History
THE LIBRARY
OF
THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA
LOS ANGELES
^:
I
HISTORY
OF
NORTHUMBERLAND
ISSUED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF
THE NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY HLSTORV
COMMITTEE
NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE
PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY ANDREW REID & COMPANY, LIMITED
LONDON
SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, ILX.MILTON, KENT & COMPANY, LIMITED
1907
H
o
h
O
History of Northumberland
VOLUME VIII
The Parish of Tynemouth
By H. H. E. CRASTER, M.A.,
FELLOW OF ALL SOULS COLLEGE, OXFORD
NEWCASTLEUPOXTYNE
PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY ANDREW REID & COMPANY, LIMITED
LONDON
SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, HAMILTON, KENT, & COMPANY, LIMITED
1907
NEWCASTLE-Ul-ON-TYNE
ANDREW REID & COMPANY, LIMITED, PRINTING COURT BUILDINGS
PREFACE.
The importance of the locality included in the present volume of the
new History of Northumberland has demanded prolonged investigations
on the part of the Committee and editor ; hence the length of time
occupied in its production will be found to be more than compensated
by the value of the results achieved. Since the publication of the former
volume, the Committee have lost one of their most valued members by
the death of Mr. C. B. P. Bosanquet, who was one of the founders and
an original member of the Committee, and a regular and useful attendant
at their meetings.
As originally planned the present volume was to comprise the
history of the mother parish of Tynemouth, and that of the ancient
parochial chapelry of Earsdon. Requirements of space have obliged the
Committee to keep back the latter section ; but it is alreadv written and
largely in print, and will form a portion of Volume IX. of the series.
The history of the Benedictine priory of Tynemouth, forming as it
did the central point of interest in the district, was dealt with, many years
ago, by the late Mr. Sidney Gibson, in a work in which thoroughness
and partiality vie with each other. But Mr. Gibson had not direct access
to the unpublished Tynemouth Cliartular\\ a document chiefly valuable
as a custumal, of which the Duke of Northumberland has permitted the
editor to make the fullest use. The real Chartulary of the convent, a
large folio manuscript, known as the Great Book of Tynemouth, is lost
and cannot be traced later than the seventeenth century, when it was in
the possession of Sir Orlando Bridgeman, whose descendant and repre-
sentative, the Earl of Bradford, at the Committee's request, caused an
unsuccessful search to be made for it among his muniments.
h
773573
VI PREFACE.
The editor has made very full use of the SL Alhaii's Register
(Cott. MS. Tib. E. vi.), a manuscript commonly reputed to have been
destroyed by fire ; of a collection of letters, written by monks, temp.
Henry III., relating to the priory (Digby MSS. 20) ; and of a most
interesting description of Tynemouth, written circa 1 200, preserved in the
Cambridge University Library. This document has been carefully revised
and annotated by Mr. Francis Jenkinson, University Librarian.
In order to provide a plan of the conventual buildings worthy of the
architectural and historical description of the priory, permission to excavate
was sought at the War Office ; it was granted by the Council for Defence
and sanctioned by H.M. Board of Works. The excavations, made in the
winter of 1904-1905, under the superintendence of Mr. W. H. Knowles,
F.S.A., with labour freely supplied by the Corporation of Tynemouth,
revealed a plan, almost unique, of the Norman conventual church. It has
been described, with the architectural features of the monastic buildings,
by Mr. Knowles. In this connection the Committee have pleasure in
acknowledging the courtesy of Major Bryant, R.A., officer commanding
the troops at Tynemouth castle. The plans, photographs, and drawings of
the priory and castle were made, and are reproduced, with the permission
of the officer commanding the northern district.
The position and history of the priory have tended to throw into
obscurity the story of the growth of the important town of North Shields,
and to distract attention from the character of the customary and copyhold
tenures of Tynemouthshire. From the rich store of documents belonging
to the Duke of Northumberland, of which the editor has been allowed to
make a thorough examination, this deficiency has been supplemented, and the
nature of customary holdings in the county has been dealt with generally.
His Grace being the only great landowner in the district, it has not been
found necessary to apply to the other proprietors for an inspection of
PREFACE. VU
muniments. The steward of the manor of Tyneniouth, Mr. W. H. Ryott,
has not only given full access to the court rolls in his custody, but has
spent much labour in tracing the descent of various copyhold estates within
the manor.
The Committee are again indebted to Professor Garwood for an
account of the geology of the district. Mr. T. E. Forster has written the
article upon the coal trade, and Professor A. Meek of Armstrong College,
Newcastle-upon-Tyne, that on the sea fisheries of Northumberland.
The pre-Conquest stones at Tynemouth have been described by the
Rev. William Greenwell, and the elaborately ornamented shield found at
the mouth of the Tyne, by Mr. F. J. Haverfield ; the latter has
also revised the other references to Roman antiquities found in the
district. Mr. J. C. Hodgson, F.S.A., has prepared the pedigrees, and Mr.
Maberly Phillips, F.S.A., has written the account of the non-established
churches.
By the death of Mr. Charles James Spence the Committee have lost
an active and sympathetic friend to their undertaking. In the planning
out of the present volume he not only gave wise counsel to the editor,
but placed his drawings, manuscripts, and rare printed books at his service.
Some of his own beautiful drawings and etchings have been reproduced,
and his family, in accordance with what they thought would have been
his wish, have given a handsome contribution towards the cost of illus-
trating the volume.
To Mr. H. A. Adamson the editor is under deep obligation for the
generous way in which he has placed at his disposal his wide and e.xtensive
knowledge of the local antiquities of Tynemouth and North Shields, and
for the ample use allowed to be made of his legal and historical col-
lections. The Committee have also to thank him, as well as Mr. W. S.
Daglish and Mr. Wilfred Hall, for donations for e.xtra illustrations.
viii PREFACE.
Thanks are also due to Mr. S. S. Carr, Mr. W. W. Tomlinson, and
others, for help willingly given, and to Mr. W. H. Charlton and Mr. Henry
Clarke for the loan of drawings. The index has been mainly compiled
by Miss B. M. Craster.
The Dean and Chapter of Durham have permitted the unrestricted
use of charters in the Treasury. The Rev. T. E. Crawhall, vicar of
Tynemouth, Mr. Stephen Sanderson, Clerk of the Peace for Northumber-
land, Mr. J. B. Lazenby, Registrar of the Consistory Court at Durham,
and the Master and Brethren of the Trinity House of Newcastle, have
given free access to documents in their custody.
Information regarding historical papers in their libraries has been
given by Mr. L. Sackville - West, Mr. R. T. Gunton, librarian to the
Marquis of Salisbury, and Mr. H. A. Wilson, librarian of Magdalen
College, Oxford. Amongst others who have helped by advice or have re-
vised the proofs of certain portions of the work are Professor C. M. Firth,
Regius Professor of Modern History, Oxford ; Professor VinogradofF,
Corpus Professor of Jurisprudence, Oxford ; Dr. James, Principal of
King's College, Cambridge ; Professor Wright, Professor of Comparative
Philology, Oxford ; Professor Lebour, Professor of Geology, Armstrong
College, Newcastle-upon-Tyne; Mr. H. C. Davis of Balliol College,
Oxford ; Mr. Horace Round ; the Rev. Canon Savage, vicar of Halifax ;
and Mr. W. H. Stevenson of St. John's College, Oxford.
CONTENTS.
Preface ...
List of Illustrations
List of Committee
Addenda et Corrigenda
Introduction-
Description OF the District
Geology
Collieries and the Coal Trade
page
V
X
xi
xii
•7
TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
Tynemouth Priory ...
The Parish Church
Description of Tynemouth Priory and Castle
Tynemouth Castle
The Lighthouse
Tynemouthshire
Tynemouth Borough
Tynemouth Township
Clifford's Fort and the Lighthouses
Cullercoats Township
North Shields Township
Chirton Township ...
Preston Township
Municipal History of the Borough
Christ Church ...
The Non-Established Churches
The Sea Fisheries
Whitley Township
Monkseaton Township
Murton Township
Shire Moor
34
124
•3'
"54
205
207
247
247
274
2 So
2S4
315
342
350
357
371
378
3S9
402
409
412
APPENDICES.
Appendix I.
Appendix II.
Index
417
421
426
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
1)
The Moulh of the Tyne
Map ...
Plate I. Fig. I — The Ninety-fathom Dyke at Cullercoats
„ Fig. 2 — Table Rocks, Whitley
Plate II. — View of Boulder-clay
Plate III.— Map to illustrate the History of Coal Mining in Tyncniouthshire
Roman Stones from Tynemouth
Plate IV. — Charter of Edgar, son of Gospatric {Diir. Trcas. 3''" 2'''" -Spec. No,
Tynemouth Priory, Effigy in the Choir
„ „ Choir of the Priory Church
.Seal and Counterseal of .Simon, Abbot of St. .-Mban's {Diii: Tnns. 2''" 2''"'' Spec
No. 4)
Plate V. — Tynemouth Priory Church, Presbytery
Tynemouth Priory, Effigy in the Nave
Plate VI. — Brass of Thomas de la Mare, Abbot of St. Alban's
Tynemouth Priory, Spandril
„ „ Newel Stair in Gate-house
„ „ Bosses over the Doorway of the Percy Chapel
„ ,, Doorways in the (kite-house ...
Plate VII.— Tynemouth Priory Seals
Tynemouth Priory, the Church from the South-west
The Monk's Stone, near Tynemouth
Pre-Conciuest Crosses from Tynemouth ...
Tynemouth Priory, Conjectural Plan of the Norman Church ...
Plate VIII.— Tynemouth Priory, Ground Plan of Church ...
Plate IX. — „ „ the Choir (from a painting in the possession of
Mr. H. A. Adamson)
Plate X. — „ „ Ceiling of the Percy Chapel ...
Plate XL— „ „ i'lan of Site
Plate XII.— „ „ Elizabethan Plan (Colt. MSS. Aug. I. ii. 6)
Plate XIII.— „ „ Plan of Gate-house
Plate XIV. — „ „ in the Eighteenth Century (from a painting in
the possession of Mr. Robert Spence)
Plate XV.— Chart of the Tyne, temp. Henry VIII. {Cott. MSS. Aug. I. ii. 5)
Tynemouth Castle, the Spanish Battery ...
11 „ Fireplace in the Gate-house
North Shields, Clifford's Fort, circa 1680 {King's Library, xx.\iii. 23, g.)
I) Corner Turret in Clifford's Fort
n the Old Low Light
PAGE
frontispiece
I
16
20
36, 37
48
51
56
■ 64, 65
68
75
92
95
99
103
1 10
122
128
'32. 133
'34, 135
136
140
144
146
148
150
152
160
1S4
189
201
276
277
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
XI
Plate XVI. — Boss of Roman Shield found in the Tyne
CuUercoats, Sparrow Hall
„ Harbour
North Shields, Old Quays
„ Wooden Dolly Quay
„ River Side near the Low Lights
,, Low and High Lights
Billy Mill, near Chirton
Coble Dene
North Shields Harbour
„ Wellesley Training Ship
„ Fish Quay
Fireplace in the Ship Inn, Monkseaton
Plate XVII.— Map of Shire Moor
PAGE
280
282
283
304
305
309
313
329
340
353
357
384
405
417
HISTORY OF NORTHUMBERLAND.
Issued under the Direction ok the Northumberland Countv History Committee.
COMMITTEE.
The Duke of Northumberland, K.G.
The Earl of Tankerville.
Lord Armstrong.
Sir John Evans, K.C.B., F.S.A.
Edward 15.\teson, Esq., B.A.
Robert Blair, Esq., F.S.A.
William Brown, Esq., F.S.A.
F. W. Dendv, Esq.
The Rev. William Greenwell, D.C.L., F.R.S., F.S.A.
Richard Oliver Heslop, Esq., M.A., F.S.A.
Thomas Hodgkin, Esq., D.C.L., F.S.A.
John Crawford Hodgson, Esq., M.A., F.S.A.
John George Hodgson, Esq.
W. H. Knowles, Esq., F.S.A.
Richard Welford, Esq., M.A.
E. G. Whf.i.er, Esq.
Humphrey John Willyams, Esq.
ADDENDA ET CORRIGENDA.
Page 35, line l6. Benebalcrag. This identification is probably based on Bede's description of the
northern wall : Incipit autem duorum ferme milium spatio a monasterio Aebbercurnig ad
occidentem in loco, qui sermone Pictorum Pcau/nhfl, lingua autem Anglorum Penneltun
appellatur ; ct tendens contra occidentem terminatur juxta urbem Alcluith. Historiii
Ecchsiastica, ed. Plummer, vol. i. p. 26. A similar attempt to suit Bede's description to the
southern wall led Higden to place Alcluith in the neighbourhood of Carlisle. Polychronkon,
Rolls Series, vol. ii. p. 66.
Page 49. The donors of Wolsington were William dc Merlay and Rohays his wife. Liber dc
Benefadoribus, p. 445.
Page 86, line 4. Prior Tewing was assisted in his task of defending Tynemouth castle by Aymar de
Valence, warden of the Marches, and by Richard de Kellaw, bishop of Durham. Both the
bishop and the warden received from Edward II. letters of thanks for what they had done for
the prior, to whom they were requested to continue their aid in matters touching the northern
parts. The letter to Valence is dated September ist, 1315 {Ancient Correspondence, P.R.O.
vol. 49, No. 31) ; that to Kellaw is couched in very similar terms and is probably of the same
date [Reg. Pal. Dun. Rolls Series, vol. iv. pp. 50S-509).
Page 87, line 13. It is uncertain how long John de Haustede continued in charge of Tynemouth; but
the castle appears to have been still under the control of a royal officer on August 6th, 1323.
See Palgrave, Parliamentary Writs, vol. ii. div. ii. appendix, p. 233.
Page 99, line S. An independent account of the Scottish invasion in 1389 is given by John Malverne,
who states that the Scots, thirty thousand strong, crossed the Tweed on June 2gth, and sent a
message to the prior of Tynemouth, bidding him ransom the monastic cells and property of his
house. The money apparently was not forthcoming. The earl of Nottingham, warden of the
Marches, was absent on a foray in Scotland, and, upon hearing of the Scottish inroad, took up a
safe position at Berwick. The earl of Northumberland prudently sought the king, who made
him president of the Council. Only Sir Matthew Redman and Sir Thomas Ogle had courage
to follow up the Scots, of whom they killed or captured two hundred in the course of retreat.
Polychronicon Radulphi Higden, Rolls Series, vol. ix. p. 213. Malverne also records an invasion
in the previous year, two months before Otterburn, wherein the enemy laid waste Northumber-
land as far as Tynemouth, and did greater havoc than had been experienced for a century.
Ibid. p. 184.
Page 102, line 24. Bourne, probably with greater accuracy, describes this stone as a round with the
inscription : orate pro anim.\ KOiiERTl Rhodes ; History of NcK'castle, p. 89. Similar
bosses are to be seen in the groining of St. John's church, Newcastle, and in the church of
Corbridge, the latter having been removed from the vaulted stage of the belfry of old All Saints'
church, Newcastle. For an accout of Robert Rhodes see Longstafte in Life 0/ Ambrose Barnes,
Surt. Soc. No. 50, pp. 94-97. In his WTit of diem claiisit extremum, he is styled Robert Rhodes
of Benwell (35//; Deputy Keeper's Report, p. 125), and he may be safely assumed to have
bestowed that manor upon Tynemouth priory ; but his relation to the religious house was that
of benefactor only, and his name should therefore be deleted from the list of priors on page 123.
Page 106, line 31, /o)' ' Prior Stonywell' read ' Prior Bensted.'
ADDENDA ET CORRIGENDA. Xlll
Paye iiS, line 30. For a description of 'King Oswin's psalter' see the 35</i Deputy Keeper's Report,
pp. 164-165, and National Manuscripts of Ireland (text), p. 39. Two pages are reproduced
in coloured facsimile in Facsimiles of National MSS. Ireland, pt. ii. plate 48. Another volume
probably emanating from Tynemouth but unnoticed in the text is in the Bodleian Library
{Gough Liturgies, No. 18). This is a small psalter, with delicate illuminations in red, blue and
gold, a few large capitals, and grotesque animals at the foot of some of the pages. Prefixed to
it are illuminated pages representing Christ and the Holy Lamb, the Crucifixion, the Divine
Person seated between the four evangelists represented as four beasts, and a Benedictine monk
adoring the Mother and Child.
Page 119, line iS. This is probably the copy of the Historia Ecclesiastica mentioned by John Boston of
Bury as being in the Tynemouth conventual library. It is significant that Boston only
mentions one other volume in the library, namely, the Historia Aurea of John of Tynemouth,
a fact which removes the doubt expressed on page 126 as to John of Tynemouth's identity.
This copy of the Historia Aurea is not now known to exist.
Page 120, last paragraph and note 3. Glover and Camden derive their authority from Leland, who
gives extracts from three unidentified chronicles which he found in the conventual librarj' at
Tynemouth. Collectanea, ed. 1772, vol. i. pp. 324-327. Another important chronicle from
the same source is cited by Leland on several occasions in his Commentarii de Scriptoribus
under the title of A nnales Tinenses. None of these chronicles appear to have had any specially
local character. For 'Walterus' in line i read ' Walcherus.'
Page 123, line \o,for ' Burton' read ' Bolton.'
Page 124, line 14, /y 'Prior Dunham' read 'Prior de Parco.'
Page 143, line 30, omit 'the cathedrals of Canterbury and Lincoln, the chapel of King's College,
Oxford.'
Page 171, Delaval pedigree, line i, for 'she remarried, secondly, George Cramlington of Cramlington,
and, thirdly,' read 'widow of George Cramlington of Newsham ; she remarried.'
Page 202, Villiers pedigree, /or 'William Chaffinch' read 'William Chifiinch.'
Page 215, note 2. .Another list of the jurors of Tynemouth liberty occurs in a fragmentary subsidy-roll
of about the year 1294 (No. 240/295), and is as follows :
Summa bonorum Roberti de Prudhow
„ Johannis de Wytel ...
„ Willelmi Russel
„ Nicholai de Anebell
„ Willelmi Stiward
„ Roberti de Chirton ...
„ Nicholai Faukes
„ Nicholai de Morton
„ Rogeri de Morton ...
„ Hugonis de Bacwrth
Radulphus serviens et Rogerus Gray sunt de duodena, et non debent hie taxari quare alibi in
Seton monachorum et in Est Chirton.
Summa totalis duodene sine hiis duobus, ^23 12s. 2d. ; unde regi, £2 7s. 2jd.
Page 215, note 3. Add to the list of seneschals of Tynemouth liberty, Thomas de Belsay, 1316.
Page 216, note i. The office of constable of Tynemouth castle had been previously held by John de
Haustede, 131S (see page 87); Henry Lancastre, 1445 (see page 425); and by John Mitford,
circa 1510 {Early Chancery Proceedings, case 12S, No. 43).
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xiv ADDENDA ET CORRIGENDA.
Page 233, line 49. A record of this suit is to be found in Exchtqucr Procealiitf^s, bundle 145, No. 238.
Page 260, line 24. About the year 1490 the prioress and convent of St. Bartholomew addressed a petition
to the chancellor, praying that a writ of sub-pena might be addressed to Nicholas, prior of
Tynemouth, he having refused to continue the annuity of eight quarters of wheat, whereby the
prioress and nuns had been brought to great poverty, and their house had been so decayed that
they could not sustain the charges of their house and divine service as they had done heretofore
and as they were bound to do by their religion. They stated that they were too poor in lands
and goods to bring a suit at common law, and that a process for distraint, obtained upon a writ
of annuity, would not be e.\ecuted by reason of the great power of the prior, Northumberland
being 'far from the cours and good ordre of the lawe.' Early Chancery Proceedings, case 103,
No. 24.
Page 270. Dockwray pedigree. Thomas Dockwray (1690- 1760) was nominated perpetual curate of
Wallsend in 1718.
Page 273. Clark pedigree. The following are the dates of birth of the daughters of William Clark of
Tynemouth: Anne Elizabeth, 4th June, 1796; Mary Elizabeth, loth March, 1799; Elizabeth
Sarah, 30th August, 1801 ; Jane Margaret, 22nd November, 1806. i\'iillseitd Registers.
Page 298, line 6, for ' Ramsay ' read ' Ramsey.'
Page 323. Cardonnel-Lawson pedigree. Ann, daughter of Mansfeldt Cardonnel, died at Cramlington,
unmarried, in April, 1822. James Hilton de Cardonnel-Lawson was son of Adam Mansfeldt de
Cardonnel-Lawson, by his second wife, Miss Vihart, and had an only daughter and heiress,
Ada de Cardonnel-Lawson, living at Rome, unmarried, 1906.
Page 339, note 3. It is somewhat remarkable that the one authoritative definition of 'fine of court'
ascribes to that payment some of the characteristics peculiar to head-pennies. In 1278, a case
between John de Hertweyton and Robert de Insula was heard in the king's court, and, in the
course of the proceedings, fine of court was defined by the jurors as a payment made for exemp-
tion from attendance at the sheriff's town: 'Finis curie est talis quod ballivi doniini regis venire
solebant ad curiam baronum, et ibidem sedere et audire placita ; et quam cito ballivi istius curie
aliquid fecerint contra legem et consuetudinem regni, statim ballivi domini regis solebant
amerciare sectatores ; propter quod omnes sectatores comitatus et curie baronis adierunt curiam
domini regis et finem fecerunt cum domino rege L libris pro cornagio reddendo ei quolibet
anno, et pro fine curie pro L libris reddendo domino regi bis in septem annis.' Placitorum
Abbreviatio, Record Com. p. 194. According to the custumal of West Chirton, however, fine of
court was payable twice a year; and the payment made twice every seven years, which is
described as 'head-pennies' in the Survey of 1377, is distinguished from fine of court, with
which it may yet have been closely connected.
Page 347. Spearman pedigree. Eleanor, first wife of George Spearman of Preston and Eachwick, was
buried at St. Nicholas', Newcastle, nth March, 1745/6. Her children were (i) Edward,
baptised at St. Nicholas', 3rd February, 1735/6, died February, 1762; (2) John, baptised at
St. Nicholas', 4th April, 1737, died 1774 ; (3) Matthew, baptised 29th April, 1739, buried at St.
John's, Newcastle, 14th January, 1761 ; (4) George, baptised 20th April, 1738, died 1768.
Sir Cuthbert Sharpe's interleaved Surtees, Durham, vol. i. pt. ii. p. 94.
Page 391, line 12, for 'Adam de Tewing' read ' Adam de Maperteshall.'
Page 408, note 2, omit ' Mary, the wife of ... . Ward.'
NORTHUyBCRLAND COUNTY HISTORY VOL VMI
MAP TO ACCOMPANY VOL VIM.
OF A
mSTOKTorSOi
SHOWONl. BOnM),VRIES UK TdWNSHIFS
Srale 1 lOi.GOO
- 1 *
Ancient Parish of Tynemouth I I
Chapelry of Earadon L_J
Boundary of Shire Moor — r
NOB T M
A
History of Northumberland.
TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
INTRODUCTION.
TN this volume is given the history of the ancient parish of Tynemouth,
exclusive of the chapelry of Earsdon which was formerly dependent
upon it. The parish is composed of eight townships, five of which are
included in the modern borough of Tvnemouth. All the townships in the
parish, and Earsdon and Backworth in Earsdon chapelrv, fall within a
single manor, and constitute a district to which the name of Tynemouth-
shire, as used in a restricted sense, is applied ; but formerly this district
was termed the I'li-s/iirc, and, in conjunction with other outlving town-
ships grouped together as the out-shire^ formed a franchise or liberty held
by the prior of Tynemouth for the time being.
Sir Walter Scott's description of Durham — ' half church of God, half
fortress 'gainst the Scots' — is even more applicable to Tvnemouth ; for
the lord of the libertv of Tynemouthshire was not onlv prior of the
premier cell of St. Albans monastery, but held and guarded one of
the strongest castles in the county, a castle which came into the hands
of the crown in 1538 and continues to be the main defence of the Tyne.
In Tynemouthshire the coal trade found its earliest development. The
growth of municipal life within its limits, although of recent origin, is the
natural outcome of a quarrel over river rights, carried on through many-
centuries, between Tynemouth and Newcastle.
Tynemouth parish forms the south-eastern corner of the county, and
covers an area of eleven and a half square miles, extending three miles
northwards along the coast to the Brierdean burn, and three miles up the
Tyne to Howdon. Its population is chiefly distributed among the growing
towns of North Shields, Tynemouth, and Whitley, and totals over si.xty
thousand inhabitants.
Vol. VI 1 1. I
TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
GEOLOGY.
The parish of Tynemouth and chapelry of Earsdon include some of
the most interesting geological features to be found in the whole of
Northumberland. In the first place, the district contains the only outcrops
of Permian strata north of the Tvne, while the Coal-measures include most
of the important seams worked in the county. In some cases, the shales
associated with these beds enclose magnificent specimens of fish and reptiles,
a splendid suit of which, obtained by local collectors, is exhibited in the
Hancock Museum at Newcastle-upon-Tyne ; while the sandstones show
features of some interest. The glacial deposits again are finely exposed in
a continuous section on the north bank of the Tyne, and afford information
of importance concerning the origin of these deposits in Northumberland.
Permian. — These rocks occur in the form of outliers from the main
mass of the Permian beds which bulk so large along the coastline south
of the Tyne. They crop out at Tynemouth, Whitley and Cullercoats, and
also at Hartley, where, however, only the lowest beds are seen capping
the cliff near the old lime-kiln. They occur again at Clousden Hill, near
Killingworth, outside this parish. They include representatives of the
lower yellow sands, marl-slate and lower 'compact' and middle 'cellular'
limestones of Sedgwick and Howse. The most southerly of these outliers,
namely, that under Tynemouth castle, forms the northern limit of the main
mass of the Permian in Durham. The block of the same strata at Whitley,
Cullercoats and Hartley represents a further extension of these beds to the
north, let down and preserved by the Ninety-fathom dyke. How much
farther north in Northumberland the Permian beds were originally deposited
it is now impossible to say, but the presence of the Middle Limestone at
Whitley shows that the whole series must have once extended much
farther north, since that bed was by no means a shore deposit. In this
connection, it is interesting to note the occurrence of a large boulder of
fossiliferous Magnesian Limestone, recorded by Kirkby in 1865, which was
washed out of the till at the south end of Whitley sands, about a mile north
of the present outcrop of these beds. The Lower and Middle Limestones
were formerly well exposed at Whitley quarries, where the lower bed was
noted for its fossils, for Kirkby, writing of these beds in 1865, specially
alludes to this locality as the ' ultima Thule ' of the Magnesian Limestone
GEOI.OGV. 3
and its fossils. Tlie quarry was afterwards drowned out by water, and the
fossiliferous bed, which lay towards the bottom, rendered inaccessible.
In the clifl' at Tyncmouth the lower bed was broken up and formed
into a conglomerate, previous to the deposition of the upper 'concre-
tionary ' (' cellular ') bed upon it. From this bed Kirkby quotes as many
as twenty species on the authority of Professor King. In Northumber-
land, as in manv places in Durham and (iermanv, the Lower Limestone
rests on and passes into a shaly marl-slate, which thins out and disappears
in the south of Durham. It seldom reaches a yard in thickness and its
chief fossil contents are hshes, reptiles and plant remains. This bed was
formerly exposed between tide-marks on the south side of Cullercoats bay,
where it occurred as a sandy bituminous shale. It has here yielded many
fine specimens of ganoid fishes, I'hifxsounis s/r/ii//is, /-'vgoptenis iiiaii-
dibuhUiis and Acciifrophonis i^/ii/)/iv/i/s, together with several species of
I*(i/(ic(jiiisciis, of which /-". Fiicslchciii (Blainv) is bv far the commonest.
From Cullercoats also have been recorded specimens of the shark,
Woodtiika striatuld (Minister), and the ray, jfanassa hitiDitinosa (Schloth).
At the present day (1905) the bed is practically worked out, though the
writer succeeded in obtaining a specimen of Palacoiiiscus at low spring
tide in the summer of 1904. Plant remains are verv poorly preserved in
this exposure, but specimens of ("Unituiiiiit sc/niiiiKjit/cs occur in the slate
under Tynemouth castle.
The yellow sands below form an incoherent unfossiliferous deposit.
Local in character and of variable thickness, they are often false-bedded
and the grains of quartz are frequently much rounded. These characters
point to deposition under shallow water or even shore conditions, and they
may possibly represent an ieolian deposit of the nature of sand dunes.
The sands rest unconformably upon the denuded surface of the Coal-
measures, which under Tynemouth castle consist of red sandstones and
shales, apparently representing beds a little above the ' Yard ' seam.
These red beds were originallv referred bv Sir K. I. Murchison and
the early Northumbrian geologists to the Permian. Thus Howse in 1848
writes: 'They are the "lower-new-red-sandstones'' of English geology, and
from their relative position are considered equivalent to the " Rothe-todte-
liegende " of Germany.' In this statement he is only following Professor
Sedgwick's classification of 1826. In 1857, however, he remarks:
4 TVNEMOUTH PARISH.
At Cullerconts and Tynemouth the Red Sandstone is so evidently conformable, and passes so
gradually into the shales and sandstones of the true Coal-measures, that it is impossible to separate
them, or point out a line of separation,
and lie sfoes on to state that the Red Sandstone contains at Tvnemouth
genuine Coal-measure fossils. In 1863, in his joint work with Kirkbv, he
allows the latter to sum up the question thus ;
Wc include the Lower Red Sandstone as Permian with some hesitation, for it will be seen that
all fossils are Coal-measure species. This fact would certainly have induced us to place it in
the Carboniferous system, rather than with the Permian strata, had we not been aware that several
other Carboniferous species extended up into the Magnesian Limestone. We therefore with some
reluctance ignore for the present the pahuontological evidence, and classify this deposit as we do,
on the grounds of its apparent conformability with the Magnesian Limestone.
In 1889, in his guide to the local fossils, Howse entirely abandons
this view and, in speaking of these two deposits, remarks :
It (the yellow sandj may be the English ei|ui\alent of the (German Wchdicgcndi^ which is
also an anomalous deposit, and, if so, must be admitted to be Permian, as the W'cisiViegcndc^ in some
parts of Germany, contains characteristic and well-known Magnesian Limestone or Permian species.
There is no Kothliegende in these counties, tlie beds so classified are merely the disturbed denuded
edges of the true Coal-measures.
In the last edition of his Outlines, Professor Lebour, referring to these
beds, writes :
Messrs. Daglish, Forster, .Xtkinson and others have always stated their conviction that they were
merely the ordinary Coal-measure rocks stained red at and near their line of contact with the overlying
Permian. This conviction increased experience and observation cause me now to share completely.
The ' smuggler's ' cave in Cullercoats bav has been e.xcavated out of
these beds where they are let down against the north side of the Ninetv-
fathom dyke, and here, as pointed out by Professor Lebour, the rock is
calcareous in spots, giving rise to a curious knobby appearance on the
weathered surfaces, due to segregation of calcareous cementing matter
round certain points.
The unconformitv of these yellow sands upon the Coal-measures, now
generally accepted, is well illustrated by the fact that at Tynemouth the
Permian strata rest on the Red Sandstone not far above the ' Metal ' or
'Grey' seam, while at Killingworth, onlv si.\ miles away, a coal-seam
known as the ' Clousden Hill' seam is found, 1,000 feet higher in the
formation, showing the denudation of a great thickness of Carboniferous
rocks before the deposition of the Permian beds.
GEOLOGY. 5
Historical. — The first published account of the Permian rocks in
Northumberland is apparently that by Winch in 1.S14, in which he maps
the beds as a continuous outcrop as far as Whitley, though he alludes to
the Ninety-fathom dyke at Cullercoats as dislocating the Coal-measures
and passing into the sea, and remarks, 'here is the northern extremity of
the west boundary of the Magnesian Limestone,' but he does not seem to
have realised that the preservation of this patch of Permian was due to the
downthrow on the north side of the fault, for, in describing the quarrv at
Whitley, he evidently considers the fault to be of pre-Permian age. Thus
he says :
A hollow space, formed like a basin or trouyh, is filled u iih llie limestone. The Icnylh of this from
east to west is about a mile, the breadth from north to south 400 yards, the depth seventv feet. The
beds pan over the Ninety-fathom dyke, which has occasioned in them no confusion or dislocation ; so
that there can be little hazard in stating that the beds of the Magnesian Limestone belong to a more
recent formation than those of the coal-field.
He gives a detailed description of these beds, and also records the
presence of strings of galena and of fossils. He also states that the stone
is obtained for lime by lighting fires against the rock, thus causing it to
split off. In the same year Dr. Thomson, in the Annals ijf P/ii/osop/ix,
traces the boundary between the Coal-measures and the Permian deposits.
He alludes to the Ninety-fathom dyke as the 'Great' dvke, stating that
it enters the sea a little south of Hartley. Incidentally also he first
mentions the occurrence of ' fle.Kible ' limestone in the Magnesian rocks :
his e.xamples, however, are taken from Marsden.
In 1S26 Professor Adam Sedgwick published his classical paper on
the Magnesian Limestone. In this work he alludes to the Permian rocks
of Northumberland, and criticises Winch's statement that the Ninety-fathom
dyke passes through the Whitley quarries as irreconcilable with his own
observations regarding the dyke. He records the occurrence of nodules
of galena and blende, and considers that the mode of occurrence of the
former indicates a contemporaneous origin. The ne.xt allusion to these
beds is that in 1831 by Nicholas Wood, who however merely briefly
describes them. Up to this time and until some years later no allusion
appears to have been made to the beautifully preserved fish remains in the
marl-slate of Cullercoats bay. The first printed notice occurs in Howse'
Cat<jlogitc of I\'i niian Fossi/s, published in 1848, where he remarks :
6 TVNEMOrTH PARISH.
This bed is exceedingly inleresling on actouni of the nmneious remains of fishes which are
preserved in it. They are found pressed quite flat between the lamina- of which this bed is composed, in
the following localities, Whitley quarries and Cullercoats bay, etc. Last summer, while working some
marl-slate in Cullercoats bay, to which our attention was directed by Mr. A. Hancock, we obtained
two specimens of a Paltuoiiisais,
SO that the discovery of this ricii locality must evidently have been made
by Albany Hancock about 1847, but an account of it was only published by
him in the A'ofiiral History y'raiisdcfioiis for 1849. In his Moiioiirdpli of
Pcrniiaii Fossils, published in 1850, William King figures several species of
invertebrata from the Whitley quarries, as for instance : S\nocladia vir-
gulaccn, Cvnt/iocriiiiis iitinosiis, Spiiifcr d/attis, Spirifcriiia cristiitd,
CiimaropJwrid glohii/iiid, etc. He also figures species of fish which
occur in the marl-slate of Cullercoats. In 1857 Howse published the
supplement to his former catalogue, and in 1863 appeared the Synopsis
of tJic Geology of Diirhdin din/ I'dit of Xort/iiiiiihcr/iUKf, bv Howse
and Kirkby, a pamphlet published especially in connection with the visit
of the British Association to Newcastle. In this he records most of the
important points in connection with the Permian rocks in Northumberland.
In the same year appeared Binnev and Kirkby's translation of (ieinitz'
work. The J)xds, as far as it referred to the British Permian beds. Since
this time but little has been published which is new on these beds in
Northumberland. .V fine collection of fish from the marl-slate at Culler-
coats, collected by the late Mr. Dinning, has however been presented to
the Hancock Museum.
In 1878 Professor Lebour published his Outlines of the Geology of
Xoithuinlierhuul which again summarises our knowledge of the Permian
deposits of Northumberland, while a second edition of this work was issued
in 1886. Lastly, in 1889, Mr. Howse completed his guide to the local
fossils in the Hancock Museum, in which will be found the latest list of
Northumberland fossils from the marl-slate and Magnesian Limestone of
Cullercoats and Whitlev.
The Codl-inedsiires. — The beds of this formation constitute the whole
of the solid geology of the district, with the exception of the small out-
liers of Permian rocks mentioned above, and must represent an aggregate
thickness of some 1,200 to 1,400 feet. They consist of sandstones, fire-
stones and shales, with occasional coal-seams and clay-ironstones. The
latter are often rich in lamellibranch remains {Aiithiaeosid, Carboiiieoln),
GEOLOGY.
when they constitute the well known Mussel Bands of the miner, and
frequently contain over i8 per cent, of iron protoxide. At least three of
these mussel bands occur in this portion of the coal-field at definite horizons;
one a few feet above the Low Main seam, another close above the High
Main, while a third is recorded from the Seaton Delaval colliery from
above the 'Yard' coal. The first of these is well seen in the Whitley
cliffs, in connection with the conglomerate mentioned below, while another
band is visible along the coast near Hartlev.
The coals in the district include most of the important seams worked
in Northumberland down to the Low Main seam. The highest coal re-
corded is the so-called ' Clousden Hill' seam, described by Mr. Hutton
on the authority of the late Mr. N. Wood as occurring in a quarrv on
the north side of the Ninety-fathom dyke, just on the western limit of
this district, 800 yards south of Killingworth House and 450 feet above
the Monkton seam. The chief seams below this, ;in descending order,
are the Five-quarter seam and the Three-quarter or Seventy-fathom coal,
both of the Cowpen district, near Blyth ; the High Main, the Grey and
Blake seams of Seghill and Cramlington, the Yard Coal, the Bensham
seam and the Low Main or Hutton seam. At the present day the most
important seam worked is the Low Main, which occurs at a wonderfully
uniform depth ; thus at Bebside colliery it lies at 93 fathoms from the
surface, at Low Newsham colliery at 104 fathoms, at Cramlington colliery
at 72 fathoms, and at Seaton Delaval at 102 fathoms. The High Main,
once the most notable seam, is now practically worked out or abandoned ;
it formerly supplied the famous ' Wallsend ' coal of the south of the
district.
The general dip of the beds, as seen on the coast between Seaton
Sluice and Cullercoats, is uniformly to the south-west. North of Seaton,
however, and inland, the beds are much disturbed by faults. South of
the Ninety-fathom dyke, the beds, where exposed on the coast, dip due
south as far as the fault occupied by the Tynemouth dyke. South of this
again, near the Black Middens, the dip changes to east.
The chief faults traversing this coal-field, though irregular, run roughly
east and west in the general direction of the dip of the beds. Their chief
effect is therefore a lateral shifting of the outcrep, but nevertheless the
dip of the beds is never great, being usually between two and ten degrees.
8 TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
The Ninety-fathom dyke is however an exception to this rule, since the
beds in the neighbourhood of Cullercoats are dipping south, while the
fault is a 'strike' fault running due west from the coast. As a result
we <^et all the seams from the Low Main to the High Main repeated at
the surface on the south side of the fault. The Low Main thus crops out
on the coast just south of Cullercoats bay, the Bensham seam runs into the
sea in the middle of the Long Sands, while the ' Yard ' coal is seen in the
cliff midway between Sharpness Point and Tynemouth castle, and a small
seam which is frequently exposed after storms beneath the Boulder-clay,
west of the Black Middens, is probably the 'Grey' or 'Blake' seam. The
High Main is not seen on the coast but crops out inland from Chirton
Hill by the south of Murton to Backworth station, west of which it dis-
appears against the fault.
Another important fault is the Brierdean dyke, which has a downthrow
of eightv feet to the north and shifts the outcrop of the High Main coal
from Earsdon to a position midwav between Hartley and Brierdean farms.
At Crag Point, again, farther north, we find a pair of dislocations which
throw the strata down eighty-five degrees to the north, and turn the dip
on the north side round to the north-west. At Seaton Sluice, on the
other hand, a fault lets down the beds seventy-eight feet on the south, so
that these two faults practically neutralize one another. A peculiar group
of faults, radiating like a ' starred ' pane of glass, occur round Cowpen
colliery, all of which have a downthrow on their southern side. Lastly, in
the extreme south of Tynemouth parish, a fault occurs with a downthrow
of 1 80 feet to the south, which runs from the Narrows at the mouth of
the Tyne westward to Millbank.
The sandstones vary considerably in colour and texture, but form a
valuable building stone in the district ; they are frequently false-bedded
and show shallow water characteristics. In 1852 Dr. Sorby attempted to
work out the direction from which the currents had flowed during the
depositions of these sandstones between the Tyne and Seaton Sluice.
From careful obseryation he deduced that the drift ripples in the Red
Sandstone under Tynemouth castle show a mean direction from north
nine degrees .east, while the beds at Cullercoats show a direction north
twenty degrees east. The sandstones between Hartley and Seaton Sluice,
which he considers to be the same beds, showed a drift from north seven-
PLATE I.
Fig. 1.— The Ninety-fathom Dyke at Cullercoats
(SHOWING THE COAL-MEASURES ON THE LEFT BROUGHT AGAINGST THE PERMIAN ON THE RIGHT. SEE P. 8).
Fig. 2 -Table Rocks. Whitley
(SHOWING MARINE PENUDATION ALONG A JOINT, SEE P. l6).
GEOLOGY. 9
teen degrees east. He thought the current must have been a very uniform
one and indicated a considerable velocity. He noted great variety in
individual beds of the true Coal-measures on this coast and sums up his
results as follows :
We have in the coal strata of the coast section, between Tynemouth and Seaton Sluice, beds drifted
from very various quarters, but yet they may all be divided into two leading groups, namely, those
which have come from some point between north-east, passing through north and west to south-west ;
and those from between south and east, there being none from any point between south and south-east,
or east and north-east.
Among Other important sandstones which crop out in this district,
special mention may be made of the well-known Burradon firestone between
Killingworth and Seghill. Many of these sandstones show concentric fer-
ruginous staining, and sometimes this is concentrated into concretionary
nodules. A good example occurs in the cliff immediatelv under North-
umberland Terrace.
With regard to the shales, manv of these yield plant remains, which
have been especially collected from the beds associated with the High
Main, Bensham, and Low Main seams. Specimens of these are displayed
in the collection at Barras Bridge. They have been procured from the
Low Main at Newsham, Killingworth and Cramlington, and from the Iron-
stone shale at Whitley, and no doubt occur in connection with other seams.
Of still greater interest are the unique collections of fish and amphibians
which have been obtained in such quantities and in such a fine state of
preservation from the shale associated with the Low Main seam at Newsham
colliery. Over thirty papers have been written by Owen, Agassiz, Albany
Hancock, Atthey, Barkas and Embleton on the remains discovered in
this bed, a summary of which, by Mr. Howse, will be found in The
Industrial Resources of the Tyjie, and also in the Guide to the Local
Fossils, published by the same author in 1889. The unique collection
made by the late Mr. Atthey is exhibited in the Newcastle museum. This
collection includes thirty species of fish and six species of amphibians, four
of them being originallv described from this locality, while of the fish
the interesting species of the rays, J-anassa lingnaeforinis, together with
six species of the dipnoid Ctenodus, were first discovered by Atthey in
this shale. Indeed, so rich was this shale in fish remains that at one time
Mr. T. P. Barkas, who was the recipient of many of the fossils discovered
in the pit, was reduced to advertising gifts of typical specimens to any
Vol. VIII. 3
lO TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
readers of the Geological Magazine who would relieve him of his over-
whelming store. Much interest was excited at one time by the alleged
discovery by the same gentleman of mammalian remains from this bed.
Subsequent investigation, however, failed to confirm this identification.
Quite recently (1904) an interesting discovery has been made by Professor
Lebour and Dr. Smythe in connection with the order of succession of the
Coal-measures in this district, and the writer is indebted to these gentlemen
for very kindly furnishing him with the following notes, in anticipation of
a fuller description elsewhere. The discovery was made in connection
with a series of shales and their beds of sandstone underlying the Table
Rock sandstone in Whitley bay. These beds are only exposed at low tide,
and the shore is inaccessible at other times, a fact which may account for
this interesting section having escaped the attention of previous observers.
The junction between this series and the cliff-making sandstone above it is marked by a number
of stratigraphical irregularities. These irregularities are rendered specially noticeable by carefully
mapping the outcrop of a band of clay-ironstone crowded with Carhonkola {Anlhnuosia), which forms
part of the lower set of deposits referred to. It is then clear that whilst the overlying sandstone is
continuous and practically unbroken from its emergence above sea-level nearly as far as the Brier
Dene, with a small dip inland which makes its strike coincide with the coastline, it is far otherwise
with the mussel-band and its associated strata. These, though often for several yards running in
apparent concordance of strike with the cliff-sandstone, over and over again become bent into folds —
some gentle and others of violent pitch — most of which have their axes at right angles, or nearly so,
to the strike of the sandstone. Moreover, these folds in numerous cases have given rise to small
reversed faults of high {i.e., flat) hade. Besides these disturbances, all in the same direction, the
lower series is broken up by a few ordinary faults. Now these folds, reversed faults and nearly all
the normal fau'ts, affect the lower beds only, including the guiding mussel-band, and leave the sand-
stone above undisturbed. Here, therefore, are all the characters of an unconformity accompanied with
occasionally great discordance of dip ; and some of the characters of the floor of a thrust.
