, I foot 6 inches high, 1 2 inches
» Romilljr Allen, of. (it. No. 87. * Ibid. No. 141.
237
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
thick at the base, and 9 inches at the ends. The top is much broken, but on
one side it appears not to have lost much of its original height. In the centre
is a human figure, bare-headed and apparently naked, with arms extended.
His right hand is in the mouth of a beast, apparently a lion, and surrounding
him are other beasts and reptiles, which appear to be attacking him. The
other side has a similar central figure, among beasts, which appear to be in a
more quiescent state, and possibly represents Daniel in the den of lions.
Among the detached fragments are the heads of three crosses. One of
these has the interrupted circle connecting the arms. The sides have bosses
at the centre, surrounding which are interlaced designs of the normal form
used for filling the arms. The ends of the arms have the four-cord plaits.
Another is of the patee form ; is quite plain, and has the interrupted
circle of more pronounced character, extending almost to the extremities of
the limbs.
The third is again of the patee form, plain and much decayed, and
without the interrupted circle.
The three small fragments are not of importance. One has a dog and
part of a human hand : another is a fragment from the top of a hog-back ;
the last has a cable moulding on one angle. They lie on the sills of the
east and west windows of the chapel.
Stalndrop. — In the church are a few small fragments of sculptured stones
which have upon them knot-work designs of a late and poor type, much
defaced. One of these is in the foundation of the easternmost twelfth
century pier on the south side of the nave, and two are to be seen over
the north door.
Stainton-le-Street. — The ancient church was entirely removed and a new
one built in 1876. Taken from the walls of the old church were a number
of stones with pre-Conquest sculpture upon them. Two of these fragments,
both belonging to the same cross, were added to the Durham collection, and
are here figured. The designs upon it are of some interest, as amongst them
is the figure of a man holding a sword pointing downward, which is
double-edged with a groove along the middle of the blade. He appears to
wear a helmet with a pointed projection in front. He stands under a semi-
circular arch which rests on columns with capitals. The most complete side
has a key pattern upon it. Another has a four-cord interlaced design. Perhaps
the most interesting detail of this stone is the astragal or bead at the angles,
which is divided into representations of small balusters. This occurs on a
Roman stone in the crypt at Hexham, and in some stones from St. Wilfrid's
Church there.1 There are several stones in the churchyard at Stainton and
in the rectory garden. One of those in the churchyard is part of a cross-
shaft, i foot 3 inches long, i foot 2 inches wide, and i foot thick. The
carving has been chiselled away from one side, but the other three have
interlaced designs. One of these designs is of frequent occurrence, and appears
at five places in Scotland, and at Jarrow, Aycliffe, Billingham, and Hart, and is
No. 7 in Mr. Romilly Allen's Analysis* There is also the roughly sculptured
base of a cross having the socket for insertion of the shaft. In the garden are
three portions of cross-shafts which are partly buried in the ground. Their
1 A similar design is worked on an altar at Cividale. Cattanco, op. cit. 107.
* Proc. Sec. Ant, Scot. xvii. 243-268.
238
SOCKBURN : PORTION OF CROSS-
IHAFT (SECOND IN SIXTH Row).
SOCKBURN : PORTION OF CROSS-SHAFT
(THIRD IN SIXTH Row).
SOCKBURN : PORTION OF CROSS-SHAFT
(THIRD IN SIXTH Row)
To face fagt 238.
ANGLO-SAXON REMAINS
uninjured sides all contain interlaced designs of somewhat poor and flat
character.
Winston-on-the-Tees. — In the picturesquely situated church here is the
greater part of the centre and side limbs of a cross head. On one side is
a circular boss which has had a ring of pellets around it. The arms have two
stags facing each other, and below the boss is a dog springing at one of the
stags. A line of pellets is carried round the margin of the stone. The opposite
side has the remains of a figure, with an object which Mr. Longstaffe
conjectures to be a gridiron, and the figure that of St. Lawrence, and quotes
a brass matrix of a seal in the possession of Mr. Abbott, of Darlington, marked
SAVNCTE LAVRENC.1 Dr. Haigh considers the object to be a chair or seat
on which the figure is resting, and compares it with a similar object on one
of the Sandbach crosses in Cheshire.' The pellets in the margin are repeated.
SONDIALS
The county of Durham presents an interesting series of early sundials,
the only one of which now in situ is probably the oldest. This is on
the south side of the nave of the ancient church at Escomb. It is in the
south wall, placed centrally from east to west, but at a considerable height,
at the level of the heads of the two original windows. The stone on which
the dial is cut is 2 feet 4 inches long and i foot 6 inches high. The dial
itself is much less than these dimensions, and is defined below by a semi-
circular raised bead, while above it is encompassed by a serpent in relief, with
the head to the west touching the base line of the stone. The tail is of that
curious expanded form which appears on the serpents on the Monkwearmouth
doorway.1
The dial is divided into four parts by incised lines, and the hole for the
gnomon remains. Above it is a carved head projecting from the wall, which
is probably also in situ.*
Cbester-le-Street. — There is a fragment here measuring 13^ inches by
9} inches and 4$ inches thick, with slightly more than half of a semicircular
dial indicated by incised lines. A horizontal line defines the diameter of the
semicircle, and two parallel lines its circumference. The area has been
divided into ten unequal portions. The mid-day line and that three divisions
from it have a distinguishing mark in the form of a small semicircle crossing
the lines where they end on the circumference.1
Darlington. — Here there is a stone with a dial cut on either side of it.
The slab is broken, but appears to have been 2 feet square and 5$ inches
thick. It was used as the sill of an aumbry, but is now detached and pre-
served in the church. It is described by Dr. Haigh in these words : * The
half quarter lines, not reaching to the centre, and the six concentric circles,
seem to invest it with a character of its own ; but I believe those only were
designed for use which are joined to the tide marks — to define the length of
the mid-day shadow at the solstices and equinoxes ; the others are merely
ornamental additions. A mark will be observed, though almost effaced, some-
thing like the rune Daeg, in the same place as the Swastika at Aldborough,
1 Arch. Mliana, vi. 24, with lithogram (tic). ' Ibid. 61.
* BuiUiag New, Nov. 28, 1879. * lllus. Jrclxrohgiit, i. 128.
1 Similar marb occur on dials at Inniscaltra and Kilcummin. Haigh, Tarki. Arch. Jount. v. 156.
239
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
indicating the d&g-msd point — sun in E.S.E. Not one of the divisional lines
is quite accurate ; least so are those above the equinoctial.'1 The side here
shown was the one noticed by the
Rev. J.T. Fowler in 1 863. The other,
since brought to view, has eight con-
centric circles and the rune, in much
the same position.
Hamster ley. — In the 'church
there is a circle with a central hole,
but no hour lines.' *
Hart. — A fine example is here
built into the west wall of the nave.
It is cut on a slab i foot 6 inches by
SUNDIAL AT DARLINGTON. X ' inches \ a11 the lines are raised in
semi-circular section, f of an inch
high, and divide the semicircle into eight parts. The hole for the gnomon
remains. There are no distinguishing marks on the dividing lines.
Middleton St. George. — An early dial is here built into the south wall of
the Early English church.
Pittington. — The dial here figured is at Pittington Hallgarth. It is
manifestly of an early date, and is thus described by Dr. Haigh :* ' It exhibits
six divisions of day time. It will be
observed that the mid-day line has a
cross-bar ; that each of the lines be-
tween it and the equinoctial has a dot
at about two-thirds of its length ; and
that those and the mid-day line have
each a little square at its extremity.
This is a very remarkable feature. I
think it will be admitted that we have
here a reminiscence of a fashion of
dialling (of which the Wallsend example
is a relic) in which the trine marks were blocks of stone arranged in a circle
round the gnomon.'
Staindrop. — In the wall to the north of and above the chancel arch is
rather more than half of an early dial. It is upside down. The semicircle
is divided into four, and is circumscribed by a raised bead. Curiously, the
field is not left flat, but is worked with a rise towards the gnomon, the hole
for which remains.*
1 The Book of Sundials (enlarged ed. Eden and Lloyd, 1900), 53 ; York. Arch. 3 turn. v. 154.
* Book of Sundials, op. cit. p. 53.
8 Ibid. 206-7. PI. iii. at p. 144 ; Irani. Dur. Northumb. Arch. Soc. iii. 29.
* Rev. H. C. Lipscomb, StainJrop Church and Monument!, PI. opp. p. 3 ; Rev. J. F. Hodgson, in Tram.
Dur. Northumb. Arch. Soc. iii. 76 n.
SUNDIAL AT PITTINCTON.
240
SOCKBURN : HOC-BACKED STONE.
SOCKBURN : HOC-BACKED STONE.
SOCKBURN : HOC-BACKED STONE.
To fact pap 2+o.
THE CONTENTS OF ST. CUTH-
BERT'S SHRINE
PRESERVED IN THE DEAN AND CHAPTER LIBRARY,
DURHAM
When St. Cuthbert died on that Fame Island which is now called the
' House Island," on 20 March, 687,* he closed a life of pain and suffering ; *
yet his body had no rest, for it now began a wandering period which lasted,
with intervals, till the precious burden finally reached Durham in 995.
How old he was when he died will never be exactly known. He had
been a monk since 651,* and we are told that he was admitted as such * ab
ineunte adolescentia.' ' Latin dictionaries tell us that ' adolescentia ' begins
at 14, lasting to 28. If so, assuming his age on taking the vows to have
been 15, he would be about 51 at his death. It is not likely that he was
much older than this ; a man of delicate frame and uncertain health, who
lived an unwholesome life, ill-fed, recluse, emaciated — how could he attain
to what we now call old age? In fact, at 51 or 52 he was already old,
bowed down with premature feebleness. It is true that Symeon of Durham
tells us of a vision in which a Durham cleric saw SS. Cuthbert and Oswald
in the cathedral, and that the former was ' aetatis mediae vir ' ; * yet his
infirmities had made him old before his time ; and he died worn out by
austerities and suffering.7
The Lindisfarne Monks, remembering how he had consented to allow
his body to rest with them, would not leave it where he died, but brought
him reverently to Holy Island ;8 here they placed him in a stone cist,
already conveniently lying there, covered him with vestments and wrappings,
and buried him under the pavement of their church, on the south side
of the altar.' Here he rested eleven years, till 698.10 At that time,
says Bede, ' the divine dispensation ' was minded to let the world know
how glorious Cuthbert was after his death, and therefore moved the
brethren to disinter his remains. To their reverent amazement they found
the body still incorrupt. They invested him with new robes, given by
Bishop Eadbercht, and placed him in a new wooden coffin, which they had
1 See R. Surtees, Hist, and Antiq. of County Palatine of Durham, \. 5 note.
• On the same day as his friend, the anchorite Herbert. Bede, Hist. Ecel. lib. iv. cap. xxvii.
• Bede, Vit. Cudb. cap. jnmi.
• When he entered Melrose, having seen a vision of St. Aidan. See Vita Anon. sec. 8 (printed in BeJae
Of. Hist. Min., rec. J. Stevenson, Engl. Hist. Soc.) and Symeon of Durham (Rolls Series), i. 21.
1 Bede, Hist. Eccl., lib. iv. cap. rxv.
• Sy». Our. (Rolls Series), i. 102. See also ibid. i. 104, 231, 232.
1 Bede Vit. Cudb,, cap. zzxvii. 8 Bede Hut. Eecl., lib. iv. cap. xxvii.
• Sym. Dur. (Rolls Series), i. 35. 10 Bede, Hut. Eftiet., lib. iv. cap. zzviii.
I 24I 31
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
previously prepared and adorned with carving ; in this they left him unburied
on the pavement of the south side of the altar in their sanctuary.1
This new coffin of 698 is the chest of which Durham Cathedral still
possesses many interesting fragments.8 It is no marvel that a thin, attenuated
frame, like that of St. Cuthbert, resisted decay, and remained, to the wonder
of mankind, as a ' corpus incorruptum ' for ages.8
Here the body lay undisturbed till the northern invaders began to
threaten the coast. At first the south of England had offered more temptations ;
yet Northumbria was nearer home, and Lindisfarne was specially attractive ;
there was easy access to it, and for those who had the command of the sea it
was an excellent resting-place before or after invasions. It had, too, a
monastery tempting for plunder. So after taking York in 867, the Danes
pushed up northwards by land. Though checked awhile by the Tyne, their
advance soon went on again, till in 875 Halfdene threatened Lindisfarne.4
The bishop and monks were powerless ; they gathered up their cherished
relics, placing in St. Cuthbert's wooden coffin (as Simeon of Durham tells
us) 6 the head of St. Oswald the king, some bones of St. Aidan, and remains
of past bishops of Lindisfarne. With these they crossed to the mainland,
and the long wandering began. Their drifting movements brought them at
last to the mouth of the river Derwent in Cumberland,6 where Workington
now stands. There they shipped the coffin, with a copy of the four gospels
on the saint's breast, on board a little sailing vessel, and set out for Ireland.
A storm arose before they had gone far, and they were driven towards the
Scottish side of the Solway Firth ; here, in the tossing of the boat, the MS.
went overboard. They then abandoned the attempt to cross to Ireland, and
landed on the Scottish coast. Three days later the MS. was found on the
sands at Whithern in Galloway, at low tide. This relic of St. Cuthbert still
exists in safe keeping in the British Museum.7 Wandering began again : in
883 they were at Crayke in Yorkshire ; thence Guthred, who had been made
king of Northumberland through a vision of St. Cuthbert, invited them
to return to the north. They set out, and found a home at Cuneacestre
(i.e., Chester-le-Street), of which place Eardulf, the last bishop of Lindis-
farne, became bishop. The Northumbrian king bestowed on the saint ' all
that land which lies between Wear and Tyne,' the cradle of the later magni-
ficent Palatine princedom. Here it was that king Athelstan made to
St. Cuthbert many splendid gifts ; among them, apparently, the Winchester
stole and other fine stuffs, which still remain to us.8 Here St. Cuthbert's
body remained till 995, when a fresh invasion caused it to be once more
removed.9 It was taken by Aldhun, last bishop of Chester-le-Street, to
Ripon, and tarried there from spring to autumn. Then, peaceful days
intervening, it was brought northwards again, the bearers aiming at either
Chester-le-Street or Lindisfarne. But marvellous guiding led them to a
desolate site, the strong peninsula of Dunholm, where Aldhun built a little
wattled church to shelter the saint and his treasures ;10 we are told that a
1 Bede, Hist. Eccles. lib. iv. cap. xxviii.
2 Of this there can be no question. See Sym. Dur. (Rolls Series), i. 249, and Haverfield and Greenwell,
A Catalogue of the Sculptured and Inscribed Stones in the Cathedral Library, Durham (Durham, 1899), 134.
There are well-known instances of bodies drying up without decay, e.g., that of Charles I.
* Sym. Dur. (Rolls Series), i. 56. 6 Ibid. j. 57. 8 ibid. i. 63 seq.
Ibid. i. 66 and 67 note. « Ibid. i. 75. » Ibid. i. 78 seq. and ii. 136. 1<> Ibid. i. 79.
242
THE CONTENTS OF ST. CUTHBERT'S SHRINE
ST. CUTHBERT'S COFFIN : OUTER LID.
ST. CUTHBERT'S COFFIN : INNER LID.
ST. CUTHBERT'S COFFIN : FRAGMENTS OF WOOD SHOWING ARCADINC.
243
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
larger building, called the White church, followed soon ; and finally a stone
church was erected into which, in 998, the saint's body in the ancient coffin,
with the other relics, was reverently brought, and deposited in the place of
honour.1 Here, save for a year of panic in 1069-1070, when the body was
taken to Lindisfarne on the approach of William the Bastard,3 St. Cuthbert
has ever since rested in safety.
Durham cathedral cherishes many relics of the saint ; and these we will
briefly describe, beginning with the coffin of 698.
THE COFFIN OF ST. CUTHBERT
No contemporary account exists of the carvings8 on this remarkable
relic. They are inaccurately described, towards the end of the twelfth
ST. CUTHBERT'S COFFIN : MODEL RESTORED.
century, by Reginald, a Benedictine of the Durham House.4 Reginald
perhaps confused the figures on the wooden chest with the embroidered or
woven work still to be seen on the robes in which the saint's remains were
wrapped.6
The outer coffin of St. Cuthbert6 is of oak (' de quercu nigra,' says
Reginald), not shaped specially to carry a
body, but a nearly rectangular oblong, a little
wider at the head than at the feet. The mea-
surements of it are, length, 6 ft. 8 in. ; breadth
(at the head), i ft. 5 in. ; (at the feet), i ft.
4 in. ; and depth i ft. 5! in. Originally it
had two lids, the inner lid apparently sup-
ported by cross-pieces which rested in grooves
in the sides of the coffin. A false bottom
was added in 1 1 04 to keep the other bones
clear of the saint's body.7 The two lids,
the four sides (two long and two short)
alone have work on them, chiefly, though perhaps not altogether, by one
i Sym. Dur. (Rolls Series), i. 82. * Ibid. i. 100, and ii. 189.
8 The anonymous author in the De miraculis et transMonibus, printed in Sym. Dur. (Rolls Series), i. 229,
gives no account of the carvings when the coffin was seen in 1 1 04.
4 Reginald of Durham, Lib. de admirandis Bead Cudb. virtutibus (Surtees Soc., vol. i.). The chapters xl.
to xliii. are given in the Appendix to Raine's St. Cuthbert (Durham, 1828).
6 Reg. of Durham, cap. 43. He speaks of ' beasts, flowers, and images.' The coffin has the symbols
of the Evangelists, the lily of Gabriel, and many figures.
6 See the account in Haverfield and Greenwell, Catalogue of the Inscribed Stones in the Cathedral Library.
7 Reg. of Durham (Surtees Soc., vol. i.).
244
ST. CUTHBERT'S COFFIN : GROOVES FOR
CROSS-PIECES SUPPORTING THE INNER LID.
THE CONTENTS OF ST. CUTHBERT'S SHRINE
Q
I
Q
co
a
as
a
o
CO
245
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
hand. The designs were incised in the wood with a fine knife or chisel which
made V-shaped grooves ; sometimes a small gouge was used to make softer
and rounded lines. No traces of either of the two bottoms of the chest
remain. The carvings are a remarkable example of early Anglian work ;
they are executed with a freedom and accuracy of stroke which tells us that
the artist was a master in his simple art. There is no hesitation in the work,
no second cut, no slip over the grain, no sign of weakness in it or note of
indecision.
The bottom was fitted to rebates in the sides, and to grooves in the
ends, and the sides were also rebated to take
the ends, and all parts of the coffin were held
together, as Scandinavian work still is, with
wooden pegs ; l of these several remain. With
the saint's body were stored, at various times,
miscellaneous remains of north country saints,8
collected for the most part by Elfrid Westoue,
ST. CUTHBERT S CoFFIN : GROOVE . r 1 ill 1 • • 1 i 1
AND REBATES. sacrist of the cathedral, early in the eleventh
century.3 Elfrid was wont to travel up and
down the north, an ecclesiastical bagman trafficking in relics, which he placed
in wealthy churches. As he distributed them he took toll of them, and
reverently deposited his prizes in Durham Cathedral, and chiefly in St. Cuth-
bert's shrine.4 He shamelessly stole from the monks of Jarrow all that
portion of Bede's skeleton which still reposes in a later tomb in the Galilee
of the Cathedral.6
No coffin, except that of 698, seems ever to have been used for the re-
mains ; Reginald of Durham, describing the events of 1 104, says that the coffin,
' externally carved with very marvellous graving,' was the original chest pre-
pared by the Lindisfarne monks. On cleaning the fragments of this coffin
which had been left since 1827 in one of the library cupboards, it was found
(as had been noticed by Mr. Raine) that there were runes as well as Roman
lettering over the figures ; the workmanship of both alphabets is the same.6
The outer lid of the coffin has, in the middle, the figure of our Lord,
standing bare-footed, holding the Gospels with His left hand under His robe ;
the book, like the seventh-century Evangelistaries still preserved in the
Cathedral library, is nearly square ; the right hand is on the breast, apparently
(though the wood is broken here) not raised in blessing. This figure,
alone of all, has curled hair on both sides of the face. He is specially marked,
as is also the Christus in the Virgin and Child, with a cruciferous nimbus ;
He wears a robe reaching to the ankles. Above His head to the left
is a winged man or angel, symbol of St. Matthew ; to the right is the
winged lion, signifying St. Mark ; under his feet are St. Luke's bull and
the eagle of St. John. The names of Matthew, Mark, and John are
in runes.
Of the inner lid, which could be lifted by two iron rings, one of
1 Haverfield and Greenwell, Catalogue, 1 39.
8 At the flight of 875 many precious relics were taken. Sym. Dur. (Rolls Series), i. 57. In 1 104 only
the head of St. Oswald was allowed to remain. Ibid. i. 255.
Ibid. i. 87. * « cum patris Cuthberti corpore.' Ibid. i. 88.
• Ibid. i. 88, and Reg. of Durham (Surtees Soc. i.), cap. 26.
• See Haverfield and Greenwell, Catalogue, 152, and plates at the end.
246
THE CONTENTS OF ST. CUTHBERT'S SHRINE
ST. CUTHBERT'S COFFIN : HEAD WITH FIGURES OF ST. MICHAEL
AND ST. GABRIEL.
ST. CUTHBERT'S COFFIN : FOOT WITH FICURBS OF VIRGIN AND CHILD
247
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
which still remains, only a few fragments are left. They are enough to show
that it was inscribed with a simple cross on two steps.1
The right side of the coffin is inscribed with six archangel figures,
simple and somewhat monotonous in pose;
they also all have the right hand on the breast,
with variations in the ringers ; their left hands
all carry books, with the hand under the robe.
There is one variation ; the Archangel Gabriel
holds in his right hand the traditional lily.
Their hair is all curled, and carried down on
to the left shoulder only. The names Raphael
and Urial alone remain.8
The left side of the coffin contained, in a
double row, fourteen figures, the twelve Apostles,
together with St. Paul and (probably) St. Bar-
nabas. Twelve figures now remain, in whole
ST. C™RT'S'C!!FF,N: IRON R,NG. Or in Part' These are treated much in the
same way as the Archangels. St. Peter comes
first, with the double keys. There are slight variations here also in the
fingers on the breast, and St. Paul is specially distinguished by a beard,
while he has no flowing hair at all. There was room for two more figures
at the end, but this portion of the plank is altogether lost.8
The larger end, at the head, has two Archangels — Michael and Gabriel.
To give a kind of composition to the piece, Gabriel carries his book in his
right hand.
Lastly comes, at the foot, the most interesting of the series — the very
nai've and simple representation of the Virgin and Child.4
This pourtrayal of the Virgin and Child, carved about 696,' is among
the earliest Western examples of a subject destined to become so common
afterwards in religious decoration. The infant Christ is not blessing ; in
His left hand He holds a kind of roll, perhaps to indicate the Gospel
message; His nimbus is cruciferous, while that of the Virgin is plain. She
wears a dress with closely-fitting sleeves, and her right hand is laid across the
knees of the Christ, the fingers of the left hand just show on His shoulder.
These remnants (with a half-sized model of the coffin) are preserved
in the Cathedral Library. If it seems wonderful that in the seventh century,
on a far away island, such work was possible, it should be remembered that
these Anglian monks took their inspiration and learning from the Irish
Christians, who have left us splendid examples of their skill both in
caligraphy and in illumination. One needs no better examples of their
art than the Evangelistary of St. Cuthbert, now in the British Museum ;
it is a very fine specimen of the work of the Lindisfarne monks of this
period. In fact, as Dr. Greenwell tells us, they felt, together with their
missionary fervour, a deep devotion to the learning and art of the West,
1 See Haverfield and Greenwell, Catalogue, 155.
8 The others are certainly Gabriel, who holds the lily, and probably Michael, as he appears alone with
Gabriel on the larger end of the coffin. For the other two there is choice between Chamial, Zadkiel and Jophiel.
8 See Haverfield and Greenwell, Catalogue, 149.
4 What is left of the ' Maria ' is in Roman character, the ' Jesus Christus ' in runes.
6 He was buried in 698, but the coffin had probably been prepared before this.
248
THE CONTENTS OF ST. CUTHBERT'S SHRINE
(ii)
LV[/\\
VKIA
VMIA
(IV)
IX
i
•
j
V
^
Jilh
11 lU
-PET f<
X
J
s
3
1
M 1 A r* '"••.
}[ I/HO
(VI)
AUDREY
PVS
THOM/&
DA
INSCRIPTIONS ON THB COFFIN
(I) Head : [S]cs Michael, [G]abrixl. (II) Outer lid : Matheus, Marcus, Lucas, Johannis. (Ill) Right side :
Raphael, Scs Uriafl], Scs , [Ch]uraia[l](?). (IV) Foot : [M]ar[ia], IHS XPS.
(V) Left side, upper row : Petrus, Jacobus, Johannis, Andreas. (VI) Left side, lower row : [Philip]pus,
Bar[tholomeus], Thomas, Pa[ulus], Matheae.
I 249 „
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
touched with Irish influences ; they aimed by simple piety and con-
secrated skill to impress the facts of the Christian faith on the simple
Northumbrians.
A large number of fragments of wood, found with the coffin, await
arrangement. One series, when put together, forms an arcade of semi-
circular arches ; it may be part of the outer case mentioned by the
anonymous writer in the Bollandist Acta Sanctorum, as existing at the time
of the translation in 1104. Or it may have been made at that time.1
Other pieces of mouldings may belong to the coffin of 1 542.
THE BODY OF ST. CUTHBERT
Whether or no Durham Cathedral is still in charge of the genuine
remains of St. Cuthbert is a question that has often been discussed with
some unnecessary warmth. We shall find that very little certain evidence
is to be had ; the question rests on circumstantial arguments, and these always
leave things in some doubt. This case, however, is one in which the
balance of probabilities will be found to strengthen the belief that the bones
found in the Cathedral in 1827, and seen again in 1899, are those of the
saint. The contrary view can neither be proved nor disproved. The state-
ment that the Benedictines of the Cathedral House removed the saint and
concealed him in some other part of the Cathedral, while they substituted
for him the bones of a monk taken from the ' Gentry Garth ' hard by, is still
often made. It is said that between 1537 and 1542 St. Cuthbert's body
was reburied somewhere near the west end of the Cathedral, and that either
' St. Cuthbert's treasure ' or his body, or relics of him, (for all these phrases
are used of it) formed a secret and a mystery which at the time of the Re-
formation was entrusted to three Benedictines ; and that these brethren, when-
ever one of them died, appointed another ; and that thus the secret has been
faithfully kept from the sixteenth century to our days.3 The three are well
known in the Benedictine Order. Sir Walter Scott in the early part of last
century, when visiting Mr. Surtees at Mainsford, often came over to
Durham, and must have heard this tradition ; for he refers to it in the well-
known lines of Marmion : — 3
He chose his lordly seat at last
Where his Cathedral huge and vast
Looks down upon the Wear.
There deep in Durham's gothic shade
His relics are in secret laid,
But none may know the place,
Save of his holiest servants three,
Deep sworn to solemn secrecy,
Who share that wondrous grace.
This is the Benedictine tradition.
The 'secular tradition' is found in a MS. of the seventeenth century,
which was in Archbishop Eyre's hands in 1867; it is also in a paper ii
1 Haverfield and Greenwell, Catalogue, 155.
8 Those interested in the subject should read Rev. W. Brown, Where is St. Cuthbert Buried? (Durhan_7
1897); Monsignor Eyre (Archbishop of Glasgow), The History of St. Cuthbert (London, 1887); Canon
Fowler in Arch. 57, i. 1 8, 19 ; and Raine, St. Cuthbert (Durham, 1828).
8 Scott, Marmion, ii. 14.
250
THE CONTENTS OF ST. CUTHBERT'S SHRINE
the handwriting of Bishop Maire (1725— 1766). l These two papers state
definitely that the precious treasure is the body of St. Cuthbert ; they say
that it lies under the second and third steps of the staircase leading to the
Bell Tower, and one of the MSS. adds that it was near the great clock.
When this became known to the Chapter in 1867 a large and thorough inves-
tigation took place, both near the staircase leading to the great clock in the
south transept, and also at the stairs in the north-west tower which flanks the
west end of the nave, a tower in which some of the bells were formerly
hung. Nothing was found in either place. On the other hand the Bene-
dictine tradition points to some spot in the western part of the nave, not far
from the font.8 These traditions may now be left while we consider the chief
matter — that is, the probability that the body was not removed, and that the
bones now lying in the vault of 1542 in the platform behind the Neville
screen are the actual remains of St. Cuthbert. The known history of this
body is short. Three commissioners8 of Henry VIII., probably in 1537,*
going their rounds in search of Church treasure came to the Cathedral. We
are told that the chest containing the saint's body was broken into by a
goldsmith with a great hammer, and that in so doing the man broke one of
the saint's legs. After this the remains were deposited for some time in the
Revestry ' of the church c till such time as they did further know the king's
pleasure' It was during this period that pious monks are said to have
carried the body away, substituting for it a skeleton taken from the Gentry
Garth. We have two accounts by eye-witnesses of the burial of the ancient
coffin with a body in it ; those who saw it detected no change. The bills
for making the vault and for carrying out the burial are still in the Cathedral
Library.7 The body was laid in an ordinary vault ; and into the walls of it
were built the blue stones or ' marble ' as they are commonly called, which
had been at the base of the destroyed shrine.8 Over the body they first
placed a large slab on which was engraved in bold lettering the name of
* Ricardus Heswell, Monachus,' who had been buried in the Gentry Garth
in the fifteenth century ; and above this, on the surface, a large blue marble
ledger stone without inscription. The marks of the feet of earlier worshippers
may still be plainly seen on both sides of this slab.
Here the coffin lay undisturbed till 1827. Then the Chapter ordered
investigations. In the broken coffin they found the bones closely wrapped
in ancient robes, among which were discovered several valuable relics of
St. Cuthbert, which had escaped the keen eyes of the commissioners. These
things answer to certain of the treasures enumerated at the opening which
took place in 1 104.' Mr. Raine,10 an eye-witness in 1827, who unfortunately
1 Both are quoted in Arch. Ivii. (i.) \j, 1 8. * Ibid. 19.
* See Rites of Durham (Surtees Soc. crii. loz). * Ibid. 284.
1 Pulled down in 1802. ' Rites of Durham (Surtees Soc., cvii. 103).
* Durham Account RO//J, iii. 742 (Surtees Soc., xcii-ciii.). 8 Arch. Ivii. (i.), 14, 16.
* Sjm. Dur. (Rolls Series), i. 252, 253 : Abbot Richard, of St. Alban's (1097-1119), was present at the
translation of 1 1 54, and the account of the event given by Matthew Paris is important. Abbot Richard had
a withered arm, which was miraculously restored by touching St. Cuthbcrt's body. The account is as
follows : — While the holy and undecaycd body of the said Confessor was being lifted by the head and feet to
be transferred (to the new shrine), and was bending in the middle and threatened to collapse, Abbot Richard,
who was standing by, marvelling that it was flexible as though the saint were merely asleep, sprang forward,
and casting away his crozier, supported the body by the middle in his arms ; and straightway the arm which
before had been useless was restored entirely by the touch of the holy body. From this it seems dear that
the saint was taken out of his coffin in the process. — Vitae Viginti Trium S. A. Abbatum (cd. Watts) 1006.
10 Raine, St. Cutkbert (Durham, 1828).
251
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
infused far too much local feeling and prejudice into his descriptions, enumerates
no less than six coverings or wrappings : on the outside a fine linen sheet, well
waxed ; then a somewhat thin and delicate robe of silk, with the figure of
what he styles an Anglo-Saxon knight on a ground of amber and ornamental
parts of leaf-gold ; thirdly, a robe of thick soft silk, with ' St. Cuthbert's
birds ' — the eider ducks, and other things woven into it ; fourthly, an amber
silk robe ; then for fifth and sixth coverings, two more silken robes, one of
purple and crimson, the other of damask, also of the same colours.1 In the
midst of these wrappings (under the three upper ones) lay hidden the re-
markable 'Cross of St. Cuthbert'; there were found also the remains of a
portable altar, an ivory comb, and the beautiful tenth-century stole, etc., of
Bishop Frithstan of Winchester. There was also a ring, commonly called
St. Cuthbert's ring; this, however, is not earlier than the thirteenth century;
it is kept with great honour at Ushaw.
After all that seemed valuable had been removed to the Cathedral
Library and the fragments of the coffin had also been stored away in a cup-
board, the remains were placed in a rough box of deal planks carelessly put
together, and again buried in the vault.
When in 1899 Dr. Greenwell3 had undertaken to piece together, so far
as was possible, the fragments of the coffin, he asked leave to have the vault
re-opened to see whether any bits of carved work had been thrown back into
it in 1827. Some few portions, all small, of the carved wood were found
and fitted into their places ; the most of the wood was either in minute
fragments or in dust. In other respects the re-opening was of value.8
Though the coffin of 1827 had broken asunder under the pressure of
rubbish over it, the bones of the chief body were found arranged loosely in
their natural order. There was also a second skull resting on the saint's arm,
that of St. Oswald. On examination of the bones there was found remaining
on them throughout portions of ligaments and considerable remains of the
' periosteum membrane,' a kind of skin which enwraps the bones and is so
delicate of texture and substance that it rapidly perishes if exposed to damp
earth or to the moisture of ordinary decay.4 This fact, to which two
qualified anatomists testified, at once disposes of the suggestion that this
skeleton had been taken out of the Centry Garth by the monks; for the monks'
burial-yard was damp, and bones lying there could not have retained this
delicate membrane. It is most improbable too, that when such a substitution
took place the valuable vestments and other wrappings should have been left,
six deep on the body ; or that they should have failed to secure the cross or
the ancient comb and the most interesting portable altar. At any rate,
the fact is that the position of the cross found under three of the wrappings
is a direct proof that these had never been disturbed.6
Then it was observed by Canon Fowler that in one of the eye sockets
of the skull was a something of which he says, ' I could distinguish not only
the exsiccated muscles diverging from a point at the back, but the circular
form of the iris, and the rows of the roots of the eyelashes I have
1 Raine, St. Cuthbert (Durham, 1828), 194.
8 Haverfield and Greenwell, Catahgue, 133-156.
8 See Arch. Ivii., (i) 1 1. Canon Fowler was present, as also the writer of this article. * Ibid. 20.
s All these were found in 1827. Reginald of Durham (Surtees Soc., i.), c. 41, mentions a gold fillet, and
Rame says there were traces of a mark that might have been left on the skull by contact with gold.
252
THE CONTENTS OF ST. CUTHBERT'S SHRINE
no doubt that it was a shrivelled eyeball, including the lids.'1 If this is so,
it is surely a strong confirmation of the original drying up without decay of
the 'corpus incorruptum." When the bones were laid out for us and counted
up, before being deposited in the new oaken coffin, it was found that only
one important member was missing, one of the thigh bones ; this may be
the 'leg' which was broken by the goldsmith with his hammer. Dr. Selby
Plummer8 says that 'the partially worn though otherwise perfect condition
of the teeth, the conditions of the lower jaw, the partial ossification of the
larynx, the comparative thinness and lightness of the scapuhe, warrant us in
assigning the age of their owner as of about fifty-five years of age,' which also
corresponds closely enough to what we know respecting St. Cuthbert's age at
his death. Perhaps the most striking confirmation of the relation between
this skeleton and the original records is this ; in Bede's Life of St. Cuthbert*
we are told that after a great crisis the Saint recovered his health, save that
a tumour which had been external then ' took an internal direction and troubled
him all the rest of his life.' For when the bones were examined by us we
saw in the breast-bone a well-marked deep hole which had been eaten out
by a long and obstinate tumour; over about half the mouth of this hole
a piece of bone had grown, showing that much time had elapsed during
the progress of the malady. Dr. Plummer also adds that on this bone 'were
many perforations, due to some ulcerative process." In many ways it is
probable that St. Cuthbert was a great sufferer throughout his life ; and the
skeleton answers exactly to the descriptions of the ancient records, which show
us a man old before his days, oppressed with ill-health, and of a consumptive
tendency. And finally, contemporaries tell us that St. Cuthbert was ' neither
very tall nor very short,' and the skeleton as we carefully measured it was
about- five feet eight inches long.6
These are cumulative probabilities which incline the mind towards a
belief that we have here the remains of St. Cuthbert. Future discovery, or,
it may be, the revealing of the Benedictine secret, may compel us to think
otherwise ; as it is, the sum of proof is strongly in favour of the genuineness
of the remains, though proof positive is wanting.
THE HEAD OF ST. OSWALD*
The history of this relic is briefly this : After the battle on the Maser-
field in 642 in which the King fell,8 his remains were brutally treated by
Penda, the triumphant pagan king of Mercia; his head was stuck up on
a pole ; King Oswio later on took it down.' He carried it to Lindisfarne,
where it was received as a most precious relic. When the monks were forced
to take flight thence in 875, they tell us that they placed the head in
St. Cuthbert's coffin,10 and William of Malmesbury adds that 'the head is
said to be held between the arms of the ever blessed Cuthbert.' l In the
translation of 1104 it is said that the head was restored to its place by the
1 Arch. Ivii. (i), 21 note, but see Rainc, Sf. Cuthbert, 214. * Ibid. 23 note.
» Ibid. 20. * Cap. 8. * Arch. Ivii. (i), 10.
• Ibid. 23-24. 7 See Reginald of Durham (Surtccs Soc. i.), cap. 42.
8 Bede, Hut. Eccl., lib. iii. cap. ix. • Ibid. cap. xii.
10 Sym. Dur. (Rolls series), i. 57. u Ibid. i. 53.
253
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
side of St. Cuthbert.1 This skull shows proof of such a violent death as
befell St. Oswald in the battle of Maserfelth.3 It has a tremendous cut on the
skull, which must have killed him, inflicted by a sharp sword or axe ; and
there is also a second wound on the head,8 perhaps inflicted after death, when
Penda savagely wreaked his anger on it.
THE CROSS
This ancient and most interesting relic was found in 1827 under three
thicknesses of silk on- the skeleton. It is of gold with four equal arms ; of
a type of workmanship well known to be that of the seventh century, as may
be seen by comparison with other and dated pieces of jeweller's work in
France or Belgium. In the centre it has a large reddish stone, or possibly a
substitute in glass for a garnet, and under this a cavity which probably con-
tained a relic. There is a corresponding stone in each angle and twelve
smaller stones on each branch. One of the limbs has been broken off and
riveted on again in early times : it has a ring through which a gold chain
was passed. This ring is of much later workmanship ; and under it may be
discerned a thin loop in gold wire worn through and replaced.
The inner ornament is not enamel : it is formed of some quasi-mosaic
pieces of stone or glass set in a thin edging of gold.
The discovery of this cross, hidden away for ages (for Reginald of
Durham, in his minute description of the contents of the coffin, does not
mention it), provides one of the strongest confirmations of the genuineness of
this skeleton. It points to a high probability that the inner vestments, etc.,
were never disturbed till 1827;* and it is evident that if they were left un-
touched the remains within them could not have suffered a secret translation.
ST. CUTHBERT'S COMB
The anonymous author writing of the translation of 1104 says that the
monks then replaced by the side of St. Cuthbert's body 'a great ivory comb,'
and Reginald of Durham5 says 'The comb is perforated in the middle so
that almost three fingers may be inserted into the hole. The length of it
bears a suitable proportion to the breadth. For the length is almost equal to
the breadth, save that for ornament there is a slight difference. From lapse
of time it has got a reddish tinge ; the whiteness of bone which naturally
belongs to it is changed into a ruddy tint.' This comb was found in 1827
lying among the folds of one of the uppermost robes, on the lower part of
the saint's breast. On careful examination the comb was found to be certainly
ivory, not wood ; it has been skilfully fastened together again, for it was very
fragile and much broken. It does not appear to have been originally buried
1 It is fair to add that there is a skull at Epternach, an Anglo-Saxon settlement in Luxemburg, which a
said to be St. Oswald's head. See Bede (ed. Plummer), ii. 157.
8 Ibid. Sym. Dur. (Rolls Series), i. 255, and Bede, of. cit., lib. iii. c. 9. *Arch. Ivii. (i), 25.
4 The outside robes were removed at the translation of 698, but ' quae carni illius proxima aderant
prorsus tangere timebant.' — Sym. Dur. (Rolls Series), i. 36. Then ' involutum novo amictu corpus, novaque in
theca reconditum, supra pavimentum sanctuarii posuerunt.' — Bede, Hist. Eccl., lib. iv. cap. xxviii. Some
robes were taken away and others added in 1 104. — S. D. i. 255.
6 Reginald of Durham (Surtees Soc.), i. cap. 42.
254
ST. CUTHBERT'S CROSS ({).
ST. CUIHBERT'S COMB
To fact fag,
THE CONTENTS OF ST. CUTHBERT'S SHRINE
with the saint ; we hear of it for the first time in the account of the doings
of Sacrist Elfrid, son of Westoue, about 1022, who made a new comb for
the saint's body, which is probably the comb now preserved in the Library.
THE PORTABLE ALTAR
Of all the relics the most puzzling is this altar, on which there is an
undecipherable inscription. It is simply an oaken board covered with silver,
forming a flat plate or tablet about five inches broad and four inches and a
half high. On this the elements were placed for consecration.
It is mentioned as being in the coffin by the anonymous monk and by
Reginald ; it is certainly coeval with St. Cuthbert. The oaken board was
covered with a too delicate silver plate fastened on by small silver nails.
This is unfortunately in a very bad state. Round a circular ornament in the
middle ran a bold inscription which has hitherto baffled ingenuity. There
exists also on the back of the original oaken slab a seventh-century inscription
carved in the wood with a sharp tool. It runs thus : —
IN HONOR (EM). . S. PETRU.
It seems that the carver never thought of putting St. Peter's name in
the genitive case, and that it is a kind of' Lapidary Latin ' blunder. Under
these words are cut two crosses of unusual shape ; they are long and fine,
tapering away to a point.
The silver work has been transferred to a new oaken slab. On the front
of this portable altar there are many puzzles. In the middle (or nearly in the
middle, for it is nearer to one side than the other) is a circular centrepiece
with beautifully interlaced work of a very early date — forming perhaps a
decorated cross in the middle. There is also a very clear cross half-way up
the left side ; there is nothing to tell us whether there were any crosses (to
make up the symbolic five) on the corresponding places on the other three
sides ; it looks as if there were not. Each corner is occupied by an
interesting ornament, and a fine beading runs all round the plate. The
centrepiece had a bold inscription. Mr. Raine says it is Greek in Latin
letters ; there seems little truth in this statement. Calculating the space and
the size of the letters, about six to seven letters are missing at the beginning
of the inscription and about the same number at the end. The letters
remaining are only eight in number, with two curled marks between them,
which may mean abbreviations for m or iam ; but it is more likely that they
are simply divisions between the words. Outside the central boss there are,
at the top, two very plain letters, O H. The letters which remain are fairly
clear, excepting the first, which was so near destruction that it has suffered
damage. Indeed, the first and second letters may be read either as a double I
(there is such a letter on the back of the original slab) ; or they may be a U
or a V ; they may also be such an N as we see on the back ; they might,
but not probably, be part of an H. Earlier in the inscription there is
apparently the lower part of an O, with room for about two letters between
it and the double I.
Reproducing the letters as we have them, they run thus : —
o . . . . IIAIECIERA
255
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
There is no sign, as Raine would have it, of a Greek r at the beginning, nor
of a <coi, nor is there any * et.' l
BISHOP FRITHSTAN'S STOLE AND MANIPLE
The history of these rare and beautiful specimens of early needlework,
now about a thousand years old, and still almost as bright as they were when
they passed put of the artists' hands, is happily preserved for us on the work
itself. For both the Stole and the Maniple bear the inscription ' Pio
Episcopo FrrSestano,' as well as the name of the giver, '^Elffled fieri precepit.'
Frithstan was Bishop of Winchester from 909* to 931, when he resigned ;
he died in 933. He was a man of much piety, and became a local saint.
Rifled was the second wife of Edward the Elder,8 and died not later
than 916.
This, then, gives a proximate date for this beautiful piece, and the place
also where it was worked. It was probably the work of the ladies of the
new Nunminster of Winchester, under guidance of Queen Rifled, as a tribute
of their affection for the saintly bishop.
Soon after Frithstan's death, King Athelstan, son of Edward (though not
by Queen Rifled),* was called up to the north, and as he passed through
Chester-le-Street B he worshipped at the shrine of St. Cuthbert,6 and presented
to the saint * a stole and maniple 7 which St. Etheldreda gave to St. Wilfrid
in a small chest,' as we are told in the enumeration of relics.8 Reginald of
Durham also, speaking of the year 1 104, says that ' he was decorated with a
stole and fanon their inner portions are hidden under the tunic
and dalmatic, but the extremities (which are in sight) appear to be of most
costly workmanship.' *
The stole, which is now in five pieces, has kept much of the brilliancy
of the gold thread, and shows very skilful handling throughout. The
groundwork is of thread of gold — 'real gold thread' (Mr. Raine says), not
silver-gilt ; the figures and ornaments, inscriptions, etc., have been worked in
with the needle on spaces left for them ; the border on either side is woven.
Of the stole the middle point is occupied by a quatrefoil enclosing the
Lamb of God with a nimbus. It bears also the inscription ' Agnus Dei.'
From this the figures descend to right and left, each with its own inscription,
in letters scattered on the ground so as to avoid a stiff scroll ; the whole stole
is decorated with full-length figures of the prophets of the Old Testament :
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Amos, Obadiah, Hosea, Joel, Habakkuk, Jonah,
Zechariah, one whose name is lost, and, lastly, Nahum. On the front of one
of the ends is a half-length St. John the Evangelist, and at the back ' /Elfflasd
fieri precepit,' and on the other end a half-length figure of St. Thomas with,
on the reverse, ' Pio episcopo FrrSestano.'
The maniple is in similar work, though the details differ. In the
middle, here also, there is a quatrefoil in which is worked by the needle a
1 See Raine, S/. Cuthbert, 201, 202, particularly the plates at the end of the volume.
3 Anglo-Sax. Chron. gives date 93 2 as the date of his death, but see Sym. Dur. (Rolls Series), ii. 1 24.
8 times Hist. (Rolls Series), i. 478. * Ibid.
' The shrine was there from 833 to 995. « Sym. Dur. (Rolls Series), i. 75.
7 Ibid-» i- Z". » Durham Account Rolls (Surtees Soc.). ii. 4.33.
• Reg. of Dur. (Surtees Soc. i.), cap. xli.
256
ST. CI'THBERT'S PORTABLE ALTAR (|).
BRACELET OP GOLD THREAD
AND RED SILK FOUND IN
ST. CUTHBERT'S COFFIN (J).
PORTION OF MAMPLE FOUND IN
ST. CUTHBERT'S COFFIN ().
To fact fagt 156.
THE CONTENTS OF ST. CUTHBERT'S SHRINE
hand outstretched from a cloud, with the inscription, ' Dextera Dei.' On the
one side is Pope Gregory the Great in act of benediction, and below him his
companion Peter the Deacon ; under these the maniple ends with a square
containing a half-length figure of St. John Baptist, with a second ' Pio
episcopo FriSestano.' On the other half there is St. Sixtus the Pope, and
beneath him Lawrence the Deacon ; and on the square end is, on the
front, a half-length figure of St. James the Apostle, with again the inscription
* jfElfflasd fieri precepit.' At each end of the maniple there hangs a fringe
of crimson or purple.
There were also found, a part of Athelstan's gift, a girdle and two
bracelets in similar work, but without figures.1 A second maniple of a
later date was also discovered.
PIECES OF SILK CLOTH
In addition to the Frithstan vestments, the Library has also some remark-
able fragments of those five silk-woven pieces of ancient work, which have been
photographed full size and painted by hand by Mr. T. J. Williamson ; they
can be studied at South Kensington. The careful reproduction is more distinct
than the fragmentary and faded remains themselves, though preserved with
great care at Durham. That there is anything left to us is really due to
the infinite painstaking of Dr. Greenwell, the Cathedral Librarian. In
this, as in many another case, he has enormously enriched the Library by his
skill, knowledge, and devotion to antiquity. It has always been said that the
scenes of the Saint's life are here brought in — the sea, the eider-ducks, or the
solan geese, the porpoises, the rabbits ; these, it was thought, proved ' that the
silk had been woven for St. Cuthbert ' and at Lindisfarne. It is far more pro-
bable that these incomparable fragments were presents brought from the East,
from Persia perhaps, or Syria, or from orientalised Sicily. It is, most pro-
bably, Persian work of the eleventh century. One knows how intimate was
the intercourse between East and West in old times ; and the texture and
manner of ornament is not western, but oriental.
i. The largest piece remaining is in thick soft silk. It appears to have
been a square, some part of the edging of it being still there ; the general effect
of colour, though much faded, being purple and crimson. The pattern of
this piece is chiefly confined within a circle of about two feet in diameter,
with a bordering in the circle of grapes and conventional leaves with pears,
or more probably mangoes, in couples, and other eastern fruits ; at the top
are 'golden apples,' i.e. oranges. The interstices between the repetitions of the
pattern are filled up with two geese (or more probably ducks) pecking at
bunches of grapes which fall from a vase or bracket standing on a pedestal.
Inside the circle, for nearly one-fourth of the height, is the sea, wherein swim
six fishes, and four ducks float on the water. Arising out of the sea between
the birds the upper part of the circle is filled with what may have been meant
for a great vase, standing on a base which rests on the sea ; or it may perhaps
be a conventional boat, with high ends rising almost to the top of the
circle and crowned with two large ornaments of pine-apple form. Much
of the space between these points is unhappily lost ; there is enough to show
1 Sym. Dur. (Rollt Scries), i. ill.
i 257 33
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
that it was filled up with a bunch of oranges, with foliage above, and an
ornamented belt of embroidery running from one side to the other and ending
in tasselled flowing folds gathered together on the outside. If it is a vase,
the base of it is easy to make out, though there seems to be no top to it.
The colours of this piece have been most brilliant.
2. This is the most curious piece. It covers a large surface and the
subject is repeated. There is in the middle a large circular plate with eight
lobes, and between the outer and inner borders a pattern which looks at first
sight rather like an oriental inscription, though it is nothing but ornament.
Inside this border is a horse and his rider. The horse is unconventional, but
drawn naturally ; it has trappings and hanging bells, its tail is tied up, and on a
saddle with stirrups the rider sits holding the reins in his right hand ; both reins
are on the right side of the horse's neck ; the bit is a kind of muzzle, on, not in,
the mouth. On the rider's left wrist a hawk is perched with wings extended
and a long, broad tail. The bird's head is distinctly hawk-shaped. Under the
horse is a very well-designed dog of the greyhound or ' whippet ' type. The
man wears no armour nor any sword ; he sits looking out full face, with a
peaked beard.1 The ground of the silk is parseme with conventional oriental
flowers and cypress trees such as one sees on a Persian carpet to this day.
The whole piece has a double border composed of two lines of rope or chain
with a succession of identical stiff ornaments ; beyond this border comes a
row of well-drawn rabbits, and beyond this a fringe or braid of the same
colour fastened to the silk by the needle. This striking pattern of man,
horse, falcon, and dog, in a circular lobed cartouche, is twice repeated.
3. A piece of silk, still of most brilliant colouring, mostly crimson
and purple. Above these seems to have been an urn, now only indicated,
supported by two face to face winged beasts, lions or griffins, whose heads
are gone. In this piece the main figure, repeated thrice on the portion of stuff
preserved, is a two-headed peacock, standing in front of the spectator, with the
eyes and brilliant colours of his tail filling up all the space behind him.
4. The next fragment is a piece of silk, with a cruciform pattern often
repeated, in the same purple and crimson colours.
5. And lastly a silk piece of little ornament ; it is amber coloured and so
arranged that the threads of it appear to give alternately a light and a dark tint,
so creating a kind of wavy look on the surface. This piece was bordered by
a ribbon of thick lace rather more than an inch in breadth with a pattern
woven on it, very like, as Mr. Raine says, the * Coach-lace ' of his time.2
Of these coverings of the saint's body some were certainly added in the
days of Reginald of Durham. He minutely describes the robes which were
then taken away and replaced by choicer work in still finer silk. It is these
substituted pieces that are preserved and carefully treasured in the Library of
Durham Cathedral.
'
1 In the church of St. Pol de Bate (an island off the north-west coast of Brittany) the writer discovered :
fragment of very ancient needlework with this same subject treated in a similar way. It is said to be a
part of the famous stole of St. Pol, with which the saint led a wicked and hungry dragon to its death. Be this
as it may, the work is very ancient and curious ; the cure of the parish said that the embroidery was oriental.
The St. Pol horseman rides a horse with hardly any trappings ; the bridle is treated in the same way, without
a bit ; but the dog, instead of being a tiny ' whippet,' is a huge boar-hound. The most remarkable point
about the Batz figure is the fact that the feet of the horse are toed very distinctly ; the horse itself is better
drawn than ours ; otherwise, the subjects are identical. St. Pol was a Celtic priest who had crossed over from
western England to Brittany in the sixth century. * Raine, St. Cuthbert, 1 96.
PORTIONS OF BISHOP FRITHSTAN'S STOLE (-J).
BISHOP FRITHM «'
MANIPLK (i).
ENDS OF BISHOP FRITHSTAN'» STOLE (}).
r
BOLDON BOOK
record known as Boldon Book affords the elements of a
picture of the social and economic conditions of the bishopric of
Durham at the close of the twelfth century, which, although it
may not be complete, will, as far as it goes, be accurate. The
nature and contents of this document have not always been correctly
described. It has been an accepted commonplace to say that Boldon Book
is the Domesday of the palatinate ever since Sir Henry Ellis printed the
record among the appendixes to the official edition of Domesday Book. And
yet this saying is far from representing the actual state of the case —
would, indeed, that it did so. Boldon Book approaches more nearly the
type of a rental or extent than that of a survey 1 in the sense in which the
word is used in connexion with Domesday Book, and although it appears to
describe itself as a survey, it is in reality no more than a polyptichum designed
to meet the administrative needs of a great estate. It is not even what we
might under the circumstances have hoped for — a chartulary. The antiquity
of the see and the peculiar position of the bishop, which was already passing
from landlordship to sovereignty,1 made the preparation of a true chartulary at
once difficult and superfluous. The * patrimonium Sancti Cuthberti ' was
already formed and organized, and the traditional record of it preserved in the
Durham Chronicle and a few forged charters.8 Moreover, since the great
re-adjustment at the close of the eleventh century, by which a convent of
monks was introduced into the cathedral church and the endowment of the
see divided between them and the bishop * — the appointment, as they would
have said across the Channel, of a * mensa episcopalis ' and a ' mensa capitu-
laris ' — there was none to bring the bishop's rights seriously into question.
The far-off royal government was destined not to molest him for two centuries
to come, and then the bishop would have his answer ready, a warrant better
than Warenne's rusty sword, and yet consisting essentially of general words
which, by exception, would succeed in ousting the king. So the legal side of
Boldon Book is scarcely apparent, and its economic side consists of what is
rather a report on the conditions of a great estate than the survey of a county.
Still it may be fairly assumed that what went on in the bishop's vills was
equally going on in those of the prior or the lay barons, and that Boldon Book
therefore affords enough material for a number of generalizations with regard
to what we may call the Third Estate of the bishopric at the close of the
twelfth century. Something may be said as well about the social superstruc-
1 'Fecit Dominus Hugo Dunolmensis Episcopns in presentia sua et suorum dcscribi omncs reddiros totius
Episcopatus sui assisaset consuetudines, sicut tune erant et ante fuerant,' Bullion Book (Surtees Soc.), p. I.
1 Lapsley, Co. Pal. of Dur. chs. i. ii. v.
8 Sjmeon of Durham (Rolls Scries), 2 vols. ; Liber Vitte Eccleiitf Ditnelmeniit (Surtees Soc.) ; and Canon
Greenwell's valuable discussion of the subject in FeoJarium Prioratui Dunelmm'u (Surtees Soc.) (henceforth
FeoJarium), prcf.
* Greenwell, loc. cit.
259
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
ture — but here we shall get small help from Boldon Book, and must proceed
cautiously by means of inference and analogy, making use of the meagre
supply of documents at our disposal. It will be convenient, then, to proceed
from the bottom upward, to study and classify the information that Boldon
Book affords before attempting to supply that which it withholds.
To this end we may begin with the organization of the agricultural
community. It is desirable here to fasten our attention on the vill rather
than the manor, for our interests are economic rather than legal, and the
question of the formation of the manors of the bishopric is very largely a legal
one. Still it is a matter which we cannot afford to neglect, and it may be
well to interrupt our main inquiry at this point in order to ask ourselves what
was the meaning of the word ' manor ' in the bishopric, and how the thing
which the word represents came into being. The Domesday manor was far
less definite and regular an institution than that of the fourteenth century, but
whatever the manor of the eleventh and twelfth centuries may or may not
have been, one point is clear, its constituting element was the vill. Either the
manor composed itself of vills or else it decomposed vills into manors. In a
general way the first of these processes is characteristic of the north of
England, the second of the south.1 The vill is an institution more permanent
and more stable than the manor. It is older withal, and stands in a closer
relation to the land and its inhabitants.
With this statement of the general difficulties of the case we may turn to
examine the particular problem presented by Boldon Book and the other
evidence at our disposal. Briefly it may be stated on this wise, how and
when were the bishop's vills grouped or arranged in those economic and
judicial units styled manors ? Since the bishopric was omitted from the
Domesday survey and not afterwards included in the regular administration of
the kingdom, whether judicial or financial, it will be seen that any argument
drawn from the fiscal or administrative purpose of the Domesday survey will
not necessarily fit our case. Nor, as we have seen, may we argue as though
Boldon Book, in respect to its aim and result, were on all fours with Domesday
Book. The chief aim of the Conqueror's inquest was to facilitate the collec-
tion of danegeld, a tax that was not raised in the bishopric of Durham,*
and the two documents are separated by a century which saw the lapse and
disappearance of that impost. We must seek, then, some other explana-
tion ; we are debarred from assuming that it was financial pressure that
grouped men and lands about some house which was responsible to the
king for his geld.3
We may conduct our inquiry most conveniently by observing the now
classical method of proceeding from the known to the unknown. The known
in this case consists of the rich series of episcopal halmote rolls which begin
in the year 1345.* These documents record the doings of those loca~
1 Pollock and Maitland, Hist. ofEng. Law, 1st ed. i. 597, 598.
2 Lapsley, Co. Pal. of Dur., 29$, 296.
3 This convenient hypothesis, put forward by Professor Maitland (Dom. Book and Beyond, 128), is not
now generally accepted, see Tait in Eng. Hist. Rev. 1897, 770 ff; Round in ibid. 1900, 293 ff. ; and Vino-
gradoff, The Growth of the Manor, bk. iii., particularly pp. 300 ff.
4 These MSS., which are preserved at the Record Office and at Durham, were thoroughly examined
by Messrs. Hardy and Page, on behalf of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, with whose permission they have
very kindly placed at my disposal several volumes of transcripts. For the convenience of those who wish to
verify statements occurring in the text I give the references to the originals.
260
BOLDON BOOK
tribunals which we are accustomed to think of as manorial courts, but it is
very noticeable that the word * manor' does not occur in them until the Middle
Ages are past. They begin normally with the formula ' Pleas of the halmote
of A, held at such a place on such a day.' All the halmotes of the bishopric
were held by the bishop's steward, either in person or by deputy,1 who for
this purpose made a circuit, called the ' turnus halmotorum,' three times a
year. The court was ordinarily held at a certain vill about which a number
of others were grouped. This arrangement is extremely important for our
purposes, and will presently be considered in greater detail when we deal with
the matter in its economic aspect. At present it should be remarked that for
judicial purposes the arrangement was very elastic. Thus in the pontificate
of Bishop Hatfield (1345—1381) there are three instances of the halmote of
Sadberge being held at Stockton.1 This is particularly striking, for Sadberge
had, as we shall presently see, a greater unity than any other subdivision of
the episcopal estates. Then in Bishop Skirlaw's time (1388—1405), the court
of the Middleham group was held sometimes at Middleham and sometimes at
Sedgefield, another member of the same group.1 In the eleventh year of the
same pontificate the halmote for four vills belonging to the Easington group
was taken at Sadberge.* Twice in the same pontificate Durham, usually
grouped with Chester, was taken at the court held at Easington.' These
appear to be the only cases of such redistribution in the fourteenth century,
but there are numerous instances of it in the records of the fifteenth and later
centuries. In the fifteenth century, indeed, there is a striking case of a single
court being held for all the bishop's vills.' Finally, the records of all these
transactions were returned into the bishop's chancery, where they were
engrossed and became part of the official records of the whole palatinate.
Now the obvious inference from all this would be that the bishops were
dealing with their vills as members of one vast manorial estate, or let us say
rather of a great franchise which was5 manorial in so far as its proprietor
exercised rights of landlordship over certain parts of it. But no sharp line, it
would seem, was drawn between the exercise of these rights and those of a
political and administrative character in virtue of which the bishop enjoyed
his regality. But things can not always have been in this condition. Several
considerations enter into the account, and we must try to discover at what
time and under what circumstances the bishop became the landlord of the
vills in question, whether there was not some economic reason for their
arrangement in the way we have seen, and how they were administered before
the development of the complicated palatine judiciary.
Before dealing with these questions we must follow the fortunes of the
word 'manor' in connexion with the vills of the bishopric. In the survey
made by Bishop Hatfield at the close of the fourteenth century,7 we find that
vills are grouped not in manors but in wards, a term which commonly
answers to the hundreds and wapentakes of other counties.8 Still within
1 Lapsley, Co. Pal. ofDur. 78 ; Dur. Cursiton Rec. No. 42, m. I. Rec. Off.
1 Ibid. No. 12, fols. 121, I29d, i82d. • Ibid. No. I3,fol$. I4d, I24d.
« Ibid. fol. 2gid. * Ibid. No. 13, fols. 354, 396.
« Ibid. No. 16, fol. 252. ' HatfitU Sure. (Surtees Soc.), 1857.
8 In the general receiver*! roll of Bishop Fordham (who succeeded Hatfield) the onus of every ward is
given followed by the quota of the vills comprised in the ward, the manorial arrangement appearing only from
the order in which the vills are enumerated. Ibid. 260-275.
261
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
these four wards the arrangement of the vills corresponds to that of the
halmote rolls, and as we shall see presently to that of Boldon Book as well.
The term 'manor,' however, occurs in Hatfield's Survey, where it is applied
to single vills held by free tenants, and seems to be equated with 'villa'. Thus
at Easington under the rubric * Liberi Tenentes ' we read ' Walterus de
Edirdacres tenet manerium de Edirdacres per certa servitia.' l On turning to
Hutton we find under the same rubric the following entry : ' Henricus de
Essh tenet villam de Huton . . . per servitium forinsecum.' * The next
document in chronological order is the great receipt roll of Bishop Beck, the
earliest account roll of the palatinate that has survived to us.8 This records
the issues of the bishop's manors and accounts for receipts from manorial
bailiffs and for the expenses incident to holding the ' turnus halmotorum.'
Then there is the long series of the prior's halmote rolls, beginning in
1 296,* and these again avoid the term ' manor,' although they show a judicial
organization practically identical with that of the bishop's vills. Then quite
early in the thirteenth century we get in the record of the testimony taken
in a great law-suit a mention of a manor belonging to Bishop Philip
(i 197— I2o8).5 And it is recorded that on the resignation of Bishop
Nicholas de Farnham in 1 249 the manors of Stockton and Easington were
assigned to him for his support ' cum omnibus eorundem maneriorum
membris, pertinenciis et libertatibus.' ' This is particularly interesting
because Stockton and Easington were the heads respectively of two of those
halmote groups which we shall have presently to examine. Finally, if we
turn to the national records we shall see that the king's officers had no
difficulty in finding manors in Durham. After the death of Bishop Pudsey
in 1195 the keepers of the temporalities accounted for the tallage of the
manors of the bishopric, but, as appears from the detailed list which follows,
the money was raised from the vills individually and not in manorial groups.7
Again, in the earliest extant pipe roll the keepers in like manner are account-
ing for the cost of stocking the bishop's manors and. for certain manorial
profits which seem to have been the result of a tallage.8
Yet in spite of all this the word ' manor ' does not occur in Boldon Book ; 9
the vill was the unit of the survey, and in like fashion the division of St.
Cuthbert's patrimony between the second Norman bishop and the monks
was made on a basis of vills, and not manors.10
What then shall we say ? That the manor did not exist in Durham in
the twelfth century ? But there was something that the king's officers
treated as a manor, and the manor was not unknown in the next century.
We cannot on the other hand suppose that the manor, as the term was
understood throughout the kingdom, was to be found in the bishopric. For
1 HatfielTs Siirv. (Surtees Soc.), 127. * Ibid. 153.
8 Printed in Boldon Book (Surtees Soc.), App. pp. xxv-xxxix.
* Dttr. Halmote R. (Surtees Soc.), 1889. ' Attestaciones Testium, etc., in Feuf. 224.
1 From a document issued by a papal commission composed of three English prelates, in Historite Dunel-
mensts Serif tores Tres. (Surtees Soc.), 1839, App. No. lix. The local chronicler in recording this transaction
mentions the ' maneria episcopalia ' ; Graystanes, vi. in ibid. p. 42.
Pipe R. 8 Ric. I. in Boldon Book (Surtees Soc.), App. pp. vi. vii.
8 Ibid. 31 Hen. I. in. ibid. App. pp. i-iii.
• The single instance of the use of the term in the Whickham entry is almost certainly no part of the
original record, vid. inf. App. No. ii.
10 See Canon GreenwelTs instructive account of this transaction in Fend. pref. xvi ff.
262
BOLDON BOOK
one thing, the institution that was occasionally called a manor had nothing to
do with the bishop's financial administration. To what extent may we regard
it as having served administrative and judicial ends ?
We have suggested that in the fourteenth century and later the halmote
groups in Durham lacked the individuality of the contemporary manor
owing to a system of judicial administration which regarded them all as
forming part of a single great estate and subject to a single tribunal which,
although presided over by a single officer and constituted under a single
authority, was for convenience sake held in various places. Now owing to
very different reasons something of the same sort may have been true at a
much earlier period. The tradition of the formation of the patrimonium of
St. Cuthbert is preserved in the eleventh-century compilation known as the
Historia de Sancto Cuthberto, and the twelfth-century chronicle that goes by
the name of Symeon of Durham. Although we must make a large allowance
for the bias of these documents, and the fact that they contain only the reflection
of vanished grants or instruments, we may still draw from them the main lines
of the development. The franchise of the see that was to be Durham began in
grants of land in what are now Northumberland and York. The bishop's
authority extended itself over the intervening region between Tyne and Tees
as forming part of his diocese. To this authority was added, either by
prescription or direct grant, some immunity (sake and soke) in the same
region. This political power (quite independent of any proprietary right
growing out of landlordship) seems at first to have been disregarded by the
Danish invaders, and then as they settled and assumed Christianity to have
been admitted and even perhaps extended.1 Meanwhile the bishops seem to
have been extending their proprietary rights in the region in question by
purchase, perhaps by grant, and further by some form of internal coloniza-
tion. We get only indirect notice of this last and most important method,
but it may fairly be inferred from certain passages in the Historia Ecclesia?
and the Historia de Sancto Cuthberto. Bishop Egred gave to the see Gainford
and its appurtenances from Tees to Wear, * quarum ipse conditor fuerat,'
says Symeon : * * et . . . sedificavit duas villas . . . et dedit eas,' says the
Historia.*
The development of the political side of the franchise has been traced
elsewhere/ One thing is clear, at the time of the Norman Conquest and
probably much earlier the bishops were holding a court, a single court, in
which all their judicial business was transacted and which did not begin to
develop and subdivide until the second half of the twelfth century. Such a
tribunal would have included all those subjected to the bishop's jurisdiction
whether for tenurial or political reasons ; but until the palatine judiciary
began to develop upon the pattern of the royal judiciary this distinction
would naturally not be taken into account.
1 So much we may gather from the obviously legendary transactions ascribed to the Danish Guthred
and King Alfred, and from the striking passages in the Hist, de S. Cuth. 'Nam Ethred tupradictui
abbas emit a prxfato rege Guthred, et a Danorum ezercitu, qui sibi sub eo terram diviserant, has villas
et eas Sancto Cuthberto contulit.' ' Eodem tempore Cuthardus, cpiscopus fidclis, emit de pecunia sancti
Cuthberti villam quac vocatur Ceddesfeld, et quicquid ad earn pertinet, praeter quod tenebant tres homines,
Aculf, Ethelbriht, Frithlaf. Super hoc tamen habuit cpiscopus sacam et socnam.' Symeon of Durham (Rolls
Scr.), i. 107, 208
1 Ibid. i. 53. • Ibid. aoi.
* Lapslcy, Co. Pal. ch. r.
263
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
It has been argued that the organization and definition of manorial
courts was by no means early, but followed and imitated that of the criminal
jurisdiction of the sheriff. That originally, in short, there had been but
a single court or halmote for all the tenants of the manor.1 Now if we apply
this theory to the bishop's estates which the rapid development of his
sovereignty and the machinery for its application in the twelfth century
would have left in a direct and proprietary relation to him, and remember
the absence in the bishopric of any normalizing fiscal system, we may well
regard the episcopal halmote courts as a case of arrested development. The
great estate, as apart from the great franchise, would continue, in principle at
least, to be administered as a single whole.
Thus in the bishopric the financial force which contributed to the
formation of the manor did not exist and the judicial element had been
reduced to a minimum. It had, however, a certain importance. In practice
it must have been convenient to hold the halmote from place to place on the
plan which we have seen was customary in the fourteenth century. Such an
arrangement would naturally take account of any pre-existent grouping or
arrangement of vills, such as a parent community and its offshoots, or a
cluster of intercommoning vills, or the like. Where a court was held for a
number of vills that already had some principle of cohesion they would
obviously be drawn more closely together, for the business of the halmote
was almost as much administrative as judicial, and all sorts of common affairs
were regulated there. Then, following the custom of the kingdom, such
groups with newly developed or intensified solidarity might in the course of
the thirteenth century come naturally if not very accurately to be described
as manors.
If this hypothesis prove acceptable, it will still be necessary to account
for the economic, as we have endeavoured to account for the judicial, forma-
tion of the episcopal manors, to show what earlier element of cohesion had
held the clusters of vills together. Here, fortunately, we have rather more
material at our disposal. The arrangement, as was natural, seems to have
been primarily a matter of vicinity, and this would include of course new
vills that sprang up on the waste land surrounding the elder ones. Then, as
will presently appear, certain vills were chargeable in pairs or larger groups
for services and renders, an arrangement which is in some cases older than the
Norman Conquest. Such a condition is quite what we should expect to find
when we remember that in the bishopric there was no uniform pressure
of taxation, no such fiscal system as was imposed on the rest of the
kingdom by the Domesday survey, which, whatever may be the details,
must still be regarded as a dynamic process in the formation of the English
manor.
This matter may best be illustrated by a comparison of the disposition
of the vills in the fourteenth-century manors with their arrangement in
Boldon Book.
Houghton Group in Halmote Rolls : — Bishopswearmouth, Ryhope,
Burdon, Herrington, Newbottle, Morton, Wardon, Houghton.
Vills in the Boldon Book : — Wearmouth and Tunstall ; Ryhope and
1 Maitland, Stltct Pleat in Manorial Ceurtt (Seldcn Soc.), Introd. ; Vinogradoff, VIMnage In England,
362-376.
264
BOLDON BOOK
Burdon ; Newbottle, Biddick, and Herrington ; Houghton, Warden, and
Morton.1
Here our test works out very neatly. The vills forming the manor of
Houghton follow one another in order in the Boldon survey, moreover they
all have some further connexion. Wearmouth, Ryhope, and Burdon, came
to the bishop together as part of a reputed grant by King Athelstane.* In
Boldon Book the vills are arranged in the groups indicated. Wearmouth and
Tunstall are surveyed together, work, render, and have their demesne in
common ; and this is true also of Ryhope and Burdon. The third group is
connected by a common pinder and common mills. Warden and Morton
are dependent on Houghton, where they work and with which they have a
pinder in common. They all conform, moreover, to the Boldon or corn age-
paying type, and fit in therefore with that general classification of vills of
which we speak elsewhere.*
Easington Group in the Halmote Rolls : — Sherburn, Cassop, Shotton,
Shadforth, Easington.
Vills in the Boldon Book : — Easington, Thorp, and Shotton ; North
Sherburn, Shadforth, Cassop, Trillesden, and Whitwell.
Here again we find an economic connexion between the vills which go
to form this manor. Easington, Thorp, and Shotton were grouped as early
as A.D. 901, when Bishop Cutheard granted them to Elfred, son of
Birihtulfinc, in return for services,* and in the Boldon survey they follow one
another. The first two are connected by common renders, services, and
demesne. The second group is described in Boldon Book as Quarringtonshire,
and appears to have an organic connexion. Whitwell would be a new vill
erected in this region for its tenant William. In Hatfield's Survey it is being
held as a sub-manor by the Master of Sherburn Hospital,1 and would there-
fore not be enumerated as one of the bishop's vills in the Halmote Rolls.
Trillesden also would seem to be an offshoot or member of Cassop.* Finally
the whole cluster conforms, as in the case of Houghton, to the Boldon or
cornage-paying type.
Chester Group in the Halmote Rolls : — Ryton, Whickham, Whitburn,
Cleadon, Newton, Plawsworth, Boldon, Chester, Urpeth, Gateshead, Fram-
wellgate.
Vills in the Boldon Book : — Chester and Urpeth ; Gateshead, Boldon,
Newton, and Plawsworth ; Cleadon and Whitburn ; Whickham ; Ryton and
Crawcrook.
Here the connexion of the minor groups is more apparent than that of
the whole. The villeins of Urpeth plough and harrow at Chester, and
although the entries are widely separated in Boldon Book, there is no doubt
1 The manorial grouping as derived from the episcopal halmote rolls is necessarily only approximate,
rid. sap. p. 261 I have given what seems to be the most usual or generally recognized arrangement of vills.
Cf. Durham Halmote R. pref. p. viii ff.
1 Symeoti of Durham (Rolls Ser.), i. in.
* There are some apparent exceptions to this. The villeins of Biddick are firming their rill at special
terms. Newbottle contains only cottiers and is a member of Herrington. Wardon and Morton in like
manner contain only 'firmarii,' and are members of Houghton. I cannot account for the omission of Tunstall
and Biddick, both of which are duly recorded in HaifieU'i Survey (Surtees Soc.), pp. 135, 153. Biddick is
there recorded as being held by charter.
* Symeoti of Durham (Rolls Ser.), i. 208.
* Hatfielfi Surv. (Surtees Soc.), 150. • Ibid.
I 265 34
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
of the connexion between the two vills, particularly as the mill of Urpeth
(which was at farm) occurs immediately after the Chester entry. The
second group is more doubtful. If the Newton in question be the Newtona
juxta Dunolmum of Boldon Book and Hatfield's Survey, it would be like
Plawsworth, which immediately follows it in both records, an off-shoot of
Durham. If, however, it be Newton juxta Boldonam, it would be an
off-shoot of Boldon, having no connexion with Plawsworth or Durham.
Cleadon and Whitburn are connected both in Boldon Book and Hatfield's
Survey ; they have a common demesne and work and render together.
Whickham, Ryton, and Crawcrook follow one another in similar fashion, but
Boldon Book places them at some distance from the main group to which
they are seen to belong. But the villeins of Whickham did carriage-service
between Gateshead and Durham, and Ryton and Crawcrook have the obliga-
tion of carting wine in common. Framwellgate, another offshoot of Durham,
does not appear in Boldon Book. With this exception, and that of Gateshead,
Chester and Plawsworth, where details are lacking, the vills belong to the
Boldon type.
Middleham Group in the Halmote Rolls : — Sedgefield, Cornford,
Middleham.
Vills in the Boldon Book : — Sedgefield and Butterwick ; Middleham
and Cornford.
This group presents no difficulties and requires little comment. It was
already a great soke in the tenth century when Bishop Cutheard bought
for St. Cuthbert ' Sedgefield and all belonging to it.' l Middleham and
Cornford, which are surveyed together, follow immediately on the Sedgefield
notice in Boldon Book, and although the Butterwick entry stands at some
distance, the vill is charged with the service of ploughing at Sedgefield,
of which it appears in Hatfield's Survey as a dependent.8
Stockton Group in the Halmote Rolls : — Carlton, Hartburn, Norton,
Hardwick, Preston, and Stockton.
Vills in Boldon Book : — Hardwick ; Norton ; Stockton, Hartburn, and
Preston ; Carlton.
Both Carlton and Norton seem to have formed part of the patrimony of
St. Cuthbert.* In Boldon Book Stockton, Hartburn, and Preston are grouped ;
the first two have a demesne in common, and a single pinder serves for all
three. Hardwick, on the other hand, stands between Sedgefield and Middle-
ham, but as it is in the hands of a tenant its services are not enumerated,
so that we cannot tell what connexion it may have had with the present
group, nor determine whether it belongs to the Boldon type to which all
the rest excepting Carlton conform.
Darlington Group in the Halmote Rolls : — Cockerton, Whessoe,
Haughton, Blackwell, Bondgate-in-Darlington.
Vills in the Boldon Book : — Darlington, Blackwell, Cockerton, Haugh-
ton, Whessoe.
This grouping goes back to the alleged grant of Styr son of Ulf, at the
end of the tenth century.*
1 Symeon of Durham (Rolls Ser.), i. 208. * Hatfielfs Sure. (Surtees Soc.), 1 86.
8 Symeon of Durham (Rolls Ser.), i. 215, 220 ; Liber Vita, 57.
4 Ibid. i. 212.
266
BOLDON BOOK
The vills of Oxenhall and Little Haughton are connected with Dar-
lington by services which they have to render there, but they do not figure
in the Halmote Rolls, although they reappear in Hatfield's Survey, where they
are held as sub-manors.1 The whole group, however, is intimately connected
in the general classification of vills and forms, as we shall see, the second or
agricultural type.
Auckland Group in the Halmote Rolls : — Ricknall, Middridge, Heigh-
ington, Killerby, West Thickley, West Auckland, Redworth, Coundon,
Byers, Escomb, East Thickley, Newton Cap, Bondgate-in-Auckland.
Vills in the Boldon Book : — New Ricknall and Ricknall Alia ; Heigh-
ington and Killerby ; Middridge and Thickley ; Newton-by-Thickley (West
Thickley in Hatfield's Survey) ; Redworth and Old Thickley ; North Auck-
land, Escomb, Newton, and West Auckland ; Great Coundon, Little
Coundon, and Binchester ; Byers.
The grouping of these vills in Boldon Book comes out very clearly. The
Ricknalls have a common demesne, but they stand in the Survey between
Carlton and Darlington. Heighington and Killerby have the demesne, or at
least the hall, in common. Middridge and Thickley have a common demesne
and common pasture. Old Thickley, we are expressly told, was made of the
land of Redworth. Then North and West Auckland, Newton, and Escomb,
form a sub-division known as Aucklandshire, the terms of their tenure are
alike, and they have certain obligations in common. The Coundons and
Binchester are also connected, the first two by a common demesne, and the
last, although separated in the Survey, by ploughing services at Coundon.
Byers appears in Boldon Book as an assart held by a free tenant in connexion
with the vill of Hunwick. Bondgate-in-Auckland, like the settlement of
the same name in Darlington, is later than Boldon Book.8 All these vills,
except Redworth, the Ricknalls, and the Coundons, conform to the Boldon
type.
Sadberge Group in the Halmote Rolls : — Sadberge and Newbiggin.
Sadberge was not acquired by the Bishop until after the composition of
Boldon Book, and it does not therefore appear in that record. Bishop Pudsey
purchased it from Richard I., who had held it as a manor with a wapentake
appurtenant.* Its manorial organization was therefore complete when it
came under the Bishop's control.
Wolsingham Group in the Halmote Rolls : — Stanhope, Lynesack,
Bishopley, Bedburn, Witton, Hamsterley, Wolsingham.
Vills in the Boldon Book : — Wolsingham and Rogerley ; Broadwood ;
Stanhope.
The case here is curious, for all but two of the vills composing the
manor have come into being since the composition of Boldon Book. A little
attention to the type of the chief vills gives the explanation. Wolsingham
and Stanhope are the typical forest vills, and the manor no doubt grew and
increased as more and more forest land was taken under cultivation. In 1 183
these vills contained an unusually large number of tenants, who, if they were
1 HatfieLTi Stirr. (Surtees Soc.), 7, 9.
1 Canon Green well conjectures that the name ' which is not uncommon in some of oar older towns, it
derived from the bond-tenants living in that street.' Hatfitlft Sure. (Surtees Soc.), 277.
* 'Mancrium nostrum de Sadberge cum wapentagio ad idem mancrium pertinente,' Cart. Ric. I. in
Serif Kret Trti. (Surtees Soc.), App. No. xl. Cf. Coldingham, cap. ix. in ibid. p. 14, and App. No*, xli. xlii.
267
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
not actually free, still formed no part of the villein community, and paid rent
instead of rendering services. Under these circumstances, with an abundance
of waste land and a population more readily mobilised than the ordinary
villein class, the rapid growth of new vills, which naturally retained a
connexion with the parent settlement, is readily accounted for.
Lanchester Group in the Halmote Rolls : — Benfieldside, Billingside,
Butsfield, Satley, Broomshields, Kyo, Pontop, Broom-with-Flass, Roughside,
Rowley, Lanchester.
Vills in Boldon Book : — Lanchester.
Lanchester, like Wolsingham and Stanhope, was a forest vill, and the
same opportunity for growth would exist here as there. These new places
are duly recorded in Hatfield's Survey.
Bedlington Group in Halmote Rolls : — Bedlington, East Sleckburn, West
Sleckburn, Cambois.
Vills in the Boldon Book : — Bedlington, West Sleckburn, Netherton,
Choppington, Cambois, East Sleckburn.
The region known as Bedlingtonshire is locally situated within the
county of Northumberland. It came to the see, like Sadberge, en bloc and
by purchase, and seems as early as 901 to have had a certain organization.1
From all this we shall be safe to conclude that from a pretty early time
the bishop's vills had for administrative and possibly judicial purposes been
arranged in groups which a later age had no difficulty in recognizing as
manors. What went on within these groups or how far they entered into the
public law relations of the bishopric are questions which it is easier to put
than to answer. The difficulty is that we are dealing with a single great
estate, the lord of which is also ' in loco regis ' in the county in which it lies.
It is hard to be sure, then, whether in any doubtful case the bishop is
exercising lordship or sovereignty, and one is fain to exclaim with the per-
plexed thirteenth-century reporter whom this double status confounded,
' Quo teneam vultus mutantem Protea nodo.' * Unhappily we cannot tell
how the bishop dealt with other people's manors, whether when a tax was
raised it was levied on the manors or on the vills composing them, or in
what relation the manorial courts stood to the palatine judiciary. General
taxation in the bishopric was irregular, extraordinary, and probably of late
introduction,3 and the late and meagre judicial records which we command
afford no illustration of the second point. The earliest sheriffs account is of
the fourteenth century, and, as we have seen, the Halmote Rolls do not begin
until the same period. All we can say then is that for financial purposes
the bishop dealt with his own estates on the basis of vills, not of manors.
The inference therefore remains that manorial organization existed solely for
purposes of local administration, whether agricultural or judicial. In these
circumstances it may be assumed to have come into existence as early or as
late as the like organization of the rest of the kingdom. The name, of
1 Emit etiam idem cpiscopus (sc. Cuthardus) de pecunia sancti Cuthberti villam quae vocatur Bedlingtun
cum suis appendiciis, Nedertun, Grubba, Twisle, Cebbingtun, Sliceburne, Commer (Symeon of Durham (Rolls Ser.),
i. 208). On the identification of these names see the same work in Mr. Hodgson Hinde's ed. of Symeon (Surteej
Soc.), 1868, p. 147.
8 Rot. Cur. Reg. 7-8 Joh. No. 36, m. 13-, printed in Albrev. Plot. (Rec. Com.), 94, and in full in
Lapsley, Co. Pal. of Dur. 313-31 4. The quotation b of course from Horace.
* Lapsley, op. tit., 116-120, 271-275.
268
BOLDON BOOK
course, will not be earlier than the Norman Conquest, but the organization
of a great estate with a court for its tenants will long precede that event, and
whatever immediate effect William I.'s financial and administrative measures
had upon the English manor must have been lacking in Durham, where that
institution followed a free development.
We may now return to our task of drawing from the evidence of Boldon
Book some coherent account of the social and economic life of the bishopric
at the close of the twelfth century, and for this purpose we shall pass in review
first the various classes of the rural population and then the land on which
and by which they lived. The fulcrum of the mediaeval rural economy was
the villein community, those who tilled the soil in common for their own
benefit and for that of the lord to whom the land belonged. Whatever other
elements might compose the village population — and they were many and
various — the villeins with their land remained the core and centre of the
community, constituting what German scholars have happily called the 'engere
Gutsverband.' A free tenant might hold the demesne at farm from the lord,
but it was the villeins who worked the land. On the other hand, the village
would contain a cloud of minor tenants, farmers, cottars, bordars, crofters, and
perhaps a few bondmen, but the open fields, in which these men had little or
no portion, were worked by the villeins, who were obliged to make over a
share of the produce to the lord.
The system upon which the bishop's land was held and worked was
essentially the same as that obtaining throughout the greater part of England
at this time, and known to modern writers as the open-field system.1 In
return for the use of the land the villeins owed their lords certain renders in
money and kind and certain days of labour on his demesne, together with
other services generally specified. The amount and nature of these renders
and services, however, were conditioned by the environment of the community,
and seem at the first glance to have differed from vill to vill. An attentive
reading of Boldon Book, however, makes it clear that in respect to the nature
and rate of their obligations the Durham vills may be arranged in a few
definite classes, and by following this order we shall best illustrate the question
in hand. First, there are four definite types, namely, pastoral, agricultural,
and forest vills, and the nascent boroughs. Beside these there is a fifth class
in regard to which Boldon Book gives us less information, recording the profit
or value of the vill only, without enumerating its services and renders.
Sometimes we are told that the vill is held by a tenant of the bishop, or
again the tenant is not named and there is merely a note that such a vill
renders so and so much, or finally a vill is described as owing so much
military service, generally expressed as the fractional part of a knight's fee.
Thus we have three subdivisions of the fifth class.
Boldon is typical of what, for reasons which will presently appear, we
have called the pastoral vill. The community here consists of twenty-two
1 Durham was a county of open fields and nucleated villages. An acquaintance with the open-field
lystem of agriculture may be assumed in view of the abundant literature of the subject which has appeared in
English in the course of the past thirty yean. See particularly E. Nasse, The Agricultural Community of the
Middle Ages, trans. H. Ouvry, 2 ed. 1871; F. Secbohm, The English Village Community, 4 ed. 1890;
C. M. Andrews, The Old English Manor, 1892 ; W. Cunningham, English Industry and Commerce, vol. i. (4 ed.
1905) ; W. J. Ashley, Economic Hiitory, vol. i. J ed. 1894 ; Maitland, Domtsdaj Bk. and BtyonJ, 1897 ; c£
A. Mcitzen, Siedelung und Agrarvieien, ii. 97-140.
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
villeins (villein households or holdings would more nearly represent the
actual state of things) holding thirty acres1 of land apiece. Every villein
owed certain regular and certain special services. Three days a week
throughout the year he must work for his lord, but exceptions were made
for Easter and Whitsun weeks and the twelve days between Christmas and
Epiphany. Then, in the autumn, when the lord's mowing was to be done,
the villein and his whole household, except the housewife, must do four days
of special work, also he must reap three rods of the oat-field and plough and
harrow the stubble, but at this time the burden of week-work was removed.