Examining now the cliff sandstone equally minutely, it is found that what change can be observed
in it is chiefly this : in proceeding northwards the formation becomes less and less massive until near
the northern end of the cliff-section, where a marked interlacing of shale and sandstone takes place,
some of the wedging out and in of the constituent beds in one or two places showing by internal
faulting that some differential movement undoubtedly took place, but only, be it noted, where the
rock ceases to be essentially one massive deposit. Thus the sandstone, as well as the beds
beneath, bears witness to something of the nature of thrusting, and the evidence from both points to
the movement having been from south to north. But there might be thrusting without unconformity.
The evidence of the denudation of the lower before the deposition of the higher beds is completed
by the fact that fragments of the former are found in many places in the bottom position of the latter,
and that these fragments include rolled and waterworn pebbles of the inussel-band already mentioned.
It is thus concluded (and many minor details uphold the conclusion) that the Table Rock sandstone
was not deposited until the shales and other beds beneath it, including the mussel-band, had been
denuded, and that after such deposition had taken place, the upper sandstone (and probably all above
it) was moved a certain distance, chiefly to the north over the edges of lower beds.
The mussel-band is supposed to be the shelly layer a few fathoms above the Low Main coal,
but this is by no means certain. What the e.>cact horizon of the Table Rock sandstone may be, except
that it must be high up in the Coal-measures, is by no means certain either.
GEOLOGY. I I
It is clear that though the unconformity and accompanying thrust may not be, either of them,
large in amount, yet in the absence of evidence on this point, their occurrence is well worth notice,
since, should the lapse of time represented by the one and the shift due to the other be greater than
is supposed, they may lead to an explanation of the difficulty which has frequently been felt in
attempting to correlate some of the coal-seams in the south-east corner of Northumberland, and
especially in that portion of the Durham Coal-measures which in the north-east of that county are
concealed by the overlying Permian bed.
Dykes. — Five important Whin dykes reach the coast between the Tyne
and Blyth. They are exactly parallel to one another, and belong to
Professor Lebour's east and west series ; the most southernly reaches the
coast at the mouth of the Tyne, while the most northernly appears in the
river Blyth, just beyond the parish boundary.
Of the three intermediate dykes, the two most southernly run about a
quarter of a mile apart and reach the coast a little south of Seaton Sluice
and at Crag Point respectively, while the one still farther to the north
appears to run out to sea under the Blyth links, due east of Barras farm.
The three southernly intrusions are connected with a set of east and west
faults, but they do not, as a rule, seem to be affected by any of the cross
faults associated with them, and would therefore appear to be younger than
those dislocations ; in fact, on account of their parallelism with similar dykes
north of the Scottish border, they are usually regarded as of Tertiary age.
They are, however, far from continuous, and have a habit of dying
out and overlapping along parallel fissures, especially in their westerly
continuation beyond the boundary of the district. This feature is well
seen, however, on the coast in the case of the Seaton dyke.
Winch evidently regarded the Seaton and Hartley dykes as one and
the same, for he remarks, 'Another (dyke), about three yards wide, appears
in the cliffs over Seaton Sluice : its direction is W.N.W., and it may
again be seen in Hartlev burn.' Wood also mentions the Hartlev dyke,
and alludes to its connection with a fault, and also describes the manner
in which the coal in contact with it is charred where it is seen in the cliff.
This intrusion also shows, incidentally, a good example of the vertical
dying-out of a dyke, as pointed out by Professor Lebour, for, near the
spring on the beach, it is at least twelve feet wide at the foot of the cliff,
where it is seen dying away upwards after dividing into two tongues, the
longer of which thins out beneath a bed of sandstone about eleven feet
below the surface, though the fault, along which it was intruded, is still
seen continuing upwards.
12 TYNEMOUTH PARISM.
The same feature is reported by Dr. Teall from another section inland
where the dyke was exposed in a small quarry on the east side of the dene.
Here the dyke was seen to diminish five feet in width in a height of about
twenty feet, being about ten feet wide at the bottom and five feet at the
top of the quarry, where it terminates abruptly upwards, arching up the
shales above it. The Hartley dyke has been met with in the Shankhouse
pit to the west where it was seen to be seven or eight feet wide and
contained a fault breccia in the centre. The northern exposure in this
colliery showed an example of the duplicating and overlapping mentioned
above, one intrusion measuring several feet and the other only eleven inches
in thickness. As usual the coal here was charred and altered into 'white
whin.' The rock is very uniform in different exposures and resembles very
closely the Tynemouth and Brunton dykes.
The Tynemouth dyke shows features of particular interest. It was
first briefly described by Winch in 1814, in his paper read before the
Geological Society, as follows :
A basaltic dyke six feet wide may be seen among the rocks of the coal formation at the south-
eastern comer of the promontory on which Tynemouth castle stands.
This is his description on page 24 of the above work ; he does not, how-
ever, seem to have visited it himself, for before concluding his paper he
appears to have forgotten this description and he proceeds to redescribe
it as follows :
The next basaltic dyke worthy of notice is one which, passing from west to east under Tynemouth
priory, may be seen to divide the strata at the south-east point of Prior's Haven, where it forms a wall
twelve feet broad in the cliff, and in the rocks below a vein or fissure twelve inches in breadth and
filled with tufaceous matter intersects the dyke from top to bottom near its centre, and the basalt
strongly resembles the Coley-hill stone.
In 1826 Professor Sedgwick, in discussing the date of intrusion of the
north of England basaltic dykes, remarks :
The Trap dyke at the south-west end of Tynemouth castle cliff is unfortunately of no assistance to
this enquiry, because the capping of yellow limestone does not extend to that extremity of the cliflf where
the dyke is present. Such is the imperfect evidence, or rather such is the absence of all direct evidence,
in favour of the conclusion, that the Trap dykes in our northern coal-fields belong to an age which is
anterior to the deposition of the Magnesian Limestone.
The next mention we find of this dyke is by Nicholas Wood in 1831.
In describing the beds at Tynemouth he remarks, ' a whin dyke, shown in
section, from twelve to fourteen feet in width, and difl'ering in no respect
GEOLOGY. 13
from those generally found in this district, here intersects the Yellow Sand-
stone and Red Sandstone, at right angles to the stratification of the beds ;
but it cannot, from the incumbent alluvial matter, be ascertained if it also
pierces the Magnesian Limestone.'
At the present day this dyke is still exposed in the south-west corner
of Prior's Haven, just at the angle where the flight of steps descends from
the north pier to the shore. The exposure shows a width of about ten feet
and contains a brecciated quartz vein, six inches wide, near the middle.
This is no doubt the vein, 'twelve inches wide, filled with tufaceous matter,'
described by Winch. This central vein is very characteristic of many whin
dykes ; it is noticeably present in the inland exposures of the Hartley
dyke, and is no doubt a feature resulting from the lateral cooling and
shrinkage of the basalt, leaving a plane of weakness in the centre, along
which movement or infiltration has taken place, as suggested by Dr. Teall.
The dyke was also exposed in 1882 in the excavations for the new
railway station. Dr. Teall, who examined this exposure, writes :
The most interesting feature connected with this exposure was the evidence of a breach in the
continuity of the dyke, accompanied by a lateral shift in the outcrop, amounting to seventeen yards.
The width of the dyke was about eleven or twelve feet, and it possessed a hade to the north. Farther
west the same dyke has been met with near Billy Mill by Mr. Flavell, during the construction of works
by the North Shields Water Company. Still farther to the west, near Newcastle, occurs the well-known
Coley-hill dyke, which was formerly worked on a very extensive scale for road-metal, and the course
of which is now indicated by a deep trench.
This dyke agrees in general direction with the Tynemouth dyke ;
Winch appears to have regarded the two as connected, and Dr. Teall
comes to the same conclusion from a microscopic examination of the two
rocks. In appearance the Tynemouth dyke is a dark compact rock,
containing crystalline aggregates of anorthite felspar embedded in a dark,
finely crystalline ground- mass composed of augite, lath-shaped felspars and
interstitial matter. Olivine is occasionally present, forming a rock to
which Rosenbusch has given the name of trolleite. The rock often exhibits
small white spots scattered irregularly through it. These are due partly
to the presence of amygdules and partly to the porphyritic crystals of
anorthite felspar. Dr. Teall, who has described the rock in detail, points
out the interest of these spots. The porphyritic felspars are crystalline
aggregates in which the outer zone of felspar substance possesses optical
properties diff'erent from the central portion. The spherical amygdaloids
vary in size from that of a mustard seed to that of a peppercorn, and as a
14 Tynemouth parish.
general rule vary in quantity inversely with the anorthite aggregates. They
consist of calcite and frequently contain a chalcedony border. One point
of interest is the manner in which, during the formation of the bubble, the
lath-shaped felspars have been pushed aside and arranged tangentially to
the vesicles, while the interstitial matter is in no wise affected, being of
later consolidation. These vesicles have been compared by Dr. Teall to
the bubbles which rise in the contents of a soda water bottle as the cork is
partially removed. In some cases the vesicles are filled partly or entirely
with interstitial matter, which evidently entered on the escape or conden-
sation of the gas. On the whole, the rock agrees microscopically as well
as macroscopically with the Coley-hill dyke.
The dyke is intruded in the Coal-measures. The Permian strata are
not seen in contact with it at the present day. Nicholas Wood's statement
that in 1831 it could be seen intersecting the yellow sand is therefore
of interest, but if the absence of the Permian beds above the dyke at the
present day is due to subsequent denudations, it is curious that Sedgwick,
writing in 1826, five years before Wood, should expressly regret that the
dyke could not be seen in contact with the Permian strata. It is true that
Sedgwick uses the expression 'yellow limestone,' but he specially insists on
the inclusion of the lower sands in the Permian formation, and also states
that the same sandstone is twenty-five feet thick under Tynemouth priory.
It is obvious then that no such penetration of the yellow sands by the
dyke was visible in 1826. The above statement by Winch, in 18 14, that
the dyke penetrated the coal formation, without any allusion to the Permian
strata, is also against Wood's statement. An examination therefore of
such records as we possess leaves the date of intrusion of the dykes, as
testified by this critical example, still an open question. There is, however,
evidence of a different character which seems to bear on this question.
The east and west faults traversing the rocks in this neighbourhood appear
to affect the Permian rocks as well as the Coal-measures, though this is
by no means universally the case in Durham. This is notably seen in the
case of the Ninety-fathom dyke and also several minor faults which are
visible in the Tynemouth castle cliff ; one of these is even figured by
Sedgwick. The Tynemouth dyke occurs along one of these faults, which
has a downthrow of fourteen feet to the north. It is obvious that the
presence of this fault has directly influenced the intrusion of the basalt
GEOLOGY. 15
along this line, and that the dyke is posterior to the formation of the fault.
There is therefore strong indirect evidence that the date of intrusion of
the Tynemouth dyke is post-Permian.
Glacial Deposits. — The deposits of this age are, on the whole, similar
to those described in previous volumes of this history. The section, how-
ever, exposed between the Lifeboat station and the Low Lights, exhibits
some points of special interest. The Boulder-clay here occupies the whole
of the cliff, constantly giving rise to landslips. The clay is mostly unstrati-
fied and full of boulders of local rocks, together with Cheviot andesites
and Scottish granites. No undoubted examples of Norwegian rocks have
been found, but, at the top of the cliff, fragments of sharp flint and rounded
pebbles of clear quartz occur in considerable abundance. Writing of
this deposit, Mr. Howse remarks : ' It is at present uncertain whether this
bed is a reconstruction of the Boulder-clay or a prolongation on to this
coast of the Scandinavian drift. The flints seem to bear a very striking
resemblance to some collected in the latter formation near Hamburg.'
Though this was written in 1863, no definite solution of the problem has
yet been arrived at. It is difficult to see how any ' reconstruction ' of the
Boulder-clay could produce true flints. We know of no Upper Cretaceous
rocks cropping out in Northumberland from which they could have been
derived, and they do not occur in the Boulder-clay farther north. Some
of the layers near the upper part of this deposit also contain lenticular
patches of sand which have very much the appearance of frozen fragments
of the sea-bottom brought up to their present position by the shearing
action of ice. This suggestion seems to be confirmed by the presence of
marine shells, found in the sands by Mr. Howse.
An elevated beach, composed of fragments of Magnesian Limestone chiefly, with remains of flints
and also pebbles from the Boulder-clay interstratified with beds of sand and grit and a very fine glacial
silt, occurs in a section lately made in the castle-yard at Tynemouth. It contains also the remains of a
marine shell, Cyprina Islaiidicii, some fragments of which have been also detected in the Boulder-clay.
This beach deposit rests on a thin bed of clay with pebbles, which appears to be a reconstruction of the
Boulder-clay, under which is the proper rock surface. It reposes on a slope to the west, and contains
material derived from some Magnesian Limestone cliff— from a cliff", in fact, which must have been
situated considerably east of the present line of coast. The invasion of the sea from the west is only
what we might expect when we remember the presence of undoubted Scandinavian erratics along our
east coast, from the orthite-bearing 'Savil' boulder of Sanda Island to the blocks of 'rhombic' porphyry
on the Cromer coast.
Another very interesting feature was exposed at the base of this
section a few years ago, but is no longer visible in 1904. It occurred
a little beyond the last outcrop of sandstone of the Black Middens, which
1 6 TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
disappears under the beach, going westwards. Here the lower part of the
Boulder-clav was seen to enclose layers of the sandstone broken up and
folded into arches and troughs, and dragged out over the lowest layers
of the Boulder -clay to the west, showing that the surface of the sand-
stone had been torn off by some solid object, travelling from east to west,
and dragged over a bed of Boulder-clay previously deposited. The
fragments, though disconnected, nevertheless still maintained their relative
positions.' This fact, taken together with the manner in which it was
folded, showed plainlv that it must have been the work of ice. This proof
of motion from east to west appears to afford additional evidence that the
Northumberland ice was not free to move eastward, but was blocked and
directed westward by some obstruction in the North Sea ; it is difficult to
see what other obstruction this could be but foreign ice from the north-east.
It is impossible to conclude this brief notice of the geology of a very
interesting district without a word regarding the present disintegration of
the coast line. This is naturally taking place most rapidly along the
portion of the coast formed of Boulder-clay. Thus a massive stone wall,
built by the then duke of Northumberland in 1811, supported the banks
below Percy Square. The lime resisted disintegration longer than the
stone, and stood out in sharp ridges. After the destruction of this wall and
its outlying timber grovne, the cliff became undermined and landslips began
to take place in the Boulder-clay. The front row of cottages in Percy
Square disappeared, and up to 1892 about a hundred feet of frontage west
of the front cottages had disappeared, while in 1827 the cliff is stated to
have extended eighty feet farther seaward. Again, between Percy Square
and the Howling, four acres have disappeared. Mr. Robert Tate estimated
that 556,600 tons had fallen into the Tyne estuary in si.xty-five years.
The coast line is therefore here wasting at the rate of 8,560 tons a year. In
other portions of the coast the sandstones and shales are being denuded
at a considerable rate. One of the best examples of the method by which
the sea obtains access into the heart of the sandstone is seen at the Table
Rocks. Here a joint running nearly parallel to the coast-line has been
enlarged by the seas coming from the north-east, a long water-worn tunnel
penetrates the rock, and large rounded blocks can be seen at low tide
lying in the trench, while farther inland the joint can be traced along which
the destruction is taking place.
' See Plate II.
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COLLIERIES AND THE COAL TRADE.
COLLIERIES AND THE COAL TRADE.
The Tynemouthshire district has many natural advantages for coal
mining, both underground and on the surface. The seams comprise the
whole of the series met with in the North of England coal-field, lying at
comparatively shallow depths with moderate rates of inclination, and
presenting no serious mining difficulties. The surface is level and well
suited for the making of railways giving access to the rivers and sea,
and so affording a cheap mode of carriage for the produce of the mines.
Owing to a fold or syncline in the measures, the axis of which runs in
a northerly direction across the south-east corner of the Northumberland
coal-field, the beds in the Tynemouth district have, generally speaking,
an easterly rise, so that the upper seams of coal outcrop in lines more or
less parallel to the sea coast, the lines of outcrop passing, however, under
the sea in the northern portion of the ground as the coast line trends to
the north-west. The southern portion of the ground is intersected by the
fault known as the Ninety-fathom dyke, which throws up the beds to the
south and results in a repetition of the outcrops of the upper seams.
Considering these natural facilities, it is not surprising to find that coal
mining dates back to very early times, and that the industry has for
centuries played an important part in the history of the district. Early
records show that coal was worked in Tynemouth during the latter part
of the thirteenth century, and that the monks were then already deriving
an income from collieries there.' Mention is also made of coal mines
belonging to the priory at Merden, or Marden, in 131 6,- at Earsdon in
1376,^ and at the time of the dissolution a mine of coal in Tynemouth was
in the prior's own possession.* The priors appear to have either worked
the coal themselves, or let it to others to win, in the neighbourhood of
Tynemouth, Preston, Chirton, Monkseaton and Earsdon.''
Their operations were no doubt confined to the eastern portion of
this area, where the seams crop out to the day, allowing coal to be got
at shallow depths. There is a reference^ which points to the shipment of
' Brand, History of Nnccastk, vol. ii. p. 591. ■ Tynemouth Chartulary, fol. 168.
" Ibid. fols. 53 b and 32. ' Gibson, Monastery of Tynemouth, vol. i. p. 216.
^ Duke of Northumberland's MSS. " Northumbrian Assize Rolls, Surt. Soc. No. SS, p. 163.
Vol. VIII, 3
I 8 TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
coal by the monks at Shields as early as 1269, but the trade was probably
chiefly a ' landsale ' one for the use of the prior and convent and their
tenants, and for salt making, several salt pans being held by them.'
After the dissolution of the monastery in 1539, although there arc
manv records of grants and leases of lands and coal mines formerly
belonging to the convent, there are but few details which indicate the
situation of the various workings. It is, however, possible to trace the
position occupied by some of the mines towards the close of the century.
In 1584 a pit was working at Preston, while the Monkseaton pits, which
appear to have been worked at a former date, were drowned out and
East Chirton was unopened." In 1590 the Preston pits were being worked
bv Peter Delaval, a merchant of London, who was then the farmer of
the queen's mines in Preston,^ and in the same year the ninth earl of
Northumberland was raising coal in Tynemouth under a right acquired
by his father in 1569,' although the mines appear to have been worked
by him for some years prior to this date.
The Tynemouth and Preston pits were apparently worked with vigour
for some vears, the former partly by the earl of Northumberland and
partly by his lessees, the latter by the successors of Peter Delaval, who
had failed about the year 1602.'' The Tynemouth mines were at that time
situated in the town fields to the north of the village, near the outcrop
of a seam (probably the Bensham seam) which is described as being 'a
vard and three fingers thick,' tiie pits being about five fathoms in depth
and, as was usual at this period, placed close together. It is recorded
that pits of this description could be sunk in twelve days at a cost of
about £2 each, and were capable of producing about twenty score of six-
peck tubs or corves a day, equal to about thirty-eight tons." In 1614 the
' compasse ' of the earl's mines in the town fields and demesnes was three
miles, and the farthest was distant about a mile and a quarter from the river,
where a staith had been erected about a quarter of a mile from the sea.'
It is not quite clear where the Preston workings were situated, but probably
they were on the east side of the township. The coals produced by these
collieries appear to have been chiefly 'pan coals' for salt making, which
' Gibson, vol. i. p. 216. ■ Exchequer Special Commission, 26 Eliz. No. 1743.
" Exchequer Bills and Answers, 32 Eliz. No. 54. ' Ihid. 33 Eliz. No. 57.
> Duke of Northumberland's MSS. ^ Ihid. 'Ibid.
COLLIERIES AND THE COAL TRADE. 1 9
were sold on the river in competition with Newcastle coals and were also
sent coastwise to be used in the alum industry, which by this tiine had
been established in Cleveland.
In 1624 a grant was made by the Crown of the coal in Murton and
Billy Moor to Henrv, ninth earl of Northumberland,' by whom this coal,
together with the Tynemouth pits, was leased to Ralph Keed, with right
of access to the river for shipment." The subsequent grants of Flatworth
to William Collins and Edward Fenn (assigned bv them to the earl of
Northumberland in 1637)," and of pits in Preston and East and Middle
Chirton in 1633 to William Scriven and William Eden* (by whom East
and Middle Chirton and Monkseaton coal mines were conveyed to Ralph
Reed and George Milbourne),' seem to show that the trade of the district
was extending and the number of collieries increasing.
With the extension of workings into Chirton, Billy Moor and Flat-
worth, the district occupied by the High Main seam had been entered
upon and a better and more cheaply won class of coal rewarded the
efforts of the adventurers. Tynemouth continued as a ' pan coal ' colliery,
but Preston, probably owing to the poor qualitv of its produce, seems to
have been closed after the opening of the High Main pits. It was
reopened again in 1684,'' but onlv for a short time, the coal being suited
only for salt and lime making.
In 1645 Reed was succeeded in the occupation of Flatworth by Ralph
Gardner of Chirton, author of Eiiii/aiufs Grievance discovered in Relation
to the Coal Trade. Gardner was unfortunate in his tenancy. The pro-
hibition of the Newcastle coal trade at the time of the civil wars, and
the occupation of his premises bv the king's and the parliamentary forces,
with the attendant ' plundering and heavy quartering by them and the
insatiable Scots,' involved him in heavy losses,' though it is not clear
whether he was obliged to give up the colliery in consequence.
The mines along the outcrop of the High Main on Shire Moor
continued to be worked during the remainder of the seventeenth and
commencement of the eighteenth centuries. During this period the lessees
were extending their operations to the dip, and with the limited appliances
' Gibson, vol. i. p. 242. ■ Duke of Northumberland's MSS.
' Gibson, vol. i. pp. 243-246. ' Ibid. ' Duke of Northumberland's MSS.
° Tomlinson, Historical Soks on CidUnoats, Whitky ami Monkseaton, p. 40.
• Duke of Northumberland's MSS.
20 TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
then in use for freeing the mines from water (the pumps, as well as the
'gins' for raising the coal, being then generally worked by horses) were
beginning to find it difficult to go farther. In working the shallow mines
in this district, support for the surface was generally left in accordance
with the leases. The restrictions contained in these did not, however,
prevent damage being done, of so severe a nature that, in the words of
one agent, the land would ' neither bear meadow nor corn while the world
endures.''
In 1717 the lease of Billv Moor ran out, and the lessees failed to
come to terms for renewal, their intention at that time being to work the
coal through Whitley and ship it at Cullercoats. Subsequent advances
on the part of the lessors failed to effect a letting, and the ground
remained untouched until 1755, when a lease was granted to Matthew
Bell and partners."
In the latter portion of the seventeenth century collieries were
opened out in the neighbourhood of Whitley and Monkseaton to the
north of the Ninety-fathom dyke. In 1676' a lease of the coal in
Whitley, which appears to have been previously held from 1673^ t»y
John Dove, was granted by the trustees of Lady Elizabeth Percy to John
Rogers, one of the conditions being that half the cost of building a pier
and quay at Cullercoats should be allowed out of the rents. Rogers
appears to have been a man of energy ; he carried out the construction
of the little harbour at Cullercoats in conjunction with his partners, John
Carr and Henry Hudson, and together they worked the collieries in
Whitley and Monkseaton for a considerable number of years. The
Monkseaton pits were probably on the outcrop of the High Main seam,
while those at Whitley worked the Low Main at a shallow depth near
the sea. Both were connected by means of wagonways with the harbour
at Cullercoats, where there had also been established a large number of
salt pans, the produce of which was exported from the harbour.
The use of wooden railways or 'Newcastle roads,' as they were else-
where called, had commenced earlier in the century, but had not become
general until about 1670.^ The wagons were drawn by horses and
carried 42 hundredweights or more, instead of 17^ hundredweights, which
' Duke of Northumberland's MSS. - Ibiii. '■' Ibid. ' Tomlinson, Hid. Notes, \i. 39.
■" Pnc. Archaological Institute, 1852, vol. i. p. 180.
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COLLIERIES AND THE COAL TRADE. 21
had been the load of the old horse wains they superseded. To keep the
top level on a falling gradient they had wheels of unequal size, made at
first of wood and afterwards of iron, though for many years one pair of
wooden wheels was retained on each wagon so that the brake, or ' convoy,'
might be applied to them. The wagonways at Whitley in 1704 had oak
rails and sleepers on the main line, while the rails on the branches to
the various pits were made of ash or birch, the rubbish from the salt pans
being used, as it was then described, ' for the ballast of the wagonway.' '
After the year 1710'^ the prosperitv of the Whitley collieries and
salt works began to wane. The pits had exhausted the rise coal available
to them and new winnings were required farther to the dip. The pier
was very subject to damage by storms, and the repairs to it were a heavv
charge upon the undertaking. The lessees attempted a fresh winning at
Whitlev, but the unusuallv heavv feeders met with caused the abandonment
of the enterprise, with the result that they had to fall back upon Monk-
seaton for their output.
Between 1716 and 1726 the salt trade declined greatly, and in the
latter year the export was closed and six of the pans transferred to Blvth.
In 1722' the partners were prepared to make a further attempt to win
the dip coal and proposed to risk additional capital in the erection of a
'fire engine,' as the pumping engines of the Newcomen type, then
recently introduced, were stvled. Thev failed, however, to arrange terms
with the lessor, and the once prosperous concern shortly afterwards came
to an end, the coal-field attached to it remaining derelict for manv vears.
Newcomen's invention of the atmospheric engine and its application to
pumping purposes brought about a marked change in the condition of the
industry. These appliances had come into general use in the Newcastle
district by 1721,^ and in the latter half of the century improvements in
the production of iron led to that material being more generally utilized
in collieries. Cast iron was used instead of brass for the cylinders, so
that larger and more powerful pumping engines could be built, and this,
together with the substitution of iron for the old wooden pumps, resulted
in a large increase in the number of these machines and the extension of
mining operations to greater depths.^
' Papers in the possession of .Mr. \V. H. Ryott. " Toinlinson, Hist. Notes, p. 43 et Sti/.
' Duke of Northumberland's .MSS. ' Deane, The Coal Traiie, p. 22.
' Galloway, Annah of Coal Mining, p. 260.
22 TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
During this period the High .Main scam was being developed farther
to the dip bv the Fhitworth, Murton and Shire Moor collieries, over the
ground extending from the Ninety-fathom dyke to the Chirton fault. In
1767 this seam had been won at Shire Moor to a depth of sixty fathoms
and a large pumping engine erected, in addition to two smaller ones
which were then draining the rise coal.' To the south of the Chirton dyke,
the Chirton colliery was working the High Main towards Percy Main to a
depth of about sixty fathoms." By the close of the century these mines
were beginning to decay ; Murton had finished its High Main and afterwards
tried the Yard and Bensham seams, finding them a poor substitute ; while
Flatworth, Shire Moor and Chirton were fast coming to an end which was
hastened by the competition of the deeper collieries of the Tyne basin,
then recently opened out along the river side, and producing High Main
coal which commanded the readiest sale in the London market.
The last of these to be sunk, Percy Main, lay in Tynemouthshire, and
the winning was commenced in 1799,^ the partners being Joseph Lamb,
George Waldie, John Walker and Jacob Maude, who were already asso-
ciated in the working of collieries on Shire Moor, their viewer being Mr.
John Buddie.
At this point attention mav be directed to the northern portion of
the district, in which there are records of coal mines about Hartley so
far back as 1291.' These were doubtless small outcrop pits worked for
local supply, one being held by the prior and convent of Brinkburn at the
time of the dissolution, and afterwards leased by the Crown to Sir Ralph
Delaval in 1596.' Before this time salt pans had been established at
Hartley and their produce shipped at Blyth, the coal trade continuing to
be a purely local one. Sir Ralph leased his mines in 161 1 to Sir William
Slingsby, and in 16 19 to his own sons, but at the time of his death in
1628 they do not seem to have been of much account and are described
as yielding no benefit to the owner."
Apparently there was little change until the latter half of the century,
when Sir Ralph Uelaval, the first baronet and grandson of the above-
' Newcastle Coiiraiit, January 2ncl, 1768.
■ North of England Institute of Mining and Mecliaiiital Eni^ineers, Borings and Sinkings, No. 452.
' Diary of John Uuddlc. ' Iiuj. p.m. 19 }idw. I. No. 5.
^ Marquis of Watcrford's M.SS. ° Jbid.
COLLIERIES AND THE COAI, TRADE. 23
mentioned Sir Ralph Delaval, took in hand the development of his pro-
perty. He built a pier at Hartley Pans, or Seaton Sluice, as it was
afterwards called from his having scoured the harbour by a device con-
trolled by a sluice, and through the improvement of the harbour secured
a coasting trade for the produce of his collieries and salt pans. Under
his guidance and as the result of his energy the trade expanded, in spite of
the fact that the Hartley coal was not so well suited for the needs of the
coasting trade as that of the Tyne district. Its uses at that time may be
best described in Sir Ralph's own words : ' the smallest will serve for lime
burning and the rounder will please the cook because they make a quick
fire and a constant heat.''
The pits at this period were situated near the coast, to the south of
Seaton Sluice, where the High Main, Yard, and Low Main seams lie at
shallow depths as they rise towards the sea, and their development was
attended with some difficulty, owing to the heavy feeders of water which
occasionally overcame the rag and chain pumps then in use.
Sir Ralph Delaval was succeeded by his son, Sir John Delaval, and
the mines were leased by him to John Rogers, one of the lessees of
Whitley colliery, who with his son worked them up to 1725, when they
were taken over and carried on by Sir John until his death in 1729.*
His successors continued to work them without any change of moment
until the middle of the eighteenth century, when Sir John Hussev
Delaval (afterwards Lord Delaval) became the owner of the estate and
embarked on a career of enterprise of which his younger brother, Thomas
Delaval, was subsequentlv the guiding spirit.
Glass and copperas works were established in order to utilize the
small coal and 'brasses,' or iron pyrites, from the pits, and in 1758 a fresh
winning to the dip was commenced. This was followed in 1764 by the
opening of the new entrance to the harbour of Seaton Sluice,' cut through
the solid rock to the east of the old approach, and looked upon as one
of the greatest engineering feats of the day. The harbour improvements
brought more trade for the pits, which in 1770' employed 300 hands, and
si.x years later sent nearly 48,000 tons of coal away coastwise, principallv
to the London market, where, we are told, the Hartley coal was much
esteemed by bakers.
' Brit. Mus. Additional MSS. 21,948, fol. 64. -' Exchequer Depositions, Hilary, 5 Geo. II. No. i;.
'' Marquis of Waterford's MSS. ' IbiJ.
24 TYNEMOriH PARISH.
Thomas Delaval, who was humorously described by a friend as being
' busy as a bee flying from flower to flower, extracting coals from the
bowels of the earth, and bottles out of damnation fiery furnaces,' was
equally energetic in his direction of the collieries. A new ' tire engine,'
designed bv William Brown, at that time the great authority on pumping
engines in the district, was set to work in 1760, and in 1763' a steam
winding engine, the invention of Joseph O.xley of Ford, was erected and
regarded as the greatest improvement since the introduction of the pump-
ing engine. At this time the problem of raising coals from the deeper
seams, by some quicker and more economical method than the existing
horse gins, was attracting attention, and Oxley made a determined attempt
to solve it.
A second engine, put down at Hartley in 1765,^ appears to have
attracted a great deal of attention, drawing coals ' by fire ' at the rate
of a corf a minute for some years. It is evident, however, that it had
its defects, and James Watt, who visited Hartley about 1768, described the
engine as going sluggishly and irregularly, having no flywheel.'
Another mechanical curiosity was a boiler built of stone and used in
connection with both the winding and pumping engines. It is represented*
as being capable of effecting a saving of ^300 a year, but most probably
it did not stand the test of constant use, and, like Oxley's winding engine,
was superseded by appliances of a less ' advanced ' description. The
double water wheel,* with a pumping engine for the circulation of the
water, came rapidlv into favour in the district for drawing coal, and it
was not until the end of the century that, through Watt's improvements,
a reliable steam winding machine was produced and drove the water wheels
into oblivion.
By 1780 the workings in the Yard and Low Main seams had advanced
southwards to the Brierdean dyke, and as far to the dip as the level of
the Engine pit. In this year the coal beyond the dyke had been opened
out, and the wagonway, which can still be traced connecting the pits with
Seaton Sluice, was extended southwards to the Brier Dean. After this
the field lying to the west of the burn and to the dip of the old pits was
' Marquis of Waterfoid's MSS. ' 1765, 20 Januarv. Mary, daughter of Mr. John AUou, at the
New Enguie, near Hartley, baptised.' Earsdon Register. '
■ Ibid. " Muirhead, Life of Watt, p. 274. ' Marquis of Waterfords MSS.
' Galloway, Annals of Coal Mining, p. 297 et sea.
COLLIERIES AND THE COAL TRADE. 2$
entered upon, and before 1799 the Chatham and Nightingale shafts had
been sunk and connected with the harbour by a branch line crossing the
dean on a wooden viaduct.'
The days of the direct control of the Delavals were now nearly at
an end. Lord Delaval died in 1808. His brother and successor, Edward
Hussey Delaval, continued to reside in London, and seems to have let
the mines before he died in 18 14.
/Although, as has already been remarked, the Shire Moor mines were
in a state of decay at the beginning of the nineteenth century, the
district did not fail to participate in the expanding coal trade of the
Tyne. The new winning at Percy Main reached the High Main at a
depth of eighty-nine fathoms in the Percy pit, followed by the Howdon
pit in 1804 and the High Flatworth pit in 181 7, the last two at depths
of 135 and 86 fathoms respectively, the Howdon pit being on the deepest
part of the Tyne basin."
Until towards the close of the eighteenth century, the system of
working practised consisted in the removal of a portion of the coal only,
the remainder being left for support. The shafts, which had originally
been only a few yards apart, were gradually extended to wider distances
and worked larger areas as they reached greater depths. The small pillars
left were then subject to 'creeps,' caused by the crushing down of the
overlying strata, more especially when, as time went on, efforts were made
to minimize the loss of coal by working out portions of the pillars, a
common practice before the system of leaving larger pillars and afterwards
removing them entirely had been introduced.
Under these circumstances and through the presence of gas and the
inadequacy of the ventilating arrangements the working of the deep
collieries on the Tyne was attended with many difficulties. Explosions or
'blasts,' as they were called, were common, and the workmen had fre-
quently to be withdrawn from the pits owing to the air becoming loaded
with gas to the firing point. In 1807 the coal at Percy Main took fire,
and it became necessary to drown a portion of the workings in order
to extinguish it, the subsequent withdrawal of the water being attended
by severe outbursts of gas.^
' Mr. T. E. Forster's MSS. - Diary of John Buddie.
' Dunn, Mining and IVoyking of Coal Mines, p. 234.
Vol. VI 1 1. 4
26 TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
Notwithstanding this and several minor explosions, the colliery was
for a considerable period very successful, owing to the excellence of the
Hio^h Main seam worked bv it. Its troubles from water were of a more
serious nature and came at a later date. In 1819 the water in the old
waste of Chirton colliery burst into the Percy pit, but was successfully
dammed back in the following year. In 1838 a feeder came off in the
Percy pit High Main workings near the river which threatened to flood
the colliery. Attempts were made to dam the water back at great
expense, but without success, the dams being swept away with the loss of
three lives. The flood overpowered the pumping engines at the Howdon
pit, and operations were then carried on at the Percy pit in the High
Main and Bensham seams (the latter having been won in 1828) until May,
1839, by which time the Bensham had been drowned and the High Main
dip workings were full of water.
By August of that year new pumping engines had been erected and
the workings were gradually unwatered, but worse disasters were to follow.
In 1 84 1 the High Main workings holed into Burdon Main. The holing
was dammed up, but, as Burdon Main ceased to work not long afterwards,
its dip workings became drowned, and in 1846 the water from them burst
into Percy Main, overpowering the pumping engines and doing great
damage. The colliery was again unwatered, but the heavy cost of
pumping, combined with the exhaustion of the High Main, rendered it so
unprofitable as to bring it to an end in the year 1851.^
Chirton colliery was reopened in the year 181 1" for the purpose of
reaching portions of the High Main which had previously been abandoned
and was then generally known as Burdon or CoUingwood Main. The
Bensham and Low Main seams were subsequently sunk to, and the colliery
was kept going until nearly the middle of the century, when it was closed.
About 1 8 10 Whitlev colliery, which had remained unworked for nearly
a century, was reopened.' A fresh winning of the Low Main was made
by the lessees, William Clark and Thomas Taylor, to the dip of the old
workings of the former tenants, and the colliery was carried on with vigour
for a considerable period both in Whitley and Monkseaton, in conjunction
' Mr. T. E. Forster's MSS.
' Transactions of the North of England Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers, vol. xv. p. 220.
' Tomlinson, Hist. Notes, p. 47.
COLLIERIES AND THE COAL TRADE. 27
with the adjacent limestone quarries in the Permian limestone, lying against
the Ninety-fathom dyke. The pit and the limeworks were connected by
a wagonway leading to the Low Lights at Shields, where a large part of
the produce was shipped. In 1825 ironstone from the Mussel-bed above
the Low Main seam was being worked near the south end of the links
and sent by river to the ironworks at Lemington. The colliery was
closed in 1848,' having during its latter years been a losing concern. In
1872^ the high prices of coal led to a further winning being made near
Hill Heads, but the undertaking, through the heavy fall in prices, sub-
sequently became involved in difficulties and operations terminated in 1880.
The coal to the north of the Ninety-fathom dyke, with the exception
of the above-described workings in the vicinity of Whitley, Monkseaton
and Hartley, was practically undeveloped at the commencement of the
nineteenth century. The first move in this direction took place at Back-
worth, a lease of this royalty having been secured from the duke of
Northumberland in 1812 by George Waldie, Humble Lamb, Jacob Maude,
John Walker, Edward Hetherington, Thomas Taylor and John Buddie,'
most of whom were already lessees of Percy Main and of a portion of
the adjacent Shire Moor coal.
The enterprise must have been one of unusual risk. The projected
winning was of a considerable depth and in an unknown part of the district,
where the quality of the High Main had not yet been tested. In addition
to this, some doubts existed as to the rights of the duke of Northumberland,
as owner of the mineral, to occupy the surface of the ancient copyhold
lands of Backworth, then owned by the Grey family. The winning was
commenced in 18 14, but was suspended in the following year in conse-
quence of an action which was brought by Mr. Ralph William Grey
against the duke. The case was tried in the same year and decided in
favour of Mr. Grey, with whom an agreement was subsequently made
which enabled the sinking to be continued in January, 1817, his estate
being subsequently purchased by the duke in 182 1.''
The High Main was reached in May, 18 18, at a depth of eighty-seven
fathoms, and a wagonway was constructed to the Tyne at Whitehill Point,
more than four and a half miles in length. The distance from the river
and the length of its wagonway must have placed the colliery at a dis-
' Mr. T. E. Forster's iMSS. - Tomlinson, His/. A'oto, p. 50. ' Diary of John Buddie. ' lOid.
28 TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
advantage in its competition with the riverside pits. At the end of the
preceding century, however, the introduction of cast-iron rails for wagon-
ways had, to a hirge extent, cheapened the cost of leading. Although
some of them continued to use the old wooden rails, which had been
in vogue since the middle of the seventeenth century, many, and, no
doubt, amongst them the newly constructed roads, were laid with the
short cast-iron plates set on stone blocks, afterwards known from their
shape as ' fish-bellied ' rails. The Backworth wagonway was started as a
horse road, and, according to Mr. John Buddie, a horse drawing two
wagons, each containing forty-four hundredweights of coal, could make
three 'gates' or journeys a day upon it. It was not long, however, before
rope haulage was substituted; in December, 1821, the first section to the
Allotment was converted to a rope road; by the end of 1823 the section
to Percy Main had been altered, and the last link to Whitehill Point
was completed in August, 1827.^ The line continued to be worked by
ropes until 1867, when locomotives took the place of the old hauling
engines.
As the workings extended northwards, the High Main was again sunk
to in 1 82 1 at the B pit, and early in 1826 coal drawing was confined
entirely to that shaft.
About the same date as the commencement of the colliery at Back-
worth the opening out of the High Main at Burradon was begun by the
' Grand Allies.' This celebrated and powerful copartnery, consisting of
the Kavensworth, Strathmore and Wortley families, dated back as far as
the year 1726, and had, some years before, sunk to the High Main at
Killingworth. They had connected this colliery with the shipping places
on the Tyne by means of a wagonway which had, before its extension to
Burradon, formed the scene of many of George Stephenson's experiments
with his early locomotives.
In 1822 the High Main in Earsdon had been won by ' outstroke ' from
Backworth,- and in 1823 the Duke pit was sunk on the Earsdon royalty
near the Backworth boundary by Messrs. Hugh Taylor and William Clark.
It reached the seam at a depth of seventy-three fathoms and was followed
by the Duchess pit in 1826.^
' Diary of John Buddie. • Jliui. ' Borings and Sinkings, Nos. 742 and 744.
COLLIERIES AND THE COAL TRADE. 29
The extension of the collieries northwards still continued, and in 1826'
a sinking on Sir Francis Blake's estate at Seghill was made by Messrs.
Carr and Company to the Low Main seam at a depth of seventy-eight
fathoms. Access to the river was obtained by means of the wagonway
from Cramlington colliery, until the Carrs constructed a railway of their
own from Seghill to Howdon, which formed the nucleus of the Blvth
and Tyne railway.
With the exception of those at Hartley, practically all the collieries in
Tynemouthshire had, up to this time, been working the High Main seam,
a coal peculiarly fitted for the household coal trade of London and the
southern ports. To the north of Backworth this seam, however, began to
deteriorate as a household coal, and the Low Main, which had been so
extensively worked by the old Hartley pits, began to take its place, assuming
the position of the principal seam of that part of the district. Its produce
was unfitted for household use and, until the opening out of the steam coal
trade, its market was restricted to special uses.
In 1828 West Holywell colliery was sunk to the High Main at a depth
of fifty-six fathoms, a short distance to the north of the Earsdon shafts,
the owners being Messrs. Taylor, Lamb, Plummer and Clark, who sank
a second shaft to the same seam near Seghill in i853.- After 1830 a great
expansion in the trade took place, due both to the increased consumption
of coal for steam purposes in this country and to the foreign demand
which was then rapidly springing up. In 1831 the duty on best coal
exported in British ships was reduced from 5s. gd. to 3s. 4d. a ton, and
in 1834 an ad valorem duty of one half per cent, was substituted.' The
export trade of Newcastle rose from 157,000 tons in 1828 to 476,000 tons
in 1837.*
The reduction of the heavy export duties threw open to East North-
umberland a market of the greatest possible value, without which the larger
portion of the steam coal comprised in its lower seams would probably have
for a long time remained undeveloped. The tax on coals exported in
British ships was repealed in 1845,'* followed in 1850 by that on shipments
' Mr. T. E. Forsier's MSS. ■ Borings and Sinkings, Nos. iiSo and iiSi.
" Bunning, Coal Duties. United Coal Trade Papers.
' Hair, Northumberland and Durham Collieries, p. 5.
* Exports remained untaxed until 1901, when a duty of one shilling a ton was imposed on coal sold
above six shillings.
3© TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
in foreign vessels, and the trade continued to expand so rapidly that the
exports from Newcastle had during the years 1 854-1 859 risen to an annual
average quantity of 1,744,000 tons.'
In 1838" an extensive winning was commenced at the south-west
corner of the Seaton Delaval estate, which had become the property of
Sir Jacob Astley, afterwards Lord Hastings. Six shafts were commenced
at the same time by the partners Messrs. Lamb, Burdon, Barnes and
Straker, and a connection was made with the railway of the neighbouring
Cramlington colliery, by means of which the coals were led to the staiths
erected by the Seaton Delaval partners at Howdon on the Tyne. The
Low Main was reached, after many difficulties, in 1841, and the lessees
were bitterly disappointed in finding it of so thin and uncertain a nature
and so much disturbed by faults and dykes that its working was attended
by heavy losses for a considerable number of years, until a fresh winning,
known as the Forster pit, was made farther north in i860.
In 1839' the High Main, which had previously been won from Back-
worth colliery, was sunk to at a depth of forty-four fathoms and opened
out at East Holywell by Messrs. Clark, Taylor and Lamb, the colliery
being connected by a branch to the Backworth railway. By this time
Backworth had begun to turn attention to the lower seams, and in 1836*
the B pit was put down to the Low Main seam at a depth of 107 fathoms.
It reached the coal, as was proved later on, in the vicinity of the curious
trough or ' swelly ' which runs in a north-easterly direction through Seaton
Delaval and Newsham to the coast near Blyth, containing coal of
unusual thickness bordered by an area of abnormally thin section.* The
Low Main, in consequence, remained untouched at Backworth until the
C pit was sunk to it in 1857.
Burradon had reached the Low Main seam in the year 1848, when
it was purchased by Messrs. Carr and Company," the owners of Seghill,
who worked it as a steam coal colliery.
The Church pit at Earsdon was sunk to the Bensham seam in 1838,"
and farther to the Low Main in 1840, working the latter extensively
' In 1904 the exports from the Tyne and from Blyth were 11,800,000 tons.
' Mr. T. E. Forster's MSS. ' Borings and Sinkings, No. 1182. ' Diary of John Uuddle.
' North 0/ England Institute Transactions, vol. viii. p. 23. ' Mr. T. E. Forster's MSS.
' Borings and Sinkings, No. 746.
COLLIERIES AND THE COAL TRADE. 3 1
towards Monkseaton until the undertaking was sold to the Backworth
Coal Company in 1844. This pit remained closed for many years until
reopened recently to work the Yard seam. The Low Main was also
attacked at West Holywell in 1858,' but the workings were closed and
the colliery abandoned in i860 on account of its unprofitable nature. In
the latter year the same seam was reached at East Holywell, where,
however, it remained untouched until the High Main and Yard seams
had been extensively worked. Mr. Clark's interest in the colliery was
purchased by Messrs. Taylor and Adamson during the same year. The
Bates pit, to the north of Holywell village, and the D pit were afterwards
sunk to the High Main and the Low Main, the latter in 1872.
The Hartley collieries, which had been leased by Messrs. Jobling
and partners early in the century, gradually extended northwards as the
coal in the vicinity of Hartley was exhausted. The Joblings sunk the
Delaval and June pits" and worked the Yard and Low Main seams very
extensively in the western portion of the old Hartley field. They con-
tinued to ship the coal at Seaton Sluice, where the copperas and bottle
works remained in operation, although these trades, as well as the manu-
facture of salt, had begun to decline by the year 1825.' In 1830 a move
was made farther north and the Mill pit at Seaton Sluice was sunk to
the Low Main, eighty-three fathoms in depth.^ It dealt with a narrow
strip of coal lying between two whin dvkes and rising somewhat heavily
seawards. In 1845 the pit was closed and its workings abandoned on
account of the increase in the heavy feeders of salt water which had
always troubled the colliery. The Delaval pit was worked out in 1846,
and in the same year the Low Main was opened out at the ill-fated Hester
pit, situated to the west of Seaton Delaval hall.^ In 1847 the Joblings
were bought out by their then partners the Carrs, who about that date
became the owners of Cowpen and Burradon coUieries in addition to
Seghill.
The Hester pit, which was destined to have so calamitous an end,
was unfortunate from the start. The Low Main to the north proved
unusually thin and the colliery was heavily watered, so much so that in
' Borings ami Sinkings, No. 1 187. ' -Mr. T. E. Forster's MSS.
' Mackenzie, View of Northumberland, vol. ii. p. 418. ' Borings and Sinkings, No. 1069.
' Mr. T. E. Forster's MSS.
32 TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
1852 the workings were drowned and the water rose in the shaft to a depth
of seventy fathoms.' A more powerful engine was erected in 1854 and
work continued until January i6th, 1862, when there occurred an acci-
dent probably unparalleled in the history of coal mining. The beam of
the pumping engine suddenly broke and the outer half plunged down the
timbered shaft which constituted the sole outlet to the colliery, blocking
it above the Yard seam and emtombing 204 men and boys. The shaft
was full of wreckage but the dangerous task of clearing it away was
pressed on with extraordinary energy in the hope of reaching the men
alive. After a time, however, the workers were affected by the gas from
the ventilating furnace as it began to leak up through the debris, and
it was feared that the men below must have been fatally affected by it.
This fear proved to be only too well founded. The ventilation was
restored by means of a cloth brattice, and when at last, after seven days
and nights of incessant labour, the explorers reached the Yard seam it
was only to Hnd that their comrades had gathered there and waited and
died.^
Hartley as a separate concern then ceased to exist and the royalty
was untenanted for some years, until it was taken by the Seaton Delaval
Companv, who commenced the winning of New Hartley, a little to the
north of the old Hester pit, in 1872. The working of the Yard seam was
commenced in 1877, and in 1895 the shafts were sunk to the Low Main.
At the beginning of 1900 a communication was effected with the old
drowned workings of the Hester pit, the water was drawn off them and
work resumed after an interval of nearly forty years. In 1858 the Carrs
parted with their collieries at Burradon, Seghill and Cowpen. Burradon
became the property of Mr. Joshua Bower of Leeds and shortly after-
wards, in i860, was the scene of the most disastrous explosion which has
occurred in the vicinity, resulting in the loss of seventy-two lives. In
1 87 1 the colliery was purchased by Messrs. Lambert and Byas and remains
in the possession of their representatives, forming one of the group worked
under the style of the Burradon and Coxlodge Coal Company.
vSeghill passed into the hands of Mr. Joseph Laycock and is still
worked by his grandson, while Cowpen was taken over by a partnership
consisting of Messrs. Straker, Henderson, Coppin, Cookson, Liddell and
' Mr. T. E. Forster's MSS. " Trans. N. E. Inst. vol. xi. p. 147 ; Tlie Eagle, vol. xxii. p. 124.
COLLIERIES AND THE COAL TRADE.
33
Forster, subsequently known as the Cowpen Coal Company. The coal
under Nevvsham had been let to their predecessors by Sir M. W. Ridley,
bart., and partly worked to Cowpen by outstroke, until the new tenants,
in i860, effected a winning of the Low Main to the west of Blyth,
known as the Hannah pit, whence that seam was worked until 1877 when
it was laid in.
Cowpen had hitherto used the port of Blyth as its shipping place,
but towards the middle of the last century it became evident that this
harbour, as well as that of Seaton Sluice, was insufficient for the growing
necessities of the trade, and that the collieries shipping at these ports were
placed at a disadvantage compared with those having access to the Tyne.
The Seghill and Percy Main railway, completed by the Carrs in 1840,
w^as subsequently extended to the Hester pit at Hartley (previously
connected with the old wagonway leading from the Delaval pit to Seaton
Sluice), and in 1847 on to Blyth. The undertaking was afterwards known
as the Blyth and Tyne railway, being incorporated by Act of Parliament
in 1852, and finally becoming merged in the North Eastern Railway in
1874. By the opening of railway communication to the Tyne, a great
portion of the coal from Cowpen and the collieries farther north was
diverted from Blyth and Seaton Sluice, and found its wav to the Tyne
at Hay Hole, where the Northumberland dock was afterw^ards constructed
and opened in 1857. Seaton Sluice then declined rapidly and afterwards
ceased to exist as a port, while Blyth in time decayed to such an extent
that, in 1883, its shipments did not reach 150,000 tons. In this year the
harbour was vested in Commissioners ; it has since been developed and
become a shipping place for the collieries of the Blyth district. The
Newsham Mill pit was sunk in 1886, in close proximity to the harbour,
in order to work the adjacent undersea coal as well as that remaining in
Newsham.
During the last thirty years mining operations have been chiefly con-
fined to the collieries Ivin? to the north of the Ninetv-fathom dvke. These
have been engaged in producing steam coal, principally from the Yard and
Low Main seams, for the export market, which continues to be the main-
stay of the district. In order to work the coal to the south of the dyke,
the Shiremoor Coal Company was formed about 1874, '^"'^ ^ winning
effected at the Blue Bell pit, near Backworth station, which worked the
Vol. VIII. S
34 TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
Bensham seam for some years, leading its produce by the Blyth and Tyne
railway to the Tyne for shipment. The Algernon pit, near Prospect
Hill, was also sunk to the High Main in order to drain off the water
which had accumulated in the old workings, and was afterwards carried
down to the Bensham seam. The enterprise was unfortunate, and in the
year i8g6 the colliery was absorbed by the Backworth owners, who com-
menced to raise coal at the Algernon shaft from the Bensham, and
connected both pits with their own railway.
Preston colliery, near Chirton, which for some years was carried on
by Messrs. Hutchinson as a landsale, secured a connection with the North
Eastern Railway, near North Shields, about the year 1897 and has since
undergone considerable development, working the Yard and Bensham
seams. A new shaft has been sunk to the Low Main and the colliery has
recently become the property of Messrs. Utrick Ritson and Sons.
The history of the coal trade of Tynemouthshire during later years
is practically that of East Northumberland. The trade has ever been
peculiarly subject to violent fluctuations, and for this reason it is perhaps
remarkable that the ownership of the collieries in Tynemouthshire has
undergone, with trifling exceptions, so few changes in spite of long
periods of depression. The trade has, however, continued to expand
with that of the county and the yearly output of the Tynemouthshire
collieries has now reached the, by no means inconsiderable, figure of
2,200,000 tons.
TYNEMOUTH PRIORY.
On the north side of the mouth of the river Tyne, a rock of Magnesian
Limestone, running out into the sea, forms the south-eastern extremity
of Northumberland. Its cliffs break away precipitously on the east and
north, but slope down more gradually towards the south ; upon this side
a small haven and a second promontory, smaller and lower than the first,
separate the rock from the channel of the river. On the landward side
sand and soil have accumulated, so that there is now a level approach
from the west to what was, perhaps, once a partly isolated rock. Upon
this point stands a Government fort, including within its works the remains
of a medieval castle, the site of a monastery and considerable remains of
a church, half of which was conventual and half parochial.
TYNEMOUTH PRIORY. 35
The priory, the castle, and the parish church form three distinct
elements in the history of the place, and deserve separate treatment ; but
the threads of their history intermingle. The castle was the possession of
the monks, and formed the outer defence of their monastery. The parish
church was simply the nave of the priory church, set apart for parochial uses.
A change came with the suppression of the monastery by Henry VIII.
From that date there was a royal castle with a parish church within it,
till the latter fell into ruins during the civil wars, when a new church
Avas built a mile away. Still the old graveyard remained in use, and spread
itself over a considerable portion of the monastic area, while what was
once a chantry chapel in the conventual portion of the church was
surrendered to the parish in the middle of the nineteenth century, and
services are now occasionally held in it.
The name of Tynemouth ^ requires no explanation. There was, how-
ever, a possibly older name for the rock. An old twelfth century chronicle
relating to Tynemouth, now lost, entitled it ' Benebalcrag."''
Upon this supposed place-name, Leland based his conclusion that
Severus's wall ended at this point,' being of the opinion that it extended
beyond Wallsend to the sea. There was a still earlier tradition to this
effect, for in a twelfth or thirteenth century abstract of Nennius's history,
it is stated that Severus built a wall against the Picts and Scots from
Tynemouth to Bowness.^ But it is impossible to find warranty for these
statements, whether they are taken to allude to the stone wall or to the
earthen dyke. A recent discovery of a portion of the former at
Wallsend, running south from the camp of Segedununi towards the river,
leaves no doubt that it terminated at this point. The vallum does not
appear to have reached so far down the Tyne. There was no necessity
for the extension of the lines farther eastwards, for the river itself and the
camp at South Shields furnished sufficient protection against attack from
the north. The fact that the river, before it was deepened by the Tyne
' The usual pronunciation of the name is with a short vowel in the first syllable, Tinmouth ; and
so the name was commonly spelt in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
■ Leland, Collectanea, ed. Heame, 1774, vol. iv. p. 43. 'Locus ubi nunc coenobium Tinemuthense
est antiquitus a Saxonibus dicebatur Benebalcrag.'
' Ibid. ' Nam circa hunc locum finis erat valli Severiani.'
' Monumenta Historia Britannica, p. 50. ' De secundo etiam Severo qui solita structura murum
alterum, ad arcendos Pictos et Scottos, a Tinemuthe usque Boggenes praecepit.'
36
TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
Fig. I.
1
Commissioners, was occasionally fordable, at two points at least, below
Wallsend does not militate against this view, for the lower reaches of the
Tyne niav have silted up since the days of the Roman occupation.
Later writers upon northern antiquities are agreed that the wall
did not reach to the mouth of the river ; but at the same time tliey
have urged that a subsidiary camp
existed at Tynemouth, external to
and dependant upon the main line of
defence. It is not unnatural to sup-
pose that, while the military station at
South Shields guarded the entrance
to the Tyne from the Durham side, a
similar fort might be erected on the
northern shore. The view is sup-
ported by the natural strength which a
fortress at Tynemouth would possess.
Early archaeologists have been ready
to detect Roman remains on the site
of the priory, and Warburton, writing
about 1720, alludes to 'remains of
Roman mortar in the banks adjoining,'
but no great reliance can be placed
on this or similar statements.
In the year 1782, while military
works were being carried out at the
castle, a Roman altar was discovered
on the north side of the priory church
six feet below the surface. It ap-
peared to have been used as a
foundation stone for later buildings,
the focus having been cut away from
the top, so as to give a smooth surface. On one side there were carved
in relief, a bullock's head, an axe, knife, and jug {piuicfcricii/tiiii), the
common symbols of sacrifice ; on the other was the less common design
of a patera between two snakes. The back of the altar was plain ;
the front bore the inscription of dedication to Jupiter Optimus Maximus,
TYNEMOUTH PRIORY.
37
made by Aeliiis Rufus, prefect of the fourth cohort of Lingones.' The
dedication, taken in conjunction with that of an altar found at Wallsend
in 1892, corrects a reading in the Notitia Dignitatiiin, as to the name of
the auxiliary regiment which garrisoned Segedunum.
On June 12th, in 1783, a second inscribed stone was discovered
in the same piece of ground. This was a slab or niural tablet, one foot
nine inches long by one foot
ten inches broad. As in the
case of the altar, the top surface
had been pared down, and about
an inch in breadth had been cut
away from the right side of the
stone. This has rendered the
first line illegible, and the whole
inscription obscure. The most
probable reading, and that fa-
voured by Mommsen, is as fol-
lows : . . . I TYPVM CVM BAS[l] |
ET TEMPLVM | FECIT. C. IV . . . |
MAXIMINVS ... I LEG. VI VI
... I EX voTO.- It has been
conjectured that the Ma.ximinus
who built the temple thus com-
memorated was the Thracian soldier who, in the year 235, became emperor
of Rome ; the possibility, though interesting, is remote.
The actual discovery of Roman stones at Tynemouth would strengthen
the case for a Roman occupation, were it not for the fact that the stones
have evidently been used by later builders, and may have been trans-
ported by them from Wallsend. Medieval church builders went to
considerable distances for worked stone, as is seen in the cases of
Hexham and Chollerton. The inscription first quoted evidently points to
Fig. 2.
' Corpus Iiiscriptioiiuin Latinarum, vol. vii. No. 493. See Fig. I.
- Ibid. No. 494. Professor HUbner has suggested the reading [lovi sic.NVM .\N.\g] | LVPVM,
aiiaglypKiii being a misspelling of uttaglyplium, so that, in his view, the object erected would be not a
statue but a bas-relief Brand's suggestion o( gyriim, ciiiiibus, i-l Umpltim, M-\d his identificition of this
'circular harbour' with the Prior's Haven, is devoid alike of linguistic and of topographical justification.
The Rev. John Hodgson proposed to read cypiiin (i.e. cippumrin the second line, but the first letter is
certainly either L or T. This stone and the altar are now in the rooms of the Society of .\ntiquaries at
Burlington House. See Fig. 2.
38 TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
Segedunum as its source. Other arguments drawn from the form of
the name of Tynemouth, which has been detected in the Roman station
of Tunnocelhim and the hermitage of Tunnacester mentioned by Bede,'
are of still less weight. In the present state of the evidence it
may be said that no case has yet been made out for supposing that a
Roman camp ever existed at Tynemouth, though it may be urged that
the Romans would not have omitted to fortify so strong a position. If
further discoveries of Roman remains were made, it might necessitate a
reconsideration of the question, and a fresh examination of the disposition
of Roman defences at the eastern extremity of the wall would then be
required.^
The first appearance of Tynemouth in history is in the early days of
Christianity in the north. A countryman, who saw the scene, told the
story to a monk of Jarrow, who in turn described it to Bede. It occurred
in the middle of the seventh century. At South Shields a double monas-
tery was being built by St. Hild. A party of monks had gone up the Tyne
to bring timber from the woods which then shaded the river banks. The
rafts with their cargo were brought safely back, but off South Shields a
wind set up from the west. A landing was impossible. With wind and
tide against them, the monks were driven out to sea. Their comrades put
out in boats from Shields, but the weather prevented them from giving
any assistance. They gathered on the Lawe and knelt in prayer. But
meanwhile a large crowd had collected on the northern shore. Their
thoughts were not prayerful, for they jeered at the five rafts which now
looked no larger than so many sea-gulls riding the waves. The monks
were getting their deserts, they said, for trampling upon the laws of nature,
and setting up new and unheard of standards of life. St. Cuthbert was
among the crowd. He was only a lad, but he tried to shame them, saying,
' Why curse those who, as you see, are being drawn to their death ? Is
Camden, Britannia, 1587, p. 543. 'Hoc Romanorum saeculo Tunnocellum fuisse fere asseverabo
. . . Saxonica heptarchica Tunnacerten vocabatur.' Cp. Bede, Hist. Eccl. lib. iv. c. 22, ed. Plummer,
vol. i. p. 250.
■ The two inscribed stones, and the questions to which their discovery gave rise, have a small
literature to themselves. See Ijruce, Lapiiiiirium Scptcntriunale, Nos. I and 2, and the authorities there
quoted. When the present trench in front of the castle was being excavated in 1856, there was found
(together with a large medieval lock and a quantity of broken pottery) a Roman tile, inscribed lf;g vi v,
now in the possession of the Rev. Thomas .Stephens, vicar of Horsley, and a coin of Constantius II.
(337-3*^ ■)> ""''-■ Latimer's Local Records, p. 385. A coin of the Emperor Magnentius (350-353) is also
said to have been found at Tynemouth. Arch. Acl. 2nd series,' vol. x. p. 308.
TYNEMOUTH PRIORY. 39
it not better and kinder to pray to the Lord for their safe return than to
be glad of their danger ? ' But they turned on him angrily and cried, ' Let
no man pray for them. May God have mercy upon never a one of them.
They have taken away our old services, and no one knows how these new
forms ought to be kept.' Then Cuthbert knelt down and laid his face to
the earth, and, as he prayed, the wind shifted and brought back the rafts
to land ; so the monks reached the Durham shore unharmed. The crowd
was abashed. They admired the young man for his boldness, and, when
he came to be famous, the story of this deed was often told by those who
then had stood upon the Tynemouth cliffs.'
A monastery is not likely to have existed at Tynemouth at the period
w^hen this event occurred. In later times the monks asserted that Edwin
had built a wooden chapel there, which St. Oswald replaced by a little
monastery of stone ; " but their tradition may be disregarded in view of
Bede's express statement that no church was built in Northumbria before
Oswald raised the cross at Heavenfield.^ Neither can one accept the
identification of Tynemouth with the monastery of Donemuth, which would
lead to placing the foundation in the reign of King Egfrid.^ Donemuth
can only be Jarrow, which stands at the mouth of the little river Don.
We must be satisfied with knowing that before the eighth century com-
menced an abbey had been built upon the headland.
This was probably the monastery at the mouth of the Tyne of which,
when Bede was writing his historv, his friend Herebald was abbot. Here-
bald, who died in 745, had been a disciple of St. John of Beverley, and
Bede has told a story of how, as a young man, he was thrown from his
horse, and woke from a long unconsciousness to find the bishop, his master,
watching by his bedside.
5
' Bede, Vita S. Cuthba-li, cap. 3, ed. Giles, vol. iv. p. 214. The identification of the monaster)- here
mentioned with St. Hild's first religious house, described in Bede, Hist. Eccl. lib. iv. c. 23, is made
by Canon Savage in Arch. Acl. 2nd series, vol. xix. pp. 47-75-
■ Leland, Chnviicon iiucrti auctovis, above cited. ' Edwinus, re.\ Northumbrorum, sacellum erexit
Tinemutae e.\ ligno, in quo Rosella, ejus filia, postea velum sacrum accepit. Sanctus Oswaldus
nionasteriolum de Tinemuthe ex ligneo lapidcum fecit.'
" Hist. Eccl. lib. iii. c. 2, ed. Plumnier, vol. i. p. 130.
' Bishop Stubbs quotes a manuscript of Roger of Hoveden (MS. Reg. 13 A. 6), in which, opposite
to an entry of the sack of ' monasterium Doni amnis ' in 794, a rubric has been added : ' Dani cum eorum
rege devicti sunt apud Tynemuth,' and is prepared to accept the identification. Roger of Hoveden, Rolls
Series, vol. i. p. xxxvii.
' Hist. Eccl. lib. v. c. 6, ed. Plummer, vol. i. pp. 289-291. Symeon of Durham, Historia Regum,
Rolls Series, vol. ii. p. 38.
40 TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
Very little is known of the history of this pre-Conquest abbey.
A theory has been put forward ' that the Northumbrian annals, which
form the earlier portion of Symeon of Durham's Histoiia Rc^uiii, may
have been composed here, but Lindisfarne and Hexham both have prior
claims.
There was necessarily a cemetery attached to the abbey, a fact
attested by the sepulchral remains found there and otherwise known to
us from the Anglo-Saxon C/ironic/c. In 792, Osred, son of Alcred, a
dispossessed king of Northumbria, returned from the exile to which he
had been driven two years earlier. Deserted by his followers, he was
captured and put to death by his successor, Ethelred, his body being
buried at Tynemouth.^
The following year, to the general horror of the Christian world, the
monastery of Lindisfarne was sacked by the Danes. A year later Jarrow
shared the same fate, but the Danes received a severe check in a naval
battle in Jarrow Slake, and Tynemouth gained a short respite. It was not
for long, for in 800 the invaders came again, and this time despoiled
the abbey church as well as the church of Hertness, and carried off their
booty with them over sea.'
The piratical inroads of the Danes gave way to more ambitious projects
of invasion and settlement. In 851 they first wintered in England. They
directed their attention at first to the south and south-east, but in 867 they
captured York. Northumbria was a prey to disunion and the weakness
of its rulers. In 875 half of the heathen host sailed into the Tyne, com-
pletely destroyed Tynemouth abbey, and murdered the nuns of St. Hild's
convent who are said to have established themselves there. According to
another account the Tynemouth monks sought refuge in a little church on
their domain which had been dedicated by St. Cuthbert. The invaders
set fire to it, and the monks perished in the flames. Tynemouth became
a Danish stronghold. The army, under the leadership of Halfdene, reduced
the whole of Northumberland, and spread war into Scotland. All the
' By the late Mr. C. J. Bates, History oj Northumberland, p. 73.
• Earle, Two of the Saxon Chronicles Parallel, p. 55. 'Osred the was Norlhanhyiiibra Cining,
aefter wrscsithe ham cumenum, gelreht, wa:s ofslagen ; his he Hgth £ct Tinanmuthe.'
' Matthew Paris, Chronica Majora, Rolls Series, vol. i. p. 367. ' A.D. DCCC. Exercitus paganorum
nefandissimus ecclesias de Hertenes el de Tinemutha crudelitcr spoliavit, et cum spoliis ad naves
recurrit.'
TYNEMOUTH PRIORY. 4I
monasteries on the coast of Northumberland, Durham and Yorkshire were
destroyed, and monasticism ceased to exist north of the Tyne for a couple
of centuries.'
The downfall of the Anglian abbey marks the close of the first stage
in Tynemouth's history. From that time till the eve of the Norman
Conquest there is an entire absence of historical tradition connected with
the place. Two things only appear certain, that the monastery was not
rebuilt, and that in the resettlement of the country at the close of the
Danish invasions, Tynemouth, like other lands of the destroyed monasteries,
became part of the demesne of the Northumbrian earls. There Earl Tostig
used to come on his journeys from one village of his demesne to another,
bringing with him a host of followers, for whom each town or village were
bound by custom to find lodging and provisions for one, two, or three
nights in the year." There was scant accommodation for them ; the chaplain
and his wife (for the tie of celibacy was then little regarded among the
clergy) found a lodging on at least one occasion in the tower of the little
parish church dedicated to the Virgin Mary.'
The church was in charge of a single custodian, a secular priest named
Edmund. One night in 1065, according to the Tynemouth hagiographer,
he dreamed a dream. There appeared to him a man of angelic mien and
addressed him by name. ' I am King Oswin,' he said, ' who was betrayed
and put to a terrible death by King Oswy, and I lie in this church unknown
to all.' He bade him rise and tell Egelwin, bishop of Durham, to make
search under the floor of the church and to give his body a more fitting
resting-place. This Oswin, who was king of Deira, had suffered loss of
kingdom and life at the hands of Oswy, ruler of Bernicia, four centuries
before the time of this vision. Bede wrote in his history of Oswin's saint-
' AnnaUs Liitdisfanienscs et Diinilmaiscs, Monumenta Germanica, vol. xix. p. 506. ' 875. Halfdene,
assumpta parte exeicitus, intravit Tinam, totamque Northumbrian! cum monasteriis et ecclesiis est
depopulatus.' Chronica Mcijora, vol. i. p. 392. ' De multorum desolatione coenobiorum ' (sub anno S70),
and p. 531. Leland, toe. cit., quoting Chronicon incerti auctoris, ' Dani Tinemuthe utebantur pro
propugnaculo atque adeo receptaculo, cum transfetarent ex Dania et Norwegia in Angli.am ;' and vol. iv.
p. 1 14, quoting a lost manuscript of the Vitti Osu'iiii, ' Hynguar et Hubba hoc monasterium destruxerunt.
Monachi metu persecutionis fugerunt ad quandam ecclesiolam in fundo suo quam Sanctus Culhbertus
dedicaverat. Quo comperto, Dani ipsam ecclesiam, et omnes qui in eo erant, igni succenderunt, et
omne loci nobilis aedificium in campi planitiem redegerunt.'
- Vita Oswiiii, cap. vii. Surt. Soc. No. S. {Miscclhiiiai Biographica), p. 20. ' Cum de more provinciae
instructa assent convivia apud Tynemudham, quia villula modica erat, et ad tot hommum genera, quae
comitem comitabantur, suscipienda hospitio minus sufficiens.'
' This 'ecclesiola' would seem to have been on a more modest scale than the 'eximium coenobium'
of the eighth century. Of its position it can only be said that it stood within the castle, and was not
upon the site of the Norman church which succeeded it.
Vol. VI II. ^
42 ' TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
liness and humility, but neither he nor any earlier writer had told of the
place where the murdered king lay buried.' Then Edmund awoke, and
early in the morning he told the bishop, who was strongly drawn to believe
his tale. With many others Egelwin came to Tynemouth. Men were
set to dig up the floor of the little church. From dawn to noon they dug
and found nothing. Edmund was stung by a sense of the saint's unfair
dealing with him. At last he seized a spade himself and began to dig
deeper than the others had done. A sharp ring from the tool showed
that he had struck on stone. The earth was quickly cleared away ; a coffin
was disclosed ; the lid was lifted, and immediately a wonderful fragrance
filled the building. Bishop Egelwin lifted the body out of the coffin ; it
was washed, wrapped in linen cloths, covered with rich apparel, and placed
in a tomb in a raised portion of the church. The finding of the body of
St. Oswin occurred on March iith, 1065."
The monks of Durham had a somewhat diff"erent tradition. There was
a monk at Durham named Elfred Westou. No man was a more zealous
guardian of the relics of the saints, and no one could match him in the
recovery and collection of fresh relics. His greatest title to fame is the
abstraction from Jarrow of the bones of the Venerable Bede, which he
deposited in the church of Durham. But he also visited the sites of many
of the ancient monasteries and churches in Northumbria, bringing to light
the bones of the saints who had been there buried, and placing them above
ground, where they could be the object of popular veneration. The saints
whose remains he had the merit of discovering were the hermits Balther
and Bilfred, Acca and Alchmund, bishops of Hexham, the abbesses Ebba
and Ethelgitha, and King Oswin. ^ The story illustrates the general revival
in the north during Edward the Confessor's reign of the cult of North-
umbrian saints, of which the instance of St. Oswin was no isolated example.
The question naturally arises whether Oswin was actually buried at
Tynemouth, and whether it was his body which was discovered. Answer
may be given in the words of Oswin's biographer. ' As for others than
' Bede, in his account of King Oswin (Hist. Eccl. lib. iii. c. 14), mentions only the place of his death,
Ingetlinguin, i.e., Gilling, near Richmond, where a monastery was built in his memory.
- Vita Oswini, c. iv. pp. 12-15.
' Symeon of Durham, Hist. Diinehn. Eccl. lib. iii. c. 7 ; Rolls Series, vol. i. pp. 87-90. If a choice
has to be made between Symeon's statement and the St. Alban's tradition as represented by the Vita
Oswini, the preference must be given to the former. The St. Alban's connection with Tynemouth dates
only from 1085. The story of the hair of St. Cuthbert, which did not burn but glowed like asbestos
in the fire, reappears in a different form in the Vita, where the hair is said to be St. Oswin's.
Tynemouth priory, 43
Bede who have told or written of the martyr, we allow a belief in their
statements, but the weight of their authority is not sufficient to compel
our belief.' ^ And the question whether the bones were those of the Deiran
king is one of small moment. They are lost now. The historical influence
of St. Oswin in succeeding centuries was great ; his Invention, whether
true or false, is a date to be remembered in the religious historv of the
North. Strangers had heard of St. Oswin, when the name of St. Aidan
was unknown to them.' The popularity of his worship is attested by the
number of miracles performed at his shrine, and continued for at least a
century, when his fame began to be eclipsed by that of Godric of Finchale.'
In the October following the discovery of St. Oswin's body, North-
umbria rose in revolt against Earl Tostig, and he was forced to go into
banishment. He went to the court of Harold Hardrada, king of Norway,
whom he persuaded to join him in an invasion of England. They united
their forces in the river Tyne (September, 1066), but the invasion was
brought to a close the same month at Stamfordbridge, where Tostig and
Hardrada lost their lives. Three weeks later the battle of Hastings gave
England to the Normans.
At first Northumberland was left unvisited by the Conqueror, but he
came with his army in 1070, wasting the land as far as the Tweed. Again,
two years later, he marched into Scotland to force submission upon the
Scotch king, Malcolm. Upon one of these two occasions, on his return
march, he encamped at Monk-chester, soon to be known as Newcastle-
upon-Tyne. He found the river unfordable, neither was there any sign of
a bridge. During his enforced halt the Normans scoured the country for
food and fodder. Word being brought that the supplies of the neighbour-
hood had been hurriedly collected at Tynemouth, a foraging party was
despatched to seize them. They came in sight of the church tower, which
stood a conspicuous landmark on the promontory. Then their leader gave
' Vita Oswini, p. i.
- Ibid. p. 46. ' De Sancto Rege,' inquit, ' Oswino nonnulla dudum audieram, sed Sancti Aydani
episcopi antea nee nomen ad me pervenerat.'
' Several miracles performed on natives of Tynemouth are recorded in the Vittt Godrici, Surt. Soc.
No. 20.
' Qualre cenz ans e quinze avoc
Aveit le cors ju iloc,
A Tyneniue, u il estait,
E uncore est, co est drait,
E Deus i fet maintes vertuz
Pur le cors scint, co est seuz.'
Gaimar, L'Estone dis EiigUs, ii. 5109-5114 ; Rolls Series, vol 1. p. 216.
44 TYNEMOUTM PARISH.
orders forbidding a further advance, for he had heard of St. Oswin's fame.
But his scouts were out of hand. They hurried on to Tynemoutii, and
came back to the king's camp laden with suppHes. They appear to have
set fire to the church, which remained roofless for fifteen years to come.'
King Wilham, on the second of these two campaigns, deposed the
existing earl of Northumberland, Gospatric, and appointed Waltheof to be
his successor. In 1074, when Waltheof had held the earldom for two
years, there came to Monkchester a monk of Winchcombe named Alduin,
with two companions from Evesham monastery. They came on foot, their
books and vestments carried on a donkey. From this humble beginning
sprang the revival of monasticism in the north. Walcher, who was then
bishop of Durham, received them with honour, and gave them the old
monastery of Jarrow as a place of residence." Their number was increased
by new recruits from the south, and many Northumbrians, influenced by
their example, entered the monastic profession. Walcher further used
his influence with Earl Waltheof for their better endowment. In the
presence of the bishop and of the whole synod of the bishopric, Waltheof
granted to Alduin, and to the monks assembled at Jarrow, the church
of St. Mary at Tynemouth, with the body of St. Oswin, king and martyr,
then resting in the said church, together with all places and lands and
other things thereto belonging, to hold freely for ever. By the same
charter he off^ered them his young cousin Morkar, to be brought up under
monastic discipline. Moreover, because Tynemouth was as yet too wild
and desolate a place for monks to inhabit, and Waltheof and the bishop had
determined to find them a more suitable habitation at Durham, he granted
to St. Cuthbert the church of St. Mary above mentioned, with all property
bestowed or thereafter to be bestowed upon the same.^ Bishop Walcher
likewise issued a charter at this synod, confirming the earl's deed of gift.
Symeon of Durham, who was himself a monk at Jarrow at this period,
has left an account of how the congregation acquitted themselves of their
charge. One of their number, named Edmund, served the church at
' Vita Oswini, c. viii. p. 20. Professor Freeman {Norman Conquest, vol. iv. p. 519) assigns the episode
to 1072, which agrees best with the hagiographer's words, 'cum a Scotia reverteretur.' But
Symeon of Durham's statement that in 1083 the church had been for fifteen years without a roof
implies a devastation in 1070, so that this tale of a Norman foray may apply to the earlier campaign.
-■ Symeon of Durham, Hist. Eccl. Duiutm. lib. iii. c. 21 ; Rolls Series, vol. i. pp. 109-112.
' Diir. Treas. 1"" i"" Pont. No. 5 (an early transcript), and Cart. Prim. fol. 83; printed in Hist.
Dundm. Script. Tres, Surt. Soc. No. 9, p. xviii. The presence of Earl Aldred as a witness throws some
doubt upon the genuineness of the charter, but there is no reason for questioning the fact of Waltheof 's gift.
TYNEMOUTM PRIORY. 45
Tynemouth, and, after him, Eadred. They also appointed a priest, Elwald.
He was one of the congregation of St. Cuthbert at Durham, and used to
go over to Durham from Tynemouth whenever his week came round for
celebrating mass. Others of the brethren were sent in turn to St. Mary's
to hold divine service. But there was no settlement at Tynemouth, and
the church continued in a dismantled state. The Jarrow monks at times
brought over the bones of St. Oswin to their monastery, keeping them
with them so long as they pleased, and then returning them to their
original resting place. ^
Bishop Walcher did not live to carry out his scheme of establishing
the Jarrow monks at Durham, being murdered in 1080. During the last
five years of his life he had been earl of Northumberland as well as
bishop of Durham. Now the two oi^ices were separated. William de St.
Carileph was appointed to the episcopal see, and a Norman noble, Alberic,
was made earl. In the course of his brief tenure of that office (1080-1082),
Alberic confirmed Waltheof's charter of donation.^
The new bishop was stronglv influenced by the ecclesiastical reforms
of Pope Gregory VII. He obtained papal and royal sanction for expelling
the congregation of St. Cuthbert from the church which they had hitherto
served, and replacing them by the combined monastic congregations of
Jarrow and Wearmouth. In this way Durham priory was founded. Monks
of the Benedictine Order were established at Durham on May 26th,
1083. The bishop had made preparations for the new body by endowing
it with extensive property in Durham and Northumberland, and he also
confirmed the monks in their possession of the church of Tynemouth.
Robert de Mowbray, the new earl of Northumberland, joined with others
in sanctioning this arrangement.^
The removal of the monks from Jarrow to Durham necessitated a
change with regard to Tynemouth. It was no longer possible to send
monks across the Tyne as in the days when only the river separated
' Symeon of Durham, Hist. Rcgum, Rolls Series, vol. ii. p. 261.
■' .Alberic's charter is described by Bishop William as granted 'eisdem monachis, domini Papae
auctoritate in Dunelnium translatis.' 'Translatis' refers to the time of Bishop William's charter and not
to that of Alberic. .Alberic had probably ceased to be earl before the monks were transferred to Durham,
though Symeon of Durham asserts the contrary. Hist. Regum, loc. cit.
' Diir. Ti-eas. 1"'° i'"" Pont. No. 2, printed in Hist. Dunclin. Script. Trcs, pp. i-v. The charter is a
forgery (see the Rev. William Greenwell's introduction to the Fcodariiim Pnoratus Duiielmcnsis, Surt.
Soc. No. 58), but must be accepted as embodying an early tradition, to be followed for want of a better
authority.
46 TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
Jarrow from its dependent ; a more permanent settlement at Tynemouth
was required. By a resolution of the whole chapter, the monk Turchil
was sent to Tynemouth, possibly with one or more companions. He put
a new roof upon the dismantled church, and continued to reside there for
the next three years.'
A quarrel shortly broke out between William de St. Carileph and
Robert de Mowbray. The earl sent two of his officers, Gumer and
Robert Taca, and expelled the monk Turchil from St. Mary's church.
The bishop replied by issuing a charter, in which he recited Waltheof's
deed of <nft and its various confirmations, and threatened with the usual
anathemas whoever should dare to rob the monks of their possession (May
27th, 108 s).' The feud became serious, and called for the interposition of
the king, who restored peace, though without obliging Mowbray to give
back the church to the prior and convent of Durham.^
Robert de Mowbray was not disposed or was not allowed to keep the
church in his own hands. Acting, it is said, with the goodwill of the king
and of Archbishop Lanfranc, he entered into negotiations with Lanfranc's
nephew, Paul, the Norman abbot of St. Alban's, to ascertain whether he
was willine to send monks from St. Alban's to settle in the vacant church.
Paul accepted the proposals upon the condition that a suitable endowment
was found for them. Mowbray assented ; the monks were sent and installed
under the protection of the civil power, and in this way Tynemouth became
a cell of St. Alban's, and, except for brief assertions of independence, re-
mained subject to that monastery for the remainder of its existence.^
' Symeon, Hist. Reguiii, loc. cit. and Hist. Dunelni. Eccl. lib. iv. cap. 4 ; Rolls -Series, vol. i. p. 124.
' Quae (ecclesia), cum jam per quindecim annos velut deserta sine tecto durasset, eani monachi, culmine
imposito, renovarunt.'
■ Dur. Tn-as. i"'« i"'° Pont. No. 5, and Cart. Prim. fol. S3 b, printed in Hist. Dunclm. Script. Trcs,
p. xix. This charter is to be taken with the same reservation as that of Waltheof. It is dated 'v kal.
Mail, feria secunda,' but the 27th in this year was a Sunday.
' Hist. Duiitlm. Script. Trcs, p. ccccxxv, quoting an abstract of the Liber Ruber, a lost manuscript
which gave a history of the privileges conferred upon the see of Durham down to 1088, ' Willielmus
Conquestor concordiam fecit inter Willielmum primum episcopum Dunelm., et Robertum comitem
Northunibriae.' A deed in Dur. Treas. (1'"° i'""" Reg. No. 17) gives the terms of a concord made by
William Rufus between St. Carileph and Mowbray ; printed in the Feodanuin, ed. Greenwell, p. Ixxxii.
The list of witnesses w-ould date it, if genuine, in 1091 or 1092. In this it conflicts with the statement
in the Liber Ruber.
' An obscurity hangs over the acquisition of Tynemouth by St. Alban's, due to the fact that the date
must be a matter for conjecture. Matthew Paris is the only writer who assigns a year to the event, and
he does not claim it to be more than approximate. (Chronica Mtijoni, vol. ii. p. 31.) His date, 1090, conflicts
with the statement in the Gcsta Abliatuni Mvnastcrti S. Albani (Rolls Series, vol. i. p. 56) that the trans-
ference was carried out 'regis et archiepiscopi Lanfranci benevolentia,' for Lanfranc died May 24th,
1089. The event must have been prior to that date, and is admitted to be subsequent to the foundation
of Durham priory (May 26th, 1083). If one is to keep as near as may be to the chronology of Matthew
TYNEMOUTH PRIORY. 47
Mowbray's charters are not extant, so that there are no means of
ascertaining how extensive his gifts were, but they were, without doubt,
lavish. He endowed the new cell with manors, churches, rents, and
fisheries, together with mills and the usual appurtenances of a Norman
manor, to be held freely, and quit of all secular service. He granted the
church of Tynemouth, so endowed, to Abbot Paul and his successors,
and to the church of St. Alban's for his own health and that of all his
predecessors and successors to hold for ever, upon the condition that the
abbot of St. Alban's for the time being, with the conventual chapter,
should have the free disposal of the priors and monks of Tynemouth,
alike in appointing and in removing them, as they should see fit.'
Paris, the winter of 10S8-10S9 may be fixed upon, and the spohation of Durham may under those
circumstances be considered to form part of the consequences of WilMam de St. Carileph's participation
in Odo of Bayeux's rising of 1088. Robert de Mowbray also joined in the rising, but appears on this
occasion to have escaped punishment. He may have made his submission and ratified it by joining
with the royal party against the bishop, his former ally.
On the other hand, the Durham Red Book gives proof of a quarrel between Mowbray and Bishop
William, which was made up while William the Conqueror was still alive, i.e., before September, 1087.
The words of Symeon of Durham (Hist. Rcgum, loc. cit.), ' postea per tres annos possederunt,' show that
the monks of St. Cuthbert did not hold the church of Tynemouth for more than three years after they
were transferred to Durham. This gives 1085-1086 as the required date, which is corroborated by the
fact that the story of Mowbray's seizure finds a place in Symeon's narrative before the entry of the death
of William the Conqueror. It is therefore probable that Bishop William's charter of May 28th, 1085, if
genuine, was not unconnected with Mowbray's attack on the rights of his church. Tynemouth had been
already confirmed to the priory along with other possessions in 1082. .\ special confirmation at a
subsequent date must have been called forth by special circumstances. These considerations point to
10S5 as the most probable date, though the chronology is undoubtedly difficult.
' Matthew Paris, Chronica Majora, vol. ii. p. 31. De monachis apud Tynemutham prime introductis.
' Consilio amicorum suorum (Robertus de Molbraio) Paulum, ecclesiae Sancti .-Mbani abbatem, convenit.
.... Cujus petitioni abbas praedictus adquiescens, quosdam illuc de SanctoAlbano monachis destinavit ;
quibus comes praefatus cum in maneriis, ecclesiis, redditibus et piscariis, cum molendinis et rebus
omnibus sufficienter providisset et cartis suis praedicta oinnia ab omni seculari servitio soluta et penitus
libera confirmasset, dedit praedicto abbati Paulo, ejusque successoribus et ecclesiae beati Albani
Anglorum prothomartyris, ecclesiam de Tinemutha. cum omnibus pertinentiis suis, pro salute propria et
omnium antecessorum suorum sive successorum eternaliter possidendam, ita quidem ut abbates Sancti
Albani qui pro tempore fuerint, cum consilio ejusdem loci conventus, liberam habeant dispositionem
priorum et monachorum, tarn in illis ponendis quam removendis, sicut viderint expedire.' The writer
of these words must have had Mowbray's deed of gift before him. It was lost before 1292, when search
was made for it, and a Tynemouth monk wrote, ' God only knows what has become of it.' Cottonian
MSS. Tib. E. vi. fol. 150. , ■ , u
The manuscript here quoted is an unpublished register of St. Alban's monastery, of which the
greater part appears to have been compiled in the last decade of the thirteenth century. It has been
continued by various writers in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The earlier portion relates largely
to the various cells of St. .A.lban's monastery, for whose history it is of the highest value. It has never
been printed as a whole, though well deserving of that attention, but extracts are given in the Rolls
edition of the Rcgistrtan Abhatiac Johannis Whcthamstcde, vol. ii. app. D. Originally a fine code.x, it was
seriously injured in the fire which consumed many of the manuscripts of Sir Robert Cottons collection.
Fortunately three independent series of extracts' from it exist which were made before the fire, viz. :
(l) by Augustine Baker (MSS. Jesus College, Oxford, No. 77), (2) by Roger Dodsworth (volume 78
of his collections), (3) by Sir Richard St. George (Lansdowne MSS. No. S63). Selden also quotes it m
his History of Tithes. Dodsworth's extracts were largely used in the production of Dugdale s Momutuon.