Then there were certain obligations incumbent upon the whole community
of the villeins. Every village plough must work and harrow (the plough-
team is what is meant, the instrument made little difference) two acres of
the demesne, but while this labour was proceeding week-work was again
suspended and the men received a dole of food. Every pair of villeins was
required to construct a booth for the annual fair held on St. Cuthbert's days
in March and September. The whole villein community might be required
to construct every year, if need were, a house forty feet long by fifteen wide, but
then they would be excused from ' averpenny,' a money payment in commu-
tation for carrying service otherwise required of them. Turning from services
to renders we find that every villein owed 2s. 6d. for scot and \6d. for aver-
penny, and rendered as well half a chalder of oats and five cartloads of wood
for fuel and two hens and ten eggs. Finally the whole vill rendered ijs,
cornage and one milch-cow, and this is the distinctive mark of the pastoral
vill, for cornage, as it will shortly be contended, is characteristic of a com-
munity which is, or at least which has been, primarily pastoral. This class
includes forty-five vills distributed throughout the four wards into which the
bishopric is divided.3
We have called the second type of vills agricultural rather because it
wants the distinguishing pastoral mark of cornage than because it is more
exclusively agricultural than the first class. Darlington is the representative
of this type. The villeins there hold forty-eight bovates, but their number
is not recorded ; it would either be forty-eight or twenty-four, more probably
the latter, as the virgate of two bovates was the normal peasant-holding.
Their services are not arranged as at Boldon, under week-work and boon-
work. The community as a whole has the duty of mowing the Bishop's
meadow and making and carting his hay, and also they must enclose
his yard (curia) and copse. They render the customary services at the
mills, and three times a year they must cart wine, salt, and herrings. Then
_
1 This must be the sense of the words, ' ii bovatas terra de xxx acris,' although of course they could bear
another meaning. Mr. Seebohm, Village Community, 68-69, reac^s tne passage so, and we know of course that
the virgate of thirty acres was the normal peasant-holding. Cf. VinogradofF, Villainage in England, 238 ff.
* I. — Chester Ward. Boldon, Newton, Cleadon, Whitburn, Whickham, Crawcrook, Great Usworth.
II. — Easington Ward. Wearmouth, Tunstall, Ryhope, Burdon, Easington, Thorpe, Shotton, North
Sherburn, Shadforth, Cassop, Herrington, Hutton, Sheraton.
III. — Stockton Ward. Sedgefield, Middleham, Cornford, Norton, Stockton, Hertburn, Preston, Butter-
wick.
IV. — Darlington Ward. Heighington, Killerby, Middridge, Thickley, North Auckland, Escomb,
Newton, West Auckland, BrafFerton, Binchester.
V. — Bedlingtonshire. Bedlington, West Sleckburn, Netherton, Choppington, Cambois, East Sleckburn.
The vills of Bedlingtonshire seem to have compounded for many or most of the Boldon ser-
vices. North and West Auckland with Newton and Escomb had certain forest obligations which
placed them half way between the Boldon and Stanhope types.
270
BOLDON BOOK
one load of wood had to be carted for every bovate, and when the bishop
travelled an indefinite amount of carnage service might be required of the
villeins. There was no render in kind, but every bovate had to pay 5*. All
of the vills of this type are situated in the Darlington ward.1
The distinctive mark of the third class is service in the forest or in
connexion with the bishop's great autumn * battue ' known as the * magna
caza.' Stanhope, the typical forest vill, contained twenty villeins holding a
bovate apiece and paying every man zs. on his land. They were responsible
for the usual agricultural services and for carriage as well, but part of the
latter duty consisted in conveying game to Durham and Auckland. Then
at the time of the ' magna caza ' the whole villein community was required
to build and furnish the bishop's temporary lodgings, consisting of a kitchen,
a larder, and a kennel. The villeins of the neighbouring Aucklandshire
completed the encampment by supplying a hall sixty feet by sixteen, a
chapel forty feet by fifteen, a buttery, store-room, chamber, and privy ; and
by enclosing the whole temporary settlement with a hedge or fence. These
Stanhope tenants, moreover, were obliged to find whatever litter might be
required and to fetch the bishop's supplies from Wolsingham. Tenants of
other forest vills furnished ropes and dogs for the ' battue.' Services of this
sort, as well as the keep (and we may suppose the training) of dogs and
horses, and the care of the deer in their breeding season, were not confined to
the villeins, but were required, as we shall presently see, of the tenants in
drengage as well.1
The boroughs of the bishopric will receive the separate treatment which
they demand in another part of this chapter. They are introduced here,
however, on account of their agricultural aspect, which was still prominent,
one might well say predominant. It is mainly as agricultural communities
that they figure in Boldon Book. Most of them, indeed, were of Bishop
Pudsey's creation, and, with the exception of Durham, may be regarded as
very rudimentary municipalities.
Over against the four well-defined types which we have been examining
stand the vills of which we know no more than their value, their services and
renders having been for one reason or another left unrecorded. These, again,
may be arranged in three subdivisions, although if the details were known
any one of the vills so grouped might conform to one of our first three
general types. The fourth type is excluded, for the erection of a vill into a
borough would not be passed over in silence. In the first place, there are
thirty-seven vills held of the bishop by tenants whose names are recorded in
Boldon Book. Six of these are held, feudally, either by knight-service or in
alms.8 Sixteen more are held by a service which, as will presently be argued,
is a form of drengage.* The tenants of the remaining fifteen hold either by
some form of fee-farm, consisting of a money rent, or else by the bishop's
1 Darlington, Blackwell, Cockerton, Great Haughton, Whcssoe.
* The list of the forest vills follows. It It to be noted that the cornage-paying vills of Aucklandshire are
included as having forest-services. They form part, therefore, of two classes : —
I. — Darfington ffard. Stanhope, North Auckland, West Auckland, Escomb, Newton.
II. — Clutter Ward. Lanchester, Iveston, Marley, Britlcy, Tribley, Holmcside.
* Pcncher, Edderacrcs, Trimdon, Muggleswick, Reyermore, Farnacres.
* Plawsworth, Little Usworth, Washington, Little Burdon, Twizell, Heworth, Ozenhall, Thickley
(Newton), Lutrington, Hcnknoll, Cornsay, Hedley, Edmondbyers, Hunstanworth, Hcrrington, Sheraton.
271
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
favour, and upon sufferance.1 Three of these vills are noted in Hatfield's
Survey as paying cornage, and might therefore have been assimilated to our
first class.8
In the second place, Boldon Book enumerates fourteen vills which render
a money payment only.8 Since there is no mention either of a tenant or of
the services and obligations of the villeins, three possible explanations are
open to us. We may believe that the vill was in the hands of an unnamed
tenant who would be holding by fee-farm, or that it was being farmed for a
term of years either by an individual or by the villata, or body of villeins. I
am inclined to think that the first is the true explanation, partly because
either of the other arrangements would lack the relative permanence of fee-
farm, and partly because they occur and are specifically described in other
parts of Boldon Book. But the capriciousness of records of this kind in such
matters makes it almost impossible to argue from their silence, or to ascribe
much self-consistency to them, and it will be safer therefore to regard these
vills simply as held in some sort of farm.
Finally, there are five vills which, although no tenant is named, are
recorded as rendering the fractional part of the service of a knight's fee.4 Here
we must suppose either that there was an unnamed tenant or that the vill was
in the bishop's hand ready to be granted out in return for the specified ser-
vices, which would then be in reality a valuation.
It is clear, then, that in essentials the villein community did the same
manorial work in all parts of the bishop's estate, although the adjustment
and some of the incidents of their renders and services differed with their
environment. The most difficult and perhaps the most important of all of
these incidents, the exact nature of which now demands our attention, is the
render known as cornage.
In the medieval records, whether national or local, that relate to the
four northern counties of England, the term cornage' occurs with some
frequency from the twelfth to the fourteenth centuries. The question of the
origin and nature of the institution to which this term applied has been
discussed with various degrees of learning and acumen since the time of
Littleton, without, unhappily, producing any explanation that has passed
unquestioned. The truth is that the documents at our disposal appear to
contradict one another, to lack self-consistency. The term cornage would
seem to describe now one thing, now another, according to the date of the
document or the region from which it emanates, and yet there is evidence
of an original and underlying unity which cannot be disregarded.
Here we must restrict ourselves to the discussion of the Durham evidence,
although we may presently indicate some ways in which the general antinomy
1 Newton-by-Durham, Pelaw, Picktre, Newton-by-Boldon, Hardwick, Grindon, Ketton, Hunwick,
Frosterley, Consett, Heley, Migley, Langley, Smallees, Stella.
2 Whitwell, Herrington, Sheraton.
8 Chester, School Aycliffe, Old Thickley, Harperley, Medomsley, Edmondsley, Crook, Pokerley, Newsham,
Barford, Hulam, Cornhill, Newbiggin, Upsedington (Ladykirk).
Ulkill's Biddick, Tillraouth, Heton, Twysell, Duddoe.
6 Other terms were also employed : — ' geldum ' or 'cornagium animalium' in thePife-RoUo/j l Hen. I. (Rec.
Com., 1833); 'gablum animalium 'in a chart. otHen.l.,4bbrev.PIac. (Rec. Com., 181 l),66b,67a ; 'noutegeld'
in Pipe-Roll for the Cos. ofCumb., Westmorland, and Dur., during the Reigns of Hen. II. , Ric. I., and John (Soc.
of Ant. of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 1847); ' hornegelde,' Bracion't Note Bk. (1887), No. 1,270; cf. V.C.H.
Cumb. i. 314-315.
272
BOLDON BOOK
might be reconciled.1 The earliest texts come from the reign of Henry I.
They consist of a charter of Bishop Ranulf Flambard,* restoring to the prior
and convent certain lands of which he had deprived them, and the king's
confirmation of that charter. The bishop conveys, inter alia, 'Burtun cum
solitis consuetudinibus ' ; the King is more explicit: 'cornagium de Bortona
quod Unspac tenet, scilicet, de unoquoque animali ad.' 8 Here, then, is a point
of departure ; cornage was a payment made by a vill — not by the lord of the
vill — on beasts at the rate of twopence per head. The natural inference
that in this case at least the payment was made for the right to pasture cattle
would be confirmed by the fact that in 1296 the * communitas ' of Burton
was permitting the tenant of every bovate in the vill to turn out two beasts
on the pasture.* After the death of Flambard, in 1128, the see was vacant
for five years, and its revenues therefore figure in the national accounts. In
the Pipe Roll of 31 Henry I., accordingly, we may read in the account of
Geoffrey Escolland, who was keeper of the temporalities sede vacanfe, ' de
cornagio animalium episcopatus, iio/. $s. 5^.' 6
It must not be supposed, however, that all the bishop's vills paid him
for the pasture of their cattle and that cornage was therefore a universal
institution and a source of considerable revenue. This may be shown from
testimony of Boldon Book. It will be remembered that the Boldon entry,
after enumerating the rents and services of the villeins, adds, ' Tota villa reddit
ijs. de cornagio et i. vaccam de metride.' The bishop's unfree tenants at
Boldon, that is, are making a payment for what we have inferred to be the
right to pasture cattle, and, further, are making it partly in money and partly
in kind, by the render of a milch cow. The villeins of many other of the
bishop's manors were also paying cornage. It should be noted, moreover,
that with a few exceptions, which will be dealt with presently, this obligation
rested on the unfree only. In Boldon, in 1183, there is no doubt that
cornage is merely an incident of unfree tenure, a seignorial due, and, if
compared with others, not a very important one.*
Now this due, and here is a point of importance, was not incumbent on
all the manors of the bishopric. Boldon Book deals with, roughly, about
141 vills ; of these, thirty are noted as rendering cornage and a milch cow,
and form, therefore, as we have already seen, a distinct type or class. Nine
more may be added because, although they pay no cornage, they render
either the milch cow or ' castleman ' (an incident distinct from cornage, but
!For a more general discussion of the subject than can be undertaken here, see Littleton, Tenures, §156,
with Coke's comment ; Neto Natura Brevium, 8vo, London, 1652, p. 200 ; Hutchinson, Hiit.of Dur., i. 147,
lii. 1 13-1 14 ; Surtees, ibid. i. 252, iii. 152 ; Hodgson, Hist. ofNorthumb., i. pt. i. pp. 258-263 ; Greenwell,
in Boldon Bk. (Surtees Soc.), gloss, s. v. 'cornage,' and HatfieliTs Surv., p. 278 ; Secbohm, Engl. Village Community,
68-72 ; Crump, in Palgrave, Diet, of Political Economy, i. 426-427 ; Maitland, in Engl. Hist. Rev., v. 627, ft,
and Domesday Bk. and Beyond, 147 ; Vinogradoff, Villainage In England, 295 ; Hall, in Red Bk. of the Exch.,
ii. pref. ccxxxvi.-ccl. ; Round, Commune of London, 278-288; Wilson, in V.C.H. Cumb., i. 295-335;
Lapsley, in Amer. Hist. Rev., ix. 670-695.
* Flambard became Bishop of Durham in 1099 ; he was deprived in noo, restored in 1107, and died
in 1128 ; W. Stubbs, Reg. Sac. Angl. (2nd ed. Oxf., 1897), 41 ; Le Neve, Fasti Eccl. Angl., ed. by T. D.
Hardy (Oxf., 1854), iii. 282-283 ; J- H. Ramsay, Foundations of Engl. (Lond., 1898), ii. 256.
1 Both charters are printed in Feodarium, 145 note ; cf. ibid. 149 note.
*Dur. Halmote R. (Surtees Soc.), 12.
1 Pipe Roll 31 Hen. I. (Rec. Com. 1833). A translation of the part of the record referring to Durham
may be read in Canon Greenwcll's edition of Boldon Bk. (Surtees Soc.), App. pp. i-iii.
•The bishop took from Boldon 55*. scot and 28/. 6d. averpenny, as against iji. cornage plus 6s., the
regular tariff of composition for the milch cow.
i 273 35
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
characteristic of the type), or, as in the case of Norton, are relieved from
cornage ' pro defectu pasture.' Further, fourteen vills, having compounded
for all or nearly all their service for a money payment, might be regarded as
doubtful. Still, as one of these is noted in Boldon Book itself as paying a
composition for cornage, and two others in Bishop Hatfield's Survey, a four-
teenth-century record similar to Boldon Book, it may be inferred that the rest
are of another class. Finally, thirty-nine vills in Boldon Book are held of
the bishop in chief, and here the services are not enumerated ; but on turning
to Hatfield's Survey we find that only three of them are paying a cornage
composition. This rough calculation shows that of the 141 vills enume-
rated in Boldon Book only forty-five, or less than one-third, are of the
cornage type.
At the close of the twelfth century, then, cornage in Durham was an
incident of unfree tenure in certain specially situated vills. It was being paid
partly in kind and partly in a money payment specifically described as the
composition for the render of a cow (vacca de metride), indicating that the
institution was already ancient and had been made the subject of at least a
partial composition.1 From the nature of the evidence connecting cornage
at every turn with cattle and pasture we are led to the inference that it was
a payment made for the agistment of cattle, and from the survival of the
render of a milch cow that it had originally consisted of an annual render of
cattle, perhaps a proportion of the increase of the herd.
On the other hand, Littleton says, * It is said that in the marches of
Scotland some hold of the king by cornage, that is to say to wind a horn to
give men of the country warning when they hear that the Scots or other
enemies are come or will enter England.' * It has been the fashion to deride
this as fantastic, as indeed it is, but there is no question that cornage is
described as a tenure in documents relating to all the northern counties
except Durham ; and some form of serjeanty, probably connected with forest
service, the note of which, so to say, was horn-blowing, occurs in various
parts of England throughout the Middle Ages.8 An Oxfordshire manor was
held by the service of blowing a horn to keep a certain forest, and a similar
tenure which Camden noted at Bradford, in Yorkshire, was still in existence
when Gough was editing the Britannia at the end of the eighteenth-century.4
The difficulty is serious, and one is quite prepared to admit that those
who contend that cornage in England was a seignorial due and was never
anything else ought to show some way of accounting for the perplexing
talk about cornage tenants in the other northern counties. It is impossible,
1 The word 'gild,' used in connexion with cornage in the forms 'geldum animalium,' 'noutegeld,' and
horngeld, is in itself an indication that a composition had occurred ; in this sense it is used interchangeably
with ' mal,' as in ' malmannus.' See Vinogradoff, op. fit. 293. An illustration of this may be seen in a kind
of glossary of hard or barbarous words occurring in legal documents which seem to have been current in
mediasval England. It was subjoined to the custumary of the soke of Rothley in Lincolnshire (1312), and
at Durham it was written into the ' Registrum Primum' of the Dean and Chapter, under the rubric,
' Exphcatio vocum veterum.' The passage is as follows, ' Gildi hoc est quietum de consuetudinibus servilibus
qua: quondam dare consueverint sicuti HorncbilJ. . . . Hernchild [hornbiel, and hornegeld in the Durham copy],
hoc est quietum de consuetudine exacta per talliam per totam Angliam terram scilicet de quacunque cornuta
bestia [de omni bestia cornuta, in the Durham copy].' See Vinogradoff, loc. cit. ; Arch., vol. xlvii., pt. i., QQ ff. :
Boldm Bk. (Surtees Soc.), App. p. lv.
8 Coke, Second Institute (many editions), Par. 156.
T. B. Trowsdale, in The Reliquary, xx. 157-160 (I owe this ref. to Prof. Gay, of Harvard).
These cases, the first of which is from Harl. MSS., No. 34, are cited by Mr. Trowsdale.
274
BOLDON BOOK
however, to undertake this without disregarding the limitations of the present
work, which confine one to problems arising within a single county.
We return now to our Durham evidence only to find that we may not
yet congratulate ourselves that we have reached the whole truth about cornage.
Some disconcerting texts remain to be examined. In the first place, Boldon
Book affords several instances of freemen paying cornage, a fact which appar-
ently traverses our theory that cornage was distinctively an incident of unfree
or villein-tenure. But if we suppose that, like many other such incidents,
this charge had by the twelfth century got itself fastened to the soil, and in
such a way, indeed, that every bovate in any vill was answerable for a fixed
portion of the cornage of that vill, then the difficulty disappears. If a free
tenant held several bovates in a corn age-pay ing vill he would naturally not be
grouped for the purpose of cornage with the villeins, nor, on the other hand,
would the bishop be deprived of his due by reason of his tenant's status.
Again, the same reasoning would hold in case the whole or the fraction of a
cornage-paying vill was granted to a freeman. With this hypothesis in mind,
we may examine the passages referred to. At Heighington there are sixteen
villeins, each of whom holds two bovates ; these render among other things
* %6s. de cornagio ' and one milch cow. Now follow two striking passages :
' Hugo Brunne tenet, quamdiu uxor ejus vixerit, ii. bovatas pro iis., quos
reddit ad cornagium . . . Simon hostiarius ibidem tenet terram quae fuit
Utredi, cum incrementis quas Dominus Episcopus ei fecit usque ad Ix. acras,
et reddit pro omnibus i. besancium1 ad Penthecostem.' Now the first of these
gives us the cornage rate at Heighington. It was is. on the bovate, and the
words ' reddit ad cornagium ' certainly suggest a contribution to some larger
sum. Further, the phrasing of the text suggests a beneficial rating. Simon
held as much as 60 acres, but he paid only zs. for Utred's holding and the
addition which the bishop had made. Utred no doubt made the same
render for the smaller tenement which contained, of course, less than Simon's
60 acres. Let us suppose that it contained (or was rated at) just half, that
would be 30 acres, or to put it otherwise, 2 bovates. We are somewhat
justified in this assumption because it tallies with the render of zs, which were
paid as a contribution, we can scarcely doubt, to the cornage of the vill. For
observe that at the rate of is. on the bovate the sixteen villeins would pay
only 32.*., 4_r. short of the recorded cornage of the vill. Now if you add the
4_r. from the two free tenants you have exactly the sum, 36^. A similar case
occurs as Escomb, where our formula may again be tested. There are
fourteen villeins, ' quorum unusquisque habet i. bovatam, et reddit et operatur
omnibus modis sicut villani de North Aclet.' At North Auckland each
villein rendered iqd. cornage. Now at Escomb 'Elzibrid tenet dimidiam
bovatam, et reddit . . . yd. de cornagio'; that is, at the rate of igJ. per
bovate he is one penny short. The case of Herrington is very instructive.
The entry reads as follows : ' Duae partes de Heringtona, quas Hugo de
Hermas tenet, reddit (sic) zos. de cornagio et ii. partes i. vacca? de metride,'
1 i.e. 21. See the entries under Grindon, Heighington, Stanhope, and Farnacrcs. At Stanhope the best
texts give the value of the bcsant as 4/.,t>ut this is a slip. At Farnacres we get 'besancium vel iis.' The Liber
Pit* affords a similar proof, ' Aernisius de Aluertone . . . unum bisantium ... vel ii. solidos,' p. 107, cf. 82,
83. In 1227 the dean and canons of Chichester were paying an annual due of 1 besant or zi., Cal.of Chart. R.
i. 34. I am indebted to Prof. Gross for this reference ; cf. BoIJtm Bk., App. p. liii. ; Trice Martin, Record
Interpreter, 180.
275
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
etc. Observe that it is not the tenant Hugh who is described as paying the
cornage and the proportion of the milch cow, but the two parts of the vill
which he holds. This corroborates our inference that cornage had become a
burden on realty. Sheraton, again, is a case similar to Herrington. John
holds one-half of the vill ' pro iii. marcis, et est quietus de operationibus et
servitiis,' in return for Crawcrook, which he had quit-claimed to the bishop.
' Thomas tenet aliam medietatem de Shurutona et reddit 30^. de cornagio, et
dimidiam vaccam de metride,' etc. Finally, there is a curious case at Whit-
well. 'Whitewell, quam Willelmus tenet in escambium pro terra quam
Merimius tenebat in Querindune, reddit dimidiam marcam.' Now the group
of vills known as Quarringtonshire had pasture and paid cornage, and it is
probable, therefore, that when the exchange was made this incident would be
reckoned in the composition at which William was holding the new land.
On turning to Hatfield's Survey we find this expectation confirmed. The
manor of Whitwell there figures as a member of Quarrington. The Master
of Sherburn Hospital holds the manor and the pasture and renders inter alia
2s. for cornage.1
We may conclude, then, that as early as the time of Bishop Pudsey's
survey cornage had begun to lose its original character as an incident of unfree
tenure, and to assume that of a burden on realty, so that where a freeman
received from the bishop a holding in a cornage-paying manor, or the whole
of the manor, he would be responsible to his lord for a proportion or the
whole of the cornage of the manor. Fortunately, we have a case illustrating
this change. In the middle of the twelfth century Laurence, prior of
Durham, conveyed to a certain Roger the land known as Pache, a member of
Monkton, one of the most ancient parts of the ' patrimonium S. Cuthberti.'
One of the conditions of tenure was, ' quod pro tota hac terra . . . pro
cornagio dabit 2s. in anno, scilicet, ad festum Sancti Cuthberti, et pro metreth
quantum ad eandem terram pertinet, ad festum Sancti Martini.' * This land
was returned to the convent in 1347 by a certain Walter Smyth.8 In 1373
Thomas Willi was holding of the prior in Monkton eighty acres of land
' quondam Walteri Smyth de Monkton quas solebant reddere scaccario 2s. et
pro cornagio 2od.' *
Here, then, the cornage payment has fastened to the soil, has become a
burden on the land, a part of the ' forinsecum servicium,' the obligation, that
is, which the land owed to the king (in this case to the bishop), regardless of
what other tenurial relations might have been established in connexion with
it. In that phrase lies the key to the later history of cornage in the bishopric.
The changes which occurred after the Norman Conquest acted on cornage as
on other institutions, fastening it to the soil. In such vills as remained in the
bishop's hand cornage continues to be paid by the villeins.6 In the vills that
were granted out by him it became a part of the forinsec service which his
tenants rendered him and which, no doubt, they collected for themselves from
their unfree tenants. This point also may be illustrated by texts. In 1183
the vill of Great Usworth was in the bishop's hand ; the villeins rendered
1 Hatf ells Surv. (Surtees Soc.), 150. « FetJ. 11411.
8 Ibid. The editor, Canon Greenwell, cites but does not print the charter.
4 Dur. Halmote R. (Surtees Soc.), i. 119.
6 e.g. Hatfield's Surv. (Surtees Soc.), 100, 129, 142, 183.
276
BOLDON BOOK
3OJ. c de cornagio ' and one milch cow. In 1 384 ' Willelmus de Hilton miles
tenet ii partes villas de Magna Useworth, et Alicia de Moderby terciam
partem dicta? villas per servitium forinsecum, et reddunt per annum ad iiii
terminos usuales I os. lidem Willelmus et Alicia . . . reddunt pro cornagio
dicta? villas per annum, ad festum Sancti Cuthberti in Septembri, 3OJ. lidem
reddunt pro i vacca de metrith, ad festum Sancti Martini, 6/.,' l etc. The
omitted portions contain a list of money payments for the renders and services
of the villeins as recorded in Boldon Book. Like cases will be found at
Iveston, Sheraton, and Herrington.'
Let us bring together now the results of our examination of the Durham
evidence. In the first place, whatever the origin of cornage may have been,
it was, when we meet with it in the documents of the twelfth century, an
incident of unfree tenure. Further, it was not universal in the bishopric, but
occurred only in such vills as had pasture, and here it represented at once the
villeins' recognition of their lord's proprietorship of the pasture and a payment
for the use of it by their cattle. This payment, it would seem, had originally
been made in kind out of the annual increase of the herd, but in the twelfth
century was already compounded for a money payment and the render of a
milch cow. Then we have marked in the twelfth-century documents the
tendency of this payment to fasten itself to the soil and become a burden on
the land without regard to the status of the holder. Finally, from later
documents we have been able to assert the predominance of this tendency
which caused cornage — or rather the money composition for cornage and the
milch cow together — to merge in the forinsec service of such lands as were
charged with this burden.
Certain other results, no less important because they are negative, may
also be stated as the outcome of our inquiry. We have seen no warrant for
describing cornage as a tenure such as might be co-ordinated with socage or
serjeanty or the like. It was rather one of many incidents of villein-tenure
peculiar to such vills as enjoyed certain advantages from their lord. Again,
we have met with no reason for connecting cornage with any special form of
military service incumbent on the entire bishopric. That is on the face of it
impossible, because cornage was not universal. This last objection, again,
will hold against any attempt to describe cornage as a general impost or tax.
The terms * yolwayting ' and ' michelmeth ' occur four times in Boldon
Book, always in the sense of some villein services which have been commuted
for a money payment. These obligations rested on the villeins, and on the
villeins only,8 of Heighington, Killerby, Middridge, and Thickley. It is
noticeable that these vills are all of the cornage-paying type, all situated in the
Darlington ward, and all members of the same manor, that of Auckland.*
Yolwayting had been compounded for at the rate of is. per capita, michelmeth
at 4</.6 These payments all recur in Hatfield's Survey,* and were therefore
surviving in the fourteenth century, but they are not mentioned in any other
1 Hatficlfi Surv. (Surtces Soc.;, 102
* Ibid. 119, 15*, 157. This point is very strikingly illustrated by the Northumberland texts, which are
brought together and discussed in Amer. Hiit. Rev. ix. 678-680.
* The entry in Canon Greenwell's text of Boldon Book which describe* the cottiers of Heighington as
Miociatcd with the villeins in the payment of yolwayting is an interpolation, vid. inf. App. No. ii.
* Vid. sup. pp. 267, 270. * A fraction over at Heighington and Killerby.
* HatfitLTs Surv. (Surtees Soc.), 18, 22, 24, 28.
277
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
Durham documents that I have been able to examine. Canon Greenwell
conjectured that the term 'yolwayting' should be connected with Yule and the
modern waits in the sense of watchmen, understanding the service as connected
with ' the protection of that manor-house in which the bishop happened to
be residing during the festivities of Christmas.' In support of this he cites a
notice from a fifteenth-century rental, ' de quadam placea vocata Yolwayte-
stand. ' l This is to a great extent a question for professional philologists who,
we may suspect, would find Dr. Greenwell's explanation tainted with popular
etymology. Another and equally serious objection lies in the fact that the
service of yolwayting was incident to tenure in Auckland Manor only, so
that the bishop, had he been disposed to keep his Christmas elsewhere, would
have been obliged to forego the special protection which Canon Greenwell
accords him throughout his estates. Mr. Hubert Hall, whose theory of
cornage as a mode of tenure requires an organic connexion between that
institution and castle-guard, understands yolwayting as a form of the latter
service.8 His evidence comes from Suffolk and Northumberland, and really
proves no more than that the term ' wayte ' has the sense of protection or
guard.8 He might have added the case of the manor of Narbrough ' held by
castle-guard which could be redeemed by wayt-fee.' * Without admitting
the validity of Mr. Hall's arguments in regard to cornage, the truth of the
matter under consideration may be detected in his explanation and in that of
Canon Greenwell also. The difficulty is that castle-guard appears to have
been a free-service, or rather a service incumbent upon free-men.5 If, how-
ever, we regard yolwayting as a variation of the duty of furnishing ' castlemen'
common to many of the Durham vills, and see in this again a survival of some
parts of the ancient ' trinoda necessitas,' the difficulty vanishes.8 This con-
jecture, however, is put forward with much diffidence, for it may turn out
that in removing one obstacle we have substituted another and more trouble-
some one.
With regard to ' michelmeth ' we can command even less material
than was at our disposal in dealing with ' yolwayting,' as we have only the
four occurrences of the term in Boldon Book. We fall back, therefore, provi-
sionally at least, upon Canon Greenwell's quite admissible conjecture, that the
service involved some special reaping at Michaelmas, 'beyond the weekly
works of tenants, arising from the exigencies of the reaping time.'7 It will be
remarked, however, that regular week-work formed no part of the services of
the vills which were charged with ' michelmeth,' although at Boldon, to the
general type of which they conform, the villeins owed three days' week-work
throughout the year. It may be conjectured then that ' michelmeth ' repre-
1 Boldon Bk. App. p. Ixxii ; HatfieU"s Surv. (Surtees Soc.), 285.
* Red Bk. of the Exch. (Rolls Ser.), II. ccxxxvi, ff.
3 Jocelin de Brakelonde, Cronica in Memorial} of S. Edmunds (Rolls Ser.), i. 271 ; Northumb. Assize R.
(Surtees Soc.), 325.
* R. M. Gamier, Engl. Landed Interest, i. 147, citing Blount's Jocular Tenures.
6 Mr. Round has made this subject his own. See his papers in The Commune of London, 278-288 ; The
Arch. Jour., N. S., ix. 144-159 ; The Ancestor, July, 1903.
6 Castle-guard as a free service existed in Durham as well as the villein duty of rendering castlemen. See
a charter dating from the early years of the thirteenth century by which Reginald Basset granted his house in
Durham to the monks, reserving lodging for himself and stabling for four horses, ' cum . . . contigerit me vel
heredes meos stagium facere ad custodiam castelli Dunelmensis.' Feod. 196 n
1 Boldon Book, App. p. Ixiv. ; Hatfielfs Surv. 281.
278
BOLDON BOOK
sented some special form of week-work at a fixed season to which these
villeins, for the rest relieved from that burden, were subjected.
The question of the status, the social and legal position, of the twelfth-
century villein has been examined elsewhere under circumstances which
admitted the indispensable condition of the comparative method. Here,
where we are confined to a single county and have attempted only to indicate
the special conditions attaching to villeinage in Durham, it will be enough to
refer the reader to a few general treatises.1 One point, however, ought to be
emphasized : the villeins were essentially a community whose life at every
turn was conditioned by its relation to the land, placed as it was 'in a constant
working submission to the manor, in constant co-operation with other plots
similarly arranged to help and to serve in the manor.'* Regardless of birth or
status, those who had villein land formed part — as tenants of that land — of an
intricate agricultural machinery developed under a system of natural economy
to provide the lord of the land with the labour necessary to till his demesne
and with a fair return as well upon the land in service. It is to this whole
complex that the convenient German phrase already quoted so happily
applies — the * engere Gutsverband,' the narrow land-community.
There remain two classes of the village population consisting of persons
who like the villeins were treated as a group or community having equal
holdings and subject to uniform obligations, but who show certain interesting
points of divergence from the villeins. These are the ' firmarii ' and the
cottiers.
The term * firmarius ' was generally applied to a person who farmed the
demesne or the whole manor, rendering to the lord a stipulated amount of
agricultural produce ;8 but the practice of farming or letting a manor or vill
to the villeins themselves was not unknown.* In Boldon Book the term
' firmarius ' seems more often to embody the second than the first of these
notions. At Warden, for example, there are nine ' firmarii ' who hold
eighteen bovates, every bovate containing 13^ acres. For every bovate they
render 8</. and work twenty days in the autumn with one man, and for every
two bovates they harrow four days with one horse. Then they do four boon-
days with all their household, except the housewife, within the aforesaid
twenty days' work, and they cart corn two days and hay one day. Finally
they render one hen and five eggs for every bovate.' Morton, South
Sherburn, Carlton, and Redworth conform to this type. But it should be
noticed that what we have before us is not quite the same thing as the case of
a vill farmed to the villeins. An instance of that is recorded in Boldon Book
and may be introduced here for purposes of comparison. The villeins of
South Biddick hold their vill at farm and render 5/. and a few trifling services
in addition. Now at Wardon there are no villeins, the agricultural community
1 VinogradofF, Villainage in England ; Ashley, Economic Hist,, vol. i. ch. i. ; Scebohm, ViUagf Community
chs. ii. iii. ; Maitland, Dm. Bk. and Beyond, 1-172 ; Hist, oj Engl. Law, i. bk. ii. ch. ii. par. 3 ; Gamier,
Landed Interest, \. chs. x.— xv.
1 VinogradofF, op. cit. 171.
* Vinogradoff, of. cit. 301-305 ; Maitland, Dm. Bk. and Beyond, 62, 146-147 ; Ashley, Economic Hist.,
i. 44-45.
4 Dom. Bk. i. i*7b, cited by Maitland, op. cit.
1 Thii and similar cases in Boldon Book cast doubt on Professor VinogradofPs dictum, 'Chickens . . .
were given as an acknowledgment of bondage, eggs represented the number of acres a tenant held in the fields,'
The Growth of the Manor, p. 329.
279
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
consists of ' firmarii ' only. Their duties are less onerous than those of the
typical villeins on the bishop's estate, as may easily be seen by comparing the
Wardon entry with that, for example, of Boldon. Again, among the 'firmarii'
there seems to be no co-operative work. The services and the renders are
reckoned on the individual tenement, a pair of bovates, and even the plough-
ing is determined in the same way. Note also that this work is done by
a pair of horses, not by the usual team of oxen. There would be no question
then of the heavy village plough drawn by the full team of eight oxen — in
short, no co-aration.
Vills of this sort, moreover, seem to escape certain communal obligations.
Thus the bishop's manor of Houghton was composed, with two exceptions,
of vills rendering cornage and a milch cow. These exceptions were Wardon
and Morton, where there were no villeins, but only ' firmarii,' and this will be
found true of the other vills of this type described in Boldon Book.
Thus far we have been dealing with the case of a vill composed
of ' firmarii ' only, but these tenants occur also in connexion with the
regular community of villeins. Sedgefield, for example, is a vill of the Boldon
type containing twenty villeins who hold two bovates apiece and work and
render as they of Boldon : ' moreover there are in the same vill twenty
" firmarii," every one of whom holds three bovates and renders 5*.' Then
follows a list of their services, which do not differ essentially from those of the
Wardon * firmarii.' This case recurs at Norton, Stockton, Darlington, Black-
well and Cockerton.
The status of the * firmarii ' may also be illustrated from Boldon Book.
The Carlton entry is instructive on the point. There are twenty-three
' firmarii ' whose tenements, renders, and services are enumerated, but one of
these, Gerobod, is singled out by name as being in the bishop's employ. He
holds four bovates and renders 2os. and is relieved from works as long as he
is in the bishop's service, but when he leaves that service ' operabitur sicut
praedicti firmarii in misericordia Domini Episcopi.' Nothing is said in the
Carlton or other entries in regard to the * firmarii ' about their status, and
this would appear to be a bit of gratuitous information recording something
that was or should have been a matter of common knowledge. The ' firmarii,'
then, were ' in the bishop's mercy,' they were unfree, and this conclusion is
confirmed by comparing the testimony of Boldon Book with that of Hatfield's
Survey. Four of the five vills which the earlier survey describes as held by
* firmarii ' reappear in the later document,1 which, in describing three * of
these four, uses instead of the term ' firmarii ' the phrase ' terra? bondorum.'
But a comparison of the holdings and services in question shows that the two
terms are intended to be equated. If we turn, however, to those vills where
Boldon Book shows us a villein community beside or above the 'firmarii,'
we shall find that Hatfield's Survey equates ' firmarius ' not with ' bondus,'
but with ' malmannus.' Then at Sedgefield we have ' malmen,' at Norton
' malmanni sive firmarii,' and at Stockton simply ' firmarii,' and all of these
represent the ' firmarii ' of Boldon Book. Now the malmen (molmen) of the
English records have been made the subject of a good deal of special study
and some controversy. We learn that the term was * commonly used in the
feudal period for villeins who had been released from most of their services
1 South Sherburn is omitted from Hatfield's Survey. * Wardon, Morton, and Carlton.
280
BOLDON BOOK
by the lord on condition of paying certain rents.'1 It has even been suggested
that the malmen should be assimilated to the class of humbler free-holders
competent to act as doomsmen in the county court.' The term occurs in the
bishopric as early as 1130, when the malmen are grouped for purposes of
taxation with the thegns and drengs,8 an association which would raise a
presumption of their personal freedom, particularly as we find that in 1 197,
when the king tallaged the manors of the bishopric, the share paid by the
drengs and * firmarii ' is entered separately.* Malmen appear once in the
Boldon Book, at Newton by Boldon, where they are the sole tenants of the vill
on terms that scarcely differ from those obtaining at Warden, a vill where
there were only ' firmarii.' And yet these men worked c in misericordia
Episcopi ' and could be described as bondmen : how are we to reconcile the
contradiction ? Two passages in Hatfield's Survey offer us a possible way out
of the difficulty. At Norton, under the rubric ' Tenentes vocati Malmen
sive Firmarii,' it is recorded that the tenants, who are rendering unmistakably
the same rents and services as the Boldon Book ' firmarii,' hold one messuage
and four bovates of land, * quondam terras dominicae.' Then, * de viii. bov.
terrae de eadem tenura, ut patet in libro de Boldon, qui ostendit quod
quondam fuerunt xx. firmarii qui tenuerunt inter se xl. bov. terrae, sunt in
manu liberorum tenentium pred., videlicet,' * etc. Again, at Darlington the
' firmarii ' of Boldon Book have disappeared, but under the rubric * Terrae
Dominicae,' we have a list of rent-paying tenants,6 of one of whom it is said
that he holds his land * sine operibus,' and it will be remembered that the
Darlington * firmarii ' of Boldon Book held their land free of services, and we
may regard them as represented, then, by these rent-paying tenants on the
demesne in the later survey. Then a further passage under the same rubric
lets us see that the demesne land held in this way could be contrasted with
the land of the free tenant, * Simon Acrys ten. i. bov. terras praeter ii. bov.
infra liberos tenentes, red. p. a. 2os.' Now, finally, it should be remarked that
in connexion with those vills where were ' firmarii ' only, Boldon Book
records no demesne.
It is clear, then, that the * firmarii,' like the villeins, were unfree, or at
least had begun by being unfree. But unlike the villeins, and by some special
arrangement, they were settled on the lord's demesne. From this fact, indeed,
and by analogy with the individual ' firmarius,' they may well have got their
name, being regarded as the demesne farmers instead of the demesne farmer.
Then the special terms, just now mentioned, consisted of pretty extensive
money compositions for villein service. Now, as we know that the twelfth
century was a period in which much new land was taken under cultivation to
meet the needs of an increasing population, we might fairly regard the
phenomenon before us as a phase or part of that general movement. Then in
the case of vills composed of farmers only we should see relatively new
communities allowed or encouraged by the bishop to grow up on his
1 VinogradofF, of. cit. 183 ff. and the literature there cited. The passage quoted in the text is on
p. 184. With regard to the continental ' malmanni,' see Waitz, Deutsche yerfajtttngsgeichichte, ed. 1874, v. *86.
Pollock and Maitland, Hut. ofEngl. Late, i. ed. i. 533.
Pipe R. 3 1 Hen. I. in Boldon Book (Surtees Soc.), App. p. ii.
Pipe R. 8 Ric. I. (Surtees Soc.) in Boldon Book, App. p. vii.
Hatfielfi Surv. (Surtees Soc.), 175, 177.
Ibid. 3, 4.
I 28l 36
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
demesne land, just as where farmers occur in connexion with villeins we
discern something that resembled rather an offshoot from an older vill than
the creation of a new one. Special facilities for the composition of services
would have been offered to promote this growth, and when this process
'of composition had begun it commonly advanced. In this way the farmers or
tenants on the demesne would have been set apart from the other tenants and
could easily come to be identified with the malmen, who, from what origin
we know not, had already made much progress toward the ultimate goal of
freedom by way of the substitution of rent for personal service. Such is the
inference suggested by our evidence, but this, it will be observed, either
leaves out of account the question of the original personal status of men
settled on the lord's demesne or else assumes implicitly that they were unfree.
It should be pointed out, therefore, that another conjecture is possible ; this
can only be mentioned in passing, since a discussion of it would lead us far
afield and bring us into a controversy for which this is scarcely a suitable
place. Briefly, then, it is possible to suppose that ' firmarii ' and malmen alike
represent earlier freemen who, by a process of personal commendation, or by
the acceptance of loans of land, had at an early period been drawn into the
complex of the great estate (Gutsverhaltniss) and fallen thereby into economic
dependence upon its lord. The similarity of their position to that of the
ordinary villein in the twelfth century would account for their being
described as unfree. On the other hand, their careful segregation from the
villeins in the documents, and their association with the drengs for purposes
of taxation would indicate some recollection of their original status. This,
then, is another and a possible way of interpreting the evidence before us. To
me, I confess, it seems also a probable one.
The case of the unfree tenants known as cottiers is simpler than that of
the ' firmarii.' The cottier formed no part of the villein community. His
holding was small and did not lie in the open-fields, or if he had a few acres
there it was by exception.1 Still, the line which divided him from the
villeins is an economic rather than a legal one.2 Cottiers occur in twenty-
seven of the bishop's vills. Generally they held a few acres besides their
tofts and crofts, but often these are not mentioned. Thus at Boldon twelve
cottiers held as many acres, and every man worked two days in the week and
rendered twelve hens and sixty eggs. But if these may be taken as marking
the normal cottier type, we find variations both above and below it. At
Houghton ' half-cottiers ' (dimidii cotmanni) occur ; at Heighington, on the
other hand, there are two cottiers holding 1 5 acres (or I bovate) apiece, and a
like case occurs at Middridge. These instances are particularly interesting,
because in the later recensions of Boldon Book these tenements are involved
in some of the villein obligations, and we may infer that in time they were
quietly absorbed into the villein community. Then at Norton and at Hert-
burn the cottiers' land lies in the open-fields. The twelve Norton cottiers
have one acre apiece beside their tofts and crofts, and the two of Hertburn
have twelve acres apiece. At both places the cottiers pay a money rent and
help in the hay-making. There is an example, too, of a vill peopled only
1 Vinogradoff, op. at. 148-149 ; cf. Seebohm, op. cit. 24, 29, 34, 69.
2 Maitland, Dora. Bk. and Beyond, 39.
aSa
BOLDON BOOK
by cottiers ; * at Little Coundon twelve cottiers hold 6 acres apiece, they
work two days a week in summer and one in winter, they do four boon-
works and render one hen and one hundred eggs. Finally, in five places
there are cottiers who neither work nor render in kind, but pay a money
rent only.9
The term ' bordarius,' which occurs frequently in Domesday Book, is of
French origin and seems to have failed to take root in England. The person
it describes does not differ from the cottier.8 In Normandy, where the term
was in current use, it seems to have been derived from the fact that the
bordar's holding was on the edge or border of the open-fields and that the
tenant represented a freedman originally settled there at the time of his
manumission.* The term occurs twice in Boldon Book, but the scribes seem
to have hesitated between 'bordarius' and 'bondarius' or 'bondus,' a clerical
uncertainty that was not confined to the bishopric, but occurs in other parts
of England.' The oldest text of the record certainly gives the form 'bondarii,'
a word which was well-established as a general appellation of the unfree by the
time of Hatfield's Survey. Still, the later reading 'bordarii' is to be preferred,
because the tenants described are certainly not bondmen in the twelfth-
century sense of that word, but rather bordars or cottiers. Thus at Sedgefield
there are five of them who hold a toft apiece and render 5-r. and do four
boon-works, and at Middleham and Cornford there are four more who hold a
toft apiece on the same terms.
It may be conjectured that if the cottiers and bordars escaped many of
the villein obligations they equally lacked some of the villein privileges,
notably in the matter of the use of commons. There is evidence that the
cottiers paid no cornage, and we have seen reason to believe that cornage was
a return made for the use of pasture. Thus the vills of Newbottle and Little
Coundon, which contained cottiers only, were not charged with cornage,
although they were members of the cornage-paying manors of Houghton and
Auckland.
Now the population of a vill included a good many persons who for various
reasons formed no organic part of the great agricultural machine of which we
have spoken. Some were higher in the social and economic scale than the
villeins, others were lower, and we may range all the way from the free
farmer of the demesne to the actual bondman without missing this common
characteristic of a greater or less degree of individualism. The villeins, the
farmers, and the cottiers existed as members of a community, as parts of a
machine, and it was their compact body, indissolubly connected with the
land they cultivated and occupied that owed such and such renders and
services. But the dreng, the rent-paying tenant, the ' hospes,' and the
freedman existed as individuals owing services and payments either personally
or by reason of their particular holdings to which these obligations were
1 This is taken as evidence that cottier-tenure was regarded as a mode of villeinage. It occurs in Dom. Bk. :
cf. Maitland, Dom. Bk. and Beyond, p. 39.
* Stockton, Lanchcster, Bedlington, East Sleckburn, Newbottle.
'Maitland, Dom. Bk. and Beyond, 36 ff. ; Vinogradoff, op. eit., 145-146; Gnxcth ef the Manor, 337-
338, 352-353-
* Kovalcvski, Die akonomische Enticickelung Eurofas, \\. pp. 401-406.
•Vinogradoff, Villainage, 145-146. The term 'bondus' as the equivalent or even lubstitute for villein
teems to have come into general use in Durham at some period between the composition of Boldon Book and
that of Hatfield'i Survey. It is very common in the later document : cf. Dur. Ace. R. (Surtee» Soc.), iii. 896.
283
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
adjusted and attached. Accordingly we pass from the villeins to consider
this penumbra of manorial population, which we shall attempt to decompose
into its elements, dealing with them in order.
Putting aside those tenants whom Boldon Book itself classifies for us,
such as the farmers, the cottiers, and the bordars, we are confronted with a
long list1 of persons whose names, holdings, and services are recorded
separately, showing that they stood outside the narrow land community,
but who seem at first to have no other characteristic in common. Still, an
attentive examination of this list will enable us to arrive at some sort of
a classification. In the first place a number of these tenants may safely be
allotted to one or other of the categories furnished us by Boldon Book itself.
Thus, when we read that at Newbottle, John, son of Henry, held one toft and
12 acres and rendered ia</., we shall not be far wrong if we describe him
as a prosperous cottier, for, as we have just seen, the usual holding of
members of this class was a toft and croft and a few acres beside. In like
manner we may dispose of the tenure of Robert Blunt at Blackwell, who
had a ( parva terra ' and rendered 6</., or of that widow at Whessoe who had
one toft and croft who rendered 6d. and did six days' week-work and four
boon days.
The remaining tenants of this sort may be arranged for purposes of
discussion in seven classes. In the first place there are the drengs. The
discussion of this subject will carry us somewhat far afield, and outside the
limits of the vill within which for the moment we have fixed our attention,
for it is more common to find a man holding a vill of the bishop in drengage
than to find one who is holding in drengage of the bishop in a vill. Still, the
second case occurs a number of times and the whole subject maybe examined
at this place.
The institution of drengage has already been the subject of pretty full
treatment at Professor Maitland's hands,3 and those who essay to follow him
will generally find that he has reaped the corners of the field and gathered
the gleanings of the harvest. Still, the matter cannot be neglected here, and
we may even hope to produce a little evidence that did not perhaps serve
Professor Maitland's purpose.8 This tenure, the peculiarity of which in the
feudal age was to show attributes at once of the knight-service, serjeanty, and
villeinage, is indeed ' older than the lawyer's classification, older than the
Norman Conquest.'4 Professor Maitland has dwelt at length on the
similarity between the riding men of Bishop Oswald of Worcester in the
tenth century, the radchenistres of Domesday Book, and the drengs of the
eleventh and twelfth centuries,6 and has brought together a good deal of
evidence illustrating the social and legal position of the post-Conquest drengs.8
Before the Conquest the term dreng seems to have been used to describe a
fighting-man, one whose business in life was warfare ; 7 but what relation it
iVid. inf. App. No. i.
iEng/. Hist. Rev., v. 625 ff. ; Hist. ofEngl. Law, i. 258, 356 note ; Dam. Bk. and Beyond, 308-309.
8 The whole subject has been treated from a point of view somewhat different from that adopted here,
in an article by the present writer in the Amer. Hilt. Rev., be. 670-695, to which the reader has already
been referred.
4 Hist. ofEngl. Law, loc. cit. * Dm. Bk. and Beyond, 304-309.
6 Engl. Hist. Rev., v. 625 ff.
7 Toller-Bosworth, Anglo-Sax. Diet., s.v. Dreng, citing ByrhtnotKs Death (A.D. 991) and Layamon's
Brut (A.D. 1200-1204).
284
BOLDON BOOK
may have borne to the more familiar term thegn does not appear. Hinde
thought that the two were the same.1 Spelman, followed by the editors of
Du Cange, suggested a Danish origin, which seems the more probable as
there is a cognate Danish word having an appropriate sense, and as the
earliest example of the use of the word in England, which the Toller-
Bosworth dictionary can cite, is as late as 991.* One phase of Anglo-Saxon
drengage must be emphasized. The dreng was by no means a base or
agricultural tenant, but rather a person of condition. This is illustrated by
a passage in Symeon of Durham's Historia Regum relating to the translation of
the body of Bishop Alchmund of Hexham, in the year 1032. The event
was naturally one of local importance, and it is to be remarked that the chief
figure in the transaction, the director as it were of the whole business, since
he was made the object of no less than two visions, is described as a certain
dreng, * quidam Dregno.' Symeon lets us see him, moreover, as a personage
in the community, l eum omnes vicini sui in magno honore habebant.' *
The drengs of Domesday Book have been sufficiently described by Professor
Maitland in the essay already cited. But the Durham records illustrate the
survival of this class in a region not included in the Great Survey. An English
charter of Bishop Ranulf Flambard (A.D. 1099—1128) is addressed to all his
thegns and drengs of Islandshire and Norhamshire.* Then there is a curious
document which, although it has reached us by devious ways and in its
present form is certainly post-Conquest, may still be cautiously admitted as
casting some light on the subject in hand. This is a memorandum that
stood at the head of a Durham gospel book that has now perished, recording
the ' consuetude et lex sancti patris Cuthberti . . . antiquitus instituta.'
Before the solemn celebration of the feast of St. Cuthbert, in September,
'omnes Barones, scilicet Teines et Dreinges, aliique probi homines, sub
Sancto prasdicto terram tenentes ' assembled at Durham to renew and con-
firm the peace of St. Cuthbert.* The point need not be further laboured ;
it is clear enough that up to and at the time of the Conquest the drengs
were persons of social consequence.
1 Hodgson, Hist, ofNorthumb., \. pt. i. 253 ff.
' Spelman, Glost. Arch., s.v. Drenches ; Du Cange, Gloss., etc, ».v. Drench.
* Symeon of Durham (Rolls Ser.), ii. 47-50. See Mr. Arnold's editorial note in which he describes the
drengs as 'a class of respectable franklins introduced into the country by the Danish conquest.' But I cannot
agree with his further statement that their service* were civil, not military : cf. Robertson, Historical Essays,
In trod. xlvi.
4 FeoJ. 98, note ; also printed in Surtees, Durham, \. App. crrv. No. I, and by F. Licbermann, in
Archiv fur dot StuJium dtr neueren Sprachen und Litteratur, Bd. cxi. hft. 3-4.
1 Hist. Dunclm. Serif t. Trei., App. cccczxx.,No.ccczzxii. The gospel book containing this entry is described as
an offering of King Athelstane to St. Cuthbert, and was certainly earlier than the Norman Conquest. A record
of its donation is preserved in the compilation called the Historia tie Sancto Cuthbertu, which dates from the
first quarter of the eleventh century (Surtees Soc.), p. 149. It passed from Durham into the Cottonian
collection and was destroyed, or nearly so, in the fire of Ashburnh.im House in 1731. See the report of the
commissioners appointed to examine the Cottonian manuscripts after the fire, in Reports from Committees of the
House of Commons (reprinted, Lond. 1803), Misc. 1715-173;, i. 471. The manuscript in question was
classed as Otho B. IX. The entry cited in the text had been copied by John Rowcll into the register of the
Dean and Chapter of Durham, and in 1715 this copy was collated with the original by Mickleton, the Durham
antiquary ; sec Canon Raine's note in Scriptorei Tret., loc. cit. This is not the place to enter into the
' Quellenkritik ' of this curious document, but it may be remarked that, whatever the date of the form (and it
is manifestly post-Conquest), the assembly described in it cannot be older than A.D. 991, the year of the
translation of the body of St. Cuthbert, the event commemorated by the September feast ; see Ac ta Sanctorum
BollanJiana, Scptcmbris Tomus Secundus, 2 ; Martii Tomus Tertius, 1 26. The existence of the special peace
or grith might safely be referred to a somewhat earlier period.
285
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
There is an odd story preserved by Spelman, which although as it stands
it can have no value as evidence, yet seems to contain the root of the matter,
the fact, namely, that the post-Conquest drengs were the descendants .of those
Englishmen who for one reason or another were not dispossessed by William,
but transmitted their lands to their sons on the terms on which they had
received them from their fathers.1 To what extent, if to any, these men
were touched by the great homage of 1085 cannot be determined.
Returning to the field of well-attested fact we find that after the Con-
quest the drengs of the bishopric were maintaining this tradition of social
consequence in spite of certain incidents of tenure which would seem to
approach them to the villein class. Our earliest pipe-roll shows that the
keepers of the temporalities accounted separately for the manorial payments
and those due from the drengs and malmen of the manors under their charge.9
Then when the bishopric was again in the king's hand in 1197 and the
keepers were rendering an account of the tallage of the manors of the bishopric,
the quota of the drengs and farmers was again entered separately.8
Boldon Book discloses the details of drengage in the second half of the
twelfth century. The incidents of the tenure at this time may be arranged
in three classes consisting respectively of personal services, money payments
and occasional obligations. Under the first of these week-work and boon-
days such as the villeins gave occur in all cases but one,4 but these are
commonly rendered by the dreng's men or his ' whole household except the
housewife.' Carting of some kind, generally of wine, was also quite usual.6
Probably the incidents most characteristic of drengage were the duty of
taking part in the bishop's hunt, the ' magna caza,' including the provision
of a horse and a dog, which had to be cared for throughout the year, and the
obligation of carrying the bishop's messages. ' Drengus pascit canem et
equum, et vadit in magna caza cum ii leporafiis et v cordis . . . et vadit in
legationibus ' 6 is a characteristic entry that frequently recurs, so frequently,
indeed, that Mr. Seebohm was led to disregard the other incidents of the
tenure.7 But, as we have seen, men who were not drengs were holding by
services in the hunt and the forest, and drengage had other attributes. This
duty of going the bishop's errands, for example, appears at once as a survival
connecting the twelfth-century drengs with the riding-men and radchenistres
of an earlier time. This connexion is strengthened when we find that in
some cases the dreng was required to render what, under the name ' utware,'
1 Spelman, Glossarium, s.v. Drenches ; Ibid. Historia Familia de Sharnbum, in Reliquiae Spelmannianae
(Lond. 1723, pp. 189-200); Du Cange, Gloss, s.v. Drench. The manuscript in question, written in a
sixteenth-century hand, seems now to be in the Ashmolean collection ; its spuriousness has long been
recognized ; see Hist. ofNorf. (10 vols., Norwich, 1781 ff.), s.v. Smithdon, ix. 80-82; Francis Blomefield,
Norfolk (u vols., Lond. 1805-1810), x. 350-353 ; David Hume, Hist. ofEngl. (ed. Oxford, 1826), note H.,
i. 425 ; Joseph Nicolson and Richard Burn, Wcstmor. and Cumb. (2 vols., Lond. 1777), i. 22. There was
much speculation in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries as to what effect the Norman Conquest might have
had upon the status of non-combatants, and a tendency may be discerned to account for tenurial peculiarities
by the survival of such persons : cf. Diahgus de Scaccano, I. x. (ed. Hughes, Crump and Johnson), p. 100,
and the learned note of the editors, pp. 194-196 ; Bracton, fol. 7, cited in Vinogradoff, op. at., 121-126.
Professor Vinogradoff argues that the privileged villeins on ancient demesnes represent a survival from Anglo-
Saxon times, a case exactly parallel to the traditions recorded in the text.
Pipe R. 3 1 Hen. I. in BolJon Book (Surtees Soc.), App. p. iii.
8 Pipe R. 8 Ric. I. in Boldon Book (Surtees Soc.), App. p. vii.
* e.g. Oxenhall, Great Haughton, Whessoe, Sheraton. The exception is Thornton, where it is expressly
stated that the men are to come out for week-work from every house ' excepta domo drengi.'
e.g. Herrington. 6 Binchester. ^ Seebohm, Village Community, 71.
286
BOLDON BOOK
seems to have been a form of military service and a survival of the ancient
obligation of the * fyrd.' l Finally, the dreng owed suit at the bishop's
court.* Under the second head, money payments, we find two varieties of
obligation, the one a fixed charge, like a ferm or rent, the purpose of which
is not specified, and the other the render of occasional 'auxilia.'8 At Whessoe
Robert Fitz-Meldred, who held a carucate as the fourth part of a drengage,
rendered IQJ. 8</. Finally, under the third head, tenure of this sort was
subject to a group of very interesting obligations. The first of these is the
familiar feudal incident of wardship, which as we know may be carried back
to the Conquest.* At West Auckland 4 bovates which Elstan the dreng had
held are in the Bishop's hands, ' donee filius Elstani sit adultus.' The Bishop
has allotted to Elstan's wife ' xii acras quietas ad pueros suos alendos.' The
rest of the land pays 131. and renders the services which used to be exacted
of Elstan.' Then, in striking contrast to the feudal incident of wardship, are
merchet, heriot, and metred or metriz, all of them characteristic attributes of
villein tenure. The nature of merchet and heriot has been much discussed,
many illusions, some of them mischievous ones, have been dispelled, and the
truth of the matter seems now pretty well established. Briefly, merchet
was a payment made to the lord for leave to marry one's daughter outside the
estate, for the lord must be reimbursed for a transaction by which he lost a
dependent tenant the possible mother of villeins. Heriot, on the other hand,
which commonly consisted of the best beast rendered to the lord by the heir
on behalf of his deceased predecessor, looks back to a time when the dependent
had received chattels or stock from his lord, and although it attached itself to
the soil is quite distinct from feudal relief.' Metred in this connexion has
reference to the 'vacca de metride,' the milch cow which the cornage-paying
vills were obliged to render to the bishop. The dreng would be required to
pay his share of the composition which was generally being substituted for
the render of the beast itself. Now these terms do not occur in connexion
with drengage in Boldon Book, but we can scarcely doubt, none the less, that
the drengs of the bishopric were subject to the obligations which they repre-
sent. Across the Tyne the drengs of Northumberland did not escape them.7
Then they occur in a Durham charter, which however lacks the name
drengage. In this prior Laurence (A.D. 1149—1154) conveyed the land of
Pache in Monkton to a certain Roger. The passage must be quoted, the
1 'Willelmus . . . ficit quartam pattern unius dringagii . . . et facit utware quando positum fucrit
in episcopatu,' Oxenhall ; cf. Feod., 12911, 132— I33nn, 14.1 ; Neteminster Chartulary (Surtees Soc.), index s. v.
Utware. Professor Maitland has discussed the term in Engl. Hist. Rev., v. 625 ff. Professor Vinogradoff,
however, takes a different view, arguing that the inland (demesne) was quit of taxation in view of certain
specifically aristocratic functions which its lord had to perform, while the outland bore the burden of taxation.
Then the king's utware would be what the king got from the inland, i.e. geld. See The Growth of the Manor,
pp. 226-7, 284.
* e.g. Great Usworth, Herrington, Butterwick, Brafferton.
1 See Prior Bertram's charters, in FeoJ., I I4n, and cf. Testa de Nevill, 752.
* Maitland, Dom. Bk. and Beyond, 310.
8 Cf. Registrant Palatinum Dunelmense (Rolls Ser.), iii. 62. In 1 302 it was provided that the bishop should
have wardship of only such tenements in drengage as are held of himself and the prior. This is peculiarly
interesting, because there is good reason to believe that in the neighbouring county of Northumberland
drengage tenure was not a cause of wardship. See Northumb. Ais'tze R. (Surtees Soc.), 223-224, 237, and
the discussion of the case in Amer. Hist. Rev. ix. 680-681.
* Pollock and Maitland, Hist, of Engl. Law, i. 293-298, 354-356 ; Vinogradoff', Villainage, 153-156;
Tear Book, 1 5 Edw. III. (Rolls Ser.), Introd. xv.-xliii.
1 Teitade Nevill, 389.
287
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
land is to be held ' per hanc convencionem scilicet quod pro tota hac terra
simul reddet i6d. ad Rogaciones et i6d. ad festum Sancti Martini et pro
cornagio dabit zs. in anno, scilicet ad festum Sancti Cuthberti, et pro metreth
quantum ad eandem terram pertinet, ad festum Sancti Martini ; quater in
anno herciabit pro pradicta terra et semel arabit pro ipsa in anno i die tantum
et ipsam quam aravit terram herciabit ; in messis tempore iiii diebus metet
cum ii hominibus singulis diebus . . . pro heriet dabit vi oras, pro
merchet vi oras et pro forisfacto vi oras in misericordia ; de utware adquietabit
ipsam terram quantum ad earn pertinet.'1 There can be no doubt that we
have to do here with a drengage tenure.
The amount of land held on these terms, the content of a normal
drengage tenement, is a perplexing point. We have seen that at Whessoe
Robert Fitz-Meldred's holding of one carucate was reckoned as the fourth
part of a drengage, and with that evidence alone one would be tempted to
say that a normal drengage ought to contain 4 carucates.8 But the mischance
of those who have attempted to specify the content of a knight's fee teaches
one caution, and on turning to another part of Boldon Book we see that Elstan
had been a full dreng at West Auckland although he held but 4 bovates. In
truth there was no normal drengage holding ; on the one hand we may read
how at Escomb Elzibrid holds one half a bovate in drengage and pays yd.
cornage, and on the other how William holds the vill of Oxenhall and does the
service of the fourth part of a drengage. Or again we have the evidence of
a later record, which shows that Robert Binchester holds Binchester and
Hunwick ' per cartam Domini Episcopi per servitium forinsecum, quondam
tenetur in dryngagio per librum de Boldon.'3 A drengage tenement then
might consist of an entire vill or of an allotment of land in a vill.
From this evidence we have been able to form a consistent notion of the
obligations and incidents of drengage tenure. From the feudal point of view
it must, indeed, have been perplexing enough, showing as it did attributes of
military, socage, and unfree tenure.4 If we step backward, however, into a
remoter age, the relation becomes natural and consistent.
As Professor Maitland has pointed out, this kind of relation existed and
was understood in the pre-Conquest period. Tidings of the same sort of
thing come to us from Frankland. In the eighth and ninth centuries free-
men were holding ' beneficia ' for which they performed not only the riding-
service which Bishop Oswald required of his Worcester tenants, but agricultural
labour as well, carting, mowing, and the like, with their men, and rendered
money payments. These holdings were, moreover, sometimes an entire vill,
sometimes an allotment of land in a vill, but in the latter case the tenant
performed his services independently of the agricultural community, not in
1 FeoJ., 114 n; cf. ibid. 27, 40, 42, 64, 66 n, 68 n, 7on. On the ora, which was a Scandinavian
reckoning, cf. Seebohm, Tribal Custom in Anglo-Saxon Lata, 234-237. For a case of heriot in 1368, see
Durham Halmoti Rolls, i. 75.
* So Robertson, Historical Essays, Introd. xlvii.
* Hatfelfi Survey (Surtees Soc.), 34 ; cf. the case of Whitworth, which Thomas de Acley was holding as
the fourth part of a knight's fee by the charter of Bp. Philip of Poitou ; the bishop had transmuted Thomas's
drengage into military service, Boldon Book (Surtees Soc.), App. No. vi.
* There is evidence that in the twelfth century land held in drengage, like that held in villeinage, was
subject to conveyance 'per baculum.' See Feod., 141-142 n. But this.it has been strongly argued, may
i in the case of villeinage be regarded as a mark rather of the antiquity than of the unfreedom of the
tenure ; Vmogradoff, of.cit. 371 ff.
288
BOLDON BOOK
co-operation with it, although his land in the open field might be intermixed
with theirs.1 I do not, of course, intend to identify pre-Conquest drengage
with the Prankish ' beneficium,' but merely to suggest that in the eighth,
ninth, and tenth centuries relations of a strikingly similar nature existed
between the owners and occupiers of land on the Continent and in England.
Now returning to Boldon Book we find that there are twelve vills held
in drengage and thirteen others containing drengs, generally only one, although
there are two at Great Haughton and eight at West Auckland.* We have
argued elsewhere in respect to cornage that that due became a real burden,
and that when a cornage-paying tenement or vill passed into the hands of
a free tenant he became at once a sort of middleman who collected and
turned over to the chief landlord the render that was always due to him, that
the mesne lord always owed him no matter into whose hands it might have
come. Keeping in mind the position of the early bishops as great immunists,
standing on the doubtful border between landlordship and sovereignty, and the
special situation of the pre-Conquest drengs, it may be possible, provisionally
at least, to extend this reasoning so as to cover all the servile incidents of
drengage tenure. Thus if a dreng received an entire vill he would become
answerable to the bishop, though scarcely in his own person, for part at least
of the services which the villeins used to render their lord. This would
constitute a restricted form of gift or loan by which the lord reserved not
only his rights of regality but part of his domanial profits as well. Then
where the grant consisted only of certain lands in a vill the same system could
still be applied, although in either case the special services and special status
of the dreng would distinguish him from a mere predial tenant as much as
the predial aspect of his tenure set him apart from the more purely military
land-borrowers or land-holders of the bishop. Something of this sort is
suggested by the texts which we have already considered. The Pache charter
shows us the prior's tenant assuming a good many agricultural duties and
agreeing to pay a money composition for others ; and yet in common reason
we must suppose a fair margin of profit for the tenant himself. Then in
Boldon Book we have the case of Sheraton. The vill is divided into two parts ;
John holds one of them for three marks ' and is quit of the works and services
which used to be performed for the half of that drengage for Crawcrook
which he quit-claimed to the bishop.' Thomas holds the other half of the
vill, and it is a fair inference that he is answerable for the other half of
the drengage. Let us see what is required of him. He renders 30-1-. cornage
and half a milch cow and half a castleman and four scot-chalders of malt,
meal, and oats respectively. Compare this with the obligations of the Boldon
villeins and it will be seen that Thomas is answering to the bishop for certain
1 See an instructive presentation of this matter in, G. Seeliger, Die tnuak unJ ptRt'ucbe Bedeutung dtr
Grundhtrrschaft im frliheren Mittelalter, 27-44. Waltz, Roth, and Brunner, in their treatment of the ' beneficium,'
do not develop the aspect of the question which it of importance for our subject, and which Professor Seeliger
has well emphasized.
* The fact that the vilh enumerated in the first list were held in drengage is a fair inference from their
services described in Boldon Book, particularly as both that record and Hatfield's Survey explicitly describe two
of them — Oxenhall and Sheraton — as held in drengage. With regard to the second list, Boldon Book is explicit in
all cases except West Auckland and Carlton, where we have to supplement its information from Hatfield's Survey.
I. Plawsworth, Little Usworth, Washington, Little Burdon,Twisell, Oxenhall, West Thickley (Nova villa,
juKa Thickley), Lutrington, Henknoll, Cornsay, Helley, Sheraton.
II. Great Haughton, Whessoc, West Auckland, Great Usworth, Herrington, Hutton, Sheraton, Butter-
wick, Brafferton, Binchester, Urpeth, Carlton, Thornton.
i 289 37
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
profits that the villeins used to render. But there is a margin of profit for
Thomas. His tenants must, we are told, perform certain specified works for
the bishop which fall far short of what he was getting at Bnldon. We must
not, of course, lay too much stress on evidence of this sort, which marks at
best a survival, but we may still find it significant in helping us to frame a
consistent notion of what this relation might have been in its prime. A little
more help may be forthcoming if we turn our eyes to the Continent again and
recall some of the attributes of an extensive class which in Germany was
embarking on a career of successful growth just as the English drengs were
declining and disappearing. The c ministeriales ' or ' Dienstmannen ' of the
German kingdom may be defined by a paradox if we call them unfree
knights. Their history begins in personal servitude and ends in assimilation
to the great order of knighthood.1 Their status on the one hand is marked
by the legal proverb ' Dienstmann ist nicht Eigen.' Yet in the time of their
development in the eleventh and twelfth centuries we find them holding
allodial land, owning serfs,8 and even exhibiting a certain feudal capacity.
Their great advantage lay in the character of the services with which they
were especially charged, suit of court, namely, and fighting. For these
purposes the German lords found that unfree persons were at once more
manageable and cheaper, and were willing therefore to grant them many
privileges. But these particular services have a distinction of their own, and
what was better, they have a public-law quality. Again, in Germany there
was no strong normalizing central government eager to stretch all existing
institutions on the Procrustean bed of its own system, and feudalism organized
itself by a more evolutionary process than was the case in England. So it
fell out that just as the Dienstmannen were securing their position by getting
their privileges written down and people were beginning to recognize a 'jus
ministeriale,' * a movement in the opposite sense was going on in England
among a similar class of persons, and the drengs disappear rapidly, partly by
absorption and partly by transmutation. The Norman Conquest, as we are
coming to recognize, blocked many lines of development, opening instead of
them other paths leading to the same end. Thus the development of drengage
was interrupted and for the more part the institution became of no consequence.
The goal was reached by another process, which resulted in serjeanty and free
socage. Drengage became a mere curious survival, kept alive partly by the
1 The older learning on this subject, including many texts, may be found in Waitz, Deutsche Verfat-
sungsgeschichte, v. pp. 289-350, 428-442 ; the newer literature and criticism is well summarized in Schroder,
Lehrbuch der Deutschen Rechtsgescfiichte, 4 ed. par. 42. A brief and useful account in French may be found in
Blondel, Frederic II., etc., 80 ff.
3 There is a case of a Northumbrian dreng in the thirteenth century having both free and bond tenants,
Northumb. Assize R. (Surtees Soc.), p. 46 ; Hist, of Northumb. (Co. Hist. Com.), i. 209-212.
8 This phrase may possibly afford us a valuable clue. If we regard the thegn as originally a domestic
soldier and the development of the class as a movement from unfreedom in the household of a lord toward
free service on land granted by that lord, then we may perhaps regard the class of drengs as having much the
same origin, although later in time, a second wave as it were. We should then regard the Norman Conquest
as having arrested the development of the drengs before they had secured themselves by a written dreng-law.
This is not pure hypothesis. Alfred described as thegns a class of men whom Bede would call now ' miles '
and now ' minister,' and the Anglo-Saxon laws from Wihtraed to Knut furnish security enough for the rights
and position of the whole class. Then the fact that drengage is found only in the northern counties goes to
support our suggestion that it was due to a recurrence of earlier conditions, for that is after all what the Danish
settlements brought about in England. This is merely thrown out as a suggestion. The post-Conquest thanes
and thane-land need careful examination. But see a stimulating and instructive passage in Guilhiermoz,
Origine de la Noblesse en frame, pp. 86-96.
290
BOLDON BOOK
obstinate conservatism of the English, but mostly by the slow and at first only
superficial feudalization of the northern counties, which, as we shall argue
hereafter, did but draw a veil between the king's eyes and the actual conditions
in this region.
We have been speaking of whole vills held in drengage of the Bishop
by great persons. Where the tenant and the tenement were smaller the
process would be somewhat different. Either there would be a deliberate
extinction of the drengage for a consideration, a transaction of which we
have a number of examples,1 or else there would be a gradual assimilation of
the dreng to the free tenants of the manor in which his land lay. The steps
of this process escape us, but the result is pretty evident to anyone who will
compare the Boldon Book with Hatfield's Survey.
Returning to the miscellaneous population of the vill, we have next to
consider a class of persons having relatively large holdings which are burdened
with no obligation except that of a money rent. At Boldon, for example,
Robert holds 36 acres reckoned as 2 bovates and renders a half-mark. At
Stockton, again, Adam son of Walter holds I carucate and i bovate and
renders i mark ; at Wolsingham, William the priest holds 40 acres and
renders I mark, and so on. These holdings we may suppose to be either very
recent grants, by which the bishop had conveyed villein land to free persons
upon special terms, or again they may be the outcome of progressive money
compositions for renders and services which had at length been completely
successful, an hypothesis which would, of course, leave open the question of
status. The first assumption receives some corroboration from the case of
Simon the doorward (hostiarius), who is recorded as holding 60 acres at
Heighington and rendering I besant. This grant was probably made at the
close of Bishop Pudsey's pontificate, but there is no reason to suppose that
similar grants might not have been made at an earlier period and duly recorded
in the first recension of Boldon Book. The indications are that this Simon
was a person of consequence and certainly of free condition * ; for he is else-
where recorded as holding by knight service.
The existence, on the other hand, of a class of persons having holdings
of the same order as those now occupying our attention, and not only paying
a money rent but rendering services as well, points to a progressive composition
for services and renders which would in the first case be complete, and in the
second either arrested or still going forward. It is possible that members of
this class represent the free tenants of the later manor. The priest men-
tioned in the Wolsingham entry we have just now quoted was of course a
freeman, but the conditions of Adam's tenure at Stockton do not differ from
those of the priest. Regardless also of the status of the tenant, the land that
paid rent but did no work was reckoned free land.5 This of course would
work both ways, but at least it leaves room, as it seems to me, for the
possibility that most of these tenants were free.
It has been said by a writer well qualified to speak on this subject, that
'in a vast majority of cases rent-paying land retains some remnants of
1 Vid. inf. pp. 311-5.
1 Vid. inf. pp. 321-5. On the office of doorward cf. Larson, The Ki*g'i Household in England befirt tht
Vtrmm Conquest, Madison, 1904, p. 1 8 1, and the literature there cited.
» Cf. Vinogradoff, n/bitiap, 167-171.
291
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
services,' l and this is the mark of our third class, which consists of those who
pay rent and render some service as well. Their position may be illustrated
by the citation of a few typical cases. At Norton, Alan of Normanton holds
i carucate. He pays IDS. rent, finds thirty-two men to work one day and
four carts for carting hay and corn respectively for one day, and his tenants, if
he have any (si homines habuerit), do four boon-works in the autumn.8 At
Burdon, Amfrid holds 2 bovates and renders a half-mark and goes on the
bishop's errands. At Stanhope, which it will be remembered was a forest
vill, somewhat the same case presents itself under rather different conditions.
The sons of Gamel of Rogerly hold 60 acres, they pay icxr. rent, find one
man for service in the forest and themselves go on the bishop's errands.
At the same place Belnuf del Peke holds 60 acres, he pays a half-mark, finds
a man for service in the forest and goes on the bishop's errands, but his heirs
when they succeed him must pay i mark, and this appreciation of rent is
provided for in several other cases. Tenures of this sort are not likely to
have been created by direct or recent grant, but look rather like an evolution
by means of composition from earlier conditions. It is conceivable that this
class too may have contributed some of the free tenants of the later manors.
A fourth class consists of the holders of ministerial tenures, who were not
villeins. The ordinary manorial practice was of course to fill the offices of
reeve, pinder, smith, and so on, with unfree tenants, who, although they
might not refuse the charge, were still furnished in return for their labours
with a small holding (generally from 6 to 1 2 acres) free of rent and service.
We shall speak of this arrangement presently, but here we have to deal with
certain exceptions to the rule, numerous enough indeed to constitute a class
by themselves. Thus at Great Haughton the son of Aldred holds 40 acres,
he renders 2s. and goes on the bishop's errands. But his chief service is the
superintendence of the works which the villeins were obliged to perform for
the bishop ; ' debet esse super precationes ' is the phrase. Now we know that
in other parts of England services of this kind were performed by free-
men,8 and we know further that Aldred's son was not a villein, but practically
of free condition, for Boldon Book explicitly states that he held his 40 acres in
exchange for other land in the same vill which his father had held in drengage,
but which he had surrendered to the bishop to receive his present holding,
' ita libere tenendis.' There are a number of instances of this sort of free
ministerial holding, and they are by no means confined to those who still
belong to or have just emerged from the class of drengs. Thus at Middridge,
Wekeman holds a half-carucate, he renders 6s., does three boon-works, goes
on the bishop's errands, does one day's ploughing and harrowing, one day's
mowing and two days' carting of hay and corn, ' et est super precationes.'
Then there is the case where the services are unspecified. At Wolsingham,
William of Guisbrough holds 30 acres for which he ought to pay IDJ., but he
is quit of this rent, ' dum est in servicio Episcopi.'
It is evident that these tenants whom we have been considering are in
respect to their social and economic, and probably to their legal status as well,
superior to the villein community. We have now to take account of another
1 VinogradofF, op. cit. 171.
8 At Preston there are three tenants holding on the same terms as Alan of Normanton.
8 Domesday of St. PauPs (Camden Soc.), 76-77 ; Rot. Hundred, ii. 764^ both cited in VinogradofF,
Villainage, 202 ; cf. ibid., 407.
BOLDON BOOK
group, which in turn will be found in these respects inferior to that
community.
In the first place there are a few persons who appear to be holding their
scraps of land on sufferance.
Thus at Stanhope three widows hold 3 tofts of the bishop's alms, and
at Lanchester the wife of Geoffrey the priest has i toft and 8 acres on the
same terms. At Stanhope again, Ralf has 12 acres at the bishop's pleasure,
for which he renders 3-f., and at Witton, Hugh holds 2 acres at the bishop's
pleasure without render.
There are certain persons again having pretty small holdings, for which,
however, they give no service, but pay rent only. This land also seems
always to be a new intake, or at least to be arable, that lies outside the open-
fields of the village. Thus at Lanchester, Orm holds an assart of 8| acres
for which he renders 2s. ; at Bedlington, Robert Hugate holds 21 acres
which were formerly waste, and renders 4o</. ; at Norham, Isaac has
I ' cultura ' l for which he pays a half-mark, and so on. These men would
appear to correspond to the ' hospites ' of the French and Norman manorial
records, colonists who have been invited or permitted to settle. They
transmit their holdings hereditarily, but are shut out from the use of the
meadows, pastures, and other commons that form part of the villein's ' Ideal-
antheil." Persons of this class were not unknown in other parts of England.
In Domesday Book they are recorded as existing on the Welsh Marches,8 and
we should naturally expect to find them in the Scottish Marches as well.
Perhaps in the present case we must regard them as something between the
duly invited ' hospes ' and the squatter whose presence is tolerated for the
sake of the new land which he brings under cultivation.
Under this second category we may also bring those persons who have a
small holding, generally less than a bovate, for which they render a little
money and a little service. At first they seem not to differ, either in respect
to the size of their holdings or the nature of their obligations, from the
normal cottier of whom we have been speaking. But the circumstance that
the tenants under consideration are entered in Boldon Book, individually, by
name, while the cottiers occur in groups with uniform holdings and duties
like the villeins, warns us that there is some distinction, and suggests at the same
time that the difference must probably be referred to the origin of the tenure.
The conjecture that they began as squatters on uncleared, or at least untilled,
land would fit the case well. At Stanhope, a forest vill, where there would
be plenty of land to take up in this way, we find a whole group of them.
Ralf holds i toft, renders fyd. and does four boon-works. Goda also has a
toft, she renders io//. and does four boon-works, and so on. At Wolsingham,
Walter Croke holds 6 acres and renders 3^. 2</., he goes on the bishop's
errands and superintends the mowing and reaping works as well. At
Escomb, Ulf Raning holds 5 acres, and renders 4J. and does 4 boon-works,
and so on.
Although Boldon Book does not record the existence of any entirely
1 It is difficult to find a good translation for this word or clear proof that it means, as I hare no doubt it
does, any arable land not included in the open-fields ; cf. Maitland, Dm. Bk. and Beyond, 380, referring to the
Ramsey Cartulary.
* Cf. M. Kovalevski, Die akonom'uche Eatteicte/ung Ettrofai, ii. 414-418.
1 Dom. Bk. (Rec. Com.), i. 259 bis, cited by Maitland, Dem. Bk. and BejonJ, 60.
293
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
unfree persons, it still affords indirect evidence that personal servitude existed in
the bishopric at this time, and continued to exist there at least as late as the
middle of the thirteenth century. From the outlying districts of Norham
and Bedlington, both locally within the county of Northumberland, we get
indications that Bishop Pudsey had been setting his bondmen free. At West
Sleckburn, in Bedlingtonshire, Turkill, who had been ' the bishop's man,'
renders 1 2 hens ' de acquietatione sua erga Episcopum,' and there are similar
cases at Netherton and Cambois. Then from the interpolations in the text of
Boldon Book we find that Bishop Walter de Kirkham (1249-1260) ' absolvit
Johannem filium Thorns de Bedlyngtona imperpetuum a servitute,' and that
in that bishop's time John son of Eustace and Alexander his brother of West
Auckland, ' qui fuerunt irretiti de servitute, quieti sunt per patriam.' Still
the silence of Boldon Book on the subject must be taken as evidence that the
absolutely unfree could neither have been very numerous nor of any great
economic importance in the second half of the twelfth century.
From the rural population, the men who occupied and cultivated the
bishop's land, we turn to study the land itself. We shall expect, and we
shall not be disappointed, to find it arranged in the familiar categories of
arable (including demesne and land in service), meadow, pasture, waste and
forest. Further, too, we shall ask about the stock and the improvements, the
mills, bakehouses, fisheries, the beasts and the instruments of tillage. All
these we shall pass in rapid review, endeavouring rather to emphasize those
points at which the Durham vills departed from the usual custom than to
give a detailed and methodical account of the whole matter. This course is
indicated partly because, as in the case of the rural population, such accounts
exist, and partly because the material yielded by Boldon Book is very often
meagre and the comparative method is in the present circumstances not
admissible.
To begin then with the arable, we find the usual distinction between
* terra dominica ' and ' terra servilis,' although these convenient terms do not
actually occur. It appears also that as was general in other parts of England1
the demesne was composed partly of separate closes and partly of intermixed
strips in the open-fields. At the recently erected borough of Gateshead the
burgesses held three parts of the arable land at a money rent ; ' the fourth part
of the arable land with the assarts which the lord bishop caused to be made
and the meadows are in the hand of the lord bishop, with the stock of two
ploughs.' An even better example comes from Lanchester, where it is noted
at the end of the entry, * moreover 5 bovates of villeinage are waste and
1 8 acres which used to be of the demesne.' Then if we turn to such an entry
as that which occurs at Houghton, ' the demesne of three ploughs and the
sheep with the pasture are in the bishop's hand,' we shall see that the demesne
consisted of something more than arable land. It included indeed pasture and
woodland, stock, and of course buildings of various sorts, but these will be
considered in another connexion.
We must notice next that in many cases the demesne was common to
two or three vills, or, to put it more logically, that two or three vills were
dependent on a single demesne. This point has already been treated in
connexion with the development of the manor, and here it need only be
1 Ashley, Econon'u Hist., i. 7 ; Vinogradoff, Growth of the Manor, 3^-313, 330-331.
294
BOLDON BOOK
recalled to the reader's memory. There were some vills on the other hand
that seem to have been dependent on no demesne at all. We have seen this
in the case of the vills containing farmers only, which we conjectured had
developed out of settlements on the bishop's demesne lands, but it is true also
of some of the vills that were farmed to the villeins, such as South Biddick.
At Ryton on the other hand it is expressly stated that the villeins farmed the
demesne as well as the vill.1
With regard to the 'terra servilis,' we have no reason to believe that the
distribution of the arable among the villeins in equal heritable holdings in the
open-fields differed in any essential from the now familiar system that obtained
throughout the greater part of England during the Middle Ages. As in other
northern documents the terms 'carucate' and 'bovate' replace the 'hide' and'
'virgate' of the southern counties, but the virgate also occurs. Boldon Book
affords only one or two direct notices of the open-fields. At Norton and Hert-
burn the cottiers hold beside their tofts and crofts certain acres 'in campis."
With regard to size, the normal villein holding was the yardland or virgate,
containing commonly 30 acres. In Boldon Book this is generally expressed
in terms of bovates or oxgangs, containing as a rule 1 5 acres each. But within
moderate limits the content of the bovate varied considerably, and the number
of acres is generally expressed in the record. Thus at Lanchester the bovate
contained 8 acres, at Morton 1 2, and at Whitworth 20, but at Boldon, where
we may look for the normal holding, every villein had 2 bovates of 15 acres
each. Pursuing our inquiry further, we discover that the rule which assigns
to every villein a symmetrical holding is by no means without exception. At
New Ricknall the bovate contained but 10 acres, and the villeins had only
one apiece, but even then an equality might be preserved among themselves.
At Lanchester, however, there were 41 bovates held by 10 villeins; as the
bovate there contained but 8 acres, four apiece would give the villeins the
normal holding of 30 acres and a trifle over. How, we may ask, was the
remaining acre disposed of? The question could not have arisen at the
time of the survey, for a good part of the vill was waste, but at some earlier
or later time it must have presented itself.8 At Norton the villeins held
2 1 bovates ; at Stockton, and here we have a clue to the difficulty, there were
1 6£ villeins holding 33 bovates. Now this might have been written another
way ; there are 33 bovates which the villeins hold, and they work and render
on such and such wise, a form which actually occurs at Great Haughton,
while at Whessoe we merely learn that there are 14 bovates, and each bovate
renders, etc., and at Wolsingham there are 300 acres which the villeins hold
and they render, etc. It is clear then that the bovate is less an actual area of
1 This is particularly interesting in connexion with Professor Maitland's reading of a passage in Dam.
Bit., \. i, 2~b, cited in Dom. Bk. and Beyond, 119; villeins farmed the manor of Wellesdone from the
Canons of St. Paul's, • in dominio nil habetur.' In view of what has been shown in the text we shall infer
that the last clause was added to note an exception, the manor had no demesne at all, and we shall hesitate to
assume, as Professor Maitland seems to do, that there is no demesne became the manor is farmed by the
villeins. The case of a north-country manor without demesne in the thirteenth century has recently attracted
Professor Maitland's attention ; cf. Engl. Hist. Rev., xviii. 780, xix. 297.
* But see a very interesting description (A.D. 1392) of a tenement at New Suinton giving the location
and boundary of every acre, fend., 164 ft'.
* Perhaps it was Most.' There is a case of this kind in the Domesday of St. PauFi, 1 1, cited by
Vinogradoff, Villainage, 233, and the thing occurred in the bishopric at a later time (1307), when the Receipt
Roll contains this rubric, ' Defectus redditus terrarum relictarum et quz non possunt invcniri, de quibu*
redditus levari non potcst,' Boldon Bk. (Surtees Soc.), App. p. xxxvii.
295
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
land than the basis or unit of villein service, and we ought probably to think
of the villein holding 2 bovates as rather a group of several men in a house-
hold on the one hand, or on the other possibly as an indivisible and ideal part
of a single man holding several virgates and concentrating in himself therefore
several villeins. Again we find bovates of varying content in the same vill.
At Boldon the villeins as we know held 2 bovates of 1 5 acres each, but a
certain Robert held 2 bovates containing 3 1 acres, and rendered one half-
mark but no service. At Cleadon, where the content of the villein bovate
was the same as at Boldon, Kettell held 2 bovates, containing 34 acres. The
natural inference is that we have to do in these entries with free men who are
holding unfree land and holding it at beneficial rating, and we have some
evidence pointing in this direction. According to the oldest text of Boldon Book,
Geoffrey of Hardwick, ' tenet de terra de Nortona juxta Herdewyc xxxvi acras
et reddit ii marcas quamdiu Episcopus voluerit.' But the later text, which took
up changes that had occurred between the two recensions, gives a different
tenant, Adam son of Geoffrey of Hardwick, who ' tenet de terra de Northtona
juxta Heredewyc xxxvi acras, qua? nunc sunt Ix acras.'1
With regard to pasture, meadow and other commonable rights generally
appurtenant to a servile holding, Boldon Book gives us very little information.
But there is enough to make it clear that this omission does not mark the
absence of these necessary parts of the village life, necessary because there
could be no agriculture without plough-beasts, and the oxen required both
pasture and hay. The ordinary pasture of the village was furnished by the
field which in any given year chanced to be fallow, and the rest of the arable
and the meadow as soon as they had been cropped and the enclosures removed.
There would also be permanent pasture on waste and moor land.* The former
of these we should scarcely expect to find in such a document as Boldon Book ;
its existence was understood, and there was no necessity for recording it. It
figures prominently enough, however, in such records of the daily life of a
village as the halmote rolls. There we may read of the allotment of the
pasture among the villeins, of the wicked breaking-down of frithes in the
pasture of a vill, of a man who for eight years had kept sixty sheep on the
lord's pasture although he had no land, and so on.s The number of beasts
anyone was allowed to keep on the common pasture was generally carefully
proportioned to the size of his holding.4
The permanent pasture was commonly shared by two or more adjoining
vills, as at Flakkesdon and Redworth or Cornsay and Hedley.6 That
this arrangement was general throughout the bishopric appears from a
charter granted by Roger Bertram lord of Stainton to the prior and convent
1 As to all this cf. Professor VinogradofPs conclusion, ' that the hide, the virgate, the bovate, in short
every holding mentioned in the surveys, appears primarily as an artificial, administrative, and fiscal unit which
corresponds only in a very rough way to the agrarian reality,' Villainage in Eng., 241. The whole subject is
treated in a most illuminating fashion in the third essay in Professor Maitland's Dom. Bk- and Beyond;
cf. Vinogradoff, Growth of the Manor, bk. ii., chs. iii. and v.
8 Ashley, Economic Hist., i. 7.
8 Dur. Halmote Rolls, i. ; 12 Burden, 16 West Merryngton, 20 Over Heworth.
* In a case that came up in 1342 between the prior of Launde and T. Basset of Welham it appeared
that every virgate was allowed to turn out eight oxen, the rest of the pasture was reserved for the lord's
agistment. Tear Bk., 16 Edw. III. (Rolls Ser.), ii., 162 ff.
6 See Bishop Pudsey's charter in Boldon Bk. (Surtees Soc.), App. No. vii. On these inter-commoning vills,
which were characteristic of northern England, cf. Maitland, Dom. Bk. and Beyond, 355.
296
BOLDON BOOK
in which he stipulated, 'quod homines mei de Steinitune habebunt communem
pasturam cum hominibus de Chettun, secundum consuetudinem, sicut habent
aliz vicina? villa? in aliis vicinis locis.'1 Still the rule was not universal. At
Mainsforth, for example, 9 bovates 'jacent cum mora ad pasturam,' and Norton,
as we have had occasion to remark, paid no cornage, 'pro defectu pasture, '
which must mean that it had no permanent pasture. For the use of pasture
of this kind, whether in moor or forest, the villeins appear to have paid a due
known as herbage,8 and a similar due known as pannage was exacted for the
swine that were driven into the forest.*
Having examined the land and its cultivators, we may now turn to
consider the rules which determined their relations, or in other words the
manorial economy revealed to us in Boldon Book.
The fully developed manor of the thirteenth century was commonly
administered on behalf of the lord by three different officers. There were the
steward, who superintended a group of manors, the bailiff or head-man of a
single manor, and the reeve, who was chosen by the dependent community
from among their own number to act as their overseer and representative.*
Neither the steward nor the bailiff occurs in Boldon Book, and there is no
particular reason why they should. The reeve was, however, the most
essential of all. His duties were many and various, and he received in return
for his services an allotment of land, ' revelond ' it was sometimes called, free
of renders and services.6 In Durham the pairs and groups of vills to which
attention has already been called, shared a reeve between or among them, and
in these cases the size of the reeve's holding appears to have been increased
to correspond with the increase in his labours. Thus at Newbottle the reeve
held 12 acres, which was the normal peasant holding at that place, but at
Houghton, with which Warden and Morton were grouped, the reeve held
2 bovates of 14 acres each. Still there are exceptions, as at Wolsingham,
where Adam the reeve had but 6 acres, for which, moreover, he was obliged
to pay 4o</. At Stanhope again the reeve had a toft and croft and 6 acres for
his services, but when he laid down the office he would be required to pay
2s. and do 4 boon-works every year. Next to the reeve the village officer of
the most frequent occurrence was the pinder or pound-keeper, whose business
it was to impound strange or wandering cattle. The pinder's services, like
those of the reeve, were rewarded by an assignment of land, but the holding
was commonly smaller than that of the reeve, generally 6 acres, as at Stockton,
Wolsingham, and Stanhope. Where vills were grouped as in Quarrington-
shire and Aucklandshire a single pinder served for the whole cluster, and
received a proportionate tenement, 20 acres in both of these cases. This
officer further received a proportion of the harvest, consisting of a certain
number of sheaves, twelve, or in some cases twenty-four, for every plough.
These were called thraves and served, as Canon Greenwell conjectures, for
1 FeoJ., 1 56-1 57 n.
* Adam, a tenant at Blackwell, renders 32^. ' pro herbagio de Balthela.' In 1 307 the ' bondi ' of Eaiington
and Shotton rendered 53*. 4/2". ' pro p.istura de SchottonJen per annum ad voluntatcm Episccpi,' Receipt Roll
in Boldm Bk. (Surtees Soc.), App. p. zxxi.
* See Boldon Bk. (Surtees Soc.), s. v. Lanchcstcr ; cf. Bishop Pudsey'i charter to Alan de Chilton in ibid.,
App. No. viii.
* Fleta, cited by Ashley, Economic ////A, i. 10 ft". ; cf. Gamier, Landed Interest, i. ch. xiv.
* Hale, Domesday of St. Pauft, introd. xxxvi ; Ashley, of. tit. i., II, ff. ; Vinogradoff, Villainage, 157,
3 '7-319-
I 297 38
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
the support of the impounded cattle until they were released. On the other
hand, the pinder was required to render the bishop a considerable number of
hens and eggs, a due which does not seem to have had any relation to the size
of his holding. Thus the pinder of Norton, who held 4 acres, rendered
80 hens and 500 eggs, while the pinder of Aucklandshire, who served 4 vills
and held 20 acres, made precisely the same render. The only other village
officers mentioned in Boldon Book are a bee-keeper at Wolsingham, who has
6 acres for his services, and a gardener at the same place, who has 5 acres on
the same terms.
Turning from the land of the peasants to that of the lord, we find, as we
should expect, that our information becomes more abundant and more detailed.
The term ' demesne ' included not only the lord's arable, but the meadows and
pastures as well as the stock, instruments, and such banalites as mills and
bakehouses.1 At Little Haughton, for example, Adam de Selby farmed the
demesne from the bishop. There is the stock of two ploughs and two harrows,
with certain acres which are sown, a grange, and an enclosed court or farm-
yard. The pasture with the sheep remain in the bishop's hand, but Adam
may have one hundred sheep there as long as he holds the farm. At Ketton
the demesne was furnished with a grange, a byre, and other buildings standing
in a court which was enclosed by a hedge and ditch — an early form of moated
grange. At Gateshead mills, fisheries, and a bakehouse were attached to the
demesne ; at Stockton there was a ferry.
Although the home-farm was cultivated by the servile tenants, the lord
had his own ploughs, in terms of which the measure of the land was expressed
— it was a demesne of so and so many ploughs. The land was either in the
bishop's hand, when we may suppose that it was cultivated under the super-
vision of his own officers, or else it was put to farm, in which case the
' firmarius ' would have the whole responsibility, getting what he could out of
the land and turning over to the bishop a stipulated quantity of money and
produce. Sometimes, as at Ryton, the village community acted in this
capacity and took over the land and stock, agreeing to make a fixed annual
return. The bishop made over to them the mill, the stock of one plough
and one harrow, and 20 chalders of oats and the fishery, and they were to
render 147. in return. At Great Haughton, Benedict of Haughton held
the demesne at farm by charter ; certain acres were sown for him,
and he rendered 20 marks. At Heighington, ' the demesne is at farm with
the stock of three ploughs and a half and three harrows and a half, and it
renders for two ploughs 16 chalders of wheat, 16 chalders of oats, and
8 chalders of barley, and for one plough and a half 5/.' Sometimes the
whole vill, including the demesne, was put to farm, as at Winlaton, Barlow,
and Wivestone.
In many cases, as we have seen, several vills were connected with a single
demesne, and this occasionally causes some perplexity. Thus at first sight it
would seem as though Merrington, Hutton, and Butterwick were without
demesne. But a more attentive reading discloses the fact that these vills are
connected with Newbottle, Shotton, and Sedgefield respectively ; in the first
case by the existence of a pinder common to the two vills, and in the second
and third by the obligation to plough at Shotton and Sedgefield.
1 See on this subject, Ashley, op. cit., i. ch. i ; Vinogradoff, op. tit., 3 1 3-3 1 5.
298
BOLDON BOOK
The stock of the home-farm consisted of tools, furnishings, and buildings.
The ploughs, as we shall presently see, were home-made, and were not always
the heavy affairs that required the full team of eight oxen to draw them.
There is evidence, indeed, indicating that a light plough drawn by two horses,
or even by one, was sometimes made use of. The farmers of Morton were
obliged for every 2 bovates to harrow eight days with one horse, and ' for
every plough of the vill they plough i acre at Houghton.' At Warden, a
vill of the same group, the farmers harrowed with a horse, but they had
ploughs as well, for we read that the pinder of Houghton had thraves of the
ploughs of that vill and of Warden and Morton. There is no co-aration ;
clearly this work must have been done with the horses used in harrowing.1
The farm buildings, consisting of the grange, the byre, and perhaps the
hall and other buildings, were enclosed by a hedge and ditch, and known
collectively as the court (curia). In picturing their general appearance we
ought to keep in mind the relation of the word ' curia ' to the modern French
' basse-cour ' rather than the current English court in the sense of a country
house. The grange or farmhouse was technically the place where the crop
was stored.* The ' aula ' or hall was the principal structure of the group, and
may be regarded either as a dwelling-place or as the building in which the
meetings of the manorial court were held, although the two functions are not
of course incompatible. Still the word ' hall ' seems generally to have had
the sense of a building which the lord provided to shelter the halmote, which
had previously been held in the open air.1 The word, however, presents
several curious little difficulties. In Domesday Book it appears to be used as
the equivalent of ' curia,' and occasionally even of ' manerium,' and Pro-
fessor Maitland has argued that in a general way we should understand it to
mean the house which was the focus or representative of the tax-paying
capacity of the whole agrarian complex.* In Boldon Book the 'aula' is clearly
a material fact ; it is the structure itself that confronts us, and here is a plain
distinction between the ' aula ' and the ' curia.' The villeins of Bedlington
must enclose the court and roof the hall. At Haughton there is a grange, a
byre, and a ' curia clausa,' and at Ketton there are ' a grange and a byre and
other houses which are in the court which is enclosed with a ditch and a
hedge.' Then the bishop's temporary hunting lodge or encampment, with
its various chambers and conveniences, which the villeins had to construct for
the ' magna caza ' is described in the Aucklandshire entry as the hall, but
in the Stanhope entry is called the bishop's lodging. There is a record again
of certain lands which lay in the open-fields of Darlington ' contra aulam,'
and the same entry mentions the bishop's houses and court at Darlington.
There is, however, one case where the word 'hall' might conceivably be under-
stood in the sense of manor or local community. The villeins of Heighington
render 64 chalders of oat-malt ' ad mensuram aulas de Heighingtona.' This
occurs again at Killerby, which was a member of the manor of Heighington.
This does not, however, affect our main position, for the hall as the adminis-
1 On the use of the light plough for individual villein services on the demesne and the introduction of
co-aration into France and Normandy, see Kovalevski's instructive volume, Die oekonomische Entteickelung
Eurofai, ii. 115-117, 370-385.
1 Gamier, Landed Interest, \. ch. 14. Cf. Vinogradoff, Growth oftkt Manor, 224-225.
* VinogradofF, Villainage in Eng., 367-368.
* Maitland, Dam. Bk. and Beyond, 109-1 10, 125, where the passages from Dam. Bit. are cited.
299
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
trative centre of the agricultural group would naturally be the place where
produce was weighed and measured and the standard measures of the district
were kept. The byre or cattle stable (bovaria, vaccaria) calls for no special
comment. An enclosed copse, plantation, or perhaps an orchard (virgultum)
frequently formed part of the demesne stock. The villeins of Heighington
enclose the bishop's copse, and at Durham there was a toft 'juxta virgultum
Domini Episcopi.'
The mill was, of course, an indispensable factor in the life of an agricul-
tural community. The mills on the bishop's lands were provided by him
and were a not inconsiderable source of revenue.1 They were generally
farmed at a fixed sum, and this seems to have been the regular plan even in
Bishop Pudsey's time, for it was particularly noted that the mill at Tursdale
was in the bishop's hand 'nondum ad firmam positum.' The farm was
commonly paid in money, but the mill of Carlton rendered twenty measures
of wheat according to the measure of Jarrow. At Norton a little holding
consisting of 8 acres and a meadow was attached to the mills, which as usual
were at farm. The mills were generally moved by means of a water-wheel,
and it was the business of the villeins to construct and repair the mill-dam
and to cart mill-stones as they might be required.2 The obligation to make
use of the lord's mill and to pay a fee for that accommodation, technically
known as ' secta molendini,' in English suit and grist, was repugnant to most
tenants, who were inclined to make use of unauthorized handmills.3 Indi-
viduals and communities were sometimes allowed their own mills as a special
privilege. Thus the burgesses of Wearmouth were allowed to have hand-
mills, a privilege imitated from the Newcastle charter upon which theirs was
modelled.* There is a case also of a private mill worked by horses at Oxenhal),
where the tenant and his land are expressly freed from multure and services at
the bishop's mills.
The common bakehouse appears to have existed only in the towns. It is
noted at Durham, Gateshead, and Darlington. In other parts of England
it was an ordinary manorial banalite, which the tenants were bound to use,
paying a fee known as ' fornagium.'6
The fisheries were another valuable part of the stock of the demesne.
These were either a stew or fish-pond as at Bedlington, where the villeins
' parant piscariam,' or else the exclusive right to take fish in streams and
rivers.' The word appears to be more generally used in this second sense.
Thus the bishop's fishery at Whickham yielded 3/., the prior of Brinkburn
had another there of the bishop's alms, and the men of Ryton another still
which they farmed of the bishop. These were on the Tyne and the fish
were taken by means of a yare, a kind of dam with a trap into which the
salmon were directed as they came up the river.7 The bishop seems also to
1 At the close of the thirteenth century the farm of the mills of the bishopric yielded 1387. 12s. \d,
Receipt Roll, 1307, in Boldon Bk. (Surtees Soc.), App. pp. xxvii-xxviii.
3 e.g. Thicldey and Stanhope. s See Ashley, op. cit. i. 34, 62, and the literature there cited.
* See Bishop Pudsey's charter to Wearmouth in Boldon Bk. (Surtees Soc.), App. p. xlii.
5 Ashley,^, cit. i. 62, where the case of a survival of this as late as 1714 is quoted.
5 The right to have whales, sturgeons, and other royal fish belonged exclusively to the bishop in
his capacity of 'comes palatinus.' See Lapsley, op. cit. 58, 63, 317, 319-320.
7 See Receipt Roll, 1307, in Boldon Book (Surtees Soc.), App. p. xxxix, and Canon Greenwell's note in
ibid, gloss, s. v. Yare. The yares were no doubt the same as the weirs and kiddells which the Great Charter
directed to be thrown down throughout England. Cf. the basket weirs on the Severn described in Seebohm,
Village Community, 151-153, and the accompanying sketch.
300
BOLDON BOOK
have had the right of fishing the streams of the forest, for he conceded this to
the burgesses of Gateshead at the rate of \d. ' pro homine piscante.'1
The beasts on the farm were of course part of the stock. They were
mostly horned cattle and sheep. The former were kept chiefly by the
villeins as we may infer from the render of a milch-cow which accompanied
the payment of cornage, and the frequent reference to carting with oxen. A
good example is afforded by the vill of Little Usworth which * quadrigat
vinum cum viii bobus.' But the bishop had cattle of his own as appears from
the Wolsingham entry, where it is said that the villeins cart the corn of
the bishop's demesne ' cum auxilio bourn Episcopi.' The use of horses in
agricultural work was unusual, but as we have seen not unknown. Still,
those drengs and other tenants part of whose duty consisted in going on the
bishop's errands can scarcely have gone afoot. They must have had horses for
their journeyings. A number of horses were also kept for hunting. These,
like the hunting dogs (leporarii),8 were kept and probably trained for the
bishop by his forest tenants. Thus at Great Usworth ' drengus pascit canem
et equum et est in magna caza cum ii leporariis,' and like entries occur
frequently. Swine were commonly kept and driven to pasture in the forests
of the bishopric. For this privilege the villeins paid a due known as
pannage, but the knights and barons pastured their swine without payment.8
The keeping of sheep seems to have been confined to the bishop, who
is credited with rather a large number of them. When the demesne was
farmed there was generally a fixed return on the flock proportionate to
its size stated in round numbers. At Ryhope and Burdon there were three
hundred sheep for which the farmer rendered 6 marks, and at Shotton two
hundred for which 4 marks were exacted. These pleasant round numbers and
the neat rate of 2 marks per 100 warn us that we have to do with an estimate
rather than an exact tale. Finally, we may mention the hens and eggs which
formed so large a part of the peasant's dues, and which as we know from the
later account-rolls were generally sold.* It is surprising however that no one
seems to have kept pigeons ; the ' columbarium,' throughout the Middle
Ages so general and so profitable a source at once of revenue and exaspera-
tion, does not occur in Boldon Book.
From the live stock of the farm we turn naturally to consider its
produce, and are struck at the outset with the fact that the staple crop was
oats. A learned writer on agricultural history has said that * over the
greater part of England, over all, indeed, which has come under my inquiry,
even as far north as the county of Durham, the staple produce of agriculture,
and by implication the staple food of the people, was wheat, though oats are
l Sec Bishop Pudsey's charter to Gateshead in Boldon Book (Surtees Soc.), App. p. zl.
• Literally greyhounds, but here, as Canon Greenwell suggest*, the old English staghound is probably
meant. Cf. Boldon Book (Surtecs Soc.), gloss, s.v. Caza.
• See Bishop Pudsey's charter to Walter of Caen and Robert son of Roger, ' Et si porcos habebunt
in forcsta et pastura ibi fuerit, liberi et quicti erunt dc pannagio porcorum de propriis domibus suis, sicut alii
Barones et milites nostri quieti sunt et esse debent.' Boldon Book (Surtew Soc.), App. No. vii. Then in his charter
to Alan de Chilton, Pudsey stipulates, ' et homines sui dabunt pannagium de porcis suis, sicut alii homines
militum nostrorum, qui in foresta manent, ipse autem de propriis porcis suis quietus erit.' Ibid. No. viii. The
villeins of Lanchester, ' adducunt porcos de pannagio,' i.e. the pigs that were rendered to the bishop as
payment. Cf. Turner, Forest Pleas (Sclden Soc.), pp. 59-60 ; Tail, Mtditeval Manchester, p. 104.
• In 121 1, 733 hens were sold for u\s. between June and November, and in one year the hens
and eggs 'customarily sold ' yielded 9/. i8/, |o</, Pipe R. 13 John in Boldon Book (Surtees Soc.), App. p. xiii.
301
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
also consumed as the food of man in those northern regions.' ' As far as
concerns Durham in the twelfth century the generalization is contrary to
the evidence at our disposal in Boldon Book.3 Let us consider the produce
of two or three typical vills. At Boldon the only grain which the villeins
rendered their lord was oats, and the farmers of the demesne there rendered
wheat, barley and oats in equal quantities. This does not of course prove that
the villeins raised nothing but oats, but it does prove that the produce of oats
was greater than that of any other grain. The conditions are the same
at Sedgefield, Stockton, and a number of other vills. At Wolsingham the
villeins rendered no grain at all, but the demesne farmer was answerable for
1 6 chalders of wheat, 16 of barley, and 70 of oats. The inference from these
figures is obvious. Then, again, although barley is the grain commonly used
for malting, and although barley was grown and malted in the north, oats
were also used for that purpose in Durham, and the two terms ' brasium ' and
' avermalt ' are contrasted in Boldon Book.3 Thus the villeins of Heighington
rendered 10 chalders of malt and 63 chalders of avermalt, and those of
Killerby io| chalders of malt and 66 of avermalt. In 1211, when the
temporalities were in the king's hands, the keeper accounted for 206 5$
quarters of wheat and 5236 quarters and 3 bushels of oats, and in that same
year 1725 quarters of oats were exported to Ireland.* There can be little
doubt then that in Durham oats formed the staple product of the land,
although wheat, barley, and beans 6 were also grown. The occurrence of a
gardener as a village officer at Wolsingham and the obligation of transporting
fruit incumbent on the villeins of Darlington 8 indicates that the more
elaborate forms of cultivation were not unknown, but they must have been
rare, as these are isolated notices.
The usual local production of beer and bread is attested by the renders of
malt and by the mills and bakehouses already noticed, as well as by the profits
of the toll of beer recorded at Norton and other places, and the tun of that
fluid which was provided for the refreshment of the villeins of Aucklandshire
when they were constructing the bishop's hunting-camp. A render of meal
(farina) was also not uncommon. There must also have been a pretty
considerable production of timber and firewood. The second appears from the
very common duty of the villeins to render ' wodlades,' that is to convey
loads of fuel from one place to another. Good examples of this may be seen
in the Boldon and Wolsingham entries. Then as late as the fifteenth century
the bishop's forests still produced fuel enough for the smelting of a good deal
of iron.7 The use of timber for building appears frequently in Bishop Pudsey's
charters. Ralf Basset, to whom the bishop granted Pencher, was permitted
' meremeum in foresta nostra ad molendinum illud faciendum et reficiendum
per visum forestariorum nostrorum, ibi capiendo ubi ad molendina nostra
1 Thorold Rogers, Six Centuries of Work and Wages (New York, 1884), p. 59.
* On the use of oats in England, despite Professor Rogers ' conviction that the populace lived practically
on wheat, see Cunningham, Industry and Commerce, i. 304 n., 503.
3 O"6 may be Permitted some reasonable doubt as to the quality of the beer made from this malt. When
t de L'Isle was bishop he visited Norham, ' et dominus de Scremerston sibi servisiam misisset,
hpiscppus cum non esset assuetus servisiam a magno tempore bibere, ob reverentiam tamen mittentis et famam
cervisia: gustavit ; et non sustinens statim a mensa surgens, evomuit,' Graystanes, cap. xvi. in Scriptures Ires.
(Surtees Soc.), 57.
* Pipe R. 1 3 John, in Boldon Book (Surtees Soc.), App. p. xix. « Ibid.
This is not in the best text of Boldon Book.
7 Lapsley, in Engl. Hist. Rev., xiv, 509-529.
303.
BOLDON BOOK
facienda capitur." Similar privileges were accorded by the same bishop to Simon
the Chamberlain for building and repairing his houses and those of his tenants*
and to Alan de Chilton ' ad edificandum et comburendum." There must
even have been some exchange of this commodity within the bishopric, as
appears from an instructive passage in Bishop Pudsey's charter to the Gates-
head burgesses, ' Et licebit cuilibet burgensi dare de lignis suis cuicumque
voluerit manentium citra Tynam sine pravo ingenio, sed nemini vendere sine
licentia forestarii.'*
Boldon Book affords us some light on the state of industry in the bishopric
at this time. It is scarcely necessary to remind the reader that the mediaeval
manorial community was as far as possible self-sufficing, producing and
consuming what it needed, so that the artisan had no reason for producing
more than was needed by the community of which he formed part. He was
also in most cases an unfree person, the labour of whose hands would in all
strictness belong to his lord. He could not therefore support himself solely
by industry, but was obliged to fall back on agriculture. As in the case of the
administrative officers of the manor the artisan's services were rewarded with a
small allotment of land which he was permitted to hold free of labour for the lord.
The most important industry in an agricultural community was no
doubt that of the smith who made and repaired the iron-work of the ploughs,
harrows, and other instruments of husbandry. In most parts of England
except Sussex and Gloucester the iron for this purpose had to be purchased at
some fair or market and supplied to the smith by the manorial bailiff,' but in
Durham iron was produced and seems to have answered local needs ; * later
indeed we have evidence that the bishop was importing a finer quality of iron
from Spain.7 At Wearmouth and Tunstall the smith held 1 2 acres * for the
iron-work of the ploughs and for the coal which he finds,' and at Sedgefield
the smith had i bovate ' for the iron-work of the ploughs which he makes,
and he finds the coals.' But at Escomb ' a certain collier holds I toft and
i croft and 4 acres and finds coals for the iron-work of the ploughs of
Coundon.' In the charter by which Bishop Pudsey conveyed certain lands to
the Hospital of St. Giles it is provided that the establishment is to have
' mineram ferri infra Rokehope ad carucas et alias necessitates faciendas.'8
Next to the smith in importance would come the carpenter, who con-
tributed the framework of the ploughs and harrows, and fitted the iron parts
to them. At Sedgefield the carpenter has 12 acres for making and re-
pairing the ploughs and harrows, and at Wearmouth the carpenter, ' qui senex
est,' has 12 acres for his lifetime for making the ploughs and harrows.
Sometimes the holding was smaller than this, as at Houghton, where the
carpenter had I toft and 4 acres, or at Wolsingham, where the son of
Humphrey had 6 acres and made ploughs.
The practice of other small but necessary industries is attested by the
notice at North Auckland of a cobbler who held I toft and croft and 4 acres
and owed certain renders and services, and at Wolsingham of three turners,
who for their holding of 17 acres were required to render 3,100 trenchers
beside doing boon-work and helping to get in the hay. There must of
1 BolJon Book (Surtees Soc.), App. No. r. * Ibid., No. yii. * Ibid., No. viii.
* Ibid., No. iii. * Ashley, of. cit.,\. 35-36. • Lapsley, in Engl. Hiit. Rft>., xiv. 509-529.
1 Lapsley, in ibid.; Co. Pal. of Dur., 284 n. 5, and the literature there cited.
' BolJon Book (Surtees Soc.), App. No. x.
303
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
course have been a great many small industries which were not rewarded by
a grant of land, and do not therefore figure in Boldon Book. An instance of
this would be such woman's work as spinning, weaving, and the making of
garments, which was no doubt as necessary at Durham as elsewhere.
Hitherto we have been considering village industries, but it is convenient
at this point to turn our attention for the moment from the vill to the larger
community, and examine the evidence afforded by Boldon Book with regard
to the state of industry throughout the bishopric. Architecture, chiefly,
though not exclusively, ecclesiastical, is the most noticeable achievement
of the twelfth century in this department. Bishop Pudsey was a mighty
builder, and has left a record of his activity that is not confined
to the pages of the chroniclers, although they are by no means silent.
We hear of his chief architect, a certain Richard called ' Ingeniator,' a
person of wealth and consequence, ' cunctis regionis hujus incolis arte et
nomine notissimus,' x who we find in the charters buying and selling land in
Durham and the neighbourhood.8 We hear also of other persons connected
with these activities, whom we gather were the master masons or builders.
At South Sherburn Christian 'Cementarius ' holds 40 acres which the bishop
gave him in the moor, and 2 bovates which used to belong to Arkill, and is
quit of the rent the land owes so long as he is in the bishop's service. We
find Christian testing one of the bishop's charters, and Canon Greenwell has
discovered his grave-stone in Pittington churchyard and printed the
epitaph.8 At Stanhope, Lambert, a marble worker (marmorarius), holds
30 acres free of rent while he is in the bishop's service, and, as it is known
that Pudsey made use of a local marble for the Galilee chapel, it has been
reasonably conjectured that this man was employed to work the quarries.*
A passage in Boldon Book leads us directly to the consideration of another
important industry. We are told that the mint at Durham used to render
10 marks, but that this had been reduced by the mint which Henry II. set
up at Newcastle, and that the king had at length done away with the older
establishment altogether. The existence of a mint at Durham is attested
from the time of William the Conqueror.6 Coins struck there in the reigns
of that king and of Henry II. have been preserved.6 These, however, are
merely royal coins which chance to have been struck at Durham rather than
elsewhere, for at this period local mints were of common occurrence, and
several of them, such as those of Winchester, Canterbury, and Durham, lived
on into the later Middle Ages.7 At Durham, however, the mint had a two-
fold character, issuing episcopal as well as royal coins. The origin of this
institution is very obscure. It was not a chartered mint like that which the
abbot of Reading maintained by direct royal grant,8 but seems to have been
first employed for purely local purposes during the anarchy in Stephen's reign
by Bishop Geoffrey Rufus who supported Stephen and who may have
1 Reginald! Dunelmensis Libellus de Admirandis, etc. (Surtees Soc., 1835), chs. 47, 54.
8 FtoJ., 140-141 n., 198 n., cf. Boldon Bk. (Surtees Soc.), 2.
\ %?*•> J33 ", Boldon Bk. (Surtees Soc.), 10. * See Canon Greenwell's note in Boldon Bk., 10.
This paragraph is taken from my work on the County Palatine of Durham, pp. 278-282 ; for
convenience sake I reproduce the references here. The mint must have been established at Newcastle some time
before the Boldon survey, as its presence is attested in the Pipe Roll, 22 Hen. II. (Pipe Roll Soc.), 1004., 137.
Ruding, Amah of Coinage of Great Britain, ii. 164.
1 Ashley, of. at., i. 167-169 ; Leake, Historical Account of English Money, 65-66, 71, 81, 100.
8 Leake, of. tit., 91-92.
BOLDON BOOK
profited by the royal favour to issue an episcopal coinage.1 It is known that
the right of coinage was much coveted and freely usurped at this period, and
that both the king and the empress countenanced what they could not or did
not care to prevent.8 The privilege seems temporarily to have disappeared during
the general resumption of royal rights in 1 154,* but it must have been revived
soon afterward only to be again suppressed in the fashion recorded in Boldon
Book. Richard I. revived the privilege of an episcopal mint in favour of Bishop
Philip of Poitou,* and during the vacancy preceding that bishop's accession
there was a profitable ' cambium ' or exchange and also in all probability a
certain amount of coinage at Durham.5 During the vacancy in 1213 the
keeper of the temporalities accounted for 4/. I2j^. ' of the profit of exchange
of one die." In 1253 there seems to have been some question of the bishop's
title to the privilege of coinage, but after an inquest had been taken and the
dies and coins from old time used and made in Durham had been produced,
the bishop's right was admitted and embodied in a charter,7 and the right
was recognized in the Quo Warranto proceedings of 1293."
The very presence of a mint at Durham points to the need of a medium
of exchange. Not even the most favoured community could hope to be
quite self-sufficing, and we find that a good many commodities had to be
imported into the bishopric. Those that occur most frequently in the
documents are wine, mill-stones, salt, and herrings. Foreign wines, German
as well as French, were largely imported into England during the Middle
Ages, and their use was by no means restricted to the upper classes.' The
frequent recurrence in Boldon Book of the obligation of carting wine indicates
that a large amount of it must have been imported. The duty of carting
a tun of wine appears to have been a normal incident of drengage tenure.
At Herrington a tenant who held two parts of a drengage carted two parts of
a tun of wine, and at Hutton a full dreng carted a whole tun to Durham.
Sometimes, as at West Auckland, it was no more than the obligation to find
four oxen for the purpose. Sometimes the duty was incumbent on a whole
vill or a pair of vills, as at Ryton and Crawcrook, or at Iveston, where
the villeins had to provide eight oxen.
The indispensable mill-stones were generally fetched from the neigh-
bourhood of Paris, where the best quality was produced, and the task of
conveying them by land when they arrived in England fell to the lord's
tenants.10 Boldon Book affords us abundant evidence of this custom. The
villeins of Bedlingtonshire had to cart * petras molendini.' At Stanhope the
obligation is incumbent on the farmers as well, and at Hutton it is a dreng
who must meet it. It seems that in the bishopric mill-stones were sometimes
a home product. The villeins of Great Usworth convey mill-stones to
Durham and they of Butterwick to Sedgefield, and in 1211 mill-stones were
sent from Durham to Ireland.11
Salt was even more indispensable and was needed in larger quantities than
1 Noble, Two Dissertations on the Mint of the Episcopal-Palatine of Durham, i. 5 ff.
* Stubbt, Constitutional Hist., i. 371. ' Noble, loc. cit.
* Roger of Hovedcn, Chrm'ua (Rolls Ser.), iv. 13.
1 Pipe R. 8 Ric. I. in Boldon Bk. (Surtce* Soc.), App. p. Jtii.
* Ibid. 14 John, ibid. p. xz ; cf. Ruding, op. cit., i. 179.
7 Pat. it Hen. VI., pt. ii. m. 22 ; this is an inspeximus of a charter of 37 Hen. III.
8 Plac. de £>uo War. (Rec. Com.), 604. * Cunningham, op. cit., i. 182, 184 ; Ashley, op. cit., \. 191.
10 Rogers, Six Centuries, etc., I iz ff. ll Pipe R. 13 John, in Boldon Bk. (Surtees Soc.), App. p. xviii.
I 305 39
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
it is now, at a time when for many months in the year the mass of the people
had to eat salted meat or else go without meat at all, and when all the world
was obliged to eat salt fish for six weeks in the spring. In England salt was
produced only by solar evaporation, but a better quality could be imported
from the south-west coast of France.1 Although the English product was
generally restricted to the southern and western counties,2 the fact that in
1211 salt was sent from Durham to Ireland along with such unmistakably
local products as salmon and iron 3 would indicate that it must have been made
in the north as well. Still salt had to be imported into the bishopric, for in
Bishop Pudsey's charter to Wearmouth it is provided that all merchandise
brought by sea must be landed, except salt and herrings, which may be sold
on board.* Three times a year the bishop's tenants at Darlington were
obliged to cart wine, salt, and herrings.
The origin and development of the English municipalities is one of the
most intricate and troublesome questions with which scholars have had to
deal. It is necessary to determine first the elements of the institutions and
their environment, and then to ascertain what forces were acting on those
elements to produce the changes and combinations which followed. This
study is peculiarly one that requires such a comparative method as the condi-
tions of the present work forbid. It is impossible to isolate the boroughs of
the bishopric and treat them as local phenomena. Again, in dealing with
the question of origins we must turn to the period before the Conquest, and
study it either in the light of the Anglo-Saxon documents or by the reflected
illumination of Domesday Book. But for Durham we have neither Anglo-
Saxon documents nor Domesday Book.6 Boldon Book, on the other hand,
notifies us of the existence of five boroughs, and we are confronted with the
problem of accounting for their origin and trying to form some idea of their con-
dition in the year 1183. Such a study under such conditions can only produce
results that are merely provisional, or at best incomplete. It must none the
less be undertaken, and we shall naturally begin with the city of Durham, the
centre of the civil as well as of the ecclesiastical administration of the county.
Boldon Book affords us but little information with regard to Durham. The
city,8 we are told, is at farm, and renders 60 marks. But some further light is
forthcoming from an unpromising quarter, namely, the charters in the feodary
of the prior and convent. From this source we learn that the monks had a
little borough in a suburb known as Elvet, and divided from Durham only
by the course of the river Wear, which was bridged at that point. The land
had been granted or restored to the convent by Bishop Ranulf,7 and a borough
community, an offshoot no doubt of the larger town, seems to have grown up
there before the accession of Bishop Pudsey.8 He rebuilt the bridge which
1 Rogers, op. cit., 95-97. a Rogers, op. eit., 95-97 ; Ashley, of. at., i. 37.
* Pipe R. 13 John, in Boldon Bk. (Surtees Soc.), App. p. xviii.
* Boldon Bk. (Surtees Soc.), App. No. iv. 6 Lapsley, County Palatine, pp. 25-27, 329.
« Durham is distinguished from the other boroughs in Boldon Bk. by the use of the word ' civitas,' which
was technically restricted to the seat of a bishop or a county town. Cf. Maitland, Dom. Bk. and Beyond,
'83 n- 7 Feed., 191-192 nn.
* This appears from a fourteenth-century document of an historical nature compiled from much older
materials ; here is the passage : ' Et si quare vocatur Vetus Burgus, respondeatur quod sic dicitur ad duracionem
burgi erecti in Elvethalghe tempore Hugonis Episcopi, qui in cartis et aliis munimentis vocatur Novus Burgus,
per Hugonem Episcopum constructum.' — Feod. 194-195^ This is corroborated by a passage from the
Historia Ecclesiastica to the effect that in 1141 William Cumin and his followers 'partem quoque burgi qua
ad monachorum jus pertinebat igni tradiderunt.' — Symeon of Durham (Rolls Ser.), i. 159.
306
BOLDON BOOK
had fallen into disrepair, and erected the community into a borough. But
when upon inquiry it appeared that the land belonged to the convent he
restored it to them along with his new borough.1
We must think of Bishop Pudsey's city then as a prosperous walled
town, probably far less agricultural in its aspect than the other boroughs of
the bishopric. Pudsey, as we have seen, paid great attention to the embel-
lishment of his capital, adding to the cathedral, restoring the walls, bridges,
and castle, and replacing many old buildings with new and better ones,* play-
ing, in short, ' si licet parva componere magnis,' the role of a little Augustus
in this northern Rome.
From the capital we may pass to that one of the episcopal boroughs
about whose constitution we have the fullest information. This is Wear-
mouth, which later received the name of Sunderland, which it still bears.
The two settlements are close together, but it is not clear how the name of
the younger fastened itself upon and absorbed that of the elder.8 Bishops-
wearmouth, as it was called to distinguish it from the monk's vill of the same
name on the northern bank of the river, formed part of the ancient patrimony
of St. Cuthbert,* but Boldon Book clearly distinguishes between it and Sunder-
land. It is plain enough, however, how with that increase of commercial
relations which marked the twelfth century, a sea-port village would naturally
grow into a borough. Just as Durham had its castle and cathedral church,
so Wearmouth had its situation at the mouth of a navigable river to serve as
the focus for the concentration of an industrial and commercial population.
The charter by which Bishop Pudsey accorded to the burgesses of
Wearmouth the constitution or customs of Newcastle must be regarded
rather as the recognition of an existing borough than as the creation of a
new one.s Spearman, the Durham antiquary, assigned the document to the
year 1 1 54." But this is impossible, for it is witnessed by Philip the Sheriff,
who did not assume that office until 1 1 8o.7 As Boldon Book describes Wear-
mouth as a borough the charter must have been issued between 1180 and 1183.
The town of Gateshead, lying on the right bank of the Tyne just
opposite Newcastle, must have been in its origin connected with that large
settlement, and might even in a sense be regarded as its suburb. But even
as late as 1080, when Bishop Walcher was murdered there, Gateshead was
not yet a borough. Symeon and Florence in their accounts of the event
describe Gateshead as a ' place,' and although they mention a church there is
no other evidence of any concentration of population there. A century later
the inhabitants obtained a charter8 from Bishop Pudsey, which appears to
convey an even smaller measure of privilege than that granted to Wearmouth.
1 Feod., 198 n. ; Coldingham, cap. vii. in Scriptures Trei. (Surtees Soc.), p. 12.
* Vid. »up. p. 304; cf. Coldingham, lac. tit.; Symeon of Durham (Rolls Scr.), i., 168.
3 See Hutchinson, Hiit. of Durham, ii. 516 ; Surtees, ibid., i. 224-225.
4 Symeon of Durham (Rolls Ser.), i. 69-70 ; FeoJ., pref., xvii.
1 The text is given in Surtees, Hut. of Durham, i. 297-298, and Boldon Boat (Surtees Soc.), App. No. iv.
* J. Spearman, Enquiry into the Ancient and Present State of the County Palatine of Durham, Edinburgh, 1 729 ;
cited in, Summers, ///'//. of Sunderland, i. 215.
1 Vid. inf., p. 313, n. 2.
8 The text is printed in Boldon Book, App. No. iii. Hutchinson, Hut. »f Durham, ii. 454, assigns the
document to the year 1 1 64. He seems to have obtained this date either from an endorsement on the original,
or, as is far more likely, from some of the transcripts of which he made use. In any case it appears to be
either traditional or else purely arbitrary. The charter itself is undated and unwitnessed, and the text affords
no means of dating it by internal evidence.
307
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
It is, in fact, rather a group of special exemptions and liberties than a proper
municipal charter.1
The case of Darlington presents great difficulty owing to the want of
documentary evidence. We know from Boldon Book that the place was a
borough in 1183 and that the industry of dyeing cloth was carried on there,
but we have no charter or other evidence throwing light on its internal
history. It has been described as a borough by prescription,8 which as far
as the question of origins is concerned, is after all a ' petitio principii.' Its
situation in regard to the great northern road would in a large measure account
for the concentration of industrial population there, for it lies on the natural
route from Watling Street to Hartlepool and the mouth of the Tees.8 As early
as 1 08 3 it was already a place of consequence, for Bishop William I. chose the
church of Darlington which he erected into a collegiate as a retreat for the
canons whom he had removed from Durham to make room for the monks.*
This church Bishop Pudsey rebuilt and he is said to have constructed himself
a house in the town, but although this is quite likely, it does not seem to be
well attested.5
The case of Norham is relatively simple. It was a community that
grew up about a border castle and in the fullness of time received from the
bishop a grant of the Newcastle customs. The castle of Norham was
built by Bishop Ranulf Flambard in 1 1 2 1 . In the chronicler's fine phrase,
' condidit castellum in excelso prasruptae rupis super Twedam flumen, ut inde
latronum incursus inhiberet et Scottorum irruptiones.' 6 Bishop Pudsey
rebuilt this castle, increasing and extending its fortifications.7 In a brief
charter this same bishop granted to his burgesses of Norham all liberties and
customs as freely as any borough north of Tees, and as Newcastle had them.
He further accorded them one or two special privileges and a confirmation of
the land and pasture which Bishop Ranulf had granted them.8 The charter
is neither dated nor witnessed, but it must have been earlier than Boldon Book,
which records that the borough of Norham with its toll, stallage and for-
feitures is worth 25 marks.
This completes the list of the boroughs existing in 1183, for Chester,
Stockton, and Auckland are of later creation, and although Hartlepool was
added to the bishopric by purchase towards the close of Pudsey 's long
pontificate, it formed no part of his possessions at the time of the Boldon survey.'
Thus in 1183 we have found five municipalities having a common
character in their relation to the local sovereign, the bishop, and to the
mother town of Newcastle from which they derived the model of their con-
stitution. We have been able to mark the external conditions which
determined the growth of these communities. The castle and church at
1 For further details in regard to Gateshead, cf. Brand, Newcastle-on-Tyne, i. 461 ff.
8 Hutchinson, Hist, of Durham, iii. 184 ; Surtees, Hist, of Durham, iii. 357.
8 Cf. H. MacLauchlan, Memoir written during a Survey of the Watling Street, London, 1852 ; the map of
the survey, 1857, and the Ordnance Survey maps.
4 Symeon of Durham (Rolls Ser.), i. 123 n.
6 Coldingham, cap. vii. ix., in Serif tores Tres. (Surtees Soc.), pp. 12, 14 : Leland, Collectanea, v. ii. 333 ;
Hutchinson, Durham, i. 181-182.
6 Symeon of Durham (Rolls Ser.), i. 140. The date comes from Raine, North Durham, 257.
7 Ibid. i. 1 68 ; Coldingham, cap. viii., in Scriptures Tres., p. 12.
8 The text is in Hutchinson, Hist, of Durham, iii. 395, and also in Raine, North Durham, 257.
9 Vid. sup., p. 267.
308
BOLDON BOOK
Durham, the castle of Norham, the sea-port at Wearmouth, the high-road at
Darlington, and the neighbourhood of a great town at Gateshead which we
have described as practically a suburb of Newcastle.
The question of the introduction of Continental feudalism into England
is at best a difficult and thorny one. Even when we have Domesday Book to
work from, much remains obscure and indeterminable. The question
immediately at issue is one of form rather than of substance, since there is no
doubt that many elements of feudalism existed in England before the Norman
Conquest. But we must still ask ourselves how the system of jurisdiction
and personal relations, and the mode of land tenure which we call feudal,
fastened itself and its terminology upon English soil. Under the influence of
Germanism and the evolutionary ideas of Freeman and his followers, it used
confidently to be taught that the process was one of slow and natural growth,
a gradual passage from one form to another and cognate one, until William
Rufus, prompted by Ranulf Flambard, discovered that an insistence upon
the logic of feudal forms could be made a source of revenue, and rigorously
applied that logic throughout his kingdom. Recently there has been a
reaction against this ' anti-cataclysmic ' doctrine, which tended to reduce the
dynamic action of the Conquest and the Conqueror's administration to
insignificance, if not altogether to eliminate it. Mr. Round, in his brilliant
essay on the Introduction of Knight Service into England,1 has argued that
the Conqueror stamped every allotment of land to a tenant-in-chief with the
feudal form by burdening it at the time of the grant with a fixed amount of
knight-service, regardless of what subinfeudation might or might not sub-
sequently be made by the donor. On this hypothesis feudalism, or rather
feudal forms, would have grown in England from the top downward, not
from the bottom upward. With this introduction we turn to the question of
the feudalization of the bishopric of Durham.
In the year 1071 the bishopric was in the king's hands and he proceeded,
in co-operation no doubt with Lanfranc, to fill it up with a certain Walcher,
a secular priest and a Lorrainer by birth.2 To him the king confided the
temporal government of the county of Northumberland on the deposition
of earl Waltheof in 1077.* This duty the bishop discharged through the
agency of his nephew Gilbert, like himself, of course, of foreign birth. But in
the general administration of the bishopric and the county the bishop relied
on a council, two members of which are closely connected with the events
which we have to follow.* Both were Englishmen ; the one, Leobwine, was
the bishop's chaplain and had been his favourite until he was displaced by the
1 Round, feudal England, 225-317.
* The events that produced the vacancy are of importance as showing that the king's rights over Durham
were practically those of a conqueror. Egelwine, the English bishop, was deposed the year after the harrying
of the north, ostensibly for having deserted the see, but really for his share in the movement of the previous
year ; see Symeon of Durham (Rolls Ser.) i. 105 ; jlnglo-Saxon Chron. (Rolls Ser.), i. 342-343, 346-347 ; cf.
Hunt and Stephens, Hist, of the Engl. Church, ii. ch. 3.
8 The events of Walcher's pontificate and his murder are recorded in Florence of Worcester, ii. 13-16 ; this
account is mostly reproduced in Symeon of Durham (Rolls Ser.), i. 1 16-1 18 and ii. 208-21 1, but Symeon adds
certain details of importance. The jfng/o-Saxon Chron. dismisses the affair in a few words, i. 351, and William
of Malmcsbury, Gist. Pont., does no more than condense Florence. With regard to Walcher's temporal position,
it is important to notice in the first place that the king had built the castle of Durham (1072) ' to protect the
bishop and his men against invasion,' and in the second place that Waltheof (who was executed for
his supposed share in the Norwich Bride- Ale) was appointed as the ' legitimate ' earl, and was on terms of
great intimacy with the bishop. Cf. Ramsay, Foundations of England, ii. 95, 103—106, 118-119.
* Lapsley, Co. Pal. of Dur., ch. iv.
309
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
other, Liulf, a new-comer and a layman. This man was a rich thane who, to
escape the fury of the Normans, had removed with all his household to
Durham, attracted to the north no doubt by the kinship between his wife and
earl Waltheof.1 Leobwine, the displaced favourite, filled with jealousy,
resorted to Gilbert, the bishop's nephew, and with him conspired for Liulf's
destruction.2 The two organized an attack on Liulf's house, where they
butchered him and his whole family. It is likely that Gilbert's motive was
hostility to the Northumbrian magnates who had been opposing him in his
attempt to introduce Norman customs.3 In any case the outrage seems to have
given rise to a blood-feud which took on a political aspect owing to the
position of the men involved, the bishop and the relatives of the murdered
woman, members of the comital family of Northumberland. It should
be noticed, too, that the affair was essentially part of the conflict of the two races.
The bishop attempted to negotiate, but the affair was mismanaged ; a tumult
ensued, in which the bishop and the greater part of his following were murdered.*
Certain inferences of great importance for the subject in hand may
be drawn from these events. William seems deliberately to have tried a
policy of conciliation with the north country and to have insisted only on a
superficial feudalization of this region. He restored the native earl and
installed the bishop, who admitted the English to his household and council. On
the other hand, he built a castle over which he retained the usual feudal rights,
and he certainly regarded Walcher as a baron and tenant-in-chief.6 The
bishop's fee was probably charged with a certain amount of knight-service —
ten is the number indicated in a later record.6
1 The status and connexion of this Liulf are of importance. Florence calls him ' nobilis generosusque
minister' (loc. cit.), and before the Conquest at least the word 'minister' would be the normal rendering of the
vernacular ' thegn ' ; see the numerous passages collected in Guilhiermoz, Origint Je la Noblesse, 86—96. Liulfhad
married Algitha, daughter of Aldred the earl, and aunt to Waltheof, and it must have been this connexion rather
than the miraculous intervention of St. Cuthbert (supplied by Florence) that brought him to Durham in the
troubled times. See, besides the particulars in Symeon, an important charter in which earl Waltheof presents
Morkar, son of Liulf, along with a substantial endowment to the monks at Jarrow, in Hist. Dunelm. Scrip. Ires,
(Surtees Soc.), App. pp. xviii.-xix. This charter, besides indicating the composition of the bishop's council, shows
that Liulf must have come to Durham beforehand probably considerably before, 1077, the date of WaltheoPs death.
8 The chroniclers place these events in the year 1080 ; the bishop was murdered on Thursday, May 14.
8 Symeon makes the bishop responsible for the irritation in Northumberland, but his words suggest the
interpretation put upon them in the text ; 'suos licenter quae voluissent et hostiliter nonnulla facientes, non
refrsnabat, indigenarum animos ofFendebat. . . . Milites quoque nimis insolenter se in populo habentes,
multos szpius violenter diripiebant, aliquos etiam ex majoribus natu interficiebant. ' Symeon of Durham, i. 114.
Liulf would naturally have been the representative of the native or reactionary party in the bishop's council,
but the test clause of Earl WaltheoPs charter cited above shows many other English names.
4 Walcher perfectly understood the situation and said to Leobwine when he heard the news of the
murder, 'You have destroyed yourself and me and all of my household who are of your race.' Still he made
an attempt to compose the trouble, and a meeting was arranged at Gateshead on the border of the bishopric and
Northumberland. The leaders of the Northumbrians were another Waltheof and Eadulf Rus, great-grandson
of that Uchtred whom Knut had made earl of Northumberland. These men came to Gateshead with no
confidence in the bishop, who had imprudently continued his intimacy with Leobwine and Gilbert after the
murder, and the proceedings soon grew tumultuous. The bishop, attended by his clerics and more honour-
able knights, withdrew to the church and sent out Gilbert and a company of knights to continue the negotia-
tion. But the Northumbrians fell upon them, sparing only 'duobus . . . Anglicis ministris propter con-
sanguinitatem.' They then set fire to the church and killed the bishop and the rest of his following.
6 This may be inferred from the account of William Rufus's dealings with Bishop William I. recorded in
the pamphlet known as ' De Injusta Vexatione Willelmi Episcopi I.' in Symeon of Durham, \. 170-195. The
whole question of the feudal status of the bishop was then (1087-1088) raised and argued, and the bishop's
contention that he ought to be tried canonically, i.e. as a prelate, not as a tenant-in-chief, was disallowed. The
chief representative of the king's view was Lanfranc, who had, with the Conqueror, reorganized the English
Church ; but hear his words, ' Nos non de episcopio sed de tuo te feodo judicamus,' and then he cited the
famous case of Odo of Bayeux, whom he and the Conqueror had judged quJ earl of Kent. Of. cit., p. 184.
6 ReJ Bk. of the Exch. (Rolls Ser.), 416-418 ; see on this subject Round, Feudal England, 225 ff.
310
BOLDON BOOK
Now it would have been quite feasible for Bishop Walcher to meet the
requirements of this position of baron and tenant-in-chief, with its accompany-
ing responsibility for military service, without making any serious changes in
the internal arrangement of the district confided to his care. The Normans
who accompanied him could have been provided for without any very great
injustice, or displacement of the native English.1 The process of subinfeuda-
tion, the imposition of a Norman superstratum over the English population,
would thus have gone on gradually between the time of Walcher and that of
Pudsey, and there is some evidence indicating that this is precisely what took
place. In the first half of the twelfth century we find record of an episcopal
baronage composed of great lords, whose dignity derives not from any relation
to the king (of whom, indeed, they held at one remove), but rather from the
extent of their lands and their tenure-in-chief of the bishop : Hilton, Bulmer,
and Conyers — their names are all Norman.* Now one of these barons, and in
respect to his holding perhaps the greatest of them, was the prior of Durham
' pro tempore.' ' Now the institution of a convent of monks under a prior
took place in the Conqueror's reign and with his approval, and this fact carries
the creation of one feudal sub-tenant of the bishop back to the time of the
first Norman king.*
Then, when in 1140 an intruder, hoping to make himself bishop, had
actually got possession of the temporalities of the see, he bore himself, the
chronicler reports, ' non ut custos, sed sicut jam episcopus factus dans etiam
terras et homagium omnium baronum . . . suscipiens.' ' Here, then, we have
the opinion of a contemporary as to what a new-made bishop should do ; to
grant lands and receive the homage of barons.
When in 1130 the temporalities of the see were in the hands of the
king he took a * donum ' from the knights of the bishopric,' and when the
institution of scutage came into general use the bishop paid for his knights
like any other tenant-in-chief.7
This brings us to the period of Bishop Pudsey and of Boldon Book, with
the conviction that at the time the survey was made the superficial feudaliza-
tion of the bishopric was neither recent nor incomplete. How deeply the
feudal institutions had penetrated, to what extent they had absorbed or done
away with older tenures and relations, are questions to which we must now
turn our attention.
If we interrogate Boldon Book we shall find that the bishop's relations
with his free tenants on his estate were only to a limited extent influenced by
1 Some displacement there must, of course, have been. This is attested by the details of Walcher's
pontificate which have come before us, but the same evidence shows that there was no general confiscation or
re-allotment, no ' tabula rasa,' and this is corroborated by our examination of the subject of drengage.
* This whole matter is worked out in Lapsley, Co. Pal. of Durham, 63-68; and cf. Tail, Mtdittval
Manchester, •$?. 182-199.
8 He was the tenant-in-chief of the bishop ' tanquam dominus,' not ' Unquam patronus,' so that the
awkward canonical difficulty of an internal feudalization of the church was avoided. The distinction was not
clearly stated until the middle of the thirteenth century, but it seems to have existed earlier, as we have seen.
William and Lanfranc could apply the doctrine of capacities to a bishop ; Lapsley, op. eit. 50 sqq.
4 Symeon of Durham (Rolls Ser.), i. 119—124 ; cf. FeoJ., pref. The charters, indeed, are spurious, but I
see no reason to reject Symeon's statement that the bishop obtained permission to make the change from the
king and the pope.
1 Symeon of Durham (Rolls Ser.), i. 146 ; cf. ibid. 150-151.
• Pipe R. 3 i Hen. I. in BoUon Bk. (Surtees Soc.), App. p. ii.
1 Red Bk. of the Exch. (Rolls Ser.), i. 15, 19, 26, 28 ; cf. Lapsley, of. tit. 285 sqq.
3"
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
feudal institutions. As we have seen, of the 141 vills enumerated, only six
were being held of the bishop by military service or alms, five others were
valued in feudal terms (fractional parts of a knight's fee), and fourteen others
were possibly held in fee-farm — 25 out of 141. In order to place this matter
in its right relation, we must keep in mind what the compilers of Boldon Book
had proposed to themselves. They were making a survey not for a king, but
for a landlord ; the document is domanial, not sovereign. Again, there was
no question of general taxation, and whatever profitable rights the bishop
enjoyed over the baronies of the bishopric are not noticed in the survey. To
put a specific case, we look in vain in Boldon Book for the sort of information
afforded by the returns in the Testa de Nevill and the Red Book. We have to
deal, in short, with such a document as might have been produced had the
king in his capacity of landlord commanded an extent of the crown lands.
All this applies equally to Hatfield's Survey, with which we may check and
supplement the testimony of Boldon Book. For although the later record
shows some diversity in the disposition of its material (there is a definite
grouping by wards), and, of course, enumerates the new settlements which
sprang up between the twelfth and the fourteenth centuries, it includes the
feudal tenants only as they are holders in, and not of, the episcopal manor.1
This limitation of Boldon Book was observed by Canon Greenwell, who wrote,
' Perhaps the nature of the document would lead us to expect this omission
[of the free tenants], for it is not so much an enumeration of all the holders
of land under the see as of the services and customs due from the land ; now,
as free tenure rendered nothing of that kind, it does not come into considera-
tion in such a record as Boldon Book professes to be.' 3 The case is not quite
fully stated here, however, for we have seen that Boldon Book actually does
enumerate a fair number of free tenants. In the case of any of those fifty-six
vills of which the services and renders are not recorded,8 feudal relations
might have existed between the bishop and the tenant, although in point of
fact such relations are to be found in less than half of them.
We may ask ourselves next what we might reasonably expect to find had
a survey like Boldon Book been undertaken by one of the bishop's tenants-in-
chief in the twelfth century. I cannot see any reason to suppose that such a
document would have disclosed conditions more feudal than those which
confront us in the episcopal estates. Indeed, we shall presently see evidence
that the prior at least was following rather than leading the bishop in the
sense of feudalization.
Let us begin with the general proposition that Bishop Pudsey introduced
many changes on his estates with the deliberate policy of normalizing tenures
in a feudal sense, of furthering, to put it in another way, the internal feudaliza-
tion of the bishopric. We have first the evidence of the monkish chronicler
Geoffrey de Coldingham, a contemporary of Bishop Pudsey. The bishop,
says Geoffrey, did not observe the old laws in dealing either with his clergy
or his barons, but treated them high-handedly, ' ut quorundam haereditates et
1 e.g., at Houghton, Robert Conyers, let., and Richard de Burnynghill hold the vill of South Biddick,
p. 153. A vill held in that way, as a member of a manor, is often described as itself a manor ; thus, at
Easington, Walter of Edderacres holds the manor of Edderacres, and Lady Isabella de Claxton the manor of
Pespole ; both these are enumerated in the list of free tenants, p. 127.
3 BolJon Bk. (Surtees Soc.), pref. p. vii.
1 Vid., sup. pp. 271-2.
BOLDON BOOK
jura videretur in extraneos contulisse et novis institutionibus antiquas episco-
patus leges et consuetudines penitus immutasse.' l He took the greatest pains,
moreover, to increase the wealth and possessions of his see, ' ut in brevi,
priores redditus nova adaequarent sive transirent incrementa quae non tarn
suis quam succedentium sibi judicabat usibus profutura.' l He was making
permanent changes — that is, there was no question of mere temporary extor-
tions which would cease with his fall or death. Traces of this kind of change
are discoverable in Boldon Book, not illegal or violent as it would seem, although
it is not possible to measure either the reluctance on the one hand or the
pressure on the other that may not lie hidden under the record of a voluntary
transaction. Let us take account of a few cases of this nature. William Basset
held the vill of Pencher partly of the bishop in chief and partly of Jordan
Escolland who was one of the barons of the bishopric. But before the com-
pilation of Boldon Book Ralf Basset, the father as it would seem of William,
had been holding land of Jordan Escolland in Middleham. This tenement
Bishop Pudsey wished to acquire, and accordingly he arranged an exchange
whereby Ralf surrendered his land in Middleham and received the vill
of Pencher less 134$ acres to be held of Jordan. The record of this
transaction has survived only in a second charter which Pudsey issued,
also before the date of Boldon Book,* and in which he granted to Ralf
the remaining land of Pencher to be held of him in chief by homage
and service. Certain easements in the forest are added because Ralf in a
friendly fashion assented to the bishop's will in the matter of the aforesaid
1 Coldingham, cap. iv. in Scriptures Tres. (Surtces Soc.), pp. 8-9.
8 The charter is not dated ; its period, and that of a good many other documents as well, depends upon
the determination of the succession of sheriffs in Durham in the second half of the twelfth century. Fortunately
we have material which enables us to accomplish this with a large measure of security. In the first place
there are two charters, seemingly contemporary, by which Roger of Eppleton and Emma his wife grant land in
Silksworth to Thomas and Philip, sons of Hamo. Feed., 123-124 n. Both of these are witnessed by
Ralf Haget, who in the second qualifies himself as ' vicecomes.' Both are also witnessed by Henry Pudsey the
bishop's son, and they must therefore be later than his father's accession in 1153. Coldingham in Serif torts
Tret. (Surtees Soc.), p. 14 ; ibid. App. No. xlv. Roger's charter is also witnessed by Germanus, who was prior
of Durham 1163-1183, accordingly they are later than 1163. Ralf Haget was therefore sheriff of Durham at
some time between 1163-1183.
Now follow three charters from Geoffrey Fitz Richard to Philip Fitz Hamo. Feed., 1 24-1 2 ;n.
The first of these is a confirmation of the charter of Roger and Emma noted above, and would seem to have
been issued soon after them. The next two, however, are further grants of land in the same place. The first
of these is witnessed by Prior Germanus, Henry Pudsey, and Ralf Haget. The second does not include these
names, and, what is more important, it is addressed to Philip Fitz Hamo the sheriff; at some time therefore
between 1 163-1 183 Ralf was succeeded in the office of sheriff by Philip. We are in a position to determine
that date approximately. Ralf, as sheriff, witnessed Bishop Pudsey's charter to the city of Durham.
Hutchinson, Durham, ii. 12. A confirmation of the charter by Alexander III. is dated at the Lateran,
1 6 March. The third General Council held at the Lateran extended from the 5th to the 1 9th of March, 1 179,
and as there was only one other council, and that not a general one, held at the Lateran during Alexander's
pontificate, we must refer his confirmation of the Durham charter to the year 1179. Ralf Haget must
therefore still have been sheriff in that year. Now in 1183 Philip Fitz Hamo was holding Migley of the
bishop 'pro servitio suo,' by which we must understand his service as sheriff, for as certain land in
Garmundsway which belonged to Ralf Haget is now being held by someone else, Ralf must be dead. BolJon
Bk., ». v. Migley and Garmundsway. Philip accordingly had succeeded Ralf some time between 1 179 and
1183, and was holding the office in the latter year. Finally Philip granted his land in Silksworth to the
monks of Durham in a charter in which he describes himself as sheriff. Feod., 1 26 n. In a further grant,
which since it refers to the same tenement probably followed soon afterward, he is no longer sheriff; he
speaks moreover of Hugh, formerly Bishop of Durham, and among the witnesses appears Reginald Ganant,
sheriff of Durham. Philip therefore retained the office at least until Pudsey's death in 1194-1195, for he is
charged with certain sums in the pipe-roll of 1 197, which contains the accounts during the vacancy. Fetd.,
1 8 n. ; Pipe R. 8 Ric. I. in Boldon Bk. (Surtees Soc.), App. p. iv. We may safely date Ralf Haget 1 163-
1 1 80, and Philip Fitz Hamo 1 180-1 194. A» the cliarter under consideration is tested by Ralf it is earlier
than 1 1 80.
313
40
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
exchange.1 Now the land which formed the subject of this additional grant
had not been held of the bishop feudally, but by that special service in the
forest and at the time of the ' magna caza ' which we have already met with.8
The whole transaction, then, appears as a movement toward feudalization on
the part of the bishop. Another case points in the same direction. We find
in Boldon Book that Gilbert holds Heworth for 3 marks and is quit of the
works and services which he used to render for it as of thegnage, for Ricknall
which he quit-claimed to the bishop. Here then is a case where the ancient
tenure of thegnage is transformed into what was no doubt fee-farm. Certainly
Gilbert's tenure has that appearance, and we have an instance of thegnage
being changed into what is specifically styled fee-farm.8 Again, at Great
Haughton, there are two tenants whose fathers held in drengage, but who, at
the bishop's request and in consideration of 4 marks apiece which he gave
them, quit-claimed their patrimonies to him and took other land in exchange
which at the time of the Boldon survey they are holding in what looks like
free socage. Sheraton is another instance of the same process. The vill was
a drengage tenement. John had one half of it at 3 marks and is free of the
works and services which used to be performed for that half of the drengage
in consideration of the vill of Crawcrook which he has quit-claimed to the
bishop. Further instances of Pudsey's re-adjustment of tenures by way of
exchange may be seen in Boldon Book under Newton-by-Durham, Gateshead,
Washington, Twizell, Edderacres, Whitwell, Oxenhall, Newton-by-Thickley,
Cornsay, Hedley, Muggleswick, and Bradbury. The conclusion of the matter
is clear enough. Under the smooth feudal surface which the Normans had
imposed upon the bishopric there survived great disorder and diversity.
Tenures that were older than the Conquest, the very meaning of which had
perhaps been forgotten, were living on into the twelfth and thirteenth cen-
turies. Open Hatfield's Survey at random, you will find drengage, the special
tenure of the Malmanni, and the peculiar renders of the villeins all surviving,
and all, or almost all, compounded for money-payments. Had the bishopric
been included in the great inquests in the time of John and Henry III. we
should no doubt have been better able to illustrate the point in hand. The
returns from Northumberland in the Red Book and the Testa de Nevill are
instructive reading on this point, and there is evidence that something of the
same sort had been going on in Cumberland and Westmorland at an early
period.* Now although Durham is omitted from the Testa, we have some
texts that do a little toward filling that gap on this particular point. These are
a series of charters relating to the conversion of tenures in the vill of Wolveston
which came into the hands of the prior. Richard the architect or engineer,
whom we have already met with, granted to Ralf of Wolveston the land of
Aelsi, son of Arkill his grandfather, to be held as freely as Aelsi held it,
rendering to Richard and his heirs the drengage service which Aelsi per-
1 The charter is printed in Boldon Bk. (Surtees Soc.), App. No. v.
' Et sciendum est quod predictus Radulphus et heredes sui invenient nobis et successoribus nostris in
magna chacea nostra unum hominem cum ii leporariis, per debitum servitium de terra Nicholai de Pencher
quod nobis idem Nicholaus ante excambium facere solebat,' ibid., p. xliii.
3 'Willelmusde Hettona miles juratus et requisitus . . . de piscaria de Pol dicit quod vidit Henricum de
Orde tenere manerium de Orde cum piscaria de Pol ad feodo-firmam . . . requisitus an tenementum Henrici
«it drengagium dicit quod non sed thenagium sed pater Henrici liberavit illud a thenagio et fecit quod ipse et
heredes tenerent illud ad feudo-nrmam,' Attestaciones Testium, etc. in FeoJ., 223, 224.
4 See drner. Hist. Rev., ix. 670.
314
BOLDON BOOK
formed in Bishop Ranulf s time.1 Wolveston had come to the monks by the
successive grants of Bishops Ranulf Flambard and Geoffrey Rufus,* and part
of the vill had been granted by the convent to Richard to hold feudally.8
Richard's charter was confirmed by Henry II.,* who describes him as having
returned the land to Ralf, as indeed he had. Now this is a beautiful example
of an older tenure continuing to exist under the feudal shell. The prior had
got a feudal tenant, and was content. Ralf was put in possession of his
patrimony, rendering the same drengage services as his father and grandfather
had rendered before him, only now the drengage was, so to speak, decapi-
talized, Richard was holding feudally of the convent, Ralf was holding
of Richard in drengage.
There is further evidence from the same vill. Roger of Kibblesworth
held of the prior and convent in drengage, and desired to convert his tenure
into some other form. Two charters relating to this transaction have been
preserved.' The first, which is much corrected and interlined, is evidently a
rough draft, while the second represents the final version. In the first Roger
states the nature of his tenure, explains that against the right and will of the
prior he had tried to convert the drengage into a rent charge, and proceeds to
quit-claim his original tenement against a money payment and the vill of
Koken, which the prior assigns him. The second charter mentions neither the
nature of Roger's original tenure nor the friction that seems to have existed
between him and the prior. It simply records the surrender of the land at
Wolveston in return for a money payment, and the vill of Koken to be held
in fee-farm. We must not allow ourselves to be misled by the terms of
Roger's acknowledgment in the first charter. It is not likely that the prior
was unwilling to compound the drengage for a money rent, since in the sequel
he actually paid to bring about the result. It is more probable that Roger's
original terms were too high.
From this we see that Bishop Pudsey's policy of normalization was
adopted by at least one of his tenants-in-chief, who was, moreover, by no
means the least of them, and it will be a fair inference that the others were
following his example. But it is not only this policy of exchanging the
old tenures that shows us the direction in which the bishop was moving.
Further evidence may be drawn from the nature of his entourage. In sharp
contrast to his predecessor, Bishop Walcher, he surrounded himself almost
exclusively with Normans or those of Norman descent. Pudsey was himself
of French birth and connected by blood with the family of the Conqueror.8
An examination of the test clauses of some forty-five charters7 issued by him
reveals the composition of his * familia.'
Although the conventional address to the French and English, and the
equally conventional conclusion of the test-clause, ' et multis aliis Francis et
Anglis,' occur commonly, still among all the names enumerated in these
documents only thirteen are English. A typical case occurs in a charter
dated 1155. This is a composition between Prior Absalom and Elias Escolland
which was confirmed by Bishop Pudsey.8 It is witnessed by forty-nine per-
1 Feed., 1 39-141 nn. * Ibid. 13911, 1450. * Ibid., 141 n.
* Ibid., 140 n. * Ibid., 141 n., 14* n.
6 Coldingham, cap. ii. in Scriptures Trei. (Surtees Soc.), p. 5 ; ibid., App. No*, xxvii. xxxii.
" Boldon Bk. (Surtees Soc.), App. Nos. iv. v. vii. viii. ix. ; FtoJ., index, s.v. Pusat.
8 Feut., 1 2 1 n.
315
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
sons, of whom six bear English names. Seemingly the witnesses are arranged
in order of precedence, the more dignified clergy first, then the knights, then
the persons of less distinction whether cleric or lay. Among the knights we
find the names of Acharias son of Copsi, and of Wilfrei, and in the third
group those of Eilric son of Emma, Roger Dreng, Robert Anglais, and Seth.
It appears, then, that although in a minority the English were not entirely
excluded from Bishop Pudsey's court. It is possible that one or even both of
the bishop's sheriffs, Ralf Haget and Philip Fitz Hamo, may have been
of English extraction. Still these exceptions do not disturb the main pro-
position, and if further confirmation were necessary we have only to turn to
the list of those who paid scutage in 1197, for either they or their parents
must have been holding by military service of Bishop Pudsey. We are con-
fronted with a list of twenty-seven persons who must have been the most
important tenants of the bishopric, and there is not an English name
among them.1 Finally, all the military tenures in Boldon Book are in
the hands of Normans. The Englishmen are drengs or free tenants in
the manor.
As a result of inquiry, then, we shall not believe that Bishop Pudsey
was quite successful in the attempt which he made to complete the internal
feudalization of the bishopric. The variety of tenure disclosed by Boldon
Book, the survival of pre-feudal relations in later documents, Pudsey's numerous
exchanges and readjustments, the reputation for an innovator that he got with
the local chronicler — all these, and, perhaps more significant than any of these,
the very existence of Boldon Book itself, reveal to us at once the bishop's
policy and the limited measure of success that attended its application. The
end which Pudsey tried to compass by a method at once dynamic and political
was later achieved by an evolutionary and economic process. If we turn
again to Hatfield's Survey we shall see that despite the terminology all the
relations recorded there are as feudal as most fourteenth-century feudalism :
they consist, that is, of the tenure of land against money payments in lieu of
services. Take one case as an example of many. Lord Nevill is holding the
manor of Oxenhall, for which he owes certain rents and services, appropriate
to the fourth part of one drengage. We know something of the nature of
drengage, but it would have taken a bold man to suggest to a Nevill of that
time that his condition was not of the freest and most honourable. So in
the fourteenth century, as in our own day, Englishmen refused decent burial
to their institutions, preferring to skin and stuff them.
Side by side with the social and legal* changes which were taking
place in this fashion we are able to discern at once a development and an
intensification of economic life. Some aspects of this have already been
brought to the reader's attention ; the surprising activity and skill in building
1 Pipe R., 8 Ric. I., in Boldon Bk. (Surtees Soc.), App. viii.-ix. For purposes of reference I subjoin the
list : Roger de Conyers, Jordan Escolland, Alexander de Hilton, William fil. Thomas, Geoffrey fil. Richard,
Jordan Hairun, Betran de Eppedon (Hetton), Philip fil. Hamo, Robert Ridel, John de Romundeb (Romundby),
Roger d'Audry, Geoffrey Escolland, Robert de Muschans, Walter de Ferlinton, Philip de Coleville, Henry de
Pudsey, Henry de Ferlinton, Robert de la Lunde, Agnes de Perci, John Arundel, Ralf Bard, Richard de
Averench, Henry Bee, Simon de Kyme, Gerard de Canvill, Baldwin Wac, Gilbert de la Ley. These persons
rendered an aggregate of 367. 8/. 9^.
8 Certain legal changes of a far-reaching character which were taking place at the time have been passed
over in silence in the text. They have been elsewhere worked out in detail, and for an account of them the
reader is referred to, Lapsley, County Palatine, ch. v.
316
BOLDON BOOK
marking the growth of industry, and the erection of boroughs indicating the
development of exchange. There is, however, another phase of the subject
which may properly be treated here, and that is the increase of population
marked by an intake of new land for cultivation and the appearance of new
settlements. Boldon Book mentions seven new vills. The Newtons by
Durham, Boldon, and Thickley appear to be earlier than Bishop Pudsey's
time, but Cornsay and Hedley, which he gave to Simon the chamberlain ' de
wasto nostro,' l Oxenhall, ' namely one carucate and two " culturas " of the
land of Darlington,' and Old Thickley, ' which was made of the land of
Redvvorth,' are examples of new settlements during Pudsey's pontificate.
Then there is evidence of a slower growth. Ralf de Binchester holds
Hunwick and the assart of Byers. In Hatfield's Survey we find that Byers
has grown into a vill which is held as a sub-manor.* The prior and convent
were active in this business of taking new land under cultivation. Some
time before 1 183 they exchanged Hardwick for the bishop's vill of Muggles-
wick, with the stipulation that they be permitted to clear 160 acres there on
the outskirts of the existing settlement.3 And they seem to have guarded
this right on their own land rather jealously.* Assarts occur in Boldon Book
in connexion with Gateshead, South Sherburn, Lanchester, Hunstanworth,
Whickham, and Bedlington.
APPENDIX I
The following tables are intended to serve partly as an ' index nominum ' to Boldon Book,
but chiefly to help the reader in checking and testing the classification of tenants adopted in the text.
The first table enumerates those tenants who are not included in the peasant communities of villeins,
cottiers, and farmers, persons who for one reason or another stand outside the 'engere Gutsverband '
and are treated individually. A second table has been added showing what may be called the
ministerial and industrial holdings which, it is thought, may be useful for purposes of reference and
comparison : —
Place.
Boldon . . . .
Newton-by-Boldon .
Cleadon and Whit-
burn.
Name of Tenant. Size of Holding.
Robert 363
Wife of Henry de Montana 403 \od.
Dues and Services.
Kctell 343 \dd. ; errands.
John de Whitburn . . 40 a. I toft . . . 8/. ; „
Roger ...... „ „ . . . 8/.
Osbcrt son of Bosing . . 80 a I m.
Burdon and Ryhope Elfer de Burdon ... 30 a 8/. ; errands.
Amfred „ \ m. ; „
John son of Henry . . 1 2 a. I toft I zd.
Simon £car io/. ; errands.
Geoffrey Cokesmath . . „ „ „
Robert Chet .... 303 J/. ; 4 boon-works, ploughs and
Newbottle . . .
Easington and
Thorpe.
Shotcon . . . .
North Sherburn .
Cassop ....
South Sherburn .
William Lorymcr ...
I e 3.
Saddok
Ullcill
1O3.
Thomas de Shaldford .
William of Kent . . .
60 3.
(AO3.
. )
Christian the Mason . .
3O 3.
Watline and Sama his wife
60 a.
harrows I a. ; errands.
3/. ; errand*.
1 BoUm Bk. (Surtees Soc.), App. No. vii.
• BoUon Bk. (Surtees Soc.), App. No. a.
5'-
14-/.
m.
» Half elf t Survey (Surtees Soc.), 43.
* Fed., 116 n, 141 n.
317
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
Plac;. Name of Tenant. Size of Holding. Dues and Services.
Sedgefield. . . . William of Aldacres . . Unspecified1. . . l6s.
Utred of Butterwick . . ' Terra '....£ m.
Middleham . . . Arkell 60 a 14*.
Ralf 303 IOs. ; 5 wodlades.
Norton .... Alan of Normanton . . I car 101. ; 32 men to work I day ; 4
carts i day for corn ; 4 for hay ;
his tenants 4 boon-works.
Geoffrey of Hardwick . 363 2 m.
Stockton .... Adam son of Walter . . I car. I bov.2 . . I m.
Robert of Cambois . . 4 bov \ m.
I bov pro servitio.
veterum toftum aulae \6d.
Hertburne . . . Alan Fitz Osbert ... I bov works and renders as the Norton
firmars.
Preston .... Walter . . . . . . I car \ work anj renaer like Alan of Nor-
Orm son of Coket Uttmg . I car ^ manton.
Richard Rundus . . . J car J
Carlton .... Elias 2 bov los.
Suma, ' vidua ' .... 2 bov Free of rent and service for her life.
William son of Ornix 3 . I car los. ; magna caza with one dog.
Darlington . . . Osbert Rate .... 2 bov 32^.; errands.
The son of Wibert . . 2 bov los. ; „
Odo 33 a. i toft . . . 101.
26 J a IQS. until the ward come of age.
Gaufloie 20 a \od. ; errands.
Eugeliamus son of Robert
Marshall 6 a \^d.
Blackwell . . . Thomas son of Robert . I bov ^od.
Unnamed. Formerly John
Russey 43 i64.
Adam son of Ralf of Sta- 4 bov. i cultura of 5/. \d. ; errands ; superintendence
pleton. 1 6 a. 3 rods. of boon-works.
Robert Blount .... I ' parva terra ' . . 6d.
Great Haughton . . Gilbert 40 a 21. ; errands ; supervision of boon-
works. Compounded drengage.
Aldred's son .... 40 a „ „ „ „ „
Walter son of Sigge . . 363 I2f. ; at the bishop's pleasure.
Whessoe .... Tuke 2 bov 8/. ; 4 boon-works with household ;
1 2 days in autumn ; errands.
Orm brother of Tuke . 2 bov 5*. ; 4 boon works with household ;
12 days in autumn ; errands.
Robert Fitz Meldred . . i car The service of J of a drengage.
A certain widow ... I toft 3nd croft . . dd. ; 6 d3ys' work and 4 boon-
works.
Heighington . . . Thomas the Clerk ... 4 bov | m. ; errands ; 4 boon-works.
Hugh Brunne .... 2 bov 2s. cornage ; 4 boon-works ; errands
(while his wife lives).
Simon the Doorward . . 60 a I besant.
Middridge . . . Wekeman J C3r 6s. ; 3 boon-works ; superintends
works ; errands ; I day plough-
ing, harrowing, and mowing ;
2 days carting corn and hay.
Anketill 2 bov 3/. ; 3 boon-works, etc., as Weke-
man ; scot and castleman with
the villeins.
Thickley .... A certain woman ... 3 a 6d.
North Auckland . . William Scott")
Elstan \ ...l^a 12 esperductas of wheat.
William BoieJ
Escomb .... Elabrid ^ bov SV. ferm, <)d. cornage ; 4 boon-
works ; errands ; forest service.
Ulframming .... 5 a •f • > 4 boon-works.
1 William held the vill of Oldacres, ' De villata de Oldakres de redditu assisae, et soluto, red. :6j. ut in libro de Boldon,'
Hat/tilts Surety (Surtees Soc.), s.v. Sedgefield, p. 1 86.
* Wherever the content of the bovate can be ascertained I have expressed the holding in terms of acres ; here it was impossible.
* In Hatfclifs Survey this tenure is noted as drengage, p. 177.
318
BOLDON BOOK
Place.
Escomb— «tnt.
Name of Tenant.
Alan Picunderake .
Size of Holding.
I toft and croft 3 a.
West Auckland
William Coupem ... 2 bov.
Duel and Services.
24 hens ; 300 eggs ; 4 boon-
works.
4/. ; 3 boon-works ; errands ;
works J a.
Utting son of Robert . . I bov 40^. ; service as William's.
Uttred de Quilnerby . . 2 bov j m. ; „ „
Hugh Bridmund ... 2 bov J m. ; „
William \
Geoffrey !• brothers . 2 bov I m. ; „ „
Norman )
Elstan 4 bov Drengage service.
Wolsingham . . . William the priest ... 40 a I m.
James his son . ... 60 a I m.
Walter Croke . . . . 6 a y. zJ. ; superintends works ; errands.
Roger, the man of Gilbert 93 5/. ; „ „
of Middleham
Roger of Bradley ... 40 a i m. ; forest service.
William Noble .... 40 a „ „ „
These two enclose and keep
meadow at Bradley.
Thomas de Fery ... 22 a i it.
Robert of Roanges . . 22 a 40^. ; forest service.
Henry Shepherd . . . 12 a lot.
Robert Scot .... 48 a 8/. ; forest service.
Adam the clerk ... 30 a I m.
William of Gisburne . . 30 a lot. ; quit while he is in the
bishop's service.
Geoffrey 4 a 2t. ; superintends boon-works.
Stanhope .... Richard of Yrseley ... 48 a 8/. ; but his heirs will have to pay
lot.
The sons of Gamel of 60 a 1 8/. ; i man for forest service ;
Rogerly errands.
Belnuf del Peke . . . 60 a ^ m. ; I man for forest service ;
errands ; his heirs must pay l m.
Richard son of Turkill ) , ( i m. ; i man for forest service ;
Gamel son of Godric . } | errands.
Alan Russel ) , (201. ; 4 boon-works with all
Thore j • • • ' a | tenants, but not household.
Robert ) , , { los. : 4 boon- works with house-
Thomas } brothers ' • 9° • ( hold
Ethelred ) 0 , , . , . ,
.-. , f .... 30 1 I os. ; 8 days work, each with I man.
Arkill Hubald . . . . 93 3/. ; 4 boon-works.
Collan 6 a 2t. ; „
Richard Blount . . . 22a.l toft and croft 12J. ; „
Edulf Palefrey .... Toft and croft . . 6J. ;
Ralf Toft 4</. ;
Meldred „ 6V. ;
Hugh , 12J. ;
Goda „ loJ. ;
Roger nephew of William „ 6 a 21.
William Almoner, senior . Toft i6J.
Ralf 123 3-f., at the bishop's pleasure.
3 widows 3 tofts The bishop's alms.
Alan Bruntoft .... I toft Used to render 2t.
Lanchester . . . Liulf 60 a i6t. ; magna caza with I dog;
MeldL } ...- 40 a. ,2, 6^; errands.
Orm I assart of 8J a. . . 2/.
Wife of Geoffrey the priest i toft 8 a. ... The bishop's alms.
Witton 3nd Ful- Theobald 8 a 3'.
ford Hugh 1 6 a At the bishop's pleasure.
Whickham . . . Prior of Gis-burn . . . 30 a. i fishery . . The bishop's alm».
Farnacres .... Robert de Yolton . . . The hermit's land on I bcsant.
the Derwent
Bedlington . . . Robert Hugate . . . . 2 1 a. (formerly waste) 40^.
6 a 44^.
Guy Toft and croft . . I id.
319
Place.
Bedlington — font.
Norham . . .
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
Name of Tenant.
Size of Holding.
Peter of East Sleckburn .
6 a
Swarbrand
I car
zos.
Eustace son of Roger .
| car
IOS.
Jordan
4 car
lot.
Terra in Galoring .
J*
Eribbe
n »
i m.
Elwald Langstrappe . .
^ car
101.
Richard son of William .
£ car
IOS.
Ysaac
i cultura ....
i m.
Bothil
101.
Dues and Service*.
Place.
Boldon
Newton-by-Boldon .... John .
Wearmouth and Tunstall . .
TABLE II
MINISTERIAL AND INDUSTRIAL HOLDINGS
Name of Tenant.
Holding.
12 a. plough thraves
Newton ....
12 a.