Mr. Sidney Gibson printed the Lansdowne MS. extracts, so far as they related to Tyriemouth, in his
History of the Monastery of Tvnemotith. The manuscript has been carefully rebound, and, though much
injured in every page by fire, i't remains otherwise intact. The greater part of it is decipherable. It wi.l
be hereafter quoted in this work as the St. A Iban's Register.
48
TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
Among the possessions so confirmed to Tynemoutli and St. Alban's
were probably the manors of Tynemouth and Preston, the manor of Amble
with Hauxley, its member, the churches of Tynemouth and Woodhorn,
and the tithes of Corbridge, Rothbury, Warkworth, Wooler, and Newburn.
Thev were held by Tynemouth priory from a very early period, and appear
to have been formerly part of the estates of the official earldom. Other
grants were made by Mowbray's ' men ; ' Hubert de la Val, for instance,
granted the tithes of all the townships in his barony, and possibly the
township of South Dissington also.
The following table shows the extent of the possessions of Tynemouth
priory, as well those now conferred as those acquired at a later date.
Exactness cannot be ensured owing to the loss of almost all of the grants.
Minor possessions, that is to say, houses or lands within a township, are
omitted.
Northumberland. A
Temporalities.
Date of
Township.
Donor.
.Acquisition
.
Subsequent
History.
Tynemouth
Robert de Mowbray (?)
1085 ...
Retained till dissolution
Preston
1) ))
Before 1 1 16
»j
1)
Whitley ^
Monkseaton
Henry I
Circa 1 1 06- II
16
M
M
Seghill )
East & Middle Chirton
Unknown
Before 11 16
))
»)
Earsdon
,,
»
M
1»
Backuorth
)»
Before 11 58
Jl
)»
Murton
))
Before 1 1 89
»
Ji
Flatworth
Robert de Wircester
Circa 11 58
)J
)»
West Chirton
Purchased from William
Heron
1256 ...
»
»>
Amble
Mowbray (?)
1085 (?)
»
M
Hauxley
,,
„
)1
)»
Coquet Island
Unknown
Before 11 19
))
))
Bewick >
Lilburn
, Queen Matilda '
Circa 1105-11
06
J)
J)
Harehope
Wooperton ,
Eglingham
Winnoc the hunter
Circa 1106-II16
)J
J»
Bebside
Unknown
Before 11 89
...
U
»)
Cowpen
West Hartford
de Bolam ^
Unknown
J'
))
tl
'Liber de Benefactoribus Monasterii Sancti Albani, Rolls Series; Chronica Monasterii S. Albani,
vol. iii. p. 435. ' Matildis regina dedit nobis Bewyk et Lylleburne.'
■ ' The manner and towne of Cowpon by th' old feodary roll was holden of the barony of Bollam,
and afterwardes the tenor given by the lordes of the said barony emongst other thinges to the prior and
convent of Tynemouthe.' Early seventeenth century survey of Tynemouthshire, Duke of Northumber-
land's MSS.
Plate r.'
r-1
V»1Tul™Jan.. banc S c.„c«„„f W,n.a A[<«„<lcr fcS i (.ercfconfAo .1„„c„3,„L I
-~- 1^.5 ^.rV.|,l ra.,„,fif U.^,. |,„_y ,a.e5arJ. Ren,,.*.. bp.on.li^
Ko5.ac I™„M. Ra<l„iafiululMc54a. Radu(foa™.Kc^«lJ„);.. Vo,,,^
CHAP.TER OF EDC3AR. SON OF aoSPATRIC
R.C"»»tD P»yui55EH viEs
TYNEMOUTH PRIORY.
49
Northumberland. A. Temporalities (continued j.
Township.
Donor.
Date of
Acquisition.
Elswick
■ de Bolani
Before 1 1 20 (?)
Westgate
Benwell
I'urchased from James Dela-
1454 -
Subsequent History.
Retained till dissolution.
Denton
Wolsington ...
South Dissington
Wylani
Welton
val
Purchased from Adam de
Kenrother and others ...
Unknown
William (?) de la Val'
Unknown
■38'
Before 1 1 89 . .
Before 1 158 ..
Before 1 120 (?)
Before 11 89 ..
Lost before the dissolution.
The priory also owned, at the dissolution, a fee farm rent from the
tower of Craster and land.s in Warkworth, Donkin Rigg, Woodhorn, North
Seton, Ellington, Mersfen, Newbiggin, Seghill, Holywell and Hartley, as
well as several houses in Newcastle and Gateshead.
B. Spiritualities, i
— Impropriations.
Dale of
Church.
Donor.
Acquisition.
Subsequent History.
Tynemouth ...
Robert de Mowbray
1085
Retained till dissolution.
Woodhorn
Mowbray or Guy de Balliol
Before 1 1 19 ...
11
Whalton
Unknown
Before 1 1S9 ...
n
Hartburn
,,
Transferred to St. Alban's
circa 1258- 1260.
Bcjlam
de Bolam (?)
„
Lost to the Archbishop of
York, 1253-1254.
Bewick
Queen Matilda
1105-1106
Retained till dissolution.
Eglingham ...
Winnoc the hunter
Circa 1 106-1 1 16
Transferred to St. Alban's
circa 1215-1222.
Edlingham
Gospatric II.
Before 1 13S ...
Surrendered to Durham, 1 1 74.
Bywell St. Peter's .
. Guy (?) de Balliol
Before 1 1 19 ...
»i
Haltwhistle
. Richard II
13S4
Retained till dissolution.
2.— Tithes, other ihan those of ihe Churches above-named.^
Date of
Parish or township. Donor Acquisition. Subsequent History.
Corbridge Robert de Mowbray (?) ... Before i!i6 ... ) Conceded to Carlisle circa
Warkworth „ ... „ ... ) 1223.
Rothbury „ ... „ ... Lost to Carlisle.
' Liber dc Dciie/actoribus, p. 448. ' Willelmus de Lavale dedit huic ecclesiae villain quae Ducentuna
appellatur in regione Northanhumbroruin.'
'' ' Henricus Rex Anglie R. Episcopo Dunelinensi et omnibus baronibus suis Francis et Anglis de
Northumberland, salutcm. .Sciatis me dedisse Deo et Sancte Marie et Sancto Oswyno et abbati
de .Sancto .Mbano et monachis de Tyncmulh omncs dccimas suas per Northumberland quas Robcrtus
comes et homines ejus donaverant cis, scilicet dccimas de Colebrige, ct illas de Ovinlon et de Wylum,
illas etiam dc Ncuburn, et illas dc Discington et dc Calverdon ct de Klstwyc, et illas eli.im [de] Bothall
et de Werkeurtli ct de .Anebell, similiter et de Roubyr et de Wulloure. Et volo ac praecipio quatcnus
supradictus abbas et monachi de Tynemutha bene ct integre habeant illas, ac libcie tencant in mca
pace, et quod nullus eis inde aliquid auferat, super meam forisfacturam. Teste Nigcllo dc Alben' apud
Brantonam.' St. Alban's Register, fol. 1 16. From Dodsworth's transcripts.
Vol. \III.
50
TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
2.— Tithes, other than those ok the Churches above-named f continued j.
Parish or township.
Newburn
Wooler
Elswick
Bothal
Wylam'
Ovington
Dissington
Black Calleiton
Donor.
Robert de Mowbray (?)
Guy (?) dc Balliol
Hubert de la Val
Dale of
Acquisition.
Before 1 1 16
Subsequent History.
Lost to Carlisle.
Compounded before 1282.
Retained till dissolution.
Compounded in 1236.
Retained till dissolution.
Lost before 1 189.
DuRHA.M (Wapentake of Sadberge). A. Temporalities.
Township.
Carlbury ... |
Morton Tyncmouth J
Date of
Donor. Acquisition.
Robert dc Mowbray or Guy Before 11 19
de Balliol
B. Spiritualities.
Property. Donor.
Coniscliffe Church ... Unknown- ...
Tithes of Middleton- „
in-Teesdale
Tithes of demesne of Robert Bruce I. (?) ...
the lordship of Hert-
ness
Date of
Acquisition.
Before 1093
Before 11 58
Before 1 141
Subsequent History.
Lost to the Bishop of Dur-
ham nVra 1 265- 1 290.
Subsequent History.
Transferred to St. Alban's.
Lost during the 13th century.
The tithes of Elwick and
Owton were retained till
the dissolution.
This list will show that the great bulk of the possessions of Tynemouth
piiory, both temporal and spiritual, were conferred upon that house during
the first century of its existence. There is ground for supposing that most
of them formed part of the original endowment, to which many northern
nobles besides Mowbray contributed, such as Guy de Balliol, the first
Robert Bruce, and the second Gospatric.
So soon as Abbot Paul had leisure to attend to his new charge, he
journeyed north, though it was not till the year 1093 that he was able to
set out on this pastoral visitation. The church of Durham had in no way
yielded its claims. Its prior, Turgot, sent some of his monks to meet
Abbot Paul at York, and afterwards went there himself. In the presence
of Thomas, the archbishop, and of many ecclesiastics, he prohibited the
abbot by canonical authority from usurping the rights of the church
' See the letter of Robert Hclme to George Warde quoted in the account given below of the Great
Book of Tynemouth.
- He is described in MSS. Cott. Vitellius A. x.\. fol. 76 b, as ' quidam nobilis de Novo Castello qui
venit ad Conquestum Angliae.' See Dugdale, Monasticon, new edition, vol. iii. p. 313. An account of
this manuscript will be given in dealing with the literature of the priory.
tVNfeMOUTH PRIORY.
^I
of Durham, and violating the sacred canons.
But the abbot answered that he cared nought
for any prohibition ; so when he fell ill and died
on his homeward journey, the Durham monks
saw in the event a just punishment of his and
Mowbray's crime.'
Upon the same day as that on which Abbot
Paul died, Malcolm Caenmore, king of Scotland,
was surprised and killed on the banks of the
Aln, November 13th, 1093. Two Northum-
brians brought his body on a cart to Tynemouth,
where Mowbray had it buried in the new Nor-
man church then in course of construction.
Subsequently Malcolm's son, Alexander I., asked
that his father's body should be given back. A
corpse was sent and buried in Dunfermline
abbey.' The Scottish king, in gratitude, granted
to the church his peace and the peace of God.
Matthew Paris has a storv that the remains sent
to Dunfermline were really those of a farmer
from the neighbouring village of Monkseaton.
' In this way,' he writes, ' we tricked the dis-
honest Scots.'' Whether or no Malcolm's body
continued to lie at Tynemouth, it so happened
that when, in 1257, certain foundations were
being laid for a new building, two coffins were
discovered. One contained the body of a man
of great stature ; the body in the other coffin
Symeon, Hist. Dunelm. Eccl. and Hist. Regiim, loc. cit.
Matthew Paris, Chronica Majora, vol. ii. p. 34.
' Symeon, Hist. Rfgiim, vol. ii. p. 222. William of Malnies-
bury, Gesta Regiim Anglorum, Rolls Series, vol. ii. p. 309. Cj. King
David's charter given in Dugdale, Monasticon, new edition, vol. iii.
P- 313-
' Chronica Majora (Additamenta), vol. vi. p. 372. ' De Roberto
de Mumbrni, fundatore de Thinemue Propter regiam excel-
lentiam. fccil corpus regis occisi honorifice intuiiiulari in ecclesia b
de Thyneinuc, qiiani idem conies construxerat. Scotis tamen
postea corpus sui regis fruntose postulantibus, concessum est et
datum corpus cujusdam hominis plebeii de Sethtune ; et ita delusa
est Scotoruni improbitas.'
irp>x "
•50A L E
I ft
■ . I
2tf.
I I I
Effigy ix Choik of Priory
CHfKCH.
^2 TYNEMOUXn PARISH.
was of smaller build. Ralph de Dunham, who was prior of Tynemouth at
that time, thought them to be Malcolm and his eldest son, Edward, who
was killed or mortally wounded when the Scottish king lost his life. He
wrote to a monk of Kelso for further information about Malcolm. The
monk sent him an extract from Roger of Hoveden's history, and suggested
that a place of greater honour should be given to the two coffins.'
Malcolm's death was shortly followed by the revolt and overthrow of
his rival Mowbray. Carried away by his success, the earl defied William
Rufus and broke into rebellion in the spring of 1095. The royal forces
marched against him. He stood isolated, but effected a stout resistance.
Siege was laid to Newcastle and to Tynemouth, both of which places
now appear for the first time as fortified positions. Tynemouth seems to
have been the first to fall,^ after it had held out for two months. The
earl's brother and the whole of the garrison were taken prisoners.
The St. Alban's monks made their submission, and found the king, who
was conducting the siege of Newcastle, sufficiently generous. Three royal
charters, drawn up during that siege, have been recorded in a register of St.
Alban's. By one William confirmed to St. Alban's the church of St. Mary
and St. Oswin, and all things that belonged to it in lands and tithes, waters
and customs ' to the north and to the south of the Tyne and in England,' '
' Matthew Paris, Chronica Majora (Additamenta), vol. vi. pp. 370, 371. It is impossible to say
whether the prior's conjecture was well founded. Only one may note that he claimed to have found
the body of Prince Edward also. Vet no writer makes mention of that prince having been buried at
Tynemouth, and Fordun {Scotticronicon, ed. Skene, vol. ii. p. 208) asserts that the prince escaped to
Jedburgh, died there of his wounds, and was buried at Dunfermline. The prior would seem to attempt
to prove too much.
■ The part played by Tynemouth in Mowbray's revolt has been examined by the late Professor
Freeman in Thi Rci^ii of Williiim Rii/us, vol. ii. pp. 603-613. He inclines to place the siege of Newcastle
before that of Tynemouth, but the dating of the two charters printed below, ' apud obsessionem Novi
Castelli,' militates against his view. Rufus is not likely to have granted the monks their rights when
the castle, .ind therefore the monastery, was still in the hands of the rebels ; neither are the monks likely
to have deserted the cause of their founder before it was lost. Freeman conjectures that Mowbray's
castle was not upon the priory rock but on the smaller promontory where the Spanish battery stands,
and that it was therefore e.xterior to the monastery. But this position has none of the natural advantages
of the priory rock which commands it. There is no evidence to show that Mowbray's stronghold was
not on the site of the fourteenth century castle.
The most detailed account of the siege of Tynemouth is that given by Florence of Worcester (ed.
Thorpe, vol. ii. p. 38) : ' Rex, exercitu de tota Anglia congregato, castellum predict! comitis Rotberti
ad ostium Tinae fluminis situm per duos menses obsedit ; et interim quadam munitiuncula expugnata,
ferme omnes meliores comitis milites cepit, et in custodia posuit ; dein obsessum castellum expugnavit,
et fratrem comitis, et equites, quns intus inveniebat, custodiae tradidit.' The castelhini is Tynemouth.
If Florence meant the iiutitittuiiculii to refer to Newcastle, which is doubtful, his authority still is not so
good as that of the contemporary charters. Compare the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, ed. Earle, p. 231.
' ' In nort de Tyne et in suth de Tyne et in Anglia.' Anglia is confined to its Domesday limits. But
Tynemouth held no property within those limits, unless the Yorkshire property of St. Alban's at
Appleton and Thorp Basset was originally conferred on the cell. The phrase may therefore be a
formula, though it is difficult to find another instance of its use. See this charter printed from the
St. Alban's Register, fol. 116, in Dugdale, Munasticon, vol. iii. p. 313.
TVNEMOUTH PRIORY. 53
together with all that Earl Robert and his men had given to St. Oswin
before his forfeiture. By the two other charters he granted to the monks
of Tynemouth all their possessions in lands, in waters, in tithes and in
churches, in wood and in plain, and gave them leave to hold their court
with soc and sac, tol and theam, infangthef and wreck, and to exercise
within their franchise the royal rights of jurisdiction.'
Newcastle, like Tynemouth, fell into the king's hands. Rufus there-
upon proceeded to besiege Bamburgh, where Mowbray had shut himself
up. The northern fortress was closely blockaded. Mowbray resolved on
a bold scheme which came near to success. He had succeeded in gathering
the royal forces in strength round Bamburgh. He now resolved to
make a dash for Tynemouth and Newcastle, recover possession of those
castles, and so cut off the communications of the king's army with the
south before they knew that he had escaped from Bamburgh. He had
reached and regained Tynemouth, and was on his way to Newcastle when
he learned that the royal garrison in that town had been warned of his
approach. The only thing left for him was to beat a retreat to Tynemouth
with his thirty followers, and there stand a siege, cut off from the resources
upon which he had depended. He held out for two days. Then the
castle was for the second time carried by the king's men, Mowbray's knights
being all wounded or taken prisoners. The earl was himself severely
wounded, but managed to gain the church and there sought sanctuary. He
was dragged from the building and by the king's orders led to Bamburgh
castle, whose garrison surrendered upon seeing their leader a prisoner.'
' St. Athan's Register, fol. 93. 'Willclmus, rex .^nglie, justiciariis baronibus vicecomitibus et ministris
atque omnibus fidelibus suis tocius Anglie, salutem. Sciatis me dedisse et concessisse Deo et Sanctc
Marie et Sancto Oswino et monachis de Tynemutlia tetiere libera et ([uiete et honorifice omnes res suas
in terris, in aquis, in deciniis et in ecclesiis, in bosco et in piano el in omnibus rebus. Et precipio ut
Sancta Maria et Sanctus Oswinus et iiionachi de Tynemutha habeant curiam suam ita libere et plenarie
in omnibus rebus cum soco et saca, tol et theam, et infangenelheof et wrek, et cum omnibus con-
suetudinibus et libertatibus sicut ego ipse habeo. Et volo et tirmiter precipio ut vos defendatis ac
manuteneatis ecclesiam Sancte Marie et Sancti Oswini, que est clemosina mea de Tynemutha et
monachos et homines et omnes res ejusdcm ecclesie sicut nieam propriam elemosinam, et ne paciamini
ut aliquis eis injuriam aliquam in aliquo faciat super forisfacturam meam. Teste Eudone dapifero, apud
obsidionem Novi Castri.' From Baker's transcripts.
Ibiii. fol. 118. ' VVillelmus, rex .-\nglie, Willelmo Dunelmensi cpiscopo et Roberto Picot et omnibus
baronibus suis Francis et Anglis de Northumberland, salutem. Sciatis me concessisse et dedisse Sancte
Marie et Sancto Oswino et monachis de Tynemutha plene et intcgie curiam suam, sicut ego ipse habeo,
cum aliis meis consuctudinibus. Et volo et precipio ut bene et honoritice teneant, et ut nullus super hoc
eis injuriam faciat. Teste Eudone dapifero, apud obsessionem Nov! Castelli.' F'rom Uodsworth and
Lansdowne .MS. transcripts.
■ The history of the revolt is given in Freeman, Reign 0/ William Rii/iis, vol. ii. pp. 37-55, and in
vol. i. of this work, pp. 25-27.
54 TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
This was the end of the revolt. Carried in a litter on account of his
wounds, Mowbray was taken south to Windsor, there to suffer a long
imprisonment. Twenty -six years later a Yorkshire knight, Arnold de
Percy, who had been present at the expulsion of the monks of St. Cuthbert
from Tynemouth, testified at Durham to what he had then seen. When
Mowbray reached Durham he asked leave to enter the church and pray.
On his guards refusing this, he gave way to tears, and looking toward the
church he groaned and said, ' Oh, Saint Cuthbert, justly do I suffer these
misfortunes, for I have sinned against thee and thine. This is thy punish-
ment on me. I pray thee, Saint of God, have mercy on me.' ^
Though he had sinned against St. Cuthbert, it had been to enrich St.
Alban. On his release from imprisonment he became a monk in St. Alban's
monastery, where he died at an advanced age and was buried. The
founder of Tynemouth priory is described as a tall and strong soldier,
dark and bearded. When he spoke a smile seldom relieved the sternness
of his expression. He was of a silent and crafty disposition, and his pride
was such as to lead him to despise his equals and to think that the orders
of his superiors could be disregarded.^
When Henry I. came to the throne, that sovereign confirmed to the
monks of St. Oswin their possessions, court and customs, to hold as freely
as Earl Robert held them before his forfeiture. He also definitely specified
in his charters their right to fisheries in the Tyne, as well as to wreck,
and accorded them free warren in all their lands in Northumberland. He
added to their endowment two small lordships, namely, Winnoc the
hunter's manor of Eglingham, and Graffard's land, which comprised Seghill,
Monkseaton and Whitley. His queen, Matilda, was likewise a benefactress
to the monks. She gave them the lordship of Archil Morel, which com-
prised Bewick and Lilburn, for the sake of her father, King Malcolm,
who lay buried in their church.^
' Symeon, Hist. Regum, vol. i. p. 262.
' Ordericus Vitalis, Hist. Eccl. ed. le Prevost, 1838-1855, vol. iii. p. 406.
' No fewer than seventeen royal charters and writs of the time of Henry I., relating to Tynemouth
priory, have been copied into the St. Alban's Rcgisttr. They are as follows : —
(i) Fol. 123. Writ of Queen Matilda, addressed to Roger Picot, reciting grant to St. Alban,
St. Oswin, and Abbot Richard of the land of .Archil Morel ; witness, Bernard the Chancellor, at London ;
probable year, 1105 or 1106; printed in Gibson, Tymmouth Priory, vol. ii. appendix, No. xix.
(2) Fol. 116 and fol. 123 b. Writ addressed by the king to Gerard, archbishop of York, and Robert
de Lacy the sheriff, and Roger Picot ; confirming last grant ; witness, Queen Matilda, at Ludgershall ;
probable year, 1105 or 1106 ; printed in Gibson, ibid. x.\.
TYNEMOUTH PRIORY. 55
(3) Fol. 117 b. Grant to St. Oswin of Tynemouth of his court and customs to hold in like manner
as Earl Robert held them before his forfeiture ; witness, Peter de Valoniis ; dated at Westminster at
Whitsuntide ; probable year, 1 108-1 109 ^or 1 121) ; printed in Dugdale, Monasticon, vol. iii. p. 313.
(4) Fol. 118. '[Henricus re.x] Anglie, R. Dunelmensi episcopo et omnibus vicecomitibus suis de
Everwyk[shire et de] Northumberland, salutem. Sciatis me concessisse et dedis[se Deo] et Sancto
Oswyno et monachis de Tynemutha curiam suam et [cons]uetudines suas quemadmodum rex Willelmus
frater meus dederat [eis. T. Petro] de Waloniis apud Westmonasterium in pentecost.' .Same date as ^3).
(5) Fol. 115 b. ' Henricus, rex Anglie, Rogero Picot, salutem. Sciatis quod [tibi firmi]ter precipio
ut facias habere Sancto .Albano et Sancto Oswino et [monachis Sancti] Albani omnes consuetudines
suas in terra et in aqua [et in] wrek, scilicet socam et sacam, et tol et team, et omnes [libertates] in
omnibus rebus suis, sicut unquam melius habuit Robertus comes tem[pore frat]ris mei, et fac eis plenam
justiciam de omnibus qui terram suam intraverunt et supra x libras forisfacere. Testibus W. de Werel-
wast et Nigello de [.Aljben', apud Wyncestriam in pascha.' Probable year, 1 108.
(6) Fol. 117 b. Grant to St. Mary, St. Alban, St. Oswin, and the monks of Tynemouth of all their
property, in lands and waters, tithes and churches, wood and plain, with soc, sac, tol, tem, infangenetheof
and wrek. Order to defend and maintain the church of St. Mary and of St. Oswin, the monks and the
men and properly of the said church. (C/. William Il.'s charier); witness, Nigel de Albini ; dated at
Windsor I'al Pentecost) ; probable year, 1 1 10 (or i i2z).
(7) Fol. 1 18. Order to the justices, sheriffs and barons of Northumberland, to maintain the church
of St. Oswin of Tynemouth, and to defend the monks so that none do them harm ; order that the monks
may have their court ; witness and date as in the last charter.
(8) Fol. 124. Writ addressed to Ligulph and Aluric, sheriffs, reciting grant to St. Alban, Sl Oswin,
and Abbot Richard of the manor of Eglingham ; witness, Urso de Abetot ; given at Winchester ;
probable date, 1 106-11 16; Gibson, ibid. xvi.
(9) Fol. 124. The same for quiet possession of Archil Morel's land ; witness and date as before.
(10) Fol. 116. Writ addressed to Ranulph, bishop of Durham, and to .\luric and Ligulph, sheriffs,
confirming to the abbot of St. .-Vlban's the tithes granted by Hubert de la Val to the monks of Tyne-
mouth ; witness, Nigel d'.-Mbini ; given at Winchester; probable date, 1106-1116; Gibson, ibid, xviii.
(11) Fol. 116. Writ addressed to Ranulph, bishop of Durham, confirming to St. Mary, to St. Oswin,
to the abbot of St. Alban's and to the monks of Tynemouth, the tithes given them by Earl Robert and
his men ; witness, Nigel d'.\lbini ; given at ISranton ; probable date, 1 106-11 16 ; printed above and in
Dugdale, Monasticon, vol. iii. p. 313, and Gibson, ibid. xvii.
(12) Fol. 115 b and fol. 117. Writ addressed to Ranulph, bishop of Durham, and to Aluric and
Ligulph, sheriffs, reciting grant to St. .\lban and to St. Oswin and to .A.bbot Richard of Graffard's land ;
witnesses, Robert, bishop of Lincoln, and Nigel d'.-Mbini; given at Branton ; probable date 1 106-11 16;
Gibson, ibid. xiv.
(13) Fol. 117 b. ' Henricus, rex Anglie, Ranulpho, Dunelmensi episcopo, et omnibus baronibus et
min[istris suis]. salutem. Sciatis quod dedi Deo et .Sancto Oswino et monachis [Tynemutham] cum
ecclesia, et Prestonam, et Millington, et omnes piscarias in Tina [in aqua] de Tynemutha, et Erdesdun,
et duas Chirtonas, et ecclesiam , Sehal et Seton et Wyieicyc. et Hewyk et Lillebourn et
Egel[ingham, cum] ecclesiis et omnibus pertinenciis suis. Hec autem et omnia quecun.que]
dederunt eis in North et Suth de Tynemutha possideant de [cetero. et eis et sucjcessoribus teneant in
puram et perpetuam elemosinam. Quare [volo et prc]cipio ut ecclesiam de Tynemutha manuieneatis
et defendatis, [quia me.a] propria elemosina est. Teste M. regina, [apud] Cestr".' Probable date,
1106-1 116.
(14) Fol. 118. ' Henricus, rex Anglie, Alurico et Ligulfo, salutem. Precipio ut elemosinam meam
de Tynemutha manuteneatis et custodiatis et de operacione de Novo Castello ita sit quietum sicut erat
tempore fratris mei. T. Willelmo episcopo Exoniensi, apud Westmonasterium.' Probable date, 1107-
1120. From Baker's transcripts.
(15) Fol. 116. '[Henricus, rex .A]nglie, W. Espec et For' et 0[dardo] vicecomiti, salutem. Volo et
precipio quod mo[nachi de Ti]nemuda in pace et quietudinc habeant et teneant omnes suas terras
et aquas suas et piscarias et consuetudines et decimas [et om]nes res suas de quibus saysiti et vestiti
fuerunt die qua Ricardus .Abbas [vivus ct m]ortuus fuit. Et videte quod nuUus eis aliquid auferat
Teste Episcopo Sarum', apud Odestoc' Prob.ible date 1120.
(16) Fol. 115 b. 'Henricus, rex .Anglie, Odardo vicecomiti et justiciariis suis de Norihumberl.ind,
salutem. Concedo quod abbas de Sancto .Albano et monachi de Tinemuthe habeant warrennam in
omnibus terris suis de .Northumberlandia, et nuUus in ea fuget nisi licencia sua, super decem librarum
foiisfacturam. Teste Willelmo de Pirou et Henrico de Pomer', apud Dunestaplam.' From St. George's
transcripts.
(17) Fol. 117 b. ' Henricus. rex .Anglie, vicecomitibus et cunctis ministris suis de Northumberland,
salutem. Sciatis quod retineo in manu mea domnm de Tynemulh' et monachos, et nolo quod abb.as de
Sancto .Albano neque prior Dunhelmensis de ipsis se amplius intromittant, sed monachi de Tynemiitha
priorem sibi eligant, et ille prior clericos ad h.nbitum et professionem ibidem recipiat. Et volo et precipio
quod ecclesiam de Tynemutha ab omni injuria defendatis et manuteneatis, quia mea propria elemosina
est. Teste Nigello de Albini, apud Dunelmum.' Date, autumn, 1122. Ex placiiis de quo warranto.
56
TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
During this reign a cell, dependent upon Tynemouth, was founded by
a Danish hermit, St. Henry, on Coquet Island.' Another important event
in the history of the priory was the completion of the new Norman church
of St. Mary, which must have been begun immediately after the installation
of the monks of St. Alban's, though the troubles of Mowbray's rising may
have delayed the advancement of the building. The pre-Conquest church,
containing the relics of St. Oswin, had been left standing. On the
Choir of the Priory Church.
anniversary of the saint's martyrdom, August 20th, 11 10, his relics were
transferred to the new fabric, and deposited in a shrine prepared for them,
in the presence of Ralph Flambard, bishop of Durham, the abbot of Selby
and others.^ A large number of monks, clergy, and laymen came to take
part in the ceremony. Those who had ridden there hobbled their horses and
turned them out to graze on the sea-clifFs. One unfortunate horse slipped
over the edge ; its rescue was ascribed to the saint's timely assistance.
' Sec vol. v. of this work, pp. 316-318.
= Vita Oswini, cap. xi. ' Hugo, abbas Salesbericnsis.' Freeman notes the confusion between Selby
and Salisbury (IViltium Kiifus, vol. ii. p. 606).
TYNEMOUTH PRIORY.
57
The new church, like its predecessor, was dedicated to the Virgin.
Her worship, however, never attained such importance at Tynemouth as
did that of the saint whose body rested in her church, and whose miracles
became common occurrences. Royal grants were made to St. Oswin as
well as to the Virgin. Their names began to be coupled as the patron
saints of the church. So the church came to be called after the names
of both saints, St. Oswin and St. Mary.
The building was not yet finished, and work was proceeding with the
roof on September 22nd in the following year (ini), when a stout work-
man, named Arkill, fell from the roof to the ground, and narrowly escaped
with his life.' He soon recovered sufficiently to proceed with the dormitory.
When laying the floor beams for the farther end of that chamber, he had
a second fall of nineteen feet. The fact that he only sprained his foot
gave additional proof of the miraculous powers of St. Oswin.''
Though Bishop Flambard luid tacitly acquiesced in the retention of
Tynemouth by St. Alban's monastery, as was evidenced by his presence
at the ceremony of 1 1 10, the monks of Durham were only waiting for a
favourable opportunity to assert their claims. With this object they made
a formal complaint at York in the middle of Lent, 1121, in the presence
of their bishop. Archbishop Thurstan, and his brother, the bishop of
Evreux ; and again on April 13th, when Robert de Brus, Alan de Percy,
Walter Espec, Odard, the sherilT of Northumberland, and many other
northern nobles had assembled at York for Easter. A speech then
delivered by Arnold de Percy, a prominent knight, produced considerable
eff"ect. It was generally admitted that injustice had been done to Durham ;
at the same time the feeling of the assemblv was that no action could be
taken, though it was useful to put the protest upon record.'
The proceedings of 1121 led to a different result from that contem-
plated. There appears to have been now at Tvnemouth, as there certainlv
was in later times, a party in favour of monastic independence, anxious
to make use of any conflict between the houses of Durham and St. Alban's
in order to acquire for themselves independence from either of those
monasteries. The case was brought before King Henry, who came to
Durham on a northern tour in the autumn of the followinsj vear. The
monks probablv argued that Mowbrav's grant to St. Alban's was rendered
' \'ilii Osiiiiii, c.ip. xiv. • IbiJ. c.ip. xv. ' Symcon, Hist. Rtgiiiii, vol. ii. pp. 260- :6i.
Vol. VI 11. 8
58 TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
null by his subsequent forfeiture. They won their cause, for the king issued
a writ, declaring that he had taken the religious house of Tynemouth into
his own hand ; he forbade either the abbot of St. Alban's or the prior of
Durham to meddle any more in the affairs of the priory, and he gave leave
to the Tynemouth monks to elect for themselves a prior who should have
full authoritv to receive new members into his congresjation.'
Durham again received a royal visit in 11 36. On Stephen's accession,
David, king of Scotland, took up arms in defence of the claims of his
niece, the Empress Maud. The Scottish army overran Northumberland,
and reached Newcastle, where its further advance was stayed by the arrival
of Stephen and his army at Durham (February 5th). A fortnight was
spent in arranging terms of peace between the two kings, David consenting
to deliver up the castles and lands which he had occupied in Northumber-
land. Before quitting Durham, Stephen confirmed to Tvneinouth priory
the rights it had possessed under King Heni-y. A new privilege mentioned
in a charter of his reign is freedom from tolls and ferry dues which the
men of St. Oswin were to have when marketing for St. Oswin's monks.^
The peace of Durham proved of short duration. On January loth,
1 138, King David again invaded Northumberland and marched to Cor-
bridge, whence he proceeded ruthlesslv to ravage the country. Newminster
' The date of the charter is fixed by Henry of Huntingdon, Hist. Aiigluridu, Rolls Series, p. 244.
^ Five charters of King Stephen remain, which are connected with the priory. They arc the
following : —
(1) St. Alban's Register, fol. 93. 'Stephanus, rex Anglie, judiciariis, baronibus, viceconiitibus,
ministris, prepositis et omnibus fidelibus suis, etc. Sciatis me dedisse et concessisse Deo et Sancte
Marie et Sancto Oswyno et monachis de Tynemutha tenere libere et quiete et honoritice omnia que
tenuerunt die quo Henricus, rex .^nglorum, fuit vivus et mortuus, in terris et in aquis, in decimis et in
ecclesiis, in bosco et in piano, et in omnibus rebus sicut melius et honorabilius et quietius tenuerunt,
rejje Henrico vivcnte. Et precipio quod Sancta Maria et Sanctus Oswinus et monachi de Tynemutha
haljeant curiam suam ita libere et plenarie in omnibus rebus sicut rex Henricus eis concessit per breve
suum, cum soca et saca, et tol et theani, infangenetheof et wreck, et cum omnibus consueludinibus et
libertatibus sicut ego ipse habeo. Et volo quod defendatis et manuteneatis ecclesiam Sancte Marie
et Sancti Oswini de Tynemuth', que est clemosina mea, et monachos et homines et omnes res ejusdem
ecclesic, sicut mcam propriani elemosinam, et sicut rex Henricus precepit per breve suum. Et ne
paciamini quod [aliquis eis injjuriam vel contumeliam faciat, super forisfacturam meam. Teste R.
CanccUario, R. de Olli, apud iJunolmum.' .St. George's transcripts.
(2) Charter Rolls, 3 Ric. 11. Writ commanding that the monks of Tynemouth may have such
fisheries as they will in their waters throughout Northumberland ; witnesses, R. de \'ere and Robert
de Avenel ; dated at Durham ; printed in Gibson, vol. ii. appendix, xxviii.
(3) St. .Alban's Register, fol. 124. Charter of confirmation to St. .Alban, St. Oswin and the monks of
Tynemouth, of the manor of Eglingham ; witnesses, Robert de Vere and Hugh Bigod ; dated at York ;
Gibson, ibid, xxvii.
(4) Charter Rolls, 2 Edw. III. No. 75. Writ commanding that the church and monks of Tynemouth,
their land and the men of the said church, be free from work on Newcastle and on all castles in
Northumberland ; witnesses, Robert fitz Richard and Hugh Bigod ; dated at York ; Gibson, ibid. xxvi.
(5) Ibid. Writ commanding that the men of St. Oswin be free from 'theolonium et passagium'
wherever they go, if they are buying or hiring goods for the use of the monks of St. Oswin, even as they
were free in King Henry's time ; witness, Baldwin de Sigillo ; dated at St. Alban's ; Gibson, ibid. xxix.
TYNEMOUTH PRIORY. 59
abbey was destroyed ; Hexham narrowly escaped. Tynemouth, by paying
twenty-seven marks ransom,' obtained a royal charter of protection. David
granted its monks his peace, coupling this with strict orders against injuring
them or tlieir property (June nth). He was then at Norham, which had
surrendered to him a month previously. Marching south by way of Bam-
burgh and Mitford, he crossed the Tyne, probably at Newcastle, to meet
defeat on the 22nd of August at the hands of the Yorkshire barons in the
battle of the Standard.
By a second treaty of peace, concluded in April, David's son, Henry,
was recognised as earl of Northumberland. Under his rule the county
became settled, and the Tynemouth monks won freedom from military
service for themselves and their tenants, except in the case of actual
invasion of the earldom. An important fishery charter gave them leave
to make weirs in the Tyne, provided that the centre of the river was
left free for navigation. The earl also gave them (as he did to Brinkburn)
a salt pan at Warkworth between his own salt pan there and the Coquet."
' Ricliaicl of Hexham, Ih- Gcslis Regis Stepluini, Rolls Series, Chronicles of the Reigns of Stephen,
Henry II. iiiul Richard I. vol. iii. p. 153. 'Uncle et illud coenobiuiii quod ad Tinae fluminis hostium
situm est, quod Anjjlice Tinciiiutlie dicitur, ut sibi et illic existentibus pro praesenti necessitate paceni
rediiiicrct, regi Scottiae et suis xxvii niarcas argenti persolvit.'
- The Si. Albany Register contains copies of the following grants made by David, king of Scotland,
and his son, Earl Henry, to Tynemouth priory :
(i) Fol. 1 18. Charter of i)avid, king of Scotland, granting to the church of St. Mary and St. Oswin
of Tynemouth, to the brethren there and to the men on their demesnes and to their possessions his
peace for ever, his son Henry consenting thereto ; witnesses. Earl ("lospatric, Hugh de Morviil, Manser
Marmion, Robert Foliot, Hugh de .-Xuco and Hugh Briton ; dated at Norham, June Iith, 113S ; printed
in Dugdalc, Munastuoii, vol. iii. p. 313.
(2) Fol. 1 18 b. O., Uei gratia rex Scotoruni, justiciariis suis et vicecomitibus et omnibus baronibus
[Francis] et Anglis de Northuinb', salutem. Sciatis me dedisse et co[nfirmasse] Deo et Sancte Marie
et .Sancio Oswino et monachis de Tynemutha tencre [libere et] (juiete et honoritice omnia que tenu-
crunt die qua Hcnricus [rex Anglorum] fuit vivus et mortuus, in terris et in aquis, in bosco [et in
piano, et in] omnibus aliis rebus sicut melius et honorabilius et quietius [tenuerunt], supradicto rege
vivente. F2t volo el iterum prccipio quatinus [.Sancta Maria] et Sanctus Oswinus et monachi de
Tynemut[h]a habeant [curiam suam ita libere] et plenarie sicut egonict habeo, cum soca et saca et tol
et team [et infangcne] theof et wrec ct omnes alias consueludincs tarn bene et li[bere quam] ipse habco.
Et volo et precipio ut defendalis et nianutcncatis [ecclesiam .Sancte Marie et] Sancti Oswini et mon.ichos
et omnia su.a, [et ne paciamini ut aliquis eis injuriam] faciat sicut me diligilis, quia mca propria
[elemosina est]. T. E. cancellario, et Roberto Brus, et Roberto de Hunframvill, et Gospatricio [comite.
Apud] Novum Castellum.
(3) Fol. iiSb. Writ of King David addressed to his justices, sheriffs, barons, and good men of
Northumbcil.ind, reciting previous charter, ' Et insuper precipio ut [ea] que ad predictam ecclesiam
jicrlinent halicant paccm mcam ' ; witnesses, E[ugenius] the chancellor, Robert de Brus, Robert de
Ihmfravill, Hugh de Morviil. and F2arl (lospatric : d.ited at Newcastle.
(4) Fol. 1 19. Cliartcr of Henry, son of the king of Scotland, confirming to the monks of Tynemouth
.ill that they hekl on the day on which King Henry was alive and was dead, as in charter (;) ; witnesses.
Kin;.; David, R., bishop of .St. Andrews, Geoffrey, abbot of Dunfermline, (Eugenius) the chancellor, and
Hugh de .Morviil ; dated at H.idington.
(5) Fol. I ig. Henricus. filius regis Scotorum. justiciariis, constabulariis. vicecomitibus. baronibus,
et omnibus suis fidelibus totius Northunib', salutem. Precipio quod ecclesia et nion.achi de Tinemutha
et tota terra et homines predicte ecclesic sint liberi et quieti de opere Novi Castelli et de opere aliorum
6o TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
The spread of industries was promoted by freedom from the civil war
which was devastating the south, though Uttle external trade was possible.
A Tvnemouth fisherman, Leowric, was captured off Scarborough one day
late in October by Ranulph, earl of Chester, carried off to Malton, there
scourged, starved, thrown into prison, and hung by the wrists from a beam,
according to the practice of those times.' But the conventual life was
peaceful. An occasional miracle, in the shape of a cure from gout or
toothache, added a new chapter to the monastic annals. One year might
bring drought, but another season produced so plentiful a harvest that the
priory barns were filled to overflowing."
Once during this period a dangerous fire broke out in the monastery.
Its buildings were arranged on the usual plan round a cloister garth.
The church stood on the north side, the dormitory on the east, and the
refectory on the south. At the south-east angle a thatched house adjoined
castellorum de tota Northumb', quia mea propria elemosina est. Et super hoc prohibeo ne uUus eis inde
vim vel contumcliam facial. Et concede eidem ccclesie quod sui dominici rustic! sint quieti ab omni
exercitu et et|uitatu infra comitatum ad defendendam terrani mcam, [ni]si eis per breve meuni mandavero.
Testibus, Arcliewold' episcopo Karliol', Hugone de Morvill, Gospatricio coniite, Gervasio Rad', Gilberto
de Uumframvill, Willelmo de Somervile, Ada vicecomite. Apud Bamburu. From St. George's
transcripts.
(6) Fol. 119. [Henricus] comes, fllius [regis] Scocie, justiciariis suis, baronibus, et vicecomitibus et
ministris, omnibusque pro[bis homjinibus suis tocius comitatus Northumb', Francis et Anglis, salutem.
[Sciatis mc] concessisse et confirmasse Ueo et Sancte Marie et Sancto Oswino et [monachis de]
Tyncmutha omnes piscarias suas et tractus in aqua de Ty[nemutha, et omnes] piscarias suas in tractibus
in aqua de Tynemutha quecum[que fuer]unt in ipsa Tynem' in tempore Henrici regis et meo tempore
usque in hostium Tynem', ita ut aqua rectum suum habeat [videlicet] terciam partem file aque
liberam, et istas piscarias nominatim [expressjas, scilicet Elstwyk, Brad yer, Hupward yer, Hoch, alia
[Hoch, Cruck] et alia Cruck, Cavesherse, et apud Tynemut' .... yer, .... yer, et tractus suos super
sabulum. Volo itaquc [et] omnibus ministris meis precipio ut hec prenominata ha[beant et pos]sideant
bene et in pace et honorifice, sine disturbacione et occasione .... Testibus Humfrido, Gilberto
constabulario, et Gervasio Rad' dapifero, Roberto Bertram vicecomite, Eugenio cancellario comitis.
Apud Novum Castellum.
(7) Fol. 119 b. Henricus comes, fllius regis Scotorum, justiciariis suis, baronibus, vicecomitibus et
ministris [et omnibus] hominibus suis tocius comitatus Northumb", Francis et .^nglis salutem.
Sciatis me dedisse et concessisse Deo et Sancto Oswyno et [monachis] de Tynemutha pro salute anime
mee et antecessorum et successorum m[eorum] in perpetuam elemosinam illis terram in hall de
Werkewurt ad [salijnam faciendam, que est inter salinam comitis ibidem et aquam de Kofket '. Volo
itaque et firmiter precipio quod hanc salinam libere et q[uie]te et honorabiliter habeant et imperpetuum
teneant sicut aliquam elemosinam in to[ta] terra mea liberi[us et quietius] et honorabilius tenent.
T. presente Eugenio cancellario, Gilberto constabulario, Gervasio Ridell dapifero, Radulpho
vicecomite, Willelmo de Somcrvill, G. filio Aylmer, D. de Burnvill. Apud Novum Castellum.
(8) Fol. 1 18 b. Henricus comes, filius regis Scocie, justiciariis, baronibus, vicecomitibus, ministris, et
omnibus probis hominibus suis totius Northumbrel', Francis et Anglis, salutem. Sciatis me dedisse
et concessisse ecclesie Sancti Oswyni de Tinemutha et monachis ibidem Deo et Sancto Oswyno
servientibus, et toti terre prenominate ecclesie, et omnibus hominibus prenominata ecclesia terram
suam tenentibus, libertatem et acquietacionem de exercitu et equitatu, nisi ita evenerit quod exercitus
super me et terram meam infra Northumb' venerit inter Tinam et Twedam. Testibus presentibus,
Gilberto de Umframvill, Thoma Riddell, G. de Perci, Milone de Arenis, Eugenio cancellario, apud
Novum Castrum, ad fcstum Sancti Michaelis proximum postquam Leowyc', rex Francie, iter Jerosoli-
mitanum aggressus est [September 29th, 1147]. From St. George's transcripts.
' Vita Oswiiii, cap. xix. ' Ibid. cap. .xx. xxi. xxiv. x.xv.
TYNEMOUTH PRIORY. 6 1
the west side of the dormitory, separated however by a passage two yards
broad on the north from the refectory and the principal line of con-
ventual buildings. It had been built as a guest house, but had ceased
to be used for that purpose. Very early one morning, when the monks
had retired to their dormitory to rest after matins, one of their number
caught sight from the window of flames coming up from the former
guest house. The strong west wind drove the flames on to the dormitory,
which was also thatched with straw. Some of the monks climbed up
on the roof to try and put out the fire. Others rushed into the church
to remove whatever was of value to a place of safety. The prior, Rue-
lendus, and the sub-prior, Alcuin, carried out the shrine containing
St. Oswin's body, and set it down on the grass plot within the cloister.
There Ruelendus, angry and frightened, broke out in an apostrophe to the
saint. ' What are you doing. Saint Oswin ? Do vou intend to let your
house be burnt out and then throw the blame on me, your servant ? It
will be put down to mv carelessness. If you are a saint, if vou are God's
friend, help us in our stress and fight for us. Why tarrv ? Why so slow?
I shall not stir from this spot, neither shall you. The fire shall burn us
up together. If you do not care for your monasterv, take care of your
corpse.' St. Oswin heard. The wind sunk, not before the fire had burnt
out the former guest house and destroyed the passage which united it with
dormitory and refectory. The dormitory narrowly escaped ; and the writer
of this story bears witness to its blackened walls, its charred window-frames,
the stones loosened and detached from its walls, visible traces of the fire,
which he found on his next visit to Tynemouth. One monk, brother
Richard, nearly met his death on this occasion. While sitting upon the
dormitory roof, where he had climbed to get away from the fire, a mis-
directed jet of water caught him and brought him to the ground.'
The Scottish earldom came to an end with the surrender of the county
bv Malcolm IV. of Scotland to Henrv II. in December, 1 1 sj. The usual
royal charters of confirmation were obtained, this time with important
financial clauses added. The priory was to hold its land free of all geld,
scutage, aid, customs, forced works and the like. No distresses were to
be made upon it for the debts of overlords, contrary to the usual practice
of the tenant being responsible for his lord's debts. The freedom from
' Viia Osii'iiti, cap. xxiii.
62 TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
custom duties, granted under restrictions by Stephen, was now made
absolute. Orders were given to the royal officers to restore to the prior
of Tvnemouth his runaway serfs and their chattels. The monks now
received an addition to their demesne lands, Flatworth being bestowed
on them by its owner, Robert de Wircester, at the king's orders.'
' Henr)' II.'s charters can be easily dated by means of Eyton's Itinerary of Henry II. Most
of them were drawn up at different stages on Henry's journey south in January- February, 1158.
They are : —
(i) Charter Rolls, 55 Henry III. pars I, m. 3 and 4. ' Henricus, rex An^lie, etc., archiepiscopis,
etc., salutem. Sciatis me concessisse et confirmasse Deo et .Sancto Albano et .Sancto Osewyno de 'I'ine-
mutha et nionachis ibidem Deo servieniibus, ccclesiam de Tyncmullia, et omncs ecclesias terras et
decimas et alias tenuras ad eam perlinentes, videlicet, Wyteleyam et Setunam et Sihala et unam toflam
in Novo CastelJo, et duas Chertunas et Erdisdunam, et Hachwurdam et Beuykham ct Egehvyn<,'ham et
Guedesho, et Wilum ; et decimas de Corebriga, et de Ncwburna, et de Werchewrth', et de Kodebir', et
de Bothala, et de Wolovela, et de Wylum, et [de] Dicentona, et de Kalvcrduna, et de Aleswycha, et de
AmbeUa ; ct decimas de dominiis de Herlh, et de .Seylona, et de Tunestal', et de Daltona, et de Middelton',
et de Oventhuna. Hec supradicta et insuper quicquid Robertus, comes Northumberland', et homines sui
predicte ecclesie et Sancto Oswyno dederunt, et quicquid cis a quocunque donatore racionabiliter datum
est, vel in futurum dabitur eis, concedo et confirmo in perpetuam elemosinam. Quare volo et fimiiter
precipio quod ecclesia predictaet monachi omnia supradicta habeant et teneant beneet [in] pace, libere et
quiete, integre et honorifice, cum omnibus perlinenliis suis in bosco et piano, in pralis et pascuis, in viis
et semitis, in aquis et molendinis et piscariis et stagnis, infra burgum et extra, in omnibus rebus et locis ;
cum thol et them, et soca et saca, ct infangenthef et wrec ; quieta et soluta de onini geldo ct scoto et
adjutorio, et ab omnibus consuetudinibus et operibus et auxiliis ct aliis querelis. Et habeant ita plenarie
et libere curiam suam sicut ego ipse habeo, et sicut caite regis Willelmi et regis Henrici, avi mei,
testantur. Et volo quod prediclam ccclesiam manuteneatis et defendatis ab omni injuria, sicut meam
propriam elemosinam. Teste R. archiepiscopo Eboracensi, Roberto episcopo Lincolniensi, H. episcopo
Dunelmensi, [R] priore Hagustaldensi, Hugone comite Nortffulch', Ivicardo de Luscy, W'illelmo fiiio
Johannis, Willelmo de V'escy, Huberto de Vallibus, Manasser" Byselh, dapifero, Henrico filio Gerardi,
camerario ; apud Dimelmum.' January, 11 58.
(2) to (5) Ihid. Four writs witnessed by William Fitz John at Durham, January, 1 158.
(2) Grant of free warren to the prior and monks of Tynemoutli in their lands in Northumberland ;
Gibson, vol. ii. appendix, xxxv.
(3) Order that all goods of St. Oswin and of the monks of Tynemouth, which their men can
testify to be tlicirs, shall be free from tolls ; Gibson, ihid. xxxviii.
(4) Order that St. Oswin's land be not distrained upon for another's debt, but only for debts due
from the demesne; Gibson, ibid, xxxix.
(5) Order that the prior and monks of Tynemouth have their wood of Jiurwood ; Gibson,
tbid. xl.
(6) Charter Rolls, 9 Edward II. No. 39. Order to restore to the prior of Tynemouth his fugitives
and iiatiyi with their chattells ; witness, Henry de Essex, constable ; dated at Nottingham, January,
1 1 58; Gibson, ihid. xliii.
(7) Charter Rolls, 55 Henry 111. pars i, m. 3 and 4. Confirmation to the church of St. Mary and
St. Oswin of Tynemouth, and to the monks there, of the gift of p'latford made to them by R. de Wir-
cester ; witnesses, Warin, son of Earl Gerald, and William fitz John ; dated at Winchester, February,
1 158; Gibson, ibid, xxxvii.
(8) St. Albany Register, fol. 117 b. ' Henricus, rex .Anglic, etc., Willelmo, vicecomiti Northumberl',
salutem. Precipio tibi quod pcrmittas monachos de Tynemutha et homines suos tenere bene et in pace
et juste omnia teiiementa sua, sicut carta mea testatur, et nominatim de omni opere castelli et de geldo
et adjutorio, et, si quid ab eis injuste cepisti juste reddi facias, et, nisi feceris, justiciam meam facias.
Teste Man' Biset, apud Lcons.' .March, 1161. From St. (Georges transcripts.
(9) Ibid. fol. 123. Charter of restoration to St. Alban. St. Oswin, and the abbot and monks of
St. Alban, who are at Tynemouth, of the lands which the king had taken into his hand on the flight of
Edgar into Scotland, namely, Eglingham, Bewick and Lilburn : witnesses, Richard, bishop of Win-
chester, (ieoffrey, bishop of Ely, Richaid de Lucy, William fitz .A.ude!m, dapifer, Alfred de St. Martin,
Robert Marmyon, Hugh de Cressy, Ralph de Glanvill, and Robert de Stutevill ; dated at Gaititon,
February, 1176; jirinted in Dugdale, Momisticoii, vol. iii. p. 314.
(10) Ibid. fol. 123. Writ to restore seisin of the said lands to the abbot and monks of St. Alban's ;
witness, W^illiam fitz Audelm ; dated at Woodstock, February, 1176 ; Gibson, ibid. xlii.
TYNEMOUTH PRIORY. 63
The writ of 1122 had long been disregarded. The abbots of St.
Alban's retained their hold over Tynemouth priory, which was now once
more challenged by the monks of Durham. Delegates were appointed
by the Pope to hear and adjudicate upon the claims of both parties. The
case dragged on. It was to the advantage of the St. Alban's party that
this should be so, since the case of their opponents in part rested upon the
evidence of certain very aged clergy and laity who had witnessed the
expulsion of St. Cuthbert's monks from Tynemouth in 1085. A fresh
commission was issued and new delegates appointed. In 11 74 a settlement
was reached by whicli Hugh Pudsey, bishop of Durham, and the prior and
convent of Durham renounced for ever all claims to the church of Tvne-
mouth and its estates, and confirmed the same bv charter to the monastery
of St. Alban's. In return for this concession the abbot and brethren of
St. Alban's surrendered to Durham their churches of Bywell St. Peter's
and Edlingham. Either party handed over such muniments as they
possessed touching upon the title to the conceded churches. Bishop
Pudsey granted to the abbot of St. Alban's the right to receive the usual
payments from the churches belonging to Tynemouth, and also, upon
the death of their e.xisting incumbents, to increase the pensions derived
from them from twentv and a half to sixty and a half marcs yearly. Of
his own free will Bishop Pudsev further conceded an additional yearly
revenue of seven marks from the church of Eglingham. It was probably
on this occasion that the same bishop pledged himself to observe friendlv
relations with St. Alban's and Tynemouth, and renounced a claim which
he had advanced to certain dues from the chapels attached to the priory.
St. Alban's had reason to be satisfied with the result of the arbitration, for
its right to the advowson of the priory was never again disputed by Durham.'
' Numerous documents connected with this dispute are extant at Durham, and transcripts of others
are contained in the St.Alhan's RegisUr above quoted. The letter of the delegates to the Tope is printed
in Hist. Duncbu. Script. Tra, Surt. Soc. No. 9. See also the documents printed in Gibson, vol. ii.
appendix, xliv-xlvii, and in this work, vol. vi. p. 104, and vol. vii. pp. 144, 145. The following documents,
taken from Bakers transcripts, have been hitherto unpublished :^
St. Alban's Register, fol. 124 b. Hugo, Dei gratia Dunelinensis episcopus, universis sancte matris
ecclesie tiliis, presentibus et futuris, salutcm. Inter cetera ad que debitum officii pontilicalis extenditur
circa virorum religiosorum quietem et tr.anquillitatem continuam, precipue debet cura sollicitudinis
adhiberi, ne corda eorum a sancte conversaiionis studio aliquatenus avocentur, et religionis otium per
antiqui iiostis astuciam perturbetur. Nos itaque monasterio Sancti Albani lanto vojentes studiosius
providere quanto ipsuni m.ijori honestale et monastice institutionis observancia preniinere dinoscitur,
eidem monasterio cellam de Tynemutha cum universis .ad cam peninentibiis que intra fines nostre
parochie continentur conlirmanuis et presentis scripti patrocinio communimus: in quibus hec propriis
duximus exprimenda vocabulis. In primis ecclesiam de Tynemutha cum capella de Setun.a, ecclesiam
de Wdehorn cum capella ile Hortuna et de Wodringtona et dc .Newebiggingc, ecclesiam de Egelinge-
64
TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
ham cum ecclesia de liewicl) et capclla dc Lillcburn, ecclesiam de Cunesclive, ecclesiam de Herteburne
cum capellis de Witeun ct de Camho et de Staftho, et omnes terras et obvenciones ad predictas
ecclesias pertinentes, salvo jure nostro et successorum nostrorum tarn in ecclesia de Tyncmutha
quam in prcnominatis ecclesiis, in synodalibus. et in aliis consuetudinibus cpiscopalilius. Conccssimus
eciam et presenti scripto confirmavimus supradicto monasterio Sancti Albani et ecclesie de Tynemutha
et monachis ibidem Deo famulantibus omnes decimas et obvenciones, tam in blado quam in aliis
decimacionibus, tam de dominiis regis quam baronum sive aliorum fidelium et propriarum villaruni ct
dominiorum, tam in Northumbria quam in llaliwarcsfolch, ita plenarie et libere possidendas sicut eas
plenius et melius habuerunt vel habere debuerunt, tempore nostro vel anteccssorum nostrorum, et sicut
donatorum carte testantur. Hiis tcstibus, Germano, priorc Dunelmensi, Burcardo et Willelmo, archi-
diaconis Dunelmensibus, Simone camerario, magistro Ricardo de Coldingeham, Henrico dapifcro, Roberto
de Adintona, Willelmo filio archiepiscopi, Alano de Walesende, magistro Aristotele, Roberto clerico
Norwicensi, Radulpho clerico de Waldena.
Fol. 124 b. Hugo, Uei gratia Dunelmensis episcopus, et Germanus prior, totusque ejusdem ecclesie
conventus, universis sancte matris ecclesie filiis, presentibus et futuris, salutem. Celeberrime consuetudinis
usus optinuit ut rerum series ad honorem Dei et pro ecclesiarum pace gestarum litteris commcndetur,
que et earum debeant perpetuare memoriam, et preteritorum
posteris recentem noticiam representent. Ea propter universitati
vestre litteris presentibus innotescat cjuod, cum inter ecclesiam
nostram et monasterium Sancti Albani super ecclesiam de Tyne-
mutha et pertinentia ejus, quam nobis de anticjuo jure competere
dicebamus, controversia verteretur et causa fuisset, venerabili patri
nostro Rogero dei gratia Wigornensi episcopo, et magistro Johanni
de Saresb' Exoniensis ecclesie thesaurario, et Roberto venerabili
decano Eboracensi, a summo pontifice domino Alcxandro tercio
delegata, duobus eorum, domino videlicet Wigornensi et magistro
Icihanne, apud Warewic in jure residentibus, tercio absenciam suam
'A causis necessariis per litteras excusante, inter nos et prediclum
monasterium Sancti Albani sub hac pacis forma convenit. Nos
siquidem liti predicto et repeticioni ecclesie de Tynemutha atque
ad earn pertinentium, tam ipsis judicibus quam ceteris qui aderant
religiosis sapientibus viris ad hoc operam dantibus, imperpetuum
renunciamus. Abbas vero et conventus Sancti Albani pro bono
pacis et prefata renunciacione dederunt nobis et scripto suo auten-
tico confirmarunt ecclesias de Biwelle et de Edelingham, cum
omnibus ad easdem ecclesias pertinentibus, jure perpetuo possi-
dendas. Volentes igitur prescriptam transaccionem et niutuam
inter nos caritatis vicissitudinem perpetuis temporibus observari,
supradicto monasterio Sancti Albani prcnominatam ecclesiam de
Tynemutha cum universis ad earn pertinentibus presentis scripti
testimonio concessimus imperpetuum possidendam. [Immo]
sicjuando litem nobis super prenominatis ecclesiis vel alterutra
earum contigerit suscitari, abbas et monachi Sancti Albani, cum
nulla munimenta in quibus ille tantum ecclesie confirmentur, nisi
cum aliis possessionibus, habeant, instrumenta que super ipsis
ecclesiis cum aliis possessionibus habeant ad defensionem nostram
exhibebunt. Hiis testibus, Burcardo et Willelmo archidiaconis,
Simone camerario, magistro Ricardo de Coldingeham, Henrico dapifero, Roberto de Adingtona,
Willelmo filio archiepiscopi, Alano de Walesende, magistro Aristotele, Roberto clerico Norwicensi,
Radulpho clerico de Waldene.
Kol. 125. Hugo, Dei gracia Dunelmensis episcopus, universis sancte matris ecclesie filiis, presentibus
et futuris, ad quos presens scriptum pervenerit, salutem. Cum inter ecclesiam nostram et monasterium
Sancti Albani super ecclesiam de Tynemutha et pertinentia ejus controversia verteretur, tam nos quam
ecclesia nostra prefate liti et peticioni ecclesie de Tynemutha et ad cam pertinencium imperpetuum
renunciavimus, nomine [cujus] transaccionis dederunt nobis ecclesias de Bywelle et Edelvingeham. Nos
etiam pro bono pacis in consideracione honestatis et religionis que in prenominato monasterio Sancti
Albani vigere dinoscitur, tam nostro quam ecclesie nostre nomine, concessimus ut abbas Sancti Albani et
monachi de Tynemutha de ecclesiis quas in parochia nostra habent, decedentibus personis presentibus,
supra quam tempore facte transaccionis solvere consueverant quadraginta marcas annuas percipiant.
Qiias in hunc modum duximus assignandas. De ecclesia de Wdehorna, que cum duabus capellis de
Widringtona et de Xewebigginge preter capellam de Hortuna quatuordecim marcas solvere consueverat,
sex marcas de incremento percipiant, videlicet, post decessum Ricardi clerici, viginti marcas. De
ecclesia de Hertburna, que duas marcas solvebat, decent de incremento, id est post decessum Roberti
clerici duodecim marcas percipient, salvo jure \'tredi et Roberti in eadem ecclesia quamdiu vixerint.
Se.'M. t)i- AniioT SiMo.v.
TYNEMOUTH PRIORY.
65
De ecclesia de Cunesclive, que prius viginti solidos solvebat, quinque marcas et dimidiam post decessum
Ade clerici, videlicet qualuor marcas de augmento, salvo jure Heremeri. De ecclesia vero de Egelinge-
ham, que tres marcas abbati Sancti Albani solvere consueverat, post decessum magistri VValieri de
Insula percipcret idem abbas preter tres predictas marcas viginti marcas, et completa erit summa
quadraginta marcarum. N'os vero, ex liberalitate nostra, amore predict! abbatis et monastcrii Sancti
Albani, prescriptis viginti tribus marcis scptcm marcas adjecimus, ut, videlicet, defuncto magistro
Waltero, abbas et monachi Sancti Albani triginta marcas annuas de Egulvingeham et pertinenciis ejus
percipiant, ita quod, ut si residuum administranti honeste sufficere non possit ad synodalia solvenda et ad
debita episcopalium consuetudinum onera sustinenda, abbas quod defuerit supplere debebit. Ut igitur
hoc a nobis supradicto ordine constitutum firmiter observetur, prohibemus ne quis hoc aliquo tempore
presumat infringere. Hiis testibus, Germano, priore Dunclmensi, Burcardo et VVillelmo, archidiaconis
Dunelmensibus, Symone camerario, magistro Kicardo de Coldingeham, Henrico dapifero, Roberto de
Adintona, Willelmo filio archicpiscopi, Alano de Walesende, magistro Aristotile, Roberto clerico
Norwiccnsi, Kadulpho clerico de Waklene.
Fol. 125 b. Onniibus videntibus vel audientibus has litteras, capitulum Dunelmense, salutem.
Noverit universilas vcstra nos gratam et ratam habere concessionem quam venerabilis pater noster,
Hugo Dunclmensis episcopus, fecit dilectis fratribus nostris abbati de Sancto Albano et monachis de
Tynemutha super augmenlatione pcnsionum in ecclesiis de Wdehorn, Herteburna, Cunesclive et de
Egelvingham pro bono pacis, sicut in dicli episcopi autentico continetur, teste sigillo nostro.
Fol. 125 b. Rogerus, Dei gratia Eboracensis archiepiscopus, apostolice sedis legatus, omnibus
sancte matris filiis, salutem. Noverit universitas vestra quod nos, inspectis cartis venerabilis patris
nostri Hugonis Dunelmensis episcopi, ju.\ta tenorem cartarum illarum concedimus et present! carta
nostra confirmamus monasterio Sancti Albani in perpetuum ecclesiam de Tynemutha cum universis
ad earn peninentibus que intra fines nostre provincic continentur. In quibus hec propriis duximus
exprimenda vocabulis. In primis ecclesiam de Tynemutha cum capella de Setuna, ecclesiam de
Wdehorn cum capellis de Hortuna et Wdrintun et de Newebig-
ginge, ecclesiam de Egelvingeham cum ecclesia de Bewich et capella
de Lilleburn, ecclesiam de Cunesclive, ecclesiam de Hertebum
cum capella de Witeun et de Camho et de Staftho, et omnes
terras et obvenciones tam in blado quam in aliis decimacionibus,
tarn de dominiis regis quam baronum sive aliorum fidelium et
propriarum villarum ac dominiorum, tam in N'orthumbria quam in
Haliwcrcsfolch, adeo plenarie et libere possidcndas, sicut eas pre-
fatum monasterium melius et liberius habuerit vel habere debuerit
tempore nostro vel antecessorum nostrorum, et sicut donatorum
carte testantur. Preterea transaccioni inter dilectos fratres nostros
monachos Sancti Albani et monachos Dunelmenses pro controversia
inter eosdeni mota super ecclesiam de Tynemutha concorditer facte
assensum prebemus secundum tenorem carte memorati Hugonis
Dunelmensis episcopi, qua carta accepimus eundem episcopum et
ecclesiam Dunelmensem liti et peticioni ecclesie dc Tynemutha et
ad eam pertinencium inperpetuum renunciasse, concessis eisdem a
monachis Sancti .Albani nomine transaccionis ecclesiis de Hywell
et de Edehvingham. Prcfati autem episcopus et monachi Dunel-
menses pariter concesserunt ut abbas Sancti .Mbani et prior de
Tynemutha de ecclesiis quas in parochia Dunelmensis episcopi
habent, decedentibus personis presentibus, supra quam tempore
facte transaccionis solvere consueverant quadraginta marcas annuas
percipiant, adjectis eciam septem marcis quas idem episcopus
predictis monachis Sancti Albani nomine suo et ecclesie Dunel-
mensis ex propria liberalitate de incrcmento concessit. Que sane
quadraginta et septem marce in hunc modum sunt in predictis
ecclesiis assignate, videlicet in ecclesia de Wdehorn sex marcas de
augmento, que preter capellam de Hortuna cum duabus capellis
aliis prius qualuordecim marcas solvebat et post decessum Ricardi
clerici viginti marcas annuas reddet. In ecclesia vero de Hertebum
decem marcas de augmento, que prius duas tantum marcas ecclesie de Tynemutha solvebat, et post
decessum Robert! clerici duodccim solvet, salvo jure [Vtredi] et Robert! in eadem ecclesia. In ecclesia
de Cunesclive quatuor marcas de incremento, que prius viginti tantum solidos solvebat ; post decessum
vero .Ade clerici quinque marcas et dimidiam annuatim solvet. In ecclesia de Egelvingham viginti et
septem marcas de augmento, que utique abbati Sancti .Mbani tres marcas soUebat, et post decessum
magistri Walteri idem abbas triginta marcas annuatim percipiet. Has autem predictas concessiones
juxta formani cartarum antcdicti Dunelmensis episcopi, hujus carte nostre testimonio jug! memorie com-
mendantes, necnon et omnia ecclesiastica bcneficia que monasterium Sancti Albani m provincia nostra
COUNTERSE.AL OF .ABBOT SiMON.
Vol. \-II1.
66 TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
The royal claims, however, remained a source of danger. When their
prior, Gilbert, died, the monks, with the king's licence, elected one of
their own number, Akarius, to be prior, who was then admitted and in-
stituted with King Henry's assent, but without any reference to the abbot
of St. Alban's.' This Akarius was perhaps the builder of the Transitional
chancel of the priory church. Certainly during his priorate alterations were
being made to St. Oswin's shrine, which adjoined the high altar both in
the Norman and the Transitional chancels. One Baldwin was employed
on the work, a famous goldsmith who had been brought from St. Alban's,
where the art-loving Abbot Simon had been his patron. He was especially
skilled in the setting of precious stones and in fine and intricate floral
ornament. While at work in Tynemouth upon the new shrine on the
festival of St. Oswin, he heard outside in the street the shouting of the
holiday crowd. He went out to see the sight, and incautiously left the
door of his workshop ajar. A man, looking in and seeing the shop empty,
entered and laid hands on all the precious metal that he found within,
wrapping it up in clothes lying there. Going out again with the stolen
prescriptis modis habere dinoscitur, sigilli nostri impressione confirmamus, auctoritate nostra precipientes
supradictas concessiones et Iraiisaccionem inviolabiliter observari. Hiis testibus, Johanne archidiacono
de Notingeham, Johanne London', magislro Angot, magistro Lucane, magistro Milone, Ada de Glocestria,
et ahis clericis nostris.
Fol. 126 b. Alexander episcopus, servas servorum Dei, dilectis filiis abbati ct fratribus Sancti Albani,
saluteni et apostolicam benedictionem. Communi et special! debito nos vobis et monasterio vestro
recognoscimus debitores, cum idem monasterium nobis sit, nullo mediante, subjectum, et vos sitis
speciales Romane ecclesie filii in obsequio et devocione nostra, et ecclesie serventissime persistatis.
Inde est quod cum jam pridem inter vos et venerabilem fratrem nostrum episcopum et nionachos
Dunehiienses super ccclesiam de '!"> nemutha et pertinencia ejus, de quibus hiiic inde questio fuerat diutius
agitata coram venerabihbus fratribus nostris R. Wigornensi et magistro J. nunc Carnotensi episcopis,
qui causam ipsam de mandato nostro susceperant terminandam, transaccio facta sit sicut utriusque
partis autentica scripta testantur, nos providere volentes ne aherutra partium super questione sopita
denuo trahatur in causam, prescripte transaccioni apostoHci favoris robur duximus apponcndum ;
eandemque transaccioneni, sicut de libero assensu partium facta est et suscepta et in scripto utriusque
partis et predictorum judicum continetur, ratam habemus et tirmam, eamcjue auctoritate apostoUca
confirmantes presentis scripti patrocinio communimus ; statuentes ut nulh omnino hominum Hceat banc
paginam nostre confirmacionis infringere vel ei aliquatenus contraire. Si quis autem hoc atlemptare
presumpserit, indignationem Omnipolentis Dei et beatorum Petri et Pauh Apostolorum ejus se no\erit
incursurum. Datum X'enetiis in rivo aUo, xv kalendas Junii [1177].
Fol. 127. Forma reformate pacis inter dominum Hugonem Dunelmensem episcopum et Symonem
abbatem Sancti Albani. Hec est, primo omnium, omnis inter eundem episcopum et ecclesias Sancti
Albani et de Tynemutha preconcepta simultas omnisque indignacio conquievit, fovebitque idem episcopus
de cetero et provebit jura et negocia carundem ecclesiarum et se abbati et predictis ecclesiis familiarem
et amicum exhibebit. Abbas vero versa vice et eedem ecclesie in observancia dileccionis et honoris
episcopi perseverare studebunt. Synodalia que episcopus de tribus capellis, de Hortuna, videlicet, de
Wdrinlon et de Lilleburn de novo exegerat de cetero non exiget. De cimiteriis de Hortuna et de
Setuna, que episcopus de novo dedicavit, matricum ecclesiarum indempnitati providit, sicut in cartis suis
continetur, quas inde abbati dedit de possessionibus ecclesiarum Sancti Albani et de Tynemutha, quas
quidem occasione indignacionis episcopi turbare presumpserunt, efficacem eis justitiam exhibebit (sic).
Hiis testibus, Johanne archidiacono Dunelniensi, Synione camerario, magistro Ricardo de Coldingeham
et multis aliis.
' Placita de quo warranto, Record Commission, p. 5S5 ; Hodgson, ^Northumberland, pt. iii. vol. i. p. 120.
TYNEMOUTH PRIORY. 67
goods he wandered about the town, and at length went into the house
of a woman, who, unluckily for tlie thief, was the goldsmith's laundress.
She recognised the wrapping of the bundle. The thief was brought to
justice and hanged upon the gallows.'
The friction that arose at times between the priory and St. Alban's
is well illustrated by the story of Abbot Simon's stay at Tynemouth. His
visit was so prolonged that the stores of the priory became exhausted.
The monks finally brought him a yoke of o.xen harnessed to a plough.
'Everything is eaten up,' they cried tearfully; 'still we have these left;
here they are ; you may eat them too.' The abbot, realising that he had
outstayed his welcome, called to his followers, ' Up, and away from here,'
and so, in the words of the chronicler, ' he left the house despoiled of
all that year's supplies to his eternal shame.' '
The accession of Richard I., and that monarch's financial needs in view
of his coming crusade, gave an opportunity for the acquisition of new
privileges by those who were willing to pay the price. His royal charter
given on December 28th, 1189, may, in its original form, have acknow-
ledged Tynemouth to be a cell of St. Alban's, thus renouncing any claim
to advowson. It certainly confirmed to the monks of St. Alban's at
Tynemouth all their possessions, temporal and spiritual. It gave to them
in a more specific manner than had yet been done the various profits of
justice, as well as the right to receive for their own use the danegeld and
cornage to which their estates were subject. The king issued in this grant
a prohibition against the sending of any officer of the royal household
within the limit of their property should the monks be unwilling to receive
him. 'We have granted,' the charter states, 'to God and to the church
of St. Oswin of Tynemouth, and to the monks of St. Alban's there serving
God, all liberties and free customs which the royal power can confer upon
any church, in as ample a manner as may be done.''
' i'lta Usuiiii, cap. xlv. Cp. Gista Abhatum Monasterii Sancti Albaiii, Rolls Series, vol. i. p. 190, for
an account of lialdwin's great cup, 'quo non vidimus in regno .\ngliac nobilioreni.'
- Gesia Abbatum, vol. i. p. 265.
' The charter of 1 1S9, as confirmed in 1 198 and on subsequent occasions, ran .is follows : —
' Ricardus, Dei gratia ie.\ Anglie, archiepiscopis, etc., et omnibus fidelibus Francis et .-Vnglis in
omnibus comitatibus in quibus Sanctus .-Mbanus martir terrani habet, amicabiliier salulem. .Notuni
facimus vobis nos concessisse et present! carta nostra contirmasse Uco et ecclesie Sancti Oswyni de
Tunemulh' et monacliis Sancti Aibani ibidem Deo servienlibus, omnes homines suos et omnes terras
suas et omnes possessiones suas, videlicet villam de Tunemuth cum <imnibus peninentiis suis, Selonani,
et Prestonam, et Chenonam, et aliam Chertonam, .Mullitonam, Hwithelegam, Erdesdonam, Hacwnh et
aliam Bacwrth, Sighale, Mortone, Bibeshet', Dischetonam, Wlsinton, Bewic, Egulingehain, Lillebume,
68 TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
The importance which was attached to this charter is to be seen by the
numerous occasions upon which its confirmation was sought and granted.'
Not only did it bestow real and extensive privileges upon the church of
St. Oswin, but it was regarded as a settlement of St. Alban's monastery
in its possession, and also as creating a liberty or franchise similar in
character to those of He.xham, Tynedale and Redesdale. When Richard
I.'s change of seal necessitated the confirmation of the charters granted in
the earlier years of his reign, this charter was also confirmed (November
13th, 1 198).' It was one thing, however, to receive grants of privileges,
AmbcU, Hauckeslowc, Ailsistwic, Wilum, Walthcdcn, et dimidiam villam dc Copun, Carlcsburi et
Mortonam in Haliwerckenfolc, ISileslio et terrain de Role et Danun. Hec omnia conccssimus jam
dictis monacliis in redditibus et homagiis, in pratis et pascuis, in nemoribus et tuibariis, et omnibus aliis
rebus ad jam dictas villas et terras pertinentibus ; cum soka et saca, in stronde on strenie, on wod
et feldc, thol et tlieam, giidbrege, hamsoka, et pecunia que pertinet ad murdrum, forstal, danegeld,
infangenethef et utfangcnedtheof, flemenesfrenitiie, blotwitlia, wrec, cornagio ; ut habeant super onines
terras suas et super omnes homines sues ubicumcjue sint, intra burgum et extra, in tantum et tarn
plcne sicut proprii ministri nostri exquirere debent ad opus nostrum. Preterea concessimus eis ecclesiam
de Tinemutba, et de Wdehorne, et de Walton, et dc Boluni, et de Beiwic, et de Egulungeham, et de
Herteburn, et de Cunesclive, cum capellis et omnibus aliis rebus ad easdem ecclesias pertinentibus.
Concessimus eciam eis Herford super Blitham, ct decimas de Hertenese, et decimas de Middelton super
Tcisam, et decimas de Colebrug et de Rodbcri et de Werkewrd et de Wlloure et de Ncuburn, et omnia
molendina sua cum predictis libcrtatibus possidenda. Et nolumus ut aliquis hominum, nee Francus nee
Anglicus, de terris eorum ncque de hominibus ullo modo se intromittat, nisi ipsi et ministri sui quibus ipsi
committere voluerint. Et eciam concessimus Deo et ecclesie Sancti Oswini de Tinemutba et monachis
Sancti Albani ibidem Deo servientibus, pro redempcione anime nostre et parenlum nostrorum, omnes
libcrtates et libcras consuetudines quas regia polestas liberiores alicui ecclesie confcrre potest. Prohibe-
mus super forisfactuiam nostram nc alic|uis eas aliquo modo infringere presumat. Prohibemus eciam ne
in ipsorum terris vel doniibus minister, dapifer scilicet vcl pincerna, camerarius [vel] dispensator, janitor
vel propositus, contra ipsorum voluntatem ct assensum, tempore nostro aut successorum nostrorum, per
manum alicujus principis vcl justiciarii quocumque tempore ponatur. Teste Bakhvino, Cantuariensi
archiepiscopo, Galfrido, Eboraccnsi electo, llugone, Dunelmensi episcopo, Willelmo Marescallo. Datum
per manum Willelmi de Longo Campo, cancellarii nostri, xxviii die Decembris, anno regni nostri prinio,
apud Cant'.
Is erat tenor prime carte nostre in primo sigillo nostro quod, quia aliquando perditum fuit, et, dum
capli essemus in Alemannia in alia polestaie constitutum, mutatum est. Innovacionis autem hujus
hii sunt testes, H. Cantuariensis archiepiscopus ; Johannes, conies Moreton, frater noster ; H. de
Chastellum, Cantuariensis, magister K. de Sancto Edniundo, [Richemundus, magister .\Ialger', Ebori-
censis, magister Petrus, liatton', archidiaconus ; Willelmus Marescallus ; Willelmus de -Stagno.] Datum
per manum magistri Rocelini, vices cancellarii tunc agentis, apud rupeni Andel', xiij die Novembris,
anno regni nostri decimo.' Cartac Aiitiijinn; Bl!, 18.
Considerable variations occur in the spelling of place-names in the transcript of this charter in the St.
Alban's Register, fol. 120 b, and also in those contained in later confirmations enrolled on the Charter Rolls.
'The charter was confirmed by Richard in 119S, by John in 1204, by Henry III. in 1271, by
Edward I. in 1301, by Edward II. in 1315, by Edward 111. in 132S, by Richard II. in 1380, by Henry IV.
in 1 40 1, and by Edward IV. in 1463.
■■■ Upon Richard I.'s change of seal see Mr. Horace Round's Feudal England. Mr. Round points out
that when the charters were confirmed in 1198 it was with a diflference in the terms. The case of
Tynemouth is no exception. The change there was significant, in view of the dormant royal claims to
the advowson. An extract from the first charter, preserved in the Rotuli Parliamentarii (vol. 1. p. 26),
shows the change effected.
Charter 01- 1189. Ch.^ktkr ok 1198.
Notum facimus vobis nos concessisse ct pre- Notuni facimus vobis nos concessisse et pre-
sent! carta confirmasse Deo et Sancto Albano et senti carta confirniasse Deo et ecclesie Sancti
ecclesie Sancti Oswyni de Tynemuth', ccllc Sancti Oswyni de Tynemuth' et monachis Sancti Albani
Albani, et monachis ibidem Deo servientibus. ibidem Deo servientibus.
JUX
TYNEMOUTH PRIORY CHURCH.
PRESBYTERY
RICHARD »**ULUS5tH. VltNN
TYNEMOUTH PRIORY. 69
and another to enforce them. The sheriff continued to e.xact cornage.
He even mulcted the prior's men of Amble for seizing on the wrecks
which came to their shores.' On King John's accession it was determined
to seek a new confirmation of the charter from him, and an engagement
that it should be observed. By way of security two charters were obtained,
one differing verbally from the other ; one was enrolled at Westminster,
the payment of the fine for confirmation being enrolled in the Court of the
Exchequer. The monks of Tynemouth paid, in return for this, si.xty marcs
and a palfrey, and St. Alban's twenty-five marcs and a palfrey.^ A royal
writ was addressed to the sheriff, forbidding him to e.xact from the monks
of Tynemouth the scutage which they should raise from their tenants, and
charging him to deduct in future from the total cornage rent of the county
that proportion due from the tenants of the priory, namely, twenty-
four shillings yearly.^ Assurance was made doubly sure by obtaining a
confirmation of the charters of Richard and John from Pope Innocent III.,
who likewise confirmed to them in the same bull the churches and pensions
A more rhythmical form was given to the enumeration of customs and rights in the charter of 1 189,
which ran as follows : ' Cum sacha socha, over stronde et streme, in wode et felde, tol et tern et
gridbruch ; hamsock, murdrum et forstallum; danegild, infangenethefe et utfangenethefe ; flemnienes-
fiemeth, bludwyte, wrec'
The earlier charter is described (St. Alban^s Register, fol. 116 b) as 'Signata sigilio regis, ut multi
asscruiit.' Mr. Round states that : ' Such charters and grants as are known to us all proceed from the
king himself, either before he left Messina or after he had reached Germany on his return ' (of>. cit.
p. 5441. He proposes to alter the date of the first charter to November 2Sth, on the ground that Richard
had already left Canterbury before December 2Sth, having sailed from England on the nth of the
month. The date cannot, however, be questioned, in view of a second charter given in the St. Alban's
Rtgistey (fol. 123 b), dated at Canterbury on December 20th, and witnessed by the bishop of Lincoln
and William Marshall, confirming Bewick, Eglingham, and Lilburn to the prior)', and which, like that
of the 28th, is given under the hand of Longchamp as chancellor. The great seal was despatched to
Richard in Normandy before the following March, but it would seem to have been left temporarily in
Longchamp's hands till the business of the Council of Canterbury was completed.
Mr. Round has shown that the journey of the prior of .St. .Mban's to France to secure confirmation
of charters 'cum efTusione multae pecuniae et laboris,' described by Matthew Paris as occurring in 1190,
is to be assigned to 1 198.
' Pipe Rolls, anno 1203, Hodgson, Sorthumberland, pt. iii. vol. iii. p. 85.
"Pipe Rolls, anno 1204, ibid. p. 88. 'Prior et monachi de Tinemue computant de 1 marcis pro
carta sua de libertatibus suis confimiandis ct ut carta ilia irrotuletur apud Westmonasterium, et ut ipsa
teneatur ct observetur, et ut quieti sint inrotulati ad scaccarium de xxx marcis et j palfredo quas pro eo
obtulerunt, et pro alia carta de boscis suis claudendis cjuam non habent. . . . Idem reddunt computum
de ij palefredis pro carta duplicanda de libertatibus suis, et in una cartarum illarum non ponitur sicut,
etc. In thesauro x marcae pro palefredis, et quieti sunt.' Cp. Madox, History of the Exchequer, vol. ii.
p. 405. The two charters were given at York on February 25th and March 1st, 1204. See Rot. Cart.
5 John, m. 12, Record Commission, p. 120; and Cart. Ant. (j 21 and BI5 16 and 18. By another
charter King John confirmed Eglingham, Bewick and Lilburn to the monks, May, 3 John. St. Alban's
Register, fol. 123 b. The charier roll for th.it year is missing.
'Close Rolls, 6 John, m. 5, Record Commission; writ dated .April 1st, 1205. The Pipe Rolls
show a regular allowance of twenty-four shillings to the prior of Tynemouth every year for com.ige from
1204 onwards.
70 TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
granted by Archbishop Roger de Pont I'Eveque of York and Bishop
Pudsey of Durham, as well as the liberties and imnumities bestowed by
his predecessors on St. Alban's and its cells.'
John de Cella, who was at tliis time abbot of St. Alban's, established
the custom of banishing to distant cells of the monastery the more unruly
members of his congregation. Tynemouth was especially useful for this
purpose. The monks received an unwelcome addition to their number in
the person of William Pygun, of whom Matthew Paris could write no
good thing. He was, he tells us, no monk, but a cowled devil, a Lucifer
among angels, a Judas among apostles. Incited by Robert fitz Walter, he
had forged a charter, conferring on that earl the patronage of the cell of
Binham, and had sealed it with the convent seal, surreptitiously procured
for that purpose. Abbot de Cella's successor, William de Trumpington,
continued the practice of banishment ; among others he sent to Tynemouth,
Reymund, prior of St. Alban's, 'forcibly reft of his books and other jewels.' "
When peace was restored in England, after the death of King John,
Abbot Trumpington made a splendid progress to the cells of his monastery.
At Tynemouth he received the homage of his tenants, and entertained the
neighbouring nobles and people of the district. The old prior of Tyne-
mouth, Ralph Gubiun, took the opportunity of begging to be allowed to
resign his post, but leave was refused, though it was accorded to him a few
years later. A certain Symon de Tynemouth claimed for himself for ever
two monks' corrodies,'' under the grant of an earlier abbot, and the case
was referred to the decision of single combat. William Pygun, ' the monks'
great champion ' was overcome. Prior Gubiun journeyed to St. Alban's
and insisted on being allowed to resign, whereupon, leave being granted,
Germanus, a northerner by extraction, was appointed to replace him.'
' opera Innocentii III. ed. Migne, vol. ii. p. 1526 ; bull dated January 3rd, 1209.
• Gesta Abbatum, vol. i. pp. 221-223, 257, 258. ' Cella de Thiiiemue, quae exilium nostris solet esse
raonachis.'
' A corrody was 'originally the right of free quaiters due from the vassal to the lord on his circuit ;
but later applied especially to certain contributions of food, provisions, etc., paid annually by religious
houses. . . . Sometimes the contribution might be commuted, and then it would be practically un-
distinguishable from an annuity or pension.' Plummer, ForUscue, pp. 337-338. An example of the later
form of corrody is contained in a deed of November 20th, 153S, by which Robert Blakeney, jirior of
Tynemouth, granted to Thoinas Wallis of Tynemouth, for life, in return for his good and faithful service,
an annuity of 40s. with meat and drink, coat and clothing, to the value of 15s., and agiecd in default of
meat and drink to pay him I4d. weekly from two tenements in Whitley. Laing Charters, No. 427.
About 1290 Roger Bercarius was receiving seven loaves and seven hens from the piiory weekly.
St. Alban's Register, fol. 129 b.
' Cesta Abbatum, vol. i. pp. 270-273, 275.
TYNEMOUTH PRIORY. 7 1
Pyguii's end was suitably repellent. One night he retired to the rear
part of the dormitory, and there fell asleep. His fellow monks listened to
the dreary sound of his snores. At length the sound stopped, and there
came a loud cry, which they distinctly heard, of 'Seize him, Satan, seize
him.' In the morning they found him lifeless. He had died where he
had sat. 'Perhaps,' Matthew Paris wrote, 'he had caught a chill. I prefer
to think that he was struck bv divine vengeance.' '
What an exile for the southerner Tynemouth proved to be is shown
in a letter which has been accidentally preserved in a formularv of St.
Alban's.^ As the earliest contemporary account of the priory and its
' Gesta Abbatiim, vol i. p. 224.
-■ The St. Alban's formul.ary, in which the letter is contained (Cambridge University Library, MS.
Ee. 4.20), was once the property of Robert de lilakeney, the last prior of Tynemouth, who was also
the owner of a fifteenth century Latin psalter now in the possession of Sir John Lawson at Brough
Hall {Historical Manuscripts Commission, third report, p. 255), as well as of the register of the second
abbacy of John de Whethamstede (Arundel MSS. College of Arms, No. 3), which has been printed in
the Master of the Rolls Series. The letter has been copied in a fifteenth century hand on to the last page
of the codex. Though the name of Tynemouth is not mentioned, internal evidence leaves no possible
doubt that Tynemouth is the place described. The letter cannot be later than the building of the present
gateway in 1390, and is probably far older. The description of the church as ' de novo confecta ' seems
to point to the Transitional extension of that building {circa 1 190) as being a recent occurrence.