Burdon and Ryhope
Newbottle
Amfrid
Houghton Henry
Easington and Thorpe
Shotton
Thomas ,
12 a
I2a. plough thraves
30 a
12 a. plough thraves
12 a
123
12 a. thraves of
ploughs of 3 vills.
Ha
123.. . . . .
4 a., i toft . . .
12 a. thraves of
ploughs of 3 vills.
8 a
8 a
83
'5 *
South Sherburn . . .
Quarringtonshire .
Quarrington ....
Sedgefield John .
123.
20 a.
15 a.
123.
30 3.
15 3.
2 a.
Middleham and Cornford . . William . .
Norton
Stockton Simon .
Carlton Gerobod
Walter . .
Darlington
Heighington .
North Auckland
Escomb
Alan . . .
Simon .
Eustace .
12 a. and plough
thraves
30 a
IS a
4 a. plough thraves .
1 toft
6 a. thraves of 3 vills.
4 bov
2 bov
8 a
9 a. and thraves .
2 bov
6 a. and thraves .
I bov
I toft and croft . .
I toft 3nd croft .
20 a. plough thraves
I toft and croft, 4 a.
320
Office or Industry.
Finder ; 40 hens ; 500 eggs.
Baker ; 201.
Carpenter ; makes ploughs and
harrows.
Smith ; ironwork ; finds coals.
Finder ; 40 hens ; 500 eggs.
Farmer of demesne.
Finder ; 40 hens ; 500 eggs.
Reeve.
Smith.
Finder ; 40 hens ; 300 eggs.
Reeve.
Smith.
Carpenter.
Finder ; 60 hens ; 300 eggs.
Carpenter.
Smith.
Finder ; 80 hens ; 500 eggs.
Smith.
Finder ; 40 hens ; 300 eggs ; 3/.
Smith ; ironwork of ploughs.
Finder ; 120 hens ; 1,000 eggs.
Reeve.
Smith.
Reeve.
Smith ; ironwork ; find coals.
Carpenter ; makes and mends
harrows and ploughs.
Finder ; 40 hens ; 200 eggs.
Reeve.
2S.
Finder ; 80 hens ; 500 eggs.
Smith ; 4^.
Finder ; 80 hens; 500 eggs.
Unspecified; 201.
Miller; los.
Smith ; ironwork.
Finder; loo hens ; 500 eggs.
Reeve.
Finder ; 80 hens; 500 eggs.
Reeve.
Cobbler ; 4*. ; 4 boon-works.
Miller ; \s. ; 4 boon-works.
Finder ; 80 hens ; 500 eggs.
Collier ; coals for ironwork of
ploughs
BOLDON BOOK
Place.
Wolsinghara
Stanhope .
Lanchester
Whickham
Ryton
Name of Tenant. Holding.
Ralf 6 a. . .
Adam 6 a. . .
5 a. . .
Son of Humphrey ... 6 a. . .
Three Turners . . . . 173.. .
Aldred 12 a. ...
Meldred I toft and croft
Lambert 30 a. ...
William Wilde .
Girard
Toft and croft, 6 a.
6 a. plough thraves
6 a. plough thraves
243. .
6 a. plough thraves
5 a. plough thraves
Office or Industry.
Bee-keeper.
Reeve : 40^.
Gardener.
Plough-maker.
3,100 trenchers ; 4 boon-works ;
help in hay-making.
Finder ; 40 hens ; 400 eggs.
Smith ; 3/.
Smith ; \6J. ; 4 boon-works.
Marmorarius ; pro servitio ; other-
wise I besant.
Reeve ; pro servitio ; otherwise ^s. ;
4 boon-works.
Finder ; 40 hens ; 400 eggs.
Finder ; 40 hens ; 300 eggs.
Reeve ; pro servitio ; otherwise 4*.
Finder ; 60 hens ; 300 eggs.
Finder ; 30 hens ; 200 eggs.
APPENDIX H
CRITICAL EXAMINATION OF THE TEXT OF BOLDON BOOK
The original manuscript of Boldon Book has disappeared. Canon Greenwell, who so ably edited
the document for the Surtees Society, conjectured that it was lost in a general spoliation of the
Chancery of Durham which took place when Wolsey held the see.1 It seems likely, however, that
the loss occurred at a much earlier time, for we know that a new copy was needed for use in the local
exchequer at the close of the fourteenth century — one of our texts dates from this period — and that
this, as we shall presently see, was certainly not made from the original. Moreover no new copy of
Domesday Book was needed for administrative purposes, and Boldon Book was used at Durham much
as Domesday Book was at Westminster.
Four copies of the survey have survived. The oldest MS. is contained in a volume of thirteenth-
century transcripts of Durham records, entitled, ' Liber Irrotulatus Prioratus Dunelmensis.' * This
formed part of the Stowe collection, whence it passed into the possession of Lord Ashburnham, but
it is now in the British Museum.3 This copy we may designate A. The next, which may be
called B, was made at the close of the fourteenth century for use on the Durham Exchequer, where
it is still preserved.* Then the Register of the Dean and Chapter of Durham preserves a copy
which was made about the year 1400. This, which is still at Durham Cathedral, we shall call C.
Finally, there is a fourth copy in a fifteenth-century hand, to be called D. This once belonged to
Bishop Tunstall, but is now preserved at Oxford in the Bodleian Library.5 Canon Greenwell has
no doubt that this is a transcript of the Chapter MS. C. Sir Henry Ellis, who, in 1816, first printed
Boldon Book," followed the text of D; and later Sir T. D. Hardy was moved to admiration of it, and
even expressed the belief that it might well have been copied directly from the original.7
Ellis's text held the field until 1852, when the Surtees Society broke through its rule of printing
only inedited documents by commissioning Canon Greenwell to prepare a new edition of Boldon Book.
This was done, as the learned editor explains in his preface, partly on account of the cost and
inaccessibility of the folio edition, and partly because the first editor had printed from a single MS.
' itself much modernized in names, and unquestionably not so correct a transcript as that from which
the present book has been printed.'* Canon Greenwell's text is that of the Exchequer copy B, collated
with C and D, and all the alternate readings are carefully and clearly set out in foot-notes. But he
was not permitted to collate A, which was then in the possession of Lord Ashburnham. Canon
Greenwell's judgment of Ellis's text seems to have found general acceptance, and the Surtees
Society's edition of Boldon Book is the one generally made use of and referred to.
It is naturally with the greatest diffidence that one dissents from the opinion of a scholar so
learned and so experienced as Dr. Greenwell, but a study of his text of Boldon Book, collated with A,
which he had not seen, has brought me to a conclusion very different from his. To state, and if
possible to maintain, that conclusion, is the purpose of the present note.
1 BoUon Bk. (Surtees Soc.), pref. rii. » Hut. MSS. Com. Rep. fill., App. iii. p. 286.
1 Stowe MS., No. 930. The transcript of Boldon Bk. commence* at fol. 36.
« On all these MSS., see Hardy, Catalogue of Material (Rolls Ser.), ii. 443, and BoUtm Bk. (Surtees Soc.),
pref. viii.-ix. The Durham Exchequer MS. is now in the Halmote Court Office.
• MS. Bodl. Laud, 542. • Dom. Bk. (Rec. Com.), vol. iv. App.
7 Hardy, Catalogue of Material, (Rolls Scr.), ii. 443-444. * BoUon Bk. (Surteei Soc.), pref.
I 321 41
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
The first and most striking result of the collation of A with the other texts is that point for
point (with a few trifling exceptions to be discussed presently) it agrees with C and D as against B.
Take first the disposition of the material. To illustrate this k will be convenient to describe
A, C, and D as M, and to refer to the pages of the Surtees Society's edition :
Pencher B 7, following Newbottle.
M 6, „ Little Burdon.
Butterwick to Horncliffe . . . B 37-42, from Sheraton to the end of the text.
M 13—25, between Norton and West Auckland.
Stockton to West Auckland . . B 13-25, between Norton and Little Coundon.
M 37—42, from Sheraton to the end of the text.
Preston B 14, following Hertburn.
M 14, between Stockton and Hertburn.
Heighington B 21.
M 2 1 . The notice of Simon's land is removed
from the body to the end of the entry.
Newton-by-Thickley . . . . B 23, follows Red worth.
M 23, precedes Redworth.
Smallees B 33, follows Britley.
M 33, precedes Britley.
The interpolated passage 'Scien- B 39-40, stands between Bcdlington and
dum quod ... a servitute.' . Norham.
M 38, follows West Sleckburn.
All this, taken in connexion with a pretty steady consistency in the reading of words and
phrases on the part of M as against B, raises the presumption that either A, C, and D (M) have a
common parent or else that C and D were copied directly from A.
At this point, accordingly, the exceptions to the rule of agreement among A, C, and D become
of importance, and must be examined. They are as follows :
Wearmouth, p. 5. A and B retain the record of the cottiers omitted by C and D.
Middridge, p. 22. The position of the last two clauses in the sentence, ' Wekeman . . .
Episcopi,' is reversed in A.
The clause, ' et falcat i die,' in the succeeding sentence is omitted by C and D.
Stanhope, p. 30. The first half of the sentence ' pinderus . . . ova ' is omitted by A.
Langley, p. 32. The word ' Domino ' preceding ' Henrico ' is omitted by A and B.
Bedlington, p. 38. A gives 'cassum' for the clearly correct 'tassum' of B, C, and D.
Tillemouth, p. 41. A and B give 'Ellmouth,' C and D ' Tillemouth.'
This evidence suggests that A, C, and D were probably copied from a common original rather
than that C and D were copied from A. For on the second hypothesis the restitution of a lost
word or clause, as in the Stanhope and Langley entries, although not impossible, is scarcely probable.
Assuming then that A, C, and D have a common parent which we may designate X, it becomes
of importance to determine the date and authority of this text. At the outset we must dismiss Sir
T. D. Hardy's conjecture that A might have been copied directly from the original survey. A long
passage contained in all four texts records an elaborate composition of service for money payments
conceded by Bishop Walter.1 Since A was copied in the thirteenth century, this must refer to
Walter de Kirkham, 1249-1260,* the only bishop bearing that Christian name who sat at
Durham before the year 1388. Then the Cornsay entry records that Robert of Caen is freed
from suit of court at Sadberge by reason of a payment made to the bishop. Now, although
this stands in A, it could not have formed part of the original survey, for the reason that
Bishop Pudsey did not acquire the wapentake of Sadberge until six years after the compilation of
Boldon Book,3 and could not before that time therefore have dispensed anyone from suit of court
there. In like manner the Merley entry, which also stands in all the texts, contains the following
phrase, ' de aliis servitiis quieta est per cartam Philippi Episcopi,' and the only Bishop Philip of the
thirteenth century was he of Poitou, who succeeded Pudsey and died in 1207-08.* The Whitworth
entry affords a similar case. Thomas de Acley holds the vill for the fourth part of a knight's fee,
but this was a commutation of drengage service accorded by Bishop Philip in a charter which has
survived to us.6 Finally, we read that at Stockton, Adam son of Walter holds I carucate and
i bovate of land tor i mark, but when he leaves the bishop's service he will do the same
services as pertain to the half-carucate of Walter ; and then that at Preston a member of the same
1 ' Sciendum quod Dominus Walterus . . . perpetuum a servitute,' Boldon Bk. (Surtees Soc.), pp. 39-40.
1 Le Neve, Fasti, etc. iii., 287. 8 Vid. sup. p. 9.
* Le Neve, Fasti, iii. 284. « BoUon Bk. (Surtees Soc.), App. No. vi.
222
BOLDON BOOK
manor, Adam son of Walter of Stockton, holds a half-carucate for ICM. only. A fair inference
from all this is that Walter was the tenant at the time of the survey, that his son succeeded him,
increased his holding and compounded for his services, and that the record of the change crept into
the text of Boldon Book. To sum up, then, X cannot possibly have been the original survey, but
must be regarded as a thirteenth-century copy. The ' terminus ante quem ' is the first year of
Bishop Walter's pontificate, 1249, and tne several allusions to Bishop Philip incorporated in the text
bar the assumption that the passage in which Bishop Walter is mentioned was simply imported
wholesale into the original. But we have means of arriving at a ' terminus post quem ' for X as
well. A, as we know, is written in a hand that cannot be later than 1300, but this rough identifi-
cation of period may be confirmed and made more accurate by the comparison of the various passages
in our texts. These are from the record of Bishop Walter's concession ; I give them in parallel
columns — on the one hand, under M, the form in which this passage occurs in A, C, and D ; and, on
the other, under B, that in which it occurs in the Exchequer MS. :
M. ' Dominus autem Episcopus concessit B. ' Dominus Antonius Episcopus, concessit
Roberto,' etc. Roberto,' etc.
The interpolation begins, it will be remembered, by an account of the bishop's concession, and
this stands at the opening of a fresh paragraph. Bishop Anthony Bek sat at Durham from 1284
until 1313,* and the splendour and opulence of his pontificate tended to obscure in men's minds the
memory of his predecessors. During and after his time, therefore, the misreading of ' Antonius ' for
' autem ' would be natural enough. Before his time, on the other hand, it would have neither
excuse nor explanation, for he was the first bishop of Durham to bear the name of Anthony. For
all the mystery of iniquity that worked through the mediaeval copyist, we can scarcely imagine him
violating the sense of a passage capriciously to introduce an hitherto unheard-of Bishop Anthony.
A, then, would seem to have been written down before Bek's accession in 1284. We have reached
the conclusion, then, that X, the common original of A, C, and D, was a copy of Boldon Book made
between the years 1249 an<^ 1284.
It is plain enough from what has gone before that B was not copied from X, but derives from
another original. It must now be shown that X is older than the original of B, which we may
call Z, and represents more nearly the primitive text of Boldon Book. There is, indeed, an antecedent
probability that this is the case. B is evidently a practical record designed for use in the business
of the exchequer, and it would be the aim of its compiler, therefore, to notice and incorporate, as
far as possible, the details of the changes that had taken place between Bishop Pudsey's survey and
that of Bishop Hatfield, to which, it will be remembered, this document forms an appendix.8 With
this in mind we may turn to the evidence supplied by the text itself. The passage on page 3,
'Johannes filius Eustacii . . . constitutes/ contains a reference to Bishop Walter and is, therefore,
an interpolation, but it occurs in B only. Geoffrey Hardwick holds Norton-by-Hardwick in A, C,
and D ; in B the tenant is given as Adam son of Gilbert of Hardwick. This, naturally, has no
probatory force unless our hypothesis be established by other evidence, but in that event the
divergence will become significant and the passage is accordingly noted here. The striking case of
Whitworth has already come before us in another connexion, but it may not be omitted here.
B simply notes that Thomas de Acley holds the vill for the fourth part of a knight's fee, and this,
as we know, was by grant of Bishop Philip. A, C, and D, however, retain the record of what
was obviously the earlier condition. 'In Whitworth there are sixteen villeins, every one of whom
holds one bovate of 20 acres," etc., then follows the note of Thomas's tenure by military service.
An equally striking case may be found at Heighington. A, C, and D give in the body of the entry
the tenement of the reeve followed by that of Hugh Brunne, who had certain lands during the
lifetime of his wife ; finally, quite at the end of the whole entry, occurs this passage : ' Simon
hostiarius ibidem tenet terram qua- fuit Utredi cum incrementis quae Dominus Episcopus ei fecit
usque ad Ix acras, et reddit pro omnibus i besancium ad Penthecostem.' In B the reeve's holding
has dropped out and its place in the record is filled by the introduction of Simon's tenement, but
instead of naming Simon's predecessor Utred, the land is simply called ' terra vetus.' Finally, Hugh
has disappeared and his place is assumed by Thomas de Pemme, who 'tenet ii bovatas quas fuerunt
Hugonis Brun.' Now these changes must have taken place after the composition of Boldon Book
in 1183. Simon the doorward seems to have been a person of importance at the close of Bishop
Pudsey's pontificate and during that of his successor Bishop Philip. He witnesses Pudsey's charter,
and in 1197 appears among the servants of Bishop Hugh who owe fines.8 Then we find him
witnessing a charter which is dated in the monastic rental 1207,* and he is described as having
made a clearing in a place called Bereford in a charter of Gilbert son of Meldred, the grandson of
1 Le Neve, Faiti, iii. »88. * Boldon Book (Surteei Soc.), pref. viii. ; Bishop Hatfield died in 1381.
1 FnJ., 177 n. ; Pipe R., 8 Rich. I., in BoUm Book (Surteet Soc.), App. x. * FetJ., $5 n.
323
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
Dolfin, the founder of the Nevill family.i This dates from Bishop Philip's time, for the witnesses,
including Aimeric, archdeacon of Durham, are mostly the same as those who figure in one of that
bishop's charters.* Now if, as seems very probable, the land in Heighington was granted to Simon
either by Bishop Hugh just before his death or by Bishop Philip just after his accession, some record
of the transaction would have been kept and might have been incorporated into the text of Boldon
Book when a new copy was being prepared for use in the exchequer. Some such process seems to
be reflected in the texts before us ; A, C, and D appear to be following an annotated copy of the
original ; B a later recension, which had taken up into itself the material written in or tacked on to
that copy. But we are not done with Simon yet. A, C, and D record that at Killerby ' Simon
hostiarius tenet dominium pro iii marcis,' but B reads ' Simon hostiarius tenet i carucatam terrae pro
servitio duodecimal partis feodi unius militis.' There would be no inherent difficulty in the transfor-
I mation of a farmer of the demesne into a military tenant of the same land, but the reversal of the
' process, at that time and place, is scarcely conceivable. We infer, then, that the bishop had
enfcoffed Simon with the demesne of Killerby some time after 1183, that the change had been
recorded in some such manner as that suggested above, and then found its way into the text
of B. Now on turning to Hatfield's Survey we find the following passage, under the heading
Killerby : 'Johannes Killerby tenet i mess, et Ixi acras terrae per serv. forins. quondam Simonis
hostiarii vel Simonis dorwardi, et solebat red. p. a. 40*. per cartam, modo per xii partem feodi unius
militis 40*.' This goes far toward confirming our conjecture. The charter or indenture by which
Simon held the demesne would no doubt have been anterior to Boldon Book, for as we have seen the
demesne farmer commonly held ' per cirografum,' and the 40*. of Hatfield's Survey represents
nearly enough the four marks (53*. ^d.} of the earlier record. But this text will yield us further
information. The writer must have had under his eye two versions of Boldon Book, else what could
he have known of Simon's original tenure ? What should these versions have been but X, the
annotated copy from which A, C, and D derive, and Z, which is the parent of B ? The reasoning
which we have applied to the record of Simon's tenure at Heighington and Killerby may be
repeated in respect to the holding of a certain Monachus Cocus,8 at West Auckland. A, C, and
D note that William Scot, Elstan, and William Boie are holding an acre and a half of land at West
Auckland. In B, however, the entry is as follows : ' Monachus Cocus tenet pro servitio suo ad
voluntatem Episcopi i acram et dimidiam quas Willelmus Scot et Elsianus et Willelmus Boie
tenebant, et infra parcam et extra xix acras et dimidiam de terra lucrabili, et de terra non lucrabili
x acras.' Then we have a charter by which Bishop Pudsey grants to Monachus Cocus one toft
and croft in Auckland together with 31 acres, 'in campis ejusdem villae,' in three parcels as follows:
10 within the park (parca), 3 within the enclosure of the old park (vivarium), and 18 within the
dry hedge * (infra halham).6 This gives exactly the measure of the holding recorded in the text of
B. Then Bishop Philip of Poitou, desiring to enclose his park, effected an exchange by which
Monachus surrendered his 13 acres in the park in return for other 13 on the moor of Auckland.6
Finally, Monachus conveyed the whole of his Auckland tenement to the prior and convent.7 Now
the inference from all this is plain enough. Pudsey's grant must have been made after the
composition of Boldon Book, probably late in his pontificate, for we must allow time for the disap-
pearance of the three tenants recorded in the A C D text, and the survival of Monachus Cocus
well into the pontificate of Bishop Philip. Then, just as we surmised in the case of Simon the
doorward, the record of the transaction was preserved at the exchequer and crept into that annotated
copy of Boldon Book which we have supposed B to be following. Finally, we have another passage
which goes to prove that X is an older and purer text than Z. At Escomb, A, C, and D have
the entry, ' Ulframming tenet v acras,' but in B the entry stands, ' Umfridus carectarius tenet
vi acras quas fuerunt Ulfi Ranning.' Canon Greenwell prints a fragment of the charter by which
Bishop Pudsey conveyed this land to Humphrey,8 so we must regard this case as parallel with those
of Simon and Monachus Cocus. The incorrect form of the earlier entry, ' Ulframming,' for ' Ulfi
Ranning ' serves to remind us that in X we have not to do with the original, but with a copy that
was earlier and nearer to the primitive text than Z could have been.
X, then, although affording us a better text than Z, is itself fallible, and we must not exclude
the possibility that in certain cases (though by no means in the majority of them) Z will have
1 FeoJ. 53 n. ; cf. 56 n., and Round, 'Origin of the Nevilles,' in feudal England, 488-490.
* Feod. 53 n., 54 n. ; Boldon Book (Surtees Soc.), App. No. vi.
8 I am at a loss for a translation of his name. He certainly was not a monk, for he had a wife and could
acquire and dispose of land, see Feod., 168 n., 169 n., 177 n., and Canon Greenwell's description of his seal with
the device of a griffin passant and the legend, ' Sigillum Monachi Coci.' Boldon Book (Surtees Soc.), 24 n. If
he were really a cook, he must be an early example of a ' cordon bleu.' * FeoJ., 177 n.
5 Probably a place enclosed by a hedge of dry or dead brushwood ; see Ducange, s. v. hala, and cf.
Durham Account Rolh (Surt. Soc.), iii ; gloss. /. v. halland.
6 Fe«*- J77 n.-i78 n. 7 ibid. 178 n. « Boldon Book (Surtees Soc.), p. 25.
324
BOLDON BOOK
preserved a purer reading, which common sense, or internal probability, may enable us to discern.
There are in B a dozen or so passages in which this seems to be the case, and they now demand
our attention. In the Gateshead entry, with regard to the demesne B reads ' cum instauramento
ii carrucarum,' A gives ' increments,' and C and D ' incremento.' Now, as we have seen, the stock of
so many ploughs was the regular phrase of describing the content of the demesne farm ; it is often
used in this sense by A, as at Great Haughton, and since the X derivatives differ among themselves
here, we shall do better to follow the reading of B. The same argument will apply to the smith's
land at Shotton. I give the variants in parallel columns : —
B. A. C and D.
Fabcr i bovatam de xv acris Faber I bovatam de xv s(olidis) Faber i bovatam pro 15*.
pro suo servitio. pro suo servicio. pro suo servitio.
The confusion here may well have been due to a clerical error in X, but, in view of what we
have seen with regard to the custom of industrial holdings and the normal size of the bovate, there
can be no doubt that B gives us the true reading. Again, under Edderacres the usual proper name
Nigillus as given by B is clearly intended rather than the uncommon ' Sigillus ' of A, C, and D ;
and in the last line of the same entry the sense demands the ' reddit ' of B rather than the
' reddendo ' of A, C, and D. The word ' bordarius,' as we have seen, occurs in Boldon Book twice,
at Sedgefield and at Middleham and Cornford. The terms of the entry leave little doubt as to what
sort of a tenant is meant — a bordar, namely, and not a bondman. But A, C, and D give the unusual
and clearly incorrect form ' bondarius,' and it is only from B that we get the accurate term
' bordarius.' At Garmondsway, where Bishop Pudsey's sheriff Ralf Haget had held land, the name
is spelt ' Hager'1 in all the texts except B. At Mainsforth, according to B, certain eight bovates
render eight hens and eighty eggs, but A, C, and D give one hen and four eggs, which is far too
small in comparison with the like render of other vills. At Norton, B reads, ' tota villa reddit
ii vaccas de metride,' while A, C, and D give ' ii marcas de metride ' ; but on turning to Hatfield's
Survey we find that the tenants of Norton ' solvunt pro ii vaccis de metrich . . . 1 2s.' * It might
of course be objected that Hatfield's Survey was making use of some late or corrupt text of Boldon
Book, and that in 1183 these Norton tenants had compounded for their render of milch-cows. But
the balance of probability is the other way ; there is no other case in Boldon Book of a money
composition for this particular render, and Hatfield's Survey, in all cases where the incident occurs,
shows us that the composition had been at the rate of six shillings for a cow, not one mark as here.
At West Auckland, where the renders and services are calculated ' de unaquaque bovata,' B records
1 8 bovates and 18 villeins, but A, C, and D give 21 bovates and 18 villeins. Although this of
course is not impossible, the symmetrical arrangement commends itself as more probable. In the
record of Elstan's land at the same place, A, C, and D omit the necessary 'sua ' in line 3 ; and in line 6,
instead of ' ilia terra est in manu Episcopi,' read ' alia terra est modo in manu Episcopi,' which
scarcely makes sense in the context. We retain, therefore, the readings of B as they occur in the
printed text. At Wolsingham, A, C, and D read, ' tres coronatores xvii acras et reddunt mmmc
scutellas,' which is inherently improbable, as the coroner does not appear in the Durham records
until 1279,* and as it is not likely that then or at any other time he would be rendering trenchers.
B gives the manifestly correct reading, ' tornatores.' This slip may fairly be charged to the account
of the careless scribe, that scapegoat of critics, who is responsible for the success of so many
hypotheses and such countless emendations. B records the vill of Holome (Hulam), where A alone
reads ' Bolmum.' But in a charter by which Ralph Haget grants this vill to his nephew,4 and again
in Hatfield's Survey,6 we have the assurance that the reading of B is correct. Finally, at Grendon,
where B gives the name of a certain tenant as ' Stephanus,* A, C, and D have the barbarous form
1 Thepers.' • Although these cases unquestionably help us toward a purer text of Boldon Book
there is nothing in them to weaken our contention that X is an older, and in the main a much
better version of our document than Z, although a derivative of Z has enabled us to correct fourteen
slips, all verbal and mostly no more than clerical errors, in the derivative of X.
Before proceeding to state the conclusions of this necessarily minute and tedious examination,
we must consider one case which has no direct bearing upon our argument, but which must be
noticed as it has the appearance of an interpolation in all our texts. This is the vill of Whickham.
The only divergence among the four texts in this entry consists of trifling verbal difference, and the
inversion of the order of one or two unimportant words ; these may safely be disregarded, and jret
there is something in the passage that arrests our attention and awakes our suspicion. Unlike any
other entry in Boldon Book, all the villein renders and services are described in the past tense,
1 We get the true spelling in the charters, see FeoJ., 132 n., 134 n.
* Hatfiekfi Survey (Surtees Soc.), p. 175. 8 Lapsley, County Palatine, 86.
* FeoJ., 136 n. * Hatfielfs Survey (Surtees Soc.), 153.
Al. Thepres, Theptrs, the form is Thepls.
325
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
' solebant reddere,' < solebant falcare prata,' and so on. Then, when the enumeration is complete,
these significant words appear : ' nunc autem praedictum manenum de Quicham est ad firmam . . .
et reddit xxvi /.' Particular attention is due to the fact that this is the first, last, and only time
that the word ' manerium ' occurs in the whole record, and that Whickham was not the capital
messuage of any one of the bishop's manors. This circumstance, coupled with the unique form of
the entry in the ' tune et modo ' style of Domesday Book, raises a strong presumption that the vill
had been put to farm since the composition of Boldon Book and that we have here the record of the
change. This is, I believe, sufficient ground for the rejection of the last part of the passage,
beginning with the words ' nunc autem ' as an interpolation.
We may now sum up the results of our inquiry. The four MSS. of Boldon Book represent
two MS. families. X, the parent of three of these, A, C, and D, dates from some period between
1249 and 1284, and derives either from the annotated original of Boldon Book itself (a very
doubtful conjecture) or (as is more likely) from a copy made from that original at some time after
the accession of Bishop Philip of Poitou, 1197, and before that of Bishop Walter Kirkham, 1249.
Z, the parent of our fourth text, B, would seem to have been a copy of the annotated original made
at some period that cannot be ascertained, but certainly later than 1197, and kept abreast of the
changes that were taking place from that time up to the close of the fourteenth century, a practical
or working text in effect. Then, after the compilation of Hatfield's Survey, the whole document
was recast, altering the disposition of the material and incorporating the notes and additions into the
text in such wise as to make it available for further use in the exchequer. The Auditor's MS. from
which Canon Greenwell printed might very well have been the actual original of this recension,
since it occurs in the same volume and the same hand as Hatfield's Survey. One conjecture, which,
since it is conjecture and no more, has been reserved until now, may be thrown out. There is
some evidence that a survey standing half-way between those of Pudsey and Hatfield has been lost.1
Is it not possible that Z was the working copy of Boldon Book in the exchequer until Bishop
Beaumont's survey was made ; that it was then allowed to fall into neglect until the end of the
fourteenth century, when with the need of a new survey the need of a copy of Boldon Book was
also felt ; and that Z was taken up as the fullest, the most available, and therefore to the uncritical
mind of the Middle Ages the most authoritative copy of Bishop Pudsey's survey ?
1 See Hatfield's Survey (Surtees Soc.), pref. p. v. and p. 51.
326
TEXT OF THE
BOLDON BOOK'
In the eleven hundred and eighty-third year of
our Lord's Incarnation, at the feast of St. Cuth-
bert in Lent,' Lord Hugh, Bishop of Durham,
caused to be described in the presence of himself
and his court all the returns of his whole bishop-
ric, assizes and customs, as they then were and
as they had been aforetime.
But the city of DUNOLM' [Durham] was at farm
and was rendering 60 marks.8 The mills of the
aforesaid town and of Quarringtonshire 36 marks.
The mint (cunei moneti) used to render 10 marks,
but the Lord King Henry the Second reduced the
rent of 10 marks even to 4 marks by reason of the
mint which he first appointed at Newcastle, and
at length he took away the mint, which had been
used from times long previous. The land of
Reginald the fuller in the same town renders
3 shillings ; the land of Lefwin the reeve,
across the water and near the meadow, 1 6 pence ;
the land in the same place of Waleran of Chester
renders 8 pence. Thurstan of the chapel holds
one toft near the orchard (virgultum) of the
lord bishop by the grace and favour of the bishop
himself. The bakehouse (furnum) of the same
town renders 10 marks.
William, sometime abbot of Peterborough (de
Burgo) holds NEWTONAM [Newton] near Durham
by the grace and favour of the bishop himself,
and renders for the half of the demesne which
Richard the engineer (ingeniator) held, I mark.
In the same vill Ralf the cleric holds 60 * acres
partly of the land which used to be Robert Cuk's
and partly of the assarts which the bishop gave
him in exchange for 2 bovates in MIDILHAM
[Middleham] at 40 pence, but he is quit of this
rent as long as he is in the service of the lord
bishop.
PLAUSWORTH [Plausworth] which Simon Viel
(yitulus) holds renders 20 shillings and carts
((juadrigat) wine with eight oxen and goes on
the great hunt (caza) with two hunting-dogs.
GATESHEUED [Gateshead] with borough, mills,
fisheries and bakehouses and with three parts of
the arable land of the same town renders 60 marks.
The fourth part of the arable, with the assarts
which the lord bishop caused to be made, and
the meadows, are in the hands of the lord bishop
with the stock of two ploughs. Osmund's land
renders 22 shillings and 6 pence.
PARVA USEWORTH [Little Usworth], which
1 Stowe MSS. 930 ; alternative readings supplied
by the Auditor's MS. (Surtecs Soc.) are given in foot-
notes and indicated by the letter A.
1 i.e. 20 March. 'A: 24 marks. *A: 24.
William holds, renders IO shillings and carts
wine with eight oxen and goes on the great
hunt with two hunting-dogs.
Ulkill's BEDYK [Biddick] does the service of
the sixth part of one knight's fee.1
CESTRIA [Chester] with the villeins and the
demesne without stock and with the fisheries
and mills of the same town, renders 24 marks.
The mill of Urpath is at farm and renders
4 marks.
PELOWE* [Pelaw] and the half of PIKTRE
[Picktree] which Waleran of Chester holds render
2 marks.
William of Hertburn holds WESSINGTON [Wash-
ington] except the church and the land belong-
ing to the church, in exchange for the vill of
Hertburn which he quitclaimed for this, and he
renders 4 pounds and goes on the great hunt
with two hunting-dogs, and when the general aid
comes he ought to give in addition i mark of the aid.
In BOLDONA [Boldon] there are twenty-two vil-
leins, every one of whom holds 2 bovates of land
of 30 acres and renders 2 shillings and 6 pence
of scotpenny and the half of a scot-chalder
(seatcheldram) of oats and 1 6 pence of averpenny
and five wagonloads of wood (quadrigatas de
•wodelades) and two hens and ten eggs, and works
through the whole year three days in the week
except Easter and Whitsunweek and thirteen
days at Christmastide, and in his works he does
in the autumn four boon-days at reaping with his
entire household except the housewife (huswyva)
and they reap moreover 3 roods of the standing crop
of oats (averipe)and he ploughs 3 roodsof oat-stubble
(tnitrere) and harrows (it). Every plough (team)
1 The following passage is interpolated between the
Biddick and Chester entries in the Auditor's MS. It
forms no part of the original text, but is added here
as it has a certain value : —
John son of Eustace and Alexander his brother
who were arraigned as serfs were acquitted by a jury.
Gilbert son of Humphrey of Durham holds 34 acres
of land in Newbottle moor to himself and his heirs
for ever, rendering annually to the exchequer at
Durham z8/. 4^. at the four terms appointed in the
bishoprick of Durham and he shall have eight oxen
on Newbottle moor by the charter which he has
from the lord bishop.
Roger son of Robert Bernard holds 48 acres in
Helmygdene by metes as is more fully contained in the
charter which he hat of lord Walter bishop of Dur-
ham, rendering annually 101. to the exchequer at
Durham at the four terms appointed in the bishoprick
of Durham.
• A : Pelhou.
327
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
of the villeins, also, ploughs 2 acres and harrows
(them), and then they have once (only) a dole
\corrodium) from the bishop and for that week
they are quit of work, but when they make the
great boon-days they have a dole. And in their
works they harrow when it is necessary and they
carry loads (faciunt radas), and when they have
carried them every man has a loaf of bread ;
and they mow one day at HOCTONA [Houghton]
in their work until the evening, and then they
have a dole. And every two villeins build one
booth for the fair of St. Cuthbert. And when
they are building lodges and carrying loads of
wood they are quit of all other works.
There are twelve cottiers (cotmanni) there,
every one of whom holds 12 acres, and they
work through the whole year two days in the
week, except at the three feasts aforenamed, and
they render twelve hens and sixty eggs.
Robert holds two bovates of 36 acres and
renders half a mark. The pinder (punderus)
holds 12 acres and he has a thrave (travani) of
corn from every plough and he renders 40 l hens
and 500 eggs.
The mill renders 5^ marks.
The villeins in their work in each year ought
to make, if need be, a house 40 feet in length
and 15 feet in breadth, and when they make it
every man is quit of 4 pence of averpenny.
The whole vill renders 1 7 shillings of cornage
and i milch cow.
The demesne is at farm with stock of 4 ploughs
and 4 harrows, and renders for 2 ploughs 1 6 chal-
ders (celdras) of wheat and 1 6 chalders of oats,
and 8 chalders of barley, and for the other
2 ploughs 10 marks.
John the pantler (panetarius) holds NEWTONA
[Newton] by Boldon for 20 shillings a year.
In Newton by Boldon twelve malmen hold
2 bovates each of 1 5 acres and render from every
2 bovates 5 shillings of rent and 2 hens and
20 eggs and they plough and harrow at Boldon
every man I acre and for every 2 bovates they
do four boon-days in the autumn with two men.
The wife of Henry of Montana holds 40 acres
for 40 pence.
In CLEVEDONA [Cleadon] and WHITBERNE
[Whitburn] there are 28 villeins and every man
holds, renders, and works as they of Boldon.
Ketel holds 2 bovates of 34 a acres and renders
1 6 pence and goes on the bishop's errands (lega-
tionibus). John of Whitburn holds 40 3 acres and
i toft and renders 8 shillings and goes on the
bishop's errands. Roger holds 40 acres and i toft
and renders 8 shillings. Osbert, son of Bosing,
80 acres and renders i mark. Twelve cottiers
hold, work and render as they of Boldon. The
pinder holds and renders as he of Boldon. The
two vills render 30 shillings of cornage and 2 milch
cows.
The demesne is at farm with a stock of
5^ ploughs and 5^ harrows, and renders for
2^ ploughs 2O chalders of wheat and 20 of oats
and 10 of barley, and for the other 3 ploughs
15 marks.
The sheep with the pasture of Esscurre4
[ ] and Cleadon are in the hand of the
lord bishop.
In WERMOUTHE [Wearmouth] and TUNSTALL
[Tunstall] there are 22 villeins and every man
holds, renders, and works as they of Boldon. Six
cottiers hold and work and render as they of
Boldon. The carpenter, who is an old man, has
for his life 12 acres for making ploughs and
harrows. The smith has 12 acres for the iron-
work of the ploughs, and the coal which he finds.
The two vills render 20 shillings of cornage and
2 milch cows. The pinder holds and renders as
he of Boldon. The demesne is at farm with a
stock of 20 oxen and 2 harrows and 200 sheep
and renders with the mill 20 pounds. The
fisheries render 6 pounds. The borough of
Wearmouth 20 shillings.
In REFHOPE [Ryhope] and BIRDENA [Burdon]
there are 27 villeins who hold, work, and render
as they of Boldon. Elfer of Burdon holds
2 bovates and renders 8 shillings and goes on
the bishop's errands. Amfrid holds 2 bovates
freely while he is holding the demesne at farm,
and when he gives it up he shall render half a
mark and shall go on the bishop's errands.
Three cottiers hold, work, and render as they of
Boldon. The pinder holds and renders as he
of Boldon. The mill renders i mark. The
two vills render 37 shillings of cornage and
2 milch cows. The demesne is at farm with a
stock of 3 ploughs and 3 harrows and with half
a carucate without stock and with 300 sheep,
and renders 28 chalders of oats6 and 14 of barley
and 6 marks for the 300 sheep.
Little Burdon which John of Houghton holds
renders 10 shillings and ploughs with 4 oxen
and goes on the great hunt with two hunting-
dogs.
William Basset has PENCHER [? Painshaw] in
exchange for the land which his father had in
Midilham [Middleham], except 260 acres and
1 4^ acres, as well of arable as of moor-land which
he holds of the bishop in chief, for which he
renders 4 marks, and for a certain mill 2 marks.
But the rest of the vill he holds from Jordan de
Escolland, from whom he used to hold (tenebat)
the land of Middleham.
The villeins of SOUTH BEDIC [Biddick] hold
their vill at farm and they render 5 pounds and
find 200 men for mowing in the autumn and
36 carts for carrying corn to Houghton.
In NEWBOTILL [Newbottle] there are 1 6 cot-
tiers every man of whom holds 12 acres, and
works the whole year two days in the week and
* A :
24.
60.
8 A: 24.
4 A : Estsupre.
6 A : and 28 chalders of wheat.
328
BOLDON BOOK
does in his work four boon-days in the autumn
with his entire household except the housewife,
and renders I hen and 5 eggs ; and (there are)
3 other cottiers every man of whom holds 6 acres
and works from Whitsunday to Martinmas two
days in the week. John son of Henry holds
I toft and 12 acres for 12 pence in exchange for
the land which he used formerly to hold in Her-
ingtona [Herrington]. The reeve holds 12 acres
for his service. The smith 1 2 acres for his service.
The pinder holds 12 acres and has one thrave
of corn from every plough of Newbottle and of
Biddick and of Herrington, and renders 40 l hens
and 300 eggs. The demesne of 4 ploughs and the
sheep with pasture are in the hand of the bishop.
In HOCTONA [Houghton] there are 1 3 cottiers
who hold, work, and render as they of Newbottle,
and 3 other half-cottiers who work as the three
aforenamed of Newbottle. Henry the reeve
holds 2 bovates of 24 acres for his service. The
smith 12 acres for his service. The carpenter
I toft and 4 acres for his service. The pinder
12 acres and he has thraves of the ploughs of the
same vill and of the vill of Wardona [Warden]
and of Mortona [Morton] and renders 60 hens
and 300 eggs. The mills of Newbottle and of
Biddick with half of the mill of Rayntona
[Rainton] 1 5 marks. The demesne of 4 ploughs
and the sheep with the pasture are in the hand
of the bishop.
In WARDONA [Warden] are nine firmars who
hold 1 8 bovates every one of which is of 1 3 J acres.
They render 8 pence for every bovate and work
20 days in the autumn with one man for every
bovate, and they harrow 4 days with one horse
for every 2 bovates and they do 4 boon-days with
their entire household except the housewife, in-
cluded in the said work of 20 days, and they
cart corn for two days and hay for one day, and
for every bovate they render I hen and 5 eggs.
In MORTONA [Morton] there are 16 firmars
who hold 21 ' bovates every one of 12^* acres,
and they render 8 pence for every bovate and
they work 2O days in the autumn with one man
for every bovate, and they harrow eight days with
one horse for every 2 bovates, and they do 4 boon-
days as they of Warden, and they cart corn and
hay 6 days, and they carry 8 loads to Durham
in the year or 4 to Aukland, and for every plough
of the vill they plough I acre at Houghton, and
they render hens and eggs as they of Warden.
In ESYNTONA [Easington] and THORPA
[Thorpe] there are 31 villeins and every man
holds, renders, and works as the villeins of Boldon.
Simon holds half a carucate and renders 10 shillings
and goes on the bishop's errands. Geoffrey Coke-
smith holds half a carucate and renders 10 shillings
and goes on the bishop's errands. The carpenter
of ploughs holds 8 acres for his service. The
smith 8 acres for his service. The pinder holds
8 acres and renders 80 hens and 500 eggs. The
two vills render 30 shillings of cornage and two
milch cows. The mills of Easington and Shotton
render 8 marks. The demesne is at farm with
a stock of 4 ploughs and 2 harrows and renders
24 marks. The sheep with the pasture are in
the hand of the bishop.
In SIOTTONA [Shotton] there are 17 villeins
and every man holds, renders, and works as the
villeins of Boldon. Robert Chet holds 2 bovates
and renders 5 shillings and does 4 boon-days in
the autumn ; he ploughs and harrows I acre and
goes on the bishop's errands. William Lorymer
holds I bovate and renders 3 shillings and goes
on the bishop's errands. Saddok holds I bovate
for 3 shillings and goes on the bishop's errands.
The smith I bovate of 15 acres for his service.
The whole vill renders 2O shillings* of cornage
and one milch cow. Thomas the pinder holds
8 acres and renders 40 hens and 300 eggs and
3 'shillings. The demesne is at farm with a stock
of 3 ploughs and 2OO sheep and renders 24 chal-
ders of wheat and the same amount of oats and
for the sheep 4 marks.
Walter de Buggethorpe holds the vill of
TUISELA • [Twizell] in exchange for the half
of CLACSTONA [Claxton] and renders 30 shillings
and goes on the great hunt with one hunting-dog
and when the common aid comes he ought to
give 2 shillings in addition.
Adam son of John held ErHEREDESACREs[Edder-
acres] in exchange for the land which his father
held in Great Halctona [Haughton]. Afterward
he sold the half of the same vill to Neal, brother
of John the clerk, to be held of the bishop in
chief, and he renders for the same half a mark.
And Drew of Middleham for the other half,
which he has in pledge of the aforesaid Adam,
renders in like manner half a mark.
The Prior and Canons of GISBURNA [Guis-
borough] hold TREMEDUNA* [Trimdon] in free,
pure, and perpetual alms quit of all rent and ser-
vice forever.
In QUERINGDONSHIRE [Quarringtonshire],
namely, in NORT SIRBURNE [North Sherburn] and
SHADEFORD (Shadforth) and CAZEHOPE [Cassop]
there are 5 1 villeins, and every man holds, renders,
and works as they of Boldon. Also in North Sher-
burn, Ulkill holds 2 bovates for 40 pence of rent
and goes on the bishop's errands. And Thomas of
Shadforth holds 2 bovates for 40 pence of rent
and goes on the bishop's errands. In Cassop
William of Kent holds 4 bovates for half a mark
and goes on the bishop's errands.
In SOUTH SHERBURN [Suthshirburne] Christian,
the mason, holds 40* acres, which the bishop gave
him from the moor, for 5 shillings, and 2 bovates
which used to belong to Arkill for 14 pence, but of
these he shall be quit while he is in the service of
i A : 60.
»A : 12.
A: 25.
* A : 1 1 shillings.
« Stovvc MS. : Suyfela.
1 Stowe MS. : Trendon.
329
• A : 60.
42
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
the bishop for his work as mason. Watling, with
Sama his wife, holds 4 bovates and renders half
a mark. Also 5 firmars hold there every man
1 2 acres and renders 2 shillings and i hen and
2O eggs, and does 4 boon-days in the autumn, and
for every one of their ploughs they plough I acre.
Also there are 10 cottiers there, every man of
whom holds 6 acres, and they work from
Lammas-day to Martinmas two days in the
week, and from Martinmas to Lammas-day one
day in the week. The smith holds 12 acres
there for making the iron gear of the ploughs.1
The pinder of Quarringtonshire holds 20 acres,
and renders 120 hens and 1,000 eggs. The
demesne of Sherburn is at farm with a stock of
2 ploughs and 2 harrows, and renders 6 pounds.
Thedemesneof 4ploughs of Queringdona [Quar-
rington] and the sheep with the pasture are in
the hand of the bishop. The reeve holds I bo-
vate there for his service. The smith 12 acres
for his service. Quarringtonshire renders 75*
shillings of cornage and 3 milch cows.
WHITEWELL [Whitwell], which William holds
in exchange for the land which Merimius used
to hold in Quarrington, renders half a mark.
In TRILLESDEN [Tursdale] there are 24 bovates,
every one of 1 5 acres, and every 2 bovates render
5 shillings of rent and 2 hens and 20 eggs, and
they plough and harrow i acre at Quarrington,
and they do 4 boon-days in the autumn with
2 men. The mill is in the hand of the bishop,
and is not yet put to farm ; in like manner also
the toft of the hall and the orchard (virgultum)
and the woodland (nemus) and the meadows.
In SEGGEFELD [Sedgefield] there are 20 villeins,
and every man holds, renders, and works as they
of Boldon. Also there are in the same vill 20
firmars, every man of whom holds 3 bovates
and renders 5 shillings, and ploughs and harrows
half an acre, and finds 2 men for mowing 2 days
and the same number for raking and piling hay,
and i cart for 2 days for carrying corn and hay
in the same manner. And all the firmars do
4 boon-days in the autumn with their entire
household except the housewife. John the reeve
has 2 bovates for his service, and if he give up
the office of reeve he shall render and work as
the other firmars. The smith i bovate for the
iron gear of the ploughs which he makes, and he
finds coal. The carpenter 12s acres for making
and repairing ploughs and harrows. The pinder
12 acres, and thraves as the others, and he
renders 40* hens and 200 6 eggs. Five bordars
hold 5 tofts and render 5 shillings and do 4 boon-
days. The toll of beer 3 shillings. The villeins
render 20 shillings of cornage, the whole vill i
milch cow. The mill renders 6 marks. The
mill pond of FISSBURNA [Fishburn] 2 shillings.
William of Aldacres 16 shillings. Utred of
1 A : of 2 ploughs.
»A: 78.
8 Stowe MS. : z. * A : 24. 6 A ; 400.
Butterwick, for the land which he holds there,
half a mark.
William holds HERDEWYK [Hardwick] and
renders 10 shillings.
In MIDELHAM [Middleham] and CORNFORD
[Cornford] there are 26 villeins, and every man
holds,renders, and works as they of Boldon. Arkell
holds in Middleham 4 bovates and renders 14
shillings. Ralf 2 bovates and renders IO shillings
and 5 cartloads of wood. Seven cottiers, of whom
every man holds 6 acres and works from Lammas-
day to Martinmas, 2 days in the week, and from
Martinmas to Lammas-day i day in the week.
Four bordars render for 4 tofts and crofts, 4 shil-
lings and do 4 boondays. William the reeve
holds 2 bovates in Cornford for his service, and
when he lays down the reeveship he renders
4 shillings of rent, and for a certain other bovate
which he holds there he renders 2 shillings. The
two vills render 1 7 shillings and 4 pence of corn-
age and i cow. The demesne as well of Middle-
ham as of Cornford, with the meadows and
pasture and sheep, is in the hand of the bishop.
In GERMUNDESWEYA [Garmundsway] there
are 5 bovates which used to belong to Ralf Haget,'
which the bishop has of his escheat, and they
render 1 6 shillings and 8 pence and 10 hens and
100 eggs. And the bishop has there 4 bovates
of his purchase which are lying waste.
In MAYNESFORD [Mainsforth] there are 17
bovates of escheat and purchase, of which 8 render
2O shillings and 8 hens and 80 eggs,? and they
cart corn one day and hay another, and they do
4 boon-days for every 2* bovates with i man ;
9 other bovates lie in pasture with the moor.
Robert of Mainsforth holds the rest of the vill in
free service.
In NORTONA [Norton] there are 30 villeins,
every man of whom holds 2 bovates, and they
render and work in all ways as they of Boldon,
excepting cornage, which they do not give for
the lack of pasture. In the same vill 20 firmars
hold 40 bovates and render for every 2 bovates
half a mark, and they plough and harrow half an
acre, and find 2 men for 2 days for mowing, and
the same number for raking and piling hay, and
2 carts for I day or I for 2 days for carting corn,
and the same number for carting hay. And all
the firmars do 4 boon-days in the autumn with
their entire household except the housewife.
Alan of Normanton holds one carucate for
10 shillings and finds 22 men to work for i day
or for part,9 as need be, and he finds 4 carts i
day or 2 for 2 days for carting corn and in like
manner for carting hay, and if he has men they
shall do 4 boon-days in the autumn with the
6 Stowe MS. : Hager.
7 Stowe MS. : i hen and 4 eggs.
8 Stowe MS. omits the 2.
* The reading of the Auditor's MS. ' vel partita '
seems here more satisfactory than the ' vel pro toto ' of
the other MSS.
330
BOLDON BOOK
entire household except the housewife, but he and
his own household shall be quit. Geoffrey of
Hardwiclc holds 36 acres of the land of North-
tona juxta Herdewic [Norton by Hardwick],
and renders 2 marks at the bishop's pleasure.
The mills have 8 acres and the meadows near the
mill, and render 20 marks. The pinder has
8 acres and thraves of corn of Norton, like the
others, and renders 80 hens and 500 eggs.
Twelve cottiers hold tofts and crofts in the same
vill and 13 acres in the fields, and they render
1 6 shillings and scatter hay, which they rake and
help in making hayricks and in stacking corn and
hay.1 The meadow of Northmeadows is in the
bishop's hand. The toll of beer of Norton
renders 5* shillings. And the whole vill renders
2 milch cows.*
BUTERWYK [Butterwick] renders 32 shillings
and 9 pence* of cornage and i milch cow and
8 scot-chalders of malt and the same of meal and
the same of oats. And every plough (-team) of
the villeins ploughs and harrows 2 acres at Sedge-
field. And the villeins do 4 boon-days for every
house with i man. And they cart a tun of wine
and the millstone of Sedge-field. The dreng keeps
a dog and horse and goes on the great hunt with
2 hunting-dogs and 5 ropes, and does suit of
court and goes on errands.
BRADFERTONA [BrafFerton] renders 24 shillings
and i^ pence* of cornage and I milch cow and
I castleman, and 5 chaldersof malt and the same
of meal and the same of oats. Henry* goes on
the great hunt with 2 hunting-dogs and 5 ropes
and does suit of court, but keeps neither a horse
nor a dog.
BYNCESTRE [Binchester] renders 5 shillings of
cornage and I milch cow and I castleman and
4 chalders of malt and the same of meal and the
same of oats. And every plough of its villeins
ploughs and harrows 2 acres at Condona [Coun-
don]. And every one of them does 3 boon-days
in the autumn for every bovate with I man,
and carts a tun of wine and a millstone to Auk-
land. The dreng keeps a horse and a dog and
goes on the great hunt with 2 hunting-dogs and
5 ropes, and does suit of court and goes on errands.
URPATH [Urpath] renders 60 shillings rent at
the four terms, and ploughs and harrows 8 acres
at Chester, and does 4? boon-days in the autumn,
every boon-day with 24 men and a fourth boon-
day with 12 men. The dreng keeps a dog and
a horse and goes on the great hunt with 2 hunting-
dogs and 1 5 ropes, and carts a tun of wine and a
millstone to Durham and does suit of court and
goes on errands and mends the half of the mill-
1 A : 6 shillings and work each for 14 days in the
year and do 4 boon-days in the autumn.
»A: 3.
* Stowe MS. reads ' marcas ' for ' vacca*.'
* A : 32 shillings. • A : 3$ pence.
* A : Thoma*.
'A: 3-
pond and mill-house of Chester with the men of
Chester.
In BEDLYNGTONA [Bedlington] there are 80
bovates and every one is of 16 acres and renders
4 shillings rent and i wagonload of wood, and
they mow the whole meadow and lift and cart
the hay and make hayricks. And with the help
of the other vills of Bedlingtonshire they cart
timber and millstones, and in like manner they
make the mill-pond, and in like manner they
enclose the court and cover in the hall, and in
like manner they prepare the fish-pond, and in
like manner they carry loads as far as Newcastle
and as far as Fenwyc [Fenwick] and no further.
Robert Hugate holds in the same vill 21* acres,
which were waste, and renders 40 pence, and in
another part 6» acres and renders thence 44 pence.
Guy holds i toft and i croft and renders 1 2 pence.
Seven cottiers render 8 shillings. Peter of Est-
likburna [East Sleckburn] holds 6 acres there.
Every bovate renders I hen.
WESTLIKBURNA [West Sleckburn] renders
6-£ marks of rent and carries the writs of the
lord bishop as far as the Tweed, and goes on
errands and does suit of court, and the vill builds
the mill and the mill-pond, with one man
from every house, and they carry loads as far as
Newcastle and Fenwick, when they go there for
themselves. And they enclose the court and
cover in the hall and provide the fish-pond like the
men of Bedlington. Turkill, who was the man
of the bishop, renders 12 hens for his quittance
to the bishop. Edwin renders 12 hens. Patrick
renders i pound of pepper.
NEDIRTONA [Netherton] renders 5 marks of
rent and carries loads and renders other services
like West Sleckburn.10 Robert son of Gospatric
8 A : 12. » A : II.
10 The text is here relieved of a long passage inter-
polated in all of our MSS. Although it forms no
part of Bishop Pudsey's survey, it has considerable
historical value, and is accordingly printed here : —
' It is to be noted that the lord Walter bishop of
Durham granted to all the free men and their tenants
of Netherton, Great Sleckburn and Cambois, who
hold the aforesaid vills for 1 2 carucates of land with
appurtenances, that they and their heirs should be quit
of the carriage of the victuals of the bishop himself,
and of the steward and constable of Durham, namely,
from Bedlington to Fenwick and from Bedlington to
Gateshead ; and that they should be quit of roofing
the bishop's hall at Bedlington and of repairing the
bishop's walls about his court, and of conveying his
timber to his mill, and of roofing the mill, and of
making or mending the mill-pond, and of carrying
millstones. They shall be quit as well of merchet and
aid except when the free men of the bishoprick give
an aid, and of carrying the bishop's writs and of
making or repairing the fish-pond. And for the
relief from this service they shall give the bishop every
year half a mark for every carucate. The aforesaid
lord bishop granted that all the aforesaid men of the
aforesaid vills should grind their corn at the sixteenth
measure, aud that they should be free from suit of
331
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
renders 24 hens. Arnold son of Utred 12 hens.
William Neuton 6 hens. Ralf son of William
12 hens.1
CHABINGTONA [Choppington] renders 4 marks
of rent, and carries loads and performs other ser-
vices like West Sleckburn.
CAMBOISE [Cambois] renders 4 marks 2 shil-
lings and 8 pence and carries loads and performs
otherservices like West Sleckburn. The brothers
Edmund and Robert render 1 2 hens.
ESTLIKBURNA [East Sleckburn] renders 4 marks
4 shillings and 8 pence of rent and 40 hens, and
carries loads and performs other services like those
of West Sleckburn. A certain cottier renders
12 pence.
The mills of Bedlingtonshire render 24 marks.
In NORHAM [Norham] Swarbrand holds i ca-
rucate of land and renders 20 shillings a year
at the four terms appointed in the bishopric.
Eustace son of Roger holds half a carucate and
renders in like manner 10 shillings. Jordan holds
half a carucate and renders 10 shillings, and for
the land which he has in Galoring 5 shillings.
Eribbe * for the land which he has in Galoring
1 mark. Elwald Langstirapp holds half a carucate
and renders 10 shillings. Richard son of William8
holds half a carucate and renders 10 shillings.
Isaac for one culture which is called Counterig
half a mark, and for Bothil 10 shillings.
multure and for this grant they will give for every
carucate of land half a mark a year. The sum of
this relief of service, in money, 12 marks. But the
lord bishop (A : Dominus Antonius episcopus.
Stowe MS. : Dominus autem episcopus) granted to
Robert of Choppington and Agnes Maydok, that they
should be quit of all the aforesaid services, and that
they should grind their corn as is said above and that
they should be free of suit of multure, and they hold
two carucates of land with appurtenances in Chop-
pington. And for this relief they will give 25;. every
year, of which the aforesaid Robert will give 2O/. and
Agnes 5*. — the sum 2$s.
The lord bishop Walter granted to Robert of Pain,
Edmund son of Edmund, John son of Patrick, Law-
rence son of Edward, Walter son of William, Robert
son of Henry, Thomas son of Edmund, and Henry
son of Peter, who hold Little Sleckburn for 4 caru-
cates with appurtenances ; that they should be quit of
all the aforesaid services and they shall give for the
relief from this service half a mark annually for every
carucate. And they may grind their corn as is said
above, and they shall give for the relief from this ser-
vice half a mark for every carucate of land. And they
shall be quit of the toll of beer and of the 40 hens
which they used to render. And for this concession
and relief they will give in common every year
2 marks. The sum of Little Sleckburne 5 marks.
The fishery of Cambois is farmed to Adam Cam-
bois (A : Chamus) and his heirs for 3/. annually, freely
and quietly.
The lord bishop Walter absolved John son of
Thomas of Bedlington from servitude for ever.
1 A : 12 pence.
8 A : Cube. » A : Richard son of Ulkill.
The borough of Norham with the toll and
stallages and forfeitures of the same borough
25 marks. The mills of Norhamshire and the
mills of Elandshire (Islandshire) 80 marks. The
waters of the bishop 16 marks and 44 pence.
The demesne of Norham is at farm with a stock
of 3 ploughs and 3 harrows, and with sown land
and with the services of the villeins of Grendona
[Grindon] and with the services of Adam of
Tornet' [Thornton] and renders 16 marks. But
there remain in the hand of the bishop the
meadows and pastures of Norham and the ser-
vices of the villeins of Grindon, as much as are
needed for mowing the meadows of Norham and
lifting and carting the hay.
CORNEHALL [Cornhill] renders 12 pounds.*
TILMOUTH [Tillemouth] performs the service
of a half a knight.
HETONA [Hetton] in like manner the service
of half a knight.
TWISELE [Twysell] andDuDEHowE [Dudhoe] 6
20 marks, and to the general aid i mark or less
and 5 pounds of relief.
Stephen of Grindon 4 marks and to the
general aid i mark or less and 20 shillings of
relief.
Ten villeins and a half of GRENDONA [Grindon]
render 21 shillings rent and they work through
the whole year, every one with one man 2 days
in every week, and they plough and harrow for
every carucate of theirs I acre, and every man
renders 2 hens at Christmas and 20 eggs at
Easter, and they mow the meadows of Norham
and lift the hay and carry it, and they carry
loads and go on errands while the bishop is in
the neighbourhood. The land which used to be-
long to Wynday of Grindon renders 20 shillings.
The land at rent, 7 shillings and 6 pence.6
NEWBIGINGA [Newbiggin], 40 shillings.
UPSETLINGTUN [Upsetlington], 40 shillings.
The gage (vadium) of the bishop which he
has from the wife of Maubert 50 shillings.
TORENT [Thornton] renders 40 shillings, and
shall plough and harrow for every plough of the
vill i acre, and finds in every week in the
autumn 2 men from every house except the
house of the dreng, and they shall carry the corn
of the lord bishop 1 and do the services of the
mill, and they shall carry the rent to Durham.
In HORNECLYFFE [Horncliff] there are 18 vil-
leins of whom every man has 2 bovates, and
renders 2 chalders of wheat,® and works from
Martinmas to Whitsunday one day in the week
with one man, from Whitsunday to Martinmas
2 days in the week with one man, and does
4 boon-days in the autumn with his entire house-
hold except the housewife, and shall plough and
4 Stowe MS. omits. 6 Stowe MS : Audeham.
8 A : 7 shillings.
1 A adds : until it has been carried, and shall
make the bishop's houses.
8 A : 2 oras de firma.
332
BOLDON BOOK
harrow I acre for every plough, and shall give
2 hens at Christmas.
In WEST AUKLAND [West Aukland] there are
1 8 villeins who hold 18 l bovates and render for
every bovate 5 shillings, and find in the autumn
for every bovate 2 * men for reaping, and they mow
the whole meadow and make the hay and carry it
and then they have a dole once, and they cart corn
for 2 days and they render 1 2 8 hens and 1 80 eggs
and I milch cow, and they carry 3 loads between
Tyne and Tees. William Coupem holds 2 bovates
and renders 4 shillings of rent, and ploughs and
harrows half an acre and does 3 boon-days in the
autumn and goes on the bishop's errands between
Tyne and Tees. Utting son of Robert * holds
1 bovate and renders 40 shillings and ploughs
and harrows half an acre and does other services
like William. Uttred of Quilnerby holds ' 2 bo-
vates and renders half a mark and ploughs I acre
and does other services like William. Hugh
Bridmund holds8 2 bovates and renders half a
mark and ploughs I acre and does other services
like William. The brothers William, Geoffrey,
and Norman ^ hold 2 bovates and render I mark 8
and plough I acre and do other services like
William. Alan Fullo' (holds) i toft and I croft for
2 shillings,10 and he does 4 boon-days. And
4 other cottiers for their tofts and crofts render
4 shillings and 4 pence and do boon-days. Elstan
the dreng held 4 bovates and rendered 10 shil-
lings and did 4 boon-days in the autumn with all his
tenants except his own household, and ploughed
and harrowed 2 acres and went on the bishop's
errand between Tyne and Tees at his own cost,
and found 4 oxen for carting wine ; and that
land is now in the hand of the bishop until
Elstan's son be of age. From that land the lord
bishop has remitted 1 2 acres quit to the wife of
Elstan for the support of her sons, but the rest of
that land renders 13 shillings of rent and does
the other services which Elstan used to do.
All the villeins of ALCLETSHiRE[Auklandshire],
namely of North Aclet [Aukland] and West
Aukland and Escumba [Escombe] and Newtona
[Newton] find for every bovate I rope for the
bishop's great hunts, and they build the
bishop's hall in the forest 60 feet in length and
1 6 feet in breadth within the posts with a but-
tery and a larder and a chamber and a privy.
Also they build a chapel 40 feet in length and
15 feet in width, and they have 2 shillings as a
favour (de caritate), and they make their part of
the hedge about the lodges. And on the bishop's
departure they have a full tun of beer, or the half
of one if he remained away. And they must
1 Stowe MS. : 21. • A : 3.
» A: 18. * A: Aldred.
8 A : Uttred the forester and Richard hold.
' A : Hugh and Godemund hold.
7 A : John, Robert, and Julian.
« A: half a mark.
• A : Edwin. 10 A : 12 pence.
keep the eyries of falcons in the district of Ralf
Callidus. And they construct 1 8 booths in the
fair of St. Cuthbert. Moreover all the villeins
and firmers go on the roe-hunt (rahunt) at the
summons of the bishop, and to the service of the
mills of Auklandshire.
In PARVA CONDUNA [Little Coundon], there
are 1 2 cottiers, every man of whom holds 6 acres
and works from Lammas to Martinmas 2 days in
the week, and contrariwise i day in the week,
and they do 4 boon-days and render i hen and
100 eggs. The demesne of 6 ploughs in
Greater Coundon with pasture and sheep is in
the hands of the bishop.
Geoffrey u of Lutrington renders 20 shillings
for his vill of LUTRINGTONA [Lutrington], and
does 3 boon-days in the autumn with all his men,
excepting his own household, and goes on the
bishop's errands and finds 4 oxen for carting
wine, and goes on the bishop's great hunts.
Peter rendersS shillings for his vill of HENKNOLLE
[Henknoll], and finds 4 oxen for carting wine.
In WYTEWORTH [Whitworth] there are 1 6 vil-
leins, every man of whom holds i bovate of
2O acres and renders and works (in) all things.1'
Thomas de Acley holds WHITWORTH A [Whit-
worth] for the free service of the fourth part of
one knight.
Ralf of Binchester holds HUNEWYC [Hun-
wick] and renders 8 shillings of rent and 4 shillings
for Robert's assart. The assart of Byres \ mark.
HARPERLEIA [Harperley] renders 2O shillings.
In WOLSINGHAM [Wolsingham] there are
300 acres which the villeins hold and render
9 marks of rent, and they reap and cart all the
bishop's corn of the demesne of Wolsingham
with the help of the bishop's oxen, and they mow
the whole meadow of Bradleia [Bradley] and
lift the hay and cart it, and they do 180 days*
work at the bishop's order, and they cart
1 2O loads of wood, and they do I boon-day at
Bradwode [Broadwood] with the entire house-
hold except the housewife, and 4 boon-days at
Wolsingham, and at all their boon-days they have
a dole, and when they mow the meadows and
cart the corn and hay every man has a loaf of
bread. William the priest holds 40 acres and
renders I mark. James his son holds 60 acres
at Grenwelle [Greenwell] and renders I mark.
Walter Croc 6 acres and renders 3 shillings
and 2 pence, and goes on the bishop's er-
rands, and is over the workmen in reaping
and mowing. Roger the man of Gilbert of
Middlcham 9 acres, and he renders 5 shillings
and goes on errands and is over the workmen.
Roger of Bradley 40 acres at Bradley and he
renders half a mark, does the service of the forest,
namely 40 days in the fawning (fonneton) and rut-
" A : Walter.
1J In Stowe MS. the entry ends abruptly here, and
there is a space of one line before the note of Thomas
de Acley's tenure ; cf. sup. App. II.
333
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
ting (ruyth] times. William Noble 40 acres in
like manner as Roger aforesaid. And there
Roger and William enclose and keep the mea-
dows at Bradley. Thomas of Fery 22 acres
and he renders 1 1 shillings. Robert of Roanges
22 ! acres, and he does the bishop's service in
the forest and he renders 40 pence. Ralf the
beekeeper has 6 acres for his service in keeping
the bees. Adam the reeve holds 6 acres and
renders 40 pence.2 Henry the shepherd 1 2 acres,
and renders 6 shillings.3 Robert Scot 18 acres,
and he renders 8 shillings and does the service of
the forest like Roger of Bradley. Adam the
clerk 30 acres, and he renders I mark. William
of Gisburne 30 acres, and he renders Id shillings,
but he is quit of these while he is in the bishop's
service. Geoffrey 4 acres, and he renders 2 shil-
lings and is over the workmen at the boon-days.
The gardener holds 5 acres for his service of the
garden. Humfrey holds 4 * acres of the bishop's
alms, and his son 6 acres and makes ploughs.
Three turners (hold) 17 acres, and they render
3,100 trenchers (scutellas), and do 4 boon-daysand
help in mowing the meadows and lifting the hay.
The pinder 6 acres, and he renders 40 hens and
400 eggs. The mills of Stanhope [Stanhope]
and Wolsingham render 10 marks. The de-
mesne of Wolsingham and Rogerleia [Rogerley]
with the stock of 5 ploughs and 3 harrows, and
with sown acres as is contained in the indenture
is at farm and renders 1 6 chalders of wheat and
the same of barley and 70 of oats.
The demesne of BRADWODE [Broadwood] with
the stock of 3 ploughs is in the hand of the
bishop.
In STANHOPA [Stanhope] there are 20 villeins,
of whom every man holds I bovate and renders
2 shillings and works 16 days with I man be-
tween Whitsunday and Martinmas, and carts
corn 4 days with I cart and does 4 boon-days,
and mows the meadows 2 days at the bishop's
costs, and makes the hay and carries it, and when
he makes the hay he has one loaf of bread, and
in like manner when he carries corn ; and he
carries loads and does errands between Stanhope
and Wolsingham, and carries game (venationes) to
Durham and Alclet [Aukland]. Also all the
villeins construct a kitchen, larder, and dog-
kennel (canillum) for the great hunts, and they
find litter (lecticam) for the hall, chapel, and
chamber, and they carry all the bishop's victuals
from Wolsingham to the lodges. Richard of
Gaseley holds 18 acres and renders 8 shillings
in his lifetime, and his heir after him shall
render 10 shillings. The sons of Gamel of
Rogerley hold 60 acres and render 1 8 shillings,
and find one man in the forest 40 days in fawn-
ing and rutting time, and they go on errands.
Belnuf of the Peke 60 acres, and he renders half
a mark in his lifetime, and his heirs after him
1 A : iz. 2 A : 42 pence.
8 A : 10 shillings. * A : 2.
i mark, and he does the same amount of the
service of the forest as the sons of Game!, and he
goes on errands. Richard son of Turkill and
Gamel son of Godric in like manner hold 60 acres
and render I mark and do the service of the
forest like the sons of Gamel, and they go on
errands. Alan Russel and Thore, 60 acres, and
they render 20 shillings and do 4 boon-days in
the autumn with all their men except the house-
wives and their own households. Robert and
Thomas his brother (hold) 30 acres for 10 shil-
lings, and they do 4 boon-days in the autumn
with their whole household except the housewife.
Ethelred and Osbert 30 acres, and they render
10 shillings and they work, each with one man,
8 days in the autumn. Aldred the smith
12 acres and renders 3 shillings. Arkill Hubald
9 acres for 3 shillings and does 4 boon-days like
the others. Collan 6 acres for 2 shillings and
does 4 boon-days. Richard Blount holds 226 acres
and i toft and i croft for 12 pence and does
4 boon-days. Edulf 6 Palefrey holds i toft and
I croft for 6 pence and does 4 boon-days. Mel-
dred the smith i toft and i croft for 18 7 pence
and does 4 boon-days. Ralf i toft for 4 pence
and does 4 boon-days. Meldred I toft for 6 pence
and he does 4 boon-days. Hugh I toft for 1 2 pence
and does 4 boon-days. Goda, i toft for i o pence
and does 4 boon-days. Roger, nephew of Wil-
liam, i toft and 6 acres for 2 shillings. William
Almoner, the elder, i toft for 16 pence. Ralf8
for 12 acres 3 shillings, at the bishop's will.
Lambert the marble mason (marmorariui) 30
acres for his service, as long as he shall be in the
bishop's service, and when he gives up the
bishop's service he renders 2 besants, or 4 shil-
lings. William Wilde holds i toft and croft and
7 acres for his service, and when he lays down
the office of reeve he shall render 2 shillings and
do 4 boon-days. Three widows hold 3 tofts of
the bishop's alms. Alan Bruntoft i toft which
used to render 2 shillings. Four tofts are in the
bishop's hands, without houses, for which mean-
while ii pence are paid. All the villeins and all
the men who hold by rent furnish the mill pond
and carry millstones (the pinder holds 6 acres and
hashisthraves)9 and renders 40 hens and 400 eggs.
Ralf Sly (cautus) holds FROSTERLEY [Frosterly]
for half a mark.
In LANGCHESTRE [Lanchester] there are 41
bovates every one of 8 acres which io10 villeins
hold, and they render for every bovate 30 pence,
and with the help of the cottiers they mow the
whole meadow and they lift the hay and cart it, and
they bring up the pannage swine, and while they
are mowing they have a dole once, and when
they bring the swine every man has a loaf of
bread. Liulf holds 60 acres there and renders
« A : 20. « A : Ralf.
7 A : 1 6. 8 A : Ralf < cautus.'
• Stowe MS. omits.
10 A: 20.
334
BOLDON BOOK
16 shillings and goes on the bishop's errands and
goes on the great hunts with one hunting-dog.
L'lkill and Meldred hold 40 acres in like manner
and they render 1 2 shillings and 6 pence and go
on errands. Orm holds in I assart Hi acres and
renders 2 shillings. The wife of Geoffrey the
parson holds I toft and 8 acres of the bishop's
alms. Four cottiers hold 8 acres and render
4 shillings. The pinder holds 6 acres and has
thraves of the vill of Lanchester and renders
40 hens and 300 eggs. The meadows and the
cow pasture (vaccaria) are in the hands of the
bishop. Also 5 bovates of villeinage are waste
and likewise 18 acres which were of the demesne.
The mills render 8 marks, and every 2 bovates
of villeinage find one rope in the great hunt.
CORNSHOWE [Cornsey] and HEDLEY [Hedley],
which Simon the chamberlain holds, render
2 marks, and they cart wine with 12 oxen and
find 5 ropes for the bishop's great hunt. Robert
of Caen renders 12 pence for suit of court at
Durham and so he is quit of that suit. [Walter
son of Hugh of Caen renders 1 2 pence for suit
of court at Sadberge and so he shall be quit of
that suit.]1
GRENCROFT [Greencroft] renders 16 shillings
and carts wine with 4 oxen and the villeins of the
same vill make the twelfth part of the millpond of
Lanchester, but the demesne is quit of that ser-
vice (indt) and carts wine with 4 oxen.
IVESTON [Ivestan] renders 2 marks and I milch
cow and ploughs ij acres at Lanchester and is
in the great hunt with 3 * hunting-dogs and carts
wine with 8 oxen.
Arnold the baker has CORNESHEUED [Conset]
in exchange for Trillesdena [Tursdale] and ren-
ders 24 shillings.
Alan of Chilton holds HELEIE [Hedley], as is
contained in his charter, for Cornford, which he
claimed and which he ought also to defend against
all other claimants and he renders half a mark.
The prior of Durham has MUGLYNGWIC
[Muggleswick] as is contained in his charter
which he has for it, partly of the bishop's gift
and grace and partly in exchange for Herdewic
[Hard wick].
Alan Bruntoft holds EDMUNDBIRES [Edmund-
byers] for his service in the forest, as is contained
in the charter which he has for it.
The land of BLAUNCHELAND [Blanchland]
which belonged to Alan Marshall renders half
a mark.
Robert Corbet holds HUNSTANWORTHA [Hun-
stanworth] for his service in the forest, as is con-
tained in the charter which he has for it.
The hospital of St. Giles holds near the
bounds of Walter de Bolebcc a certain assart and
l Thi» passage, which occur* in all MSS., is none
the less no part of the original text, for Sadberge wa»
not acquired until after the composition of fioldon
Book ; vid. App. II. pp. 64-65.
» A: a.
pasture for feeding swine and cattle for the use
of the poor, which the lord bishop gave to them
in alms.
MEDOMESLEY [Medomsley] renders22 shillings.
HOLNESET [Holmside] renders I mark and
finds I man in the forest 40 days in the fawning
and rutting season and carts wine with 4 oxen.
Philip son of Hamo holds MIGLEIA* [Migley]
for his service.
Acto the steward has LANGLEIA [Langley] as
well for the service which he rendered to the
lord Henry* of good memory, bishop of Win-
chester, as well as that which he rendered to the
lord Hugh bishop of Durham ; half of this (estate)
the same lord bishop bought with his own money
and gave to the same Acto with the service of
the other half, and he renders for it half a mark.
EDMANSLEY [Edmonsley] renders 32 pence.*
Gilbert the chamberlain has the service of
Ralf Canute of Bursebred [Bursblades] in ex-
change for the island of Bradbire [Bradbury]
which he ought to warrant to the lord bishop.
In WITTONA [Witton] and FULFORD [Ful-
forth] there are 24$ bovates which the villeins
hold, each is of 8 acres and each renders 2 shillings
and i hen and 10 eggs, and they plough and
harrow i day, and they mow the meadows and
lift the hay and cart it, and they weed i day and
reap all the corn and cart it, and in all these
works they have a dole. Theobald holds i bovate
and renders 3 shillings without work. Hugh
holds 2 bovates without service, at the bishop's
pleasure. The demesne of one plough is in the
hand of the bishop. The mill renders 2 marks.
CRUKTONA [Crook] renders 4 marks.
POKERLEIA [Pokerly] renders 2 shillings.
Robert of Rogershall * holds the land of
Smaleia [Smallees] for 2 shillings freely.
BRiTLEiA7 [Birtley] and TRIBLEIA [Tribley]
render 20 shillings and go on the great hunt with
two hunting-dogs.8
Philip of Gildeford holds REYHERMORE [?Byer-
moor] by the service of the twentieth part of one
knight. ,
In QUYKHAM [Whickham] there are 30 villeins
each one of whom holds I bovate of 1 5 acres
and they used to render 16 pence and to work
the whole year 3 days in the week and also to
* Stowe MS. : Ungeleia.
* Henry of Blois helped Pudsey to secure the
bishopric of Durham ; see Coldingham, ch. ii. in
Scrip tores Tret. p. 5.
•A: 22.
* A : Cogesalle.
1 Stowe MS. : Birdeia.
8 At this point all the MSS. give the following
entry : ' Marley renders I mark and goes on the great
hunt with one hunting-dog, it is quit of other ser-
vices by the charter of bishop Philip.' As Philip of
Poitou, the first bishop bearing that Christian name,
sat at Durham, 1197-1208, it is impossible that the
passage as it now stands could have formed part of
the original survey ; cf. App. II.
335
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
do 3 boon-days in the autumn with the entire house-
hold except the housewife and a fourth boon-day
with 2 men and in their work they used to mow
the meadows and to lift and cart the hay and to
reap all the corn and cart it in like manner in
their work, and outside their work to plough for
every plough 2 acres of oats and to harrow it
and then once to have a dole. And in their
work they used to make a house 40 feet in length
and 15 feet in breadth and carry loads by horse
and cart like the villeins of Boldon, and when-
ever they reaped the corn and mowed the
meadows and did boon-days they used to have a
dole. Further they used to render 9 shillings
of cornage and i milch cow l and for every
bovate i hen and 10 eggs. And in their work
they used to make 3 fisheries on the Tyne. The
prior of Guisboro' * holds 2 bovates and I fishery
there of the bishop's alms. Gerard the reeve
holds 24 acres for his service and those 24 acres
used to render 21 shillings. The mill used to
render 4 marks, the fishery 3 pounds,8 and the
demesne of 4* ploughs was then in the hand of
the bishop. But now the aforesaid manor of
Whickham is at farm with the demesne and
the villeins and the mill and with the stock of
2 ploughs and 2 harrows and 20 chalders of oats
by the bishop's measure and with the fishery, and
it renders 26 pounds and it does carting from
Gatesheued [Gateshead] to Durham and from
Gateshead to Bedlyngton [Bedlington], and in
the farm 2 pence are reckoned for every horse,
and they cart one tun of wine. The pinder of
Whickham holds 6 acres and he has thraves like
the others and renders 60 hens and 300 eggs.
And the 35 villeins render 35 hens and 350
eggs.
The land of SUALWELS [Swallwells] renders
1 6 shillings.
William son of Arnold renders i mark for a
certain assart of 16 acres.
Eudo of Lucelles holds in FARNACRES [Farn-
acres] i carucate of 120 acres for the tenth part
of the fee of one knight. Robert de Yolton
holds the land which used to belong to the
hermit on the Derwent and renders i besant or
2 shillings.'
1 Stowe MS. : ' marcam ' for ' vaccam.'
* A : Brinkburn.
I A : 3 marks.
*A: 2.
II Land of this sort was generally granted from the
bishop's demesne, but the nature of the hermit's
tenure seems doubtful. The case came up early in
the thirteenth century in connexion with the aliena-
tion to the prior of Durham of land which a hermit
had held by the charter of bishop Pudsey. A monk
testified that the right to alien was in the terms of
the gift. The sub-prior, who said that he had seen
a papal confirmation of Pudsey's charter, declared that
the tenement contained about fifty acres, cut out of
the bishop's forest. — Attestaciones Testium, etc. in
FeoJarium, pp. 240, 244, 277, 279, 280, 301.
The men of Ryton hold the vill of RITONA
[Ryton] at farm with the demesne and the
assize rents and the mill and the services with
the stock of i plough and i harrow and 20 chalders
of oats at the bishop's measure and with the
fishery, and they render 14 pounds and they
carry loads as they of Whickham, and with
Craucrok [Craucrook] they carry one tun of
wine. The pinder holds 5 acres and has thraves
as the others and renders 30 hens and 300 eggs.
And the villeins of the same vill 24 hens and
200 eggs.
CRAUCROK [Craucrook] is at farm with the
villeins and the demesne6 with a stock of i plough
and i harrow and renders beyond the assize rents
1 6 J marks, and renders of assize rents 4^ marks,
and i milch cow and 14 chalders of malt and
the same of flour and the same of oats and
I castleman, and carts with Ryton one tun of
wine.
The son of William the moneyer holds
STELYNGLEYE [Stella] according to (per) the just
bounds which the bishop caused to be peram-
bulated for him, and renders i mark for the land
which used to belong to Meldred son of Dolfin.
WYNLAKTONA [Winlaton] and BERLEIA [Bar-
low] are at farm with the demesne and the villeins
without stock and they render 1 5 pounds. They
mow the meadows for 2 days, every one with
one man and then they have a dole, and they
lift the hay and cart it for i day. The marsh,
meadow, and woodland (nemus) are in the hand
of the bishop. The mill renders 5J marks.7
SUNDERLAND [Sunderland] is at farm and
renders 100 shillings. Roger de Audry renders
for the millpond established on the land of Sun-
derland i mark.
WIVESTONA [Weston] is at farm with the
demesne and the mill and the villeins and the
services with a stock of 2 ploughs and 2 harrows
and renders 12 marks.
NEUSOM [Newsham] renders 10 pounds.
BEREFORD [Barford] renders 3 marks. Luke
of Barford renders 3 shillings. Aldred Boner of
the same vill renders 2 shillings of rent and
7 pence of cornage.
MAGNA USEWORTH [Great Usworth] renders
30 shillings of cornage and i milch cow and
I castleman and 8 scotchalders of malt and the
same of meal and the same of oats ; and every
plough-land, except the demesne, ploughs and
Tenure of this sort would seem to have been a
mode of alms. The tenant had the obligation ' pro
se et universis Christi fidelibus preces effundere.' In
France many towns maintained a sort of professional
hermit, and the position seems to have been much
sought after. See Ch. Boudet, Documents inlJits sur
let Recluseries au Moyen 2ge ; Aurillac, 1902 (Ex-
trait de la Revue de la Haute Auvergne) and Biblio-
theque de 1'ficole des Chartes, Ixiv. 384-386. (May-
Aug. 1903).
' A. adds — and the mill. 7 Stowe MS. omits.
336
BOLDON BOOK
harrows 2 acres. And the villeins do 4 boon-
days in the autumn, every boon-day with 26 men,
and those services which they used to do at
Wessyngtona [Washington] they now do at
Gateshead, and they carry one tun of wine and
a millstone to Durham. The dreng keeps a dog
and a horse and goes on the great hunt with
2 hunting-dogs and 5 ropes and does suit of court
and goes on errands. The mill of the same vill
renders 10 shillings.
Two parts of HERINGTONA [Herrington)
which Hugh of Hermas holds render 20 shillings
of cornage and two parts of a milch cow and
two parts of one castleman and 8 scotchalders as
well of malt as of meal and oats, and they plough
and harrow 4 acres at Newbottle and they do
boondays with 12 men in the autumn. The
dreng keeps a dog and a horse, as far as is in-
cumbent on two parts of a drengage, and goes
on the great hunt with two parts of two hunt-
ing-dogs and carts two parts of a tun of wine
and does suit of court and goes on errands.
HOTONA [Hutton] renders 35 shillings of
cornage and I milch cow and I castleman and
8 scotchalders of malt and the same of meal and
the same of oats. Richard and Utred plough
and harrow 2 acres at Shotton, and every plough
of the vill ploughs and harrows 2 acres. The
villeins do 4 boondays in the autumn with i
man for every bovate. The dreng keeps a dog
and a horse and carts one tun of wine and a
millstone to Durham and goes on the great hunt
with 2 hunting-dogs and 5 ropes and does suit
of court and goes on errands.
HoLOME1 [Holam] renders 2O shillings and
carts wine with 6 oxen.
John holds the half of SHURUTONA [Sheraton]
for 3 marks and is quit of the works and services
which used to be done for the half of that
drengage for Craucrok [Craucrook] which he
quit claimed.
Thomas holds the other half of SHURUTONA
[Sheraton] and renders 30 shillings of cornage
and the half of a milch cow and the half of a
castleman and 4 scotchalders of malt and the
same of meal and the same of oats. And every
plough of the villeins ploughs and harrows 2
acres, and every one of them does 3 boon-days in
the autumn with i man, and carries a half tun
of wine and a millstone to Durham. The
dreng keeps a dog and a horse, as far as is in-
cumbent on the half of a drengage, and goes on
the great hunt with I hunting-dog and 2^ ropes
and 2 men and does suit of court and goes on
errands.
In STOKTONA [Stockton] there are eleven
villeins and a half, every one of whom holds 2
bovatesand renders and works as they ofBoldon,
except cornage. In the same vill 6 firmars hold
9 bovates, and they render and work as they of
Norton. Adam son of Walter holds I carucate
and i bovate of land for i mark. Robert of
Cambois * holds 4 bovates for half a mark, and
I bovate of the bishop's loan (auomodatione), and
is quit of works while he is in the service of the
bishop, still if he shall be out of it he will work
as much as pertains to the half carucate of
Walter. The same Robert has the old toft of
the hall near his house and renders thence
1 6 pence. Edwin and Robert, cottiers, render
for 2 tofts 12 pence. Godwin the cottier
6 pence. Simon s the smith, for i toft, 4 pence.
The pinder holds 6 acres, and has th raves of
Stockton and Herteburna [Hertburn] and Pres-
tona [Preston] like the others, and renders 1 80
hens and 500 eggs. The ferry renders 2O pence.
The whole vill renders I milch cow. One
bovate of land which the bishop has beyond the
Tees over against the hall renders 4 shillings.
In PRESTONA [Preston] there are 7 villeins,
every one of whom holds 2 bovates, and they
render and work as they of Boldon, except
cornage. In the same vill Waldwin holds I
carucate. Adam son of Walter of Stockton,
holds i carucate for lew. and no more (tantum),
Orm son of Coket and William son of Utting
1 carucate, Richard Rund holds half a carucate,
and they render and work in all ways as Alan
of Normanton and Walter of Stockton. The
whole vill renders i milch cow.
In HERTEBURNE [Hertburn] there are twelve
and a half villeins, of whom every one holds 2
bovates and renders and works as the villeins of
Boldon, except cornage. Alan son of Osbert
holds I bovate, and renders and works as one
of the 20 firmars of Norton, as much as belongs
to I bovate. Two cottiers hold tofts and crofts
and 24 acres in the fields, and they render and
work as the cottiers of Norton. * The whole
vill renders I milch cow. The demesne of
Stockton and Hertburn of 10 ploughs with
the meadows are at farm, and they render
2OO chalders of wheat. The pastures with the
sheep are in the hand of the bishop.