Quoniam supplicavit michi fraternitas tua attencius rogando ut situm loci nostri et patrie mores,
necnon et quid boni vel mali ex maris vicinitate inhabitantibus proveniat vobis significarem, pareo
libens pro possibilitate mea peticioni tue satisfacere. Artus locus noster, super rupcm eminentem
positus, fluctibus marinis circumquaque cingitur, excepto uno aditu in quo est porta fere plaustro nimis
arta, opere huniano de rupe precisa, que intrantibus et exeuntibus unicum preslat iter ad ambulandum.
Hunc artissimum locum fluctus cotidie nocte dieque sevientes, tumultuantes crebris impulsionibus nimis
impetuose infestant, corrodendo in tantum quod rupes durissima pendet jam obesa, noviter ut credo
ruitura, non vi sed assiduitate, sicut dicitur, ' Gutta cavat lapidem non vi sed sepe cadendo.' Proveniunt
nempe ex predictis fluctibus nebule densissime et vehementer caliginose, tanquam esset fumus opacus
exiens de antro Wulcani. Hee etiam, nebule etiam tempestive, aciem oculorum reddunt ebetem et debilem,
vocem dulcisonam acerbant, arterias perstringcndo fere concludunt ne aer subtilis in pectore inclusus
per suos occultos meatus liberum et vagum introitum et exitum more debito possit obtinere. Quicumque
advena ibi hyemaverit rauci Theseide Codri afficietur. ■■ \'er cum vernis floribus ibi proscribitur, estas
estuare illic non permittitur, sed boreas cum suis collateralibus illic perpetue perhendinal, qui, tamquam
de potestate et carcere Eoli regis sui egressus, patriam nostram jure hereditario sibi vendicat et sedem
suam ibi collocat metropolitanam, eandem patriam letali frigore et compede nivali perstringendo. Hie
est nephandissimus boreas cujus ad imperium fretum frequenter fremit, mare amare debacatur, pontus
ponte carens portum petentibus efficit periculosum ; pelagus penas laboriosissimas infert navigantibus ;
equor inequale efficitur et ultra quam credi potest in modum montis exceisi tumescendo in ahum extollitur;
unde provenit quod spuma maris nimis amara, vi ventorum exagitata, domos nostras transcendit el in
castrum in modum pumicis descendit conglobata. Miseria maxima est respicere naufragancium pericula,
rates in caute super cautem ruentes, malum male titubantem, carinas inter scopulos et sa.\a, fractis tabulis,
clavorum compage non obstante, penitus esse collisas ; nautas membris frigore solutis quasi plumbum in
aquis vehementibus demergentes, quibus perituris non potest vis humana auxilium conferre, quia quidam
versificator dixit, 'Si ruat in cautem navis est dictura Tu autem.M Talia infortunia in oculis nostris
flebilibus sepius contingunt. \'ox nusquani turturis in terra nostra auditur. Philomena fines nostras
dedignatur visitare, quia non est locus amenus nee aura suavis ubi possit in ramali modulationes dulci-
sonas per suas dilatatas arterias dulciter organizare. Sed stmt ibi volucres in scopulis nidificantes,
glaucum colorem habentes, mortuorum cadaveribus insidiantes quibus avide vescuntur. Hee aves rauca
voce et horribili prcsagium future tempestatis infeliciter pronunciant. Homines h.tbitantes circa litus
maris sunt quasi niauri, mulieres sunt quasi Ethiopisse, virgines eorum squalide, pueri eorum velud nigri
* Cp. Juvenal I. i.
t A reference to the phrase used at the end of each lesson in the church service, ' Tu autem, Domine,
miserere nobis.'
72 TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
surroundings, it possesses considerable interest. Stripping the unknown
writer's account of its graces of style, the letter runs as follows : —
Our house is confined to tlie top of a high rock, and is surrounded by the sea on every side but
one. Here is the approach to the monastery through a gate cut out of the rock, so narrow that a cart
can hardly pass through. Day and night the waves break and roar and undermine the cHff. Thick
sea-frets roll in, wrapping everything in gloom. Dim eyes, hoarse voices, sore throats are the
consequence. Spring and summer never come here. The north wind is always blowing, and brings
with it cold and snow ; or storms in which the wind tosses the salt sea foam in masses over our buildings
and rains it down within the castle. .Shipwrecks are frequent. It is great pity to see the numbed crew,
pueri hebreorum. Protli pudor, indigene patrie illius comedunt algam maris que est attramenio nigrior.
Hec est quedam hcrba super sa.xa in mari crescens, carens dulcore sapore ac bono odore, magis vero
stomachum ad nauseam provocat quam confortat. Hec herba vocatur a vulgo staul;. Hac utuntur
patrie illius muliercs tanquam esset herba aromatica, unde color earum assimilatur colori herbe illius.
Arbores que deberent esse fructifere sunt quasi fructices non audentes ramos in altum extoUere
propter maris asperitatem cjue eas floribus et foliis spoliat et denudat. Tempore verno cum debeat
parens natura pratum picturare, flores parere, flosculos de arboribus producere, tunc maris flatus nimis
amarus et corosivus teneros flores, ante quam possint formose et perfecte puUulare, tanquam abortivos
eflScit violenter marcescere. Hinc est quod vix aut raro fructus in arboribus ibi inveniuntur. Quicumciue
mala punica suaviter redolencia dulci sapore reperierit, cum poeta exclaniare poterit, ' Rara avis nigroque
simillima cigno.' Si vcro contingit contra spem quod ibi poma nascantur, tunc sunt arida et sicca, succo
ei sapore carencia ; propter nimiam amaritudincm eorum dentes edentium obstupescunt. Cave igitur
tibi, frater karissime, ne venire desideres ad talem locum omni amenitate privatum, omni solacio et
jocunditate carentem, excepta ecclcsia eleganter de novo construcia, mire pulcritudinis, que inhabitantes
invitat ad devocionem, in qua corpus beati et gloriosi ac propiciabilis martiris Oswini in thcca argentca
auro et gemmis venustissime decorala rcquiescere dinoscitur. Hie est vere qui pro Christi nomine
sanguincm suum fudit, qui rabiem persequentium non forniidavit ncc mundane glorie pompam quesivit,
set celeste regnum pro terreno feliciter commutavit, celum pro dojiio lutea, margaritam prefulgidam pro
carnis testa comparavit. Hie est plus et propitius rex et martir inclitus cujus ope inopes ab omni
clade liberantur, qui ex tolo corde eius deposcunt largicionem, cuius munimine muniuntur profugi et
exules a propria patria propter homicidia furta vel sediciones contra regem et regni staluta nequiter
perpctrata. Hie est gjoriosus martir Oswynus optimus egrorum medicus effectus. Quod non
valet praetica nee quecumque phisica, pii martiris prestant beneficia.
' Surdi, elaudi, ceci, muti
Sunt ad usum restituti
Martyris clemencia.'
Egregii martiris protectio et venuste ecclesie pulcritudo, simile conjuncte efficiunt quod fratres ibi
habitantes simul anibulantes in domo domini cum consensu et ore et corde alacriter decantavant,
'Ecce quam bonum et quam jocundum habitare fratres in unum.' De corporali dieta non est ibi
murmur aut querimonia, quia magnorum piscium ac reg.alium fertilitas materiam auflTert niurmurandi.
Fertilitatis vero ydempnitas quibusdam generat fastidium, quorum unus ego aliquando sic proclamo :
' Inopem me copia fecit.' Multoeius contingit quod copiosa abundaneia stomachum efficit fastidire.
Si enim piscis esset ibi rarior, esset preciosior, quia omne rarum earum, et alibi dicitur, '.-Mimenta que
minus suflficiunt avidius sumuntur.' Ecce, karissime, ad vestram instanciam situm loci, mores patrie, et
quid boni et mali maris vieinitas conferat hominibus circa litus maris habitantibus, prout potui in tempore
hyemali et estivali perpendere, vobis significavi. Valete.
The iilva marina, locally called dauk, still formed part of the food of the poorer classes of Northum-
berland in 1568, when William Turner, master of Pembroke College, Cambridge, and a native of
Morpeth, wrote of it: 'The Brion tlialassion of Theophrastus and Pliny is called" in Northumberland
slaiikc, which in Lent the poore people seth, and that with lykes and oyniones. They put it in a pott
and smorc M, as they call it, .and then it loketh black, and then they put oyniones to it and eate it. But,
before it is sodden, it is wonderfully grene.' Herbal, pt. i. p. 94. In an earlier work the same writer
describes it as having leaves like lettuce, and adds, ' It groweth in the sea about shelles and stones also.
It coleth and drycth.' Names of Ilerbes, 1548, ed. James Britten for the English Dialect Society. The
reference to sea gulls nesting in the cliffs of the priory rock finds a parallel in Turner's account of the
cormorants which he saw nesting there : ' In rupibus marinis juxta hostium Tinae fluvii mergos nidulantes
vidi.' On Birds, 1544, ed. A. H. Evans, p. no. For the erosion of the sea-cliffs described in this
letter, see R. M. Tate, Un the Erosion and Destruction of the Coast Line from the Low Lights to Tynemoiith
and Cnllcrcoats, and the petition of 13S0 quoted on p. 97.
TYNEMOUTH PRIORY. 73
whom no power on earth can save, whose vessel, mast swaying and timbers parted, rushes upon rock
or reef. No ring-dove or nightingale is here, only grey birds which nest in the rocks and greedily prey
upon the drowned, whose screaming cry is a token of coming storm. The people who live by the
sea-shore feed upon black malodorous sea-weed, called 'slauk,' which they gather on the rocks. The
constant eating of it turns their comple.\ions black. Men, women and children are as dark as Africans or
the swarthiest Jews. In the spring the sea-air blights the blossoms of the stunted fruit trees, so that you
will think yourself lucky to find a wizened apple, though it will set your teeth on edge should you try to
eat it. See to it, dear brother, that you do not come to so comfortless a place.
But the church is of wondrous beauty. It has been lately completed. Within it rests the body of
the blessed martyr Oswin in a silver shrine, magnificently embellished with gold and jewels. He
protects the murderers, thieves, and seditious persons who fly to him, and commutes their punishment
to exile. He heals those whom no physician can cure. The martyr's protection and the church's
beauty furnish us with a bond of unity. We are well off for food, thanks to the abundant supply of fish,
of which we tire.
The claims of the bishop of Durham over Tynemouth had been settled
in 1 174, only to arise again in a new form. Successive bishops asserted
their rights as diocesans to visit the church of Tynemouth, and to e.xact
obedience from its priors. They also raised claims to certain other churches,
of which the monastery held the advowson. Upon the case being carried
to Rome, delegates appointed by the Pope decided that the bishop and
his officials should confine their visitations to that part of Tynemouth
church which was set aside for parochial purposes, and should not interfere
in any way with the conventual portion of the church or with the monastery
itself. They confirmed the right of the abbot of St. Alban's to appoint
or remove, with the consent of his chapter, the priors of his cell of Tyne-
mouth. During a vacancy at St. Alban's the prior of that abbey was to
exercise the same right. On the other hand the prior of Tynemouth was,
after his appointment, to be presented to the bishop of Durham, and was to
promise him canonical obedience so far as the parish churches in his gift
were concerned, and as the privileges granted to St. Alban's monasterv
allowed. He was not, however, on that account to be summoned to attend
the diocesan synod. The vicars of Tynemoutli were to be presented, upon
their appointment, by the prior and convent of that place to the bishop ;
they were to be answerable to the bishop for spiritualities and to the monks
for temporalities (May, 1247).'
' This award is given by Matthew Paris, Chronica Majora, vol. iv. pp. 615, 616, and Gcsta Ahhatttm,
vol. i. pp. 390, 391. Numerous claims were made by the bishops of Durham during the reigns of John
and Henry III. to churches in the gift of the prior of Tynemouth and the abbot of St. .-Mban's, namely,
to Woodhorn in 1205, Hartburn in 1252, and Coniscliffe in 1258. Patrick, earl of Dunbar, claimed the
advowson of Eglingham in 1225; Robert fitz Roger claimed that of Whalton in 1269; and in 1254 the
church of Bolani was lost by Tynemouth to the archbishop of York. In 1225 Richard de Natfcrton,
probably a monk of Tynemouth, obtained a letter from the king directed to the bishop of Durham,
forbidding the bishop to meddle with the demesnes or villeins of Tynemouth priory. Patent Rolls,
1216-1225, p. 571.
Vol. VII 1. 10
74 TYNEMOUTH TAKISH.
In spite of this composition, the bishop, Nichohis de Farnluun, con-
tinued to inflict such injury as he could upon the monks. He compelled
their church to contribute to the cost of building the chapel of the Nine
Altars at Durham, forbade certain vicars to pay their annual pension to
Tynemouth, and distrained on the prior's cattle. Relying upon a verdict
procured from twelve of his own knights, he disregarded the letters of the
king and of the abbot of St. Alban's, and endeavoured to wearv the
monks into submission.'
Fortunately for them, Bishop Farnham resigned his office in the
following February. His successor, Walter de Kirkham, surrendered to
St. Alban's all right to the churches of Hartburn and Eglingham {cijca
1252), which he conferred upon the monastery for the promotion of
hospitality and the bettering of their ale. Tvnemouth did not, however,
profit by the arrangement. So wealthy were these two churches that
Prior Ralph de Dunham made an offer of two hundred and fortv marcs
to St. Alban's, if only he were allowed to retain them.- Bishop Kirkham
proved in the end no better disposed towards the priory than his pre-
decessor had been. In 1256, William de Grevstoke commenced a suit in
the bishop's court for the advowson of Conescliffe in Durham. The abbot
of St. Alban's and the prior of Tynemouth refused to appear, grounding
their claim on their privilege of not being called in question for any tene-
ment belonging to them except in the king's court and under a special
royal mandate. Walter de Kirkham retorted by traversing the right of the
abbot and prior to hold a free court within the wapentake of Sadberge,
which, since the date of Richard I.'s charter, had been transferred to
the bishop of Durham. The lawsuit was of great length, even for those
times. By making very considerable concessions, the abbot of St. Alban's
ultimately, in 1275, secured the recognition of the advowson as belonging
to his monastery.'
The priory had many enemies besides the bishops of Durham. Patrick,
earl of Dunbar, laid claim to the manors of Bewick and Eglingham. Dying
at Marseilles in 1248, his body was brought home to Tynemouth, and
' Chronica Majoru, vol. v. pp. 8-13.
- Gcsta Abbatum, vol. i. pp. 320-322. The churches did not form a new donation to St. Alban's,
though Bishop Kirkham's confirmation earned him a place among the benefactors to the abbey. Liber
de Bau-fictoribus, Rolls Series, Chnmuks of St. Alban's, vol. iii. p. 441.
' Gesla Abbatum, vol. i. pp. 350, 427-430, 436, and Chronica Majora, vol. vi. (Liber .Additamenloium)
passim.
TYNEMOUTH PRIORY.
burit'd there in the church wliich he had
harassed.' John de Balliol was impartially
hostile to Tynemouth and Durham. On both
churches he is said to have inflicted enormous
loss before he was persuaded to conclude
peace with them in 1255. 'He who should re-
count the wrongs,' savs Matthew Paris, 'which
William de Valence did to the abbot of St.
Alban's and the prior of Tynemouth, would
draw tears from the eves of his hearers ; ' but
the wrongs have been untold and our eves
are dry." Add to this the expenses of special
missions to the papal court, as in 1256, relative
to the papal provision to Hartburn, a living
round which would-be incumbents are said to
have gathered ' like eagles round a carcase ; '
and the exactions of such unscrupulous pre-
lates as the bishop of Hereford, and the
demands of Henry HI.'
The cell of Tvnemouth was called upon
to contribute twentv-five marcs to the (i//.\-
iliuiii prc/dtoi mil of 1235, and again to make
a payment of five marcs in 1245. When in
1253 the clergy granted to the king a tithe
of all ecclesiastical revenues, Tynemouth con-
tributed by paying a hundred marks to Ale-
brando Alebrandini and Bernardo Prosperini,
the king's Siennese creditors. In spite of
the convent's rising commercial prosperity, of
which signs are to be found in the growth
of North Shields, the development of the
fishing industrv, the establishment of tan-yards
at Preston, the holding of markets at Tyne-
mouth and at Bewick, and, not least important,
Scale
1 <t
^
' Chronica Majora, vol. v. p. 41 ; cf. vol. vii. of this work, p. 61.
'■' Chronica Majora, vol. v. pp. 229, 528. William de Wilence held the neighbouring castle of Horton,
1257-1270. I Qg^i^ Ahbatum, vol. i. pp. 346-350, 3S3.
76
TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
the commencement of the coal trade, the monastery fell considerably into
debt. Two small debts to the Crown of a hundred shillings and five marcs,
incurred in 1252 and 1257, were still outstanding at the close of Henry's
reign. The tithe of their revenue, which brought in £66 13s. 4d. in 1253,
amounted only to /"41 8s. 3d. in 1292.'
A collection of letters which has been preserved, covering the years
1 258-1 269, throws some light on life in the monastery at this time. They
give a few interestinsf notices of the turmoil into which the countrv was
thrown by the Barons' War. Prior Ralph de Dunham wrote to his abbot
in the summer of 1258, 'I dare not in these days send you any money in
return for the outlay which you are making on behalf of our cell, alike
in the king's court and before the legate, for I fear the robberies to which
travellers are daily subjected.' A few years later a canon of He.xham
wrote to the cellarer of Tynemouth, ' I am sending you Stephen de Len,
who is an honest workman, and, as I have heard, is skilled in plumbing
and in laying on water. Do not think the worse of him for his shabby
clothes. He has two or three times lost his all in this war, which is
hardly yet over.' But on the whole the monks were concerned more with
lesser matters, such as the debt incurred by one of their number to the
flockmaster of Newminster abbey, or the insertion of new windows in
' Pipe Rolls, Hodgson, pt. iii. vol. iii. pp. 177, 208, 226, 243 ; Patent Rolls, 40 Henry III. m. 13 d.
The 5/. Albaii's Register (fol. 92) contains a list of extraordinary payments made by Tyne-
mouth during the abb.icy of John de Hertford (1235-1260). Unfortunately this page of the register is
in particularly bad condition, some five or six entries are altogether illegible. The remainder are :
'.•\d opus domini pape pro accione Sancti Albani et [ecclesie Dunelmensis]
de cella de Tynemuth
Dominus abbas
Item eidem
Pro fine forestc de Bewic domino reg
Pro obligatione facta in curia Romana per dominum Herefordensem
episcopum
Item domino abbati de -Sancto Albano eodem anno de domo
Item pro villa de West Chirton in puram elemosynam redigenda, W'illelmo
Herun, 4 niarce, et domino Gilberto Haunsard, 100 sol., et pro finali
Concordia facta in curia domini Regis apud Novum Castrum coram
justiciariis suis, 40 sol.
Pro amerciamentis et disseysine de Cressewell domino Regi
[Item domino] abbati et conventui de .Sancto Albano ad auxilium, .\.n
Item domino abbati pro quibusdam aliis ....
Item eidem, de dono, .x.n. 1260 ...
Item conventui de Sancto Albano pro Roberto de Bewic
communis venditionis decimarum suarum de Herteburn et de
Egelingham ... ...
Item de arrcragiis ecclesiarum de Herteburn et [de Egelingham] pro
morte Ilugonis Gaidum ... ...
25 marce.
10 marce.
10'' et duo [•]
20''.
100 marce et 20' pro lucro.
10 marce.
7 marce.
10 niarce.
44["].
.... marce et 10 sol.
(There is also an item of ^23 17s. 4Ad. and another of 100 marcs and 2od.)
TYNEMOUTH PRIORY. 77
the refectory. The letters show how tliey were called upon to give pass-
ports to fishermen travelling with loads of herrings to other monasteries,
or requested bv Florentine merchants (to whom they were under money
obligations) to inform them whether the convent was in need of any further
assistance, how they were thanked for hospitality shown to kinsmen of their
neighbours, and received applications from tenants to be allowed to purchase
so much of the tithe of corn as the priory did not require for its own use.
Proprietors, whose estates marched with those of the monastery, asked leave
to put some of their sheep on to the prior's common, and to have passage
allowed for so many wagon-loads of felled timber. Other letters relate
to the appointment of attorneys and to the adjournment of suits pending
in the prior's court. The mayor and burgesses of Newcastle wrote to the
prior asking him to give shelter and protection to Thomas de Carliol, a
citizen of their town, who ' had thrashed a man and given him satisfaction,
whereupon they were made friends,' but who was, for all that, liable to
be called on to satisfy the king's officers. In a curious letter Abbot Roger
de Norton gave his directions to the monk who had been appointed
as custodian of the priorv during a vacancy : ' I wish bv all means to
have that book which I mentioned to you. It is not very valuable,
but the late prior very courteously gave it me when I left Tynemouth.
I want that mazar, price four marks, for I have not got a respectable one
at present. See that a good part of the other silver cups, mazars, and
spoons remains for the ne.xt prior. I do not wish to be thought covetous.
Do not let your good will for me, whom vou now represent, lead you into
raising a scandal.' The prior seems to have had a large stable ; frequent
applications were made to him for the loan of horses for the York assizes
or upon other urgent business. Even the sheritf made application for a
carter and cart horse to go to York.
Historically the most important letter in this collection is one from
this same sheriff, John de Halton, written at the close of 1265. The
battle of Evesham had been fought. John de Vesci was escaping north-
ward, bearing with him the severed foot of his slain leader, Simon de
Montfort. The sympathies of Tynemouth are not likely to have been with
the winning side. Halton wrote a strongly worded letter to the prior,
in which he informs him that he had learned that de Vesci would that
night attempt to cross the Tvne from South Shields. He threatened him
78
TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
with the displeasure of the king and of Prince Edward should he fail to
guard the ferry. But John de Vesci and his treasure came safe to Alnwick.'
' This collection is in the Bodleian Library, Codices Di'^hciaiuic, >o, fol. I lo et sii/. It is entered
in the catalogue of the collection as belonging to St. Neol's, but internal^ evidence shows that the
letters relate to .St. Alban's and its cells. Proper names have been for the most part omitted, St.
Alban's is given as ' .Sanctus N,' Tynemouth as ' N.' A selection of these letters is here printed.
Kol. 124 b. \'enerande discrecionis viro ac amico confideutissinio domino R. de N., suus J. de
Hawelton, salutem quam sibi. Dileccionem vestram, omni precum instancia, rogo et requiro quatinus,
sicul de vobis amoris mei, et precibus, niihi de uno homine qui c|uandam carettam apud Ewerwyk
scit deducere, et de uno equo ad carettam ad presens succurrere digno, per quod vobis, si aliquo tempore
penes me habueritis agendum, forcius merito astringar.
Ibul. Dilecto et speciali sibi amico, domino R. de N., suus J. de Ihnvellon, salulem quam sibi,
cum dileccionc scinccra. Vos tanquam amicum rogo et requiro, ac ex parte domini Edwardi mando,
quatinus, visis literis, sicut danipnum vcstrum evitare volueritis, mihi transmittatis Rohcrtum .Schipurit,
inimicum et rebellem domini regis, ac excommunicatum, c|ucni infra paccm vestram nuliatcnus receptare
debetis, quern servientes mei ipsum infra libertatem vestram persecuti sunt. \'alete. Velle vcstrum
mihi significctis.
Ihni. V'enerande discrecionis viro et amico suo in Christo karissimo, domino R., priori de T.,
Johannes de Ilaulton, salutem et amorem. Quia a viris fide dignis datum est nobis intelligi quod
dominus J. de Wesci hac instanti nocte \ersus partes borcales ad passagiuni veslrum de Tynem'
transiturus est, vobis tanquam speciali nostro, ac in fide qua domino regi tenemini, necnon sicuti vos
ac omnia bona vestra diligilis, et indignacioncm domini regis et domini Edwardi, primogeniti filii sui,
vitare nolueritis, passagiuni predictum cum omni posse vesiro custodiatis ; ita i|Uod dictus Johannes pro
defectu custodie minimc transire valeat, per quod ad vos et domum vestram dominus noster rex et
Eadwardus primogenitus graviter capere debeant pro vestro defectu, quia comodum vestrum ac
honorem tanquam meum proprium affecco. Ideo hoc mandatuni speciale vobis transmitto. Placitum
vestrum n\ihi vestro significare velitis per portitorem presencium. Valete.
Fol. 125. Reverendo patri et in Christo karissimo domino R. c. de N., suus in omnibus frater
Gilbertus de Hirlawe, ciistos ct magister averiorum Novi Monasterii, salutem et quicquid potest honoris
et obsequii. Si dicere audeo, mirum est valde quod apud vestram paternitatem invenio. Nee est
etiam novum quod antca non solebani. Dominus quippe Elyas, monachus vester, mutuo acceptas a
me duas libras argenti, quod credo vos non latere, quas ad diem Ascensionis dominice proximo preterite
mihi, sicut fidclis monachus erat, debuit, omni occasione remota, pleniter persolvisse, quod necdum fecit.
Ego autem mutuo accepi tantam pecuniam ad officium vestiarii domus nostre, ad quod domum
argentuip pertinebat. Et nunc cotidie cxigimt a me debitum suum creditores, et graviter me niolestant.
Quare vobis, tanquam jiatri karissimo, devotissime supplico quatinus, si predictum argentum ad opus
vestrum sumptum fuit, faciatis illud sine dilacione mihi persolvi. Sin autem in alios usus per doniinum
E[lyani] predictum expensum est, faciatis mihi justiciam de eo, nc forte compellar vos gravarc,
quod utique invitus facerem sine causa, reniittentes, si placet, mihi dictos denarios ))er latorem
presencium. Expecto ergo reditum suum domi. \'alete. \'erumptamen de hiis que ad officium meum
quod nunc habeo pertinet, ct eciam que ad officium vestiarii pertinent, pro vobis facere volo et possum
libentius quam .alicui prelato in hac provincia. Mandetis ergo miclii in omnibus tanquam vestro
confidenter, si quid prosum, t|uod vobis placet. Iterum valete.
Fol. 125 b. Viro religioso et amico in Christo karissimo, domino R. de Acra, celerario de '1'., frater
W. de Miteford, canonicus de Hextild', cternam in Domino salutem. Mittimus ad vos Stephanum de
Len, fidelem operarium et, ut a viris fide dignis didicimus, que ad plumbum et que ad conducciones
aquarum pertinent sufficienter instructum, quod si aliter est, cito experimento scire poteritis ; non
contempnentes, si placet, vilitatem habitus, presertiin cum omnia bona sua occasione guerre nondum
penitus sopite bis vel ter perdiderit. Valete. Salutetis, si placet, dominos socios nostros, R. de O. et \V.
de T., et omnes tarn notos quam ignotos, quos Dominus noster in vera caritate semper conserve!.
Iterum valete.
Fol. 126. Domino R. de Acras, c. de T., frater J. de N., salutem, cum sincere caritatis affectu.
Quuni J. vitrearius jam venit apud T. ad faciendas fenestras in refectorio, et nullum opus potest facere
antequam habeat v bordas ad operas predictas componendas, quocirca vobis supplico quatinus mihi de
quinque bordis pro i)recio si jjiacct succursum faciatis. Ego vero de precio earuni ad voluntatem
vestram satisfaciam. Item velle vestrum de navi de Wodcorn mihi significantes que modo est attachiata
apud le Pull, tiuum fere naute predicte navis cum ca clam recessissent a nobis, unde velle vestrum super
hoc mihi rcmandare non difTcratis. Valete.
Ibitl. Venerabili et religioso viro domino R. de N., c. de T., Reynerus Albanis civis et mercator
Florentinus, salutem ct paratam ad ejus beneplacita voluntatem. Cum propter quedam negocia
TYNEMOUTH PRIORY. 79
When Abbot Roger de Norton came on a visitation to Tynemoiith in
1264, the men of Newcastle received him 'with great and infinite honours.'*
This friendlv state of things did not last long, for four or five years had
liardlv gone by before Nicholas Scot, mayor of Newcastle, at the head
of over a hundred armed citizens, named by the monks 'satellites of Satan,'
attacked the new town of North Shields, burned the mills, set fire to the
houses, beat the monks, carried off a shipload of coals to Newcastle, and
inflicted loss on the priory to the e.xtent of three hundred pounds.- It
was the beginning of a lasting enmity between monastery and town. In
April, 1290, the first contest commenced over their conflicting liberties.
The case was heard before parliament, where the king and the men of
Newcastle joined in calling in question the rights of Tynemouth to load
and unload vessels and to buy and sell at Tynemouth and Shields, within
the king's port of Tvne, without obtaining licence from the Crown ; they
also brought up against the monks the charge that they baked bread at
Tvnemouth in public bakehouses, which was then sold to the sailors who
put in at Shields ; that they took wreck of the sea within the port ; that
they held a market at Tynemouth, and that the wharfs of Shields encroached
upon the soil of the river. In all this they were stated to have acted to
the detriment of the Crown and of Newcastle. The action was heard,
and a commission was appointed to certify as to the truth of the charges.
An accidental delay led to the report of the commission not being
made before August of the next vear. It was altogether favourable to
the claims of the Crown. Judgment was accordingly delivered against
the priory upon everv vital point (Julv 15th, 1292).'
expcdienda Willelmum nuncium nieum, latorem presencium, in Scocia transmittam, vos tanquam
doininum meuni ct aniicum rogo quatinus statuni vestruni et siquid penes me volueritis cum per vos
reversus fuerit idem nuncius per eundem mihi significare velitis. V'alete bene et diu.
Fol. 126 b. \'enerande religionis viro domino R. de .-X. custodi de T., R. de Mideltun clericus,
s.ilutem et dileccionem sinceiam. Vobis attcncius supplico quatinus unum sarum palefridum meum qui
aliqiianlulum intirmatur in domo vestra dc T. ad modicum tcmpus perhendinare velitis, saltem quousque
convaluit, quod erit in brcvi. Deo dante, vel status suus melius mitlctur. \'eniam quidem in brevi apud
T., Domino concedcnte, vobiscum super pluribus colloquium habiturus. liene valete.
Fol. 127. Omnibus Cliristi fidelibus piesens scriptum visuris vel audituris frater R. de A., custos
de Tynem', salutem in domino seinpiternam. Universitatem vestram dignum duximus exorandam
quatinus, cum J. de B., lator ijrcsencium, per vos transitum fccerit rum x lastis alletum ad opus domini
N. de C. et ejusdcm loci conventus, salvum eidcm si placet conductum probeatis et licenciam per vos
transeundi habere una cum allece libere et tiuiete in pace permittatis. In liujus rei testimonium sigillum
nostrum apposuimus. Datum apud Tynem' die veneris proximo ante Epipbaniam. anno d. M ■CC"I.X"VIII.
' Magnos atque intinitos honores eidcm impendentes. SI. Alhaii's AV^isdr, fols. 63 and 1 12.
' Northumberland Assize Rolls, Surt. Soc. No. 88, p. 163.
' Rotiili Parlittmeiititrii, vol. i. pp. 26, and Brand, Hislnry of Xt-ur<istU; vol. ii. pp. 557-5^^S. .\ fuller
account of this lawsuit will be gi\'en under Tynemouth and North Shields.
8o TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
While this case was still proceeding,' a quarrel arose between the prior
and his tenant, the lord of Whitley. The latter was thrown into prison at
Tvneniouth and kept there for several months. Pfe laid his case before
the king, with the result that two justices of oyer and terminer were
appointed, who commenced to investigate the circumstances at Newcastle
on April 27th, 1291. They found that a serious miscarriage of justice had
occurred, and that the case involved a decision upon the claims of the prior
of Tynemouth to a franchise. Though the right of Tynemouth to a private
jurisdiction had been undisputed for half a century or more, the extent of
its right and the basis of its claim were extremely doubtful. Accordingly,
the proceedings were reserved for parliament, then about to commence
its session at Norham. There the pleas were reopened on May 13th.
Sentence was given upon June 24th. The prior was found to have exceeded
his rights. His liberty was therefore taken into the king's hands as for-
feited, and annexed to the Crown.'
With the loss of its commercial and judicial privileges, ruin seemed
to threaten the monastery. Pope Nicholas's grant to the Crown of a tithe
of all ecclesiastical revenues served to increase their financial extremity.
A detailed assessment drawn up bv the obedientiaries and ministers of
the priory upon March 26th, 1292, shows that the yearly revenue which
they derived at this time from their temporal possessions amounted to
_;^i8o i6s. 6fd. ; the spiritualities brought in ;^2i4 2s. iid.'^
The settlement of the Scotch succession was at this time occupying
King Edward's attention. After declaring in favour of John Balliol at
Berwick, he came south, reaching Tynemouth from Horton on December
22nd, 1292, where he remained a couple of days as guest of the prior,
and rode on to Newcastle on Christmas Eve to receive Balliol's homage.'
Simon de Walden, prior of Tynemouth, appears to have found oppor-
tunity in the previous summer for laying proposals before the king. The
' Gibson, vol. ii. appendix, xci. See also the account of the liberty of Tynemouth in this volume.
The St. Alhciii's Register, fol. 153 b, and Gesta Abbatum, vol. ii. p. 18, give details of the itinerary of John
de Berkhamstead, newly elected abbot of .St. Alban's. He was absent from England at Rome in the
early months of 1291, where he obtained papal confirmation of his election, reached England at the
beginning of May and arrived at Norham at the end of the same month, having visited his cell of
Hertford on his way north. At Norham he presented the papal letter of confirmation to the king, which
done he returned south by way of Tynemouth, holding courts there upon the Sth and nth of June. He
reached St. Alban's upon the 22nd of the same month.
• Printed from the Tynemouth Chartnhiry in Brand, vol. ii. pp. 591-594, and Dugdale, Monasticon,
vol. iii. pp. 315-317.
' Household Roll of Edward I., given in Documents illustrative 0/ the History of Scotland, ed,
Stevenson, vol. i. p. 372.
TYNEMOUTH PRIORY. 8 1
royal claim to the advowson of the priory had been intermittently asserted
and never definitely waived. A party existed at Tynemouth which preferred
that the king, rather than the abbot of St. Alban's, should be their patron.
Only in this way could they hope to obtain satisfaction for such grievances
as they might have against their abbot. As matters then stood they could
not expect to make good their complaints against a superior who could at
pleasure depose an intractable prior, and remove the monks to other cells.
Prior Walden had an ally in his cellarer, John de Trokelowe. At least
five other monks threw themselves in on the side of their prior against
the abbot. Edward naturally heard them willingly. Upon November 30th
he issued a writ, calling upon the abbot to surrender the said advowson,
or else to prove his case at the ne.xt assize.
The abbot, John de Berkhamstead, had probably already become
acquainted with the plot made against him. A search through the muni-
ments of Tynemouth and St. Alban's showed him that he had no good
case. Mowbrav had definitelv made over the advowson to St. Alban's,
but that earl's subsequent forfeiture could be regarded as invalidating the
grant. Accordingly he hastened to Scotland, and there threw himself on
the king's mercy. The case was nevertheless opened at Newcastle on
January 14th. The Crown officers cited the election of Prior Akarius in
Henry II. 's reign, and produced Henry I.'s writ of 1122. Berkhamstead,
who appeared in person, pleaded long undisturbed possession. Further
proceedings were reserved for the next meeting of parliament after Easter.
A select number of charters bearing on the case were sealed up and
despatched to London. Orders were given to the abbot not to molest the
monks who appeared to give evidence on the side of the Crown.' But
the king was content with having proceeded so far. Upon May 2nd, 1293,
and before a further hearing was reached, he released to the abbot and
his successors all claims to the advowson."
The position of St. Alban's with regard to Tynemouth was now for
the first time firmlv secured. In a letter to Berkhamstead a monk of St.
Oswin pointed out the consequences of the royal grant. After showing
that the claims of Tynemouth to rights in the Tyne went back to the days
of the Northumbrian earldom, while those of Newcastle rested upon a
charter granted by King John, he continued : —
' Placita de quo warranto. Record Commission, p. 585.
' Patent Rolls, 21 Edw. I. 111. 19. UuKdale, vol. iii. p. 317.
Vol. VIII. II
82 TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
' I write to let your reverence know that if the above considerations had been urged by tlie prior's
party in the course of the lawsuit between the prior and the burgesses of Newcastle, they would certainly
have been of weight. But then no one of the prior's party dared mention the earl and his grants,
because the royalists were threatening the abbot of St. Alban's with a claim to the advowson of Tyne-
mouth priory. Should the action ever be started anew, I think that, with God's help, things will go
better for Tynemoulh, for now everyone can speak freely of the earl and his grants, since the king has
wholly resigned to the church of St. Alban's, for himself and his heirs, all claim to the advowson.' '
Prior Walden must have thought that he had got well through the
struggle with his abbot. The latter was at Tynemouth on September 25th,
1294, holding a court, and everything seemed quiet. Walden was thrown
off his guard. A few months later, probably in April, Abbot Berkhamstead
made a secret journey to Newcastle. There he saw the mayor and arranged
with him to conduct him to Tynemouth with an armed following. Henry
Scot, a leading Newcastle burgess and a friend of the prior, was bribed to
take part by a promise of lands in Elsvvick. The whole party came silently
one night up to the gate of the priory. Scot went forward and knocked.
The porter opened the gate, whereupon the band rushed in, overpowered
the porter, and seized the keys. They made their way to the prior's
lodging and hammered at the door. It was past midnight ; Walden had
returned from attending matins ; he had doffed his cowl, and, wrapping
himself in a sheepskin, had lain down to sleep. The sound of knocking
aroused him. He asked who was at the door. ' Your abbot,' was the
reply ; to which he made answer, ' Nay, what should the abbot be doing
here at this hour?' At that moment the door was burst open. The
soldiers rushed in, and, at the abbot's bidding, seized the prior, who was
sent a few days later by sea to St. Alban's, and a new prior was appointed
in his place. John de Trokelowe and his other accomplices had before
this been carried, fettered and chained, to the same monastery.'
The greatest of all Edward I.'s exactions from the clergy was the
demand for one half of the whole of their revenue (September, 1294).
' St. Alban's Register, fol. 150, printed in Gibson, vol. ii. appendix, .xcii.
• Gesta Abbatum, vol. ii. pp. 19-23. It will be noticed that the prior's name is there given as Adam
de Tewing. But Prior Walden, who was elected to his office in 1280, was still prior on September 25th,
1294 (St. Alban's Reghtei; fol. 154 b). The name of .A.dam de Tewing first appears on .-^pril 30th, 1295
(ibid.). Tewing was still prior in 1300 {Assi:e Roll, P.R.O., No. 638), long after this supposed removal,
which is said to have taken place in the fifth year of John de Berkhamstead (Dec. 1294 to Dec. 1295).
Taking into consideration the fact shown by the Assize Roll of 21 Edw. I. that Walden was prior
when the action for the advowson was being carried on, there seems no doubt that the author of the
Gestd Abbatum has recorded the name of the wrong prior. One may observe that John de Trokelowe,
who was cellarer in January, 1293, no longer filled that office in September, 1294. His removal was
therefore probably antecedent to tliat of his prior.
TYNEMOUTH PRIORY. 83
Tynemouth contributed / 204 9s. lod/ A general tallage-roll of 1294, a
survey of lands held in demesne and in villeinage, taken at Christinas,
1295, and a custuinal of about the same time, alike attest to the necessity
for strict economy which this financial pressure must have caused, and
add to our knowledge of the state of the priory lands at this period.'
The destruction of Hexham priory by the Scots in April, 1296, must
have warned the monks of Tynemouth that the time had come to put their
monastery into a state of defence. In the autumn of that year they obtained
licence from the king to fortify the priory with a wall of stone and lime,
and to crenellate it.^ They appear to have commenced work at once upon
their new fortress,^ and it was well that they did so, for in November, 1 297,
a Scottish army, led by William Wallace, again invaded Northumberland.
Marching down the Tyne from Hexham, the Scots laid waste the village
of Wylam, a possession of the priory,^ and advanced upon Newcastle. The
inhabitants of Tynemouthshire, alarmed at the approach of the enemy,
carried their valuables to the monastery. But the Scots, upon this occasion,
did not dare to attack.*
Edward I. stayed a second time at Tynemouth from December
1st to 4th, 1298.' A little later he restored to the monks their
forfeited franchise (February 20th, 1299).' He was again at Tynemouth
on December 8th, 1299. Upon a fourth visit (June 21st to 26th, 1301),
he was met by Anthony Bek, bishop of Durham. That bishop was then
engaged in a dispute with the prior of Durham, which Edward heard in
the chapter house upon the day of his arrival." Two years later the young
' Gesta Abbatum, vol. ii. p. 71.
^ The rental is given in the St. Alban's Register, fols. 109-111, and the mensuration and custumal in
the Tynemouth Chartulary, fols. 4-10 and 36-44. Both may be supplemented, as evidences for the
economic position of Tynemouthshire, by the Subsidy Roll of 1296.
' Pro priore ct conventu de Tynemuth. Re.\ omnibus, etc., salutem. Sciatis quod concessimus pro
nobis et heredibus nostris dilectis nobis in Christo priori et convenlui de Tynemuth quod ipsi prioratum
suum predictum muro de petra et calce firmarc et kernellare, et ilium sic tirmatuni et kcmcUatum icnere
possint sibi et successoribus suis sine occasione vel impedimento nostri vel heredum noslrorum justiciar-
orum aut aliorum ballivorum seu ministrorum nostrorum quorunicumque. In cujus, etc. T. R. apud
Berewyk super Twedam, 5 die Sept. [1296]. Pat. Rolls, 24 Edw. 1. m. 8. Duke of Northumberland's
transcripts.
' Upon February 2nd, 1296- 1297, John de Greystoke and Robert de Somervill granted to the prior
and convent of Tynemouth a wayleave over lienton moor, presumably for the carting of building material
to the castle. Newmiiister Chartulary, Surt. Soc. No. 66, p. 2S3.
* Tynemouth Chartulary, fol. 28. " Rishanger, Gesta Eiluardi I. Rolls Series, p. 4'4-
' Rishanger, Chronica, Rolls Series, p. 188.
" Charter Rolls, 27 Edw. I. No. 31 ; Gibson, vol. ii. appendix, ci. ' Coram Rege Rolls, No. 165.
84 TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
queen, Margaret, stayed for some months (June to October, 1303) at the
monastery.' Her royal husband did not forget, in the press of a Scottish
campaign, to order a consignment of pike, bream and eels to be sent
thither to her from the fishponds of the Fosse at York.' The men of
Tynemouth were less hospitable, for some of them set upon her trumpeter,
and robbed him of his silver and gilt trumpets.' Upon leaving Tynemouth,
Queen Margaret joined the king in Scotland, and returned south with him
ne.\t year. Their hosts, the monks, took advantage of this last .stay
(September 8th to i8th, 1304) to obtain the queen's mediation with Edward
for the restoration of Tynemouth market, which was granted to them ; '' so
their position was now nearly as secure as it liad been before their unfor-
tunate lawsuits of the last decade.
Edward II. also once visited Tynemouth. He had come to Newcastle
with his favourite. Piers Gaveston, recalled for the last time from the
banishment to which the baronial party had consigned him. Oueen Isabella
accompanied them, but left Newcastle to go to Tynemouth. On the morn-
ing of Ascension Day (May 4th, 1312), news came that Thomas, earl of
Lancaster, Henry de Percy and Robert de Clifford were marching upon
Newcastle with a large armed following. In hot haste the great seal was
sent off. The king and Gaveston retreated to Tvnemouth, just in time to
escape capture, for the barons rode into Newcastle the same afternoon.
Next day, in spite of the high seas, and in spite of the supplications of
his wife, who was shortly to give birth to a child, Edward set sail with
Gaveston for Scarborough. The earl of Lancaster followed, and forced
Gaveston to capitulate on the 19th of the month. The subsequent e.xecution
of the unlucky favourite is a well-known tale. It was afterwards made a
charge against Hugh Despenser the younger, who was at Tynemouth upon
this occasion, that he had counselled Edward to leave his queen in great
bodily peril when the county was full of invaders.^ Queen Isabella was
again at Tynemouth in 1322, at which time a bastard child of the king,
named Adam, was buried there. °
' Ciil. Doc. Rcl. Scot. ed. Bain, vol. ii. pp. 1376, 139S. - Close Rolls, ^i Edw. I. m. 3.
' Coram Regc Rolls, No. 186. ' Charter Rolls, 32 Edw. I. No. 14 ; Gibson, vol. ii. appendi.x, ciii.
"John de Trokelowe, Aniiales, Rolls .Series, p. 75. Gesta Edwardi dc Carnarvon, Rolls Series;
Chronicles, Edsuird I. and Edward II. vol. ii. p. 88. Rymer, Foedera, Record Commission, vol. ii. p. 169.
Gibson, Tynemouth, vol. ii. appendix, cix and cxi.
" Wardrobe account of Edward Ii. cited by Brand, Newcastle, vol. ii. p. 92.
TYNEMOUTH PRIORY. 85
A few vears later the Ion? struggle between St. Alban's and the Grev-
stokes over the possession of the advowson of Conescliffe came to an end.
Though the abbey had obtained a formal recognition of its claims in 1275,
it had never gained peaceable possession. Hugh de Eversdon, abbot of
St. Alban's, now induced Ralph fitz William, lord of Greystoke, to quit-
claim all right to the advowson in exchange for the surrender of Thorpe
Basset in Yorkshire. Eversdon also conceded to Greystoke and his heirs
the right to have one secular chaplain in Tynemouth who should pray for
the souls of Ralph de Greystoke, John de Greystoke his kinsman, and
for the souls of their ancestors and of all faithful departed. The prior
and convent bound themselves, March 26th, 1315, to appoint and make
provision for the said chaplain and his successors.'
With the inroads made into Northumberland by Robert Bruce and
the increasing turbulence and restiveness of Northumbrian landowners, the
county was in a very unsettled state. In November, 1313, it was found
necessary to issue letters of protection to the prior of Tynemouth.' The
English defeat at Bannockburn, ne.xt June, made matters worse, followed
as it was by renewed activity on the part of the Scottish invaders. New
letters of protection were obtained, which forbade the carrying off of the
prior's corn or hay or farm stock — good evidence that the prohibited oflfence
had been committed.^
The four following years (13 14- 13 18) were probably the most disturbed
in the whole history of the priory. Upon the office of prior falling vacant,
the abbot of St. Alban's gave that onerous position to a man who in
every way proved himself worthy of the trust reposed in him. ' Richard
de Tewing well and nobly ruled the cell with a strong hand in a time
of great distress, when for four years on end no serf dared plough and
' Gisia Ablhituin, vol. ii. pp. 1 15-117. Xeu'iiiiiistcr ChartuUxry, Surt. Soc. No. 66, pp. 290-291. The
names of the followins,' chaplains of the chantry .are recorded ; Thom.as de Bulmer ' ante priniam
pestilenciam,' Gilbert Wilkynson of Tynemouth (living 1363-1391), Robert de .\mble, John de Walsing-
ham, and John de Whalton. Ibid.
■ Cal. Put. Rolls, 1313-1317, p. 42.
' De Protectione. Rex omnibus ballivis et fidelibus suis ad quos, etc., salutem. Indempnitati
dilectorum nobis in Christo prioris et conventus de Tyncmuth, quorum bona et catalla per hostiles
aggressus Scotorum inimicorum et rebellium nostrorum in comitatu Northumbric quam plurimum
devastantur, prospicere volentes, suscepimus in proteccionem ct defensionem nostram ipsos prioiem
et conventum, homines, terras, res, redditus, et omnes posscssiones suas. Et ideo vobis mandamus
quod ipsos priorem ct conventum, etc. Volumus eciam quod de bladis, fenis, victualibus, carcagiis, vel
aliis bonis seu catallis dictorum prioris et conventus .ad opus nostrum seu aliorum quorumcumque contra
voluntatem ipsorum prioris et conventus quicquam nullatenus capiatur. In cujus, etc. Per unum annum
dur. T. R. apud Eboracum .\v die Sept. [1314]. Pal- Rolls, 8 Edw. II. p. 1, m. 25. Duke of Northum-
berland's transcripts.
86 TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
no sower dared sow for fear of the enemy. Yet none the less did he
keep the place, and not only by his industry did he honourably maintain
the monks, but during that time he kept within the priory eighty armed
men to guard the place, not without great expense.' ' Prior Tewing has
earned the gratitude of the historian by having left a chartulary and a
fragmentary register of his priorate.^
The Scots poured over the border in 1315. Carlisle, Newcastle,
Tynemouth priory and the Northumbrian castles were the only places in
which safety could be found, and even their defence was difficult and
costly.' Marauding bands of English too roamed over the country. They
were known as ' shavaldores ' and their mode of warfare as ' shavaldry.' ^
Chief among these robbers were Gilbert de Middelton and Walter de
Selby, whose eventful histories will be related later. John the Irishman —
an old soldier of Bamburgh garrison, who kidnapped the Lady Cliflbrd —
was another noted shavaldore. The Tynemouth Chartulary gives two
letters relating to him, written to the bailiffs of Tynemouth by Adam de
Swynburn, the sheriff, who afterwards turned rebel himself ; in one of
which the arrest of John the Irishman and his band is ordered ; in the
' Cottonian MSS. Nero D vii. fol. 51 b, cited by Gibson, vol. ii. p. 36.
•■ They form the nucleus of the so-called Tynemouth Clnirtiilayy, a small octavo volume of 218 leaves
in the possession of the duke of Northumberland. The chartulary of Richard de Tewinjj is a good
specimen of medieval penmanship and is illuminated ; a facsimile of one of the charters is given in
Gibson, vol. i. to face p. 140. It extends from fol. 77 to fol. 104 of the volume, and is headed,
' Conscripta diversarum eartarum et diversorum scriptorum de tempore fratris Ricardi de Tewing,
quondam prioris.' Later hands have continued it (unilluminated) to 1352 and thence to 13S1 (fols.
105-11S). The Register extends from 1328 to 1340 (fols. 159-176), and documents relating to the earlier
part of Tewing's priorate arc given in other parts of the codex.
' John de Trokelowe, Annates, Rolls Series, p. 91.
' There are several authorities for the use of the name ' shavaldores ' as applied to marauders at this
period. (l) Trokelowe, Annates, p. 99, in an account of the capture of Lewis de Beaumont in 1317 —
' Quidam fatui de Northumbria, qui dicebantur savalJores (quorum duces fuerunt Gilbertus de .Midiltone
miles et Walterus de Selby), cum magna multitudine fatuorum, de quadam valle ex inopinato prorum-
pentes, irruebant in eos.' (2) Sir Thomas Grey, Scataclironica, Maitland Club Publications, p. 147 —
'Johan le Irroys ravist la dame de Clifilorde. Les niaufesurs estoint appellez st/iid'n/rfoins.' (3) Robert
de Graystanes, Ties Scriptores, p. 94 — ' Quidam enim qui portabat robas episcopi (Uunelmensis), et erat
in munitione castri de Norham, occidit quendam sckavatdum vel praedonem, Johannem de Wardal
nomine, sed regi familiarem, in Insula Sacra.' (4) Guisboivtigh Chartidiuy, vol. ii. p. 357 ; Surt. Soc.
No. 89— Sciat celsitudo regia . . . ecclesias nostras de Valle Anandiae, de dyocesi Karliolensi, ac etiam
de episcopatu Dunolmensi, per miserabilem Scotorum et etiam seliavatdonim depredationem . . . multis
temporibus retroactis funditus dissipatas. (5) Tynemouth Chartutary, fol. II, survey of Tynemouth in
1336 — ' Primo est una placea terrae vastae propinquior porte prioratus de Tynemuth ex parte australi,
quae placea, dum edificata fuit, reddere consuevit xviijd. ; set, domibus super eandem place.im edificatis
per priorem de Tynemuth dirutis, et, ut oportuit, prostratis, ne sliavatdores et alii barones tempore
guerrae et shavaldr' in destrucionem et capcioncm prioratus de Tynemouth in eisdem domibus fuissent
recepti et absconsi, Robertus de Slikborne eandem placeam dicto priori sursum reddidit ; set adhuc
eadem placea jacet vasta in manu prioris nee aliquid reddit.' .\\\ these writers refer to northern events,
so that the name would seem, in its origin, to have had a verj- local character. It is difficult to find an
etymology for the word, which, from its suffix, would seem to be of French origin. It occurs latinised
as ' discursor, vacabundus.'
TYNEMOUTH PRIORY. 87
Other, written after some members at least of that company had been
captured, directions are given for the levying of distraint upon their goods
with a view to enforcing their appearance before the king.'
Gilbert de Middelton was a more dangerous enemy. He appears to
have made a strong effort to get Tynemouth castle into his hands. Vigor-
ous measures were taken by the monks. A number of the houses which
nestled round the priory gateway were pulled down, lest the shavaldores
should use them as a cover for attack. The defence, which was entrusted
to Sir Robert Delaval, proved successful.'
Middelton's capture and execution in 131 8 lessened the strain of the
situation, but, as things were still in a very unsettled state, the king, with
the consent of the abbot of St. Alban's, entrusted the custody of the castle,
INIay 1 2th, 13 18, to John de Haustede to hold at the royal pleasure.
This measure was prompted bv the necessity for resisting the attacks
of the Scots and Northumbrian rebels, and giving some security to the
people of the district.* A two years' truce was made with the Scots in
' .Adam de Swyneburn viscount de Northumbr' as bailiffs de la fraunchis de Tynemue salulz. Le
maundemcnt monsieur William de Mountague gardeyn du chastel Bernard ai resceu en cestes paroles.
" William de Mountague gardeyn du chastel Bernard de part nostre seigneur le roi a sire Adam de
Swyneburn viscount de Northumbr' salutz. Nous vous comaundoms de part nostre seigneur le roi que
vous prenetz Johan de Ircys et tot sa campaignie ou que vous les trovetz deintz vostre baillie, deintz
fraunchis ou dehors, ct sauvemcnt en prison le gardetz taunque nostre seigneur le roi en face sa volente."
Par quoi vous maund que execuscion de ceo maundement deintz vostre fraunchis pleynement parfourmetz
issint que le roi neit meistre de niettre la meyne.
Adam de -Swyneburn viscount de Northumbr" as baillifs de la fraunchis de Tynemue salutz. Le
maundement nostre seigneur le roy ai resceu en cest paroles. " Edward par la grace de dieu roy
d'Engleterr etc. a viscount de Northumbr' salutz. Pur ceo que vous avetz maunde que vous ne avetz
dount a faire venir les prisouns en vostre gard et que fourent en la compaignie Johan le Ireys, vous
maundoms que vous facetz enquere en qi meyns les biens sount que feurent pris ovesq cux, et ces biens
facetz prendre et seisir en nostre meyn, et de ces biens facetz venir les prisouns avaunditz. ou que nous
seioms en Engleterr', a pluis en haste que vous poaitz. Don' soutz nostre prive seal a Clipston en
Sherwode le primer jour de Januer I'an de regne novisme." Par quay vous maund que plenere execucion
de ceste maundement facetz.
Memorandum quod, die Jovis proxime ante festum sancti Hillarii anno r. E. fil. reg. E. nono,
Warinus de Swctopp, subvicecomes Northumbriae, recepit apud castrum regis ville Novi Castri super
Tynam de Thoma de Belsowe, sencscallo libcrtatis de Tynem', per returnum brevis domini regis de
privato sigillo dicto senescallo et ballivis liberlatis predicle directum, corpora W'illelmi Cosyn et Johannis
Lyvet, Hibernicorum caplorum et imprisonatorum in prisona liberlatis de Tynem' per returnum et
mandatum liltere domini Willelmi de Montague, constabularii et custodis castri de Castro liemardi,
ad corpora predictorum Willelmi et Johannis unacum aliis qui fuerunt de secreta Johaimis de Hibemia
capienda et in prisonam salvo custodienda, ad ducenda corpora dictorum Willelmi et Johannis coram
domino rege ubicumque fuerit in .Anglia, prout idem dominus rex per littcram suam de privato sigillo
prefato vicecomiti mandavit. In cujus rci testimonium sigillum otficiale conventuale est apensum.
Datum apud castrum regis Novi Castri super Tynam, die et anno supradictis [January ist, 1315-1316].
Tymmouth Clnirtiilury, fol 167 b.
Adam de Swynburn was appointed sheriff October i6th, 131 5. P.R.O. Lists and Indexes, No. ix. p. 97.
'Ancient PititioHS, No. 3,994, and Tynemouth ChartuLiry, fol. II.
' De custodia mansi prioratus de Tynemuth commissa. Rex, de assensu abb.itis de Sancto .-Mbano,
commisit Johanni de Haustede custodiam mansi prioratus de Tynemuth, qui est cella abbatie predicte,
habend.im quamdiu regi placeret, pro repulsione .Scotorum inimicorum et rcbcllium regis et securiori
salvacione populi regis partium earundem. In cujus, etc. T. R. apud Wyndes' xij die Maii. Per ipsum
88 TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
1319, but was kept with difficulty, owing to acts of aggression on the part
of the English. A letter in the Tyucmoutli Chartiilary furnishes an
instance of this continued bickering.
'To his dear friend. Rich.ird, prior of Tynemouth, Robert de Unifranivyll, earl of Angus, guardian
of the truce in the north parts, love and greeting. As we have heard that your men have arrested three
poor .Scottish boys, who landed at Sliields out of a Scottish vessel, partly because their vessel was
damaged in a gale in the port of Tyne, and partly for want of food, as we are credibly informed, we
pray you and command you, sir, in the king's name, for the maintenance of the truce and accord
between the kingdoms, to deliver up the said boys, that the men of Scotland t.ake not example and
grieve our people of England by reason of the said boys' detention. May God keep you, sir.' '
Walter de Selby surrendered at Mitfoid in November, 132 1, and
William de Middelton, a brother of Gilbert, was taken with him. Middel-
ton, thrown into prison at Newcastle, was afterwards released on bail.
When on bail he was captured and carried off by the Scots, but, escaping
from them, found refuge in the liberty of Tynemouth. The bailiffs of the
liberty refused to hand him back to the sheriff, and a special mandate had
to be sent to them bv the king before he was surrendered.^
regem. Et mandatum est comitibus, baronibus, militibus et omnibus aliis de comitatu Northumbrie, tam
infra libertates quam extra, ad quos, etc., quod eidem Johanni m omnibus que ad repulsionem dictorum
inimicorum regis ac salvacionem populi regis ibidem et partium predictarum ac custodiam illam pertinent
intendentes sint et auxiliantes, quociens et prout idem Johannes regi scire fecerit ex parte regis.
Pat. Rolls, II Edw. II. j). 2, m. iS. Ouke of Nortliumberland's transcripts.
Haustede was appointed custodian of the river Tyne from Newcastle to the sea on August 23rd of
the same year (Cal. Pat. Roth, 131 7-1 321, p. 201).
' A son chier amy Richard priour de Tynemuth, Robert d'Umframvyll, counte d'Anegus, gardeyn de
la trewe en les parties dc North', salutz et bon amour. Pur ceo, sire, que nous avoms entenduz que vos
gentz ount arestuz trcis povres garceons d'Escoce qui vyndrent sur terre as les Sheles hors d'une nief
d'Escoce, qui fuyt chatrie desur (.') en le haven de Tyne par tempeste et par defaute des vitailes alee que
nous avoms de certeyn ; par quoi, sire, vous prioms et chargeoms de par le roi, pur la trewe meyntiegner
et acord entre les realmes, voiletz les dilz garceouns delyvrerer, issynt que les gentz d'Escoce ne preignent
ensample de grever nos gentz d'Engleterre par la reson de la detenue des les avant ditz garceouns. A
dieu, sire, qui vous gard.
Littera originalis hujus transcripti est in thesauro. Tynemouth Chartulary, fol. 215.
■ (l) De Willelmo de Middelton vicecomiti Northumbrie liberando. Rex dilecto sibi in Christo . . .
priori de Tynemuth, salutem. Cum, ut accepimus, Willelmus de Middelton, qui cum aliis malefactoribus
et pacis nostre perturbatoribus in castro de Mitford, tunc contra nos tento, captus et ea occasione per
vicecomitem nostrum Northumbrie prisone nostre castri de Novo Castro super Tynam extitit mancipatus,
et postmodum per ipsum vicecomitem per manucapcionem a prisona praedicta deliberatus, ut dicitur, per
Scotos inimicos et rebelles nostros, tunc partes marchie hostiliter invadentes, captus fuisset et abductus,
idemque Willelmus a manibus ipsorum -Scotorum evadens se transtulit ad libertatem nostram in qua per
vos detinetur, licet dictus vicecomes a vobis petierit ipsum Willelmum sibi liberari, per quod dictus
vicecomes nobis supplicavit ut ei subvenire curaremus in hac parte; nos supplicacioni illi annuere et
manucapcionem predictam in suo robore volentes permanere, vobis mandamus quod ipsum Willelmum
prefato vicecomiti nostro liberetis prisone nostre predicte, sicut prius niancipando. T. R. apud Eboracum
.\xv die Junii [1322]. Close Rolls, 15 Edw. II, m. 4. Duke of Northumberland's transcripts.
(2) Writ to the sheriff to the same effect, dated June 30th.
(3) Hec indentura testatur quod die Martis proximo post festum Translationis Sancti Thome Mar-
tiris, a. r. r. E. fil. r. E. 16", Johannes de Fenwyk, vicecomes Northumbriae, recepit de ballivo libertatis de
Tynemuth, yirtute cujusdam brevis domino K. priori de Tynemuth directi, Willelmum de Middelton, etc.
In cujus rei testimonium, etc. In presentia Roberti de RyhuU, Gilberti Daudre, Alani de Castro, et
aliorum tunc presentium. Datum apud TynenV, die et anno suprascriptis [July 5th, 1322]. Tynemouth
Chartulary, fol. 212 b.
Cp. vol. V. of this work, p. 299, for similar documents from this chartulary relative to Nicholas of Hauxley.
TYNEMOUTH PRIORY. 89
These dissensions, and the want of harmony prevailing between the
king's officers and those upon whose help they ought to have relied,
received a further illustration a few months later when David de Strabolgy,
warden of Northumberland, ordered the arrest and detention at Newcastle
of forty-one of the armed men whom the prior was keeping at his own
expense as a garrison for Tynemouth.'
King Edward found it necessarv to interfere and to disavow the action
of his officer. It was an act of folly to deprive Tynemouth at this critical
time of half its defenders. He wrote, therefore, to the prior, desiring him
not to allow any of his garrison to quit the castle, and sent a similar com-
mand to Strabolgy. Orders were issued to the warden not to compel any
of the garrison to come before him ; but to permit them to go out and
in freely for stores, and assist the prior. The sheriff was commanded to
release at once those whom he had arrested and to restore what he had
distrained.' Prior Tewing secured his position, March 8th, 1322/3,' by
obtaining fresh letters of protection.
' Johan de Fenwyk vie' de Northumbr' as les bailifs de la franchise de Tynemuth, salut. Jeo ai
resceu le maundement Davy de Strabolgy, counte d'AthoU, seigneur de Chillam, gardeyn de Northumbr';
' Au viscount de Northumbr', salulz. Nous vous maundoms de par nostre seigneur le roi que vous
facetz attacher et prendre trestoutz les corps dont nous vous enveioms les nouns deynz nostre lettre,
c'est assavoir, etc. (a list of 41 names follows), quele part que vous les puyssetz trover deynz vostre
baillie, issynt que vous mctz lour corps daynz le chastel nostre seigneur le roi de la ville de Noef
Chastel sur Tyne yceo lundy proscheyn dcvant la feste seynt Thomas I'aposlle, illoesque salvement
agardyr tanque vous eietz altre maundement de part nostre seigneur le roi. Et facetz seisyr en la
meyn nostre seigneur le roi lour terres et tenementz biens et chateux ou qu'ilz soient trovez, qux q'ilz
soient el ou q'ilz soient trovez, et salvement les gardetz al oeps nostre seigneur le roi tanque il vous
maunde sa volunte, et ceo ne lessetz sur quant que vous porriez forfaire vers le dit nostre seigneur
le roi. Escrjpt a Tyn' le jour de seynt Luce, Ian, etc, xvj" [October iSth, 1322].' Par quoi vous
maunde de par nostre seigneur le roi que vous perfacetz ceste maundement en toutz, sur pcyne de quant
que vous porrietz forfaire au roi et de perdre vostre fraunchise. Tynemouth Cluirtul.iry, fol. 213.
John de Fenwyk was appointed sheriff of Northumberland October 12th, 1319, and again February
19th, 1325. P.R.O. Lists and Indexes, No. ix. p. 97.
■ De prioratu de Tynemuth sufficienti garnistura, etc., muniendo. Rex vicecomiti Northumbrie,
salutem. Ex parte dilecti nobis in Christo prioris de Tynemuth nobis est ostensum quod, cum ipse
habeat prioratum ilium de Tynemuth suo periculo custodiendum, etc., dilectus et fidelis nosier David
de Sirabolgi, comes Athol, etc., tibi jam precepit quod ipsum priorem et quam plures de garnestura
predicta per corpora sua capi, ac libertatein ejusdem prioris ibidem, et terras et tenementa, bona et
catalla sua et aliorum quamplurium de eadem garnestura in manum nostrum seisire faceres, causa
aliqua precepti illius in eodem mmiine exprcssa ; nolentes quod idem prior in hac parte indebite
prosequetur seu super custodiam dicti prioratus faciendam aliqualiter inipediatur, tibi precipimus
quod, si prefatus comes preceptum hujus modi tibi fecerit, et tu eo prete.xtu ipsum priorem aut aliquem
de garnestura predicta ceperis, seu libertatem ipsius prioris aut terras aut tenementa, bona vel cat.allri
aut aliquorum de garnestura predicta in manum nostram seisire feceris ; tunc, accepta sufficienti
securitate a prefato priore et aliis de garnestura ilia, quos negotium illud tangit, de respondendo
nobis si prefatus comes vel alius nomine nostro versus eos loqui voluerit de inobediencia aliqu.-i
nobis facta in hac parte, ipsum priorem et alios de garnestura predicta sic captos a prisona hujusmodi
sine dilacione aliqua deliberari eidemque priori libertatetn suam predictam, ac terras et teneinenta,
bona et catalla sua, et aliis de garnestura similiter terras et tenementa, bona et catalla sua in manum
nostram sic seisita, restitui facias, per securitatem predictam, ipsum priorem seu aliquem de garnestura
predicta de cetero non molestans seu gravans pretextu precepti memorati. T. R. apud Eboracum
XXX die Decembris. Close Rolls, 16 Edw. H. m. 16. Duke of Northumberland's transcripts.
' Cal. Pitt. Rolls, 1321-1324, p. 2C1.
Vol. VI H. '-
90
TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
The truce now made with the Scots relieved the Northumbrian land-
owners from the duty of defence, and left them a free hand in the pro-
secution of their private enmities. Robert Delaval, Walter Delaval,
Thomas de Woodburn, Walter de Gourley, and John de Oseworth cut
down the prior's trees in the manor of Bewick, carried off plunder, and
turned cattle into the standing corn ; seized his goods and chattels at
Ellington and at Middle Chirton, impounded and starved a number of
his cattle at Seaton Delaval, and stole ten cows and other property from
Tynemouth itself. The prior estimated his losses at ^150.' Thomas de
Middelton and others took away eighty oxen and sixty cows as well as
household goods from Tynemouth, Preston, East and Middle Chirton,
Backworth and Monkseaton, the whole valued at ;^300. William de
Ellerington and his companions cut down trees and carried away valuables
at Wylam to the amount of £ 200. These are a few instances of the
brigandage to which the monastic lands, and especially Bewick, were
subjected.''
It speaks well for the capacity of Prior Tewing that, in spite of these
heavy losses and of the legal expenses which they entailed, in spite too of
the expense of keeping up a large garrison, he was able to satisfv the
financial demands of his abbot, Hugh de Eversdon (itself no easy task), by
judicious purchases of demesne land and house property in Newcastle and
Berwick. Nor did his enterprise stop at investments in temporalities.
Abbot Eversdon was renowned for his special devotion to the Virgin,
of which he gave proof by completing the Lady-chapel at the east end of
' Prior de Tynemuth per Tliomam de Wilton attornatum suum optiilit se versus Robertuni de
la Val, Waltcrum de la \'al, 'riiomam de Wodebiirn, Waltcrum de Gourley et Johannem de Oseworth
de placito quare vi et armis arbores ipsius prioris apud Beuyk nunc crescentes succiderunt et arbores
illas ac alia bona et catalla sua ad valenciam quadraginta libraruin ibidem inventa ceperunt et aspor-
taverunt, nccnon blada et lierba sua ad valenciam sexaginla librarum ibidem similiter nuper crescencia
cum quibusdam averiis depasti fuerunt conculcaverunt et consumpserunt ; versus Johannem de Ose-
worth de placito quare vi et armis bona et catalla ipsius prioris ad valenciam viginti librarum apud
Middel Chirton inventa cepit et asportavit ; versus Robertum de la Val, Walterum de la \'al, et
Johannem de Oseworth, de placito quare vi et armis decem vaccas ipsius, precii decern librarum, apud
Tynemuth inventa, maliciose interfecerunt, et bona et catalla sua ad valenciam decem librarum ibidem
similiter inventa ceperunt et asportavcrunt ; versus Radulphum Hoby, Willelmum Roberdespundere
de la Val, Robertum de la Val, et Johannem de Oseworth, de placito quare vi et armis averia ipsius
prioris apud Seton de la Val absque causa rationabili ceperunt et imparcaverunt, et ea tam diu imparcata
sine alimento contra legem et consuetudinem regni nostri detinuerunt, quod magna pars averiorum
illorum fame interiit ; versus Thomam de Wodeburn de placito quare vi et armis bona et catalla ipsius
prioris ad valenciam decem librarum apud Elyngton inventa cepit et asportavit. Coram Ri-ge Rolls,
No. 260. Duke of Northumberland's transcripts.
■ Cal. Pat. Rolls, 1324- 1327, p. 2S9, and ibid. 1330-1334, pp. 389, 444. Details of an outrage at
Elswick committed against the prior will be found ibid. 1334- 1338, p. 512.
TYNEMOUTH PRIORY. 9 1
St. Alban's church.' Prior Tewing, emulous of his example, found means
to erect a Lady-chapel at Tynemouth. It is described as a new building
in 1336, and was probably begun before Eversdon's death in 1326. A
special endowment of lands was set apart for its maintenance, and it was
put under the control of a master or warden, an office held by Geoffrey
de Binham in 1338.^ Repairs to other conventual buildings seem to have
been proceeding in 1320, when Henry de Faukes granted to the prior
and convent a wayleave for their carts for carrying stone slates from the
quarries in West Backworth for roofing the monks' dwellings.^
Building and purchases of land were both calculated to be profitable in-
vestments. But capital was being sunk at a time when much depended upon
the retention of a balance in hand. The maintenance of a garrison over
several years was e.xceedingly costly. Private purses were providing the
means for public defence. So great had the strain become at the commence-
ment of Edward III.'s reign that the prior addressed the following petition
to the king, in which he drew a gloomy picture of the state of affairs :
To our lord the king and to his council, their chaplain, the prior of Tynemouth, prays that, whereas
the property of his priory is burnt and destroyed by the Scottish enemy, so that he is unable to sustain
or retain men-at-arms and others for the safeguard of the said house, if he be not aided, it may please
you to command that he be aided with victuals for the safety of the house above-mentioned, or certainly
he must abandon the defence.
The king accordingly granted supplies to the amount of ;^20, and
(September 28th, 1327) ordered his receiver of victuals at Newcastle to
make the necessary payment.'' Letters of protection were issued to the
prior in the same year, and again in 1332, when, after the ineffectual peace
of Northampton, war recommenced between England and Scotland.'^ The
' Tynemouth Chartulary, fol. iS b (survey of Tynemouth in 1336), cited in Gibson, vol. i. p. 148, note.
For Hugh de Eversdon's cult of the Virgin, see Gcsla Abhatuiii, vol. ii. p. 114. ' Hie abbas, cum, inter
nnines elcctos Dei, Bcat.im ejus Genitricem speciali devotione venerarelur, loca sua et omamenta eidem
\'irgini dedicare semper studuit." He also had a reputation for extortion. The prior of Tynemouth is
reported to have been 'so cleared out' (tantum exinanitus) as to be unable to make any gift at the
election of the next abbot. Ibiii. p. 187.
- Tynemouth Chartulary, fol. 172 b. ' Ibid. fol. So b ; Brand, XeucastU; \ol. ii. p. 90.
' A nostre scignur le roi et a son conseil prie son chapelleyn le priour de Tynemulh que come
les biens de mesme sa pr[iorie s]oient ars et destrutz par Ics enemys d'Escoce par quoi il n'est niye de
poair de suslcnir ne de rctenir gentz d'armcs et autres pur la sauve gard de mesme la meson s'il ne
soit eidetz, ifil vous pleisc comander q'il soit eidetz de vitailles pur la sauvete de la meson avantdite,
ou certeynement il lui co\ent weyvcr la gard. Endorsed : Memorandum quod habeat de victu.ilibus
que sunt apiid Novum Castrum super Tinam pro municione ad valenciam xx/i. hac vice de dono, etc.,
et super hoc mandetur custodi victualiuni, etc., quod liberet. Ancient Petitions, P.R.O. 3,800. Cp.
Cal. Close Rolls, 1327- 1 330, p. 170.
^ Cal. Pat. Rolls, 1327-1330, p. 98 ; lii./. 1330-1334, p. 344. Letters of protection were also granted
i'l 1335 ; '■'"■''• i334-'338, P- 178.
92 TYNKMOUTH PARISH.
battle of Halidon Hill won the En<^Ush a temporary advantage. Next
year (July ist, 1335), the king, who was then at Newcastle, paid a visit to
Tynemouth priory.' Meanwhile his army lay at Elswick, where the soldiers
did such damage to the prior's pasture by their going and coming that
but little was offered for it during the next few years." This, however,
was of comparatively small consequence to the priory, since Richard Scot
of Newcastle levied the prior's rents at Elswick and Wylam himself, and
so terrorised the men and servants of the monastery, that they dared not
even come to Newcastle to buy victuals or to transact business.''
Prior Richard Tewing died in 1340. Thomas de la Mare, a St. Alban's
monk of aristocratic connections, succeeded. Among his near kinsmen
he numbered the Montacutes, de la Zouches, and Grandissons. His two
brothers and his sisters had, like himself, adopted the monastic profession.
The description given of him by his biographer, as well as the fine brass
of Flemish workmanship which formerlv marked his grave in St. Alban's
abbey church, shows him to have been singularly handsome. He had well-
modelled features, long graceful fingers, and as a boy he had had a very
delicate complexion. He was a good scholar, being especially a student
of rhetoric. 'The Pope himself,' it was said, 'could find no fault in his
Latinity.' His pleasant courtesy won him popularity with high and low.
The Black Prince was in later days his special friend, and is reported to
have said to the earl of Northampton upon one occasion, ' I love Thomas
de la Mare as if he were my father's son.' The sick and the leprous were
tended by him ; he was always ready to supplv his fellows with personal
comforts, and his natural dignity was such that he did not shrink from the
performance of menial offices. Afterwards, when abbot of St. Alban's, he
would sometimes himself ring the chapel bell for the services at which
he was a regular attendant. He was justly proud of the singing of his
monks. Always punctual himself, he knew how to promote punctuality
in others ; those who came late to dinner were not met with angry
words, but were made to pay for the wine drunk during the meal. The
encomium passed upon him by Edward HI. was probably true, ' In person,
breeding, and humanity, there is no abbot in my kingdom who can com-
pare with him.''
' Cal. Close Rolls, 1333-1337, p. 415. - Tynemouth Chnrtulary, fols. 166 b, 172 b.
" Cal. Pat. Rolls, 1 338-1 341, p. 67. ' Gesta Ahbatum, vol. ii. p. 371 et seq.
PLATE VI.
Brass of Thomas de la Mare. Abbot of St Albans.
TYNEMOUTH PRIORY. g3
Thomas de la Mare had assumed the monastic habit at Wymondham,
where he had been chaplain to the prior. At St. Alban's he had held the
offices of kitchener and cellarer, and tlie business capacity which he there
showed was much needed in the conduct of affairs at Tvnemouth. He
found that house 'so miserably depressed in its estate that its goods no
longer sufficed for the maintenance of the prior and convent, and for the
defence of the priory against the perils then imminent.' This was due to
the need of entertaining the nobles whom the conduct of the Scottish war
brought into those parts, quite as much as to the frequent forays of the
Scots themselves, who burnt the manor houses, villages, barns, and buildings
of the priory, drove off the cattle from the estates and plundered the houses
of the tenants. One of Thomas de la Mare's first acts was to journey to
Langley in Hertfordshire, where the king was holding a great tournament.
There he disclosed to King Edward the necessities of the priory, and what
danger there was of its capture and destruction. He succeeded in getting
letters of protection for the monastery and its possessions during the
duration of the war. The king also issued injunctions to the wardens of
the inarches that neither they nor others should upon any prete.\t make
a stay in the priory unless they were specially invited to that house by
its prior, and that they should not take anything of the prior and convent
or of their tenants against their will.'
' De Proteccione. Rex univerais et sinyulis custodiljiis M;irchie Scocie viceconiitibus baliivis
ministris et aliis fidelibus suis ad quos, etc., salutcin. Quia piioratus de Tynemutli, qui est cella
abbathie Sancti .'Vlbani que quidem abbathia de nostra patronatu esse dinoscitur, tam per frcquentes
aggressus et invasiones Scotorum inimicorum nostrarum qui maneria villas giangeas et alia edificia
ad prioratum predictum spectancia hostiliter sepius conibusserunt et pecora ac alia bona et catalla
dilectoruni nobis in Cristo prioris et conventus eiusdem piioratus ceperunt abduxerunt et totaliter
consunipseiunt, quani accessus magnatum et alioium ad prioratum predictum contluencium et in eodeni
perhendinancium, adeo miserabiliter deprimitur, ut accepimus, hiis diebus quod bona illius ad sus-
tentacionem dictorum prioris et conventus prioratus illius ac municiones pro eodcm necessarias et ad
quedam alia ad custodiam eiusdem prioratus spectancia invenienda gucrrarum pcriculis imminentibus
sufficere non poterunt, quodque de status eiusdem prioratus subversione et monachorum ibidem pro
animabus progenitorum nostrorum omniumque fidclium divina celebrancium dispersione, necnon
elemosinarum que ibidem hactenus fieri consueverunt diminucione et subtraccione, et, quod peius
est, predictus prioratus, qui castrum reputari poterit, perdicionali capcione quod absit yerisimiliter
formidatur, nisi remedium super hoc cicius apponatur ; nos tantis malls periculis et dispendiis precavere
volentes ut tenemur, affectantesque quod exitus redditus seu provcntus terraruni et possessionum
predictarum, quatenus ultra sustentacioneni dictorum prioris et conventus et ministrorum sucrum
necessario sufficere poterunt, in relevacione status prioratus predicti saluam et securam custodian!
eiusdem applicentur, prioratum predictum ac priorem et conventum et homines terras res redditus et
omnes possessiones ad prioratum predictum spectantes seu pertinentes suscepimus in proteccioneni et
defensionem nostram specialem. Et ideo, etc. Et si quid, etc. Nohniius enim quod aliquis vestruin
aut alius quicumque cuiuscumque status seu condicionis tuerit in prioratu predicto, iminentibus periculis
predictis, quocumque colore hospitetur aut moram faciat quovis modo, nisi per priorem dicti prioratus
ex certa causa fuerit specialius invitatus, nee de bonis aut rebus ipsoruni prioris et conventus seu
hominum suorum contra voluntatem suani quicquam capiant quovis modo. In cuius, etc. Quanidiu
dicta guerra duraverit duratura. Teste rege apud Langele viij die Februarii [a.D. 134']- ^^^r ipsum
regem et consilium. Patent Roll, P.R.O. 15 Edw. III. pars I, m. 44.
94 TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
The first three years of de la Mare's priorate were spent in the
prosecution of various lawsuits. In the most important of these suits
Gerard de Widdrington claimed tiie manor of Hauxley. As the case pro-
ceeded it became more and more evident that the prior would win, upon
which Widdrington attempted force. The prior's biographer reports that
for a whole year de la Mare was daily in iear of assassination ; no day
dawned which might not bring news of the murder of one of his supporters.
Upon one occasion some Austin friars were caught by Widdrington on their
way from Tynemouth and put to the torture under the impression that they
were Benedictines. Sir Henry Percy, though a friend of the prior, was
unwilling to give him any help, since he would not take any steps against
a knight who was of his fee, so strong had the tie already become which
bound lord and retainer. His wife, Lady Mary Percy, was the only friend
upon whom the prior could rely. She is said to have sent him all her
jewels, and to have bidden him sell them and employ the proceeds in
the suit rather than suffer it to drop for lack of means. She also sent him
a renowned duellist, vSir Thomas Colville, for force could onlv be met by
force. Colville engaged to maintain the prior's cause in battle, and as no
one dared to stand up against him, de la Mare won the day. Lady Mary
Percy subsequently appointed the prior to be her confessor.
Another three years were spent mainly in the work of religious in-
struction. De la Mare himself preached effectively, both in English and
in Latin. So earnest was he in discourse that his sermons were often
interrupted by his sobs. He gathered round him many secular clergy and
mendicant friars to assist him in his work. The Scottish invasion of 1346,
when the upper Tyne vallev fell entirely into the hands of the invaders,
put an end to peaceful evangelization. Their leader, Sir William Douglas,
sent a message to the prior, bidding him prepare dinner for him at Tyne-
mouth ; for in two davs' time, he said, he would sup with him in his priory.
So it was, though under different circumstances to those which had been
in Douglas's mind when he sent his arrogant message, for he was captured
at Neville's Cross, and sent to Tynemouth for safe custody. De la Mare
met him and bade him welcome to the dinner w'hich was made ready. ' In
truth,' said Douglas, 'I am sorry for this visit.' De la Mare replied, 'You
could not have chosen a better time for it.' In the same fight David, king
of Scotland, was taken prisoner. The prior was suffering at the time from
TYNEMOUTH PRIORY.
95
an eye complaint, but the joyful news made him well again. He tore off
his bandages, and never had a return of the disorder.
Though the victory of Neville's Cross relieved the priory of the long
strain of the Scottish war, it occasioned a struggle with the English military
leaders. Ralph de Neville, who had lately been appointed warden of the
marches, argued that Tynemouth was a royal castle. He sent there all
the able-bodied Scottish prisoners to be kept under guard. Their custody
naturally proved an expensive charge upon the monastery, as well as
detrimental to its privileges. Accordingly the prior journeyed to the royal
court, and, through the mediation of a nobleman there, named De Ufford,
obtained a royal writ which forbade any prisoner to be sent into Tyne-
mouth castle, and ordered that no one e.\cept the prior for the time being
should exert authority within the castle.'
De la Mare had already planned several alterations to the priory
buildings, which had hitherto been deferred owing to the necessities of the
time. Peace being now regained, he
was able to execute his projects, and
the last three years of his priorate
(1346- 1 349) were spent in repairing
the walls and buildings of the castle
and priorv, as well as in making new
buildins;s. Until that time the shrine
of St. Oswin had been united with
the high altar. Monastic services
had consequently interfered with, or
been interrupted by, the devotions
of pilgrims. The prior now moved
the shrine from its original position
to another portion of the church (his
' Walsingham's narrative cannot be accepted as it stands. He says that the prior 'clam venit
ad Langleve, ubi curia regis fuit, et hastiludia ob puerperium Philippae reginae, quae enixa fuerat tunc
Edmunduiii.' The tournament was held on February 2nd, 1341 (Baker, Chronicon, Caxton Society,
p. 73), while Edmund of Langley was not born till June 5th following (Chromcoii Angliaf, 1328-138S,
Rolls Series, p. 12). .-Kpart from this discrepancy, there is the more serious difficulty that Ralph
Neville, warden of the marches, is made the principal in the quarrel. Neville was not ni.ide warden
till September 12th, 1346; and the battle of Neville's Cross, about which tune these events are said
to have occurred, was fought on October 17th, 1346. Walsingham appears to have confused an
occurrence of 1346 or 1347 with the granting of the letters of protection quoted in the last note, which
were granted at Langley on Februarv 8th, 1341. His whole account of the priorate of Thomas de la
Mare\Gcsta Ahkitiim, vol. ii. pp. 375-380I is a vivid and perhaps highly-coloured sketch, which cannot
be trusted for accuracy of historical detail.
SrANDKii. IN Priory Chirch.
g6 TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
biographer, unfortunately, does not indicate what new place was found
for it). This work, with the alteration to the high altar necessitated by
the removal of the shrine, and the decoration of the church in certain
minor and unspecified particulars, cost £']0. De la Mare further expended
£()0 in building a new brew-house, and £%1 in making a dormitory. The
total outlay made by him upon the church amounted to no less than £'i^^.
On the other hand, by the purchase of various tenements and 590 acres
of arable and meadow land, he increased the annual revenue of the priory
by ^35 4s. lo^d.
A strange storv is told of what was seen at Tvnemouth one winter
morning when Thomas de la Mare was prior. Service was daily said for
the souls of the departed in the 'chapel of the dead,' which was perhaps
a mortuary chapel within the conventual cemetery. Early in the morning,
before sunrise, a monk was reciting the customary service in this chapel.
He was alone, except for a boy who made the responses. Office, collect,
epistle and gospel had been read, and the ceremony of cleansing the sacred
vessels was being performed, when the boy turned round and saw a cowled
figure coming in at the chapel door. In the half-light he saw it kneel
down in a corner of the chapel and bend its face to the earth, as if in
prayer. The scared lad put himself between the priest and the altar. His
behaviour surprised the priest, who, however, proceeded with the mass,
and, when the celebration was over, asked the boy the cause of his alarm.
Then he too saw the apparition kneeling in the corner of the building.
Boldly approaching the figure, he lightlv touched it with his sleeve, saying,
' Rise, brother ; return to thy rest ; ' upon which the kneeling form stood
up, went out at the door, and was lost to sight.'
When the Black Death depleted the monastery of St. Alban's and
carried off its abbot, Thomas de la Mare was chosen to fill the vacancy,
and a Tynemouth monk, Clement of Whethamstede, was nominated as
prior in his stead. De la Mare went with a notification of his election to
the papal court. But the Roman cardinals, on hearing the words of the
decree which announced the election of the prior of Tynemouth to be
abbot of St. Alban's, broke in with the commentary, ' Then the priory is
vacant.' Though the appointment to the cell lay wholly within the sphere
of the abbey, upon which it depended, the papal legate demanded the
' Gcita Abbatuin, vol. ii. p. 36S.
TYNEMOUTH PRIORY. 97
first fruits from the prior designate, using threats to obtain payment. ' On
this occasion,' it was said, 'trifling as it was, we spent an immense sum of
money before the cell could have its customary liberty recognised. When
the abbot saw the cardinals and some of the Curia eagerly waiting to see
who would have the priory allotted to him, he sought audience with the
Pope, and obtained from him a bull giving him licence to confer the
priory upon one of his own monks. So Tynemouth was saved from out
of the clutches of the Roman harpies.' Besides the bull (dated August
iitb, 1349), a royal letter to the papal legate was obtained. In this letter
the king stated that Tynemouth priory was one of the strongest fortresses
in the marches, that during the Scottish wars it had been garrisoned and
provisioned against attack, and that its revenues were not in themselves
sufficient for the cost of defence ; wherefore he commanded the legate not
to appropriate the revenues, as such action would bring impoverishment
and ruin upon the monastery.*
The first thirty years of Whethamstede's long priorate are blank except
for a dispute with Newcastle with regard to the ownership of Fenham in
1357. When we next meet with the priorv, it is to find that its walls,
which Thomas de la Mare had repaired, were crumbling, while the rents of
the priorv lands were diminished by the constant harrying of Bewick and
Eglingham. In 1380 the following petition was addressed to the king:
To our lord the king and his council, their poor chaplains, the prior and convent of Tynemouth,
show that, whereas their said priory has been long time and still is one of the strong fortresses of the
north, and now by the inroad of the sea the walls of the said priory are in great part fallen, and the rents
of the said priory are in no way sufficient to repair them as well as to bear their other charges, because
great part of their said rents lies near the march of Scotland and is destroyed by the enemy, therefore
the said prior and convent pray our lord the king and his council to assign them some reasonable aid,
whereby they pray to be recovered, to the saving of the said priory and fortress and of the country
round about."
Richard II. thereupon (February 20th, 1380) granted licence to the
prior and convent to acquire lands and tenements to the amount of ;^20
' Gesta Abbatum, vol. ii. pp. 390-394.