In CARLTONA [Carlton] there are 23 firmars
who hold 46 bovates and render for every 2
bovates 10 shillings, and they find for every
2 bovates a cart for carrying corn or hay for
6 days, and they do 4 boon-days in the autumn
with the entire household except the housewife,
and they render for every 2 bovates 2 hens and
2O eggs. Gcrobod holds 4 bovates in the same
vill, and renders 2O shillings, and is quit of works
while he is in the service of the bishop ; if, how-
ever, he be out of it he shall work like the afore-
said firmars at the will of the bishop. Ellis
holds 2 bovates, to be assigned to another when
the bishop wills, and renders 10 shillings. Walter
the miller holds 2 bovates and renders 10 shil-
lings, and 2 shillings for his services. Suma, a
1 Stowe MS. : Bolum.
« A : William dc Tumba.
* A reads — Three cottiers
work 14 day* in autumn.
337
* A : Suane.
hold tofts only
43
and
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
widow, holds 2 bovates, and is quit of rent and
all services in her life-time, and after her death
they shall return to the demesne of the bishop.
William son of Ornix1 holds i carucate and
renders 10 shillings, and is quit of all other
services except that he comes to the great hunt
of the lord bishop with i hunting-dog. The
mill renders 20 baskets (sckeppas) of wheat at the
measure of Jarum.8
Walter de Roth holds GRENDONA [Grendon]
which the bishop bought and gave to him, for
his service, and renders thence 3 besants a year
and is quit of all other services.
In NOVA RIKENHALL [New Ricknall] there
are II villeins, every one of whom holds I
bovate of 20 8 acres, and they work 3 days in
the week from Lammas to Martinmas, and con-
trariwise 2 days in the week, and they do 4
boon-days in the autumn, and every man renders
2 hens and 20 eggs. The demesne of the other
Ricknall of 4 ploughs with the meadows and
pastures and sheep is in the hand of the bishop.
Gilbert holds HEWORTH [Heworth] for 3
marks, and is quit of the ancient works and
services, which he used to do for it as of
thegnage, for Ricknall which he quitclaimed.
In DERLINGTONA [Darlington] there are 48
bovates as well of old villeinage as of new, which
the villeins hold, and they render for every
bovate 5 shillings, and they ought to mow the
whole of the bishop's meadow and to make and
carry the hay and to have a dole once and to
enclose the copse and the court, and to do the
services at the mill which they used to do, and
(to carry) for every bovate i cartload of wood,
and to do carrying-service (facere ladas) on the
bishop's journeys, and moreover 3 carrying ser-
vices a year for carrying wine and herrings and
salt. There are 12 firmars there who hold 12
bovates, and render rent as the villeins, but they
neither work nor go on the bishop's errands. Osbert
Rate4 holds 2 bovates and renders 32 pence,
and goes on errands. The son of Wibert holds
2 bovates, for which William used to render
8 shillings, and now he renders for the same,
with the addition of 4 acres, 10 shillings and
goes on errands. Odo holds I toft of 23 acres
of cultivated land, where mast (fagina) was
sown, and renders 10 shillings only, and in
another part i6£ acres, and of these he renders
10 shillings until Robert son of William de
Mowbray, who is in his wardship, be of age.
Gaufloie 5 20 acres for 40 pence, and goes on
the bishop's errands. Eugeliamus son of Robert
Marshall • 6 acres for 1 2 pence. In like manner
the smith holds 8 acres for the iron gear of the
1 A : William son of Orm.
8 Unless we are to read Jarrow, I cannot explain this.
8 A : 9.
*A: Kate.
6 A : Geoffrey Joie.
6 A : Lambert.
ploughs of Halton and for the small iron work
in the court of Darlington. Four cottiers render
3 shillings 7 for their tofts. The pinder holds
9 acres and has thraves as the others, and renders
100 hens and 500 eggs. The rent of the
borough is 5 pounds, of the dyers of cloth half
a mark.8 The mills of Darlington, Halutona
[Haughton], and Kettona [Ketton] render
30 marks.
In BLAKWELLA [Blackwell] there are 46' bo-
vates, which the villeins hold, and they render
and work in all ways as the villeins of Darling-
ton. Five firmars hold 4 bovates, and they
render and do service as the firmars of Darling-
ton. Thomas son of Robert holds I bovate and
renders 40 pence. Four acres which belonged
to John Russ10 render 16 pence. Adam son of
Ralf, of Stapleton, holds 4 bovates and I culture
of 1 6 acres and 3 rods, and renders 5 shillings and
4 pence, and he shall have charge of the boon-
days and go on the bishop's errands. And the
same Adam renders for the herbage of Bathela
[Batheles] 32 pence. Seven cottiers render
3 shillings and 10 pence.11 Robert Blount for
I little (piece of) land by the Tees 6 pence. Hugh
Punder for i acre 1 2 pence, and I toft of waste.
In COKIRTONA [Cokerton] there are 47 bovates
which the villeins hold, and they render and
work in all ways as the villeins of Darlington.
Four firmars hold 3^ bovates, and they render
and do services as the firmars of Darlington. Six
cottiers render 3 shillings and 10 pence, and they
work in all ways as they of Blackwell.
William holds OXENHALL [Oxenhall], namely
I carucate and 2 cultures of the land of Dar-
lington which Osbert of Selby used to hold at
farm, in exchange for 2 carucates of the land of
Ketton which his father and he used to hold in
drengage, which he quitclaimed for ever to the
bishop and his successors from him and his heirs.
He ought to have a horse-mill, and he and his
land are quit of multure and the service of the
mill and he renders 60 shillings a year. More-
over he does the fourth part of a drengage, that
is that he ploughs 4 acres and sows them with
the bishop's seed, and harrows and does 4 boon-
days in the autumn, namely with all his men
with the entire household, except the housewife,
and a fourth with I man from every house,
except his own house which shall be quit, and
he keeps a dog and a horse for the fourth part
of a year, and he carts wine with 4 oxen,
and does utwart when it is appointed in the
bishopric.
7 A. adds — and help to stack hay, and carry fruit
and work at the mill.
8 A. reads — The borough, dyers and bakehouse!
render 10 marks.
•A: 47-
«>A: Rufus.
11 A : 5 shillings, and help to stack hay, and carry
fruit and work at the mill.
338
BOLDON BOOK
In PARVA HALGHTONA [Little Haughton]
there are 5 men who hold 8 acres, and at the
same time each one a toft and a croft, and they
render 5 shillings and 6 pence, and in another
part they render for 40 acres I mark.
Adam of Selby holds at farm the demesne of
the same place with the stock of 2 ploughs and
2 harrows and with sown acres, as is contained
in his indenture, with the grange and court and
close, and renders 8 marks, and he should find
litter for the lord bishop on his journeys to
Darlington, and moreover he keeps the houses
and the court of the lord bishop at Darlington,
and those things that are affeered there, at his
own expense, in return for a certain piece of
arable land which is called Hacdale, which he
holds in the field of Darlington over against the
hall on the east side beyond the water. The
pasture with the sheep is in the hand of the
bishop, but Adam, if he wish, may have in that
pasture 100 sheep so long as he holds the afore-
said farm. The mill of Burdon, for the damming
of the pond which is dammed on the land of
Halctona [Haughton], 12 shillings.
In GREAT HALGHTONA [Haughton] there are 9
bovates which the villeins hold and they render
for every bovate 12 shillings of rent, and they
hoe corn 4 days for every bovate with I man
and they mow the meadows 2 days for every
bovate with I man and they cart hay i day with
1 cart for every bovate and in like manner corn,
and they work from Lammas to Martinmas 2
days in I week with one man for every bovate,
and another week i day with i man and they
do 4 boon-days in the autumn and every bovate
ploughs and harrows half an acre and harrows
moreover i day with i man and threshes half a
chaldcr of wheat and carts I cartload of wood
and carries loads with horses ; in this manner
they render and work until the bishop wishes to
appoint them otherwise. Gilbert holds 40 acres
for 2 shillings in exchange for the land which
his father held in drengage in the same vill which
he quitclaimed for the aforesaid 40 acres and for
4 marks which the bishop gave to him, and he
ought to have charge of the boondays and to go
on errands. The ion of Aldred holds 40 acres
there in like manner for 2 shillings for the land
which his father held in drengage in the same
vill which he quitclaimed to the bishop for the
aforesaid 40 acres to be held just as freely, and
for 4 marks which the bishop gave him on this
account and in like manner he has charge of the
boondays and goes on errands. Richard Dune
holds 37 acres of cleared land and renders in the
first year 41. The wife of Aldred holds 3 acres
of the bishop's alms. Walter son of Sigge holds
2 bovates of 36 acres for 12 shillings only, at the
bishop's pleasure. There are 9 cottiers there,
every one of whom renders 6 pence and works 9
days and does 4 boondays in the autumn, and
they lift hay. Two tofts are in the hand of the
bishop. Benedict1 of Haughton holds the
demesne at farm with a stock of 4 ploughs and 4
harrows and with sown acres as is contained in
his indenture, and with the grange and byre
(bovaria)) court, and close, and renders 2O marks.
In WESSAWE [Whessoe] there are 14 bovates,
and every bovate renders 12 pence and works I
day in every week in the year, and moreover
they mow the meadows three days and they do
4 boon-days in the autumn with the entire
household except the housewife, and every
plough ploughs and harrows i^ acres and every
bovate carries I cartload of wood and they carry
loads with horses. Tuke holds 2 bovates and
renders 8 shillings, and does 4 boon-days with the
entire household except the housewife and goes
on errands. Orm, his brother, holds 2 bovates
and renders 5 shillings, and does 4 boon-days like
Tuke, and works 13 days in the autumn and
goes on errands. Robert son of Meldred holds
I carucate, and renders 10 shillings and 6 pence
and does 4 boon-days with all his men except his
own household, and he or some one in his place
will be over the boon-works ; and his men plough
and harrow ij acres, and Robert himself keeps a
dog and a horse and does utware as much as
pertains to the fourth part of one drengage and
finds 4 oxen to bring wine. A certain widow
holds I toft and croft and renders 6 pence and
works 8 days and does 4 boondays.
Thomas de Hovyngham > holds the demesne of
KETTONA [Ketton] at form with the stock of 4
ploughs and 4 harrows and with sown acres as is
contained in his indenture, and with the grange
and byre and other buildings which are in the
court which is enclosed with a ditch and hedge,
and he renders 20 marks.
In HEGHYNGTONA [Heighington] there are 16
villeins, each of whom holds 2 bovates and ren-
ders 10 scotchalders of malt, and the same of
meal, and the same of oats, and 63 chalders of
oat-malt (avermalt) by the measure of the hall
of Heighington, and 8 cartloads of wood, and 32
hens, and 1,000 eggs, and 36 shillings of cornage,
and i milch cow, and i castleman. Two
cottiers each hold 1 5 acres and work through the
whole year 2 days in the week [and give with the
villeins their share of the common fine (scat) and
of the milch cow (metridi) and of yolwayting}.*
Three other cottiers hold 4 acres apiece and
work 2 days in the week from Lammas to
Martinmas and contrariwise I day in winter.
The villeins and cottiers hoc all the bishop's corn
of the same vill, and every week in the autumn
they find for every bovate I man to mow and
reap I day, and they do 4 boon-days with their
whole household except the housewife, and then
they have a dole. Moreover every villein ploughs
and harrows half an acre of oat stubble (averere)
1 A : Walter. » Adam de Helmede.
* The portion in bracket* is found only in A.
339
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
and for every plough of the villeins they plough
and harrow I acre and then they have a dole,
and they do I boon-work I day with all the
harrows of the vill. Sixteen of the aforesaid
villeins render 16 shillings of michelmeth and 6
shillings of yolwayting. The reeve holds 2
bovates for his service, and when he lays down
(his office) he shall render like the other villeins.
Thomas the clerk holds 4 bovates for half a mark,
and does 3 boon-works and goes on the bishop's
errands. Hugh Brunne holds, as long as his wife
lives, 2 bovates for 2 shillings, which he gives
toward cornage, and he does 3 boon-works and
goes on errands. I toft renders 6 pence. The
mills of Heighingtonshire render 8 l marks.
The pinder holds 6 acres and has thraves like
the others and renders 80 hens and 500 eggs.
The demesne is at farm with the stock of
3^ ploughs and 3^ harrows and renders for 2
ploughs 1 6 chalders of wheat and 1 6 chalders of
oats and 8 chalders of barley and for i£ ploughs
5 pounds.
All the villeins of Heighingtonshire with the
cottiers mow the bishop's meadows and cart the
hay and enclose the court and orchard (virgultum)
of Heighington. Moreover the villeins carry
loads of corn from the demesne wherever the
bishop wishes between Tees and Wear, and
every man finds I rope for the bishop's great
hunt, and the bishop himself from his hall at
Heighington 15 ropes. Simon the doorward
holds there the land which belonged to Utred
with the increase which the lord bishop made to
him up to 60 acres and renders for all I besant
at Whitsunday.
In KILLIRBY [Killerby] there are 14* villeins
and every one of them holds 2 bovates and they
render ioj8 scotchalders of malt, and as many
of meal and as many of oats and 56* chalders of
oat-malt (avermalt) by the measure of the hall of
Heighington and 76 loads of wood and a86 hens
and i,ooo7 eggs and 37 shillings and 6 pence of
cornage and i milch cow and i castleman, and
I48 shillings of michelmeth and 5 shillings of
yolwayting and they work in all ways like the
villeins of Heighington. Two cottiers render
for 2 tofts and crofts 12* pence and they work
6 days in the autumn. Simon the doorward
holds the demesne for 4 marks.10
In MIDRIGE [Middridge] there are 1 5 villeins
and every one of them holds 2 bovates and they
render 8 scotchalders of malt and the same of
meal and the same of oats, and 40 chalders of
oat-malt by the measure of the hall, and y£ cart-
loads of wood and 30 hens and 1,000 eggs,
and 3 marks of cornage and i milch cow and
8 A : 8J.
"A: 24.
l A: 12. »A: 12.
* A : 48. 6 A : 6.
1 A : ' nulla ' for ' mille.'
8 A: 12. » A: 18.
10 A : holds i carucate of land for the service of the
twelfth part of a knight's fee.
I castleman, and 15 shillings of michelmeth and
5 shillings of yolwayting, and they work in all
ways as they of Heighington. A certain11 cot-
tier has I bovate and works 2 days in the week
through the whole year.1^ And 3 cottiers hold
every man 4 acres and work as they of Heighing-
ton. Wekeman holds half a carucate and
renders 6 shillings and does 3 boon-works and
ploughs and harrows i day and mows I day and
carts hay and corn 2 days and superintends the
boon-works and goes on the bishop's errands.
Anketill holds 2 bovates and renders 3 shillings
and does 318 boon-works and superintends the
boon-works and ploughs and harrows I day and
mows i day and carts hay and corn 2 days and
gives his share of scot and castlemen with the
villeins, and goes on the bishop's errands.
In THIKLEY [Thickley] there are 8 villeins,
and each one of them holds 2 bovates and renders
4 scotchalders of malt and the same of meal and
the same of oats and 32 chalders of oat-malt at
the measure of the hall, and 4 loads of wood and
1 6 hens and i,oooueggs; and 16 shillings of
cornage and half a milch cow and the half of
one castleman and 8 shillings of michelmeth and
32 pence of yolwayting and they work in all
ways as they of Heighington. A certain 16 cot-
tier renders 4 pence and works 6 days in the
autumn. A certain woman 16 holds 3 acres for
6 pence.
The demesne of Middridge and Thickley with
the stock of 4 ploughs with the pastures of
Flakkesdon 17 and Redeworth and with the sheep
is in the hand of the lord bishop.
Guy of Redworth holds a new vill near
Thickley in exchange for Redworth and renders
i mark and finds 12 men I day or i man
1 2 days in the autumn for mowing and ploughs
1 day and works at the milldam and goes
on the bishop's errands, and carts wine with
4 oxen.
In REDWORTHA [Redworth] 1 6 firmars hold
1 6 bovates, and they render for every 2 bovates
5 shillings and 2 hens, and for every bovate they
do 3 boon-works in the autumn with i man and
they reap I day with 8 men and they cart hay I
day with 8 carts and they plough one day.
Three cottiers hold 1 2 acres, and in every week
every man works from Lammas to Martinmas
2 days in the week and contrariwise I day.
SCULACLE [School Aycliffe] renders 1 1 marks.
ALD THIKLEIA [Old Thickley] which was
made of the land of Redworth renders I mark of
cornage at the feast of S. Cuthbert in September.
In NORTH ALCLAND [North Aukland] there
are 12 villeins, of whom every one holds I
bovate and renders 2 chalders of oat malt and I
11 A : Ulkilh
13 A adds : and gives his share of scot with the
villeins.
18 A 14. i* A : 'nulla ova.' «A:Aik.
i« A: John. W A: Sakesdon.
340
BOLDON BOOK
wehit l of scot-malt and one wchit of scot-meal
(icatfariri) and 8 pence of averpenny and 19
pence of cornage and i hen and 20 eggs and 3
wagonloads of wood if they cart it to Aukland,
but if to Durham 2 j- wagonloads, and they work
from Lammas to Martinmas 2 days in the week
and contrariwise I day in the week. Moreover
he does 4 boon-works in the autumn with the
entire household except the housewife. And
every plough of the vill ploughs and harrows
2^ acres beyond the services. The whole vill
renders I milch cow. The reeve has I bovate
for his service. Alan the cobbler holds I toft
and i croft, and renders 4 shillings and does 4
boon-works. Simon the miller holds I toft and
I croft, and renders and works like Alan.
[William Scott, Elstan and William Boie, for
I J acres (render) 1 2 esperducta of wheat.] 8 Eus-
tace the pinder holds 20 acres and has thraves
like the others, and renders 80 hens and 500
1 A local measure.
* Instead of the phrase in brackets A reads : —
' Monk the cook (Monachtu cocuf) holds for his service
at the bishop's will \\ acres which William Scot and
Elscan and William Boie held, and within the park
and without 19 J acres of arable (lucrabifii) land and
lo acre* of land not arable. Humfrey the smith
holds I bovate for his service.'
eggs. The toll of beer renders half a mark.
The mills of Auklandshire 24 marks. [Pollard
holds 10^ acres. Luce Makerell holds I house
near by the lord bishop's orchard, and renders on
the feast of S. Cuthbert half a pound of cummin.
Gatul the smith holds 16 acres for i pound of
pepper, and his heirs (shall hold them) for 2
shillings or 2 swine (worth) 2 shillings.] 8
In ESCUMBA [Escumbe] there are 13 villeins
of whom each one holds and has i bovate, and
renders and works in all ways like the villeins of
North Aukland. A certain collier (carbonarius)
holds I toft and I croft and 4 acres, and finds
coals for the ironwork of the ploughs of Coun-
don. Elabrid holds half a bovate and renders
8 pence of ferm and 9 pence of cornage and
does 4 boon-works and goes on the bishop's
errands and the roehunt (rahunf). Ulf Raning
holds 5 acres, and renders 4 shillings and does 4
boon-works.* Alan Picunderake holds I toft
and I croft and 3 acres, and renders 24 hens
and 300 eggs and does 3 boon-works.
In NEWTONA [Newton] there are 13 villeins
who hold, render and work in all ways as they
of Aukland.
* This is found only in A.
4 A : Humfrey the carter holds 6 acres whick
were Ulf Kaning's, and renders I id. yearly.
341
EARTH
THE VICTORIA HISTORY 0
tfORKS.
IS'
RIFIRINCI
A Promontory Fortrease*
B Rill Fort*, etc.
C Rectangular Camp*, etc-
D Castle Mount*
E Castle Mount* with attached Court*
F Homestead Moats
G Ramparted and Foiled Enclosures, etc.
H Ancient village Site*
X Unclassified Earthworks
• Tumuli, ete.
COUNTIES OF ENGLAND
I
ANCIENT EARTHWORKS
INTRODUCTION
Notwithstanding that much attention has in recent years been devoted
to the study of ancient earthworks and defensive enclosures in Britain, it is
impossible to classify them in perfect chronological order ; nor is there any
hope of accomplishing this desirable end until careful and scientific exploration
is made and properly recorded.
Certain works can, however, be assigned to more or less definite periods ;
for example, fortresses which have yielded evidence of construction by men
of the stone age when the use of metal implements was unknown; enclosures
proved to be of the age when bronze had largely supplanted stone as the
material for making weapons of war and implements for everyday use; camps
in the ramparts of which have been found proofs that men had learned some-
thing of the use of the great civilising agent — iron; and passing to the historic
period, Roman stations and mediaeval strongholds ; but the gaps are wide, the
story overlaps, and in the majority of cases we must wait the result of adequate
examination with pick and shovel.
Recognizing our limitations, it is preferable to adopt the Scheme1 pub-
lished by the Congress of Archaeological Societies, and classify the defensive
enclosures of a district by form rather than to attempt a strict chronological
order, bearing in mind the recognized exceptions to which reference has just
been made.
A. — At many points on the coast line of Britain are found promontory
fortresses constructed either by landing parties of enemies as bases for offensive
warfare, or by the inhabitants as defensive shelters to check invaders and
protect themselves. Whence arises the fact that Durham yields no such
coast examples ? Owing to the nature of the rocks forming the coast, erosion
is not likely to have been sufficient to destroy any defensive works on the
cliff summits, and we must look for a different reason for their absence. Two
large rivers pour their waters into the sea — the Tyne on the north, the Tees
on the south, while the Wear has a lesser but still considerable debouchment.
' The following classification u recommended in the Scheme and its Appendix : —
A. Fortresses partly inaccessible, by reason of precipices, cliffs, or water, additionally defended by
artificial works, usually known as promontory fortresses.
B. Fortresses on hill-tops with artificial defences, following the natural line of the hill ; or, though
usually on high ground, less dependent on natural slopes for protection.
C. Rectangular or other simple enclosures, including forts and towns of the Romano-British period.
D. Forts consisting only of a mount with encircling ditch or fosse.
E. Fortified mounts, either artificial or partly natural, with traces of an attached court or bailey, or of
two or more such courts.
F. Homestead moats, such as abound in some lowland districts, consisting of simple enclosures formed
into artificial islands by water moats.
G. Enclosures, mostly rectangular, partaking of the form of F, but protected by stronger defensive works,
ramparted and fosscd, and in some instances provided with outworb.
H. Ancient village sites protected by walls, ramparts, or fosses.
X. Defensive works which fall under none of these headings.
343
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
Why then do we not find at these points traces of promontory, or indeed
any pre-Roman fortresses ? The answer may be that in those early times
few enemies came by water to this northern region of tempestuous seas,
while the bare coast and wild uncultivated hinterland offered little incentive
to invasion by land or sea — a fact which may also account for the absence of
early promontory forts on the hills throughout the county. We find but
two examples of this class of defensive enclosure — one, Maiden Castle, near
the city of Durham, which is probably little, if any, earlier than the time
of the Roman occupation, and a hardly known enclosure in Brancepeth
parish.1
B. — The next class in the Scheme consists mostly of hill fortresses or
camps. It is scarcely too much to say that no county in England possesses
in an equal area so few examples of this class, and there is hardly another
region in Britain so absolutely without a fortress as is the case in many square
miles of fells and moorland on the west side of the county.
Canon Green well remarks on the equal absence of memorials of the
dead, as of the living, in all that great tract of high ground, which, under
similar circumstances elsewhere in England, would be occupied by the cairns
and barrows of the people.8
The constructors of great hill-fortresses elsewhere were mainly men of
the neolithic or later stone age, or of the late Celtic or early iron age ; some
however were of the bronze period. Why no neolithic men fixed their great
camps of refuge or fortresses here, we know not, and cannot but assume
their absence in force from the district, an assumption justified by the almost
total absence of relics of neolithic men among the discoveries from burial
mounds and otherwise in Durham.8 The bronze age, which succeeded
the stone age, has yielded interesting relics ; but we have no evidence that any
defensive earthworks here, either large or small, belong to that period, though
a recent ' find ' of that age was unearthed in a tumulus not far from the
enclosure at Brancepeth to which reference has been made.
It is more interesting to enquire why there are no large hill-camps of
the late Celtic period — the great fortress-rearing age, the birth-time of a vast
number of the finest hill-camps in England ? The answer may be that,
instead of being a border land in need of defence from inroads, or occupied
by rival tribes needing defence from each other, this land was in possession of
the Brigantes, a powerful tribe whose territory stretched north, west and
south of Durham, leaving it central and safe. It is true that palisaded or
stone-walled enclosures, probably small in size, would have been neces-
sary to protect cattle from wolves and other wild beasts in early days, but
wooden palisades and stone walls easily disappear in the course of ages.
Some of the small enclosures which are met with may once have been cattle
shelters furnished with palisades on their earthen walls, but probably so wild
and little occupied was this land, even in late Celtic days, that few such
shelters existed.
A small number of lesser works than the great hill fortresses, but
belonging to class B, were constructed in the county ; Shackerton near
1 Since the above was written Mr. Edward Wooler has drawn public attention to this interesting
earthwork.
* Greenwell, British Barrows, 1877, p. 440. « See article on Early Man in Durham.
344
ANCIENT EARTHWORKS
Red worth, Toft Hill, near Evenwood, The Castles, North Bedburn, and
perhaps Rowley Castle Steads, are or were the principal examples.
C. — Though many rectangularly formed camps are of Celtic origin, the
most interesting are those of the Roman period — the period which brings us
into touch with history. Some few hundred years ago an observer could
have seen in this county some fine examples of Roman castrametation, but
little is left now of three out of the four stations which guarded the Watling
Street ; Piercebridge, Binchester, and Ebchester show little evidence of
Roman occupation, but happily more has been spared at Lanchester. For
traces of the imperial rulers at Chester-le-Street and South Shields one must
look under, rather than above, ground. Poor as are the remains, except at
Lanchester, much might be said of these Roman stations, but it will be
better deferred to the chapter on the Roman Remains.
Were we attempting chronological sequence it would be necessary to
dwell upon the great gap in our island story, as told by its earthworks, in the
period following the departure of the Roman legions. Angle and Dane
have left no fortress-evidence in this county, for though tradition styles
some works ' Danish,' such attribution was probably due to the natural habit
of calling a mysterious place of unknown age by the name of the last known
enemy when not by that of the arch enemy of all mankind ! It is an
open question whether many * homestead moats ' are not the sites of early
Angle house-places, but, leaving them for the moment, we pass to the
interesting series of strongholds classed as
D and E. — Artificial, or partly artificial, defensive mounts, with fosses
around them, abound in England, most being provided with one or more
courts or baileys attached to them. Much discussion has arisen as to their
date, but a majority of the archaeological world is inclined to accept the
theory of Norman origin, though some of these works appear to have
existed in the time of Edward the Confessor, and fossed mounts without
courts may be possibly earlier. It must not be forgotten that when first
thrown up, these high mounts of earth were necessarily incapable of sustaining
the weight of stone structures, and must therefore have been dependent upon
wooden defences such as are shown on the Bayeux tapestry. Durham Castle,
Barnard Castle, and possibly others were originally of this type, but by far
the most striking example of such an earthwork is that at Bishopton, where
the great mount, artificially raised some 38 to 40 feet, is the principal feature
remaining of the castle of Roger Conyers, Constable of Durham in the
twelfth century.1
F. — Homestead moats were usually constructed by the simple expedient
of digging a surrounding wide fosse, or ditch, and throwing the material
inwards, thus raising the island, or enclosed space, above the level of the
adjacent land ; occasionally we find the earth piled up on the inner verge
of the fosse to form an additional defence against foes. Some of these
enclosures are divided by ditches or water moats into two or more islands;
but for these, as for the more simple forms, we must look more to the
rich pasture-lands of England, which are not a prevailing characteristic of
the county of Durham. Here we notice but few true homestead moats, a
fact which, assuming the correctness of the attribution of the origin of such
1 Of claw D (simple mount forts with fosse) we do not find a reliable example in the county.
I 345 44
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
works to Anglian days,1 confirms the evidence of the place-names of the
county which points to little early occupation. Among the simple homestead
moats of Durham may be mentioned High Shipley, Holmside Hall, Bradley
Hall, and Butterby.
G. — Many of these more complex, moated, and ramparted enclosures
were the sites of defended houses or castles in medieval days, and their
comparative abundance in proportion to earlier forms is noteworthy. Even
such massive stone structures as Raby Castle depended to a large extent upon
a deep and wide surrounding moat for protection. Castle works, such as the
hardly-traceable remains at Stockton, those at Witton and others, show the
same reliance on moats for defence. The works at Middle Friarside, Chester
le Street, form a typical example of this class of earthwork, and Low Dinsdale
was probably another, though on a much larger scale.
H. — Of village sites protected by walls, ramparts, or fosses, we find few in
the county ; probably Archdeacon Newton was one, and Low Throston, in
the parish of Hart, may have been another, but the most interesting is that
much obliterated, defended site of a supposed Anglian village near Castle
Eden.
X. — Because there is much doubt as to their origin, rather than that their
form is uncommon, we place those curious little ' camps ' on Cockfield Fell
under this head. Their close proximity to one another is sufficiently unusual
to warrant classification as works which fall under none of the previous
headings. It has been thought that these, and the three little ' camps ' at
Eastgate, near Stanhope, may date only from the time of the thirteenth or
fourteenth-century wars between England and Scotland, but this is very
doubtful.
The story which the Durham earthworks tell, confirmed as it is by the
collateral evidence of 'finds,' may be briefly summarized. In neolithic days
the district was wild and to a large extent unoccupied ; in the bronze
age clearings took place here and there providing for a very sparse population,
which hardly increased in number in the early-iron period ; with the advent
of the Romans came their great roads across the desolate land, five or six
military stations were built and the legions passed frequently on their way ; but
there is no evidence of civilizing influences away from the roads, and the
country generally remained in a wild condition. The early Anglian cared
not for it, and though the late Saxon and Dane settled on parts, probably
it was not much populated till the rise of the power of the church, when as
the domain of the bishops of Durham it became more and more cleared and
settled. Then arose the mount and court feudal strongholds, and probably
those works classed under H, as centres of settlements and manors.
PROMONTORY FORTRESSES
[CLASS A]
BRANCEPETH : STOCKLEY BECK. — This nameless enclosure, situated a
little to the west of Watling Street, is formed by two streams which join at
the apex of a triangle, the base, or third side, being defended by a rampart
and fosse, now partly destroyed by a colliery,2 but originally nearly 900 yards
1 We are not able to substantiate this attribution, and at present regard it as tentative.
8 Much of the northern portion, south of the colliery, has now been levelled and ploughed over.
346
ANCIENT EARTHWORKS
in length. Though
the precipitous banks
of the streams formed
the main protection on
the north and south,
there are considerable
remains of added
banking to which re-
ference will presently
be made, but the main
artificial work is that
on the third,or western,
side of the enclosure.
It consists of a bank
with a fosse on its outer
side, the latter about
9 feet wide at the top ;
the bank, now 1 1 feet
wide at its summit
and standing some
6 feet above the fosse,
was no doubt origin-
ally higher, and when
surmounted by a
stockade of timber
formed a formidable
obstacle. The western
portion of the 'camp,'
if we may so style it,
isabout 25ofeet higher
in level than the eastern
point to which the
ground slopes.
Upon examina-
tion of the plan it will
be noted that between
the streams on the
north and south is a
third stream. This
has also in parts of its
course very precipitous
banks, and seems to
have been utilized for the northern defence of an enclosure, less in size than
the original ' camp,' but more amply protected by artificial work forming an
earthwork complete in itself.
There is some doubt as to the purpose of this enclosure; the out-
side fosse of the western rampart suggests defence against human foes, but
Mr. Edward Wooler of Darlington, who has devoted much attention to
this place, writes : ' I find in the description of the estate on the forfeiture by
347
MA It (!' fltt
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
the Nevilles, East and West Parks referred to, and that they were bounded
by a pale, and ditch on the outside 2 yards broad, and that deer and wild
cattle were kept in these enclosures. It is therefore possible that the
earthworks may have been the West Park (aj miles from Brancepeth
Castle).'1
Mr. Wooler's further examinations of the spot lead him to conclude that
the enclosure was originally an ancient British stronghold, and indeed the
vast amount of labour expended on raising the banks seems to suggest that
the work was a defence in very early days ; but it is quite probable that the
western rampart, extending the whole length on that side, is far older than
the other embankments of the southern portion. The latter may have been
the work referred to as an enclosure for deer and wild cattle in the sixteenth
century, but it seems small for such a purpose. In the absence of the evidence
which excavation alone affords, nothing definite can be said as to the age of the
southern enclosure, but probably the long western rampart and fosse defended a
British fortress of the promontory type. It is curious that though the entrench-
ment on the western side is shown on one of Maclauchlan's beautiful plates
there is no mention of the ' camp ' in the accompanying Memoir? nor, so far as
we can discover, has it been noticed by any previous writers on the antiquities
of the county. Though its eastern extremity is within 2,000 feet of the site
of Watling Street, it cannot be supposed that its
existence had any relation to that great road.
DURHAM : MAIDEN CASTLE. — This is a lofty
promontory of great natural strength, to the east
of the city, and approached from the west side.
The north, south, and east slopes are very steep,
especially the last, which rises about 100 feet
above the river Wear. On these three sides there
MAIDEN CASTLE, DURHAM. are little traces of any artificial defences, but on
the west a bank and fosse have been made across
the neck of land by which the position is approached, the fosse, now nearly
obliterated, being some 70 to 80 feet west of the bank. The whole site
is overgrown with trees, and the area enclosed by the bank and ditch shows
no signs of additional earthworks beyond some slight indications of a bank
around the site, on the edge of the natural escarpment.
HILL FORTS, &c.
[CLASS B]
BISHOP AUCKLAND : TOFT HILL. On the plateau here we find traces
of entrenchments, but in so broken a condition that it is difficult to say more
than that a fortress of considerable strength once existed. Bailey, writing
in 1779, said that one side of the camp was 140 yards in length.8
NORTH BEDBURN : THE CASTLES. A rectangular enclosure measuring
260 feet north to south by 200 feet east to west, surrounded by a rampart
1 The forfeiture referred to was the result of the imprudence of Charles Neville, the sixth earl, in joining
the 'Rising of the North' in 1569.
s Maclauchlan, Survey of the Waiting Street, 1852. 8 Antij. Repertory, iii. 1780.
348
• tCTIOM AT B-A.
kc AL« w rciT
1 to TO
ANCIENT EARTHWORKS
of water-worn boulders, with a ditch on the north and south sides, and
a small stream on the east. The site falls quickly towards the south,
being on the north slope of the narrow valley down which runs
the Harthope Burn, the southern rampart of the enclosure
being some 120 yards from the burn. The whole area is
overgrown with gorse and brushwood, but the rampart
remains to some height at all points except the north-west
angle. The boulders are heaped together and lie at a natural
angle, the rampart being in places 33 feet wide from inside
to outside, and varying in height from 18 feet above the
bottom of the ditch on the south to between 4 feet and 5 feet
on the north and west. Near the south-east angle are to be
seen in several places parts of a dry wall of small thin stones THE CASTLE!
which appears to form a core to the heap of boulders, but may NORTH BEDBUR'N.
be a later addition. On the east side, towards the small stream
before mentioned, there is a secondary outer rampart of stones, and the further
bank of the stream is in places faced with rough stones. This is particularly
noticeable at the north-east angle, where the bank is some 10 feet high.
The ditch outside the south rampart is 30 feet wide from bank to bank,
but in its present condition is too shallow to be of any defensive value.
Those on the north and west are insignificant. The position is not a
strong one, being completely commanded by the rising ground to the north,
but is well supplied with water and sheltered from the north and east.
Though of the form classified as C in the Scheme already referred to,
this interesting earthwork is included here as it is clear, upon examination,
that its shape is, to some extent, incident to the position it occupies, and, were
chronological order considered, its antiquity would entitle it to this early
mention.
HARPERLY. Faint traces exist indicative of early defensive works
of class B.
HEIGHINGTON : SHACKERTON HILL, NEAR REDWORTH. Maclauchlan
mentions this, quoting various names by which
•'\\\V ''''''/ '.• ^e kill is known, and gives a small plan.1
The 25-inch Ordnance Survey map shows no
existing earthworks, but they are traceable
throughout the greater part, though much
obscured by the growth of timber and from
other causes ; parts have been mutilated to
admit a road to the windmill which once stood
on the hill, and other portions have been
destroyed by an eighteenth-century owner.
Hutchinson speaks of it thus: — 'A remarkable
mount, called Shackleton, on which Crosier
Surtees, Esq., has built a pleasure house. It
is wound round with three distinct terraces, and is thought to be the remains
of a Danish fort. . . . Mr. Surtees has planted the ground, and otherwise
altered it in form, so that the dimensions could not be accurately obtained on
our view.'* As to its attribution to the Danes, Maclauchlan is probably
1 Maclauchlan, Sure, of the Walling Strttt, 1852. * Hutchinson, Hut. and Antiq. of Durham, 1794.
349
SHACKERTON HILL, HEIGHINGTON.
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
right in saying that there is nothing about the earthworks to prevent an
earlier origin. It appears to be of the Celtic period.
The curious lunar-shaped extension of the outer two banks on the
north-east side, though conformable to the shape of the hill, is unusual and
interesting. The rough section accompanying the plan shows the artificial
work on the south-west side and indicates the sharp slope of the hill. This
precipitous character extends nearly all round, but is less marked on the north
where the hill is linked to the head of a steep coomb. The plan here given
is based on that published by Maclauchlan, aided by recent investigations,
and it must be stated with regret that much of the work shown by Mac-
lauchlan is now hard to find, and part, on the north-east side, has entirely
disappeared.1
HILTON. The works here are too indefinite to make it certain that a
British stronghold existed, but such was possibly the case.
INGLETON. The broken works here are near to the Scots Dyke, with
which extensive earthwork they may have been connected, and are probably
of the period of the Roman occupation.
MAINSFORTH. Both by Gough* and Lewis* we are told that here was
an early camp on an eminence, and that the stream known as the Little
Skerne was anciently diverted from its course to form a deep fosse round
a circular fortification of great height. These writers copied John Cade's
statements,* but neither Hutchinson nor Surtees could find any traces of a
camp. The hill is known as Narbon or Nab Hill.
QUARRINGTON. Murray's Handbook (1890) refers to Castle Hill, two
miles west of Quarrington, as having traces of ancient fortifications, but the
remains are in fragmentary condition.
RECTANGULAR CAMPS, &c.
[CLASS C]
BINCHESTER. The western ramparts of this Roman station have been
carried down by the river Wear ; water and other agencies have destroyed
much of the other defences, but the whole of the east side and parts of
the north and south sides remain. Mr. Boyle states that the enclosure contains
about seven acres.6
CHESTER LE STREET : ROMAN STATION. The last traces of the earth-
works here have been destroyed, and are now covered by gardens and the
deanery grounds. The ground falls to the east towards the river Wear, and
to the north towards a small stream ; on the south it is level for some
distance.
EBCHESTER. Little is left to indicate that here was a strong fort, or
station, of the Roman rulers, occupying some four acres between the river
Derwent and a small stream, a position of natural strength, guarding the
ford over the river which now separates Durham from Northumberland. As
one of the stations on the Watling Street, Ebchester will be referred to in
the chapter on Roman Remains.
1 The writer is indebted to Mr. Edward Wooler for valuable notes and measurements.
3 Gough (R.), Additions to CamJen's Britannia, vol. iii. 1789.
8 Lewis (S.), Topographical Dictionary, 1831. * Arch, vii. 1785.
8 Boyle (J. R.), County of Durham, 1892.
350
JARROW.
ANCIENT EARTHWORKS
JARROW : NEAR RIVER DON. — Very little is to be seen here except a
mound at the south-east angle of the site on which a circular foundation has
been uncovered. Jarrow Slake is on the east,
and the mound has a steep slope in this direc-
tion and on the south to the road. The
ground falls slightly to the west, but rises again
at a distance of some 60 yards from the
mound. Traces of Roman buildings have been
found on the site.
JARROW : RIVER TYNE, NEAR SOUTH
SHIELDS. — This site is now built over and all
traces of earthworks destroyed, but Roman
objects have been found on the spot. The
position overlooks the Tyne on the west, the mouth of the river on the north,
and the sea on the east. The ground is nearly level on the site, but falls
beyond it to west, north, and east.
LANCHESTER. — A Roman station measuring about 190 yards north to
south by 220 yards east to west, situated on high ground to the west of
the village of Lanchester, and just to the west of the line of Watling Street,
which runs parallel to its east wall. Of the walls nothing but the core is left
above ground, but this is exposed on all sides except on the north, where only
a short stretch can still be seen. No remains of the gates now exist. The
site is approximately level, and beyond some traces of a ditch on the west and
south, has no defensive earthworks. The position, on high ground in the
salient angle formed by the junction of two valleys opening westward, com-
mands a wide view ; the ground rises slightly to the west, and falls quickly
to the east and south. At a short distance south-west of the camp is a
circular depression, the site of a reservoir which was supplied by an aqueduct
from the west. Within the area of the camp the
foundations of buildings are known to remain, but
little is now exposed except two apsidal chambers.
LANCHESTER : * CASTLE STEADS,' ROWLEY
GILLET.' — The site is a low ridge between two
streams, to the south of the road from Cornsay
Colliery to Waterhouses, overlooked by high
ground on north and south, though at too great
a distance to affect its defensive strength. The
earthworks are three in number, lying in a line
from south-west to north-east along the ridge. That
towards the south-west is a small rectangular en-
trenchment, broken into by modern buildings on the
south, and of no importance as a defence. Next to it,
a little to the east, is an irregular mound said to cover the remains of a chapel,
and clearly occupying the site of a building. The third earthwork is the
most important, and lies on the northern slope of the ridge, the ground falling
north and east. It is a rectangle about 200 yards east to west by 100 yards
north to south, enclosed by an inner bank, on which are traces of a wall, and
a ditch with an outer bank ; the inner bank, which is the most considerable,
1 Now in the modern pariah of Hamstcels.
351
LANCHESTER.
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
averages some 8 feet to 10 feet high from the bottom of the ditch. The
main entrance to the enclosure is from the south, somewhat west of the
middle, but the defences are interrupted at several other places, namely in the
middle of the west side, at the south end of the east side, and at the east end
of the north side ; in all three cases the breaks are due to water. Opposite
the entrance, about the middle of the enclosure, is a series of mounds covering
foundations of a rectangular building, and there are traces of other lines of
walling to the east of the entrance, as shown on the plan. The northern
half of the enclosure is for the most part low and marshy, and there is a
clearly defined course from the break in the west defences, where the water
supply entered, running along the north front of the central block of build-
ings and then turning to the north-east and passing out of the enclosure
about 60 yards from the east boundary. The north bank and ditch stop at
the point where the course cuts their line, and do not run on to join the
eastern defences, but the water forms a marshy place outside the lines, which
seems to have been sufficient defence at this point. A small dam running
northward towards the place where the north bank stops narrows the channel
by which the water passes out of the enclosure, and by means of a sluice at
•CASTI.E STEADS,' ROWLEY GILLET.
this point it is clear that a good part of the area within the defences could
have been flooded. A second watercourse passes to the south of the central
block, and runs in an easterly direction through the south end of the east line
of defences, which are here practically obliterated. There is some slight
evidence that the breaks in the west and east defences may have been covered
by projecting masonry.
As the principal of these three works belongs to class C, it has been
thought best to include the plan in this section, of course without claiming
Roman origin, though some older writers have thought this an outpost of
that period, which indeed it may have been.
PIERCEBRIDGE. — The village is built over the lines of a rectangular
enclosure, lying just to the west of Watling Street, which crossed the river
Tees at this point, and is here diverted from its original line for a short
distance, in order to pass through the village and over the present bridge.
The major axis of the enclosure lies north and south, and the site is nearly
level, with a slight fall towards the river, which runs in a rocky bed between
high and steep banks. The two northern and the south-western angles of
the enclosure remain, and are rounded in form ; the vallum can be traced on
PlERCEBHIDCE.
camp
ANCIENT EARTHWORKS
the west side, and in part on the north,
the rest being obliterated by build-
ings. On the west it is reduced to a
slight slope only a few feet higher than
the grass land outside its limits, but on
the north side near the western angle
it remains as shown on the section, with
traces of a ditch near the angle. To
the north of the site runs the main
road from Darlington to Barnard Castle,
and beyond it a stream, which takes
a course parallel to the road, falling into
the Tees some distance east of the line
of Watling Street. There is no trace
of masonry on the line of the vallum,
but foundations and objects of Roman
date have been found within and near
to the enclosure.
SADBERGE. — The settlement here
appears to have been occupied in the
Roman period. The traces of defensive work may indicate
of Class B.
CASTLE MOUNTS WITH ATTACHED COURTS
[CLASS E]
BARNARD CASTLE, see GAINFORD.
BISHOPTON, CASTLE HILL. — On the low ground south of the village of
Bishopton is a fortified site of the mount and court type, bounded on the
west by the Bishopton Beck, and by low, and formerly marshy, ground on
the other three sides. The earthworks consist of a motte or mount some
38 feet high, surrounded by a ditch with
a high outer bank, flanked by two lines
of lower banks on the west side towards
the beck, and a single line on the east.
North and south of the mount are a
series of higher banks and ditches, ending
with rounded lines of lower defences in
the low ground at either end of the
site. Two causeways, one on the north,
one on the east, lead from the works
across the low ground to the somewhat
higher levels on the north and east where
the modern road runs. The plan of the
defences is long and narrow, owing to
the marshy nature of the site, and a
dam across the stream to the north would
make it possible to surround the whole
work with water. No traces of masonry
are to be seen.
353 45
Gistiopton
3tCTiOM»«T A-B.C-O
CASTLS HILL, BUHOPTON.
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
Although historical detail is not included in the scope of this
section, we cannot leave Bishopton without recalling that Roger Conyers,
hereditary constable of Durham, is referred to as having fortified his
castle against Comyn, the usurper of the bishopric, about 1 143-1 Whether
there was here, as seems possible, a previously existing fortress cannot
be said.
BLACKWELL. — John Cade, writing at the end of the eighteenth century,
says that ' at Blackwell has been a very considerable artificial mount, called
Castle Hill . . . but within my own memory nearly absorbed by the
river' [Tees].8 The present remains consist of only about half the mount,
and it is said the destruction of the other portion was due to a great flood
which devastated the valley in 1771. The mount is similar to that at
Middleton St. George, and as, like that example, it had probably a base-court
attached, we include Blackwell under Class E.
DURHAM. — The castle occupies the north end of the rocky promontory
round which the river Wear runs on the east, south, and west, and completely
commands the approach from the north. The earthwork defences, except
the great mount or motte, are mostly levelled or obliterated by later building.
The motte, which is now some 47 ft. high above the mean level of the inner
bailey, now the court of University College, occupies the north-east angle of
the position, commanding the original approach to the high ground, which
was from the north-east. Its slopes are now
terraced, but were no doubt unbroken at first.
It was defended on the south, and perhaps else-
where, by a ditch, which continued in a westerly
direction across the promontory, cutting off the
site of the mount and inner bailey from the level
ground to the south, which must have formed
the outer bailey. On the west the high rocky
slope of the river bank afforded complete pro- DURHAM CASTLE.
tection, and on the north the ground falls steeply
towards the town, and though a good deal heightened by masonry rubbish
from the castle buildings, follows what must have been the outline of the
original scarp. At this end of the site there is a considerable depth of soil
over the underlying rock, which has a fall from south to north. Whether
the inner bailey was at first defended by earthworks is not clear ; if so they
have been entirely removed, except perhaps on the north side, where the
bank may remain in part under the range of buildings. There are no
traces of other earthworks anywhere on the site.
DURHAM : OLD DURHAM. — In 1785 John Cade wrote* of a work here
which he called Maiden Castle, and quoted Stukeley's description ;* but the
latter appears to relate to the early promontory camp on the opposite side of
the Wear. It must be admitted that Stukeley is obscure, and apparently
confuses east with west. The point of interest to us is that Cade's paper is
accompanied by an engraving of the earthwork showing it to have been
distinctly of the mount and court type. We cannot learn that anything is
now left to record.
1 Suttees Hist, and Ant. of the Co. Pal. ofDur. 1816. * Arch. ix. 1789.
3 Arch. vii. 1785. * Stukeley, Itinerarium Curiosum, 1776.
354
*CCTION«T A
BARNARD CASTLE.
ANCIENT EARTHWORKS
GAINFORD : BARNARD CASTLE. — The castle stands on a fine natural height
overlooking the river Tees, the inner ward being about 100 feet above the
river. Originally it consisted of an enclosure with a maximum length of
330 yards, and breadth of 160 yards, running parallel to the river, divided
into four wards ; the outer to the south ; the town ward to the east ; and
the inner and middle wards in the north-west angle ; the whole being sur-
rounded by a large fosse, or dry ditch, and each ward being defended by its
own fosse. Of all these works only those belonging to the inner and middle
wards now exist. The fosse of the inner
ward is a fine work 70 feet wide by 30 feet
deep, and the material dug from it has
been used to raise the level of the inner
ward, which acts as a mount or motte.
On the west towards the river the cliff is
precipitous, and completes the defences of
the inner ward as it formerly did of the
now non-existent middle and south wards.
The fosses all had ramparts of earth piled
up on their inner verge, that is on the
side nearest to the great keep-mount ;
this feature, and the completeness of
the system of defence by deep ditches,
or fosses, is well shown in Grose's view.1
The plan given by Clark * is very unsatis-
factory, as, owing to the indefinite shading, it is quite impossible to distinguish
between fosses and ramparts, and he gives no indication of the natural rocky
defence on Tees side. The earthen ramparts were after a time crowned with
walls of masonry which remain in parts, but these relics and those of the
castle buildings will be described in the topographical section.
MIDDLETON ST. GEORGE : TOWER HILL. — A partly natural mount on
the high north bank of the Tees, isolated on the north by a small valley,
showing traces of scarping on its north and west sides. On the west is an
old road known as Pounteys Lane, which descends steeply to the river at a
point where it was formerly crossed by a bridge named Pounteys Bridge. On
the south-west the site is bounded by the grounds of a modern house, the
making of which has destroyed any remains of earthworks on that side.
The mount seems to have had a court attached to it, of which only faint
remains now exist, but Mr. Wooler informs us that old labourers tell of
the levelling of ramparts and the filling of a fosse which once surrounded
the mount. The latter is now about 20 feet in height and planted with trees.
Mutilated as this earthwork is, enough remains to suggest that here was a
stronghold commanding an important ford across the river Tees. ' Tower
Hill ' is a modern appellation.
HOMESTEAD MOATS
[CLASS F]
BRANCEPETH: NEAR CROOK. — A ditch running north and south at an
obtuse angle joined by a second ditch running south-west. If the site was
1 Grose, jfntifuitiei of England and Walts, i. ed. 1772. ^CdAfMeJittvalMiRtary Architecture in England, 1884.
355
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
ever enclosed by ditches on the north and west all traces of them have dis-
appeared. There is a stream on the west, and the general fall of the ground
is from north-west to south-east, but the levels have
been much altered by colliery subsidences.
BILLINGHAM. — Belasis Hall in this parish has a moat
of irregular form, well defined on the south and east
sides.
COCKFIELD. — The hall here was surrounded with a
moat, of which some traces remain.
DURHAM. — Houghall manor-house, once a strong
place with fortifications. Traces of the moat remain in part.
BRANCEPETH. EvENWooD. — The manor-house of the bishops of Dur-
ham, known as the Barony, stood here guarded by a moat, which still exists.
HAMSTERLEY, SHIPLEY MOAT, HIGH SHIPLEY. — A rectangular site, sloping
steeply in a north-easterly direction to the Shipley Beck. It is surrounded by
a ditch which is well marked on the south, but gradually dies out with the
fall of the ground. The beck at its nearest point is about 120 yards distant,
and there seems to be no other water supply. From the nature of the ground
the ditch must always have been dry.
LANCHESTER : HOLMSIDE HALL. — A rectangular space measuring about
200 feet east to west is enclosed on the west, south, and east by a bank and ditch.
On the bank are traces of a wall at the south-east angle, and an outer line of ditch
seems to have run parallel with the west bank. At 1 50 feet from the south-east
angle the south bank and ditch turn offin a north-easterly direction for 200 feet
towards a small stream which runs east and west, and then turning westward
with the stream, seem to have enclosed the site on the north side, but in this
part are quite obliterated. On the west nothing is now to be traced of the
northern half of the probable boundary line, but it may have joined the bank
still existing at the south-west. The ground falls slightly towards the north-east.
LANCHESTER : LANGLEY HALL. — The ruins of the hall are surrounded
by a ditch. The site falls steeply to the south-west, and the ditch is much
wider on the north and east than on the south and west. The south-west
4$?' %
4-& A
SECTION AT A- fft
SCALE or rttr
SHIPLEY MOAT,
HAMSTERLEY.
HOLMSIDE HALL,
LANCHESTER.
LANGLEY HALL,
LANCHESTER.
CASTLE WOOD,
WOLSINGHAM.
side has been banked up to give more depth of water, but the site is in no
case a strong one, as the ground rises quickly to the north. The original
entrance seems to have been from the south-east, but the ditch has been
destroyed on this side by a modern road.
NEWBIGGIN (WEST). — Here is a small homestead moat now without
any building on the enclosure.
356
ANCIENT EARTHWORKS
SUNDERLAND BRIDGE. — The moat of Butterby manor-house remains,
together with the ancient gateway. The moat, though now dry, was capable
of being filled with 1 5 feet of water.
WOLSINGHAM : CASTLE WOOD. — The site falls southwards towards a
stream, and is bounded on the north by a ditch extending some 120 yards
westward from the bank of a small stream, which appears to form the only
defence on the south. The work may have been a rectangular enclosure, and
on the east and south are low banks, that on the south stopping short some
way eastward of the small stream mentioned above. A little south of the
north boundary, and towards the west end of the enclosure, is a rectangular
trench which may mark the lines of the walls of a building or enclosure now
removed. To the east of the site a second small stream runs south-west to
the larger stream on the south, but the north ditch stops some way short of it.
WOLSINGHAM : BRADLEY HALL. — An irregular four-sided site enclosed
by a ditch which remains perfect on the north and west, and
in part on the east, but is obliterated on the south. The
Bradley Beck runs in a southerly direction at some 150 yards
distance from the west side of the site. In the south-west
part of the area, and probably just within the line of the
destroyed southern arm of the ditch, are farm buildings
which are in part ancient. The general fall of the ground
is to the south, towards the river Wear.
BRADLEY HALL, There are other homestead moats in the county ; sec
sites marked F on accompanying map.
ENCLOSURES RAMPARTED AND FOSSED, &c.
[CLASS G]
BISHOP MIDDLEHAM : THE CASTLE. — The site of the castle of Middle-
ham is on a bold promontory, approximately in the shape of an isosceles
triangle, projecting southwards from the high ridge on which the church
is built. The apex of the triangle is to the north, and the sides of the
promontory slope steeply to the level ground on the east, south and west,
and show little traces of scarping except perhaps on the south, where, at the
foot of the slope, a ditch runs east and west. The lines of the walls of a large
building show in the turf at the south end of the site, and here and there
masonry is exposed. The position is a very strong one, the only easy approach
being from the north, at the apex of the triangle.
DALTON-LE-DALE : DAWDON TOWER. — The site is a hollow in the west
bank of Dawdon Dean, overlooked by higher ground on the north-west and
south-west. The site slopes eastward to the bank of the
stream, and can never have been of any defensive strength.
The ground has been levelled, and the works shown on the
Ordnance map, whose outline is here marked by broken lines,
do not now exist.
DINSDALE : Low DINSDALE. — The area enclosed within
a bank and ditch is of irregular shape, its greatest diameter «. ?• *r y
being about 800 feet. The site is nearly level, being in the
low meadows on the banks of the Tees, but the ground rises gently on the
357
Low DlNSDALg.
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
western side. The water supply is from the south and west. Within the
enclosure are several raised sites surrounded by ditches, the most important
being nearly circular in shape, with a well-defined bank and ditch ; within it
stands the manor house. There are no other buildings in the area except
some farm buildings on the south boundary.
On the south and east it is bounded by roads,
but there are traces of other earthworks in
the meadows across the road to the east.
The banks are in no case of much strength,
those on the west boundary being the highest,
where the enclosure is commanded from the
rising ground immediately outside.
GAINFORD : SUMMERHOUSE. — A rectan-
gular enclosure about 160 yards east to west
by 70 yards north to south, lying directly to
the south of the village of Summerhouse,
and about a quarter of a mile to the west of
the line of Wading Street, on a level site.
The defences on the north and west are
fairly well preserved, and consist of a bank and ditch ; on the top of the bank
are traces of a wall. On the south and east the defences are destroyed by
cultivation, and the enclosure may have extended
further in both directions. From about the
middle of the north side a ditch runs northward
for some 77 yards, having on the west side, at a
distance of 35 yards from the main enclosure, a
second rectangular site 26 yards square, sur-
rounded by ditches, and showing traces of foun-
dations of buildings. All the ditches have been
supplied with water from a stream on the west
side, which has been dammed to form a pond of
considerable extent, from which a sluice led to
the north-west angle of the main ditch.
HART : Low THROSTON. — A series of banks of irregular shape, and for the
most part of very slight elevation. Parts on the north and west have been
destroyed in recent years, and a road on the south has also done some damage.
The recently destroyed portions are
shown on the plan by a single broken
line. The site stands high, and the
ground falls from it considerably on
south, west, and east. The best pre-
served banks are those at the south-
east corner, but the whole is too
fragmentary to admit of any definite
conclusions as to the extent and in-
tention of the work. There is a well
about 100 yards west of the site.
JARROW : WARDLEY HALL, HE-
LOW THROSTON. WORTH. — A site measuring 220 yards
SUMMERHOUSE, GAINFORD
ANCIENT EARTHWORKS
north-west to south-east by 150 yards south-west to north-east. A railway
line cuts across its southern half, and a pit heap encroaches at the north-west,
obliterating the greater part of the west side, but elsewhere the bank and ditch
-f.
WARDLEY HALL.
/^.-=*-^£SSSS-82lS.o
»,.;->' »OM.C or rttT
if P^ y tyo >y»
LVDWORTH TOWER.
M A3.
RABY CASTLE.
are fairly well preserved. The site is nearly level. Within the enclosure just
north of the railway line is a low rectangular ridge which may mark the site
of a destroyed building.
PITTINGTON : LUDWORTH TOWER, SnADFORTH. — On this site are the
remains of a small bank and ditch enclosing a rectangular area, within which
are the ruins of the tower, now reduced to a few walls. The ground falls on
the west, south, and east, the steepest
slope being to the south, to the line of
the Shadforth Beck. On the north side
the ground is level.
RABY CASTLE. — The ground falls
on all sides from the site of the castle,
but not steeply enough to make the
position a strong one for this reason
alone. The earthwork defence consists
of a broad ditch, now dry except on the
south. The buildings of the castle stand
in a walled enclosure, surrounded by the
ditch, and entered only from the north-
west. To the north of the site is a small stream.
STOCKTON-ON-TEES : THE CASTLE. — The area known as the Castle Field,
an irregular four-sided site on the bank of the river Tees, defended on the
south and west by a ditch of considerable size, is now entirely built over, and
the ditch filled up. A short piece of the bank at the north-east corner alone
remains at the present day, but the condition of the
earthworks before their destruction is shown on the
annexed plan.
TANFIELD : MIDDLE FRIARSIDE. — A small rect-
angular enclosure surrounded on north-east, north-west,
and south-west by a bank and ditch, outside which are
a second bank and ditch of smaller size. At the north-
east angle there is a connexion between the two
^ ditches, and at the west angle of the outer ditch a
MIODLI FMAUIDI, TANFIELD. shallow rectangular depression. The ground slopes
359
STOCKTON CASTLE.
•CALt cr n«T
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
steeply down to the river Derwent on the north-west, but rises on the south-
east, and on this side there are no traces of earthworks of any kind.
' WOLSINGHAM : CHAPEL WALLS. — A rectangular enclosure about 220 feet
north to south by 200 feet east to west, surrounded by a bank and ditch,
with, in places, a low outer bank. The ground falls
slightly on all sides except the north, and the bank is
most prominent on the east. Along this side runs the
main road from Wolsingham to Lanchester, having to
the east of it a small stream following at this point the
line of the road. The north end of the enclosure has
been destroyed by gardens, and its former extent is
shown on the plan by a broken line. In the south-
west corner is a rectangular site which appears to mark
^ pOSition Of a building, and near it, in the south-
CHAPEL WALLS, , . ,.
WOLSINGHAM. WCSt angle, IS a well.
ANCIENT VILLAGE SITES
[CLASS H]
ARCHDEACON NEWTON. — An irregular oblong enclosure which appears
to have been surrounded by a bank and ditch ; its northern boundary
following the line of Newton lane. The site is approximately level, measur-
ing some 400 yards north to south by 230 east to west ; its major axis
runs about north-east and south-west. The south-east angle of the enclosure
is occupied by buildings which are surrounded by a bank and ditch adjoining
and parallel to the lines of the outer defences on the south and east. On the
north and west sides they were probably defended in the same way, but only
slight traces remain. The west side of the enclosure is occupied by houses,
and nothing is to be seen except a bank at the north end, which stops short
of the line of a hedge enclosing ploughed land ; the north and east sides are
unoccupied, and show a series of low
banks running east and west and dividing
the area inside the outer bank into a series
of oblong spaces, bounded on the west
by another low bank running in a south-
westerly direction towards the north-west
angle of the enclosure already noticed.
On the northern boundary of the
site is a slight rise in the ground, ap-
parently natural, the sides of which have
been cut to a regular slope, and a ditch
made along its southern limit. The banks
and ditches are everywhere slight, and
seem to be boundaries rather than defences,
and the site has no natural advantages
from the latter point of view.
EASINGTON. — Remains, said to be of
the defences of a Saxon village called Yoden,
are to be traced in a field near Castle Eden,
360
ARCHDEACON NEWTON.
camps,' on Cockfield Fell,
in 1777 made a plan of
is doubtful. Mackenzie*
ANCIENT EARTHWORKS
halfway between Harden and Eden Hall. Though tradition has long claimed
them as Saxon, we are not aware of any proof of such origin, and excavations
have revealed only later relics. The main defence seems to have been a deep fosse.
UNCLASSIFIED EARTHWORKS
(CLASS X.)
COCKFIELD. — Traces yet remain of four small '
which attracted the attention of John Bailey, who
them.1 The origin of these curious little enclosures
writing in the early
part of last century
expressed the opinion
that they might be
no more than the re-
fuse of old coal works,
but this statement
leads one to doubt
whether he ever ex-
amined them. True
enough the coal work-
ings have scarred the
land around, but coal
refuse would hardly
have been carefully
banked round to form
enclosures of this na-
ture. The people of
Cockfield seem to
think they were meet-
ing-places of the Pri-
mitive Methodists ;
they may have been
so used, but are not
likely to have been
made for the purpose.
Bearing in mind
the natural protection
afforded by the valley
of the Gaunless on
the north, and that a
long entrenchment
crossed the hill on
the south of the
' camps,' it is possi-
ble, as stated in the
introductory remarks,
1 Antiquarian Repertory, iii.
* Mackenzie and Ross,
V lew of the Co. Pal. of Dur.
1834.
I
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
that, if not of pre-historic date, these works may be records of the struggle
between the English and Scots in the fighting days of the Plantagenets.
STANHOPE : PARK PASTURE. — An oblong enclosure on the north bank
of the Wear, having a steep natural slope on the south side, from the foot of
which the land is level to the river, which runs close to the south-east angle
of the work. To the north the ground rises slightly, but otherwise the site
is nearly level. To the west is a small stream running nearly due south to the
Wear, through low and partly marshy ground. The area is enclosed by a low
bank, which is double on the west, and on the south and west sides are traces
of a rampart of pebbles. A short distance to the south-west, and close to the
river, is a mound, now nearly destroyed, which
seems to have been in part composed of pebbles
or boulders like those of the oblong enclosure.
STANHOPE : PARK CRAG. — A stirrup-shaped
area obtained by levelling the gentle slope of the
site from south to north, the soil being used to
make up the ground on the south boundary. The
area thus obtained is divided midway by a low ridge
which runs north and south, extending some way
beyond the north boundary. Some distance to the
'PARK PASTURE, STANHOPE. east a second ridge runs parallel to the first, being
joined at right angles by a third, which prolongs
the line of the south boundary of the levelled site. All banks and ridges
show traces of rough walling. To the south and west the ground slopes
down steeply to Park Burn, but on the north the ground rises to a wooded
hill. There is said to have been a third little enclosure at Stanhope, and
Mr. Boyle suggests that these small camps may have been formed during the
struggles between English and Scots in Edwardian days.
DYKES AND BANKS
SCOTS DYKE. — The Scots Dyke, known under a variety of names in
different parts of its long course, has been an object of speculation to writers
from the early part of the eighteenth century to the present time. From
Mr. Edward Wooler, the last to write upon the subject, we learn that the
most northern trace of the dyke is found at Galashiels in Selkirkshire, where
the ditch is 25 feet wide, and has on each side a rampart of stones and earth
9 feet to 10 feet high. Thence southwards it is with many breaks to be
followed to Peel Fell in Northumberland. Crossing that county it enters
Durham at Shorngate Cross, from which point it may here and there be
traced to Weardale, where it is in evidence at Stanhope ; thence it seems
to follow the river till it crosses from the northern bank at Witton and runs
south to Cockfield, then turning south-east to Gainford, where, crossing the
river Tees, it passes out of the county of Durham. Mr. Wooler finds traces
of the dyke southwards to the Swale, and considers it probable that it may
be followed far south, possibly even to Wincobank, the great stronghold of
the Brigantes which overlooks the valley of the Don near Sheffield.
COCKFIELD. — Here are the remains of an entrenchment, about 2,300 feet
in length, which guarded the space now occupied by the small ' camps ' to
which reference has already been made.
362
ANCIENT EARTHWORKS
TUMULI, BARROWS, ETC.
CHESTER-LE-STREET : Fox PARK, BEAMISH. — The mound is low with a
very gentle slope ; it occupies a fine position, and the levels fall quickly to
the east towards the Red burn, and to the north and south. There is also a
slight slope to the west.
CONISCLIFFE. — There is a tumulus here at High Coniscliffe.
DALTON-LE-DALE : CROUP HILL. — A low mound, wide and flat, a few
stones are to be seen on it. It stands in a prominent position, the ground
sloping down from it on all sides except the north.
DURHAM : MAIDEN BOWER. — A small circular mound, on the southern
slope of a narrow valley west of the viaduct adjoining the railway station.
Owing to the steep slope of the ground, the top of the mound is nearly
30 feet above the natural level on the north side, and less than 20 feet above
it on the south. It has a terrace at 6 feet below the top, and is approached
from the south-west by a ridge which dies into the slope of the valley as it
rises southward. The position is commanded at close range by high ground
on the west, south, and east, while on the north the levels fall quickly to a
small stream about 200 yards distant, in the bottom of the valley.
HoucHTON-LE-SpRiNG : COPT HILL. — A mound overgrown with trees,
commanding a wide view to west and south, the ground falling rapidly in both
directions. It is overlooked by high ground on the east.
HOUGHTON-LE-SPRING : MAIDEN HlLL, HETTON-LE-HoLE. This mOUnd
is now destroyed.
HUNSTANWORTH. — There is a barrow here, also a mound or tumulus in
Nuckton East Park.
MIDDLETON-IN-TEESDALE : HEMPSTONE KNOLL. — The remains of the
' Knoll," a circular mound about 5 feet high, stand to the north of the Bell
Sike, overlooked by higher ground on north, south, and west. About 1 50 yards
away to the north, and at a considerably higher level, commanding a fine
view of the Tees valley, is the site of a circle of standing stones, now all
removed.
RYTON. — There is a tumulus, about 20 feet high, in a wood north of
the church, and another existed near Bradley Hall.
Old writers mention other barrows and tumuli, mostly long since
destroyed. For example — John Cade, writing at the end of the eighteenth
century, refers to * many barrows ' in the park at Witton Castle.1 Hutchinson
mentions a barrow ' now very conspicuous ' at Aykley Heads, near Durham,
and tumuli at Ravensworth, Maiden Law, near Lanchester, and on Brandon
Hill, Brancepeth.*
We desire to express our obligations to Canon Greenwcll and Mr.
Edward Wooler of Darlington for much valuable information respecting
the earthworks of the county.
1 Arch. ix. 1789. * Hist, and Ant. oj County of Durham, ii. and iii. 1794.
363
SCHOOLS
The ancient provision of secondary education in ' the Bishoprick ' of Durham, before the
Reformation, was in all probability far greater relatively to the population than that made at any
other period until we come to the present century. The county was studded with the bishop's
manors to which, like the king, he shifted his court from time to time as business required, and,
perhaps, as his numerous retinue ate up the country round. In the towns in which the chief
houses were planted, probably because the larger population made them safer, while the
revenues were more ample and provisions more abundant, the churches became rich and were
collegiated. Whether it was from a love of a good musical service, or of state, or merely of
cultured company, certain it is that the bishops loved to establish in their manors wherever possible,
instead of a single priest, rector, or vicar, a staff of priests with their subordinate ministers, and, as
an essential, indeed, statutory, that is, canonical requirement of collegiate churches, a public grammar
school with a master, and, usually, also an usher to teach it. Unfortunately, but scant evidences of
the collegiate churches of the bishops in Durham have been preserved. While there is ample
evidence as to the effective maintenance of the grammar schools in the Yorkshire possessions of the
church of Durham at Northallerton, at Howden, and at Hemingbrough, there is none as to those
of Durham itself. The reason is that the priors of Durham had somehow, through the laziness or
the intermission of the bishops, acquired the rights of ' Ordinary of the spirituality of St. Cuthbert
in Yorkshire,' in Allertonshire, as it is termed, Howdenshire, and Hemingbrough ; and the registers of
the Priory remain and give us a great deal of information, while the registers of the archdeacons are
mostly lost, and those of the bishops are imperfect and often meagre. So while we know that Grammar
Schoolmasters were appointed, and two schools, one of grammar and the other of song, were duly kept
at Howden in 1393,' at Hemingbrough in 1394, and at Northallerton in 1321* (which at North-
allerton became one school in 1385 and later), there is no evidence whatever yet forthcoming
as to the existence of the grammar school of Durham itself before 1414, nor, except for a
casual reference to a schoolmaster coming from Darlington to Durham to fill a casual
vacancy in 1416, of the grammar schools in any of the collegiate churches in the county
of Durham before the Reformation. Yet it is almost certainly lack of records and
perhaps lack of access to and of research in existing records, not the lack of the schools, that
prevents us from filling up this page in the history. We cannot doubt that if dependencies in
Yorkshire were properly provided with schools that the capital itself and the nearer colleges of
Bishop Auckland, Chester le Street, Darlington and Norton were not left without those inseparable
accidents of collegiate churches.
At Norton, indeed, there is evidence of the conversion of the prebends of the collegiate church
in its latter days into University exhibitions. At Barnard Castle, where an ancient guild existed,
the document recording its dissolution gives evidence of its revenues being partly applied to education.
If, however, Durham is deficient in evidence as to its schools in early days, it compensates for
it by the abundance of documents as to the Commonwealth and Protectorate periods, during which
in common repute schools were stifled, if not killed. The truth is exactly the opposite. In those
parts of the country in which Parliament prevailed, not only were existing schools nourished but
augmented, and new schools were multiplied. On 22 February, 1649-50, a bill was brought into
Parliament 'for the better propagating of the Gospel in the four northern counties, and for the main-
tenance of godly and able ministers and schoolmasters there,' and commissioners appointed for the
purpose. The dealings of this commission with the endowed grammar schools are related under the
heading of the separate schools. Besides this, they instituted schools, chiefly elementary, all over the
county. Thus, I December, 1652, they ordered that £15 a year 'bee granted for the maintenance
of a schoolmaster at Ferry Hill for the education of youth in piety and good literature in that towne
and the townes and places adjacent.' Good literature meant grammar. But on 4 March, 1652-3,
' whereas there is exceeding great want of a schoolmaster in the part of Sunderland to teach children
to write and instruct them in arithmetique to fitt them for the sea or other necessary callings,' they
ordered £5 6s. 8J. to be settled upon George Harrison, as schoolmaster, for the purpose. A similar
formula was used as late as 3 March, 1655-6, at Nether Heworth, where £16 was settled,
and trustees appointed to manage the school. Whickham, Stanhope, Staindrop, Brancepeth,
1 Early Torkihire Schools (York*. Arch. Soc. Rec. Ser. 1903), ii. 84. > Ibid. 60.
365
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
F.asington, Shincliffe and Lanchester were the recipients of similar favours between 1650 and 1653.
Indeed, if the restoration had not taken place and destroyed the Durham schools as it destroyed Durham
college, the educational movement of the nineteenth century would have been anticipated in
elementary as in University education.
DURHAM MONASTERY SCHOOLS
At Durham, if we were to believe the uncritical utterances of most writers on early education,
we should find the monks of the cathedral monastery keeping a great cloister school for the enlighten-
ment of the whole county and diocese. What we do find there, as at other monastic cathedrals, is
a school, so small as to be no school, kept by monks for intending monks, in the cloister ; a rather
larger school kept under the governance of the monks, but taught by secular clergy, for a few charity
boys in the almonry of the monastery ; and, quite outside of the monastery, a real public grammar
school with which the monks had nothing whatever to do either in being taught or teaching in it,
maintaining or managing it ; but a school superintended and, at Durham, endowed by the bishop,
for the use of the general public ; a school of precisely the same character as other ' public ' schools,
the public grammar schools, that is, which have furnished secondary education to the upper and
middle classes and a selected few from the lower classes ' from the earliest times to the present day.'
Oddly enough Durham furnishes no actual evidence of any monkish so-called school till after
its dissolution, of any almonry school before 1352, or of any public grammar school before 1414. Yet
the first and the third must have existed ab initio ; the third indeed from the days of the canons of
Durham of the old foundation, before they were turned out, as at Winchester, at Worcester, and at
Canterbury, to make room for monks : on the plea of immorality, an immorality which appears
to have consisted in the possession of wives and children and private property.
By a curious accident the first definite mention of education in connection with Durham is in
reference not to secondary or school education, but to ' tertiary ' or University education ; and that,
though of Durham youths, not at Durham but at Oxford.
DURHAM HALL AT OXFORD
In the year 1286 1 the prior and convent of Durham bought from Mabel, abbess of Godstow,
part of the present site of Trinity College, then 5 acres of arable land in the suburbs of Oxford.
We learn from the chronicler, Robert of Graystanes, that Hugh of Darlington (prior 1286-90)
sent monks to study there ; whilst Richard 3 of Hoton, his successor, ' prepared a place at Oxford and
caused it to be built.' These seem to be the earliest8 unquestionable notices of the foundation of
a hall or cell of Durham monks at Oxford. The cell of St. Leonard's, Stamford, which seems to
have been another resort of Durham monks for the purposes of University education in the fourteenth
century, had a separate endowment, but the Oxford Hall seems to have been directly maintained by
payments from the mother-abbey for the first century of its existence. It was not till the year
1380 that Bishop Hatfield converted Durham Hall into an endowed college. The prior of Durham
himself, John of Boryngton, went to London and Northampton to recover a debt of £100 from
the king, ' and for the college at Oxford to be founded by the bishop,' whilst a pipe of Malvoisie
or Malvoisin, costing £j 6s, 8d.y was given to the archbishop for his friendship in making the
charters. Ultimately a five-part indenture * was drawn up between the prior and convent, the
bishop of Durham, the bishop of Lincoln, the archbishop of Canterbury, and the University of
Oxford ; but it was not until 8 November, 1387, that the endowment consisting of the churches
of Frampton, Borsalls, Ardington, and Freskleton was granted under a bull of Pope Urban VI.,
that of Brantingham being afterwards added. It was to consist of eight monks of Durham,
of whom one was to be prior, to perform services for the souls of the king, the founder and his
relations, and to be students in the superior faculties of law and divinity ; and of eight ' secular
scholars,' four from the city or diocese of Durham, and two each from the Yorkshire domains of
the monastery at Northallerton and Howden, ' principally intent on grammar and philosophy,' and
reading for their sophisters or bachelor of arts degree. These were inferior to the monks in both
age and subjects of study and also in social status, waiting on the monk-students in hall and
elsewhere, and dining ' at the second table ' with the clerk and other servants. They were, in fact,
in the position of the servitors or sizars of later days. Thus endowed, Durham College successfully
carried out the small work for which it was chiefly founded — that of ensuring that perhaps a tithe
of the monks of Durham were educated men. Six of the wardens became priors of Durham ;
1 Some Durham College Rolls (Oxf. Hist. Soc.), 1896; Collectanea, iii. 7, by H. E. D. Blakiston, and
Trln. Coll., by H. E. D. Blakiston (1895), p. 5. » Blakiston, Trin. Coll. p. 4.
* Dr. Fowler has suggested that in a notice of 'a clerk going to Exon ' in 1278 we should read ' Oxon.'
See his Durham University (1904), p. z ; Extracts from Durham Account Rolls (Surtees Soc.), 99, 100, 103,
iii. 485.
* Wilkins' Cone. ii. 14, from Durham MSS. 146. iv. 41, f. 22zb.
366
SCHOOLS
indeed, from 1478 to the dissolution all the priors had been wardens ; and Hugh Whitehead,
ex-warden and prior, became the first dean of Durham ; while one Richard Bell passed from the
office of prior of Finchale to the see of Carlisle, 1478-96.
The college was included among the possessions of the monastery of Durham surrendered to
Henry VIII. Among the king's projects has been found a design for a Durham college, with a
provost, four readers, one of humanytie in Greke,' another of ' Dyvinitie in Hebrew,' a third ' both of
Dyvinitie and humanytie,' and a fourth in 'physike' ; nine 'scollars, to be taughte both gramerand
logyke, in hebrewe, greke, and lattyn,' twenty students in Divinity, ten at each University, and a
schoolmaster and usher ; total estimated cost £710 a year. Unfortunately the easier expedient was
adopted of the establishment of a dean and chapter, and the college was granted to them. On 20 March,
1544, it was again given up to the king ; and eventually on 30 May, 1556, taken possession of by a
president, twelve fellows, and eight scholars, as part of Trinity College founded in 1555 by Sir
Thomas Pope. But the new college had no connexion, either in endowment or in the place from
which its inmates came, with the old.
THE NOVICES' SCHOOL
We now pass to the school which fed the college. Though a novices' school must have existed
at initia in the monastery, we have absolutely no light thrown on it or its working until we come
to that curious laudatio temporis acti,' The Rites of Durham,' written, perhaps, soon after 1540,
and known to us through a copy of about 1593. The account of the novices, a locus c/assicus
on the so-called novices' school,1 tells ' how in the Weast ally of the cloisters towards the northe
ende there was a fair great stall of wainscott where the novices did sitt and learne, and also the
master of the novices had a pretty stall or seat of wainscott adjoyning on the south side of the
Treasure house, down over against the stall where the novices did sitt and look on their bookes ;
and there did sitt and teach the novices both forenoon and afternoon ; and also there were no
strangers nor other persons suffered to molest or trouble any of the said novices or monks in their
carrells, they being studying ... for there was a porter ... to keep the cloyster door . . .
There • was alwayes vi. novices which went daly to schoule within the house for the space of vii.
yere, and one of the eldest mounckes that was lernede was appoynted to be there tuter. The sayd
novices had no wages, but meite, drinke, and clothe for that space. The maister or tuteres office
was to sec that they lacked nothing, as, cowles, frockes, stammynge,' beddinge, bootes and sockes;
and whene they did lacke any of thes necessaries, the maister had charge to caule of the chamber-
laynes for such things ; for they never receyved wages nor handled any money in that space, but
goynge daly to there bookes within the cloyster. And yf the mr. dyd see that any of theme weare
apte to lernyng and did applie his booke and had a prignant wyt withall, then the mr. did lett ye
prior have intelligence ; then streighte way after he was sent to Oxforde to schoole, and there dyd
lerne to study devinity ; and the resydewe of the novices was keapt at there bookes tyll they coulde
understand there service and the scriptures ; then at the foresayde yeres end they dyd syng their
first messc.' They had their recreation. ' On the right hand asyougoe out of the cloysters in to
the fermery and ye commone house, there was belonging to ye commone house a garding and a
bowling allie on the back side of the house towards the water for the novices some tyme to recreat
themselves, when they had remedy * of there master, he standing by to see ther good order.' We
are not told what the novices were taught in this school ; a modicum of grammar, no doubt,
and a modicum of song ; but, judging from the title of the master of the novices at Canterbury —
that of maglster ordinis — chiefly the rule of the order. For otherwise it would have hardly been
necessary to provide, as was done in the Benedictine statutes of 1334, for a grammar master
at the monastery, who might be, and generally was, a secular clerk. There is no evidence
of any such grammar master ever being appointed at Durham. Having diligently searched the
prior's registers, the only person I can find appointed to do any teaching of the novices is a
master not of grammar, but of song; and that not until 4 December, 1513.' Then an indenture
was made between Prior Thomas Castell and Thomas Hashewell, singer (cantorem), by which
Hashewell was ' retained and firmly sworn to serve the prior and his successors for term of his life,
in form underwritten ; viz. that he shall freely (gratis) labour to instruct assiduously and diligently
those monks of Durham and eight secular boys whom the prior or his deputy should appoint to
learn it, in the best way he knows, both to play on the organ* and plain song and accompanied song,
1 Rites of Durham (Surtees Soc.), 84. * Ibid. 96. This passage comes from an MS. c. 1600.
* ' Estamine,' ' stamina,' shirts of linsey-woolsey.
* This is the old mediaeval word for a holiday, cf. Memorial] of Southed! Miniter, when in 1487 the
complaint was made that the master ' indiscrete dat remedium scolaribus.' At Winchester a ' remedy ' is still
the term for a holiday, which is not a holy day. ' Prior's Reg. v. 156.
6 Tarn ad modulandum super organa quam ad planum cantum et organicum, decantando, scilicet, plane
tongs, priknott, faburdon, dischant, sware note, et countre.
367
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
singing plain song, pricknote, faburdon, discant, square note and counterpoint, to the utmost of his
power ; teaching them four times on every week day, twice in the morning, and twice in the after-
noon, concealing from them nothing of his knowledge,' and himself take part in the services.
He was to be given £10 a year paid quarterly, with three yards of cloth of the suit of
' gentlemen clerks.' When incapacitated he was to receive a pension of five marks. His successor,1
on 17 February, 1537, was John Brymley, whose pay was, however, jC6 a year only, but he was
to have his meals ' with the prior's own brethren,' and, when the prior was away, ' in the hall of the
Inn of the Monastry called le Gheste Hall ' (in aula hospicii prioris monasterii vocata le Gheste
Hall). 'John Brymeley, layman,' appears in I535,3 as ' instructor of the four boys, having for his
fee issuing from lands in Hebbarne and Simondside, by foundation of Thomas Castell, £6 13*. 4^.'
It would seem, therefore, that the appointment of Hashewall as Song-master was the first, the
foundation being then new in 1513. But there must have been some earlier provision of the sort
as far as the young monks were concerned, but perhaps for singing only, not organ playing as well,
since the Sacrist in 1416—7 paid 51. to ' a singer to teach the youths ' (cantori informanti juvenes).
John Brimley after the dissolution became organist and master of the choristers on the new
foundation, and though in trouble for taking part in the mass in Durham Cathedral during
the rising in the north, retained office till his death, 13 October, 1576, being then seventy-four
years old.3
It will have been observed that the writer of the Rites speaks as if there were always six
novices exactly under the master or tutor. But the number was not in fact constant. We are
enabled from 1380 onwards to get some idea of the numbers, by the same means as at Winchester,*
the presents of knives made to the novices. At Durham these presents appear to have been made
only by the Feretrar or shrine-keeper, who yearly gave knives and purses (called loculis or bursis
indifferently). Thus in 1380-1 he paid 2s. lid. 'for the knives and purses of the novices,' with-
out specifying how many, but in 1383 the number is given ' in eight knives and four purses given to
four novices and their masters, is. iod.' The knives were in pairs, so that whenever the number of
knives is given, by halving them we find the number in 'school.' In 1387 there were apparently
five novices and two masters. In 1409 a list of the monks gives twenty-seven monks and
seven novices. In 1423 four novices at once went off to Oxford. In 1445 seven pairs of
knives for the novices cost is. "jd. ; in 1450 six pairs at $d. a pair, cost 2s., and in 1460 there
were five pairs at 3^. each. In 1488 there were five novices. But five, six or even seven boys do
not make a school in any ordinary sense, and the monastic or priory school must therefore be regarded
as more like a small private collection of parlour boarders than the public school which these schools
are commonly reported to have been. Even if it can be called a school, the novices' school
did nothing for general education.
THE ALMONRY SCHOOL
The school in the almonry or infirmary was a much more substantial affair. Let us hear on
this again the writer of the Rites.6
There were certain poor children, called children of the Almery, who onely were maintained with
learning, and relieved with the Almes and benevolence of the whole house, having their meat and
drink in a loft, on the north side of the abbey gates. And the said poor children went dayly to
school to the Farmary school, without the abbey gates ; which school was founded by the priors of
the said abbey, and at the charges of the same house, the last school-master's name was called Sir
Robert Hartburne, who continued master to the suppression of the house or abbey, and also the said
master was bound to say masse twice in the week at Magdalen Chappel nigh Keapyeare, and once in
the week at a chappie at Kimblesworth. And also the meat and drink, that the aforesaid poor chil-
dren had, was the meat that the master of the novices and the novices left and reserved, and was
carried in at a door adjoyning to the great kitchin window into a little vault in the west end of the
Prater house like unto a pantry called the Covie, which had a man that kept it, called the clarke of the
Covie, and had a window within it, where one or two of the children did receive their meat and
drink of the said clarke, out of the covie or pantry window so called, and the said children did carry
it to the Almery or loft, which clarke did wait upon them every mail, and to see that they kept good
order.
(When a monk died) :8 At nyght ys he removed from the dead manes chamber into St. Andrew's
chappell, adjoyning to the said chamber and fermery,'' there to remaine till eight of the clock in the
mornynge . . , Two mounckes either in kinred or kyndness the nerest unto him, were appoynted
by the prior to be speciall murners, syttinge all nyghte on their kneys at the dead corsses feet. Then
were the chyldren of the thaumerey sitting on there knees in stalls of eyther syd thecorpes, appoynted to
read Davis's spalter all nyght over incessanly till the said our of eight a clock in the mornyng.
1 Roger Prior's Reg. v. 26 ib. * Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), v. 300.
8 Rite! tfDur. 231. * A. F. Leach, History of Winchester College.
6 Rites ofDur. 91, from MS. L. i, 656. « Roll. C. 1600. 7 Ibid. 51 from Roll of 1600.
368
SCHOOLS
Another task which the Almonry boys performed was the ' dressing, trimming, and making
bright ' the ' Pascall 'l or great candle for Easter.
The Valor Ecclesiasticus of 1535 * sheds more precise light on the Almonry school. From it
we learn that the Farmery, which must not be confounded with the monks' infirmary inside the
precinct, was for twenty-eight lay brothers and sisters, each of whom received 45. yd. a year, or
about a penny a week. It was by foundation of Philip, lord of Bromtoft ; Gilbert of Laya, lord of
Whitton, Adam of Bradbery, Robert ' de Monasterio,' Robert of Amundevill, Roger de Mowbray,
and many more. Its exact site we learn from the first receiver's account, or rent book, after the
dissolution of the monastery and foundation of the college of canons, that for the year 1541. Under
the heading of ' North Bailey, going southwards on the east side of it,' (the original is in Latin) after
giving the rental of ' Kyngysgate,' now Bow Lane, it has the following : —
' Entre on the east side of the same (i.e., the North Bailey)
' From a great house (magna domo) called the Fermarye with orchard and garden adjacent, yearly.
' From a great room above, where the school was held (De magno solario supra, ubi tenebatur scola).
' From the schoolmaster's chamber (De j camera magistri scole).
' From the same for a cellar beneath the schoolmaster's chamber (cellario subtus cameram eiusdem).'
After two more items comes the statement, ' This is the end both of the South and of the
North Bailey.' This fixes the site as that where a lane or ' entry ' used to run down towards the
river Wear between what is now 28 North Bailey and I South Bailey, the beginning of which is
now occupied by the stables of the latter, which has recently reverted to educational uses as
St. Chad's Hall, the most recent of the halls of the present Durham University. The absence
of any sum for rent opposite the items shows that the premises were then unoccupied or at least unlet.
The school had clearly ceased, as it is spoken of in the past tense. In 1594 the master's chamber
had become ' the usher's chamber (camera hypodidascalt), the lodging of the usher of the re-founded
grammar school, allowed him rent free, while the cellar underneath was let as early as 1 546 to
Richard Massam, then to his widow, and in 1594 to his son Robert, who was a lay-clerk or singing
man of the cathedral, at i s. 6d. a year.
The Valor Ecclesiasticus also tells us the number of boys in the Almonry who went to school
across the road, in the Outer Infirmary. ' In alms given for maintenance of thirty poor scholars
daily in a place called the Almonry (Elemosinariam), by the outer gate of the monastery, studying
grammar (artem grammaticalem) in the school of the monastery, in bread and drink provided by
26 quarters of wheat and 52 quarters of barley malt, £21 13*. \d? We have seen, however, that
besides this bread and beer they had the broken meats from the novices' table, though meagre fare for
thirty boys were the scraps of six or seven novices and one master.
When the school of the Almonry began is not quite clear. It is said in the Valor to be ' of
the foundation of the founders aforesaid,' Roger de Mowbray and the rest. By analogy from
Canterbury, Winchester, and Westminster, it was probably in the first half of the fourteenth
century.
The earliest mention of a master of the Almonry in the extracts from the accounts published by
Dr. Fowler is in 1352—3, and this marks the beginning of the school. The roll for 1339—40 shows ' in
stipend of priests £8 13*. 4^.,' while that for 1352-3 shows ' in stipends of priests and of the master of
the boys of the Almonry, £i I I is. ^.d.' The difference between the two suggests the introduction in the
interval of the Almonry boys, who were used as choristers, and a master to teach them. In what is per-
haps the earliest mention of scholars in the Almonry, though it much more probably refers to scholars in
the Public Grammar School, is a deed in the Almonry Register, whereby Richard, bishop of Durham,
formerly of Salisbury (i.e. Richard of Bury, 1333—1345), arbitrated between the convent of Durham
and the master of Trinity Hospital, Gateshead, about the manor of Kyhou (Killow), 'formerly given
to the Almonry of Durem (Durham) for the maintenance of three clerks,8 scholars of the school of
Durham in the liberal arts, by Mr. Symon of Ferlington, but afterwards given by his brother Henry,
the heir of Simon, to Gateshead, for the maintenance of three poor men and a chaplain.' The
bishop settled the dispute by letting the hospital keep the manor, paying 401. a year to the convent.
The priests appear to have been three in number and founded * by John dc Hamaldunc
(? Hamilton), who for the souls of himself and others gave lands in Westchuton (Chewton) for the
maintenance of three priests, whom the monks were to assign to celebrate daily, one at the altar
of St. John the Baptist in St. Oswald's church and to serve the infirm and dead of St. Oswald's
Hospital in confessions and funerals ; the second to serve in the church of the Lepers* Hospital of
St. Mary Magdalen and under the Almoner take care of the lepers there ; and the third to minister
in the Hospital of St. John the Evangelist before the abbey gate.
1 Ritei ofDur. p. 17. * Vahr Eccl. v. 301-3.
1 Reg. Elemosinarie, f. 1 2, ' ad lustentacionem trium clericorum, tcolarium scolarum Dunelmensium
libcralium arcium.' * Ibid. f. 30, No. 77.
I 369 47
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
In 1362-3 the sacrist paid 'to the succentors, the master of the infirmary, the students at
Oxford, and the bishop of the Almonry £1 6s.' Other Sacrists' Rolls show that the Oxford, i.e.
Durham Hall students, received £1, so that 6s. was paid to the infirmary master and to the boy
bishop of the Almonry ; which same sum was in 1367-8 paid by the Almoner 'as a pension by the
students and master of the infirmary and the bishop of the Almonry.' The boy bishop reigned, on
St. Nicholas and Innocents' Day, here no doubt as everywhere else where there was a school or
choristers. The accounts of the officers of the monastery show payments of sums varying from
is. 6d. to 3*. 6d. to the boy bishop (episcopo puerili) or the Almonry bishop (episcopo Elemosinario) from
1350 downwards.
The Almonry was simply a charity school, and it was started apparently to provide choristers
for the Lady Chapel (and perhaps the choir, though it is by no means certain that they ever sang
in the choir in the ordinary way) as part of a general movement of the monasteries, at all events the
cathedral monasteries, to rival the secular cathedral and collegiate churches by the attractions of a
musical service, with the clear trebles of boys instead of the horrid altos of men. To enable the
choristers to be efficient they were bound to learn grammar as well as song, and so the Almonry
Grammar Schools came into existence. It is not, however, till 1372-3 that the ' master of the
boys ' is definitely called schoolmaster. In that year the Almoner paid £i igs. 3^. 'to the school-
master of the Almonry (magister scole elemosinarie) for his salary, together with a gown (roba) bought
for him.'
In 1447—8, and subsequent years, 8 pennyworth of bread and beer was found for the boys ' for
scattering, tossing, and winning hay ' (dispergentibus, levantibus et lucrantibus fenum), while in 1456-7
is. 5<£ was paid for beer 'for the scholars and others labouring at getting stones.' Though fed on
broken meats they were provided with table cloths ; ' two cloths (mappis) for the tables of the boys
of the Almonry,' costing in 1406-7, 2s. Sd., and a big school table was bought for them in 1436-7
for I os. They were given meat, too, at the great feasts, "]s. being paid in 1418-9 ' for meat
(carnibus) bought for the Almonry boys at Advent.' When there was a vacancy in the mastership
in 1416—7 a schoolmaster was imported from Darlington by the Almoner to teach them (magistro
scolarum1 venienti de Darlington informanti pueros pro tempore, 141.), and in 1500, when the school-
master ran away 'through fear of the plague ' (propter metum pestis) — two of the sisters in the infir-
mary died of it — somebody else was paid is. 8d. by the Almoner to administer the Sacraments to
W. Suall and his wife.
The stipend of the master seems to have been raised later. To John Gamer, in 1439-40
(magistro scolarum grammaticalium) was paid ^2 1 3*. \d. for three terms, making his stipend probably
^3 for the year, with an allowance for gown and hood, since in 1500 a Sir George Trewhyte,
master of the Grammar School (scole grammaticalis) (after 1450 there seems to have been a reversion
to the use of the singular instead of the plural for a single school), the one who ran away from the
plague, received £3 stipend, los. for his gown (toga) and nd. for fur for it ; and the same amount
was paid in 1522. In 1526-7 he also received 6s. 8d. from the master of the infirmary, but this
was probably for some special service.
We learn the names of a few of the masters, besides the two above mentioned, from the
Sanctuary Book,** as on several occasions the master witnessed the entries of those admitted to
sanctuary. Thus on 26 July, 1477, the admission of Christopher Brown was witnessed by
Edward Bell, notary public, and John Mynsforth, priest, schoolmaster of the abbey of Durham
(magistro scolarum abbathie Dunelmensis). On 24 August, 1493, Robert Greneof South Shields was
admitted before Sir Robert Milner, schoolmaster (magistro scole grammaticalis) of the abbey of
Durham, while on 27 December, 1510, Sir Cuthbert Marshall, described in the same way, and
Thomas Hawghton, literate, were witnesses to two similar admissions. On 19 August, 1515, the
admission of Thomas Huchenson of Haydon Bridge (Hadan Brigs), husbandman, and his son was,
by perhaps more than a coincidence of name, witnessed by Sir John Huchenson, Grammar School
master of the abbey and rector of the church in the South Bailey. John Huchenson, without any
description attached, appears again as a witness on 25 August, 1521. Sir Robert Hartburne was, as
has been seen, the last master.
We may presume, but there is no evidence, that the secular scholars or sizars at Durham
College at Oxford, who waited on the monks were, so far as the four to be chosen from Durham
were concerned, taken from these Almonry boys.
With the abbey, the almonry, being a part of it, and the almonry school perished. So far as
they were choristers, the boys' places were filled by the ten choristers ; while so far as they were
scholars, their places were taken by the eighteen king's scholars of the new foundation.
1 This entry, by the way, confirms the inference that there was a Grammar School attached to the
collegiate church of Darlington.
* Sanctuarium Dune/mease (Surtees Soc., No. 3).
37°
SCHOOLS
THE PUBLIC GRAMMAR SCHOOL
The true ancestor of the present king's school or cathedral grammar school is neither the
novices' no-school nor the almonry charity school (neither of which was in any sense a public
school), but the grammar school endowed by Bishop Langley in 1414. This by all analogy
existed in some form long before his day, since we find at Canterbury, Winchester, and
Worcester a public grammar school, the grammar school of the city, existing outside the monastic
precinct, served by secular clergy and under the control not of the monastery but of the archbishop
or bishop, from a date ' from whence the memory of man is not to the contrary.' But it was
probably not endowed with anything beyond a site and buildings ; and the master therefore lived
wholly upon fees.
As we have seen, an earlier endowment probably inten'ded for this school was brought to nought
by the heir of the donor having bestowed the same charity in another direction. In 1414, Thomas
Langley, who on 8 August, 1 406, was consecrated bishop of Durham, was Chancellor of England
in 1407, and afterwards twice more Chancellor, and became a Cardinal 5 June, 1436, who had
already provided a grammar school at his native place, Middleton in Lancashire, founded twin
schools of grammar and of song for the city of Durham upon the Palace green, the open space
between the castle or palace of the bishopric and his cathedral church.
The foundation of this school has been somewhat misunderstood by the former historians of
Durham. On 13 June, 1414, two letters patent addressed to Thomas Neuton1 and
John Thoralby, clerks, were issued, by one of which the bishop, in his spiritual capacity as ordinary,
and by the other in his temporal capacity* as earl, or at least as having the 'jura regalia' or kingly
authority in the county palatine of Durham, authorised them to found two chantries.
The second licence, made in precisely the same form as the royal licences in mortmain,
empowered Neuton and Thoralby ' to found a chantry of two chaplains to celebrate divine service at
the altar of the Virgin in the cathedral church of Durham,' ' until another honourable and fitting altat
is founded by me or by my executors either in the same church or in a chapel to be newly built in
honour of the Virgin Mary near the same church ' for the good estate and for the souls mentioned
in the other licence ' according to an ordinance to be made by the said Thomas and John.' Further, the
chaplains were made a corporation, and a rent of 6 marks (£4) issuing from certain lands specified in
'Herdewyk,' Ryton, Boldon, Whitburn, Cashop and 'Owangatc' in the North Bailey of Durham,
held of the bishop in chief.
Next day, 14 July, 1414, Neuton and Thoralby executed the ordinance which the licences
empowered them to make. It recited how they thought it a work of mercy (pium opus),s and deserving
reward from God ' to found perpetual chantries and to prefer thereto persons who are praiseworthy for
the uprightness of their life and conduct ; competently instructed in grammar and song (litteratura et
cantu competenter edoctos) so that they may not only render themselves sufficient and scrupulous in
divine service, but may know how to mould others how to serve in the church of God, and bring
forth fruit pleasing to God in due season.' So from ' the property given them by God (debonisa Deo
collatis)' they proceeded to found a perpetual chantry of two chaplains in the words of the licences,
and appointed Mr. William Browne and Sir John Clayton, priests, to be the first chaplains, directing
them and their successors to pray for the souls already specified ' according to our ordinance noted
below and as the said Thomas, bishop of Durham, shall think fit to add ' to enjoy the endowment
of 6 marks ' trusting that the said reverend father and other Christ's faithful people moved by pity
will lend helping hands to the chantry aforesaid, as we according as our means allow intend to
provide further for it.' They also ordained ' that the chaplains aforesaid there, shall, when so
disposed, celebrate mass and say daily the canonical hours, viz., the office of the day and of the Blessed
Virgin and the exequies of the dead, as beneficed persons in holy orders (curati et in sacris ordinibus
constituti) are accustomed to do, according to the Sarum Ordinal and the use (observanciam) in the
diocese of Durham.' Then appears the real object of the foundation. The chaplains were to be
' sufficiently advanced * and instructed, one in grammar, the other in song, so that one may know how
to keep school in grammar, the other in song, in the city of Durham, and sufficiently to teach, instruct and
1 Neuton was a canon of Darlington, having exchanged his prebend in the collegiate church of Bridgnorth
for one in Darlington in 1407 ; while Thoralby was made dean of the collegiate church of Chester le Street,
6 April, 1408 (Dur. Epis. Reg. Langley, f. 136 and 146). Neuton was also master of a hospital at Gatcshead,
of which place Thoralby was rector.
8 A full account is given of the ordinance by Mr. G. B. M. Coorc in the Report of the Charity Com-
missioners on the charities of Durham and suburbs (Parl. Papers, 1900, 200, p. 27) from the transcripts made
by me.
8 This rather than ' pious ' seems to be the proper translation.
* Capellani in cantaria predicta intitulandi sint, unus in grammatica, alter in cantu, ita sufficients
provecti et instruct!, quod unus eorum scolas in grammatica, alter in cantu in civitate dunelmie sci.it regcre,
juvencsque et alios indoctos in huiusmodi scienciis sufficientcr instruere et proinde informare.
37'
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
inform youths and others untaught in such learning,' and they were to be 'perpetually bound1
to keep school, one in grammar and the other in song in the city of Durham, in such places
as may be assigned by Lord Thomas, the bishop, or his executors, and to diligently teach and instruct
all willing to learn or study under them in the said sciences, the poor indeed freely (gratis) for the
love of God, if they or their parents have humbly asked for this, but taking from those who by
themselves or their friends are willing to pay the moderate fees accustomed to be paid in other
grammar or song schools.'
Still more remarkable for those who confuse the Grammar Schools with schools merely to teach
choristers the minimum of psalm singing is the next provision that ' the chaplain who teaches the
song-school shall be bound to be present in person with a competent number of his scholars, and to
sing in the mass of the Blessed Virgin when celebrated with note in the church of Durham
or in the chapels aforesaid, but he who keeps the grammar school is only bound to attend there on
Sundays and feast-days.' This is exactly parallel to the arrangements at Winchester College, where
the Song Schoolmaster and the choristers had to attend the services daily, while the headmaster of
the Grammar School and the scholars only attended on high days and holidays.
The two schoolmasters were to live together ' in the same manse (manso) or house assigned to
them by the bishop in the city of Durham ' to have forty days' leave of absence in the year, but
never to be absent both at one time, 'and always to leave a sufficient substitute to keep the schools
aforesaid in their absence, and duly teach and inform the scholars ' for whom, as usual at this time,
no holidays seem to be contemplated. The usual provisions against playing forbidden games,
frequenting taverns, and female society follow. Their appointment was vested in the bishop, who
was to have unlimited power during his life of altering or abrogating the statutes and making
new ones. This, coupled with the fact that his soul and the souls of his parents and benefactors
and not those of Neuton and Thoralby were to be prayed for, is sufficient proof that the endowment
as well as the foundation really came from the bishop, and that they were only his agents in the founda-
tion, interpolated probably because of the awkwardness of giving licences to himself. To make all
safe, the whole was confirmed by the king 1 8 July, 1414.
It is clear from the terms of the Ordinance that Langley intended to give further endowment
to the schools than the mere £2 a year each, which was in fact paid out of the episcopal revenues, and
one of which sums, representing the Grammar School master's stipend, is still paid by the Ecclesiastical
Commissioners in respect of the episcopal estates. But no other endowment seems in fact to have
been given during Langley's life. William Brown, the first Grammar School master on this
foundation left the school for the deanery of the collegiate church of Lanchester only two years
afterwards,2 and was succeeded by John Artays or Ortas ' priest and master in grammar ' — there
were then degrees in grammar given at the Universities — appointed by Langley himself 13 May,
1416. Three years later, 1419, Artays, besides his stipend of £2, paid as usual by W. Chancellor,
the bishop's temporal chancellor, receiver, and constable, on the bishop's warrant, received ^4 135. $d.
more from the constable 8 ' in recompense made for certain poor scholars of the said lord bishop,
taught by him without receiving anything for their fee.' In the same year £2 13*. 4^. was paid ' to
William son of John Ingleby, studying at Oxford, granted by the bishop's warrant to be paid him
yearly as long as the lord pleased for his maintenance (ad exhibicionem suam).' This school therefore
contributed undergraduates to Oxford quite independently of Durham College.
In 1424-5* the Auditors' Rolls show Artays as still receiving £4 13*. 4^. besides the
endowment of 40*. When Langley died, 20 November, 1437, no further endowment had been
added. By will, however, 21 December 1436, he directed his executors to purchase an endowment
for the school, and on i February, 1438, Robert Neville, the succeeding bishop, granted them
licence to acquire lands to the value of £40 a year and grant them to John Artays and Robert
Southaryn (otherwise called Southeron), ' chaplains of the chantry of the Blessed Mary and
St. Cuthbert in the chapel called the Galilee in the church of Durham.' Here under a splendid
slab of marble reposes the cardinal-bishop himself, and from it the chantry was called ' the marble
chantry.'6 After Langley's death the prior and convent raised the claim that the original foundation
deed of Langley required their consent, as it undoubtedly did, if the £4 annuity was really a charge
' Capellani predict! .... perpetuo teneantur, nnus scilicet in grammatica, alius in cantu infra
civitatem Dunclmie, in locis ad hoc eis per Dominum Thomam episcopum supradictum vel ejus exccutores
assignandis, scolas regere, et quoscunque sub eis in dictis scienciis addiscere vel studere volentes diligenter
instruere et docere, pauperes quidem gratis pro Deo, si hoc ipsi vel parentes sui pro amore Dei humiliter
petierint ; ab illis autem, qui per se vel amicos suos solvere voluerunt, recipiendo stipendia moderata in aliis
scolis gramatice vel cantus solvi consueta.'
3 Mickleton's MS. f. 59. This is a collection in the Chapter Library formed by James Mickleton, chapter
Registrar after the Civil War.
1 Mickleton quoting the Auditor's Roll, 14 Langley.
* Mickleton. Hutchinson, History, ii. 335. 6 Hutchinson, ii. 272.
372
SCHOOLS
on episcopal revenues, and not merely a charge on lands bought by the bishop and presented
to the see. However, the convent executed a deed of confirmation for which they insisted
on a quid pro quo. For while reciting that they 'sincerely embraced and greatly com-
mended in the Lord the devout purpose of the ordainers concerning the instruction and progress of
those wishing to study in grammar and song, as tending to the praise and honour of God, the
increase of divine worship and the benefit of ourselves and the whole country, and for the intimate
love which we bear to the soul of the said late Bishop Thomas as in duty bound, at the special request
of his executors, from whose goods charges and expenses the said chantry is already partly endowed
and is to be enlarged by more ample endowment in the future ' they granted that ' the chaplains
may celebrate at the principal altar of the Blessed Virgin . . where the aforesaid Thomas has
chosen his place of burial, and has restored it sumptuously with large outpouring of his wealth,' but
only subject to the conditions that (i) the chantry priests were to arrange their masses so as not to
interfere with the daily Lady Mass celebrated by the monks at the same altar ; (2) that they should have
no right of entrance to the chapel except when the church was open to the public, nor have or claim
the right to any particular place or stall in the church or chapel ; and (3) that besides l the
scholars on Langley's foundation ' they shall be bound to teach and instruct the thirty persons
supported and maintained in the Almonry of the cathedral church freely, exacting nothing from
them, as and when such persons shall be presented for this purpose to the aforesaid chaplains by the
Prior of the cathedral church aforesaid, within the number aforesaid ' and (4) ' that the chaplain
of the Song School (" qui scolas regit in cantu ") shall be bound to be present in the choir of
the Cathedral on every principal and double feast at the time of high mass and both first and second
Vespers, robed in a surplice, and to sing, if given notice beforehand by the Prior ' ; (5) that neither
of them shall bring any action against the Prior and monks.
This deed reveals a design of relieving the monastery of providing masters to teach the
Almonry boys and planting them on the city school. But it seems doubtful whether it took effect,
since the names of the masters of the ' Abbey School ' or Almonry School do not correspond with
those of the ' City School ' or Langley's School, except in one case, that of John Hutchinson, who
appears as one of the two chantry-priest schoolmasters in 1510, and is apparently the same person
who as Grammar Schoolmaster of the Abbey witnessed the admission of sanctuary men in 1515
and 1521. But it is probable that he passed from the Grammar School to the Almonry School,
when he obtained the rectory of the South Bailey church, which made him ineligible to remain one
of Langley's schoolmasters. The rectory and the Almonry schoolmastership together were
no doubt better than the city mastership alone.
Langley's executors are said by Hutchinson * to have bought the manor of Kevardeley in
Lancashire and to have assigned £16 13*. ^d. a year to the schoolmasters out of the rents. But it
appears from the licence, i October, 1440, to Nicholas Hulme, Richard Bulkley and John Snawdun,
clerks, to purchase and grant it to John Artays and Robert Sotheryn, that the purchase was of a
rent-charge (annualem rcdditum) only, and so was fixed for all time. In return for it the chaplains
had at Langley's Obit on 20 November to distribute, by the oversight of the prior, 131. ^d. among
forty poor and indigent persons to pray for the founder.
The increase of endowment at the time was substantial and brought the pay of the masters to
£10 a year, the same as that of the headmaster of Winchester; but the latter was boarded and
clothed as well, and took, as the Durham masters did, the fees of commoners. Artays enjoyed
the new endowment for some four years, dying 22 August, 1442. Sotheron, the song schoolmaster,
is put first in the records of payment in 1453-4, Robert Grene being the other chaplain ; but
he was put first by virtue of seniority as chaplain, not as having become grammar schoolmaster
or headmaster. These two remained in office until 1463-4, when Robert Grene was succeeded
by John Spicer, in 1465-6 by Nicholas Kelchith, and in 1477 by Hugh Forster. They are
unhappily mere names. The space left after Forster by Mickleton may be partially filled by
inserting about 1495 John Claymond,8 re-elected a demy of Magdalen College, Oxford, in 1485,
and afterwards President, leaving the office to become the first President of Corpus Christi College.
According to Claymond's biographer in Latin verse, when Foxe, the founder of the latter college,
became bishop of Durham, which was in Dec. 1494, he immediately sent for Claymond, ' and
promising a large salary set him over the boys whom that land holds to dip their tender tongues in
Roman river, and banish their Scythian accent.' He was made vicar of Norton in 1498, for
scholars from which place he established two scholarships at Brasenose College by his will 6 June
1537, and master of Staindrop collegiate church in 1500. In 1510 John Hotchinson was the
grammar schoolmaster, and as we have seen became almonry schoolmaster ; William Dossy being
song schoolmaster. In 1511 Thomas Sanderson and Edward Watson were the two masters. The
1 'Et 30 personal in elemosinaria ccclesie cathedralis predicte sustentcnJas et cxhibcnJas in scicnciis
prcdictis, libcre, nichil ab cis cxigcndo.' 8 ii. 47*.
8 History a/Ccrfus Christi ColUgt, Oxford, by Dr. Fowler, Oxford Historical Society.
373
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
latter is certainly the Edward Watson who became a Bachelor of Grammar at Oxford on 1 8 March,
I5I2.1 He was succeeded in 1520 by George Fowbray ; and Sanderson in 1525 by William
Coky or Cockey, probably the same as William Cokke or Cockey who took his B.A. degree at
Oxford 10 March, 1516.* At the time of the Valor Ecclesiasticus, 1535, William Coky and Ralph
Todd were the chaplains. Of these Cockey was the song schoolmaster and still remained so at
the time of the di?solution of chantries in 1548. Todd, who was an Oxford man, B.C.L. n July,
1519,8 was succeeded by Henry Stafford, who was the grammar schoolmaster at the time of
the dissolution of the 'Abbey' or cathedral monastery in 1540. He was a Durham boy, who
became fellow of Corpus Christ! College, Oxford, 16 June, 1528 ; B.A., 23 June, 1531 ; M.A.,
5 May, 1534.*
The monastery was surrendered by the prior and monks, 31 December, 1540. On 12 May,
1541, it was re-founded as a cathedral church, and four days afterwards, 16 May, was re-endowed
by Henry VIII. On 28 May, a commission issued to Sir Thomas Hilton and Sir Ralph
Hedworth, knights, and others, to assign houses to the newly-created dean, chapter and other
members of the church, including the master of the choristers and 10 choristers, and the
headmaster, undermaster, and 18 scholars of the Grammar School. Unfortunately the deed
of foundation and statutes, if any, as undoubtedly there must have been by him, and the instrument
assigning of houses have disappeared. The existing statutes of Durham Cathedral are dated
20 March, i and 2 Philip and Mary, and were made by Nicholas Heath, archbishop of York,
Edmund Bonner, bishop of London, Cuthbert Tunstall, bishop of Durham, Thomas, bishop of Ely,
and William Ermysted, a royal chaplain, and grammar school founder. With the exception of a
few words inserted about 'sane and catholic faith' these statutes almost exactly repeat the Henrician
statutes of the cathedrals. They provide (cap. 5) for a master (magister) of the choristers and ten
choristers, and two masters (Infcrmatores, the term in use at Winchester and Eton) of boys in
grammar, of whom one is to be preceptor and the other sub-preceptor, and eighteen boys to be
taught grammar (in grammatica erudiendi). These masters and the eighteen grammar boys
(grammaticales pueri) were to be elected by the dean and chapter 'as is before prescribed and
ordained in the letters of foundation of the cathedral.'
Chapter twenty-eight deals with the school in detail to say : —
In order that piety and good learning (liters) may for ever bud, grow, and flower in the said church and
in due season bear fruit for its adornment, we order and decree that there be for ever in the church of
Durham eighteen boys, poor and destitute of the help of friends (pauperes etamicorum ope destituti), to
be nourished on the goods of the church, and so far as possible with native talents fit for learning
(ingcniis ad discendum nati et apti) ; and we would not that they should be admitted poor boys of the
cathedral church of Durham before they know how to read, write, and, in the judgment of the
Dean,6 have a fair knowledge of the rudiments of grammar. These boys we will shall be brought up at
the expense of the church until they have gained a fair knowledge of Latin grammar and have learnt
to speak and write Latin, for which a period of four years, or, if the Dean 6 see fit, five at most and
not more shall be allowed.
The scholars were not to be admitted after fourteen, except choristers, who might be admitted up to
fifteen, and who, ' if they are fit and prove proficient in music and having well served the choir, we
wish to be preferred to others.' If any boy turned out remarkably slow and stupid or naturally
unfit for learning, he, after long trial was to be expelled ' that he may not like a drone consume
the bees honey,' and the conscience of the masters was solemnly charged to use their best diligence
to get all the boys on, and not to suffer any of the drones to linger uselessly among the rest — but
straightway report him to the dean so that another might be admitted in his place.
The headmaster was ' to know Latin and Greek, to be of good repute, sound faith,8 and pious
life, with a faculty for teaching. He shall cultivate religion and adorn with learning not only the
1 8 boys of the church aforesaid but all other whomsoever coming to our school for the sake of
learning grammar.'
The second master (hypodidascalus sive secundarius informator) was only required to know
Latin, not Greek, and to teach the rules of Grammar under the Archididascalus. The rules and
authors and order of teaching were to be such as the dean and chapter with the consent of the
1 Register of the University of Oxford, p. 89. Edited by C. W. Boase, Oxford Historical Society,
1885. 2 Ibid. 97. » Ibid. no. * Ibid.
6 In the Henrician statutes this runs ' dean or headmaster.' The omission of the headmaster, who was
the best judge, seems to be due to the ecclesiastical reaction prevailing.
1 This sanae fidei is a Marian interpolation, not in the Henrician statutes. Statuimus preterea ut unus
eligatur, Latine et Grace doctus, bonae famae, sanae fidei et vitae piae, docendi facultate imbutus, qui tarn 1 8
illos ecdcsiae nostrae pueros quam alios quoscunque grammaticam discendi gratia ad scholam nostram confluentes
pietate excitatos et bonis literis exornat. Hie in schola nostra primas obtineat et archididascalus sive Prascipuus
Informator esto.
374
SCHOOLS
bishop1 prescribed. The masters might be removed after three warnings for idleness or negligence
or failure to teach well (si minus ad docendum apti inveniantur). It is noteworthy that there is
absolutely no requirement that the masters should be in orders. As a matter of fact we know
that many, perhaps the majority of the grammar school masters, even at Winchester and Eton,
at this time and earlier and later, were not priests or even in orders, but were married men, laymen,
and in several cases, doctors, sometimes of medicine, but generally of law, and rarely of theology.
For the choristers it was only required that they should be of tender age and of sounding voices fit
for singing. Their master was to be skilled in singing and organ beating (organa pulsandi). He
did not have to attend choir on ordinary week days (ferilis simplicibus), when his place might be
taken by a lay clerk, but was bound to attend on Sundays and double and simple feasts.
Neither the masters of the grammar school nor the grammar school boys were required to take
part in the services at all, or even to attend them. It was well recognised then, as in Langley's
time, that attendance at services on whole school days was quite incompatible with progress in
learning. Incidentally, however, we learn that stalls were provided for them in the cathedral. They
were boarded as well as taught. 'That those who come together and praise God together in choir may
also sit together and praise God together at table, we order that as well all ministers of the church
in the choir as the teacher of the grammar boys . . . the boys too learning music and grammar . . .
shall sit together and dine in a common hall.' The precentor presided at the high table, next in
rank came the headmaster, then the minor canons, just as at Winchester the headmaster ranked
next after the warden and before the fellows. At the second table came the deacon and sub-
deacon, named Epistoler and Gospeller, second master and lay clerks. At the third the grammar
boys and choristers. The choristers were therefore promoted in the social scale ; they no longer, as
did the almonry choristers, dined on the broken meats of the novices. The amount allowed for
commons was : headmaster and choirmaster, is. 6J. a week, under master is. zd. a week, boys, iod.
a week. Not only did the masters and eighteen scholars get board and lodging, but clothes also
for livery, the headmaster having 4 yards of cloth, the choirmaster 3 yards at gs. a yard,
the second master 3 yards at 41. 6d. a yard, and the boys, scholars and choristers, 2 yards and
a half at y. ^d. a yard. The stipends were j£iO each for the headmaster and the choirmaster, the
canons getting £33 6s. 8</., and minor canons £10 each ; the second master £6 13*. $d. the same
as the Gospeller and lay clerks ; the grammar boys and choristers £3 6s. SJ. each. Leaving
exhibitions were provided in the Henrician foundation ; but in 1544 a new arrangement was made
by which the chapter surrendered to the king a part of its revenues, including Durham College and
its possessions, and was relieved of its University obligations. So that when the Marian statutes
were made this very important adjunct of a school had disappeared.
Fortunately we are able to attach the new school of Henry VIII. quite definitely to the
old school of Langley. For according to a MS. of Bishop Cosin's, Henry Stafford, who was, as we
saw, the grammar schoolmaster of Langley's school, became the first headmaster of the new
Cathedral Grammar or King's School, and retained, as did all his successors, until a foolish attempt
was made by Bishop Cosin after the Restoration to deprive him of it, the house and salary and
schoolhouse of Langley's foundation. Robert Hartburn, the last master of the Almonry Grammar
School, became first second master of the same school, while John Brimley, the master of the choristers
of the Almonry, became the first choristers' master and organist of the cathedral church. Hartburn
appears to have succeeded Stafford in the headmastership. For the return of the Chantry
Commissioners,8 made between 14 February and June 1546, states that 'the Chauntrie
of Our Lady and Saint Cuthbert was founded by one Thomas Langley, somtyme bishopp of
Durham, to fynde 2 priestes to pray for sowles, and also to kepe 2 free scooles, the one of gramer
and the other of songe, in the citie of Durham, for all maner of children that should repayre to the
said scooles,' and that the income was gross £20 13$. 4^., and net £15 Of. \d., 'whiche Robert
Hartburn and William Cockey, priestes, incumbents of the same, kepyng two scooles in maner and
form aforesaid, have yerely for their stipendes.'
The Grammar School was in accordance with the Chantries Act continued by a warrant of
the Chantry commissioners, Sir Walter Mildmay and Robert Keylway, appointed for that
purpose.8 Though the original warrant has disappeared, this appears from the payment by the
Receiver General of the Northern Counties in 1548—9, under the heading 'Bishopric of Durham.
Payments, stipends, and wages of schoolmasters.' Out of the lands and possessions belonging to
the manor of Keverdley, in Lancashire, belonging to the possessions of the late monastery of Jarvax,
In the yearly stipend or wages (salario) of Robert Hartburn and William Cokaye, masters of the
Grammar School, founded by the late chantry of B.V.M. and St. Cuthbert in the cathedral church of
Durham at £16 a year, and ij/. \d. to be distributed by them amongst the poor according to the
foundation of the said late chantry, viz., in such allowance by virtue of a warrant of Walter Mildmay,
knight, signed by his hand for a year anda half ending at Michaelmas in the third year of Edward VI. £2$.
1 The consent of the bishop is a Marian interpolation.
* Sec my EngRih Sdxxil] at the Reformation, pt. ii. p. 60. • P.R.O. Mins. Ace. 2-3 Edw. VI. No. 88, f. 44.
375
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
The Song School was, unlike other Song Schools, which were abolished, preserved in virtue
of its close connection with the Grammar School, to which no doubt, like other Song Schools, it
had acted, and now more than ever acted, as a Preparatory School, the payment being treated as a
single one to two masters.
Unfortunately there is no other minister's account of the Durham payments preserved until the
year 1574-5, when John Clifton, then Receiver-General, made the payment of £16 13*. 4^. to
Robert Cooke, who, as will be seen, was the headmaster of the Cathedral School, and to Thomas
Harryson, who, as we learn from the episcopal records, received the annuity of £2 charged on the
episcopal revenues as the master of the school of singing boys, and was also paid as a lay singer in
the cathedral. We may here dispose of the fortunes of the Song School. The appointment of John
Rangell, 27 September, 1582,! shows that it was then a preparatory and elementary school : 'Whereas
Thomas Harrison, singing man, by the appointment of Antony Row, Esq., late Her Majesty's
Auditor in the North parts, and John Clifton, Her Majesty's Receiver, did exercise the room and
place of keeping school for bringing up of young children to be instructed in the catechism and
further made fit to go to the Grammar School : and likewise to be taught their plain song and to
be entered in their prick song,' they appointed John Rangell 'to occupy and have the same
school with the annual stipend thereto belonging in as ample manner and form as the afore-
said Thomas Harrison enjoyed them.' Rangell held for no less than forty years, dying on
8 January, 1622. After a short tenure by Robert Maland, 1622-7, '* was ^e\d ty Mark
Leonards, a minor canon and vicar of Monks' Hasleden, < under whom officiated in the school afore-
said, John Pattison, who was one of the aldermen and mayor of the city of Durham, 1608, and
afterwards in his old age, having become poor, became teacher about 1630, and taught the school,
viz., to read and write, and was called master of the petties school of the city (schola puerilis civitatis
Dunelmie).' He was succeeded by Thomas Wanlesse or Wandlyss, son of Edward Wandlesse,
alderman of Durham, also a minor canon, who was carried off and imprisoned at Hull. ' Under
him,' from 1639, 'Samuel Martin, lay clerk, was master of the school (parvae, i.e. le petit school),'
and was the first schoolmaster of John Mickleton, the Registrar, who tells the story, before he went
to the Grammar School, Martin ' was not a singer nor in any way skilled in the art of music.'
He continued throughout the Civil War and till Cosin's attempted revolution, to be hereafter noticed.
There is no evidence forthcoming as to the Grammar School and its masters from 1548 to about
1560, the Chapter Act books and the Treasurer's books and all other documents of the time
having disappeared. Of the earliest extant Treasurer's book the date can only be guessed, as the first
leaves are gone ; but it is probably of the year 1561, as Adam Holyday appears as a canon, and he
only became one in December, 1560. The master was Thomas Reve, probably the man of that
name who took his B.A. degree at Oxford 4 February, I54I,2 and the under-master Thomas
Iveson, while John Brimley was still master of the choristers. The names of the choristers and
Queen's scholars are given, and they show that the preference of choristers for admission to the
Grammar School was not a mere form. For two names of scholars are crossed out and other names
written over, and one of the new names is that of Robert Massam, which is crossed out in the list of
choristers. He was afterwards for many years a lay singer (cantator laicus), and another, Robert
Massam, probably a son, headed the list of choristers in 1599. The other new scholar in this book
was Christopher Grene, who in the Treasurer's book some 16 years later appears as second master.
The name of William Holyday among the scholars suggests that the canons put in their relations,
Adam Holyday being then the prebendary of the twelfth stall. Christopher Watson and Anthony
Dobson among the scholars suggest relationship with Robert Watson and George Dobson among
the choristers. The next book, that of 1580, enables us to see that the promotion of choristers to be
scholars was the regular thing. Often choristers in 1577 four were still choristers in 1580, one is
unaccounted for, but five, that is half the whole number, had already become scholars. One of
them, John Tunstall, headed the list of scholars ten years later, as William Tunstall, probably a
brother, did in 1577. Both were no doubt sons or nephews of Ralph Tunstall, a canon,
and of the family of the bishop. A Toby Tunstall was a King's scholar in 1609. The promotion
of choristers to King's scholars seems to have been a regular practice down to the Civil War, when
choristers ceased, but does not appear to have been resumed after the Restoration. A curious entry
in the 1577 account is found 'to the queresters to bye ther paper, iis. vid.'
Robert Cooke succeeded to the Headmastership in 1568 and held office for eleven years, and
was buried in the cathedral 20 November, 1579. How he managed it is hard to see, for he was
'libelled,'8 before the archdeacon, apparently for having married his deceased wife's sister, Margery
Proctor, alias Linge, at Mamble Church, Herefordshire, on 25 April, 1568, four months after his
first wife's death, and fled to Durham for secrecy, where he lived in the North Bailey. The
evidence adduced is apparently irrefutable, but must be taken to have been refuted. In the
Treasurer's book for 1577-8, Christopher Grene appears as usher. He was also in 1578 incum-
1 Hunter's MS. 13 f. 56. » Reg. Oxon. 198. * Hunter's MS. 13, f. 60.
376
SCHOOLS
bent of St. Nicholas and of St. Mary Magdalen Chapel in Gillygate.i Under him the school
received one of its few benefactions, William Birche, ' pastor,' of Stanhope, bequeathing by his will
29 May, 1575, 'to the porest Schollers of the Lattin Speiche in the Grammar Scholle in Durham
and Houghton, 401., to twenty, 21. a piece.' * He and Robert Cooke the headmaster appeared at
the visitation of the parish of North Bailey, 3 February, 1578.
Francis Kaye or Key was admitted Headmaster on 22 March, 1580, 'to enter into his wages
from Christmas last past.'8
On 28 June, 1580, the vice-dean warned him 'to conforme himself accordinge to the statutes
and caused him to take his corporal othe for obedience to the Deane and Chapitre.' Apparently the
subject of disobedience was the common table, as ' the same day the said Vice-Deane admonished
Mr. Blenkinsoppe, peticanone, Robert Prentys, Thomas Lytle, Mr. Grene, and Mr. Francis Kaye
to kepe house together as the Pety canons are bound to doo, and that they should make ther answer
within the fortnight, and the said Mr. Vice-Deane promised them that they should have the
tiethe corne of Dalton towards ther housekepinge.' With the usual irregularity of these Chapter
Act books there is no entry as to the answer ; and we do not know whether the joint household
was established and maintained or not, or for how long. Next year we find Mr. Kaye was given
£3 6;. SJ. ' of our benevolence ' by the chapter ' towards his proceedinge in Cambridge ' to his
M.A. degree presumably. ' Also it is decreed that the said Mr. Key shall grant no libertie to the
schollers to plaie without commandement of the Deane, Vice-Deane, and senior Residentiary, or at
the least at the sute of some Prebendarye.' Cuthbert Nichols, the usher, who succeeded Grene about
1587, is probably the person who appears as a notary public to examine the churchwardens of St.
Nicholas, Newcastle, on 12 April, 1578, and was the sub-deacon or reader of the Epistle in the
cathedral in 1580, and combined the ushership with that office. Mr. Kay went off to be vicar of
Northallerton, where he is buried, in 1593. James Calfhill, M.A., of Christ Church, Oxford, and
probably a son or nephew of Dr. Calfhill, Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity there, came next.
He combined the vicarage of St. Oswald's with the headmastership. He has been confused by some
Durham historians with John Calfeld, who may or may not have been a relation, for the spelling of
the surnames seems to wander about between Calfhill and Calfield ; but the Christian names are
distinct, and John, who was some six or seven years James's junior at Christchurch, became a canon
of Durham in 1607. Robert Bowlton or Bolton became second-master under Calfhill.
The Dean, Tobie Matthew, and the chapter seem to have taken the opportunity of the change
in the headmastership, or perhaps to have been compelled by the bishop, Matthew Hutton, to make
statutes* 2O November, 1593, approved by the bishop 'in his visitation holden and ended the 291)1
daie of the said month (November) in the said yeare.' They are called ' Orders for the schoole of
Duresme.' They begin ' Ordered for the Schoole Maister,' and the first order is, according to a
marginal note, ' The religion and hability of the schoolemaister.' ' First and principally because
that an unlearned schoolemaister cannot make a learned scholer ; therefore it is ordered that the
schoolemaister shalbe furnished both in the Greake and Latin tongues, fully able to discharge his
dutye : which shalbe both a honest man in conversation and also a zealous and a sound professor of
true religion abhorring all papistrie.' ' The planting of true religion in the schollers ' was to be
done by ' weekely ' lessons and also by making them ' gett by heart some short catechism allowed
by authoritie ' and ' note the sermons ; which schoolemaister shall appose them, upon Frydaie after,
in the same.'
The school hours were laid down as 7 to 1 1 a.m. and 12.45 to 5 P-m., and a ' cheif monyter '
was to be appointed to note the names of late comers ' which he shall deliver to the schoole-
maister upon Fridaie .... and the maister to correct all such as shalbe founde culpable.' Friday
was the regular day in schools for expiating in blood all the offences of the week. The master was
to teach 'grammar, being the principles of the Lating tonge, as the schollers shall and may under-
stand everie point thereof ... by often and daielie appositions in the said schoole, teaching the
schollers to varie diverse and sundrie grammar rules, by making of their owne mind some short
dictamen of everie grammer rule.' They were to ' have perfectly by heart every rule contayned
in the king's grammer.' As soon as any boy had ' any perceyving ' in Latin he was to ' make one
epistle weekly and everie weeke of his own mind both in matter and words . . . according to the
principles of Erasmus or Ludovicus Vives in their books De scribendis, which shall be showed . . .
upon Saterday.' Next he was to learn to make 'a theame according to the precepts of Apthonius.'
Thirdly, . . . ' he shall have redd unto him the bookes of Cicero ad Heremium, wherein the
schoolemaister shall teach the schollers to frame and make an oration according to the precepts of
Rhetorick . . . thus : the schoolemaister shall propound a theame or argument which shall have
1 Bp. Barnes's Eccl. Pnx. 46, 47, 73, 96 (Surtees Soc. No. 22, 1850). 8 Ibid. App. on. '
8 Chapter Act Book G. 1 578-83, marked 1 567, but p. 49, which is the first page, is for 1 587-8.
* They are preserved in a MS. book O. p. 1 54, kindly lent me by Mr. F. Bacon Frank, of Campsall
Hall, near Doncaster.
i 377 48
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
two parties, and two schollers shall be appointed, the one shall take the first part, the other the
second . . . and upon Saturday . . . shall shew their orations . . . Against Saterday in the weeke
following the foresaid schollers shall pronounce ... by heart their said orations . . . publiquely
in the face of the whole schoole and this ... to contynue weekly throughout the whole yeare
among the best schollers.' ' Fourthlie, for the practise and exercise of versifying ... the schoole-
maister shall read to them the versifying rules sett downe in the latter end of our common grammer
. . . with due teaching . . . the true . . . skaning of a verse, for practise whereof the schollers
shall every second daie make certaine verses upon certaine argument which shalbe given them.' l
Writing was not neglected. ' For the better exercising of Greake, Romaine and Secretarie
hands ; . . . wekely . . . those schollers which write the best shall give examples ... to the
inferiours and . . . upon Saterday ' which was a regular dies irae — ' the schoolemaister shall com-
mand every scholler ... to write presently certaine lines in all the foresaid handes.' Two judges
being chosen 'everie boy . . . shall deliver in his penn . with the paper . to the judges . They
shall choise out of everie forme one boy which writeth the best, and that scholler shall receyve the
penns and papers of all his fellows in that forme.' What use the pens and papers were to the
winner does not appear.
Sixthly came Greek. The boys when they had read the grammar ' with a pearte of some
author,' were ' to frame a Greke epistle, and utter a Greke verse.' ' And further because Socrates
saieth the love and commendacion of praise is a great spurr unto a scholler to stirr him to vertue,'
therefore once a quarter the master was to propound an ' argument or theam ' wherein ' everie
scholler which is able shall make epistles, theames, orations, verses Latin and Greke,' and ' the schoole-
maister shall place that scholler which hath the best epistle, theame, oration, verse Latin or Greke in
the cheifest or best state of that forme in the which he remaineth.'
The holidays or ' times for bricking up ' were from 24 December to the day after Twelfth
Day ; Wednesday before Easter to Monday after Low Sunday ; and Wednesday before Whitsunday
to Monday after Trinity Monday. But the boys were to prepare themes for breaking-up day and had
holiday tasks ' to repaire to the schoole after the breaking up twice everie daie ' from 8 to 9 a.m. and
2 to 3 p.m. ' to repeate such things as the schoolemaister shall think profitable for their better
proceading.'
An enormous list of authors to be read is given from ' Cato, Colloquia Erasmi and Mr.
Nowell's Catechism ' to Cicero, Livy, Ovid, Horace, Virgil, Lucan ; and in Greek, Homer, Hesiod,
Demosthenes, and Isocrates. Among more recondite books mentioned may be noted ' For recreacion's
sake the epistles of Mr. Acham (Roger Ascham) or Paulus Manutius . . . For the phigures of
grammar Susenbrotus, for historiographers Austin . . . Mantuan and Palangonius ... for Greke
poetts . . . Theognis or Phocilides.'
Among the ' statutes for the schollers ' is the usual requirement to ' use the Latin tongue in and
about the schoole.' And to be obedient to the ' preposetors.' Prefects are still called prepositors
at Eton. A quaint prohibition to modern manners is that ' they shall use in or nere the schoole
noe wapons, as dagger, sword, or staffe, cudgell or such like.'
Two years later, 20 November, 1595, there was a very fierce chapter order against the
' intolerable disorder used by the schollers of the foundation of this church and others of this cittie
and countie, in breaking up, as they terme it, of this schoole, to a seditious and perillous example of
other elder folkes.' After setting out the days on which the masters were to ' demise the schollers ' it
was ordered that ' if any scholler or chorister . . . shall presume to shutt the schoole doore or
windows, or help to keep it or them shutt, or assist or consent thereto for the keeping out of the
schoolemaister, usher or any governoure or officer of this church, or to that purpose shall weare any
weapon or use any force ... or shall not . . . avoid all such contemptious and undecent manner
of dealing ' he shall lose his scholarship or be removed, as ' seditious and unfitt.'
After Calf hill's departure in 1596, Robert Bowlton or Bolton, the usher, officiated during an
interregnum. Peter Smart, who became headmaster at Michaelmas, 1597, was a person who made
a considerable stir in the world, and was hailed as the proto-martyr of England in the Laudian
persecution. He was a scholar of Westminster and student of Christ Church, Oxford, and was made
headmaster by William James, who came to the deanery of Durham from that of Christ Church, and
in 1603 he introduced another Christ Church man, George Cocknedge, who did not take his B.A.
degree till 1606, as usher. Smart must have had a marvellous facility for Latin verse, for after he
had become a canon of Durham of the fourth prebend and chaplain of Bishop James, incensed by
the introduction into the cathedral of ritualistic practices by John Cosin, the junior prebendary, but
chaplain of the new bishop, Neale, especially the setting up of an altar with a number of gilt angels
bowing in front of it, he published a Latin poem of close on 1,000 lines on the subject, besides
preaching against the innovations in the cathedral. Laud, however, was behind Cosin and his
1 This painful practice was still pursued at Winchester when I was there in 1863. Thrice a week did we
do a ' vulgus ' of six or eight lines, and once a week a verse-task of any number.
378
SCHOOLS
party. Smart was called up before the High Commission Court and sent to be tried at York,
convicted, fined ,£500, deprived of his prebend and his living, and on refusal to apologise consigned
to prison and kept for ten whole years until released by the Long Parliament, who, 22 January,
1641, declared his sentence illegal and void.
Smart's successor in the headmastership in 1609, Thomas John Inglethorp, or Ingmelthorp,
seems to have been a man of like kidney. He was of Brasenose College, Oxford, where he took no
degree, but was reputed a good Hebrew scholar. In 1594 he became rector of Stainton, Durham.
In 1610 he was appointed headmaster of Durham school. On 9 July, 1612, he was brought
up before the chapter for a ' biting invective in a sermon ' against Ralph Tunstall, one of the
canons, who had been one of Queen Mary's chaplains in bygone times. An injunction was
issued against his preaching ; he was ordered to resign the mastership within a month and give up
the living of Stainton which he held. He was also kept in gaol nearly a whole year, until he made
a humble submission on 13 June, I6I3-1 At Christmas he retired to Stainton, where he kept a
small private school often or twelve boys, and was buried there I November, 1638.
Nicholas Walton followed. Of him it is recorded that (presumably as a king's scholar) he had
made a Latin speech to King James on his entry to Durham, on his way to take possession of the
throne of England. He seems to have succeeded in holding his place for 15 years, retiring at
Christmas in 1628 to the living of Croxdale, where he died April, 1639. The usher, George
Cocknidge, who in 1613 became also epistoler of the cathedral, retired.
Thomas Miller, a Kentish man, of Balliol College, Oxford, was the next headmaster. He had
William Vipont or Vipound, an ex-chorister and king's scholar of the school, for his under-master.
He was the hero of the following rhyme by James Smart, a lay clerk : —
The ninth, tenth, eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth October,
Mr. Miller was drunk and never was sober.8
His reign, possibly on account of the propensity thus sung, was short, for he left the school at Christmas,
1632, receiving from the treasurer, ' which was give him for his vale, ,£io.'8
Richard Smelt, Master of Darlington Grammar School, then came in. The school flourished
under him, about two boys a year from this school going up in his time to St. John's College, Cam-
bridge, alone.* Among them were William Lambton, son of Sir W. Lambton, Knt., of Biddicke, of
the familyof the present earls of Durham ; Matthew, son of T. Robinson, Knt.,of Rokeby,of the family
of the present marquises of Ripon, who went up as fellow commoners ; while, side by side with them,
were John Ladler, son of a butcher, admitted a sizar, and John Sisson, who went as sizar to his
contemporary, Lambton. The only one known to fame, however, is John Hall, admitted a pensioner
26 February, and a fellow commoner 15 April, 1646, son of Michael Hall, of Consett. He had
apparently been previously at Gray's Inn, 7 June, 1643, and returned there after a year at Cambridge,
having fluttered the University dovecote with some essays called ' Horse Vacivae.' He was an
Independent and Republican. In 1648 he wrote a satire on the Presbytery, and in 1649 'a humble
motion to the Parliament . . . concerning the . . . reformation of the Universities.'
The school, Langley's school, on the Palace Green, and the master's house at the north end
of it having been burnt down by the Scots in their inroad in 1640, Smelt retired on I May, 1640,
to the living of Easingwold.
Elias Smith, the next master, who came in I May, 1640, had a long and chequered career.
He had been for some years a minor canon (admitted 13 July, 1628), gospeller and sacrist of the
cathedral, and also chaplain of St. Mary Magdalen's Church, and of the chantry over the abbey gate,
now called the Treasury, and so curator of the cathedral library there kept. John Micklcton, the
collector of Durham history, tells us that Elias Smith had the honour of teaching him, and that owing
to the destruction of the school house Smith taught the school where he could, sometimes in the third
prebendary's house by the Guest Hall, sometimes in the first prebendary's house. On 1 5 August,
1643, the chapter presented him to the vicarage of Bedlington, in Northumberland, and he 'is to
relinquish his augmentation of £5 per annum in his church ' (the minor canons' stipends had been
increased from £6 131. 4^. to £1 i 13*. 4^.), ' and the school and gospeller's place at May Day, and
St. Mary Magdalen's at Midsummer next coming.'
Apparently he was succeeded by Lancelot Dobson,6 whom Mickleton represents as a ' substituted
headmaster,' in what he is pleased to call ' the most wicked times,' meaning that he was put in by
the Parliamentarians, and there ' officiated for two or three years, with William Hanby under him.'
Then came 'Samuel Bolton, of Christ's College, Cambridge, who afterwards married Sarah, one of
the daughters of the said Elias. And John Ward, clerk, was another substituted preceptor, who was
also vicar of Elvet, and for a short time officiated under the same Elias before the coming of Thomas
1 Wood, Athtn. Oxon. \. zio ; W. H. D. LangstafFe, History of DarRngton, p. 221, 1854.
* Miiklcton's MSS. * Account at end of the Treasurer's Book for the year.
* Adm'uiions to the College of St. John the Eeaagefat, ed. J. E. B. Mayor, 1882. « Micklcton, p. 6l.
379
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
Battersby, 16 July, 1666.' This is somewhat mysterious, as authentic documents show Elias Smith
in full possession of the headmastership in 1653. Mickleton, being then only a boy, must have been
in ignorance that Elias Smith was not displaced by the Parliamentarians from the school. Whether
it was that he was dispossessed of his new vicarage of Bedlington, or for what other reason, certain it
is that he returned to Durham School and received a more liberal salary there from a more liberal
government than all his previous pluralities had given him. While the chapter had never increased
the statutory stipends of £10 to the headmaster and £6 13*. 4^. to the usher by a stiver, we find the
Parliamentary Commission * ' for the Propagation of the Gospel in the four Northern Counties ' order-
ing, 31 March, 1653, that ' parcell of the rectory of Heighington, of the yearly value of £20, be
hereby settled upon Mr. Elias Smyth, head master of the Free schoole of Durham, for increase of
maintenance, hee being a very able and painfull man, and the schoole very great and considerable,
and the present allowance but about £20 per annum ; and he is hereby seised of the same and fully
impowered to demand take and receive tythes out of the said rectory to the yearly value aforesaid.'
George Vane and Henry Ogle headed the signatures of commissioners. An earlier order of the same
body had given John Dury, the usher, an augmentation of £6 13*. \d. out of the tithes of Hedge-
field. On 25 December, 1655, the trustees for augmentations of livings, finding that £20 was two-
fifths of the rectory of Heighington, ordered two-fifths of the rectory to be paid to him. On
10 February, 1656, after the Act for the abolition of deans and chapters, which had directed
the maintenance of all charities out of the chapter estates, Elias Smith was called upon to produce the
local statutes of the cathedral. On 23 June Robert Fenwick and Mr. Anthony Smith, alderman of
Durham, and others approved by them were ' intrusted to supply the Free schoole of Durham ....
with schollers duely qualified according to the Foundation, and for the payment to them of their
severall pencions.' On 12 February, 1656, the arrears claimed on behalf of the ' schoolemaster,
schollers and almesmen,' payable by the late dean and chapter, due since i April, 1653, wnen tne
Act for the Propagation of the Gospel expired, were ordered to ' be satisfied and paid.'
In 1657 Mr. Edward Thurkeld, described as ' Schoolmaster of Durisme,' complained that 'hee
cannot receive the sum of £10 a year to him due, and which ought to be paid him out of the profits
settled by former order of the trustees.' He was apparently the second master. Mr. William
Harrison, the receiver, was ordered 'to certifie what the obstruceion is.' On 28 June, 1658, the
mayor and aldermen prayed allowance of the ' augmentation granted to Mr. Smith, Schoolemaster
of the Grammar Schole in Durham,' and it was ordered that on production of the former order it
should be paid.
THE COMMONWEALTH COLLEGE OF DURHAM
A far greater educational work than the mere augmentation of the stipend of the masters of the
school was in contemplation, and in part actually accomplished by the Commonwealth. In view of
the dissolution of deans and chapters by Act of Parliament of 30 April, 1 649, the county of Durham
on 24 April,8 and again, after its passing on 20 August, petitioned Parliament for the creation of a
college of learning in their place. Sir Henry Vane, of Raby Castle, was, no doubt, earnest on their
behalf, for he was instructed to inform the petitioners that the House had entertained their request.
But the alarums and excursions of the war prevented anything more being done then. Another
petition was sent in 1652. But it was not till a fourth petition was presented to Oliver Lord
Protector, which was received by the Council on 5 July, 1657,8 that anything was done. Then a
committee of the Council reported that ' such persons as His Highness shall think fitt be impowered
as trustees for founding and erecting of a college, and that the houses of the late dean and prebends,
formerly reserved from sale, be vested in the trustees for the use of the college ; and £283 4.5. i^d. a
year out of the livings of the same chapter be allowed by way of augmentation to three able and
godly preachers to be members of the said college, and £117 is. $d. reserved on the lease of the
manors of Wickham and Gateside, heretofore belonging to the Bishopp, be paid towards erecting
and maintaining it, and after the expiration of the lease £500 a year to the college and provost and
fellows there.' Commissioners were appointed to make statutes, and a letter sent to the mayor and
aldermen of Durham to ' set out so much of the cathedral as shall be necessary for a chappell and
schooles.' Letters patent were issued on 15 May, 1657, founding the college, to consist of a
provost, two preachers or senior fellows, and twelve fellows, of whom four were to be professors,
four tutors, and four schoolmasters, apparently in the Oxford sense of < masters of the schools,' as the
free school was to be attached to the college under its existing masters. License in mortmain to
acquire lands up to £6,000 a year was granted. In the college there were to be twenty-four scholars
and twelve exhibitioners. The first provost was to be Philip Hunton, M.A., of Wadham College,
Oxford. There were to be ninety-one visitors for the year and eleven country gentlemen permanent
visitors. An appeal lay from them to Chancery. The college was actually formed, and at once
1 Lambeth MSS. Aug. of Livings, 972. a Durham University, p. 1 6.
8 Lambeth MSS. Aug. of Livings, 977, f. 77.
380
SCHOOLS
petitioned for the power to grant degrees and to become a university. Oliver Cromwell, however,
died 3 September, 1658. In November Richard Cromwell was petitioned for the same purpose.
Oxford and Cambridge strongly opposed the grant of university powers on 16 April, 1659, anc^
an order already drafted giving them was on 22 April suspended. Next year came the Restoration,
and with it the endowments of Durham College reverted from educational to ecclesiastical uses,
and Durham had to wait nearly two centuries more for its university.
THE SCHOOL AT THE RESTORATION
Elias Smith seems to have retained his mastership at the Restoration, for one reason, perhaps,
because he had preserved the copes, now1 to be seen in the present chapter library, the old dormitory.
But the Treasurer's Book for 1661-2 omits the names of master and usher. He appears, however,
as minor canon and chaplain of St. Mary Magdalen, and librarian. On 6 November, 1660, the
chapter ordered a survey of the timber yet standing in Bearpark ' to repair the ruins of the church,
college and schoolhouse, etc.' On the same day they decreed ' a solemne election of the king's
schollers' places, with such exercises and examination publique in the schoole as is usuale in other
schooles belonging to cathedralls and colleges upon like occasions, and that notice be given to the
Schoolemaster at a convenient tyme before the eleccion for their better preparation.'
The St. John's College Register records the admission of a sizar on 28 May, 1662, who had
been educated under Mr. Holden, of Durham school. If he was a master of the grammar school
there, this is the sole record of him, owing to the meagreness of the Chapter Act Book of the time.
The Treasurer's Book gives no names of or payments to master or usher for the years 1660-2.
On 3 July, 1661, a Chapter Act records among the reasons for dividing up among the canons
the fines for new leases, their own praises for the work they had done, including ' the building of a
new school house.' This new school house appears to have been that which served for the school
until the removal to the present site in 1 840. It was not on the old site of Langley's School, but
on a new site on the opposite side of the Palace Green at the corner by ' Windy Gap,' and is now
used as a lecture room by the university.
In 1662—3, Richard Smelt, who had left in disgust in 1640, re-appears with the old
stipend of £10 and £20 augmentation, which had been wrung from the chapter, chiefly, no
doubt, owing to the example of the Commonwealth, by a letter from the king. William Hanby
or Handby was the usher, with an augmentation of £3 6s. %d. making up his salary to £10.
Meanwhile John Foster, the master of the choristers, received an augmentation of £30, or four
times his statutable stipend. Smelt only stayed till Michaelmas, 1665, being succeeded for a
year by Samuel Bolton. Hanby remained usher for twenty-eight years to 1689—90, but from
1678 he was seemingly only nominally so, as in that year he is described as ' hypodidascalo
emerito,' and received the pay as a pension ; while Thomas Thompson, 1675-80, then William
Salkeld, 1680— 2, William Singleton, 1683—4, Barnabas Hutchinson, 1684—6, Leonard Deane,
1686—7, and J°'ln Pakin or Parkin also received the same pay and did the work. Indeed,
Hanby must have been incapacitated even earlier than 1678, as from 1673—7 Nicholas Fewster is
also described as ' hipodidascalus,' but received only ,£5 salary.
In 1666 the bishop, John Cosin, who as prebendary had quarrelled with Peter Smart, built
on the site of the Langley schools an almshouse with a school house at each end ; one on the
north with an inscription now only partially legible, 'Schola pro addiscendis rudimimentis literarum,*
and one on the south inscribed ' Schola pro piano cantu et arte scribendi.' By deed of 31 August,
1 668, he granted to the two schools the old stipend of £8 6s. Sd. each ' paid by the king's officers,'
and the pension of £2 each from the bishop's revenues, with an annuity of £70 from the manor of
Great Chiltern for the four men and four women in the almshouses. Two other annuities were
given by deed of 12 August, 1668 ; one to St. Peter's College, better known as Peterhouse,
Cambridge, of £50 a year for five scholarships, and the other of £20 to the masters and fellows
for three scholarships.
This was all very well. But the bishop had no right to take away the stipend of Langley's
Grammar Schoolmaster from the master of the cathedral grammar school, to whom it had been
paid, not only as the dean and chapter alleged ever since the reign of Elizabeth,' but as we have
seen ever since the institution of the grammar school by Henry VIII. Dean Sudbury wrote
up to the Treasury to prevent their paying the crown stipend to Cosin's nominee, and Cosin then
directed the inquiry to be made which he ought to have made before.' Eventually he had to
1 Mickleton, f. 6l.
' The writer of the report of the Commissioners of Inquiry in 1830 (see Rep. on Endowed Char. In Dur.
1900, p. 3), says that ' it is difficult to conceive that it commenced so early as the reign of Elizabeth ; for if
the school had a mere nominal existence. . . . some notice would have been taken by him (Cosin) of such a
circumstance.'
8 Dur. Chapter MSS. Hunter's MS. 13, No. 51, printed in Cosin's Correspondence (Surtees Soc.), Letter
to Bp. Staple ton, 23 Jan. 1668.
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
give way, find other promotion for his nominee, and allow Thomas Battersby, who had become
headmaster at the beginning of 1667 to re-enter on the stipends and the house and school which
Cosin had built.
Thomas Battersby is perhaps a son or nephew of Mr. Battersby, who was master of the little
grammar school at Dent, near Sedbergh in Yorkshire, in 1640. He was, as we shall see, head-
master of Darlington Grammar School in 1664-7. Battersby sent a considerable contingent of
pupils to St. John's, Cambridge, many of whom must have been boarders, as some of them were
scions of the great houses of the northern counties, such as Richard, son of Sir Thomas Burton,
knt. of Brampton, Westmorland, 1677; William, 1682, and John and Ferdinand, 1686, sons of
Sir William Forster or Forrester, knt., of Bamburgh ; John, son of Henry Hilton, esq. ' by the
custom of the place called Baron Hilton,' 1687 ; Robert, son of Robert Shaftoe, near Newcastle,
and so forth. One of them, Thomas Baker, who with his elder brother George, then eighteen,
was admitted to St. John's, Cambridge, 13 June, 1674, at the age of sixteen, was the 'socius
ejectus,' who composed an often quoted MS. since published by Professor J. E. B. Mayor in his
history of the college. A list of no less than eight undermasters is given by Mickleton as having
served in Battersby's time, which lasted till 1691. His successor, in a controversy to be presently
mentioned, says that ' the school is now in a very low condition,' and his antagonist replied : ' But
who, I pray you, brought this school into this low condition ? Was it not he that grew so rich
by incroachments that he neither regarded the school's reputation nor his own ? ' which meant
simply that he had the boys taught writing.
The school indeed seems to have suffered by the competition of a private school, established in
the town by a Mr. Rosse, who contributed a considerable number of pupils to St. John's,
Cambridge, and is probably the person pointed at by the next headmaster 'as having as full a
license (from the bishop) as his (what he is told was never done before).'
Thomas Rudd, who became headmaster in January, 1690-1, was son of a vicar of Stockton
and rector of Long Newton, and was of Trinity College, Cambridge. Almost immediately
after his entrance he was plunged into a controversy about the stipend of Langley's
Grammar School. Battersby, after he had regained possession of the house and school,
had let them to one Mr. Peter Nelson, who carried on a private and preparatory school
there. When Rudd came in, Nelson had obtained from the bishop, Lord Crewe, on
a rechauffl of Cosin's old story, his support to a claim for the grant to him of Langley's
school. Rudd had to present a petition to the dean and chapter to support his cause against
Nelson, and it was perhaps with a view to this that Mickleton's valuable memorandum on the
schools was written. In his memorial Rudd complains that Nelson, ' contrary to what was ever
done upon the Palace greene in the memory of man, doth teach considerably above the rudiments of
grammar.' Nelson in his answer says : ' Truly not very considerably as yet, but I know not what
I may do hereafter, if I should have a licence for it ; and I never yet taught half so far as my
licence extends, in which I have foolishly wronged myself out of respect to the grammar school,
and have recommended divers scholars to others when I might have kept them longer, and to
requite my kindness the grammar school has of late been formed into a petty school and a writing
school too, and so taken away a great part of my proper employment.' He then gives a home
thrust by asking what Rudd ' does for his own salary, being paid by the king's scholars ? This
I have heard much complained of, and found considerable persons not well satisfied. He will
hardly be able to find that within the memory of man that even the king's scholars paid above I zd.
a quarter till Mr. Battersby's time.'
This is interesting, as showing what happened almost everywhere with free schools and free
scholars, and particularly with cathedral schools. The legal stipend not being increased with the
fall in the value of money, the necessary increase had to be made up either, as in the case
of Mr. Elias Smith, by pluralities, or by imposing fees under the pretext of payment for fires,
lights, rods, and the like, and benevolences in the shape of gratuities.
The contest resolved into the usual compromise, the chapter ordering1 that 'if the bishop
relinquish all pretensions or tithes to the schoole house on the Palace Green, and to the king's sallarie
unto the master of the Grammar School of this church, the Chapter will allow Mr. Peter Nelson,
the present schoolmaster there, for his life £10 per annum quarterly, and pay Mr. Rudd 40*.
per annum for the school house.' At the same time Rudd's salary was increased £5 a year (durante
beneplacito), making £2$ in all, but the organist's salary had been advanced to £50 in 1691. From
this time onward both the salary from the exchequer, reduced however by fees of the officials, which
the original order totally forbade to be charged, from £8 6s. Sd. to jTj Js. id., and the salary from
the bishop's revenues were duly paid to the headmaster of the Grammar School. The crown
payment was commuted on 14 February 1888, for a sum of £245 2s. yd. consols vested in the
Official Trustees of Charitable Funds, the income of which, now further reduced by reduction of
1 Chapter Act Book under date
382
SCHOOLS
interest to £6 141. &/., is still paid to the dean and chapter and by them to the headmaster ; who
can therefore claim a direct pedigree from 1414 at least.
As for Langley's Song School it was in 1690 granted by Bishop Lord Crewe to the organist
and choirmaster William Gregg, who as William Griggs had on I December 1686 leave of absence
for three months ' to go to London to improve himself in the skill of musique.' Under later bishops
it became a mere sinecure granted as a sort of pension to their ex-domestic servants. The last holder
had just died in 1829, and the Commissioners of 1830 obtained a promise from the then bishop to
make an appointment 'more consistent with the views of the founder.' In 1868 the salary was paid
to the Professor of Music at the Training College for Elementary Schoolmasters. In 1883*
the payment was not recognised by the Treasury as due from them, and may now be regarded
as having ceased ; ' and so ends an old song.'
To return to the Grammar School. The ushers under Mr. Rudd were John Parkin, George
Jackson, admitted 8 July 1693, and in 1696 Mr. Thomas Clement, a demy of Magdalen College,
Oxford. On his 'complaint of Mr. Thompson's boy,' the boy was on 29 April 1699 'suspended
from his place of a king's scholar until further order.' On 4 September 1700, Clement was made a
minor canon. On 8 November 1699 Mr. Nicholas Burton was 'sworne Head Master of the
Grammar Schoole,' the first time that title is used in the Chapter Act Books. He was a
Westminster scholar and student of Christ Church, Oxford. His second master was William
Randolph, who stayed for twenty-six years. Burton was also vicar of St. Nicholas, and rector
of St. Mary-le-bow, in which church he was buried in 1713. He retired from the headmastership
at Christmas 1709, when Thomas Rudd returned from the headmastership of Newcastle Grammar
School to fill the gap for a couple of years and see his son heading the list of king's scholars.
John Rymer became headmaster at Michaelmas 1711. The eighteenth century was
everywhere pre-eminently the age of long scholastic reigns. Rymer reigned at Durham
twenty-one years, dying even then only forty-nine years of age 13 February 1732,*
so that he became headmaster at the age of twenty-eight. Robert Symon succeeded
Randolph as usher in 1727, and only went out when Rymer died. Richard Dongworth
ruled nearly thirty years, from Christmas 1732 till his death 23 February 1761, aged fifty-eight.
At his accession the headmaster's stipend was raised to £45, the choristers' master meanwhile
having gone up from £82 los. in 1734, to £90, and in 1750 to £100. Dongworth was raised in
1752 to ,£60 a year, but then he had been usher for twenty-eight years before, from Michaelmas,
1733. Thomas Randall, the next headmaster, held for only seven years. He had been at Eton and
Corpus Christ! College, Oxford. He was a historian and antiquarian, and collected the materials
with which Hutchinson's History of Durham was founded, which he had given, 28 August 1 7 74, to Mr.
George Allan. Randall and his successor, Jonathan Branfort, also an Etonian and fellow of King's
College, Cambridge, and vicar of St. Mary-the-Less, 1768—82, served without an undermaster.
So also at first did James Briton or Britton, 1782, which looks as if, as at other cathedral schools at
this time,* the school was in low water, probably from lack of proper pay to the masters, who had
to eke out by clerical pluralities what had then become miserable stipends. In 1786, however,
William Baverstock was appointed second master, at the magnificent salary of £20, but that
was double what his last predecessor received forty-five years before. He was succeeded in January
1789 by James Mannisty, who saw out the century. James Carr, a fellow of Trinity College,
Cambridge, became headmaster in 1812. The refusal of all information about the school to Carlisle
in 1816 * looks as if the school was not in a very flourishing condition.
The second master was, however, a very distinguished person, whose name will always
be remembered with gratitude by all interested in history and antiquities, particularly in
the city and county of Durham. This was James Raine, the founder and first secretary
of the Surtees Society, which was the first in point both of time and merit of all the local
record publication societies which have done so much for our knowledge of the past history
of our country. Raine was himself educated first at the little Grammar School at Kirby
Ravensworth or Kirby Hill, near Richmond in Yorkshire, where the governors are still elected
by the queer device of writing the names of parishioners on balls of wax, which are put into
a bowl of water, and whosever name is first drawn out by the vicar becomes governor. Thence he
went to Richmond Grammar School, then the Winchester or Eton of the North. He became
second master at Durham in 1812 ; and there made the acquaintance of Robert Surtees of
\Jainforth. In 1816 he became librarian to the dean and chapter, and used his opportunities to
ransack the records as they had never been ransacked before, and gave immense help to Surtees in his
History of Durham, the last parts of which as his executor he edited. After retiring from the second
mastership in 1827 with the living of St. Mary in the South Bailey, he devoted himself almost
wholly to research. In 1830 he published his History of North Durham. In 1834 he founded the
1 Rep. on Dur. Char. p. 31. ' Hutchinson, ii. 275.
8 V . C. H. Korlkanti, ii. Schools. * Endowed Grammar Schools, i. 402.
383
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
Surtees Society in memory of Robert Surtees, became first secretary of it 27 May 1834, and himself
edited its first nine volumes and no less than ten others before his death in 1858. Not the least of
his works was the training of his son the late James Raine, a Durham Grammar School boy, canon
and chancellor of York Minster, who succeeded him as secretary of the Surtees Society, and did even
more for the history and antiquities of York than his father had done for those of Durham.
Another Grammar School boy whom James Raine I. trained, though not while at the
school, was William Greenwell, minor canon and Raine's successor as librarian. He has made
his name a name of fame in walks so diverse as trout-fishing, where ' Greenwell's glory ' keeps it
green ; archaeology, where a great work on British barrows is the chief authority on the subject ;
history, in the course of his local studies in which he has demonstrated that nearly the whole of the
so-called foundation charters of Durham were forgeries, for the sake of establishing the priority of the
prior to the archdeacon of Durham ; and numismatics, in pursuit of which he accumulated a unique
collection of Greek coins.
From 1832 to 1836, the Rev. Matthew H. G. Buckle, who had been a fellow of
Wadham College, Oxford, was headmaster. Of the early days of Buckle, it is stated
in a local history l that ' for some years this school has been advancing in celebrity, and
is generally attended by about eighty scholars.' In 1834 there were about forty boys
altogether. The only playground was the churchyard ; but cricket and football were played
in a field out of the town. In this time, however, the first four-oared boat, appropriately yclept
the Argo, was started. Many old Dunelmians have since worn the blue on the Cam thanks
to the early practice they had on the Wear. Dr. Edward Elder, a former scholar of Balliol College,
Oxford, came as headmaster in 1839. He quickly restored the prestige of the school; so much so,
that to relieve the overcrowding of the one large room in summer, a contingent had to be sent to
study nature in Castle Eden woods. He promoted therefore the removal of the school from
the cathedral yard to its present commanding site on the opposite side of the river Wear, where,
far above the smoke and stir of the dim spot which man calls Durham, it looks on to woods
and green hills on one side, and on the other across wood and river to the towering masses of ' the
Abbey.' The nucleus of the present buildings was a private house, called Bellasyse, bought
in 1842 from Dr. Cook, a physician, the father of Cook, who claimed to have invented the electric
telegraph in that very house. It was an old possession of the monastery. Mention is made of it in the
Bursars' Roll in 1536—7 as being in the 'old borough,' when 3 acres of meadow in the field
of ' Bellacis ' called Goosecroft (goose-croft) is returned as paying no rent because it is in the
cellarer's hands. The name, which means ' Fair Seat,' or beautifully situated, ' Bel Assise,' much
after the model of Beaurepaire, Belvoir, and Beaulieu, is still most appropriate.
The house became the headmaster's house and was adapted to receive boarders. A big school
was built on it at right angles, a fine room, of a rather too Gothic (as Gothic was understood
in 1844) darkness. It is panelled, and the names of the past headmasters from 1557 (with a good
many mistakes) are inscribed round the room, in bad Latin ; Gulielmus for William and Gualterus
for Walter, though our ancestors had the good sense to write Willelmus and Walterus. Dr. Elder
was most successful in his administration, and with some exaggeration is sometimes spoken of as
a second founder.
In 1853 ne was called on by acclamation to return to his own old school, the Charterhouse, then
in London, as headmaster, and took with him a large contingent of Dunelmians, including Henry
Nettleship, who made his mark in the history of Oxford scholarship in his Corpus Professorship of Latin.
The Rev. Henry Holden, who succeeded him, was a Shrewsbury boy of that brilliant epoch
when Shrewsbury scholars led the van in classical scholarship. A scholar of Balliol College, Oxford,
1832-7, he had been headmaster of Uppingham Grammar School from 1848 to 1853, where he
saw the school grow from twenty to seventy boys, when he was promoted to Durham. It is to be
feared that a headmaster of Uppingham nowadays would not consider it promotion. A brilliant
scholar, contributing largely to the famous Foliarum Silvulae of his brother, the headmaster of
Ipswich, nothing intellectual was alien to him. He was an eminent photographer half-a-century
ago, when there were no Kodaks to make photography easy, but a man had to be something of a
chemist and also something of an artist to be successful. He is described by a boy who was there
from 1859 to 1864 as great as a fisherman and a skater, as well as a conversationalist at the dinner-
table of the boys; and, above all, as a scholar and the creator of scholars. Brilliant successes
marked his reign, of whom Mandell Creighton, the late bishop of London, was perhaps the most
distinguished. Dunelmians of this time proudly recall the year 1863,* in which there was a Sixth
1 View of the County Palatine of Durham, ii. 413, by E. Mackenzie and M. Ross, Newcastle, 1834.
8 Article by R. H. J. Poole, a scholar of B.N.C. Oxford, who rowed in the University eight, now an
assistant-master at the school, quoting article by W. L. Hetherington in the Dunelmian, in the County Monthly
(now extinct), October, 1 902. We are bound to say that two of the scholarships were at Worcester College, Oxford,
and one at Durham University, and that the double Blue got a third in 'Mods' and a pass in the Final Schools.
384
SCHOOLS
Form of nine boys, of whom five got open scholarships, two won cadetships in the Indian Civil
Service, and the other two, though they did not win open scholarships, won first-classes and fellow-
ships ; while two of them were also 'blues,' one of them a double blue. Mathematics were
relegated to the afternoons, and were even then interrupted by the boys being called away to have
their classical compositions looked over by the headmaster.
Dr. Holden found 100 boys, and on their quickly rising to 120, John Gent, afterwards Hertford
and Ireland scholar at Oxford, wrote to the dean and claimed the extra week's holiday which had
been promised whenever that mystic number, the long hundred of our Saxon forefathers, had been
reached.
In the year after Dr. Holden's arrival, the dean and chapter made a return to the cathedral
commission on the school as part of the cathedral foundation.1 In this return they made the
extraordinary statement that ' the statutable stipend of the chief master of the Grammar School is
1021. a year, and of the usher is 591., and the master of the choristers 1091., but they do pay the
headmaster (they appear to draw some subtle distinction between the title of chief and head master)
£200 a year and the second master £80 a year.' Why they understated the amounts of the
statutable stipends by nearly one-half, unless to cover the fact that they had increased the organist's
salary much more than the headmaster's, it is a little difficult to make out. Perhaps the person
who supplied the return had mistaken a half-year's for a whole year's payment, though whence the
odd shillings of the headmaster and choristers' master were derived we cannot even guess. The
stipend of £200 to the headmaster, while the canons, even on the truncated basis settled by the
Ecclesiastical Commissioners, had £1,000 a year each, is a striking commentary on the difference
between the treatment accorded to those who were members of the governing body of the
cathedral and those who were not. The original £33 6s. Sd. of the canons had grown so that
at one time ' the golden prebend ' was worth, it is said, £9,000 a year, while the original £ I o of the head-
master had been raised twenty times only. The king's scholars received £30 a year each, which, the
chapter remark, with the remission of tuition fees of £9 a year, made the total value of the
scholarship £39. They omitted to remark that the statutes made the king's scholars free from
tuition fees. The second master even had to pay the rent for his house recently built. The chapter,
having then no further personal interest in the common estates of the church, were generous in
their suggestions to the cathedral commission for augmentations to the school. They recommended
that the king's scholars' payments should be made obligatory, and that leaving exhibitions should
be provided. 'As there were only a few very small scholarships of £10 to £15 a year tenable at
Oxford and Cambridge, and three of £15 to £40 a year at Durham University, a certain number
of moderate exhibitions, say, twelve of £40 each, should be provided out of the funds of this
cathedral to assist deserving boys at the Universities.'
Under Dr. Holden the school increased its accommodation equally with its numbers.
In 1853 the first two class-rooms were added to the big school, with dormitories over
them, and in 1862 further additions were made to the headmaster's house. The school
was visited for the Endowed Schools Inquiry Commission in 1865 by Mr. J. G. Fitch.
He found 132 boys in the school, of whom 91 were boarders, viz., 52 in the head-
master's and 22 in the house of the second master, and 17 in a licensed house kept by a
private person. Those in the two masters' houses paid £40 a year under twelve years of age
and £50 above twelve. In the private house the fees were 35 guineas. The recommendation
of the chapter to this cathedral commission had borne no fruit. The salaries of headmaster and
usher with the value of the king's scholarships, of which he makes the amazing statement that
'these were instituted by the dean and chapter,' rema;ned as in 1854 ; and no leaving exhibitions
had been founded. Dr. Holden was a schoolmaster of some originality. The hours, instead of
9-12, as then usual, were 8-1 1 a.m., and 2-5 in the afternoon ; so that the boys had two hours for
cricket or football before dinner instead of one. His irrangement of looking over exercises with the
boys singly is much praised by Mr. Fitch, but theie was nothing uncommon about this. One
arrangement of the school was most peculiar. Instead of the general examination being held
twice a year before the vacation it was held after it, so that no holiday tasks were set ; but as the
examination was in the work of the previous term, ' each boy . . . had the strongest motive to
refresh his memory during the vacation ... the boy who has worked well is permitted to enjoy a
real holiday, while the less careful scholars alone are forced to work.'
Though himself par excellence a 'scholar,' Dr. Holden started in days, full early for such an
institution, ' a modern side,' in which ' a sound knowledge of the English language with com-
position in prose and verse is made an especial subject.' But it remained in an inchoate condition,
having only sixteen boys of very various ages and attainments all taught by one man, and was
rather ' a refuge for the destitute ' — ' chiefly overgrown, dull boys, or boys who have not had a fair
home education.'
1 Cathedral Commission Report, 1854, p. 51.
i 385 49
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
On 27 November, 1872, Queen Victoria in Council approved a scheme of the Ecclesiastical
Commissioners by which a net sum of £3,000 a-year was provided out of the chapter revenues
for the school until the dean and chapter were put in possession of estates worth £11,000 a-year,
when the school was to have jfgths of that sum. As the chapter has never been put in possession of
estates to that amount the school remains in possession of a fixed income of £3,000 a year — a
fairly adequate arrangement as things go at present. The first fruits of the new endowment were
seen when in 1 874-6 a library, class-room, a new storey to the headmaster's house, and ball
courts were added, and in 1877 six leaving exhibitions of £60 a year to the Universities were
established. But the school was now on the down-grade. While in 1870 there were 136
boys, in 1880 there were only 105. In 1882 Dr. Holden retired to a well-earned repose.
He is commemorated by a Holden prize for Greek or Latin verses. Then came William
Andrewes Fearon, a house-master at Winchester College. He had been the first Winchester
scholar who, in consequence of the reforms of the University Commission of 1854, went up to
New College, Oxford, without the right to become a fellow after two years' probation. His
career at Oxford was marked by double firsts in classics and mathematics, both in Moderations
and Final Schools, and the presidency of the Union Debating Society. A fellowship at New
College attained in competitive examination followed as a matter of course. Though he only
remained at Durham for two years, he made his mark and left behind the tradition that his
biennium was the golden age of the school, to which later and less prosperous times looked back
with fond regret. Two class-rooms, a museum and a laboratory for physical science, and a
swimming bath, accompanied by an extension of the cricket ground, marked his advent in the
buildings of the school and his regard for physical as well as intellectual development. He made
at his own expense a walk, still known as Fearon Path, by the river, from Elvet Bridge to Bow
Lane, thus benefiting alike the school, the university, and the town by a short-cut to the rowing
course and a grand stand for boat-races. To organize the modern side, and make it no longer a
refuge for incapacity, he brought from New College, Francis Alan Ker. ' For eleven years he worked
in this school and made an impression which those who had the happiness of knowing him can
never forget,' and when a fatal accident in 1893 terminated his vigorous and useful life, 'one
feels as though half the school were gone ' wrote one of his old pupils on hearing the news.
He has been commemorated by a Ker Memorial prize for modern history. It was a great
misfortune for Durham that in 1884 his old school Winchester demanded Dr. Fearon as
headmaster when Dr. Ridding was appointed bishop of Southwell. His influence had already
made itself felt in the honours list, the year 1884 being distinguished by six scholarships at the
Universities, four in classics and two in mathematics — a notable achievement for a school of, in
July, 1884, 134 boys.
The Rev. J. M. Marshall, who won fame as second master of Dulwich College, followed
Dr. Fearon, and held office for just ten years. The school was not so prosperous in point of
numbers as it might have been. The Rev. Walter Hobhouse, fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford,
held just half that time, when ill-health compelled his retirement in 1899, and he is now editor
of the Guardian. Next came the Rev. Albert Ernest Hillard, who from Kingswood School, Bath,
became a scholar of Christ Church. It now numbers 88 boys, of whom 42 are in the head-
master's and 32 in the second master's house. Mr. Hillard has just (June, 1905) been elected
headmaster of St. Paul's School. His place is to be taken by the Rev. H. W. McKenzie, of
Keble College, Oxford, now second master, and formerly headmaster of Lancing College.
DURHAM UNIVERSITY
On the third attempt the foundation of a university at Durham was successful. The present
Durham University, though only dating from 1831, and established by Act of Parliament 4 July,
1832, is the third oldest of English universities, ranking next in age, though 'longo intervallo,' to
Oxford and Cambridge, and is of ancient date compared with the Universities of London, Manchester,
Leeds, and Birmingham. According to its historian, Dr. Fowler, it owed its origin to a panic
produced among ecclesiastics by the Reform Bill of 1832, when every ancient institution was
supposed to be threatened with destruction. On the doctrine of ransom the dean and chapter
therefore preferred to give a part of their endowments to education. The movement began with a
letter from the dean, J. B. Jenkinson (who combined the deanery, said to be worth £30,000 a year,
with the bishopric of St. David's), drawing attention to the political danger and the necessity of doing
something for education. On 21 September an Act of Chapter was passed for an' Academical Institution
or College or University.' Bishop van Mildert took the matter up, and on 20 November proposed to
appropriate to the University three prebendal stalls (they were then worth some thousands a year each)
ar"l £3>°°° a 7ear> to De obtained from the enfranchisement of the South Shields estate for £80,000.
The Act of Parliament already mentioned was then passed authorizing the University of Durham,
386
SCHOOLS
to consist of such warden or principal and other officers as the dean and chapter, ' who were to be
governors,' should, with the consent of the bishop, who is visitor, prescribe. The university was opened
on 28 October, 1833, with nineteen scholars on the foundation, lodged in the Archdeacon's Inn on
Palace Green, and eighteen other students. On 20 July 1 834, a statute of the chapter constituted
the university, which was, by charter of King William IV., i June 1837, macle a corporation
under the name of ' The Warden, Masters, and Scholars of the University of Durham.' The first
degrees were granted by the university, 8 June, 1837. In 1839-40 estates were definitely assigned
to the university. First and foremost was the Castle of Durham, the splendid Bishop's Palace,
which gives the University of Durham a house more ancient and more magnificent, a quadrangle
more spacious, than any possessed by the University of Oxford. The principal, fellows, and students
of what is called University College, dine in the hall of the Castle, a hall which is larger than
that of New College and more beautiful than that of Christ Church, Oxford, while some students
live on the top of the mound in Bishop Hatfield's Keep, one of the most splendid sites in the world.
Unhappily the building is only a modern imitation of the antique.
The university has annexed the whole of the Palace Green, the magnificent quadrangle on the
north side of the cathedral. On the east side it has occupied the Exchequer buildings and the
Palatine Court of Chancery with its library, and has planted its museum in Cosin's Almshouse, and
uses the Langley-Cosin Schoolhouses, and on the west side the post-Restoration Grammar School,
as lecture rooms ; while in the persons of the canon-professors of Divinity and Hebrew it has also
thrown out creepers into the ' College ' on the south side of the church. Hatfield Hall, another
hall of residence for students, opened in 1846, is situated in the North Bailey, overlooking the
river, while the latest addition in 1904, St. Chad's Hall, at No. I South Bailey, occupies the very
site of the Almonry School and the ancient Fermery outside the Abbey Gates.
An extinct hall of the same kind was Bishop Cosin's Hall, begun in 1851, and from
1854 to 1864 presided over by the present Provost of Eton, J. J. Hornby, who left to become
second master at Winchester and then headmaster of Eton.
The university has also ' sent out its branches unto the sea and its boughs unto the river ' at
Newcastle-upon-Tyne, where in the Durham College of Medicine, 1870, and the Durham College
of Science, 1871, the numerically larger portion of the university is now to be found.
Durham University proper has not developed at the same rate as its younger offspring. When
first started, railways were in their infancy and the nobility and county gentry of Durham and
the north evinced some disposition to send their sons there. Canon Greenwell remembers three
sons of noblemen and eight sons of baronets at University College in his time, c. 1 84O.1 But as railways
spread they were drawn off to Oxford and Cambridge. Also the university was too much governed
by the dean and chapter. Even the scholarships were all in the gift of the chapter and not thrown
open to competition till 21 November, 1859. It was also for long too much of a one-man
university, under Archdeacon Thorp the first warden, who used to talk of it as ' my university,'
and, being a strong high churchman treated it as a strict church institution. Hence the theo-
logical side was the only one that flourished, and the University seemed about to die of inanition.
In 1 86 1 a royal commission was appointed, and as one result the wardenship was annexed to
the deanery. The accession of Dean Waddington, a genial man of the world, who had been
dean since 1840, increased the numbers. He urged the chapter to give up the governorship of
the university in pursuance of the Act of 1841 which empowered them to transfer it to
the university itself. Dean Lake, a liberal in his ideas of education as of politics, promoted the
Newcastle colleges and various secular developments, degrees in law and music, and so on. In
November, 1895, Bishop Westcott and Dean Kitchin again tried to induce the chapter to
transfer their governing powers to the university, but the canons declined even to attend a con-
ference on the subject. So it still remains under ecclesiastical tutelage.
In 1895 Dean Kitchin called the new sex in to redress the balance of the old by obtaining
a supplemental charter for degrees to women. In 1899 a hostel for women was opened which
since 1901 has been on Palace Green in the Abbey House. The university now contains 321 male
and 32 female students in residence at Durham, of whom 180 men are in University College and
Hatfield Hall and 141 are unattached, and 13 women are in the women's hostel and 19 unattached.
This is exclusive of a large number of students in music, male and female, who are non-resident.
DARLINGTON GRAMMAR SCHOOL
Darlington, the site of an ancient manor house of the bishops of Durham (which in 1806
became the town poor-house ! ) and of the collegiate church of St. Cuthbert, whose beautiful spire
and high-pitched twelfth-century roof still form the most striking objects which greet the eye on
entering the town, could not have been without its grammar school. But the only evidence of it
1 Durham University, by Dr. Fowler, p. no n.
387
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
now forthcoming is the casual mention already quoted of the almoner of Durham in 1416, paying
14*. to ' a schoolmaster coming from Darlington to teach the boys for the time being' during a vacancy
in the mastership. In the certificate made in 1546 under the Chantries Act of Henry VIII., the
existence of an endowed grammar school comes clearly to light — ' The Chauntrie of All Sayntes, in
the parisshe of Darlyngton.' l
' The said chauntrie was founded by one Robert Marshall, clarke, to fynde a priest for ever to
pray for his sowl and all christen sowles, and to kepe one yerely Obitt and a free scoole of grammer
for all manner of children thider resortyng.'
The Valor Ecclesiasticus of 1535 had recorded the chantry and Leonard Melmerby as chantry
priest, but without disclosing the fact that it was a school. The value was then stated to be
fjo 6s. Sd., and the net value 1 1 4*. What had occurred in the interval to bring the gross value
down to 91*. 8d, and the net value to £3 8s. 3^., as stated in the chantry certificate, does not
appear. However, no two accounts of this time ever agree. A third and intermediate valuation was
given2 in 1548 by the chantry commission of Edward VI.
' The Chuntery of All Seyntes, or the Free Scole in the parishe churche of Derlington.
' Thomas Rycherdson of the age of 30 yeres, incumbent. The yerely valewe, £4 i gs. ; the
repryses, 6s. Sd. ; the remaine, £4 1 2s. ^.d.' Then after a statement of the value of the deanery
and four prebends in the collegiate church, £53 6s. $d., comes the item : —
' Rente bequethed to the afforseyd Gramer Skole : the yerely valew, 35.'
The foundation of the chantry must be taken to have been not an entirely new creation but
the endowment, or augmentation of the endowment, of a school previously unendowed, and pro-
bably paid only a small fixed stipend out of the general revenues of the collegiate church.
The date of foundation and identity of the founder have not been made out. Longstaffe3
hints at a Robert Marshall mentioned in Boldon Book, a twelfth-century rental.
It is more likely to have been Mr. Robert Marshall, who on 14 April, 1515,* was presented to
the provostry of Hemingbrough (Hemmyngburgh) collegiate church in the East Riding of York-
shire. Perhaps Cuthbert Marshall, the last dean, already dean in 1535, was some relation.6 He
was probably the same Cuthbert Marshall who in 1510 was schoolmaster of the almonry of Durham.
In 1548 he was also archdeacon of Nottingham and canon residentiary of York, where he was
buried 25 January, 1550. The chantry was confiscated as from Easter Day 1548.* The school
was continued by an order of Sir Walter Mildmayand Robert Keylwayby warrant 20 July, IS48,7
assigning that, ' Thomas Richardson, scholemaster there, shall have and enjoye the rome of schole-
master there and shall have for his wages yerelie, £4 3*. 8d.', and the auditor and receiver of the
court for the county were directed to pay the same.
Accordingly in 1548-98 we find under the heading of 'Late chantry of All Saints in the
parish of Darlington ' the item, ' in the yearly stipend or salary of Thomas Richardson, master of
the grammar school at Darlington, founded by the chantry of All Saints, at £4 y. 8d. a year ; in
allowance of the same for a year and a half during the time of this account, £6 5*. 6d.'
In I553> according to Browne Willis, Richardson was receiving ,£4.' There are no further
extant accounts of crown revenues for Durham till 1574—5, in which year Thomas Richardson
still received £4 3*. 8^. The school was accordingly still being maintained with him as master.
It is true we find one of the witnesses to the will of ' George Reyd, parson of Dinsdall,' made on
15 April, I559> 'Robart Hall, scholmr. of Derlyngton,' 10 but he appears to be the same person as
Robert Hall, who in 1567 * witnessed the enrolment of a deed in the Court Roll of the borough,
under the title of clerk of the court ; and also as the parish clerk of that name who attended a
visitation by Bishop Barnes11 in the person of his chancellor, Robert Swift, on 6 February, 1577.
He, therefore, must be taken to have been the usher or the petty schoolmaster, not the Grammar
School master.
The school was re-founded, its former property being re-granted for its endowment, by charter
or letters patent of Queen Elizabeth 15 June, 1563. The charter purported to be made on the
petition of Henry [Neville], earl of Westmorland, and James [Pilkington], then bishop of Durham,
on behalf of the inhabitants of the town of ' Darlyngton,' ' for the perpetual education, erudition, and
instruction of boys and youths of that town there to be trained, instructed and taught.' The grant
was in larger terms than the petition, not being confined to the town. 'Henceforth there may
and shall be a Grammar School in the said town of Darlyngton, which shall be called the Free
1 English Schools at the Reformation, A. F. Leach, p. 61, from Chant. Cert. 18, no. 102.
8 Ibid. p. 3 1 9 from Chan. Cert. 1 7. » Longstaffe, Hist, of Darlington, p. 206. * Durham Reg. v. 1 63 .
B History of Darlington by W. H. D. Longstaffe, Darlington, 1854, p. 197, note.
* Chantries Act, I Edw. VI. cap. 14, s. 2.
7 Eng. Sch. at the Reformation, p. 62 from P.R.O. Schools Continuance Warrants, 9.
8 P.R.O. Mins. Accts. 2-3 Edw. VI. no. 88, f. 44. » Longstaffe, p. 260 n.
10 Proc. ofBf. Barnes (Surtees Soc.), App. c. v. " Ibid. 59.
388
SCHOOLS
Grammar School of Queen Elizabeth, for the education, erudition, and instruction of boys and
youths in grammar to endure for all future time ; and that school for ever to continue and endure,
we erect, ordain, create, found, and establish by these presents of one master or padagogue (magistro
seu pedagogo) and one undermaster or sub-pedagogue (hipodidasculo seu subpedagogo).' That this
intention might the better take effect, the queen then proceeded to create a very strange governing
body. 'We will and ordain that the four guardians (gardiani) of Darlyngton for the time being
shall be and be called governors of the said Free Grammar School and the possessions, revenues, and
goods of the same free school,' and the then churchwardens (modernos gardianos ecclesiz) were then
named as the first governors and incorporated ; it being provided that when one of them died or
was removed from office the twenty-four of the more approved and discreet (probioribus et magis
discretis) inhabitants of the town should appoint a successor. These twenty-four were not any casual
twenty-four,1 but were practically a municipal corporation of the borough, or what was afterwards
called a select vestry ; probably originally the grand jury of the court leet of the borough.
A ' Twenty-four ' is found in power in Rothbury in Northumberland, and many other places in these
northern counties and elsewhere. The governors were given the power of appointing the master
and usher, and 'according to their sound discretions of removing and in their place or places
placing and appointing others or another more fit.' The lands granted were in Heighington,
Darlington, and Thornaby in Yorkshire ; all which ' were lately parcell of the late chantry called
Roberte Marshalles Chauntery, lately founded in the church of Darlyngton, and are now extended
to the clear yearly value of £5 4*. iod.'
In the absence of any of the school books kept by the churchwardens and of churchwardens*
accounts before 1630, the history of the school remains almost a blank. We are told > that in 1579
Robert Ovington, the master, was deprived after an inquiry by two clergy, and the churchwardens
ordered to elect a new one ; but on what charge we are not told. Similar absence of references
attends the list of masters given by Longstaffe, from which we learn that Lewis Ambrose occurs as
master in 1587, and that Robert Hope, curate, was licensed in 1622, Thomas Hardy in 1630,
Richard Smelt in 1630, Robert Clerke in 1632, one Matthew Phillipp, schoolmaster of Darlington,
having been buried in the church 30 April, 1634, and Richard Birkbeck, 9 October, 1634. Some
of these names, and most of the succeeding names up to 1740, are demonstrably wrong or
inaccurate. Oddly enough, one of the earliest entries in the churchwardens' church books is a
rental of the school showing a receipt of £14 los. 4^., the income having more than doubled since
the charter in spite of a long lease of the ' Cheavits,' as the Thornaby property was called, for
eighty-one years. Next year, 1631, £6 13*. \d. was received for the half-year 'for the free
schoole, which we paid to Mr. Thomas Hardy, then schoolmaister, in full payment for his half-
yeares teaching there.' On 28 November the other half-year's rent, £6 ijs. 8d., was received,
' whereof we paid to Mr. Richard Smelt, then schoolmaister, but only £5 31. iod., and reserved
331. iod. for the finishing out of the reparacions belonging the said free schoole.' There was also
an item ' for the new stauling and repaireing of the free schole.' ' Item for a pottle of wine and
sugar for entertaininge Mr. Smelt into the said schoolehouse 2s. ; John Ayre for firdayles (deal), 6s.;
glasier for mending thirteen paines of glass and for seven quarrys of glass 4*. ; one long geast (joist)
for great table 6s. ; studdy glass window mending i8d. ; laying the schoole house flower is. tfd. ;
dressing the same 2d.' With other items the total cost was £10 8s. The sack was rather wasted,
as Mr. Richard Smelt only stayed a year before passing on to be, as we have seen, headmaster of
Durham School, a passage which at least testifies to the good status of Darlington School at the
time. Smelt's successor was apparently Robert Clerke.
In 1638 the churchwardens' accounts give (p. 79) 'For one quart of claret wyne when Mr.
Robinson went to enter of the skoule 8d.' How long Robinson continued we do not know. In
1640, probably because of Scotch disorderliness, the large sum of 30*. 8d. was paid (p. 103) 'for
glasinge the schoolehouse windowes.' Mr. Robinson received part of the school rents in 1642
(p. 106), and in 1644-5 was a churchwarden. In 1647 occurs the strange item 'for taking downe
the scholhouse 51.' In 1650 'the mason of Redwood ' was given 2s. when 'he vewed the schoole,'
and in 1651 (p. 142) payments to the amount of £16 gs. id. were made for the school which
almost amount to a rebuilding, the principal items being : ' masons £2 6s. 2d., Wrights (i.e. carpenters)
£\ 131., and iron worke £i 71.' John Cooke was paid for school wages £i 6s. -]d. ; and in 1653
(P- '55) 'lent to J- Cooke by consent for want of his school salary, £1.' He seems to have been
parish clerk and a sort of general factotum and hedge lawyer, as he was also paid 2s. 6d. ' for
drawing the agreement between the churchwardens and the plummer ' ; in 1654 IDJ. 'for keeping
the clocke,' and in 1655 (p. 168) 3*. i,d. for writing the second monthly assessment, and another
3*. ^d. (p. 1 70) for ' writing our (the churchwardens') accounts.' He may have acted as master
1 As might be imagined from the version in C.C.R. xxi. 58, 'twenty-four inhabitants of probity and
discretion.' The corporation of Guildford were the ' mayor and approved men ' (probi homines),
' preudxhommes ' of Norman French. * Longitaffe, p. 257 note.
389
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
of the Grammar School, teaching the petits during the rebuilding of the school, but he was
not schoolmaster.1
In 1652 the rebuilding seems to have been finished, ' fenstering in the scoole chambers and
chimneys,' costing £i 141. \d. and 'the thatcher and his server is. 8d.' A new schoolmaster
came : ' Paid Mr. Johnson, scoolemaster, for this half-year £j 45. 4^.'
But now Darlington School, like that of Durham and a large number of other schools
throughout the country, felt the benefit of a reforming government. On 29 March, 1653-4,*
the 'commissioners for propagating the Gospel in the fower northerne counties, sitting at Newcastle-
upon-Tyne,' made the following order : ' Darnton s — Wheras Ralph Johnson hath beene befor us
and upon examinacion and tryall of his learning is found fitt to teach a schoole for ye encouragement
of youth in piety and good literature, and being recommended for a painfull man and of unblameable
life and conversacion, wee doe hereby order the said Ralph Johnson, schoolemaster at Darnton in ye
countie of Durham, to be confirmed, and for his support and maintenance wee doe hereby order
that parcell of ye tithes of Heigh ington, of the yearly value of £20, bee settled upon the said Ralph
Joslin and continued to him soe long as hee shall remayne schoolemaster at Darnton aforesaid.'
This order was signed by George Vane and Henry Ogle and ten others.
On 28 December, 1655,* by an order reciting this order in favour of Mr. Ralph Joslin, alias
Johnson, the receiver of Heighington tithes was ordered to pay two-fifths of the whole to him,
instead of the fixed sum of £20 a year. A similar order had been made, it may be remembered,
for Durham School out of the same tithes. Mr. Johnson was also a preacher, receiving is. id. for
preaching one Sunday in 1654 (p. 159).
In 1658 we find one of Johnson's pupils, Francis, son of Robert Roper, farmer, of Kellowe,
who had been at Darnton for three years under Mr. Johnson, admitted as sizar at St. John's,
Cambridge;6 while in 1 660 another Darlingtonian, John, son of Mark Parker, of Bowes, was
admitted. It would seem that these were boarders. Oddly enough, these are the only two
boys who went from Darlington to this great northern college in the whole 130 years from 1630
to 1760 ; so that the Protectorate was a golden age for Darlington School.
Other marks of a reforming era in education were the purchases by the churchwardens in
1653 (p. 156) of 'a primer for a poore boy, 4^.,' and in 1655 'an accidence for a poore boy, 6d.'
A pupil-teacher was employed ' For Edward Holmes a poore scholler at the petit schoole, for
half a yeare's teachinge, 35. 3</.,' while in 1654 Roger Jewet, Mr. Swinburne, Ralph Hall, and
'Widdow' Seamore were paid 'forscholers teaching^i 4*.' The 1655 accounts show that the tariff
for these ' Dames ' was not very high, Jewet receiving ' for one quarter's wages for learning a boy,
if.'; 'Dame Seamer for her wages for teaching a boy one yeare, 41.'; Ralph Hall ' for 3 lads
learning one quarter, 4*.' ; Mr. Swinburne ' for learning John Wilson's children and Giles'
daughter's child, js.' These payments for teaching apparently pauper children ' on the parish '
cease with the reaction of the Restoration.
Another mark of reform was an order of the churchwardens and seventeen of the ' twenty-
four ' complaining of the under-letting of land belonging to the church and school, and forbidding
any leases for the future ' without the full and free consent' of the church wardens and twenty-four
' to be agreed upon at a public meeting in the church or elsewhere upon public notice.'
Mr. Johnson probably was turned out after the Restoration, as in 1661 the churchwardens
(p. 204) record £2 paid ' to defray the charge of the sute concerning the schole.' No reference
occurs to the school again till 1664, when Mr. Battersby was paid £2 in part of his salary, and
Mr. Parkins for his 'sallery ' £5. Mr. Parkins was apparently the outgoing master. Thomas Bat-
tersby, who stayed for four years, went on to Durham in 1667.
We find in 1666 'for beare and tobacco bestowed on Mr. Bell and his scholars in the Roga-
tion Weeke is. iod.' It is to be hoped the tobacco was for Mr. Bell only. Next year the sum of is.bd.
was spent for 'ale and cakes' on the scholars. Was ginger hot in the mouth, too? In 1669,
'spent at Mr. Bell's 4^.,' and for 'cakes to the scholars 6d.,' while in 1672 no less than 2s. was
spent on ' the scollars in ayle and bread.' From these entries Longstaffe inferred that Bell was the
schoolmaster ; but from other entries it is clear that he was ' minister,' i.e., vicar, and it was in that
capacity that he took the boys round to beat the bounds. Battersby was the headmaster, and in
1666 (p. 242) there was some business over getting an usher, the churchwardens disbursing 'in
their severall jorneys in and about the procuring of an usher for the school and in expences and
charges of sending and receiving of letters from Mr. White and others us. 8d.' and the usher
procured ' received for his wages £4.' The same year Mrs. Colthirst (wife of Robert Colthirst,
churchwarden in 1667) was paid 131. 'for the translating of the schole patten (patent) into
1 As in Longstaffe, p. 257; nor was John Hodshon, gent, schoolmaster in 1657.
1 Lambeth MSS. Aug. of Livings, 1006, p. 423. 3 This is a common variant for Darlington.
* Lambeth MSS. Aug. of Livings, 972, p. 387. * Reg. St. John's, i. 135, 147.
39°
SCHOOLS
English.' One wonders whether it was also to this learned lady that 10s. was paid ' for drawing
of the orders for the schoole and for getting them presented to my lord ' the bishop.
In 1668 Mr. Jonathan Sissent, Sissons or Sisson, as he is variously dubbed, became headmaster,
and held office certainly for twenty-nine years, and probably for close on sixty years, since he appears
as churchwarden in 1720' and headed the Twenty-four in 1734.* In 1673 (p. 297) the church-
wardens paid him 'for courtesies received y. %d., and on 7 April, 1726,* paid him 4*. 6d. 'for
4 tarr barrels ' for bonfires on various occasions. In 1688-9 there was some disturbance about the
school.
The following items figure in the churchwardens' accounts : — ' Lawyer Squire for his fee and
drawing the appeale to be in readynessc, £l I CM. ; Lawyer Middleton for his fee and order for
mandamus, 131. ; Mr. Berry for lawyer Middleton "s fee and advice about the Schoole patent under
his hand, £i ; more to Mr. Berry for his owne care and charge at Durham about the same, being
2 dayes here, 131. +d.' The opinion of John Middleton, esquire (counsellor-at-law), 19 March,
1688, has been preserved.4 It appears to have been directed to four main points : (i.) That the
school was not confined to the town, but ' is for the service of the parish '; (ii.) that it was designed
for the further instruction of those that can read, and not to teach children to read ; (iii.) that the
churchwardens had ' absolute power without the concurrence of any others of placing and dis-
placing the master and usher as they pleased, but they must take care to place such persons there as
resort to church and otherwise be licensed by the bishop'; and (iv.) that leases must be made by the
churchwardens as governors under seal.
In 1693 (p. 457) there was a reference to the ex-master, ' spent with Mr. Battersby about the
schoole conserns, is.'
In 1705, from a copy of a by-law made in December that year and inserted in the church
books, it appears that the school was in a bad way. The churchwardens, ' taking into considera-
tion the low condition that the Free Grammar School is reduced to, as alsoe the severall books
awanting and necessary for the use of the said schoole as well as needful repaires, have made a deduc-
tion of j£8 out of the stipend and sallery of the present Master and Usher, soe that the sallery is to
be £33 12s. lid. for the ensuing yeare.' The total rental for the year was £41 12s. lid., so they
paid Mr. Jonathan Sissons the master and Mr. John Hodson the usher * the sum specified and spent
on — ' 2 Coates Dixonaryes, 15*.; I Skrevelius Lexicon, Js. 6d. ; Littleton's Dixonary bound in
calfe, 1 8*.' In 1707 Mr. Sisson received £29 12s. lid. and Mr. Hodson £6.
On 14 December, 1714, John Cuthbert, Serjeant-at-law, gave an opinion, dated at Newcastle,
to the effect that any three of the churchwardens had power to displace the master, and told them
to do so by an order served on him, ' and from that time they may withdraw his salary, and if he
refuseth to deliver up the key of the school upon demand, they may pull off the lock and set on
another.' If this violent method was adopted to Mr. Sissons it would not seem to have been
successful, as he was, as already noted, himself a churchwarden in 1 720. He was apparently a layman,
as he is described in 1731 * as 'gent.' He did not die till I743,7 but he must have resigned before,
as the Rev. Thomas Marshal) was ' displaced and discharged ' and ' the Rev. Mr. Addison, now
usher,' was appointed in his place on 8 December, 1739. On II November, 1747, Mr. Cuthbert
Allen, B.A., of Hartforth, Yorks. (where there was a small grammar school), was appointed, but
'removed, discharged and displaced' on 5 January, 1748, one of the churchwardens who did the
deed being obliged to make his mark through inability to sign his name — a fit person to be one of
four governors of a grammar school ! Two days later, Robert Cooke, B.A., of Darlington, was
appointed to succeed him. The disturbance thus caused was probably the occasion of the making
of statutes for the school 23 February, 1748. The headmaster was to be at least 24 years of age,
' duly qualified to teach and instruct youth in the elements of grammar and the Latin tongue, and
for encouraging of students in either of the two Universities of this land ' ; he was to be by prefer-
ence a graduate. The like qualifications were required in the usher, except that he need be only
22 years old. The school hours were fixed at 7 to 8 a.m., 9 to 1 1 a.m. and I to 4 p.m. in the winter,
and to 5 p.m. in the summer. Thursday and Saturday afternoons were half-holidays, which is
perhaps the earliest mention of Saturday half-holidays. The ancient immemorial days were
1 Darlington Churchwardens' Accts. 1696-1767, p. 119 (also Pew Book, 1697, p. 24).
•Ibid. p. 176. » Ibid. p. 157.
* Printed apparently in 1797, with translation of the charter and other extracts from some lost book or
paper about the school by or for James Allan, and quoted in Longstaffe, p. 256. All the remaining
history of the school up to 1 797 is from a copy of this Allan Tract in the possession of the present head-
master, Mr. Philip Wood.
1 This appears to be the explanation of the curious mistake Longstaffe made in making John Hodshon,
gent., master in 1657.
• Pew Bk. p. 45. George Allan, esq., and Jonathan Sisson, gent., sold a pew 13 July, 1731, as executors
of William Gibson, deceased. 7 Longstaffe, p. 257.
39*
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
Tuesdays and Thursdays.1 The 'Vacancies or Breakings up' were 21 days from 24 December,
14 days at Easter, and 28 days at Whitsunday, 'according to the customs and rules of other
schools.' The custom of the summer holidays beginning at the end of July is the product of the
last half century. The boys were to be ' publicly examined in the books they have read once
every year on Easter Tuesday ' by the ' upper master,' who was to have 205. a year deducted
from his salary, ' which shall be given and disposed in little honorary premiums or books to such
boy in each class as shall appear to have best deserved it by his industry and application.' To
prevent ' corporal severity ' offences were to be punished with ' small pecuniary fines.' The under
master was to be paid £iS a year and 'such voluntary premiums or gratuities as shall be given him
by the parents of any children of the said village of Darlington under his care,' the headmaster
receiving the net income of the rest of the school property.
The only subject of instruction specifically mentioned is the Church Catechism. The absence
of all reference to Greek and the special mention of the elements of grammar seem to show that the
illiterate churchwardens had reduced the school to a very low status.
Mr. Robert Cooke was as transient as his predecessors, being displaced on n May, 1750, by
the four churchwardens, one of whom could not write. Mr. Robert Meetkirke was then appointed,
with a new clause, ' for and during so long time as he shall well behave himself in the said place of
upper master.' On 22 February, 1755, he was succeeded by 'Thomas Morland, clerk,' who is
not stated to be a graduate, and who was not licensed by the bishop till nearly two years after-
wards— 7 December, 1757. The appointment in 1758 of 'John Dixon of Darlington,
gentleman,' to be ' undermaster and usher ' seems also to point to a degradation having taken
place.
Morland, however, broke the evil tradition of transitoriness by presiding over the school for
the probably unexampled period of 51 years. George Allan the antiquary gave the school a
portrait of Queen Elizabeth in gratitude for having received his education in the school under him.
Morland resigned in 1 806. The second master, the Rev. William Clementson, succeeded him. He
had 60 boys in 1 8 1 6,2 of whom 4 were boarders. The day boys were absolutely free ; the boarders
paid 40 guineas a year. George Peacock, tutor and mathematical professor of Trinity College,
Cambridge, was educated by him — some testimony to the efficiency of the school.
The salary of the second master was raised to £30 a year, and by 18298 to £70 ; the residue
of the income from endowment received by the headmaster being from ,£120 to £130 a year.
The fees were : entrance fees, from 5*. to £1 is. a year ; payments for firing, is. ; Latin scholars
paid, is. or 2s. kd. three times a year on breaking up, a customary exaction from ' free' scholars for
tuition fees ; while those who learnt the three R's paid Js. 6d. ; and those learning ' mathematics
and the use of the globes ' £2 IQS. to £3 a year. There were about 20 boys under the headmaster
who learnt classics. A few under the usher learnt Latin grammar, but for the most part the usher's
forms consisted of elementary scholars.
The Commissioners of Inquiry remarked strongly on the evil of the governing body, few church-
wardens holding for more than two years, with, as a result, no regular meetings of the governors,
no minute book, and no accounts, while the land at Thornaby was let at less than its value.
The Rev. J. Marshall, appointed in 1845, held office till removed by a scheme approved by
Queen Victoria in Council under the Endowed Schools Act, 7 July, 1874. In 1855 there were
50 boys in the school. In 1865 36, of whom only 12 received more than an elementary education
and none learned Greek. As a result of the visit of Mr. J. G. Fitch for the Schools Inquiry Com-
mission a scheme was made by the Charity Commissioners in 1869 establishing a governing body
consisting of 6 churchwardens, 2 vicars, the mayor, and 2 members of the town council, and
6 persons named.
In 1872 the Endowed Schools Commissioners found the school in much the same case as
at the last visitation — 40 boys in all, of whom 2 learned Greek and 1 6 French. By a scheme of
7 July, 1874, the churchwardens were eliminated, and a body was appointed, consisting of the M.P.
for Darlington, 4 members of the town council and school board, and 3 co-optatives, to whom were
added by scheme of 13 May, 1896, 2 appointed by the county council of Durham, and I by the
senate of Durham University. The school was closed pending rebuilding. A new and spacious
site in Duke Street, Darlington, was selected, and in 1878 the school was re-opened in the present
fine buildings erected at a cost of over £14,000, of which no less than £11,313 was provided by
public subscription. Mr. Philip Ward, M.A., of Edinburgh, where he obtained a first-class in
mathematics, was appointed headmaster. There are now five assistant masters with visiting masters
for drawing and music. In December, 1890, there were 154 boys in the school, of whom 15 were
boarders. It has fluctuated about that number since. The tuition fees vary according to age from
1 These are still the regular days at Winchester. 2 Carlisle, Endowed Grammar Schools, i. 400.
8 Charity Com. Rep. xxi. 195.
392
SCHOOLS
6 guineas to £14 a year. The following scholarships have been founded since the scheme, so true
is it that instead of reforms, as is sometimes alleged, drying up benefactions, by promoting efficiency
they attract gifts — the Pease Memorial, 1879; the William Barningham, 1879; the Chapman
Ward memorial, 1881 ; the George Stephenson memorial, 1883 ; the Thomas Richardson, 1884.
The school is more flourishing than it has ever been ; but with increasing demands on them modern
schools need more money, and with a large proportion of the boys, 36, holding scholarships,
the endowment alone, now £175 a year, is insufficient as always.
HOUGHTON SCHOOL
This school was for a long time the premier school of the county in point of status. It owes its
foundation to the public spirit of the most famous of the rectors of Houghton le Spring. In the
reigns of Edward VI., Queen Mary, and Queen Elizabeth, the rectory was held by Bernard Gilpin,
a nephew of Cuthbert Tunstall, bishop of Durham, for which he resigned the nominally more
exalted, but in those times more dangerous, post of archdeacon and canon of Durham. In later times
he refused the headship of a college at Cambridge and a bishopric at Carlisle, in order to continue his
self-appointed work, which earned for him the title of Apostle of the North, of preaching tours — in
these days they might perhaps be called ' revival meetings ' — among the rough mountaineers of
Tynedale and Redesdale in Northumberland.
At Houghton itself he seems to have considered that he most effectively advanced religion by
setting up a school. In his will he threatened ' God's plagues upon all such as seek to withdraw
any livings given to the maintenance of his holy gospel, and I trust I may bouldly affirme that
whatsoever is geaven to a godlie grammar schole is geaven to the maintenaunce of Christ's holy
gospel.' He started therefore a school, taking boarders into his own rectory-house, an embattled and
fortified tower, about 1560. As early as 1569 he was trying to procure endowment for it and to
obtain a royal charter.1 A letter to him from Francis Russell, the first earl of Bedford, 3 May, 1570,*
informs Gilpin that he had received his letter of 1 1 April, but that ' concerning your suit moved at
Windsor the troubles that have since happened have been so many and great that no convenient
time hath served to prosecute the same, and the bill given in, I doubt, is lost ; so that for more surety
it were good you sent up another copy and I will do my best endeavours to bring it to pass.' The
troubles were the Northern Rebellion of 1569, when Gilpin's own house was plundered by the rebels.
A year later, 26 March, 1571, the earl wrote : — 'I have moved the queen's majesty for your
school, and afterwards the bill was delivered to Mr. Secretary Walsingham, a very good and godly
gentleman, who procured the same to be signed as I think you have before this heard by your
brother. Assuredly you did very well and honestly therein and have deserved great commendations.
A thing most necessary in those parts is this of all other for the well bringing-up of youth and
training them in learning and goodness.' It was not, however, until 2 April, 1574, that the letters
patent were sealed. On the petition of John Heath of Kepier, and Bernard Gylpyne, rector of
Houghton le Spring, the queen established in honour of the Trinity ' a free grammar school and
almshouse of Kepier in the parish of Houghton in le Sprynge,' to consist of a master and usher to be
appointed and removed at pleasure by the governing body. The governing body was peculiar.
Heath and Gilpin were appointed and incorporated as the first governors for life. Heath and his heirs
were to appoint one governor to succeed Heath, and Gilpin and his successors as rectors were to
appoint another governor to succeed him. Licence in mortmain was given up to £50 a year.
The school was called the Kepier School because the principal endowment was given by John
Heath, who had bought from the crown the endowments of the dissolved Kepier Hospital, the
St. Giles' Leper Hospital outside Durham on the road to Houghton. The endowments given are set out
in Gilpin's will of 17 October, 1582, viz. : — For the schoolmaster (given by Heath), the Gelie
Teinde of Bishopwearmouth, i.e. the Gilly tithes, or tithes payable to the Kepier or Gilly of
St. Giles Hospital, the road to which is still called Gillygate,3 £8 ; pensions out of the parsonages of
Ryton, Whickham, and Gateshead, £5 6s. 8<t. ; total, £13 6s. 8</. For the usher (bought by
Gilpin from Heath for £240), from the ' Gellie Teinde ' of Easington, Chester le Street, Whitburn,
Cleadon, and Ryhope, £8 ; for 3 poor scholars from the same tithes (£i 131. 4^. each), £5 ;
total, £13. A pension out of Cocker (given by Mr. William Carr), 5 marks, of which 40*. to the
poor, £3 6s. %d. ; a pension out of the town chamber of Newcastle (given by Mr. Franklin,
Gilpin's predecessor in the rectory, or a member of his family), £1 6s. 8</. ; a pension out of
Pensher and Pclowe, £2 6s. 8d. ; total, £7.
1 M. Lewins, Life of Bernard Gi/fit, p. 467. ' Rev. C. S. Collingwood, Memoirs of Bernard Gilpin,
* The hospital which was conferred on St. Peter's School, York, in the reign of Philip and Mary was
also situate in Gillygate, the street leading to St. Giles' Hospital there. St. Giles was the patron saint of lepers,
and the leper hospitals dedicated to him were generally placed, as in St. Giles at Oxford, some half-mile or
more outside the gates of the town on a main road.
393 50
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
Besides this there was the White House in Houghton, which Gilpin had bought for £i 5, and
a close in Wolsingham for £4.4., which are mentioned as not ' surely annexed ' to the school at the
date of the will, no doubt the copyhold cottage and garden in Houghton, surrendered to Heath and
Gilpin, 1 6 January, I576.1
The ' hospital ' was not established till after Gilpin's time, except to the extent of the small
payments for the poor of £4 6s. 8d. out of the school lands. The school itself was well established
before, on 29 May, 1575, William Birche, ' pastor of Stanhope,' gave by will 3 'to the poorest
schollars of the Lattyne speiche in the grammar scholle in Durham and Houghton 40*., to 20 2s.
a peice.' On 3 February, 1577-8, at a visitation by Robert Swift, chancellor, for the bishop,3
Robert Copperthwaite, ' ludi magister,' and Adam Dowson, ' subpedagogus,' appeared in person ;
and Copperthwaite also appeared as curate there. These, then, were the first masters of the school.
Copperthwaite came from Gilpin's Westmorland home, and was a scholar of his old college, Queen's
College, Oxford. He did not stay long, as in July, 1578, he appears at a visitation as rector of
Ellingham, in Northumberland, a living in the patronage of the dean and chapter, which Gilpin
obtained for him. At the date of Gilpin's will, Mr. Christopher Rawson (who has been misread
into Ranson) was ' scholemaister,' and ' Frauncis Reisley usher,' and he gave 201. apiece to each of
them. Rawson was a Durham boy, scholar of Christ Church, Oxford, in 1564, and fellow when he
took his B.A. degree, 15 October, I5&8.4 Risley had matriculated at St. Edmund's Hall,
2O July, 1578. By the will Gilpin also gave 'to everie scholler dwellinge within my house 3</., to
everie scholler of the parishe cominge usuallie to the schole I2d., and allso to schollers of other
parishes I gyve to everyone 8d.' Half of the ultimate residue 'I will that it be bestowed in
exhibitions upon the schollers and studentes in Oxenford hereafter named by the discretion of my
executors to consider who is most needfull.' Nine names are given, one being Francis Reisley,
presumably the usher ; another George Carlton, Gilpin's nephew, who became canon of Durham
and bishop of Chichester, and wrote Gilpin's life ; and another Henry Airay, Aray, or Airey, who
was a relation of Gilpin and the son of his steward. Gilpin died 4 March, 1583-4, and his will
was proved 16 May, 1584.
It is said6 that 'the earliest and only set of statutes extant bears date 1658, under the signature
of Richard Bellasis, then a governor." In a chancery suit in 1750 Lord Chancellor Hardwicke
refused to admit the validity of the statutes produced because they were not signed.
There is, however, little doubt that the statutes, a copy of which is now in the possession of
the rector of Houghton,8 are taken from a draft by Gilpin himself, though in the absence of any
seal, and in view of the decision of Lord Hardwicke, they appear to be of no legal force.
They provided that ' when Keepier Schole in Houghton doth want a master, the governors of
the said schole may send to Mr. Provost of Queen's College in Oxford, and by letters request him
that he would provide some Northerne man in any wise maister of art, either in his own house or
some other, learned, and of good life and condition.'
The first duty of the master was to see that ' his scholars frequent divine service on holy dayes,
with godly bookes to looke on, and for that purpose he shall read unto them the catechismus Greeke and
Latine appointed for all scholes,' and that in church they were not ' troublesome in talkes and jingling.'
School was to begin at 7 a.m., and ' till eleaven of clock none shall depart from thence, either
to breakfast or for any other cause, without special license. ' ' Item, as he shall orderly read his
lessons before noone, so shall he carefully look to the repetitions thereof after dinner, till five o'clock
in winter and six in summer. On Fridays he shall take renderings of all the week's lessons ; and
as they said memoriter and construed nightly before, soe he shall now see them done perfectly,
without stopping or stammering, and in every wise at all times marke that one scholler prompt not
another. Againe, on this daye he must receive their exercises, be they short or long, and
amend the faults in them.'
The master was to have ' no dayes of libertye to go abroad, above 40 in one yeare. He
shall meddle with and occupye noe other temporall livings, but be contented with his schole stipend.'
He had the letting of the property 'the Gylie tythes,' but was not to let for more than three years,
reserving rent enough to make the whole income £20 a year. A curious provision is that ' the
maister shall not take upon him the state of marriage unless he have the consent of both the
governors in writing under their hands, and the common scale of the schoole, with two justices
besides of this county named by the governors. If he proceed with their consent to marry he shall
have the White House in Houghton for his wife and children to dwell in . . soe that all the dayes
which he bestoweth upon them shall be reckoned of his 40.'
The usher was not allowed to be married at all, and had only thirty days' absence. ' He shall
not be given to wanton company nor to playes,' but to ' spend his leisure conferring with the best
1 Endowed Charities, p. 48. * Eccl. Proc. of Bf. Barnes (Surtees Soe.), cxi. s Ibid. p. 47.
* Foster's Alumni Oxoniensis. 6 Surtees, Hist, of Dur. i. 159.
6 Printed by Mr. Coore, in Durham Endowed Charities, pp. 44, 45.
394
SCHOOLS
schollers, of learning, reading of books, and talking of such matters as shall be to both their
increasinge of knowledge, understanding of writers by commentaries, and poets' fables, hard places,
examining of grammar rules,' while he is to be ready to help the ' meaner schollers, teaching them on
playing days, and after supper the space of an hour to write cypher, and understand their figures.'
For the boys ' there shall be but one play day in a weeke, either Tuesday or Thursday, save
onely certain days in the spring, and some time of recreation, when the maister shall think it
meet for the schollers to exercise their bowes, in matching either with themselves or with strangers
in the ox pasture or in Houghton More.'
For holidays, ' they shall not break up school at Christmas, but 7 or 8 days before Christmas
Even, and at Easter on Palm Sunday, even soe likewise at Whitsuntide, the Saturday before Holy
Thursday ; at which time they must pay to their maister every one a penny for Feratutoe silver,! and
none shall be supposed to give more but upon their owne good wills.' As we saw at Durham, even
holidays were to be spoilt if possible. Those who stayed in Houghton were to be ' charged and willed
to repayre to schoole, that they may be instructed as time requires.'
Though the school was a free grammar school, and no tuition fees were therefore payable,
substantial entrance fees were taken. ' It shall be lawful for the maister to take of every gentleman's
sonne at his entrance, or of any other that is placed and lodged within the schoole chambers, y. \d.t
and at the year's end y. ^d. more, and after that to be free so long as they shall continue.
There were to be five poore schollers and three poore men or women, with an allowance of
•jd. a week,' — a penny a week less than William of Wykeham allowed for his scholars in 1400, —
1 and js. over, which may be divided among them.'
There is no evidence whether after Gilpin's death the provision for poor scholars was carried
out. Lord Hardwicke in 1751* made the curious remark on it, that 'things and times have been
altered since that ; for though at the Reformation greater invitations were made to bring the
poor to schools, that is not so proper now, for at present the poor had better be trained up to
agriculture,' a curious view of trusts for a Lord Chancellor. His next remark, ' it would be to no
purpose to desire the governors to pay this trifle of yd. per week . . for it would not be sufficient for
them,' was more to the purpose.
Nor does it appear how far the other statutes were carried out. Anthony Aray who, about
to be admitted as master, subscribed and assented to the statutes, 12 November, 1607, was a
Queen's College man. But the rest of the masters » — Ralph Howden, 24 September, 1631; John
Page, 8 December, 1632 ; George Caunt, 26 April, 1639 ; Paul Lever, 1682 ; William Stobart,
1686 — cannot be traced as being either of Queen's College or of Oxford. In Caunt's time, which
continued throughout the Civil War, from 1652 onwards and up to 1666, a considerable contingent
of boys went from Houghton to St. John's, Cambridge, some of whom had come on from Durham
School itself; which testifies to the height of its repute. Gilbert Nelson, master from 1698—1722,
was a Sedbergh scholar of St. John's College, Cambridge, which was a northern college
even more than Queen's College, Oxford, and far larger and richer. Under him was the antiquary
Christopher Hunter, who in 1724 placed an inscription on the door of the school recording its foun-
dation. Thomas Griffith, master in 1738, is said by Surtees to have been 'a sound thoroughbred
scholar, who restored the school from a low ebb, and left his books to his successors.' He was
apparently the master at the time of the chancery suit already mentioned, reported as 'Attorney-General
v. Middleton.'* One of the grounds of complaint was that he was not duly qualified according to the
statutes. But as Lord Hardwicke assumed either that the statutes were never made, or must be
presumed to be repealed, this was no objection. The case seems, however, to have drawn
attention to the power of appointment by the provost of Queen's, since for the next century all the
headmasters were Queen's College men.
Of William Fleming, 1 780— 1 800, Surtees records that to his 'memory the author owes a grateful
tribute of respect.' The school was mainly a boarding school, and a good many county families
resorted to it.
Carlisle' in 1816 found 30 boarders paying 50 guineas a year, a high fee for those days, under
the Rev. William Rowes.
In 1827* the school was still in a flourishing condition, there being 60 paying scholars, of
whom 17 boarded in the house of the headmaster, the Rev. Henry Brown, and the rest in other
houses in the town. There were 6 boys on the foundation who were taught elementary subjects free.
In 1842 the school received the only accretion to its endowments since the foundation, in the
shape of a sum of £500 raised by subscription for exhibitions to the universities by Dr. John, then
headmaster. His successor, the Rev. T. Leycester Balfour, died after only two years' reign, 1852-4.
The Rev. George Moulton, who followed, was not of Queen's but of Exeter College, Oxford.
1 This is apparently someone's corrupt reading for Ferula silver, equivalent to rod money.
* fetey't Sfn., Reports Chancery, 330. * Surtees, i. 160. * Pfiey'i Sen., Reports Chancery, 349.
8 Endowed Grammar Schools, i. 405. * Char. Com. Rep.
395
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
Being unsuccessful, he retired in 1866. The school was then restarted on a lower plane in the
hands of Mr. George Taylor, a graduate of London, who had a private school in the place, and to
him the school was practically farmed out. He charged £10 for day boys and 35 to 50 guineas a
year for boarders. When visited by Mr. Fitch for the Schools Inquiry Commission in 1865 there
were 60 boys in the school, of whom 44 were boarders. He found the chief excellence of the
school to be rather in its mathematical than in its literary teaching, which, as the mathematics only
extended as far as Euclid, Book III., was not high praise. In 1874 the headmaster was the Rev. A.
Bennett, who procured an exchange, carried out 24 October, 1888, by which the original White
House was given for an extension of the playground adjoining the school. A substantial endowment
of £5,000 was given to the school by George Yeoman Heath, a surgeon of Newcastle, by a codicil
to his will proved 13 July, 1892, for scholarships to Durham University for intending students of
medicine.
In October, 1893, Mr. F. L. Gaul, formerly an exhibitioner of Queen's College, Oxford, was
appointed headmaster. He had 20 boys in 1897, and now there are 13, of whom 9 are
boarders.
The old buildings, a low two-storied house, form a picturesque feature in Houghton, standing
as they do on high ground looking down on the east end of the fine church, in which the monument
of the founder is one of the chief features of attraction, and beyond that to the spacious domain of
the rectory. But the buildings are not up to modern requirements, and part of them is in ruins
owing to subsidence, caused, it is alleged, by colliery workings.
BISHOP AUCKLAND GRAMMAR SCHOOL
At Bishop Auckland there is evidence of the existence of the collegiate church as early as
I239,1 when Robert of Courtenay was presented by King Henry III. to the deanery of ' Aclent,'
by reason of the vacancy of the bishopric of Durham. On 14 January, 1292, Bishop Anthony Beck
made new statutes for the church, the canons having abandoned residence because there were no
proper houses for them to reside in. The bishop gave them land on which to build houses and
increased the revenues. The head of the college was called a vicar, and the then vicar, Mr. Robert
of Alberwyke,3 now Abberwick, was made first dean, and given a new prebend consisting in tithes
of the lands lately taken into cultivation (novalium). There were 12 canons, 5 priests, 4 deacons,
and 3 sub-deacon canons, who had to maintain deputies or vicars-choral in their absence. On
28 September, 1428, the 'change of times always going to the bad, and the dearness of provisions,'
had again caused the staff of the church to become defective, the stipends fixed by Beck having
become wholly insufficient. So the prebends were readjusted, the poorer ones consolidated, the
richer ones subdivided, and the stipends of the vicars increased by ordinance of Bishop Langley,8
leaving the total 12, as before.
There can be no question that a church of this magnitude maintained a grammar school ;
but if so the school disappeared on the dissolution of the college, and it was not till the reign of
James I. that it was revived. Then by letters patent 7 December, 1603,* on the petition of
Anna Swyfte, the king erected for the instruction of youth in grammar and other good literature,
the Free Grammar School of King James within the town of North Auckland alias Bishop Auckland,
of one master and one undermaster. The master was to be M.A. or at least B.A., and both were
to instruct the scholars in Greek and Latin literature. They were removable at the pleasure of the
governors. The governing body of 1 2 governors named was incorporated ; new governors were
obliged to be inhabitants of the parish. Licence in mortmain was given to hold lands to the value
of £10 a year from Ann Swyfte, and not more than 20 marks, £13 6s. 8d., from others.
Ann Swyfte seems to have been the widow of that name who, on 2 February, 1609, was
buried in the cathedral ; and was probably widow of Robert Swift, canon of Durham, and for many
years chancellor of the diocese. On 12 April, 1605, she endowed the school with a rent-charge of
1 Dugdale, Man. vi. 1335.
3 Misprinted in Dugdale, Albuwyke. This person, eminent in his day, has had the misfortune to have his
name perpetually miswritten and to be overlooked. He was one of the earliest fellows of Merton College,
Oxford, to attain distinction. He has been miscalled Albert when made 'third bursar 'of the college in 1276.
In 1286 he became vicar of Ponteland. It was too late for insertion in the text, and only in time for an entry
on an inserted page xlix that I was able to identify the man whom I had guessed to be dean of Auckland with
the fellow of Merton who attained the great preferment of provost of Beverley, 5 June, 1 304. Bever/ey
Chapter Act Book (Surtees Soc.), i. 27 ; ibid. ii. xlix. and xlix.* On 28 March, 1306, the usual sequestration
order of the Provostry was made on his death. Ibid. i. 1 1 6.
8 The account given in Dugdale curiously misrepresents the documents given.
1 Rep. of Com. of Inquiry concerning Charities in 1829; C. C. R. xxi. 38. James I. began to reign
24 March, 1602-3.
396
SCHOOLS
£10 a year on Ellergill Grange, in Stanhope, and all other lands of Ralph Madison in Ellergill ; and
five days later Ralph Madison himself gave another rent-charge of £6 a year from the same lands.
It is significant that the schoolhouse is described as built ' near the chapel or guild of St. Anne,'
granted 17 April, 1638, by the then bishop, Thomas Morton, subject to a rent to the Crown of
2s. for the purpose. One can hardly help inferring that the old school had been carried on in this chapel.
The original endowment, however adequate at the time, being a fixed rent-charge, was not
calculated to produce a very flourishing school. It was augmented in 1625 by a grant of 8 acres
of the waste of the manor, and in 1628 by 30 more acres, but the last endowment was lost during
the Civil War by being annexed by William Darcy, of Witton Park, whose land it adjoined.
Under the Commonwealth the Parliamentary Commissioners for the propagation of the Gospel >
granted an augmentation to the school in a payment of £20 to the master Ralph Robinson, out of
the appropriated rectory of Merrington. But this of course ceased on the Restoration.
In 1807, Shute Harrington, bishop of Durham, purchased a house on the south side of the
market place as a residence for the master, then Robert Birkett. In 1814 the Rev. Robert
Thompson became headmaster. But under him the school was little more than elementary. When
the Commissioners of Inquiry visited it in 1828 * the income from endowment was only £37 a
year. There were 55 boys in the school, but of these only 10 learnt anything more than elemen-
tary subjects, the fees charged being 30*. a year for the three R's, and £2 2s. a year for classics.
In 1858 the old school was sold for ,£526 and a new site bought with the proceeds in South Church
Road for £40, and a new school erected at a cost of £700. But the new site was only 2 £ acres in
extent, and the master had contributed most of the cost above the sum derived from the sale of the
old buildings. In 1864, when Mr. J. G. Fitch visited for the Schools Inquiry Commission,8 the
Rev. E. Henley, of Trinity College, Cambridge, was headmaster. There was no other master and
there were only 1 5 boys. The fees were £2 a year for boys in the parish, and £4. from outside ;
but only 2 of the 15 came from outside. No mathematics beyond arithmetic were taught ; and
only one boy, who occupied the highest class by himself, had begun Latin. The low fees, supposed
to be a benefit to the parishioners, were the chief cause of the school being low and of very little
benefit to the parishioners.
In 1870, Mr. M. K. Limolean, B.A. London, became headmaster and reorganised the school.
He at once raised the fees to an average of ,£8 I Oj., and so was enabled to pay an adequate assistant,
and the instruction given was raised to grammar-school standard. So in two years the numbers
increased to 48, of whom 23 were boarders. An application to the Endowed Schools Commissioners
resulted in a scheme of 26 June 1873, by which a governing body of 13, including representatives
of the Local Board of Health, the Guardians of the Union, the Magistrates in Petty Sessions, and
the ratepayers, with 5 co-optative governors, was appointed. The boarding fees were raised from
£27 to £40, and the tuition fees were to be £6 to £i 2 a year. Natural Science was added to the
curriculum. In 1877 the buildings were enlarged and improved at a cost of £3,327, of which
£500 was given by the Trustees of Lord Crewe's charity, and £1,579 was raised by subscription.
In later years the number of boarders had fallen, owing no doubt to the great improvements effected
in other grammar schools, such as Barnard Castle and the like. In 1890 there were 50 boys in
the school, of whom only two were boarders ; by 1896 the number had fallen to 30, though the
standard of education had considerably risen. By an amending scheme under the Endowed Schools
Act, approved by Queen Victoria in Council, 13 May, 1896, the governing body was strengthened
by 2 representatives of the County Council, who under the Technical Instruction Act, 1889, and
the Local Taxation Act, 1888, had funds to spend on education, and of the University of Durham.
The school in 1 904 was more prosperous than at any previous period of existence. Its endowment,
indeed, is not increased, consisting only of the original rent charges of £16 a year, and the rent of
£20 derived from the 8 acres of waste, still a grass field ; but a grant of £80 a year from the
County Council, and of about £i 2O a year from the Board of Education enables it to pay its way.
The headmaster is Mr. Bousfield, himself educated at the school and at Hatfield Hall, in Durham
University, and afterwards an assistant master at the North-Eastern County School, Barnard Castle ;
appointed in 1897. Under him the numbers have more than doubled ; as he found 33, and in
1901 had 72.* Greek is only learnt by one boy; but Latin is learnt by all, while science and
mathematics form the staple of the instruction.
THE NORTH-EASTERN COUNTIES' SCHOOL, BARNARD CASTLE
Barnard Castle in ' ancient time ' enjoyed the advantages of a grammar school, as appears from
the return of the Chantry Commissioners of Henry VIII. in 1546. 'The Guylde of the Trinitie
in Barnard Castell • : — The said Guylde was founded and endowed with certen landes by gifte of the
1 Lambeth MSS. Aug. of Livings, 1006, p. 4*5. * Char. Com. Rep. xxi. 38.
• Schools Inquiry Ref>. xix. * EnJotoeJ Charities of the Co. of Durham, p. 28.
1 A. F. Leach, English Sckoob at the Reformation. From Chant. Cert. No. 1 8, 8j.
397
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
brethern and other benefactors of the same, of auncyent tyme, to fynde a preste, to be namyd the
Guylde preste, to say masse dayly at the 6th houre of the clocke in the mornyng, and to be resident
at Mattens, Masse, and Evensonge, and to kepe a Free Gramer Scoole and A Songe Scoole for all
the children of the towne ; and to kepe one Obitt yerely for all the Founders and benefactors of the
said Guylde, by Reporte.' The net value was £4. Os. 1 zd., which was given towards the mainten-
ance of Peter Coward, priest, incumbent of the guild.
For some reason or other this chantry was not returned as a school to the later Chantry Com-
missioners of Edward VI. in 1548, and so no provision was made for its continuance, and it seems
to have completely disappeared. An augmentation granted during the Commonwealth would,
however, appear to show that some sort of a school was kept in Barnard Castle. An abstract of the
settlement of ministers made by the Commissioners for Propagating the Gospel in the years 1651—3
shows i for [blank] Rose, master of Barnard Castle School, a grant of £19 IDS. out of the reserved
rent of the rectory of Aycliffe ; and by an order of 25 June, i657,2 '* was directed that the said sum
should be transferred and charged upon the tithes of Cold Hesledon and Castle Eden as from
8 January, 1656-7, and paid to Mr. Thomas Hutton, schoolmaster of Barnard Castle aforesaid.
It may be, however, that this school was a new creation of the Parliamentary Commissioners, as they
did set up many new schools, both grammar and elementary.
The present Grammar School, called the North-Eastern Counties School, was founded only
in the year 1877 by the appropriation to education, by a scheme made under the Endowed Schools
Acts, of the endowments of the very ancient St. John's Hospital, said to have been founded in
1229 by John Balliol, whose wife founded Balliol College, Oxford. Already in 1535* this hospital
had sunk into a mere sinecure for a clerical master, worth £5 1 5*. a year, out of which 3 poor
almswomen received 6s. ifd. a year. It continued on this basis, the sinecure master receiving the
net rental, for three centuries.
At length a scheme made by the Court of Chancery, II May, 1864, when the income from
the endowment was £250 a year, provided that after payment of j£iOO a year to the then Gustos,
the Rev. George Dugard, for life, and pensions to 3 almswomen, the residue should be accumulated
for a grammar school, provisions for the conduct of which were contained in the scheme. These
provisions and a later scheme of 17 May, 1877, were superseded before anything was done under
them by a scheme under the Endowed Schools Act, approved by Queen Victoria in Council, 3 May,
1882. This scheme consolidated the St. John's Hospital endowment with ^30,000 given by will
of Benjamin Flounders of Yarm in the North Riding for the ' more general promotion, encourage-
ment, and extension of education within the British dominions amongst classes of every religious
denomination (Roman Catholics excepted) either by the promotion or in aid of schools already
established or hereafter to be established,' and made the united fund applicable to a North-Eastern
Counties School at Barnard Castle. A governing body of 24 was constituted of representatives of the
3 counties of Durham, Northumberland, and the North Riding of Yorkshire, viz. the lord lieu-
tenants, the chairmen of Boards of Guardians, a representative of each Quarter Sessions, 2 represen-
tatives of the Senate of Durham University, i of the Council of the Science College at Newcastle,
and 3 of the Urban District Council of Barnard Castle, and 9 co-optative governors. By an
amending scheme of 13 May, 1896, representatives of the 3 County Councils were added.
The school was opened temporarily at Middleton St. George, near Darlington, on 1 1 September,
1883, with 30 boys, under the Rev. Francis Lloyd Brereton, B.A., of Cavendish College, Cam-
bridge. In 1886 it was removed to its present fine site of now 23 acres, half a mile from the town
of Barnard Castle and adjoining the grounds of the famous Bowes Museum. In 1887 Mr. Brereton
left for the headmastership of the Norfolk County School. He was succeeded by Mr. E. H.
Prest, M.A., a Durham Cathedral Grammar School boy, scholar of Jesus College, Cambridge, 1876,
who was in the Cambridge Eight and president of the Boat Club, and obtained a 2nd class in the
Classical Tripos in 1880.
The main object of the school was to be a cheap boarding school for farmers' sons and others
of like social status in the 3 counties. The fees were fixed at £3 1 a year, inclusive of tuition, and
by the financial ability and admirable management of the bursar, Mr. Edwin Wells, this sum has
sufficed to provide for all expenses on a scale of comfort and care for health which the boys of the
so-called public schools, paying fees of £100 a year and upwards, might well envy. Mr. Prest died
young. In November, 1893, Mr. Brereton, who after leaving the Norfolk County School had
been curate of Great Massingham, Norfolk, became headmaster for the second time. The school
has now been reorganized on a technical and scientific basis, as what was recently known under the
regulations of the Science and Art Department as a ' School of Science,' in which the subjects of
instruction are mainly mathematics and science, tempered with a minimum of Latin (4^ hours
a week) and French (4 hours), with agricultural and engineering departments.
1 Lambeth MSS. Aug. of Livings, 1006, p. 425^ 5 Ibid. 993, p. 252.
* Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), v. 210.
398
SCHOOLS
The school in September, 1901 l numbered 289, of whom 20 were day-boys. The bulk of
the boarders came from the 3 counties, viz. 112 from Durham, 66 from Northumberland, 69 from
Yorkshire. In 1905 the numbers were 253.
WOLSINGHAM GRAMMAR SCHOOL
This school was founded, presumably, by William Grimwell, Merchant Taylor of London,
who is the first named of eight persons to whom, 14 October, 1612, a parcel of the waste of the
manor was surrendered for building 'a common and free school,' while 16 acres called the Batts
were included in the same surrender as endowment for the use of a Free Grammar School and a
master, to be appointed by the bishop, ' to teach boys in the rudiments of the Christian religion and
grammar.'
In 1829* the master was the Rev. Philip Brownrigg, appointed in 1821, on the obligation to
teach 1 8 boys free in the three R's and 'classics if required.' The endowment was £55 101. a year,
in respect of jj 101. of which, arising from gifts by wills of Jonathan Wosler, 3 August, 1789, and
George Wosler, 12 May, 1829, he had to teach 4 more free scholars. He had 30 day-boys and
about 1 1 boarders besides the free boys, and 2 assistant masters, one for writing, the other for
mathematics. When Mr. Henry Wade was appointed master in 1847, though nominally required
to be competent to instruct in classics, the school became wholly elementary, and according to
Mr. Finch, reporting to the Schools Inquiry Commission* in 1866, bad at that, with 18 free
boys in it.
From this deplorable condition an endeavour was made to rescue the school by a scheme under
the Endowed Schools Acts 28 June, 1880, which erected a representative governing body of 9,
appointed 2 by the vestry (now parish council) of Wolsingham, 2 by the Petty Sessions, and 5 co-
optatives, to whom by a subsequent scheme of 13 May, 1896, were added 2 representatives of the
Durham County Council and I of the College of Science at Newcastle. Mr. Henry Wade was
given a pension of £50 a year, which came to an end with his death in the following year. In
1885 the school buildings were enlarged, but unfortunately on the old site, below the churchyard.
The Rev. F. H. Coles, M.A., Dublin, was appointed headmaster. On 27 November, 1890,*
there were 33 boys in the school, 9 of whom were boarders. In 1901 the number had shrunk to
1 8, of whom 4 were boarders. The tuition fee is £4 a year, with extra fees for Greek or German.
The chief achievement of the school has been winning 3 scholarships at Christ's Hospital between
1892-7.
HEIGHINGTON GRAMMAR SCHOOL
The Free Grammar School at Heighington, which has long ceased to be a Grammar School
except in name, was founded at the end of Queen Elizabeth's reign by Elizabeth Jenison, with the
endowment of a fixed grant of £i 1 a year. By deed, i October, i6oi,she gave a rent charge,
which was charged on the lands of George Freville of Bishop Middleham by a deed of a month
before, i September, 1601, to trustees to 'dispose of the same for the yearly maintenance of such
schoolmasters teaching and instructing children within the parish of Heighington in grammar and
the principles of the Christian religion, as should from time to time be elected and confirmed
according to certain articles thereto annexed.' New trustees were to be appointed by the dean
and chapter of Durham. The articles' provided that the school should be kept in Heighington
in such place as the dean and chapter should appoint. It was to be ' free ' for the children of all
inhabitants of the parish or born within it, ' paying only \d. apiece at entering and id. quarterly.'
For other children 'the schoolmaster might take 2*. apiece yearly, and no more, of the poorer sort ;
but for rich men's sons and gentlemen's sons such wages as he and they should agree upon.' The
instruction was to be ' in the accidence and Lily's grammar, and also in the Greek grammar, and
other easy Latin and Greek authors according to their capacities and as the bishop of Durham
should direct.' Upon festival days and other convenient (!) times 'writing and accounts were to
be taught, and the master was weekly to peruse their writing and cyphering and set them copies,
without taking anything other than was above limited.'
The dean and chapter were to appoint the master, and the bishop, or a nominee, was to be
the visitor, with power to depose or remove the master on breach of the articles or other just
cause, the deprivation to be publicly read in the church during Sunday morning service. The
1 Endowed Charities of Durham, i. 450. 8 Char. Com. Rep. xxi. 108.
» S. I. R. xix. 58. 4 Endowed Char. ii. 578.
1 Char. Com. Rep. xxi. 88, where they are set out in fall.
399
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
master was to receive £10 ; £1 being paid to the poor of the parish, except when there was a
conveyance on the appointment of new trustees, when it was to go in paying the costs.
Presumably the school was started at once, but the Chapter Act Books at Durham are missing
at this time, and the first recorded appointment is on 2O July, 1626, ' Graunted to Mr. John
Corneford the free schoole of Heighington according to Mr. Thomas Jenison's presentation, which
wee doe admitt.' Mr. Jenison was no doubt a son of the foundress. This was repealed
10 August, 1627 when the entry occurs, 'John Corneford, a confirmation of Heighington scholle,
by vertue of a graunt from Mr. Jenison.' Cornford or Cornforth is an ancient Durham name.
On 17 May, 1643 the dean and chapter sealed 'a graunt of the scholemastership of Heighington
to John Appleby.' He was no doubt of the family of John Appleby, of Clove Lodge, Rich-
mond, Yorkshire, admitted from Sedbergh to St. John's College in 1567,! and Ambrose Appleby,
Fellow of Queen's College, Cambridge, 2 November, I&42.2
This school also was augmented during the Protectorate by the Parliamentary Commission for
the Propagation of the Gospel in the north. On 29 March, i653s John Hodgson was appointed
to be schoolmaster at Heighington, and £10 a year augmentation was granted him, 'parcel! of the
tithes of Heighington and Redworth.' On 25 December, 1655 Captain William Harrison,
the receiver, as £20 was equal to one-fifth of the Heighington tithe, was ordered to pay a fifth,
whatever it was, to John Hodson, schoolmaster of Heighington. This was certified to the
new commission, 19 July, 1656.*
On 10 April, 1697, Meeking Hill was conveyed to the then trustees of the school, out of
which £2 9*. was for the benefit of the poor and the rest for the school. On 3 October, 1724
the school-house itself and three fields were leased by the bishop of Durham to the trustees,
reserving to the bishop the right of approving the schoolmaster.
The dean and chapter, however, on 20 July, 1770, appointed Robert Machlin master of the
Grammar School. Thirty-eight years afterwards the bishop, on complaint that Machlin neglected
the school, by a sentence of 26 October, 1808, duly read in church, deprived Machlin. He,
however, paid no attention to the sentence. He had, indeed, in 1810, to give up the leasehold
land held under the bishop, as the lives for which it was granted had fallen in, while Robert
Surtees, the antiquary, who then owned the lands out of which Mrs. Jenison's original endowment
issued, withheld payment of the rent charge of j£n a year; but when the Commissioners6 of
Inquiry visited about 1827 they found that Machlin still remained in possession of the freehold
land given in 1697, but as a result of their recommendations on 24 January, 1827, he agreed in
consideration of receiving £100 for arrears of the rent charge and a pension of £20 a year to give
up these.
The school had meanwhile been rebuilt by subscription, and a new master, Thomas Dicken-
son, appointed. But he was incompetent to teach Greek or Latin, and so the school became, in
total defiance of the trusts, elementary.
The commissioners recommended the restoration of grammar teaching at the next vacancy.
This, however, would have affected the pockets of the landowners and farmers of the parish, who
would have had to find an endowment for an elementary school. The school therefore remained
elementary ; and the breach of trust was finally legalised by a scheme of the Durham County
Court made under the Charitable Trusts Acts, 21 September, 1859.
NORTON SCHOOL
At Norton there was an interesting example of that for which the Endowed Schools Com-
missioners were at one time much abused — the appropriation of endowments which had ceased to
serve any useful purpose in their original application to the advancement of education.
Norton was one of those large parishes, the living of which, when the country filled up,
became too rich for a single parish priest, and was therefore collegiated and divided into seven pre-
bends. To the commissioners on the dissolution of colleges and chantries in 1548 this endowment
was thus returned : — 6
'The parishe church of Norton, having of houselinge7 people, 700.
' The porcion of tythe within the sayd parishe. Incumbents having the sayd tythes porcioned
emonge them to studye at the Universitie : Jerom Barnarde, John Tonstall, Nycholas Thornhill,
Nycholas Lenthall, Z. Phillips, Rowland Swyneburne, Anthony Salvin, and Lancelotte Thwayte.
1 Sedbergh School Reg. p. 59, B. Wilson, 1895. » Reg. of St. John's College, Camb. i. 66.
8 Lambeth MSS. Aug. of Livings, 972, p. 387. 4 Ibid. 1006, p. 428.
6 C.C.R. xxi. 90. 6 Eng. Schools at the Reformation, 320, from Chan. Cert. 17, No. 19.
7 i.e. communicants.
400
SCHOOLS
'The yearly valewe^S.' This was nearly £7 apiece. As £$ was then good pay for a chantry
priest and £3 6s. 8</. was lavish for a University exhibitioner, these young gentlemen were well
endowed.
The prebends were in the gift of the bishop, then Cuthbert Tonstall, which no doubt
accounts for one of these exhibitioners being John Tonstall. The case is interesting as showing
that it was not only the Reformers who saw the wisdom of applying the superfluities of ecclesiastical
to make up the deficiencies of educational endowments.
The chief mischief of the dissolution of these colleges was that it swept into private pockets
vast endowments which might perhaps have been appropriated to education. This seems to have
happened at Norton where these prebends disappeared, the exhibitioners being pensioned.
SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN THE COUNTY OF DURHAM
Date of
Foundation
School
Founder
Date of Scheme
Number
in School
1905
H Jnly, i4'4
Durham Grammar School
Bishop Thomas Lang-
84
ley
6 May, 1541
it » »»
King Henry VIII .
—
—
1416!
Darlington Grammar School
^_
-
129
15 June, 1563
>f 9> JJ
Queen Elizabeth
7 July, 1874, 27 June,
[refounded
1882, 13 July, 1886
and 13 May, 1896
2 April, 1 574
Houghton le Spring, Kepier
Bernard Gilpin,rector
—
*3
Grammar School
of Houghton
7 Dec. 1604
Bishop Auckland Grammar
Anna Swift
7 March, 1876, and
112
School
13 May, 1896
14 Oct. 1612
Wolsingham Grammar School
William Grimwell .
28 June, 1880, and
43
(boys and girls)
13 May, 1896
1 1 May, 1 864
Barnard Castle North-Eastern
Court of Chancery,
3 May, 1882, 23 June,
*5J
Counties School
out of St. John's
1891, and 13 May,
Hospital, c. 1229 ;
1896
Queen in Council,
out of Benjamin
Flounder's Gift,
26 Nov. 1845
1882*
Stockton on Tees Grammar
Subscribers . . .
—
7i
School
1 9 May, 1899*
» n n
Subscribers, 17*1 *
—
—
1882 »
„ „ Queen Victoria
Subscribers . .
10 April, 1901
I IO
High School for Girls
24 Oct. 1901*
» » ?»
Frank Brown
—
—
26 June, 1884
Hartlepool, Henry Smith
—
26 June, 1884, 1 3 May,
School
1896, and 4 Jan.
1901
1884
Durham, Girls' High School
Church Schools Com-
—
79
pany
1885
Darlington, Girls' High School
Subscribers ...
—
89
3 Feb. 1898
Durham, Johnston Technical
James Finlay Weir
3 Feb. 1898
126
School (boys and girls)
Johnston '
1901
Consett Technical School (boys
DurhamCountyCoun-
—
96
and girls)
cil, Consett Iron
Co. and Subscribers
1 Mention in the Almoner's Roll of Durham Priory for this year of a schoolmaster from Darlington temporarily acting as
matter of the Almonry Grammar School at Durham. Darlington Grammar School is mentioned and was continued by the Chantry
Commissioners in 1 $48.
' Formation of Stockton High Schools Company, Limited. Boys' School and Girls' School opened i May, 1883.
• Founding of the Blue Coat School.
4 Scheme under the Endowed Schools Acts taking over the Boys' School of the Company and annexing to it the Blue Coat
School endowment.
' His will giving all the residue of his estate to literary, scientific, or educational objects was dated 15 Sept. 1855. The sum
applied to this school was £3,000.
I 401 SI
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
DURHAM PUBLIC ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS
COUNTY BOROUGH OF GATESHEAD. — By deed of 9 January, 1701, Theophilus Pickering, D.D.,
gave £300 for a school to be held in the buildings called the Anchorage, in case the Tolbooth,
which was then a school, could not be used for the purpose. This school was closed about 1871.
Its endowment of £327 5*. 6d. Consols is applied, in accordance with a scheme made under the
Endowed Schools Acts, 28 November, 1887, in exhibitions for scholars in any Gateshead Church of
England public elementary school. Six exhibitions are given each year in St. Mary's and St. Cuth-
bert's (Lady Vernon) National Schools. The latter school was built by Cuthbert Ellison in memory
of his daughter, Lady Vernon, and enlarged 1868 and 1885, and a boys' school was added in 1891
by Lord Northbourne in memory of his wife, daughter of Cuthbert Ellison. To the Higher Grade
Board School, of which the Intermediate and Junior Departments are in Whitehall Road, and the
Senior, with science laboratories, technical workshops, cookery school, etc., in Durham Road,
Mrs. Sarah Lambert, sister of John Heslop, by will of 5 October, 1885, bequeathed £25 a year for
John Heslop Scholarships. This bequest was augmented in 1890 by a gift from Lord Northbourne
of £500, and both sums being invested in land leased for £40 a year maintain 3 or 4 John Heslop
Scholarships, 2 Northbourne Scholarships, and I scholarship in memory of Canon Moore Ede. A
School Board was formed under the Elementary Education Act, 1870, on 28 November, 1870,
the powers of which are under the Education Act, 1 902, now vested in the Town Council. The
Public Elementary Schools number 28 ; of these, 3 are National, seating 1959 (earliest built
in 1842); i Wesleyan, seating 748 (built in 1862); 3 Roman Catholic, seating 1546 (earliest
built in 1862) ; and 21 Council schools, seating 17,552 (earliest built in 1877).
COUNTY BOROUGH OF SOUTH SHIELDS. — A School Board was formed 2 7 January, 1871. The
schools now in existence number 19 ; of these 4 are National, seating 2,525 ; 3 Church, seating
1,277 ; 2 Roman Catholic, seating 1,115 » an^ IO Council, seating 13,878.
COUNTY BOROUGH OF SUNDERLAND. — Part of Robert Foster's Charity, founded 1736, and
Edward Walton's Charity, founded 1768, is applied by the Durham Quarterly Meeting of the
Society of Friends in payment of fees at Bede Higher Grade School. The Gray School (N.), first
established in 1822, has an endowment of £1,000 given by Elizabeth Woodcock, 3 September, 1 823;
and by deed of 13 September, 1831, the freemen and stallingers of Sunderland covenanted to pay
£31 I Of. a year to the same school for right of nominating 42 free scholars ; this payment is now
made by the Sunderland Orphan Asylum. The old school was sold in 1856, and the present one
then built. The Bishop Wearmouth School, established 1848, receives £15 yearly from the
trustees of the Maritime Institution in respect of Mrs. Woodcock's bequest, by will proved 9 April,
1842, of £2,000 Consols to Church of England Schools at Sunderland and Bishop Wearmouth.
The total number of schools now existing is 32 : of these 6 are National, seating 3,890 (earliest
established 1822) ; I Wesleyan, seating 275 (established 1869) ; 2 Church of England, seating 662
(both built 1869-70) ; 5 Roman Catholic, seating 2,402 (earliest built in 1835) ; and 18 Council
schools, seating 22,091 (earliest built in 1866).
COUNTY BOROUGH OF WEST HARTLEPOOL. — A School Board was formed 22 March, 1875.
The schools number 16. Of these, 2 are National, seating 890 ; I Roman Catholic, seating 1,016;
I Wesleyan, seating 757 ; and 12 Council, seating 11,553. They have all been built since 1870,
except Seaton Carew School (N.), established 1844, and Church Square School (C.), which was
built in 1857 by subscription, and, after 1891, transferred to the West Hartlepool School Board.
ADMINISTRATIVE COUNTT OF DURHAM
DARLINGTON MUNICIPAL BOROUGH. — The old Blue Coat School, founded 1 9 April, 1713, has
an endowment of £1,392 91. Consols, which is now applied to St. Cuthbert's, St. John's, St. Paul's,
and Holy Trinity National Schools. A School Board was formed 13 January, 1871. The schools
now in existence number 1 6 ; of these 4 are the National Schools mentioned above, seating 2,6 1 7
(earliest built, St. Cuthbert's, 1824); l Wesleyan, seating 731, established 1857; I British,
seating 227 ; 2 Roman Catholic, seating 1,123 (earliest established, 1867) ; and 8 Council schools,
seating 5,102 (earliest built in 1867).
DURHAM MUNICIPAL BOROUGH. — The Blue Coat School was founded in or before 1718, and
was held in rooms in the Bull's Head Inn in the Market Place. The school was endowed by
Jane Finney's bequest, by codicil of 13 January, 1728, of a house in Gillygate, sold in 1799, and
now represented by £212 CM. ^d. Consols ; and by Ann Carr's bequest of £500, by will proved
6 December, 1748, now invested in land known as Pelaw Leazes, let for £10 a year. The present
school site was given by Bishop Barrington, and the buildings were erected by subscription in
403
SCHOOLS
1810-12. St. Giles (Ch.) School, founded 16 January, 1874, was built with £400 from the
Gillygate Church estate, which also pays £i 7 yearly to the school, under Chancery scheme of
28 February, 1866. Under a scheme of the Charity Commissioners of 14 July, 1876,
Thomas Cradock's Charity of £532 Js. lid. Consols is applicable in prizes or bursaries at public
elementary schools in Durham. A School Board was formed 15 March, 1871. The schools now
in existence number 10 : of these, 2 are National, seating 1,377 5 ' Church of England, seating
202 ; 2 Roman Catholic, seating 866 (both established since 1877) ; i parochial, seating 484 ; a
practising school connected with St. Hild's Diocesan Training College for Schoolmistresses, and
seating 380 girls and infants ; and a Model Boys' School, seating 216 (founded by deed 27 September,
1845) ; and 2 Council schools, seating 369.
FELLING URBAN DISTRICT. — The schools number 9 : i Church of England, seating 168
(built in 1815); I Roman Catholic, seating 918 (established in 1867); and 7 Council schools,
seating 4,289.
HARTLEPOOL MUNICIPAL BOROUGH. — The Crookes Charity School, conducted as a Church of
England school, owes its origin to John Crookes, who by will in 1742 gave £24 a year for the
education of 24 boys. The gift was void, but was carried out by deed of Anne Crookes in 1755.
The school was held in premises leased from the Corporation, until in 1870 the present school site
was purchased from the trustees of Henry Smith's Charity. Its endowment now consists of a house
and 17 acres of land at Stranton (producing £105 yearly), and a sum of £990 15*. ^d. Consols.
Middleton St. John's (Ch. of E.) was founded in 1841, let in 1877 to the School Board for 19 years,
and now again conducted by the trustees as a Church school. Prissick Endowed School, founded
by John Wells, a devisee of Henry, Christopher, and Elizabeth Prissick by deed of 1835, possesses
an income from endowment of £200. These 3 schools seat 1,142. A School Board was formed
II December, 1883. There are I Roman Catholic school, seating 477, and founded 1882 ; and
7 Council schools, seating 4,257 ; making a total for this borough of II schools.
HEBBURN URBAN DISTRICT. — Formerly included in Jarrow School Board District, formed
24 March, 1871. The schools now in existence number 6. Of these I is National, seating 448 ;
I Roman Catholic, seating 737 ; I Wesleyan, seating 222 ; and 3 are Council schools, seating
3>3°8-
JARROW MUNICIPAL BOROUGH. — School Board formed 24 March, 1871. The schools now in
existence number 9: of these I is National, seating 767 (founded 1874) ; I Wesleyan, seating 389
(founded 1867) ; I Roman Catholic, seating 1,587 (founded 1890) ; 5 Council, seating 4,369 (all
founded after 1872) ; and i Church of England, Ellison School, seating 783, and founded in 1861,
on which Dame Sarah Caroline James spent £4,000.
STOCKTON ON TEES MUNICIPAL BOROUGH. — St. Thomas' School (Council), seating 411, was
founded by the trustees of the Stockton Blue Coat School (now the Grammar School), 22 July,
1845. The trustees contributed annually to the support of the school till 1884, at which date they
also discontinued a contribution they had made annually to the Trinity Boys' Higher Grade School
(National), founded in 1847, which seats 245. The income of £300 Consols, endowment of
George Sutton's Charity, bequeathed by will proved 24 April, 1817, for a Female School of
Industry, is now paid to Trinity Girls' Higher Grade School (National). Of the 17 schools now
in existence, 2, the above-named, are National, seating 576 ; i Church of England, seating 277 •
3 Roman Catholic, seating 2,181 ; and n are Council schools, seating 7,997.
AREA UNDER COUNTT COUNCIL
ARMFIELD PLAIN URBAN DISTRICT. — School Board formed 29 October, 1875. Kyo and
Oxhill School Board formed 5 November, 1875. The 5 schools in existence, seating 2,247, arc
all Council Schools.
BARMSTON. — School Board formed 28 July, 1875. i Council School, seating 90, built 1876.
BARNARD CASTLE URBAN DISTRICT. — Of the 4 schools now in existence, i, Barnard Castle,
seating 500, is National, and was founded by subscription in 1813-15 ; in 1890 new buildings
were erected on the old site and on land given by the Duke of Cleveland ; I, Wesleyan, seating
288, founded 1823, was placed upon the trusts of the Wesleyan Chapel Model Deed by scheme
of Charity Commissioners, 21 May, 1882, and has an income from endowment of about £56 ;
I, the Barrington Victoria Infants, seating 182, is British, and was founded in 1837 ; and i, St.
Mary's Roman Catholic, built 1868, seats 103.
BEARPARK. — School Board formed i July, 1875. I Council School, seating 444, built in
1877.
BELMONT. — There are 2 schools, both Church of England, viz. Old Durham, Londonderry,
seating 285, founded about 1836; and Belmont, seating 336, built in 1869 on a site given by
403
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
the University and Dean and Chapter of Durham. To the Belmont school buildings the Trustees
of the Gillygate Church Estate contributed £400, and the school receives about £17 yearly under
Chancery Scheme of 28 February, 1866, regulating the Church Estate.
BENFIELDSIDE. — School Board formed n August, 1876. There are 4 schools ; 3 Council
Schools, seating 1,521 ; and i, Black hill, St. Mary's (R.C.), seating 448, and founded 1880.
BILUNGHAM. — There are 3 schools now in existence. Of these, 2 are Church of England,
seating 575, and i is Roman Catholic (founded 1898), seating 306. Billingham School (Ch.
of England), founded 1852, is partly supported by the Dean and Chapter of Durham; in 1898
an addition was made to this school, partly on the school site and partly on the site of the old
parish pinfold. A house for the master was conveyed by deed of 22 June, 1899.
BIRTLEY. — There are 4 schools, of which 3 are Church of England, seating 897 (i being
private property, i.e. the Birtley Iron Works Infants', let under yearly agreement), and i Roman
Catholic, seating 297.
BISHOP AUCKLAND (see also ST. HELEN'S AUCKLAND and COUNDON GRANGE). — By instruc-
tions of Edward Walton on 19 September, 1768, Walton's School (B) was founded out of £500
appropriated for the education of 12 poor children of Bishop Auckland. The school buildings
were sold in 1859, and the old Bishop Auckland Grammar School buildings bought I October,
1 86 1. The endowment produces about £29 a year. The school, which seats 198,15 managed
by the Society of Friends. Barrington's School (C. of E.), now seating 370, was built by Bishop
Barrington about 1808, and under deed of the Bishop dated 22 February, 1823, shares an
endowment consisting now of £i 1,734 8*. Midland Railway ; £7,420 Great Northern Railway;
£9,512 North Eastern Railway Stock, with St. Anne's Girls and Infants' School and other schools.
The school was conveyed to trustees by deeds of 24 and 25 February, 1823. It also receives
£20 yearly for teaching poor boys, and £30 yearly for clothing them from the General Charity
of Lord Crewe, under Charity Commissioners' scheme of 31 March, 1896. St. Anne's Girls
and Infants' School (National), now seating 707, was founded 20 June, 1833, by the Barrington
Trustees. In 1855 the old school was sold, and the present one built. The total number of
schools is 5 ; of the remaining 2, i is Wesleyan, seating 340, and built 1858 ; and i Roman
Catholic, seating 485, and built 1874.
BISHOP MIDDLEHAM. — A Church of England School, seating 197, built by subscription
in 1770 upon the waste, minus the endowment given by will of Elizabeth Ambler, 30 June,
1828, now £272 IOJ. $d. Consols, for the education of children between the ages of 5 and 14,
to be selected by the Vicar.
BISHOPTON. — i school, National, seating 112, built 1813, partially re-built 1896; endowed
under the will of the Rev. Thomas Burton Holgate, proved I September, 1871, with £446 Great
Western Railway 5 per cent. (See also note to Sherburn School.)
BLACKWELL. — i school, British, seating 105.
BLAYDON. — A School Board was formed 21 April, 1875. There are 10 schools in existence :
I National, seating 425 ; Stella St. Cuthbert's, founded 1854 (there had been a school here in
1832, but it was sold after 1854; and an endowment of £102 Consols, bequeathed by John
Mulcaster, by codicil of 14 October, 1832, is applied in aid of the school funds by the Rector of
St. Cuthbert's); I Church of England, seating 310 (founded 1902); 2 Roman Catholic, seating
705 (first built 1849); 2 British, seating 350, of which i, Victoria Garesfield, is owned by the
Priestman Collieries Company, and 5 Council Schools, seating 3,036.
BOLAM. — I Church of England School, seating 88, built 1894 by Dr. Joseph Edleston, then
vicar of Gainford.
BOLDON. — A School Board was formed 9 February, 1876. There are 2 schools, of which
I is National, seating 149, and was built in 1841 ; this school has an endowment of £210
Consols under the will of Rev. Henry Blackett, rector, who died about 1808. The other, a
Council School, seating 208, was built in 1885.
BOLDON COLLIERY. — i Council School, seating 732, built 1878.
BOURNMOOR. — There is I school, Church of England, seating 507, built 1874, and let
by the Earl of Durham under yearly agreement. An Infants' Department at New Lambton was
built in 1871.
BRADBURY. — A Church of England School, the Mordon and Bradbury School, seating 66,
and built 1871—2. Payments in aid of this school are made from the Sedgefield School Endow-
ments.
BRAFFERTON. — A National School, seating 71, built in 1823.
BRANCEPETH. — A Church of England School, seating 164. Built by Lady Boyne in 1857, 's
let by Viscount Boyne under yearly agreement. In 1891 it received £6 in respect of Anne
Dobinson's bequest of 21 January, 1662, to the ancient school of Brancepeth, which, by County
Court scheme of 23 March, 1857, was applied for Dobinson's free scholars in 5 schools. £8 los.
404
SCHOOLS
is allocated to this school by a scheme under the Endowed Schools Act, 1877, by which Henry
Grice's gift for bread to poor people, recited in deed of 25 March, 1668, and now represented by
£878 i8/. \d. Consols, is applied to scholarships in elementary schools.
BRANDON AND BYSHOTTLES. — There are 7 schools, of which 3 are Colliery schools, i.e.
Brancepeth New, seating 541, built 1873, and let under yearly agreement by Messrs. Cochrane
and Co. ; Brancepeth North, seating 726 ; and Brandon Colliery, which is let under yearly
agreement by Messrs. Strakers and Love ; of the other 4, I is Church of England (Brandon),
seating 215, founded 1858, and shares the Anne Dobinson endowment (see Brancepeth);
I Roman Catholic, seating 307, founded 1878 ; and 2 British, seating 1021, which were built as
Colliery Schools, i.e. the Browney School in 1 882 by Messrs. Bell Bros. Limited, and the Water-
houses in 1863, by predecessors of Messrs. Pease and Partners.
BROOM. — The Broom Park Colliery School here is hired from the North Brancepeth Coal
Co. Ltd., on yearly agreement.
BYERS GREEN. — A National School, seating 456, built in 1843, and subsequently enlarged.
CASSOP-CUM-QUARRINGTON. — A School Board formed n February 1876. 2 Council Schools,
seating 418.
CASTLE EDEN. — There are 2 National Schools, seating in all 284, and built in 1866, one for
boys and one for girls.
CHESTER LE STREET. — There are 3 schools : a National School, seating 1,257, built in 1840,
which receives ,£6 a year under the will of Elizabeth Tewart, proved in 1720 ; a Roman Catholic
School, seating 155, founded 1888 ; and South Moor Colliery School, seating 292, built 1869, and
enlarged 1893, probably maintained by the owners of South Moor Colliery.
CHILTON. — There are 2 Council Schools, seating 611.
COCKERTON. — A Church of England School, seating 322, founded before 1824.
COCKFIELD. — A Church of England School, seating 371, built in 1 794, and subsequently enlarged.
CONSETT. — There are 4 schools ; I British, seating 846, built in 1840 ; I Roman Catholic,
seating 777, built in 1865 ; I National, seating 809, built in 1875 ; and I Wesleyan, seating 381,
built in 1879.
CORNFORTH. — A School Board was formed i February 1877. There are 2 Council Schools,
seating in all 859; Old Cornforth, formerly a National School, founded by deed of 6 January 1864,
was, about 1893, let to the School Board.
CORNSAY. — There are 2 schools; i Roman Catholic, seating 281, built in 1874; and
a Colliery School, seating 419, built in 1876, hired from Messrs. Fcrens and Lowe on a yearly
agreement.
COUNDON. — There is a National School, seating 68 1, built 1841, and subsequently enlarged.
COUNDON GRANGE. — The Bishop Auckland Blackboy Colliery School, seating 68 1, is hired
from Messrs. Bolchow, Vaughan and Co. Ltd., on a yearly agreement.
COWPEN BEWLEY. — There arc 2 schools : Port Clarence, built by Messrs. Bell Bros., Ltd.,
1876, seating 247 ; and I National, seating 60, built in 1874, which receive £8 a year from the
Poor's Field, under deed of 27 March 1899.
COXHOE. — A School Board was formed 12 November 1875. There are 3 schools, of which 2
are Council, seating 552 ; and i is National, seating 410.
CRAGHEAD. — A school, seating 710, is hired from Messrs. Thomas Hedley and Bros., on a
yearly agreement.
CROOK. — A School Board was formed 28 September 1875. There are 4 Council Schools,
seating in all 2,540. Of these, Pease's West School was built in 1859 by Joseph Pease, and
enlarged 1894. The Crook School benefits under Anne Dobinson's endowment (see Brancepeth).
In 1901 the Crook share of this endowment, amounting 10^13 6s. fd.y was paid to the Crook
School Board and applied in prizes.
DENTON. — A National School, seating 108, built in 1874, enlarged 1894.
EASINGTON. — A National School, seating 234, receives the dividends on £1,132 2s. lid.
Consols with which the Rev. Richard Prosser, a prebendary of Durham Cathedral, endowed the
school built by him about 1814 near Easington Rectory, called Easington Parochial Charity School.
EAST HARTBURN. — A British School, seating 101, founded 1875.
EAST MURTON. — There are 2 schools : I Roman Catholic, seating 252 ; the other, Murton
Colliery, seating 1,449, built and partly supported by the South Helton Coal Co., who let it on a
yearly agreement.
EAST RAINTON. — A National School, seating 135, built in 1868.
EBCHESTER. — There is a National School, seating 137, built in 1876, and aided by Sherburn
Hospital Endowment (see note to Sherburn).
EDMONDBYERS. — There is i Council School, seating 57, built 1875 ; a School Board formed
27 July 1874.
405
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
EDMONDSLEY. — There is a British School hired from the Edmonsley Coal Co. on a yearly
agreement, built in 1875, and seating 573.
EGGLESCLIFFE. — A National School, seating 145, founded 1839.
EGGLESTON. — A National School, seating 184, founded before 1870, is now lent by
T. Huchinson, of Egglestone Hall, on a yearly agreement.
ELDON. — A Church of England School, seating 500, built in 1870, and enlarged 1879.
ELWICK HALL. — A Church of England School, seating 97, built 1851, and enlarged 1892 ;
receives £3 IDS. a year from 'Little Edgemire' part of Miss Elizabeth Allison's Charity, under will
proved 12 September 1862.
ESCOMB. — There are 2 schools: i Roman Catholic, seating 152, built in 1899, and i National,
Witton Park, seating 576, built in 1841, and subsequently enlarged, which has 2 school buildings,
one built under deed of 29 March 1 848, and the other the private property of Bolckow, Vaughan
and Co. Ltd.
ESH. — There are 6 schools: of these I is National, built in 1836, and seating 52 ; 2 are
Roman Catholic, seating 453, and 3 British, seating 1324. Ushaw Moor (B), seating 405, was
built in 1900 by Messrs. Pease and Partners, Ltd., upon their own land.
EVENWOOD AND BARONY. — There are 4 schools here, of which 3 are National, seating 353,
(earliest built 1865) ; while Raneshaw Colliery School was built and is partly maintained by
Messrs. Henry Stobart and Co.
FERRYHILL. — There are 2 schools here, of which I is Council, seating 370 ; and I National,
seating 247, founded in 1847, was built on a site given by the dean and chapter of Durham.
FISHBURN. — A Church of England School, seating 88, founded in 1830, is aided by the
Sedgefield School Endowments.
FORD. — There are 2 schools here, Hilton South National School, and a Council School, seating
583, and built in 1875.
FOREST AND FRITH. — There are 2 schools here, Forest of Teesdale National School, seating 126,
which probably dates back to the middle of the eighteenth century ; and is held from Lord Barnard under
a yearly agreement ; and a Church of England School, seating 63, and built in 1853, which appears
to belong to Lord Barnard and has an endowment of £160 Consols, bequeathed by Robert Bramwell
in 1724.
FRAMWELLGATE. — School Board formed n May 1875. There are 3 schools here: 2 Council,
seating 575 ; and a National School.
FULWELL. — A Council School, seating 575.
GAINFORD. — A National School, seating 190, built in 1857 and subsequently enlarged ; with an
income of £14 from endowment given 12 October 1691, by the Rev. Henry Greswold.
GREAT AND LITTLE USWORTH. — School Board formed 20 December 1875. There are
4 schools, 3 Council Schools seating 1074, and a Roman Catholic, seating 230. Susan Peareth by
deed of 5 November 1814, gave land and buildings for a school and bequeathed for its support, by
will dated 1817, £1,100 Consols. This school ceased in 1880 on the opening of the Board School,
and by scheme of the Charity Commissioners of 24 October 1899 the income of the endowment is
applied to evening classes, prizes, exhibitions, etc. The old building is used for Sunday School, Reading
Room, and the like.
GREAT AYCLIFFE. — There are 2 schools. The so-called National School was built on the
waste by subscription in 1745, and subsequently enlarged and endowed with £97 ifs. Sd. Consols,
representing a gift in trust for the schoolmaster by Codicil of William Bell, 15 January, 1810. The
Church Sunday School, held in the National School building, has an endowment of £i 1 1 5*. id.
Consols. The Aycliffe Diamond Jubilee School, seating 112, was built in 1897.
GREATHAM. — A Church of England School, seating 277, built in 1834, with Infants' School,
granted by deed of 1836 by the Master and Brethren of Greatham Hospital, was re-built 1878.
GREAT LUMLEY. — There are 2 schools ; a National School, seating 220, and built in 1840 ;
and the Lumley Girls' and Infants' School, seating 338, built in 1874 by the Earl of Durham, who
lets it on a yearly agreement.
GREAT STAINTON. — There was an Elementary School erected soon after 1745, and was
demolished in 1847, when the National School, seating 32, was built. In 1779 Anthony and
Isabella Hubbock gave j£6o on condition that 4 poor scholars of Little Stainton should be educated
in the school. The trustees of Lord Crewe's Charity gave £60 to the school in 1771, and £100
in 1779. These endowments are now represented by a rent-charge of ,£1 121. a year, and
£290 18*. 2rf. Consols.
GRINDON. — Two schools, both Church of England. Grindon School, seating 98, built in
1844 by Frances Anne, Marchioness of Londonderry, and a new school built in 1901, on a site
given by Viscount Boyne. The Burton Holgate Grindon Church Charity, with an income of
about £ 1 2, is applied partly for religious instruction at this school. Wynyard Park School was
406
SCHOOLS
built by Theresa, Marchioness of Londonderry, and is let by the Marquis of Londonderry on a
yearly agreement.
HAMSTERLEY (AUCKLAND UNION). — An undenominational school, seating 193, built in 1822
by subscription, was enlarged in 1898.
HARRATON. — A Church of England School, seating 379, built in 1876 and enlarged 1892,
belongs to the Earl of Durham, who lets it on a yearly agreement.
HART. — A Church of England School, seating 79, built in 1838 by the first Duke of Cleveland,
and enlarged by subscription in 1873 and 1895, is held from Sir Powlett Milbank under lease of
19 June, 1895, for no specified term. Under a scheme of the Charity Commissioners 2 June, 1891,
the bequest made by the Rev. Christopher Fulthorpe, by will of 30 June, 1 707, now represented by
a rent charge of £30 and £45 6s. $d. Consols, is applied to this school.
HARTON. — St. Peter's, Church of England School, seating 105, was founded 1876.
HASWELL. — Two schools, a Council school, seating 776, and Hctton South Colliery School,
seating 663, built 1838, belonging to the South Hetton Coal Company, by which it is partly
supported.
HAUGHTON LE SKERNE. — The so-called National School was established in 1768, and £140,
then subscribed, was invested in 1808, with £40, bequeathed in 1789 by Mrs. Alexander for the
poor, in cottages now let for £8 a year, of which the school receives £6. It was re-built in 1815,
subsequently enlarged, and now seats 262.
HAWTHORN. — Robert Foster's school at Hawthorn, connected with the Society of Friends,
founded 24 November, 1736, was sold in 1865, and the income of the endowment, about £365
Consols, is applied, under scheme of the Charity Commissioners 9 July, 1869, in educating poor
children of Sunderland. St. Michael's, Church of England School, seating 132, built in 1863 by
R. L. Pemberton, is hired from J. S. G. Pemberton, M.P., on a yearly agreement.
HEALEYFIELD. — A Council school, seating 264, was built in 1877.
HEDLEYHOPE. — There are 2 schools. A British School, seating 309, was built and founded
in 1872 by Sir B. Samuelson and Co., Ltd., and the Hedley Hill Colliery School, seating 209, was
built in 1871 by the owners of the colliery, and enlarged 1899.
HEIGHINGTON. — An addition to the site of this school, the old Grammar School, was made by
the Ecclesiastical Commissioners 31 December, 1878, and at the same time the school was united
with the National Society. The endowment, consisting of a rent charge and about 2O acres of land,
produces about £47 a year. The school has seating accommodation for 237.
HELMINGTON Row. — There are 3 schools, one representing a school built in 1849, 2 Council
schools, seating 668, and Crook's Roman Catholic School, seating 436, built in 1854, and enlarged
1894.
HETTON URBAN DISTRICT. — There are 3 schools, 2 of which, the Easington Lane and
Eppleton Colliery schools, seating 1,898, belong to the Hetton Coal Company, who let them on a
yearly agreement ; and the Hetton le Hole National School, seating 1,068, built in 1834. The girls'
and infants' departments of this school belong to the company, and are let on a yearly agreement.
HIGH CONISCLIFFE. — The National School, seating 87, was founded 1848.
HOUGHTON LE SPRING URBAN DISTRICT. — Sir George Wheeler, by will of 23 May, 1719,
bequeathed £600 for educating and clothing poor girls of Houghton, Newbottle, and East Rain ton.
Under Chancery scheme of 23 February, 1850, 24 girls are clothed and educated at St. Michael's
National School, which seats 407, and was built 1855. The endowment consists of land producing
an income of about £137 and £162 161. lod. Consols. There are 4 other schools, a Wesleyan
school, seating 294, built in 1861, 2 National, both built in 1872, and seating 1,081 ; and a Roman
Catholic school, seating 405, built 1880.
HUNSTANWORTH. — A school, seating 120, built in 1863.
HUNWICK AND HELMINGTON. — A National School, seating 450, built on the site given in
1848 by Matthew Bell, and enlarged at different times.
HURWORTH. — There was already a school here in 1770, when the inhabitants agreed to build
a new school on part of the waste, which was pulled down when, under deed 22 April, 1831,
the present National School, seating 232, was erected on a new site. The school has been subse-
quently enlarged, and is regulated by scheme of the Charity Commissioners of 8 August, 1861. It
has an endowment of 1 1 acres of land, let for £13 a year. The Wesleyan school, founded in 1873,
seats 1 10.
HUTTON HENRY. — A School Board was formed 1 2 October, 1899. There are 2 schools ; the
Church of England School, seating 153, built in 1871, is hired from R. Burdon on a yearly
agreement ; the Council School, seating 474, was built 1892.
HYLTON. — A School Board was formed 15 July, 1889. There are 2 Council schools,
seating 716 ; of which North School was founded as a National School ; was leased to the School
Board in 1879.
4<>7
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
INGLETON. — A National school, seating 1 64. The original building was erected on the waste
in or before 1816, and for some time was partly used as a poor-house. It receives some support
from Grainger's Charity.
KELLOE. — A National school, seating 184, and built on land belonging to the marquis of
Londonderry.
KIMBLESWORTH. — A school, seating 434, built 1878, hired from Charlaw and Sacristan
Colliery Co. on a yearly agreement.
LAMESLEY. — There are 4 schools here. Kibblesworth (Church of England) School, seat-
ing 242, is hired from Messrs. John Bowes and Partners, Ltd., on a yearly agreement. The
Barrington School, Eighton Bank, seating 338, built in 1832, rebuilt 1867, is regulated by the
Charity Commissioners' Scheme of 4 May, 1866. A National school, seating 277, built in 1862,
belongs to the earl of Ravensworth, who lets it on a yearly agreement ; the income of £600,
L. and N. W. Railway Ordinary Stock, bequeathed by the Hon. Thomas Liddell, by will proved
10 April, 1856, being applied in books for the children attending this school. The British Bewicks
Main Colliery School, seating 165, is hired from C. Perkins and W. E. Manners on a yearly
agreement.
LANCHESTER. — A school in Lanchester, part of William Russell's Almshouse and School
Charity, was closed in 1899 in consequence of its failure to meet the requirements of the Education
Department. There are now 3 schools. The Lanchester Endowed School seats 288, formerly a
township school, for which an allotment of land was made in 1781. George Clavering, by codicil
of 18 May, 1793, left £265 los. Bank Annuities for teaching 4 boys until they should be fit for
business, and John Smirke left £100 by will about 1812. A new school was built on land given
by John Fawcett, and settled upon trust for a Church of England School by deed of
1874. The Hamsteels Church of England School, seating 330, was built in 1872—4. The
Burnhope Colliery School, seating 524, built in 1855 and enlarged 1896, belongs to Ritson and
Sons, colliery owners, who partly support it.
LANGLEYDALE WITH SHOTTON. — A National School, seating 99, and founded 1858.
LEADGATE has 4 schools. The Iveston Village School, seating 170, was built in 1838 ; the
Leadgate Wesleyan School, seating 247, in 1840, enlarged 1896, taken over by the Wesleyans
from the Consett Iron Co. in 1867; the Brooms Roman Catholic School, seating 507, in 1863 ;
and the National School, seating 516, built 1865 and enlarged 1891 and 1900.
LONG NEWTON. — A National School, seating in, rebuilt 1872, receives aid under the will
of the Rev. Jonathan Wilson, proved 16 December, 1885, bequeathing £2,800 Stockton Cor-
poration 3^ Per Cent. Mortgage Bond for religious education in Long Newton.
Low CONISOLIFFE. — A British School, seating 105, built in 1877 by Mr. Arthur Pease.
Low DINSDALE. — A Church of England School, seating 30, built in 1851 on land given by
Henry George Surtees and Scott Frederic Surtees, receives £3 yearly from Thomas Wyvill's
Charity, founded by deed of 21 December, 1675, and the income of £ji i<)s. "]d. Consols from
James Watson's Charity, founded by will proved 3 October, 1844.
LYNESACK and SOFTLEY. — There are 3 schools here. A British School, seating no, built in
1839 and enlarged 1897; a National School, seating 269, built in 1852; and Haggerleases
School, seating 120, built about 1875 on land provided by Butterknowle Colliery Co., and
enlarged 1 90 1 .
MEDOMSLEY. — School Board formed 15 November, 1876. There are 4 schools. The
Hamsterley Colliery British School, seating 418, built in 1873, n'r«l from the company on a yearly
agreement ; a Council School, seating 524, built 1879 ; the Church of England School, seating
279, built in 1887; and a Roman Catholic School, seating 194, built in 1898 by subscription on
land given by Miss Surtees.
MERRINGTON. — A National School, seating 159, built in 1868.
MIDDLESTONE. — A School Board, formed 22 June, 1875, built two Council Schools, seating
519, in 1878 and 1879.
MIDDLETON IN TEESDALE. — A School Board was formed 31 January, 1879. The Council
School, seating 490, and built in 1891. By deed of 19 March, 1729, lands were given for
a Free School, which school was closed in 1875, and, under Charity Commissioners' Scheme of
30 January, 1877, the income from a house and 14 acres of land (producing £36 a year) is
applied in scholarships tenable in the higher class of the school.
MIDDLETON ST. GEORGE. — School Board formed 17 October, 1884. A school was built by
subscription about 1768, and was the subject of a deed of trust of n October, 1782. It was sold
about 1871-2, and the proceeds applied to a National School under deed of 28 December, 1871.
In 1888 this was closed, and the premises leased to the School Board. A Council School, seating
248, was built in 1871.
MIDDRIDGE. — A Church of England School, seating 197, and built in 1817.
408
SCHOOLS
MONK HESLEDEN. — The Castle Eden Colliery school, built in 1844, enlarged 1887,
seats 392.
MOORSLEY. — A school here is hired from the North Helton Colliery Co. on a yearly
agreement.
MUGGLESWICK. — There are 2 schools : a council school, seating 85, built in 1843, an<^ a
School Board was formed 27 March, 1878 ; and a Church of England School, seating 60, built
in 1852.
NEASHAM. — A Church of England school, seating 107, and built in 1867.
NEWBIGGIN. — The township school, endowed with £403 8/. 3</. Consols under gift of
Wm. Tarn by deed of 18 July, 1799, regulated by Charity Commissioners' scheme of 18 May,
1900 ; was built in 1803, rebuilt 1858, and seats 140.
NEWBOTTLE. — School Board formed 4 December, 1877. There are 2 council schools, seating
934, built 1874 and 1880.
NEWFIELD. — A National school seating 282, built 1842 and enlarged 1879 and 1889.
NEWTON CAP. — There are 2 schools : a Church of England school seating 209, and the
North Bitchburn Coal Co. school, seating 395, let on a yearly agreement.
NORTH BEDBURN. — There are 3 schools — 2 Council seating 530, and i Wesleyan.
NORTON. — The income of £153 151. IO</. Consols, bequeathed under will of Ann Hogg
2 February, 1796, for the education of 5 poor girls, is applied, under Charity Commissioners'
scheme of 9 June, 1891, to the one school now in existence here, a Council school, seating 920, and
built in 1872. The former national school (on the green), built in 1833, is now used for Sunday
school and parochial purposes, and a like use is made of the former church day school here, which
was founded 10 March, 1848, and closed 1873—4.
OFFERTON Cox GREEN. — A council school seating 149, was built 1878.
OLD PARK. — Binchester Colliery school, seating 350 and built 1877, is owned and
managed by Bolckow, Vaughan & Co. Ltd.
PAINSHAW. — School Board formed 10 February, 1876. There are 2 Council schools,
seating 851.
PELTON. — There are 5 schools in existence here ; of these 2 are National, viz., Pelton, seating
275 and built 1850, and Perkinsville, which seats 513 and was built 1859, and is let on a yearly
agreement by C. Perkins and W. E. Manners ; the West Colliery school (Church of England),
seating 730, built 1865 by Messrs. Joicey and Co. ; the Beamish Colliery school, seating 372, built
1876-7 by the colliery owners ; and Pelton Colliery school, seating 988, built in 1874, let on a
yearly agreement by the company.
PIERCEBRIDGE. — A Church of England school, seating 60, built 1853 and enlarged 1882.
PITTINGTON. — Two national schools, seating 244 and built 1868; and Littletown Colliery
school, seating 203, built 1874, and let on a yearly agreement by the Lambton Collieries, Ltd.
PLAWSWORTH. — The Nettlesworth Colliery school, seating 175.
POLLARD'S LANDS. — i Escomb school (Ch. of E.), seating 337, built in 1840 (infants' school
1 195) ; Messrs. Stobart make up any deficiency if the Government grant is insufficient.
REDMARSHALL. — A Church of England school seating 72, built by James Pallister about 70
years ago and rebuilt in 1891.
RYHOPE. — There are 3 schools here. The village school, seating 367, of which the old
building, built by subscription in 1810, was converted into the teacher's residence in 1872, when the
old chapel was converted into the school ; the Ryhope Colliery school, let on a yearly agreement
by the Ryhope Coal Co., seating 1,105 and built 1861 and 1873 ; and a Roman Catholic school
seating 326, built 1874.
RYTON U.D. — There are 7 schools here. The Greenside national school, seating 234, was
built 1813 ; Hedge-field Colliery, seating 223, built 1866, and maintained by the Stella Coal Co.;
the Ryton (Ch. of E.) school, established in 1826 and enlarged 1901 in memory of the Vcn. Arch-
deacon Thorp, seating 358, possesses under an award of 29 June, 1 829, an allotment of 2 a. I r. 27 p.,
and under Charity Commissioners' scheme of 26 November, 1880, the income of the Walker
Lawson Endowment, consisting of £60 Consols. CrawcrookSt. Agnes' school (R. C.), seating 150,
was built in 1886. The Clara Vale Colliery school, seating 298, was built 1898 by the Stella
Coal Co., and the Emmaville Colliery and Stargate school, seating 457, is partly maintained by
this company.
SADBERGE. — A school was built by subscription about 1799 and demolished about 1866, when
the site became part of the churchyard. The present Church of England school, seating 95,
then erected on a site given by J. W. Pennyman and the Ecclesiastical Commissioners 1 865, has endow-
ments of £11 6 is. id. Consols under will of James Pallister, proved 8 April, 1859, and of
£ 1,217 15*. 9</. Consols, three-fifths of George Buck's charity, subject to Charity Commissioners'
scheme of 28 May, 1867.
I 4°9 52
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
ST. ANDREW AUCKLAND. — There are 3 schools, South Church National school, seating 376,
built in 1848 and partly supported by grants from Bp. Barrington's endowment, a British school,
seating 212, built in 1862, and Fyland's Bridge infants' school, seating 115.
ST. HELEN AUCKLAND.. — A school (British) seating 310, built 1846-8 by Messrs. Pease and
Partners, who partly support the school, on land belonging to the late Sir George Musgrave.
SATLEY. — A Church of England school seating 104, built 1846 by Miss Elizabeth Greenwell,
who gave £350 Consols for its repair and support.
SEAHAM. — A Church of England school, seating 1,312.
SEAHAM HARBOUR. — There are 5 schools here : Seaham Harbour National school, seating
i, 1 1 1, founded 1849 and subsequently enlarged, the infants' school of which is hired from the
Marquess of Londonderry on a yearly agreement ; a Roman Catholic school, seating 463, founded in
1870 by the R. C. bishop, a new school being built 1888 ; and another Roman Catholic school,
seating 169, opened December, 1894, is held under lease of 75 years from the marquess, o)
whom also are held the 2 other schools, Seaham Cottages, and Ropery Walk, built in 1867
and 1877.
SEATON WITH SLINGLEY. — A school seating 93, built 1865 and enlarged 1896.
SEDGEFIELD. — The school (Ch. of E.), seating 332, was built in 1826 upon the site of an old
school whose origin cannot be traced, but mention is made in 1707 of the building of a new school.
It seems to have been a grammar school by repute, and as late as 1864 something more than a
purely elementary school. School and endowments are regulated by the Durham County Court
scheme of 10 August, 1858. The endowments of the old school comprise a close of Beacon Hill
(origin unknown), a yearly payment fom the Howie Hope Charity in respect of the old school stock,
and sums of £700 Consols (Lowther's and Bainbridge's Charities), ,£400 Consols (Wright's
Charity), and £340 1 8*. 2d. Consols (Soulsby's Charity). There is a payment for clothing
scholars, and the remainder is spent on the church schools of Sedgefield, Fishburn and Mordon,
and Bradbury.
SHADFORTH. — The Ludworth National school, seating 283, was built 1849 an<^ enlarged 1883,
and Shadforth National school, seating 123, was built 1863 and enlarged 1892.
SHERBURN. — By Chancery scheme of 21 December, 1857, the governors of Sherburn Hospital,
the yearly income of which exceeds £9,000, may apply £80 yearly for a school in Sherburn House
and Whitwell, and £200 yearly for schools in Ebchester, Sockburn, Grindon, Bishopton, Kelloe,
Thornley, and Wingate. By Charity Commissioners' scheme of 22 April, 1898, any portion not
applied is to be employed in exhibitions for children resident in these places. The governors apply
£200 yearly in grants to parochial schools in the places named. There are 4 schools in existence
here. Of these 2 are national — Sherburn Hill, seating 170, built in 1845 by the Rev. R. Blenkin-
sopp, and Sherburn, seating 298, founded 1863, enlarged 1888, regulated by Charity Commissioners'
scheme of 29 October, 1878 — and the Colliery boys' and Colliery infants' schools, seat 330, built
respectively 1862 and 1890.
SHILDON AND EAST THICKLEY. — There are 4 schools here. The Old Shildon school,
seating 913, founded 1827, belongs to Edward Walton's charities, administered by the Society
of Friends, and receives one-fourth of £2,900 invested in mortgage at 4 per cent. The New
Shildon school, seating 489, was built by the Stockton and Darlington Rys. Co. in 1841.
Shildon National school, seating 719, founded in 1841, possesses a school cottage conveyed by
deed of 1846, was built in 1877 from the proceeds of sale of the old school and by voluntary
contributions ; and New Shildon All Saints' school, seating 522, was built 1872 and subsequently
enlarged.
SHINCLIFFE. — National school, seating 262, founded in 1841. The old site conveyed by
deed of 17 March, 1841, was sold in 1866 for £300, spent on the new buildings erected on land
given by the dean and chapter of Durham in 1860.
SHOTTON. — A school founded by Edward Walton in 1768, was closed in 1890, and the
premises let for £6 a year. One fourth of an endowment of £2,900 administered by the Society
of Friends was applied to its support. There is now a Church of England school, seating 188,
founded 1898.
SILKSWORTH. — A Church of England school, seating 80, was built by the late W. R. Robinson
in 1852.
SOUTHWICK. — School Board formed 10 January, 1874. There are 4 schools: 2 National
schools, seating 1,203 (one built in 1836); a Council school, seating 1,535, built 1878; a
Roman Catholic school, seating 227, built 1903.
SPENNYMOOR. — An old Freeholders' school, closed in 1869, is now used for public purposes.
There are now 8 schools : 2 National, built 1859 ancl 1869, and seating 1,086 ; 2 Wesleyan,
seating 608, and built 1860 and 1874 ; 3 Council, seating 1,926 (first built 1875) ; and i Roman
Catholic, seating 513, built 1873-5, and subsequently enlarged. Tudhoe School (National) shares
410
SCHOOLS
in Anne Dobinson's charity (sec Brancepcth school), from which about £5 a year is applied in
prizes.
STAINDROP. — One National school, seating 232, was founded 1855, and the infants', seating
75, built in 1847, apparently belongs to Lord Barnard.
STANHOPE. — Under Charity Commissioners' Scheme of 3 November, 1891, the Hartwell
Lectureship, founded by the will of the Rev. Wm. Hartwell in 1724, is applicable for lectures,
exhibitions, etc., for children resident in Stanhope. There is also Bishop Barrington's Charity for
the schools of the ancient parish, consisting of £2,957 gi. 8d. Consols, and of school sites at
Wearhead Boltsburn, Heathery Cleugh, and Stanhope. This by Charity Commissioners' Scheme
of 28 May, 1867, was apportioned equally between 10 schools, /.*. Stanhope Boys', Stanhope Girls',
Eastgate Boys', Rookhope Boys', Rookhope Girls', Westgate Boys', Westgate Girls', St. John's,
Wearhead, and Lanehead. There are 9 schools at present, of which 7 are Council schools. The
Westgate school, now seating 242, and rebuilt in 1875, was founded by Richard Bainbridge by
deed of 7 April, 1681, and became the girls' school when the boys' school was built by Bishop
Barrington in 1819. Under Charity Commissioners' Scheme of 6 April, 1894, there is an
endowment of £591 91. lid. Consols, applicable for evening classes here, etc., and under Charity
Commissioners' Scheme of 17 June, 1898, regulating the Bainbridge Trust, over £20 a year is
also applicable for education in Westgate. Frosterley School (seating 160, and rebuilt in 1872)
owes its origin to John Hinks, who, by will of 8 January, 1735, gave £120 for a free school. It
was built by subscription in 1 747 on land given by Thomas Todd, who also, with Anthony Todd
and others, subscribed to the endowment, while Mary Todd left £200, and Barbara Chapman, by
will proved 1829, gave £6 a year to it. The endowments consist of houses and land, £81 5*. 6d.
Consols (Mary Todd's Charity), and £2 1 8 31. 8d. Consols (Chapman's Charity), making an income of
£50 a year, applied in exhibitions by a scheme made under the Endowed Schools Acts, 2O November,
1873. The school was transferred to the School Board 10 September, 1891. Rookhope, seating
225, built in 1875, owes its origin to the Boltburn school; was founded at Rookhope by deed
of 15 May, 1762, where a second school was built by Bishop Barrington in 1819, and a third in
1 86 1. In 1875 these schools were closed, and an endowment of £591 91. lid. Consols paid to the
Sunday school carried on in the school of 1861. A scheme has been recently established by the
Board of Education for the regulation of the Rookhope branch of the Barrington Trust. Lanehead
and Wearhead schools, seating respectively 143 and 162, were built in 1874. The schools
established here in 1819 by Bishop Barrington form the Heathery Cleugh branch of the Barrington
Trust, with an endowment of £782 y, 2d. Consols, are subject to a recent Board of Education
Scheme. St. John's Chapel School, seating 182, was built in 1875 ; the former Barrington Day
School here, which had an endowment of £295 151., has been closed for some years. A scheme has
been established by the Board of Education for the regulation of the school building and its
endowment. South Frosterley Council School, seating 182, was built in 1876. There is I Church
of England School, Crawley Side, seating 64. Eastgate Mixed School is the private property of
J. A. Hilyard. It was built about 1839 and rebuilt 1863, seating 92. The former Eastgate
School, part of the Barrington Trust, ceased to be used as a day school in 1890 ; its endowment
of £295 151. Consols, together with the school, has recently been dealt with by a Board of
Education Scheme for regulating the Barrington (Eastgate) School.
STANHOPE URBAN. — There are 2 schools: i Church of England, seating 420, built 1868
and enlarged 1871, part of the Barrington Trust, which has an endowment of £591 9». lid.
Consols ; and i Council School, seating 248, built in 1877 and enlarged 1895.
STANLEY. — School Board formed 6 June, 1 890. There are 7 schools : 4 Council schools,
seating 1,846; a Roman Catholic school, seating 317, built 1872-3, and enlarged 1891 ; a
National school ; and the South Moor Colliery School, seating 792, let by the Colliery Company
on a yearly agreement, the infants' school built in 1874 and the mixed school in 1901.
STREATLAM AND STAINTON. — A National school, seating 91, and founded 1854.
SUNDERLAND BRIDGE. — School Board formed 31 March, 1875. A Council school, seating
240, built in 1879.
TANFIELD. — Under Charity Commissioners' Scheme of 16 June, 1899, a rent charge of £6 a
year, devised by Robert Robinson's will 13 January, 1730, applicable for the education of children
in the ancient chapelry of Tanfield, is applied in scholarships. The schools now number 7,
of which 5 are Council schools, seating 1716, the oldest of which, Tanfield, was built as a
National school in 1843, and taken over by the School Board in 1894, and 2 National schools,
seating 717.
THORNLEY. — School Board formed 23 November, 1875. There are 2 schools: a Council
school, seating 606, built in 1876, and a Roman Catholic school, seating 230, founded 1867.
Thornley shares in the payments from Sherburn Hospital.
Tow LAW. — A Roman Catholic School, seating 578, was built in 1870.
411
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
TRIMDON. — Henry Airey by will of i February, 1680, devised a rent charge of £5 towards
maintaining a free school here. It does not appear that any building was expressly appropriated for
a school until about 1821, when a schoolhouse was built adjoining the churchyard. About 1862
a new school was built upon the waste. Airey's Charity is applied towards its support, under Board
of Education Scheme of 14 July, 1902. This school was enlarged in 1892, and now seats 120.
There are 3 other schools : Old Trimdon (R. C.), seating 141 ; and Trimdon Grange Colliery
school, seating 643, built 1843 by the company and enlarged 1880 and 1890; and Trimdon
Colliery Girls' and Infants', seating 444, built 1874 by the Trimdon Colliery, and enlarged 1890
and 1901.
TUNSTALL. — There are 2 schools : a Church of England school seating 863, built by
the Marquess of Londonderry and founded 1876 ; and i Roman Catholic, seating 172, built
1874-5.
WALDRIDGE. — A colliery school, undenominational, seating 405, was enlarged 1888 and
1890.
WASHINGTON. — School Board formed 17 May, 1890. There are 5 schools in existence :
1 Roman Catholic, seating 410, built 1862; i P., seating 220; 2 Council schools, seating 900,
built 1892 and 1899; and 2, seating 122, an institution school subject to Section 15 Education
Act, 1902.
WEST AUCKLAND — There are 2 schools, St. Helen's (Ch. of Eng.), seating 531, originated in
a grant by Elizabeth Donald, 2 March, 1789, of a yearly rent charge of £5 for instructing 10 poor
girls. The school seems to have been built on the waste of the manor in 1798, chiefly at the
expense of Mrs. Margaret Hubbock, who also gave £100 in augmentation of the endowment. By
grant of 26 September, 1801, by the bishop of Durham as lord of the manor, the trusts of the
school premises were declared. The endowment, including the rent-charge, 2 acres of land, and
2 cottages, produces about £23 yearly. The Etherley National School, seating 299, was built in
1833, and several times enlarged.
WEST HERRINGTON. — St. Cuthbert's National School, built 1861, is let on a yearly agreement
by the earl of Durham.
WEST RAINTON. — There are 3 Church of England schools, seating 999. The oldest of these,
West Rainton, built 1850 and 1862, and seating 567, is partly maintained by the Marquess of
Londonderry.
WHICKHAM. — There are 8 schools here. Whickham Parochial School, enlarged about 1889,
and seating 308, was founded as a charity school, 1714, by Robert Thomlinson, D.D., who
applied to this purpose a legacy of j£ioo, bequeathed by will of Jane Blakiston, proved 1714 ; and
also by will proved 7 June, 1748, gave certain pews in the parish church and ,£100 for its support.
It is endowed also with ^213 12s. $d. consols, representing an allotment made under an award of
1821, and a sum of £251, North-Eastern Stock, in respect of the charities of the Rev. H. B. Carr
and Sir Thomas John Clavering. A School Board was formed 26 March, 1873. A Church of
England school, seating 226, was built 1818. There were 2 Roman Catholic schools, seating 569,
and 4 Council schools, seating 2,383 (earliest built 1874).
WHITBURN. — There are 3 schools here : of these, i, Whitburn, National, seating 400, and
built 1824, and i, Cleadon, Church of England, seating 127, and built 1830, were jointly endowed
by Richard Shortridge, by will proved 7 February, 1885, with £447 12s. 'jd. consols. The
Whitburn Colliery School belongs to the Harton Coal Co., who let it on a yearly agreement.
WHITTON. — School Board formed 23 July, 1874. A Council school, seating 313, built 1877.
The former church school, built about 1870, by the late Rev. Wm. Cassidy, vicar of Grindon,
is rented by the board as an infant's school.
WHORLTON. — A National School, seating 143, built 1848, and enlarged 1870.
WILLINGTON. — School Board, formed 3 October, 1877. There are 5 schools here. A
National, seating 308, built 1852, which shares Anne Dobinson's Charity (see Brancepeth School)
and in 1901 received ^13, applied partly in prizes, partly in maintenance of the school. Two
British schools, seating 845, Oakenshaw and Page Bank, belong to Messrs. Strakers and Lowe, of
Newcastle-on-Tyne, and receive £8 10*. a year in respect of Henry Grice's Charity (see Brancepeth),
applied in scholarships; i, a Roman Catholic school, seating 366, was built 1877, and a Council
school, seating 644, built 1880, was enlarged 1893.
WINDLESTONE. — A Church of England school, seating 126.
WINGATE. — School Board formed 2 February, 1876. There are 5 schools here, of which
4 are Council schools seating 2,056, and i, Roman Catholic, seating 258. Wingate receives
payments from Sherburn Hospital.
WINSTON. — The school here was endowed before 1748 by Lord Crewe, bishop of Durham,
who gave £70, now £69 14;. gd. consols, and 22 March, 1844, by deed of Charlotte, countess of
Bridgewater, with what is now £304 us. $d. consols. The present building dates from 1851.
412
SCHOOLS
WITTON GILBERT. — There are 4 schools here; 2 are National, of which I, Witton Gilbert,
seating 308, was founded under will of Jane Finney, dated 14 November, 1728, and has an income
of about £14 a year, and the other, Sacriston, seating 369, was founded in 1845 ; a Wesleyan
school, seating 320, was built in 1898 ; and a Roman Catholic school, seating 355, in 1866.
WITTON-LE-WEAR. — A Council school, seating 196, was built in 1873 by the School Board
formed 15 April, 1871. By Charity Commissioners' Scheme of 27 November, 1888, the old charity
school, and John Cuthbert's charity endowments, consisting of £851 iSs. 6J. consols, are applied
in exhibitions to boys educated at public elementary schools in Witton-le-Wear.
WOLSINGHAM. — There are 5 schools here, of which 3 are National, seating 791, and built
respectively 1 845, 1 848, 1 849 ; the last, Tow Law, on a site given by the Weardale Iron Co.,
and 2 are Wesleyan, both built 1859, and subsequently enlarged, seating in all 641.
WOLVISTON. — School Board formed 8 April, 1875. There are 2 schools: a Council school,
seating 140, built in 1876, and a National School.
WOODLAND. — The Colliery School, seating 299, was built in 1877 by the owners of the
Woodland Collieries, and subsequently enlarged.
413
INDEX TO BOLDON BOOK
Absalom, Prior of Durham. See
Durham
Acharias son of Copsi, 316
Acley, Thomas dc, 3 2 2, 3 2 3, 3 3 3 J,
notes 288, 333^
Acrys, Simon, 281
Acto the steward, 335^
Aculf, note 263
Adam, note 297
Adam the clerk, 3344
Adam the reeve, 297, 3344
Adam son of John, 329^
Aelsi son of Arkill, 314
Aik, note 340^
Aimeric, Archdeacon of Durham.
See Durham
Alan the cobbler, 3414
Alan son of Osbert, 337^
Alchmund, Bishop of Hexham. Sec
Hexham
Aldacres, William of, 3304
Aldred, note 3334
Aldred the earl. See Algitha
daughter of Aldred the earl
Aldred the smith, 334^
Aldred, son of, 292, 3394
Aldred, wife of, 3394
Alexander III., Pope, note 3 1 3
Alexander son of Eustace, 294,
note 327^
Alfred, King, notes 263, 290
Alfred [Elfred] son of Birihtulfinc,
265
Algitha daughter of Aldred the
earl, note 310
Almoner, William, the elder,
334*
Aluertone, Aernisius de, note 275
Amfrid, 292, 328^
Anglais, Robert, 316
Anketill, 340*
Anthony (Bek), Bishop of Durham.
See Durham
Arkell, 330$
Arkill, 304, 3293. See Aelsi son
of Arkill
Arnold. See William son of
Arnold
Arnold the baker, 3354
Arnold son of Utred, 3324
Arundel, John, note 316
Athelstane, King, 265, note 28;
Audry, Roger d' [de], 3 3 66, note
316
Averench, Richard de, note 3 1 6
PERSONAL NAMES
Bard, Ralf, note 316
Barford, Luke of, 336^
Basset, Ralf, 302, 313, note 314
Basset, T. note 296
Basset, William, 313, 328^
Bayeux, Odo Earl of Kent, Bishop
of, note 310
Beaumont, Lewis de, Bishop of
Durham. See Durham
Bee, Henry, note 316
Bek [Beck], Anthony, Bishop of
Durham. See Durham
Bede, note 290
Bedlington, John son of Thomas
of, 294, note 3320
Bernard, Roger son of Robert, note
Bertram, Roger, 296
Binchester, Ralf of, 317, 333^
Binchester, Robert, 288
Birihtulfinc. See Alfred son of
liirihtultinc
Blois, Henry of, Bishop of Win-
chester. See Winchester
Blount, Richard, 334^
Blount [Blunt], Robert, 284, 3 3 83
Blunt. See Blount, Robert
Boie, William, 324, 3414 and
note
Bolebec, Walter de, 335*
Boner, Aldred, 336^
Bosing. See Osbert son of Bosing
Bradley, Roger of, 333^, 3344
Bridmund, Hugh, 3330
Brinkburn, prior of, 300, note 3364
Brunne [Brun], Hugh, 275, 323,
34°"
Bruntoft, Alan, 334*, 3354
Buggethorpe, Walter de, 329^
Bulmer, - , 311
Burdon, Elfer of, 328*
' Burgo.' See Peterborough
Burnynghill, Richard de, note 312
Butterwick, Utred of, 330^
Caen, Robert of, 322, 3354
Caen, Walter of, note 301
Caen, Walter son of • lugh of,
335"
Callidus, Ralf, 333*
Cambois [Chamus], Adam, note
3324
Cambois, Robert of, 337^
Camden, 274
Canterbury, Lanfranc, Archbishop
of, 309, notes 310, 311
Canute, Ralf, 335^
Canvill, Gerard de, note 316
' Cautus.' See Sly
' Chamus.' Sec Cambois, Adam
Chester-le-Street, Cutheard [Cuth-
ardus], Bishop of, 265, 266,
notes 263, 268
Chester, Waleran of, 3271*, 327^
Chet, Robert, 329^
Chichester, dean and canons of,
note 275
Chilton, Alan of, 303, 3354, notes
297, 301
Choppington, Robert of, 323, note
3324
Christian the mason [cementarius],
304, 329*
Claxton, Lady Isabella de, note 3 1 2
Cnut. See Knut
Cocus, Monachus. See Monk the
cook
Cogesalle, Robert of, note 335^ •
Cokesmith, Geoffrey, 3294
Coket. See Orm son of Coket
Coleville, Philip de, note 316
Collan, 334*
Conyers, , 311
Conyers, Robert, note 312
Conyers, Roger de, note 3 1 6
Copsi. See Acharias son of Copsi
Corbet, Robert, 3354
Coupem, William, 333/1
Croke [Croc], Walter, 293, 333*
' Cube.' See Eribbe
Cuk, Robert, 327*1
Cumin, William, note 306
Cutheard, Bishop of Chester-le-
Street. See Chestcr-le-Street
Derwert hermit on the, 3364 and
note
Dolfin. See Gilbert son of Mel-
dred
Dreng, Roger, 316
Dune, Richard, 3394
Durham, Aimeric, Archdeacon of,
324
Durham, Bishops of: — Anthony
Bek, 262, 323, note 3324
, Cuthbert Tunstall, 321
, Egelwine, note 309
, Geoffrey Rufus, 304, 3 1 5
1 Appendix I. to the Article on the Boldon Book has not been indexed.
415
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
Durham, Bishop of (cont.) —
— , Hugh Pudsey, 262,267,271,
291, 294, 300, 302, 303, 304,
306, 307, 308, 311, 312, 313,
3H, 3'5» 3l6» 3'7, 322, 323.
324, 325, 326, 327*, 335^,
notes 259, 296, 297, 300, 301,
306, 313, 335^> 336*. See
Pudsey, Henry
, Lewis de Beaumont, 326
, Nicholas de Farnham, 262
-, Philip of Poitou, 262, 305,
322, 323, 324, 326, notes 288,
335^
, Ranulf Flambard, 273,285,
306, 308, 309, 315, »a^273
— , Robert de L'Isle, note 302
— , Thomas Hatfield, 261, 326,
note 323
• , Thomas Wolsey, 321
— , Walcher, 307, 309, 310,
311, 315, notes 309, 310, 311
, Walter de Kirkham, 294,
322, 323, 326, notes 322, 327^,
331^, 332*
, Walter Skirlaw, 261
, William I., 308, note 310
Durham, canons of, 308
Durham, Gilbert son of Humphrey
of, note 327^
Durham monastery, 259 — 317
passim, 324, 3364
Durham, prior of, 324, 335<J, note
336*
, Absalom, prior of, 315
, Germanus, prior of, note 313
, Laurence, prior of, 276, 287
Durham, steward and constable of,
note 33 1£
Durham, sub-prior of, note 33611
East Sleckburn, Peter of. See
Estlikburna
Edderacres [Edirdacres], Walter of,
262, note 312
' Edirdacres.' See Edderacres
Edmund, 3320. See Edmund son
of Edmund
Edmund son of Edmund, note 332*
Edmund. See Thomas son of
Edmund
Edward. See Lawrence son of
Edward
Edwin, 331^, 337^, note 3331?
Egelwine, Bishop of Durham. See
Durham
Egred, Bishop of Lindisfarne. See
Lindisfarne
Eilric son of Emma, 316
Elabrid, 341 b
Elfred. See Alfred son of Birihtul-
finc
Ellis, 337*
Elstan, 287, 288,324, 325, 333*,
34 1 a and note
Elstan, son of, 287, 333<»
Elstan, wife of, 287, 333*
Elzibrid, 275, 288
Emma. See Eilric son of Emma
Emma, wife of Roger of Eppleton,
note 313
Eppedon [Hetton], Betran de, note
3i6
Eppleton, Roger of, note 313. See
Emma wife of Roger of Epple-
ton
Eribbe [Cube], 332*7 and note
Escolland, Elias, 315
Escolland, Geoffrey, 273, note 316
Escolland, Jordan de, 313, 328^,
note 316
Essh, Henry de, 262
Estlikburna [East Sleckburn], Peter
of, 331*
Ethelbriht, note 263
Ethelred, 334^
Ethred, Abbot, note 263
Eugeliamus son of Robert Mar-
shall, 338*
Eustace. See Alexander son of
Eustace ; John son of Eustace
Eustace the pinder, 3410
Eustace son of Roger, 3320
Farnham, Nicholas de, Bishop of
Durham. See Durham
Ferlinton, Henry de, note 3 1 6
Ferlinton, Walter de, note 316
Fery, Thomas of, 3 34*
Flambard, Ranulf, Bishop of Dur-
ham. See Durham
Frithlaf, note 263
Fullo, Alan, 333*
Gam el son of Godric, 334^
Ganant, Reginald (sheriff), note 313
Gaseley, Richard of, 3344
Gatul the smith, 341 £
Gaufloie, 3384
Geoffrey, 333*, 334*
Geoffrey, Fitz [fil.] Richard, notes
313, 3'6
Geoffrey the parson [the priest],
wife of, 293, 335*
•Gerard the reeve, 336*
Germanus, Prior of Durham. See
Durham
Gerobod, 280, 337^
Gilbert, 314, 33 %a, 339*
Gilbert, the chamberlain, 335^
Gilbert, nephew of Bishop Walcher,
309, 310 and note
Gilbert son of Meldred, the grand-
son of Dolfin, 323
Gildeford, Philip of, 335^
Gisburna [Guisborough], prior and
canons of, 329^, 3364
Gisburne, William of, 3340
Goda, 293, 334^
Godemund, note 333<*
Godric. See Gamel son of Godric
Godwin the cottier, 337^
Gospatric. See Robert son of Gos-
patric
Grindon, Stephen of, 332^
416
Grindon, Wynday of, 332^
Guisborough. See Gisburna
Guisbrough, William of, 292
Guthred, note 263
Guy,
Hager. See Haget
Haget [Hager], Ralf (sheriff), 316,
325, 3303, notes 313, 330^
Hairun, Jordan, note 316
Hamo. See Philip son of Hamo [fil.
Hamo, Fitz Hamo] ; Thomas
son of Hamo
Hardwick, Adam son of Geoffrey
of, 296
Hardwick, Adam son of Gilbert of,
323.
Hardwick, Geoffrey of, 296, 323,
33i<j. See Hardwick, Adam
son of Geoffrey of
Hatfield, Thomas, Bishop of Dur-
ham. See Durham
Haughton, Benedict of, 298, 339^
Haughton, Walter of, note 339^
Helmede, Adam de, note 339^
Henry, 331*. See John son of
Henry ; Robert son of Henry
Henry I., King, 273
Henry II., King, 304, 315, 3274
Henry the reeve, 329*
Henry the shepherd, 3344
Henry son of Peter, note 3320
Hermas, Hugh of, 275, 276, 3374
Hertburn, William of, 327^
Hetton, Betran de. See Eppedon
Hettona, Willelmus de, note 314
Hexham, Alchmund, Bishop of, 285
Hilton, -- , 311
Hilton, Alexander de, note 316
Hilton, William de, 277
Hough ton, John of, 328^
Hovyngham, Thomas de, 339^
Hubald, Arkill, 334^
Hugate, Robert, 293, 33 \b
Hugh, 293, 334^, 335^, note 3334
Hugh (Pudsey), Bishop of Dur-
ham. See Durham
Humfrey [Humphrey], 334**. See
Humfrey [Humphrey], son of
Humfrey [Humphrey] the carter
[Umfridus carectarius], 324, note
Humfrey the smith, note 3410
Humfrey [Humphrey], son of, 303,
334"
Humphrey. See Humfrey
293, 332J
James son of William the priest,
333^
John, 276, 289, 314, 337c, notes
333<z, 340^. See Adam son of
John
John the clerk. See Neal brother
of John the clerk
John the pander, 3284
INDEX TO BOLDON BOOK
John the reeve, 3304
John son of Eustace, 294, 323,
note 327*
John son of Henry, 284, 3294
John son of Patrick, note 3320
Joie, Geoffrey, note 3384
Jordan, 3324
Julian, net/ 333*
' Kate,' Osbert. See Rate
Kent, Odo Earl of. Sec Bayeuz,
Odo Bishop of
Kent, William of, 329*
Ketcl [Kettell], 296, 32?*
Kibblesworth, Roger of, 315
Killerby, John, 324
Kirkham, Walter de, Bishop of
Durham. See Durham
Knut [Cnut], King, notes 290, 310
Ky me, Simon de, note 316
Lambert, note 3384
Lambert the marble-mason [mar-
morarius], 304, 334^
Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canter-
bury. See Canterbury
Langstirapp, Elwald, 3324
Launde, prior of, note 296
Laurence, Prior of Durham. See
Durham
Lawrence son of Edward, note 3 3 24
Lcfwin the reeve, 327*
Leobwine (chaplain to Bishop
Walcher), 309, 310 and note
Ley, Gilbert de la, note 316
Lindisfarne, Egrcd Bishop of, 263
L'Isle, Robert de, Bishop of Dur-
ham. See Durham
Liulf, 3343
Liulf, a thane, 310 and note
Lorymer, William, 329*
Lucelles, Eudo of, 336.7
Lunde, Robert de la, note 316
Lutrington, Geoffrey of, 333*
Lutrington, Walter of, note 333*
Mainsforth, Robert of, 330*
Makerell, Luce, 341*
Marshall, Alan, 3354
Marshall, Robert. See Eugeliamus
son of Robert Marshall
Maubert, wife of, 332*
Maud, the Empress, 305
Maydok, Agnes, note 3324
MclJred, 334^, 335*. See Gil-
bert son of Meldred ; Robert
son of Meldred
Meldred the smith, 334*
Meldred son of Dolfin, 336*
Merimius, 276, 3304
Middleham, Drew of, 329*
Middleham, Gilbert of. See Roger
the man of Gilbert of Middleham
Moderby, Alicia de, 277
Monichus Cocui. See Monk the
cook
Monk the cook [Monachus Cocus],
324, notes 324, 3414
Montana, wife of Henry of, 328*
Morkar son of Liulf, note 310
Mowbray, Robert son of William
de, 3384
Muschans, Robert de, note 316
Neal brother of John the clerk, 329*
Neuton, William, 3324
Nevill family, 316, 324
Nevill, Lord, 316
Nigillus [Sigillus], 325
Noble, William, 3344
Norn an, 33311
Normanton, Alan of, 292, 330*,
337*, note 292
Northumberland, Uchtred earl of.
See Rus, Eadulf
Odo, 338*
Odo, Bishop of Bayeuz. See Ba-
yeuz
Orde, Henricus de, note 3 1 4
Orm, 293, 3354
Orm, 339*. See William ton of
Orm
Orm son of Coket, 337*
Orniz. See William son of Orniz
Osbert, 334*. See Alan son of
Osbert
Osbert son of Bosing, 3284
Osmund, 3274
Oswald, Bishop of Worcester. See
Worcester
Pain, Robert of, note 3324
Palefrey, Edulf, 334^
Palefrey, Ralf, note 334^
Patrick, 331*. See John son of
Patrick
Peke, Belnuf del [of the], 292,
334*
Pemme, Thomas de, 323
Pencher, Nicholas de, note 314
Perci, Agnes de, note 3 1 6
Peter, 333*. See Henry son of
Peter
Peterborough [de Burgo], William,
Abbot of, 3274
Philip (of Poitou), Bishop of Dur-
ham. See Durham
Philip fil. [Fitz] Hamo. See Philip
son of Hamo
Philip the Sheriff. See Philip son
of Hamo
Philip son of Hamo [fil. Hamo,
Fitz Hamo] (sheriff), 307, 316,
335*, notei 313, 316
Picunderake, Alan, 341*
Poitou, Philip of, Bishop of Dur-
ham. See Durham
Pollard, 34 1 4
417
Pudsey, Henry (son of Bishop Hugh
Pudsey), notei 313, 316
Pudsey, Hugh, Bishop of Durham.
See Durham
Punder, Hugh, 338*
Quilnerby, Uttred of, 3 3 3*
Ralf, ±93, 330*, 3343
Ralf (Palefrey). See Palefrey, Ralf
Ralf the beekeeper, 3344
Ralf the clerk, 327*1
Ralf son of William, 332*
Raning [Ranning], Ulf [Ulfram-
ming]> 293> 324» 341^ and note
Ranulf (Flambard), Bishop of Dur-
ham. See Durham
Rate [Kate], Osbert, 3384 and note
Reading, Abbot of, 304
Redworth, Guy of, 340*
Reginald the fuller, 5270
Richard, 3370, note 3334. See
Geoffrey fil. [Fitz] Richard
Richard I, King, 267, 305
Richard son of Turkill, 334^
Richard son of Ulkill, note 3324
Richard son of William, 3324
Richard the architect [the engineer,
Ingeniator], 304, 3 14, 3 1 5, 327*
Ridel, Robert, note 3 1 6
Roanges, Robert of, 3344
Robert, 291, 296, 328(7, 332(7,
333^, 334A 337^. «»te 333/1.
See Thomas son of Robert ;
Utting son of Robert
Robert Fitz Meldred. See Robert
son of Meldred
Robert son of Henry, note 332*
Robert son of Gospatric, 331*
Robert son of Meldred [Fitz Mel-
dred], 287, 288, 339*
Robert son of Roger, note 301
Robert, son of William de Mow-
bray, 338*
Roger, 276, 287, 3284. See Eu-
stace son of Roger ; Robert son
of Roger
Roger the man of Gilbert of
Middleham, 333*
Roger nephew of William, 334^
Rogerley, sons of Gamel of, 292,
3344, 334^
Rogershall, Robert of, 335*
Romundby. See Romundeb
Romundeb [Romundby], John de,
note 316
Roth, Walter de, 338*1
Rufus, Geoffrey, Bishop of Durham.
See Durham
Rufus, John. See Russ
Rufus, William. See William
Rufus, King
Rund, Richard, 337*
Rus, Kadulf, great-grandson of
Uchtred earl of Northumber-
land, note 310
Russ [Rufus], John, 3 3 83 and note
Russel, Alan, 334^
53
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
Saddok, 3293
St. Cuthbert, notes 285, 310
custom of, 285
patrimony of, 259, 262, 263,
266, 276, 307, notes 263, 268
Sama, 3301?
Scot, Robert, 334/2
Scot [Scott], William, 324, 341/7
and note
Scremerston, dominus de, note 302
Selby, Adam de [or], 298, 3391*
Selby, Osbert of, 3 3 83
Seth, 316
Shadforth, Thomas of, 3293
Sherburn Hospital, Master of, 265,
276
Sigge. See Walter son of Sigge
' Sigillus.' See Nigillus
Simon, 3290
Simon the chamberlain, 303, 317,
335"
Simon the doorward [hostiarius],
275, 291, 322, 323, 324, 340/7
Simon the miller, 34 1 a
Simon [Suane] the smith, 3373 and
note
Skirlaw, Walter, Bishop of Dur-
ham. See Durham
Sleckburn, East, Peter of. See
Estlikburna
Sly [Cautus], Ralf, 3343 and note
Smyth, Walter, 276
Stapleton, Adam son of Ralf of,
3383
Stephanus [Thepers], 325 and note
Stephen, King, 304, 305
Stockton, Adam son of Walter of,
291, 322, 323, 337*, 3373
Stockton, Walter of, 322, 323, 3373.
See Adam son of Walter of
Stockton
Styr son of Ulf, 266
' Suane.' See Simon the smith
Suma, 3373
Swarbrand, 332*5
Theobald, 3353
'Thepers.' See Stephanus
Thomas, 276, 289, 290, 334^,
337<», note 33 la. See William
fil. Thomas
Thomas the clerk, 3404
Thomas the pinder, 329^
Thomas son of Edmund, note 3320
Thomas son of Hamo, note 313
Thomas son of Robert, 3 3 83
Thore, 334^
Thornton, Adam of. See Tornet'
Thurstan of the chapel, 3270
Tornet' [Thornton], Adam of,
Tuke, 3393
Tumba, William de, note 3373
Tunstall, Cuthbert, Bishop of Dur-
ham. See Durham
Turkill, 294, 33i3. See Richard
son of Turkill
Uchtred earl of Northumberland.
See Rus, Eadulf
Ulf. See Styr, son of Ulf
Ulframming. See Raning, Ulf
Ulkill, 3293, 3354, note 3403. See
Richard son of Ulkill
' Umfridus." See Humfrey the
carter
Unspac, 273
Utred, 275, 323, 337/7, 340* See
Uchtred ; Uttred ; Arnold son
of Utred
Utting. See William son of Ut-
ting
Utting son of Robert, 333*
Uttred the forester, note 3330. See
Utred
Viel [Vilnius], Simon, 3270
Vitulus. See Viel
Wac, Baldwin, note 316
Walcher, Bishop of Durham. See
Durham
Waldwin, 3373
Walter (of Lutrington). See Lut-
rington, Walter of
Walter (of Stockton). See Stockton,
Walter of
Walter (de Kirkham), Bishop of
Durham. See Durham
Walter the miller, 3373
Walter son of Sigge, 339/7
Walter son of William, note 3324
Waltheof, note 310
Waltheof, Earl, 309, 310, and notes
Watling, 330*
Wekeman, 292, 322, 3403
Whessoe, widow at, 284
Whitburn, John of, faBj
Wibert, son of, 33817
Wihtraed, note 290
Wilde, William, 3343
Wilfrei, a knight, 3 1 6
Willi, Thomas, 276
William, 265, 276, 288, 3273,
33°"» 33°3, 333", 338*, 3383,
note 287. See Ralph son of
William ; Richard son of Wil-
liam ; Roger nephew of William;
Walter son of William
William, Abbot of Peterborough.
See Peterborough
William, Bishop of Durham. See
Durham
William I, King [the Conqueror],
269, 286, 304, 309, 310, 311,
315, notes 309, 310, 311
William fil. Thomas, note 316
William the moneyer, son of,
3363
William the priest, 291, 3333. See
James son of William the priest
William the reeve, 3303
William Rufus, King, 309, note
310
William son of Arnold, 336*
William son of Orm, note 3 38*7
William son of Ornix, 3380
William son of Utting, 3373
Winchester, Henry of Blois, Bishop
of, 322, 3353 and note
Wolsey, Thomas, Bishop of Dur-
ham. See Durham
Wolveston, Ralph of, 314, 315
Worcester, Oswald, Bishop of, 284,
288
Yolton, Robert de, 336/7
' Alclet.' See Auckland
'Aid Thikleia.' See Thickley,
Old
Auckland [Alclet, Aukland], 267,
271, 277, 278, 283, 308, 324,
329/7, 33 la, 334*, 341*, 3413
Auckland, North [North Aclet,
North Alcland, North Aukland],
267, 275, 303, 333*, 3403,
3413, notes 270, 271
Auckland, West [West Aukland],
267, 287, 288, 289, 294, 305,
322, 324, 325, 333*, notes 270,
271, 289
PLACE NAMES
Aucklandshire [Alcletshire, Auk-
landshire], 267, 271, 297, 298,
299» 3°2» 333", 333*. 34'^
note 271
' Audeham.' See Duddoe
Aycliffe, School. See School Ay-
cliffe
' Balthela.' See Batheles
Barford [Hereford], 323, 3363, note
272
Barlow [Berleia], 298, 3363
' Bathela.' See Batheles
418
Batheles [Balthela, Bathela], 3383,
note 297
Bedburn, 267
Bedlington [Bedlingtun, Bedlyng-
ton, Bedlyngtona], 268, 293,
294> 299> 3°°» 3'7>322»33i^
336/7, notes 268, 270, 283, 3313
Bedlingtonshire, 268, 294, 305,
33 13, 332*, notes 268, 270
Benfieldside, 268
« Bereford.' See Barford
' Berleia.' See Barlow
Biddick, 265, 329/7, notes 265,
3273
INDEX TO BOLDON BOOK
Biddick, South [South Bedic], 279,
295, 328^, note 312
Biddick, Ulkill's [Ulkill's Bedyk],
327^, note 272
BilJingside, 268
Binchester [Byncestre], 267, 288,
331/7, notes 270, 286, 289
4 Birdeia.' Sec Birtley
4 Birdena.' See Burdon
Birtley [Birdeia, Britley, Britleia],
322, 335*, notes 271, 335^
Bishoplcy, 267
Bishopswearmouth, 264, 307
Blackwell [Blakwella], 266, 280,
284, 338^, notes 271, 297
Blanchland [Blauncheland], 335*
Boldon [Boldona], 265, 266, 267,
269, 270, 273, 278, 280, 282,
289, 290, 291, 295, 296, 302,
327,*, 3284, 328/5, 329/7, 329*,
330/7, 330^, 336/7, 337/7, 337*,
notes 270, 273
' Bolmum.' See Hulam
4 Bolum.' See Hulam
Bondgate-in-Auckland, 267
Bondgate-in-Darlington, 266, 267
4 Bortona.' See Burdon
Bothil, 3320
' Bradbire.' See Bradbury, island of
Bradbury, 314
Bradbury [Bradbire], island of, 3 3 $b
' Bradfertona.' See Brafferton
Bradford (Yorks), 274
Bradley [Bradleia], 333^, 334*
4 Bradwode.' See Broadwood
Brafferton [Bradfertona], 33i<7,
notes 270, 287, 289
Brinkburn, 300
4 Bridey.' See Birtley
Broadwood [Bradwode], 2 6 7, 333*,
334"
Broom-with-Flass, 268
Broomshields, 268
Burdon [Birdena, Bortona, Burton,
Burtun], 264, 265, 273, 292,
301, 328*, 339/», notes 270, 29*
Burdon, Little, 322, 328^, notes
271, 289
Bursblades [Bursebred], 335*
' Bursebred.' See Bursblades
4 Burtun.' See Burdon
' Butcrwyk.' See Buttenvick
Butsncld, 268
Butterwick [Buterwyk], 266, 298,
305, 322, 331/7, notes 270, 287,
289
Byermoor. See Reyermore
Byers [Byres], 267, 317, 333^
4 Byncestre.' See Binchester
4 Byres.' See Byers
Cambois[Camboisc,Commer], 268,
294, 332(7, notes 268, 270, 331^,
33"
Canterbury, mint at, 304
Carlton [Carltona], 266, 267, 279,
280, 300, 337^, notes 280, 289
Cassop [Cazchopc], 265, 329^, note
270
4 Cazehope.' See Cassop
4 Cebbingtun.' See Choppington
4 Ceddesfeld.' See Scdgefield
4 Cestria.' See Chester-le-Street
' Chabingtona.' See Chopping-
ton
Chcstcr-le-Street [Cestria], 261,
265, 266, 308, 327^, 331/7,
331*, notes 272, 327*
Chester-le-Street, Ward of, notes
270, 271
4 Chettun,' 297
Choppington [Cebbingtun, Cha-
bingtona], 268, 332/7, notes 268,
270, 3324
4 Clacstona.' See Claxton
Claxton [Clacstona], 329^
Cleadon [Clevedona], 265, 266,
296, 328/1, 3 2 83, note 270
4 Clevedona.' See Cleadon
Cockerton [Cokerton, Cokirtona],
266, 280, 338^, note 271
4 Cokirtona.' See Cockerton
4 Commer.' See Cambois
4 Con dona.' See Coundon
Consett [Conset, Cornesheued],
335,7, note 272
4 Cornehall.' See Cornhill
4 Cornesheued.' See Consett
Cornford, 266, 283, 325, 330^,
335/7, note 270
Cornhill [Cornehall], 332^, note
272
Cornsay [Cornsey, Cornshowe],
296, 314, 317, 322, 335/7, notes
271, 289
4 Cornshowe.' See Cornsay
Coundon [Condona], 267, 303,
331/7, 341*
Coundon, Great [Greater Coun-
don], 267, 333*
Coundon, Little [Parva Conduna],
267, 283, 322, 3333
Counterig, 332/7
4 Craucrok.' See Crawcrook
Crawcrook [Craucrok, Craucrook],
265, 266, 276, 289, 305, 314,
336^, 337/7, note 270
Crook [Cruktona], 335^, note 272
4 Cruktona.' See Crook
Cumberland, 314
Darlington [Derlingtona], 266,
267, 270, 280, 281, 299, 300,
302, 306, 308, 309, 317, 338/7,
338*» 339". *"* *7'
Darlington, Ward of, 271, 277,
notes 270, 271
4 Derlingtona.' See Darlington
Derwent, river, 3360
' Dudchowe.' See Duddoe
Duddoe [Audeham, Dudehowe,
Dudhoc], 332^, notes 272, 332^
Durham, castle of, 307, 310, note
309
Durham Cathedral (Galilee Chapel)
304, (enlarged by Bishop Pudscy)
307
Durhnm [Dunolm], city of, 261,
266, 271, 285, 300, 304, 305,
306, 307, 308, 309, 310, 321,
327/7, 329/7, 331/7, 332^, 334/7,
335", 33&», 337". 34'". **"
*74, 285, 306, 310, 313, 3273
bridges in, 307
hospital of St. Giles in, 303,
335"
mint in, 304, 305, 327/3
4 Vetus Burgus," note 306
walls of, 307
Easington [Esyntona], 261, 262,
265, 329/7, 3293, notes 270, 297,
31*
Easington, Ward of, note 270
East Sleckburn, etc. See Sleek-
burn, East, etc.
East Thicldey. See Thickley, East
Edderacres [Edirdacres, Etheredes-
acres], 262, 314, 325, 329^,
notes 271, 312
4 Edirdacres.' See Edderacres
4 Edmansley.' See Edmondsley
Edmondbycrs [Edmundbircs, Ed-
mundbyers], 335/7, note 271
Edmondsley [Edmansley, Edmon-
sley], 335^» w* 272
4 Edmundbires.' See Edmond-
byers
4 Elandshire.' See Islandshire
El vet [El vethalghe, ' Novus Burgus'],
306 and note
1 Elvethalghe.' See Elvet
Escomb [Escombe, Escumba, Es-
cumbe], 267, 275, 288, 293, 303,
3*4, 333". l\il>,>totcs 270, 271
4 Escumba.' See Escomb
4 Esscurre' [Estsupre], 3 2 83
4 Estlikburna.' See Sleckburn, East
4 Estsupre.' See Esscurre
4 Esyntona.' See Easington
4 Etheredesacres.' See Edderacres
Famacres, 336/7, notes 271, 275
Fen wick [Fen wye], 33 ib and note
Fishburn [Fissburna], 330/7
4 Fissburna.' See Fishburn
Flakkesdon [Sakcsdon], 296, 340^
Flass. See Broom-with-Flass
Framwcllgate, 265, 266
France, 306, notes 299, 336^
Frankland, 288
Frosterley [Frosterly], 334^, ntte
272
'Fulford.' See Fulforth
Fulforth [Fulford], 335^
Gainford, 263
Galon ng, 332/7
Garmundsway [Gcrmundeswcya],
325, ^ob, note 313
Gateshead [Gatesheucd], 265, 266,
294, 298, 300, 301, 303, 307,
309,314,317,325,3274,336/7,
3370, notes 30 1, 308, 310,331^,
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
' Gatesheued.' See Gateshead
Germany, 290
' Germundesweya.' See Garmunds-
way
Gloucestershire, 303
Great Coundon. See Coundon,
Great
' Great Halctona.' See Haughton,
Great
'Great Halghtona.' See Haughton,
Great
Great Haughton. See Haughton,
Great
Great Sleckburn. See Sleckburn,
Great
Great Usworth. See Usworth,
Great
Greencroft [Grencroft], 335*
Greenwell [Grenwelle] 3333
'Grencroft.' See Greencroft
Grendon. See Grindon
' Grenwelle.' See Greenwell
Grindon [Grendon, Grendona],
325>332^> 338", notes 272, 275
' Grubba.' See Gubeon
Gubeon, note 268
Hacdale, 3394
' Halctona.' See Haughton
Halton, 3383
' Halutona.' See Haughton
Hamsterley, 267
Hardwick [Herdewic, Herdewyk],
266, 317, 3303, 3350, note
272
Harperley [Harperleia], 3333, note
272
Hartburn [Hertburn, Herteburna,
Herteburne], 266, 282, 295, 322,
327*, 3373, »w* 270
Hartlepool, 308
Haughton [Halctona, Halutona],
266, 299, 338^, 339*
Haughton, Great [Great Halctona,
Great Halghtona], 289, 292,
295> 298> 3H> 32>. 329*>
3394, notes 271, 286, 289
Haughton, Little [Parva Halgh-
tona], 267, 298, 339*
Healeyfield [Heleie, Heley], note
272. See Hedley
Hedley [Heleie], 296, 314, 317,
335*, notes 271, 289. See Healey-
field
' Heghyngtona.' See Heighington
Heighington [Heghyngtona,
Heighingtona], 267, 275, 277,
282, 291, 298, 299, 300, 302,
322, 323, 324, 3393, 340*,
3403, notes 270, 275, 277
Heighingtonshire, 34017
'Heleie.' See Healeyfield and
Hedley
' Heley.' See Healeyfield.
' Helmygdene,'»o# 3273
HenknoU [Henknolle], 3333, notes
271, 289
' Herdewyk.' See Hardwick
Herrington [Heringtona], 264,
265, 275, 276,277, 305,329,;,
337*, notes 265, 270, 271, 272,
286, 287, 289
' Hertburn,' ' Herteburna.' See
Hartburn.
' Heton.' See Hetton
Hetton [Heton, Hetona], 3323,
note 272
Heworth, 314, 3380, note 271
Heworth, Over, note 296
' Hoctona.' See Houghton
' Holam.' See Hulam
Holmeside [Holmside, Holneset],
3353, note 271
' Holneset.' See Holmside
Horncliffe [Horncliff, Horneclyffe],
322,3323
Hospital of St. Giles. See Durham,
city of
' Hotona.' See Hutton
Houghton [Hoctona], 264, 265,
280, 282, 283, 294, 297, 299,
303, 3280, 3283, 3295, notes
265, 312
Hulam [Bolmum, Bolum], 325,
337*, notes 272, 337*
Hunstanworth, 317,335*, note 27 1
Hunwick [Hunewyc], 267, 288,
317, 3333, note 272
' Huton.' See Hutton
Hutton [Hotona, Huton], 262,
298> 3°S» 337"» »<"« 27°> 289
Ireland, 302, 305, 306
Islandshire [Elandshire], 285, 3323
Iveston [Ivestan], 277, 305, 335*,
note 271
Jarrow Qarum], 300, 338*, notes
3i°, 338<»
'Jarum.' See Jarrow
Ketton [Kettona], 298, 299, 3383,
3393, note 272
Killerby [Killirby], 267, 277,
299» 302> 3H> 34°<J> notes 270,
277
Koken, 315
Kyo, 268
Ladykirk. See Upsetlington
Lanchester [Langchestre], 268, 293,
294> 29S. 3!7> 334A 335"» **«
271, 283, 297, 301
Langley [Langleia], 322, 3353, note
272
Little Burdon. See Burdon,
Little
Little Coundon. See Coundon,
Little
Little Haughton. See Haughton,
Little
Little Sleckburn. See Sleckburn,
Little
420
Little Usworth. See Usworth,
Little
London. See St. Paul's Cathedral,
canons of ; see also Willesden
Lutrington [Lutringtona], 3333,
notes 271, 289
Lynesack, 267
' Magna Useworth.' See Usworth,
Great
Mainsforth[Maynesford], 297, 325,
Marley [Merley], 322, notes 271,
335*
' Maynesford.' See Mainsforth
Medomsley [Medomesley], 3353,
note 272
Merley. See Marley
Merrington, 298
Merryngton, West, note 296
Middleham [Midelham, Midil-
ham], 261, 266, 283, 313,325,
327*, 3283, 3303, »0# 270
Middridge [Midrige], 267, 277,
282, 292, 322, 340*, i\ob,note
270
1 Midilham.' See Middleham
' Midrige.' See Middridge
Migley [Migleia, Ungeleia], 3353,
notes 2J 2, 313, 3353
Mint. See Canterbury; Durham ;
Newcastle-on-Tyne ; Reading ;
Winchester
Monkton, 276, 287
Morton [Mortona], 264, 265, 279,
280, 295, 297, 299, 329*, notes
265, 280
Muggleswick [Muglyngwic], 314,
3>7» 335">»o# 27'
' Muglyngwic.' See Muggleswick
Narbrough, 278
' Nedirtona.' See Netherton
Netherton [Nedertun], 268, 294,
33 13, notes 268, 270, 3313
' Neusom.' See Newsham
Newbiggin [Newbiginga], 267,
3323, note 272
' Newbiginga.' See Newbiggin
Newbottle [Newbotill], 264, 265,
283, 284, 297, 298,322,3283,
329*, 337*, notes 265, 283,
3273
Newcastle-on-Tyne, 300, 307,
308, 309, 33 13. Mint at, 304,
327*, note 304
New Ricknall. See Ricknall, New
Newsham [Neusom] 3363, note 272
New Stainton. See Stainton, New
Newton [Newtona], 265, 266,
2^7> 333*. 34'^ notes 270, 271
Newton-by-Boldon [Newtona juxta
Boldonam], 266,281,317,328*,
note 272
Newton - by - Durham [Newtona
juxta Dunolmum], 266, 314
317, 327*, note 272
INDEX TO BOLDON BOOK
Newton-by-Thickley [Nova villa
juxta Thickley, West Thickley],
267, 314, 317, 322, nates 271,
289
Newton Cap, 267
Norham, 293, 302, 308,309, 322,
332/7, 3323, note 302
Norhamshire, 285, 294, 332^
Normandy, 283, note 299
• North Aclet.' See Auckland,
North
'North Alcland.' See Auckland,
North
North Auckland. See Auckland,
North
Northuieadows, 331*1
North Sherburn. See Sherburn,
North
' North tona juxta Hcredewyc.' See
Norton-by-Hardwick
Northumberland, 263, 268, 278,
287, 294, 309, 310, 314, notei
287, 290, 310
Norton [Nortona], 266, 274, 280,
281, 282, 292, 295, 297, 298,
300, 302, 322,325, 3303,331/7,
337". "Mb, note 270
Norton - by - Hardwick [Nortona
juxta Herdewyc, Northtona
juxta Heredewyc or Herdewic],
*96> 3*3. 33"»
' Nort Sirburne.' See Sherburn,
North
•Nova Rikenhall.' See Ricknall,
New
4 Nova villa juxta Thickley.' See
Newton-by-Thickley
' Novus Burgus.' See Elvet
Old Thickley. See Thickley, Old
Orde, note 3 1 4
Over Heworth. See Hcworth,
Over
Oxenhall, 267, 288, 300, 314,
3>6, 3'7» 338
287, 289
Oxfordshire, 274
Pache, 276, 287, 289
Painshaw. See Pencher
Paris, 305
' Parva Conduna.' See Coundon,
Little
' Parva Halghtona,' See Haugh-
ton, Little
' Parva Useworth.' See Usworth,
Little
Pelaw [Pelhou, Pelowe], 327*, notes
272, 327*
' Pelhou.' See Pelaw
' Pelowe.' See Pelaw
'Pencher' [Painshaw ?], 302, 313,
322, 3283, notes 271, 314
Pespole, note 3 1 2
Picktrce [Piktre], 3273, note 272
« Piktre.' See Picktree
Pittington, 304
Plawsworth[Plausworth], 265, 266,
327/7, notes 271, 289
Pokerley, 3 3 $3, note 272
'Pol,' note 314
Pontop, 268
Preston [Prestona], 266, 322, 3373,
notes 270, 292
Quarrington [Querindune, Quer-
ingdona], 276, 330/7
Quarringtonshire [Querindune,
Queringdonshire], 265, 276,
297, 327,7, 3293, 330,7
'Querindune.' See Quarrington
' Queringdona.' See Quarrington
« Quicham.' See Whickham
' Quykham.' See Whickham
Rainton [Rayntona], 3294
' Rayntona.' See Rainton
Reading, mint of Abbot of, 304
Redworth [Redeworth, Red-
wortha], 267, 279, 296, 317,
322, 340*
' Refhope.' See Ryhope
' Reyermore,' Reyermore [Byer-
moor ?], 3353, note 271
Ricknall [Ricknall Alia, the other
Ricknall], 267, 314, 338/1
Ricknall, New [Nova Rikenhall],
267, 295, 3384
' Ritona.' See Ryton
Rogerley [Rogerleia], 267, 3344
Rokehope, 303
Rothley (Line.), note 274
Roughside, 268
Rowley, 268
Ryhope [Refhope], 264, 265, 301,
3283, note 270
Ryton [Ritona], 265, 266, 295,
298, 300, 305, 3363
Sadberge, 261, 267, 268,322,3354,
notes 267, 3354
St. Giles, hospital of. See Dur-
ham, city of
St. Paul's Cathedral (London),
canons of, note 295
' Sakesdon.' See Flakkesdon
Satley, 268
School Aycliffe [Sculacle], 3403,
note 272
' Schottonden,' note 297
Scotland, marches of, 274, 293
' Sculacle.' See School Aycliffe
Sedgefield [Ceddesfcld, Seggefeld],
261, 266, 280, 283, 298, 302,
303, 305, 325, 330/7, 3 31/7, notes
263, 270
' Seggefeld.' See Sedgefield
Severn, river, note 300
' Shadeford.' See Shadforth
Shadforth [Shadeford], 26;, 3293,
note 270
43.1
Sheraton [Shurutona], 276, 277,
289, 314, 322, 3374, notes 270,
271, 272, 286, 289
Sherburn, 265, 3304
Sherburn, North [Nort Sirburne],
Sherburn, South [Suthshirburne],
*79» 3°4» 3'7. 3*9*. »°" *8°
Sherburn Hospital, 265, 276
Shotton [Siottona], 265, 298, 301,
3*5. 3*9*. 337". «*' *7°»
297
* Shurutona.' See Sheraton
Silksworth, note 313
' Siottona.' See Shotton
Sleckburn [Sleekburn, Sliceburne],
note 268
Sleckburn, East [Estlikburna], 268,
332/7, notes 270, 283
Sleckburn, Great, note 33i3
Sleckburn, Little, note 332/7
Sleckburn, West [Wesdikburna],
268, 294, 322, 3313, 332/7, note
270
Sleekburn. See Sleckburn
'Sliceburne.' See Sleckburn
' Smaleia.' See Smallees
Smallees [Smaleia], 322, 3353, note
272
' South Bedyc.' See Biddick, South
South Biddick. See Biddick, South
South Sherburn. See Sherburn,
South
Spain, 303
Stainton [Steinitune], 296, 297
Stainton, New, note 295
Stanhope [Stanhopa], 267, 268,
271, 292, 293, 297, 299, 304,
3°5» 3". 334". "<"" 27°» *7'»
275, 300
' Steinitune.' See Stainton
Stella [Stelyngleye], 3 3 63, note 272
« Stelyngleye.' See Stella
Stockton [Stoktona], 261,262, 266,
280, 291, 295, 297, 298, 302,
308, 322, 337,7, 3373, notes 270,
283
Stockton, Ward of, note 270
' Sualwels.' See Swallwells
Suffolk, 278
Sunderland, 307, 3 3 63
Sussex, 303
' Suthshirburne.' See Sherburn,
South
' Suyfela.' See Twizell
Swallwells [Sualwels], 3364
Tees, river, 263, 308, 3334, 337*,
3383, 3404
Thickley [Thikley], 267, 277,
3403, notei 270, 300
Thickley, East, 267
Thickley, Old [Aid Thikleia], 267,
317, 3403, note 272
Thickley, West. See Newton-by-
Thickley
Thornton [Torent'], 3323, notes
286, 289
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
Thorp [Thorpa, Thorpe], 265,
3290, note 270
Tillmouth [Tillemouth, Tilmouth],
322, 332*, note 272
' Torent'.' See Thornton
' Tremeduna.' See Trimdon
' Trendon.' See Trimdon
Tribley [Tribleia], 335*, note 271
' Trillesden.' See Tursdale
Trimdon [Tremeduna, Trendon],
329*, notes 271, 3293
' Tuisela.' See Twizell
Tunstall, 264, 265, 303, 328*,
notes 265, 270
Tursdale [Trillesden, Trillesdena],
265, 300, 330*, 335,7
Tweed [Tweda], river, 308, 33 ib
' Twisele.' See Twizell
Twisle. See Twizell
Twizell [Suyfela, Tuisela, Twisele,
Twisle, Twizle, Twysell], 314,
3293, 332*, notes 268, 271, 272,
289, 329*
Twysell. See Twizell
Tyne [Tyna], river, 263, 287, 300,
3°3> 3Q7» 333", 33<5«
'Ulkffl's Bedyk.' See Biddick,
Ulkill's
UlkiU's Biddick. See Biddick,
Ulkill's
' Ungeleia.' See Migley
Upsetlington [Ladykirk], 3 3 2*, note
272
Urpeth [Urpath], 265, 266, 327*,
331(7, note 289
Usworth, Great [Magna Useworth],
276, 277, 301, 305, 33<^, notes
270, 287, 289
Usworth, Little [Parva Useworth],
301, 327,7, notes 271, 289
'Vetus Burgus.' See Durham,
city of
Wales, marches of, 293
Warden [Wardona], 264, 265,
279, 280, 281, 297, 299, 3295,
notes 265, 280
Washington [Wessington, Wessyng-
tona], 314, 327-5, 337*, notei
271, 289
Watling Street, 308
Wear, river, 263, 306, 340*
Wearmouth [Wermouthe], 264,
265, 300, 303, 306, 307, 309,
322, 328*, notes 270, 300
Welham, note 296
< Wellesdone.' See Willesden
'Wermouthe.' See Wearmouth
' Wessawe.' See Whessoe
' Wessyngtona.' See Washington
West Auckland. See Auckland, West
'Westlikburna.' See Sleckburn,West
West Merryngton. See Merryng-
ton, West
Westmorland, 314
West Sleckburn. See Sleckburn,
West
West Thickle) . See Newton-by-
Thickley
Weston [Wivestona, Wivestone],
298, 336*
Whessoe [Wessawe], 266, 284,
287, 288, 295, 339*, notei 271,
286, 289
Whickham [Quicham, Quykham],
265, 266, 300, 317, 325, 335*,
336,7, 336*, notes 262, 270.
manerium de, 326, 336,7
Whitburn [Whitberne], 265, 266,
328,7, note 270
Whitwell [Whitewell], 265, 276,
314, 330,7, note 272
Whitworth [Whitwortha, Wyte-
worth], 295, 322, 323, 333*,
note 288
Willesden [Wellesdone], note 295
Winchester, mint at, 304
Winlaton [Wynlaktona], 298, 336*
Witton [Wittona], 267,293, 335*
'Wivestone.' See Weston
Wolsingham, 267, 268, 271, 291,
292, 293, 295, 297, 298, 301,
302, 303, 325, 333*, 334*
Wolveston, 314, 315
Worcester, 288
' Wynlaktona.' See Winlaton
' Wyteworth.' See Whitworth
' Yolwaytestand,' 278
York, 263
422
0UVUOTU Obfel* J U IN ^
PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE
CARDS OR SLIPS FROM THIS POCKET
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO LIBRARY
DA The Victoria history of the
670 county of Durham
D9V6
v.l
Live Music Archive
Librivox Free Audio
Metropolitan Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Internet Arcade
Console Living Room
Books to Borrow
Open Library
TV News
Understanding 9/11