- Ancifiit Petitions, I'.R.O. 7,157. A nostre seignur le roy et son consail mustrount se povers
chapeleins priour et couent de Tvnmuth que come lour dit priourre ad este par long temps et ore est
un de les forcible forteles de North', et or par cretyn et surunder de mer les mures de dit priourrie sunt
chaies en grant partie et les rentz de dit priourrie ne sunt mie sufficiant de les reparailer et porter lour
autres charges pur ceo que grant partie de lour ditz rentz gist pres de march d'Escoce et est destruit par
les enmis, sur quoy les ditz priour et couent priount a nostre seigneur le roy et son consail de les assigner
asqune ayde resonable dunt ils priont estre recouere en eel part en saluacion de dit priourrie et (orcelet
et tout le pais environ. Cp. Letters Patent printed in Brand, Newcastle, vol. ii. pp. 96, 97 i and Gibson,
vol. ii. appendix, c.x.wi.
Vol. VIII. '3
g8 TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
yearlv rent. Next year ihey increased their resources by purchasing the
manor of West Denton, a rich coal-field on the Tyne, and at the same
time added 362 acres to their home demesne. In this year (1381), the
peasants' revolt broke out. Northumberland remained quiet, and the
prior of St. Alban's and four of his brethren did not think themselves
safe from their angry serfs till they had reached Tynemouth.' In 1384
there was a renewal of the old complaints as to the decay of the sea-walls
and priory buildings, the ' constant mortal pestilence ' of the Scottish in-
vasions, and the cost of entertaining nobles. This time the complaints
of the priory were voiced by the king's two uncles, the dukes of Lancaster
and Gloucester, who were friends of the monastery and partakers of its
hospitality. Richard allowed the monks to appropriate for their own use
the advowson of Haltwhistle in Tynedale." The year 1384 is deserving of
remembrance in the history of the priory, for in it St. Oswin performed
his last miracle :
In this year, on the 20th of August, being the clay of the Passion of St. Oswin, at Newcastle-upon-
Tyne, two sailors wished to hollow out a piece of timber for their vessel. And when one of them had
struck the wood with his axe, to his amazement blood poured from it as if it had been a living thing.
He stood rooted with fear, and then, remembering that it was St. Oswin's Day, he vowed that he would
never work again on that day as long as he lived. His comrade made little of it and swore that
he would hollow out the timber ; but, when he had struck it, he saw blood flow more freely than before.
He aimed at another part of the wood, but blood followed from every stroke ; so then he saw his
wickedness and promised to cease from the work on that day. This miracle was seen by many and gave
great proof of the martyr's holiness.^
Scottish invasions now came nearer home. The Scots pressed south
in 1386 ; they had reached Billv-mill moor before a truce was arranged.
In 1388 they appeared before the walls of Newcastle. Upon August 19th
in that year, the day upon which the battle of Otterburn was fought, the
king granted protection for a year to the priory, in similar terms to those
which Edward III. had used at Langley in 1341.'' Twelve months later
came a fresh invasion, and this time the Scots harried and burnt nearly
the whole of Tynemouthshire, meeting with no opposition. When they
had come to Tynemouth, they desired to hold a parley with the cellarer
and those who were in the castle. So the cellarer went out to treat
with them for sparing the town, but, while he conferred with them, some
Gesta Abbatum, vol. iii., p. 301. - Gibson, vol. ii., appendix, cxxviii and cxxix.
Thomas of Walsingham, Historia Ang
tnd, Rolls Series, p. 240.
' Patent Rolls, 12 Ric. II. pars I, m. 28.
'Thomas of Walsingham, Historia Aiiglicana, Rolls Series, vol. ii. p. 116; Capgrave, Chronicle 0/
England, Rolls Series, p. 240.
TYNEMOl'TH PRIORY.
99
of the enemy were entering the houses, and suddenly flames burst out in
every street. Seeing this, one of the garrison of the castle levelled his
crossbow and shot a servant of the earl of Moray, whereat the Scots
raised a great outcry, declaring the cellarer to have done treacherously ;
and he had almost lost his life but that some of the Scots, who were his
friends, saved him and allowed him to go in again to the castle upon this
condition, that he should cure the wounded man of his wounds and send
him home at the charges of the house.'
It was absolutely
necessary to improve the
military defences of the
castle. Its gate - house
was in ruins ; the greater
part of its walls seaward
were thrown down ; and
neither the revenues of"
St. Alban's nor those of
its cell sufficed for the
work of reparation. A
petition made bv Thomas
de la Mare and his con-
vent was strongly sup-
ported by the dukes of
Lancaster and Gloucester,
the earl of Huntingdon,
and the earl of Northum-
berland. King Richard
agreed (February 23rd,
1390) to give /. 500 in
aid of the needful repairs,
John of Gaunt himself
subscribed ^"100, and
Henry Percy, first earl
of Northumberland, gave
Newel Stair in Gate-house
' Walsingham, vol. ii. p. 402. Contemporary surveys corroborate the harrj-ing of Tynemouthshire
and destruction of the town ; e.g., a house in Tynemouth owned by the heirs of Sir Alan de Heton was
returned as worth ten shillings in 1388 (im;. p.m. 12 Ric. II. No. 28), but three years later it was worth
nothing 'causa destructionis Scotoruin' {ibid. 15 Ric. II. pars i, No. 87).
lOO TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
a hundred marks, as well as a thousand trees to replace those which the
Scots had burned. The gate-house, which is still standing, was then built by
the prior, John de Whethamstede.' Another building erected about this
time was the prior's great stone house, which stood upon the Quayside, in
Newcastle, till 1S54, when it, and several old streets adjoining, were burnt by
fire.' The priory acquired considerable house property in Newcastle in 1391.
In 1405 Whitley was purchased for the priory by William de
Whethamstede, the cellarer above-mentioned. During his tenure of office,
Johanna, widow of the Black Prince, gave a donation for the adornment
of St. Oswin's shrine.^ This William was a member of a family which
was for long closely connected with Tynemouth. His nephew, John de
Whethamstede, surnamed Makarey or Macrel, was at this time prior.
The prior in his turn had a nephew, also named John de Whethamstede,
who attained celebrity as abbot of St. Alban's.*
Makarev.
I
Thomas Makarey of Whethamstede. William Whethamstede, cellarer of Tynemouth in 1384.
^ I
John Makarey of Whethamstede, prior of Margaret. = Hugh Bostock, came out of Cheshire to
Tynemouth, 1 393-1418. I Whethamstede.
I
John Bostock of Whethamstede, prior of Gloucester Hall, Oxford ; abbot of St. .Mban's, 1420-1440, and 1451-1464.
' Pro priore et conventu de Tynemoth. Rex omnibus ad c]uo5, etc., salutem. Supplicarunt nobis
dilecti nobis in Cristo abbas et conventus abbatie de sancto Albano ut, cum prioratus de Tynemoth in
comitatu Northumbrie, cella eiusdem abbatie, qui supra portum maris et os aque de Tyne situatur,
tantam et excessiuam destruccionem de terris et possessionibus suis per .Scotos adversaries nostros
sustinuent, quod magna turris et porta ac maior pars murorum dicti prioratus versus mare per
infortunium ad terram prosternuntur ; ita quod omnia bona abbatie et prioratus illorum ad reparacioneni
eiusdem prioratus, qui castrum et refugium toti patrie tempore guerre existere consuevit, non sufficiunt
ut accepimus ; velimus, consideratis tam dampnis cl deperditis in premissis que toti patrie predicte, si
dictum castrum pro defectu celeris reparacionis per inimicos nostros quod absit capiatur, quam quod
predicli abbas, prior, et conventus, nisi magnum auxilium et succursum nostra in hac parte habuerint, ad
defendcndum et reparandum eundem prioratum sine castrum minus sufficienles exislunt, poterunt
evenire, ordinari iubere quod idem prioratus siue castrum, ad quod faciendum iidem abbas, prior, et
conventus plenariam potestateai suain, ut asserunt, tideliter apponent, cum omni festinacione possibili
reparetur; Nos ad supplicacionem predictam et alia premissa debitam consideracionem habentes, primo
ad honorem Dei et subsequenter ad rogatum carissimorum avunculorum nostrorum ducum Lancastrie et
Gloucestrie ac carissimi fratris nostri comitis Huntyngdonie et dilecti consanguinei nostri comitis
Northumbrie, de gracia nostra speciali concessimus eisdem abbati, priori et conventui quingentas libras
habendas per sufficientem assignacionem inde infra duos annos proximo futuros solucndas in auxilium
reparacionis prioratus antcdicli. In cuius, etc. Teste rege apud Westmonasterium xxiij die Kebruarii
(A.D. 1390) per breve de privato sigillo. Patent Rolls, P.R.O., 13 Ric. II. pars 2, m. 8. Cp. Lihir dc
Benefacturibus, Rolls Series, pp. 434, 436 ; and Walsingham, vol. ii. p. 403.
•Brand, Newcastle, vol. ii. p. 100. Dr. Embleton, 'Ruins of Buildings once existing on the
Quayside.MrW;. Ael. second series, vol. xviii. ■■< Liber dc Bcncfactortbus, p. 435.
' Old writers, e.g., Dugdale and Hearne, are mistaken in classing John de Whethamstede, abbot of
St. Alban's, among the priors of Tynemouth. See Riley, jfohii 0/ Amuiidesham, Rolls Series, vol. ii.
p. xvi, note 2. Prior Clement de Whethamstede does not appear to have been a member of this family.
TYNEMOUTH PRIORY. 10 1
Prior Whethamstede, besides building the gatehouse, inserted several
windows in the church, amongst which is probably to be reckoned the
large Perpendicular window in the west front of the nave. He restored
the monks' house at Wylam which had fallen into ruins during the Scottish
wars. It is also recorded of him that he increased the half-yearly allow-
ances paid to members of the monastery, and instituted the practice of
distributing pittances or doles among the sick monks in the infirmar}\'
What knowledge we possess of him is derived from some verses writ-
ten by his nephew, Abbot Whethamstede, in 1426, when he made a
visitation to Tynemouth. Upon that occasion the abbot, after conducting
an investigation into the affairs of the priory, issued a set of constitutions
to the following elTect : '
1. The brethren are to attend the daily and nightly services in the choir. The precentor of the
choir is to see that the services, and especially the psalms, are distinctly rendered ; special care is to be
taken on festivals. In starting the antiphons, the precentor is not to begin to intone the psalm until
the antiphonist has finished his phrase. The priests are to celebrate mass daily.
2. The brethren are to discontinue the practice of acting plays in the church, ever>' fourth of
September, for the entertainment of their dependents, who have been accustomed to make that day
a general holiday.
3. They are to minister to feeble and sick monks ; the pittances assigned by Prior John de
Whethamstede to brethren in the infirmary are hereby confirmed.
4. Twice a year they may absent themselves from the monastery. But they are not, on these
occasions, to wander about aimlessly, or to go to places which may make them the subject of scandal.
5. The sums of money which they used to receive from the hands of the prior shall be paid
to them by an officer appointed for this purpose, and shall be a charge on the rents of the townships
of Hauxley and West Cliirton.'
6. The prior is to give diligent attention to the discipline of his monks, and to use, if necessary,
the rod of correction. He is to guard against a diminution of temporalities, which he is to augment
if possible. He is to have a cellarer who shall look after the estates and afibrd alleviation, when
necessary, to the tenants of the townships and stewards of the manors ; the cellarer shall be free
from all duties which do not concern his office.
7. Every year, on the eve of All Souls' Day, the prior shall call together his obedientiaries and
receive their accounts ; he shall present his own accounts every third year to the sub-prior.
' .\bbot Whethamstede has left the following account of his great-uncle and uncle :
' Primus Whitleia cum pratis cmerat arva
Et domui jun.xit, claviger unde fuit ;
Post Haltuesiliae rectoriam propriare
Prudenter stiiduit ; praeter haec bona plurima fecit.
Proximior primo, prior ordine, junior illo,
Uiruptam januam reparat, rursusque relapsam
Erigit a fundo, variatquc situm situando.
Drnat honore locum, terret munimine Scotum.
De Wylomqiie domum, riunt ubi gaudia fratrum,
Per guerras lapsam, rursus levat, cfficit ipsam.
Aegris aera dedit, cameram quoque fratribus auxit ;
Ecclesiam variis in vestui isque fenestris
Ornat et illaesa sua servat singula jura.'
John of Amundesham, AimaUs MoiuisUrii Smicti Albaui, vol. i. pp. 220-221. ' Ibiil. pp. 212-220.
' This is the 'camera fratrum' which Prior Whethamstede is said to have increased. For further
regulations concerning it see Gcsta Abbutiim, vol. ii. pp. 312. 313.
I02 TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
It may have been upon this visit that Abbot Whethamstede made his
present to the monastery of a silver-gilt chalice, valued at £^, and a
purple cope of cloth of gold sumptuously worked, of the value of ;^20.
He also presented the cellarer of the monastery with a silver-gilt cup."
The necessity of attending a general chapter made him hurry home
without taking the usual homages of his tenants.^
This abbot's letter-book preserves a portion of his correspondence
with members of the cell.^ He wrote to the monks admonishing them to
guard against the sin of overeating. Upon banishing to Tynemouth a
refractory monk of Beaulieu, he sent directions to Prior Barton that this
disobedient brother was to be put, if necessary, into gyves and fetters.
Barton, upon another occasion, sent his superior a book called the Pilgrim's
Scrip, with strict injunctions that it should be returned. Whethamstede
replied that he had read portions of Aristotle's Ethics, and that he would
not fail to comply with this request.
A certain Robert de Rhodes is said to have been prior in the middle
of Henry VI. 's reign. He appears to have acquired the manor of Benwell
for the priory by purchase from the Delaval family, but it was more
probably acquired in the capacity of seneschal than in that of prior.^
That he was the Robert de Rhodes who built the spire of St. Nicholas'
church, Newcastle, is far from being probable. ° His coat of arms was
upon the gate-house of the priory until 1705, when it was taken down by
Colonel ^'illiers, then governor, and sent to Dr. Ellison, vicar of Newcastle.*
Another name connected with Tynemouth at this period is that of
the sub-prior, John de Bamburgh, who was afterwards prior of Wallingford
and finally of Belvoir. He was a donor to the library of the convent and
' Jolin of Aimindesliam, Annaks Monasterii Sancti Albnni, vol. ii. p. 257.
" Meinoranduiii quod 12" die mensis Junii, anno domini millesimo cccc° xxvj", anno vero regni regis
Henrici sexti quarto, apud Tyneniutham in camera prioris ibidem, Simon de Welden, alias Weltesden,
armiger, fecit homagium et fidelitatem Johanni Whethamstede abbati pro terris dominicis, et abbas, de
sua gracia speciali, condonavit eidem feodum camerarii sui, presentibus domino Thonia 15arton, tunc priore,
domino Willelmo Saxage, Nicholao Wellis, capellanis dicti abbatis, Roberto Welpynton, predicti loci
senescallo, Willelmo de la Vale, armigero, cum tota familia domini abbatis. Et nota quod alii varii qui
propter suas tenuras prestassent et fecissent dicto abbati homagium, admoniti fuerint sub pena juris ut
venirent et facient homagia sua, set, quia abbas dictus, ad instanciam prioris ecclesie cathedralis Dunelmie,
citius quam proposuit propter celebiationem generalis capituli reversus est ad partes, pro tunc dictus
abbas a suis tenentibus talia servicia non recepit, sed posuit in suspense quousque hujusmodi negocio
liberius vacare posset ; Willelmo de la \'ale, propter sue defectum etatis.abeo servicio pro tunc excusato.
St. Albans Register, fol. 61 b. From Baker's transcripts.
" Registrum Abbatiae Johannis Whethamstede, Rolls Series, vol. ii. appendix E.
' Flower, Visitatioit of Yorkshire, Harl. Soc. No. xvi. p. 98. "■ Grey, Chorographiti, pub. 1649, p. 10.
° Brand, Newcastle, vol. ii. p. 101, citing Dr. Ellison's MSS.
TYNEMOUTH PRIORY.
103
himself an author. He wrote a life of Prior Whethamstede, and sent it to
the prior's nephew, the abbot. The latter fell, as he himself puts it, into
'a stupor of admiration' over the book. After comparing Bamburgh's
achievement with those of the several Latin authors from Ennius to
Eusebius, and expressing his wonder that Bamburgh should have come by
such eloquence, though he had 'never slept by the Hippocrene which
wells up in the heart of Oxford, nor ever tasted a single draught of the
Cirrean stream which flows past Cambridge,' he prophesied an immortality
for this work, that 'while sun gives forth its rays and the stars their light,
Bosses over the Doorway of the Percy Ch.apel.
Steel shall not raze it nor fire consume, neither shall time nor eld have
power to destroy.' But our literature is no longer enriched by its
presence, for the book is lost.'
John Langton, who first occurs as prior in 1450, has the best claim
to be considered the builder of a chapel or chantry at the east end of
the priory church, popularly known as the Lady-chapel ; for the monogram
' Re^istrum Whethamstede, vol. i. pp. 311-316.
I04 TYNEMOUl'H PARISH.
I.L.P. (lohannes Langton, prior) twice occurs upon the bosses of its roof.
The Percy chapel would be a more suitable name, for the arms of Percy
and I.ucy and the crescent and shacklebolt badge are to be found within
it, and point to some connection with the earls of Northumberland. Its
style of architecture dates it a centurv later than the time when the real
Lady-chapel was constructed.
Margaret of Anjou, sailing from France in the autumn of 1462 with
French reinforcements for her husband, landed at Tynemouth, probably
intending to attack Newcastle ; but a sudden change of plan, or a panic
among her troops, led her to embark once more and set sail for Berwick,
whither she made her way in a rising gale.' Otherwise the Wars of the
Roses passed lightly over the priory, which presumably remained resolutely
Yorkist. A few months after Oueen Margaret's abortive landing, King
Edward I\". issued to the priory a confirmation of Richard I.'s charter,
this time with a commentary upon, and specification of, its terms as being
general and obscure. He further granted to the prior and convent the
right to buy all kinds of victuals and goods for their own use in the port
of Tyne, from their own or from stranger vessels, and to load and unload
there their cargoes of salt and coal, without any impediment from the
men ot Newcastle. He also sanctioned the erection of breakwaters at
Tynemouth and Shields, the baking of bread and brewing of ale, and the
sale of fresh and salt fish free from all payment of custom.'-
Some remarkable transactions concerning Tynemouth are disclosed in
the register of Abbot William Wallingford, a successor of Whethamstede.
In November, 1462, a commission was granted to Nicholas Boston, almoner
of St. Alban's monastery, to make a visitation of Binham priory, which was
then ruled by William Dixwell. Boston's report appears to have been
unfavourable, and Dixwell was superseded. In January, 1464, Abbot
Whethamstede, acting probably at Boston's suggestion, wrote to Edward
IV., asking him to secure the ex-prior's arrest, ' forasmuch as he, like
another son of perdition, wanders about from place to place, from village
to village, and from market to market, more like a vagabond and an
apostate than a regular monk.' However, when Whethamstede died, the
new abbot reinstated Dixwell in his former position at Binham.
John Langton, who was then prior of Tynemouth, was growing old,
' Hall, Chronicle, ed. 1S09, p. 259. = Gibson, vol. ii. appendix, cxxxvii.
TYNEMOUTH PRIORY.
105
and on that score and on the ground of ill-health he was unable to attend
Abbot Wallingford's election in 1476. Preparations were made to provide
for the approaching vacancy in that cell. In accordance with the prevalent
practice of trafficking in preferment, the right was accorded to Richard,
duke of Gloucester, and to Lord Say of appointing to Tynemouth, upon
the next vacancy, Nicholas Boston, now (1477) archdeacon of St. Alban's.
Very shortly after this grant was made, two officers of St. Alban's monastery
were despatched to Tynemouth to hold a visitation there, carrying with
them certain letters to Prior Langton. Whatever these letters may have
contained, and they may have called upon Langton to resign in favour of
Boston, they were not to his liking. He tore them into shreds, and the
two emissaries thought themselves fortunate to have escaped from Tvne-
mouth alive. Upon March 15th, 1478, sentence of deposition was pro-
nounced upon Langton. He was inhibited from celebrating mass, and was
summoned to appear at St. Alban's within fifteen days, there to give account
of his conduct. Boston succeeded, as a matter of course, to the vacant cell.
Next day the abbot secured to him his new dignity for life, but he did not
set out for the North until the following September, and then spent thirtv-
nine days upon the road, spending also, it is said, large sums of money which
might have much availed his house.
His tenure of office was a short one. On April 2Sth, 1480, a com-
mission was issued for visiting the priory. The commissioners were the
dispossessed prior, John Langton ; Boston's old enemy, William Dixwell ;
and another. Ten days later the abbot appointed Dixwell to be prior of
Tynemouth. The letter of appointment must have come close on the heels
of the commissioners. Armed with it they presented themselves to
Boston, who, on his part, produced the grant of the office of prior to him
for life. Dixwell snatched the deed out of his hands and tore it to pieces.
Prior Boston submitted to the inevitable, and in ' the chapel hard by the
prior's chamber,' resigned the post from which he would otherwise have
been deposed. Retirement was made easy to him by the grant of an
annuity of ^10, secured upon the manor of Hauxley. By a rather curious
arrangement, Henry Percy, fourth earl of Northumberland, granted a
similar annuity at the same time to Prior Dixwell, nominally upon appoint-
ing him to be one of the earl's council. Consequently the maintenance
of Nicholas Boston actually fell upon the earl.
Vol, VIII. 14
I06 TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
Events followed hard upon one another. It was upon July 24th that
the abbot of St. Alban's confirmed Boston's annuity. On September 5th
he issued a commission to prior Dixwell to take and examine Boston, who
had been accused to him of excesses. Boston was ordered to appear before
the prior, and a few days later a letter was sent to the bishop of Durham
requesting him to arrest the ex-prior, ' forasmuch as he, like another son
of perdition, wanders about from place to place, from village to village,
and from market to market, more like a vagabond and an apostate than a
regular monk.' The repetition of his own phrase must have proved bitter
to him if he saw the writing. He replied by making charges against his
rival which put a different complexion upon the case, and in December the
prior of Belvoir was empowered to visit Tynemouth and to make enquiry
into the case. This resulted in the reinstatement of Boston in his former
post, while Dixwell again became prior of Binham. Two years afterwards
the latter, being seized with repentance, entreated Abbot Wallingford to
re-issue to Boston his old grant of the priorate in perpetuity, which was
done, but sealed only with the abbot's seal. Upon the intervention of
Richard III. it was again granted, this time sealed with the conventual seal
in addition. At the same time the king promised Prior Boston a valuable
benefice and £100 towards building a water mill (possibly that at Harden
burn). It will be remembered that Richard, when duke of Gloucester, had
presented Boston to the priorate.
A final reconciliation between Boston and Dixwell was effected in
1485. Dixwell made a promise in writing to discharge all debts incurred
by him as prior of Tynemouth. Ten years afterwards Prior Boston died,
and was buried in the church of the Grey Friars in London. His former
antagonist survived him at least sixteen years, and died prior of Hertford.'
A large establishment appears to have been maintained by the later
priors of Tynemouth. When Henry VII. 's daughter, Margaret, the affianced
bride of James IV. of Scotland, made her progress to the Scottish court in
1503, Prior Stony well came to meet her three miles from Newcastle, 'well
appointed, and in his company thirty horses, his men in livery.' ^ His
successor assembled at Tynemouth great numbers of the inhabitants of
Tynedale and Redesdale, to whom he gave arms and wages of sixpence
' Registrum abbatiae IVilUlmi Wallingforde. The events have been carefully investigated by Kiley
{Registnim Wlicthamstede, vol. ii. pp. xxxv-xliv), whose account is here followed.
' Leland, Collectanea, ed. Hearne, 1774, vol. iv. p. 277.
TYNIi.MOUTH PRIORY. IO7
a day, to the intent, it was said, that by his commandment they should have
murdered the mayor, aldermen, and other inhabitants of Newcastle.' At the
same time the upkeep of the castle and monastic buildings was neglected.
In 1527 it was stated that the decays within the castle walls of the priory
were numerous and that it would cost much to remedy them ; the glass
windows and leads of the church and the barns and garners for the corn
were in especial need of repair.-
A marked feature of the close of the history of this monastery is its
growing independence of St. Alban's and dependence upon persons of
influence at court. Wolsey, in 15 19, with the nominal consent of Abbot
Ramrigge, exempted Prior Stonywell from the jurisdiction of St. Alban's
during that prior's lifetime.' When he determined to create Stonywell's
successor abbot of Peterborough, William Franklin, chancellor of Durham,
and Sir William Buhner, hearing of the cardinal's intention, wrote re-
questing him to give the priory to Dr. Peter Lee of the monastery of
Durham, a man of learning and good conversation.'' Lady Mary Cary
prevailed in getting the appointment given to Thomas Gardiner, one of
the king's chaplains, a son of William Gardiner, citizen of London, by a
natural daughter of Jasper Tudor, earl of Pembroke. She was rewarded
by receiving an annuity of a hundred marks out of the conventual revenues.
The favour of Thomas Cromwell was secured by the grant of a pension,
and altogether Gardiner burdened the revenues of his house with annuities
amounting to two hundred marks.' Cromwell informed the abbot of St.
Alban's that it was the king's pleasure that Gardiner should have Tyne-
mouth priorv for life, an order with which the abbot was obliged to comply."
An ominous hostility towards the priory on the part of the neighbouring
gentry was beginning to be apparent, as is shown in the following petition
addressed to the king at some date between 1528 and 1536 :
To the kynge our soveraigne lord.
In his most humble wyse shewith and complayneth unto your excellent hiyhnes your daily and
feithfull oratour, Thomas, pryor of Tynmowth, in your countie of Nonhumbreland, that where Sir
Thomas Hylton, knyght, son and heire apparent vnto the baron of Hylton, Sir John Delavale, knyght,
' Star Chamber Proceedings, Hen. \'II1. bundle 20, No. 2.
'"' Letters itml Papers, Hen. VHI. vol. iv. p. 1469.
•■' Letters and Papers, Hen. VHI. vol. iii. p. 176. ' Ibid. vol. iv. p. 1574.
' See Augmention Office, Conventual Leases, Northumberland, bundle i, for an annuity of ten marks
granted by Gardiner out of Benwell. Gibson, vol. ii. appendix, cli.
' Letters and Papers, Hen. VIII. vol. vi. p. 337.
Io8 TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
Henry Ewer and Richard Bellyces, esquyers, accompayned with cc persons or iher-aboutes to your
seid oratour unknowcn, the Fryday next before Candehnes Day last past, ryottously assembled and
gathered themselfes togider at Tynniouthe forseid, and than and ther ryottously with force and
armes endyvored tliemsclfes to the best of ther power to Iiave entred in at the gate of the priory of
Tynniowthe forseid, to th'entent and purpose without any autoritie, right or title, against the order
of your lawes, sovcraigne lorde, and against the will of your seid oratour, to have kepte a court
within the precyncte of the seid pryory ; and for the appeasyng of the seid ryottous persons, and to
th'entent that no hurt or brechc of your peax shuld growe or ensue therby, your seid oratour shewed
and declared, in the open presence of them all, that my lorde of Rocheford was high stuard of the
seid pryory, and it apperteyned to no person other than to the seid Lorde Rocheford and his deputies
to kepe any court within the precyncte of the seid pryory. And for by cause your seid oratour wold
have had the good will, love and favour of the seid Sir Thomas Hylton and Sir John Delavale, and
of the other above named, desired them in gentill nianer to come into his place and take such chere
as he than had, and they shuld be welcome right hartily thereto ; and than the seid Sir Thomas
Hylton, being in a great fury, swore many great othes that he wold be high stuard of the sayed
pryory whosoever sayed nay ; and than and ther, most gracious soveraigne lorde, the seid Sir Thomas
Hylton and Sir John Delavale gafe unto your seid oratour many great manessheyng wordes, and
put your seid oratour and all his household and servaunttes in great feare and jupardie of ther lyfes.
And aswell the seid Sir John Delavale as the seid Sir Thomas Hylton than and ther openly reported
and sayed that, yf your seid oratour or any of his servaunttes came within ther waike, they wold do
them right high displeasure. And so it is, most gracious soveraigne lorde, the seid ryottous persons
perseveryng ther said ungracious purpose, shortely after a mounke of your seid oratour, being bowser '
of the seid pryory, was rydyng in the countrey ther aboute the besynes of the seid pryory by the
comaundement of your seid oratour ; — diverse of the servaunttes of the seid Sir John Delavale, by the
commaundement of the seid Sir John Delavale, lay in watche for the seid bowser, and with force and
armes forcibly against his will toke hym and caryed hym to the place of the seid Sir John Delavale,
and ther kepte hym prysoncr by the space of too dayes. And furthermore, the seid Sir John
Delavale, therwith not contentid, syns that tyme hath made his avowe, and in sundry places within
your seid contie openly reported and sayed, that he wold serve your seid oratour in lyke maner as
he served his chaplen, by reason wherof your seid oratour dar not for feare and juperdie of his lyfe
goo oute of his seid pryory to kepe his courtes and oversee his manourz, landes, tenementes and
hereditamentes belongyng to the seid pryory, for feare of the seid Sir John Delavale and Sir Thomas
Hylton ; for they be confidered togider to murder and slaye your seid oratour, as far as your seid
oratour can understond and perceive ; which haynous actes be not onely against your peax and lawes,
but also to the worst example that hath been seen in those parties, yf due punesshement be not had
and provided herein. In consideracion wherof may it please your gracious highnes of your most
aboundaunt grace to grauntte your gracious letters of pryvey seale to be directed unto the seid Sir
Thomas Hylton, Sir John Delavale, Henry Ewer and Richard Bellycez, comaundyng them in your
most dreid nanie personally to appere before your roiall highnes and the lordes of your most honorable
counsaill, at a certen day and under a certen payn by your seid highnez to be lymytted, in your halles at
Westminster to make aunswer unto the premyssez, and for the same to be orderd and punesshed
according to ther demerites ; and your seid oratour shall daily pray for your most noble and ryall
person long to endure.
(Endorsed.) Fiant brevia sub privato sigillo ad comparendum quindena Trinitatis Thome Hilton
militi et tribus aliis infrascriptis.
Tho. More, Knight, Chauncellour.'
Like all other northern monasteries, Tynemouth was visited by the
king's commissioners early in 1536. Charges of a most serious nature
' I.e. bursar. ■■" Star Chamber Proceedings, Hen. VIII. bundle 29, No. 84.
TYNEMOUTH PRIORY. lOQ
were made against Prior Gardiner and seven of the fifteen monks.' Though
the statements are lacking in substantiation, it must be admitted that
Tynemouth was not, like other religious houses in the county, beyond the
reach of calumny. Abbot Whethamstede's correspondence shows that
the standard of morals there a century earlier was low,- and it is probable
that it had not been raised since his time.
Gardiner did not long remain prior. In the following December his
post was vacant. The Pilgrimage of Grace had taken place in the meantime.
Rich monasteries like Tynemouth had little to gain by joining in that
movement ; indeed, that house seems to have suffered from standing aloof ;
its own tenants carried off cattle, sheep and corn from the demesne, withheld
the rents by force, and threatened to enter into the priory.'
Cromwell was the means of securing the appointment of Robert
Blakeney, late chaplain to Abbot Ramrigge, to the office of prior. Shortly
after his election, on April 3rd, 1537, Blakeney wrote to his patron :
'When of your goodness you preferred me to the room of the prior)' of Tynemouth, I showed your
lordship that my lady Mary Carye, now Stafford, had an annuity of a hundred marks, under convent
seal of my house, for no cause except it should be for preferring my predecessor to his room. The
said lady can now demand no such annuity, as she can do no great good for me or my house, which
is now onerate by first fruits and charges. I once stopped the payment, but could not continue,
through the command of my lord chancellor. These be to desire your lordship that the convent
seal may be reversed, as this bearer, Mr. Warmyngton, your servant, shall declare. For your kindness
herein your annuity of twenty marks shall be made thirty marks, to your lordship and Mr. Gregory
your son in survivorship.' ^
Blakeney sought to have a grant of the priory for life. On July 14th
in this same year, John Gostwyk, Cromwell's secretary, wrote to his master :
' Be good lord to my old acquaintance the prior of Tynemouth. The valuation made of his
monastery in the time of Mr. Bellesses (1527) is much more than it is now worth, and, since then,
the last prior gave away over two hundred marks in annuities ; yet he is willing to compound for
your lordship's favour by a grant under convent seal of .St. Alban's, like his predecessors.' '
The prior also obtained the good services of the duke of Norfolk in
laying his case before Cromwell. By a convenient confusion of surname,
that nobleman's ancestors, the Mowbrays, had come to be regarded as
founders of the priory."
' Letters and Papers, vol. .\. p. 142. - Registnim Whdhamstcdc, vol. ii. pp. 45S-463.
' Letters and Papers, vol. ,\i. p. 524. ' Ibid. vol. xii. pt. i, p. 363.
" Ibid. pt. 2, p. 109. ' Ibid. pt. I, p. 544.
no
TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
Though the extent of its income saved Tynemouth from suppression
in 1536, it must have been evident that the blow could not be long deferred.
Every effort was made by the monks to raise money and to attach influential
landowners to their cause by leasing to them for long terms of years various
outlving estates of the priory. Thus
on September ist, 1536, the prior
and convent leased to Thomas
Lawson of Cramlington their lands
at West Hartford for forty years,
and on October 8th following a
sixty-one years' lease of the manor
of Bewick was granted to Robert
Collingwood. Sir Thomas Clifford
lent to them 'in their great need'
the sum of a hundred marks, to be
employed to the use aud profit of
their monastery.^
At last they submitted. On
January 12th, 1539, Prior Blake-
nev and his monks signed a deed
of surrender, by which they made
over their monastery and all its
possessions to the king." They
had previously parted with what
^ i they could. Only four days earlier
1 K^v
■":- a lease had been drawn up con-
ferring upon John, son and heir
r-'-'-"^' ^^ apparent of their former enemy,
Sir John Delaval, the tithe sheaves
of corn in the town of Whitley
Doorways in the Gate-house. , r 1 tt 1
tor fortv vears. liut thev were
liberally rewarded for their surrender. Blakeney received a pension of ^80
and was allowed to farm from the Crown his former manor of Benwell.
' Acknowledged in bond dated February 20lh, 1538. Madox, Formularc Aiiglicniiuiii, p. 367.
• Dads of Surreiuicr, Augmentation Office, No. 228 ; Rynier, Foedci-a, vol. xiv. p. 623, and Gibson,
vol. ii. appentli.x, clii. Facsimiles of the signatures to the deed are reproduced ibid. vol. i. to face p. 20S
' Watcrjurd Charters, No. 25, at Ford Castle.
TYNEMOUTH PRIORY, I I I
The sub-prior, Thomas Castell, obtained ten marks yearly, together with
the perpetual curacy of Earsdon. Annuities varying from £2 to £(:> were
given to the other monks, and smaller allowances to their servants."
Sir George Lawson was appointed to take the surrender.^ All the
household stuff, stores and farm stock were sold, and, together with out-
standing debts, realised ^"261 i6s. The lead was reserved, but the
commissioners carried off the six bells, 62 ounces of gold, and 1,8275
ounces of silver/ St. Oswin's shrine was broken up and his bones were
scattered.
One might be allowed to fancy that the Deiran king still rested at
Tynemouth, were it not that a certain Christopher Chaitour, servant to
the bishop of Durham, had told of how one Sunday, coming from Hunting-
don, he overtook two men and rode past them. But one of them named
Cray followed and asked him what news and why he rode so fast, and,
so falling into conversation, enquired whether there were any abbeys still
standing. Chaitour answered, ' They shall down shortly, by report.' Then
he asked, 'How doth vour shrines? Are thev taken awav ? ' and Chaitour
said there was one at Tynemouth, where he had seen the visitors handling
the relics very irreverently, spoiling them of their gold and silver and
casting them away. They gave him some bones garnished with silver,
'and he that gave me them said the silver thereof would make a chaipe^
to my dagger.' He said he had them still and had gathered up some of
the bones they cast awav. He would have great need ere he should sell
them, ' for, as I have heard a learned man say, which was Dr. Ridley that
is dead, St. Jerome and Ambrose had these relics of saints in honour.'
Cray was ' a man much inquisitive,' and began asking about other things
as he and his companion travelled along the London road.'
It may not be amiss to examine a little more closely certain features
in the history of the priory which was thus dissolved. Subject to the Bene-
dictine rule generally, and in particular to the regulations of St. Alban's
monastery, upon which it was dependent and in whose privileges it shared,
it had certain characteristics which were not common to other monasteries.
' Lethi-s and Papers, vol. xiv. pt. i, p. 68. Ministers' Accouuts in Gibson, vol. i. p. 225.
- Ibid. p. 60. ' Gibson, vol. i. p. 209, quoting Harleian MSS. No. 604, fol. 92 b.
' Chape: 'the metal plate 01 mounting of a scabbard or sheath, particularly that which covers the
point.' Murray, New English Dictionary, vol. ii. p. 274 ; citing Holland, Pliny, vol. ii. p. 483- ' Their
scabberds and sheaths bee set out with silver chapes.'
' Letters and Papers, vol. xiv. pt. 2, pp. 277, 281.
112 TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
There were in this house fifteen monks' and a few novices, all under
the authority of the prior. Appointments to the post of prior were made
by the abbot of St. Alban's, who, upon vacancies occurring, presented his
nominee to the bishop of Durham with the request that he might be
admitted to the priorate. To a very limited extent the prior was subject
to his diocesan, who visited the parochial portion of his church and
ordained members of his house, but could not compel him to attend the
diocesan councils or to join in monetary contributions imposed upon the
rest of his diocese. When appointed, the new prior took an oath of
obedience to his abbot. In virtue of his office he obtained a stall in the
abbey church, a seat in its chapter, and a vote in the election of a new
abbot. On the other hand he remained subject to the visitatorial juris-
diction of his superior, who might depose him at will. He was supreme
in his cell and reckoned among his privileges the right to receive the
professions of monks who entered his monastery, to confess and absolve
his monks, over whom he exercised disciplinary powers, to appoint and
remove the officers of the convent, and to present to benefices in the case
of churches of which his priory held the advowson.
Quite half the total number of the monks at Tynemouth held some
sort of monastic office. Most of them were priests or at least were in
minor orders. They were by no means all of northern extraction, and
there were frequent cases of a single family sending more than one of its
members to the priory in the same or in successive generations.
Occasionally the abbot of St. Alban's came upon a visitation to his
cell. Abbot Simon's visit was long remembered for its length, William de
Trumpington's for its magnificence. Eversdon employed the threat of a
six months' stay to extort contributions from priors who knew the cost of
entertaining their abbot." Upon these visitations the abbot came attended
by some of his tenants on horseback, who held their lands of him upon
this service.' On his arrival at Tynemouth he feasted his tenants, who in
return paid him the dues known as the 'Abbot's Welcome.' There he
conducted a visitation of the priory, issued constitutions for the monks,
presided at the manorial court and received the homage or the fealty of
' Fifteen monks paid poll t.ix in 1381 (Gibson, vol. i. p. 160), and the same number signed the deed
of surrender in 1 539.
= Gesta Abbattim, vol. ii. p. 130. ' Ibid. vol. i. p. 265, and vol. ii. p. 208.
TYNEMOUTH PRIORY. II3
those who held their land of him.' The sums then demanded from the
tenants as a recognition of the abbot's overlordship proved a heavy tax
upon the poorer of their number. Abbot Heyvvorth in consequence waived
his right to hold homages at Tynemouth, and his predecessor de la Mare
only exacted it because ' men of the stamp he had to deal with were ever
ready to rebel against their lords' and to take advantage of the breach of
custom.'
A detailed account has been preserved of Abbot Norton's progress
in 1264.^ Reaching Tynemouth on December 13th, he held his visitation
of the priory, and then on the 22nd in the great hall of Tynemouth received
the homages of the six tenants who held of him by military service. The
day after Christmas he took the fealty of the men of Tynemouth, and that
of the tenants of Shields on the 27th. Next day Hugh de Milneton and
the heir of Anick came before him. On January 8th he was at Bewick,
receiving the fealty of that place and of Lilburn and Eglingham. On the
nth in the hall of Amble he took the fealty of the men of Amble
and Hauxley, and those of Cowpen on the 13th in the hall of Bebside.
He was again at Tynemouth on the 15th taking the fealty of Earsdon,
Monkseaton, Preston, and East and Middle Chirton. Next day came the
turn of West Chirton. Three tenants came before him on the 22nd in the
prior's chamber and there received confirmation of their lands, before he
left Tynemouth for Wylam, where two days later the tenants of that place
and William de Dissington and Walter Scot of Welton paid him fealty
and homage, as did the men of Elswick and the burgesses of Newcastle
on the 25th in the hall of Elswick. Gilbert de Wolsington did him homage
there on the morrow, and on the 29th he was taking homages and fealty
at Carlburv in Durham.
During the first two centuries of its existence, the priory appears to
have found little difficulty in providing the hospitality expected of all
religious houses to laymen and to religious alike. But under the pressure
of the Scottish wars its revenues were no longer equal to the burden, being
' The oath of homage ran as follows : 'Ego devenio vaster homo ab hac hora in antea, et fidem
vobis facie pro illis tenementis que de vobis et de ecclesia vestra de Sancto Albano in capite t?"^"' ^
fide semper salva qua regi dominisqiie meis superioribus obligatus existo.' SI. Alban's Regtstir, fol. ol b,
Baker's transcripts.
- Gesta Abbatum, vol. ii. p. 395 ; vol. iii. p. 495.
'Primed from the St. Alban's Register, fols. 62, iii and 112, in Registrum Whethamstede, vol. ii.
pp. 3'9-324-
Vol. VIII. '5
114
TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
c
S.
d.
235
13
4
191
8
8
96
8
4
30
0
0
188
10
8
^732
,
0
mainly derived from landed estates which were exposed to forays and
attacks. In 1292 the yearlv income from temporalities was estimated at
_2^i8o i6s. 6|d., and that from spiritualities at ;2f2i4 2s. iid. A detailed
account, prepared in 1526,' shows what other sources of revenue then
existed.
Rents of farm lands
Rents of demesne lands let to farm
Tithes
Fines for lands and tenements
Sales, viz.: hides, ;fl2 4s.; wool, £1;^ 6s. 8d.; salt, £61; coal, /"lo ;
malt, /40 ; fish, ^40 ; sheep, £\2 ...
Perquisites of courts, goods of felons and fugitives, and sales of woods
and underwoods (of which the priory owned forty acres) brought in ad-
ditional revenue, so that the total sum can hardly have fallen short of
£7^0. And when consideration is taken of payments in kind, labour
services and the produce of demesnes in the hands of the prior and con-
vent, it will be seen that at the dissolution the monastery must have been
in receipt of about ;^i,ooo yearly. The clear value of its possessions over
and above annual reprises was then returned by the Commissioners as being
£S2>7 i°s. iid.,^ but eighteen months later the farmer for the Crown
accounted for £'iS-\ 2s. g^d. as the income from these lands during the
previous year.'
A small income may have been derived from the exhibition of relics,
for here, amongst many other treasures, the beard of St. Euthymius the
abbot, Moses' bush, the earth of which Adam was made, and ' four very
small bones and one great bone ' were exhibited to the curious or devout.''
The priory was continually adding to its capital and increasing its
demesne by purchases of land, as is shown in the table given below of land
acquired from the time of the Statute of Mortmain to the commencement
of the fifteenth century.
' Dugdale, Monasticon, vol. iii. p. 319.
■ Certificate made upon the dissolution, Gibson, vol. i. p. 209.
' Ministers' Accounts, 30-31 Hen. VIII. Gibson, ibid. pp. 218-232.
' Gibson, ibid. p. 201, citing MS. C.C.C. O.xford, No. 134, fol. 2.
TYNEMOUTH PRIORY.
I I
Place.
Hartford
))
it
»i
Bebside
j»
Cowpen
East Backworth and
West Backworth ...
Tynemouth
Preston
Backworth ...
East Murton
Whitley
Milneton
Newcastle ...
Woodhom ...
Seaton Woodhom
Berwick
Seghill
Ellington
Tynemouth
Murton
Elwick, CO. Durham
Tynemouth, Preston, Back-
worth, jVIurton, Seaton
and Bewick
Murton and Cowpen
Earsdon
Tynemouth
Chirton
Backworth
and Middle
East Murton, Milneton and
Backworth
Tynemouth, Preston and
East Chirton
Elswick
:::1
Extent of property.
I messuage
87 acres 3 roods of arable
2i acres of meadow
23d. rent ...
1 messuage
12 acres ...
4 tofts
70 acres ...
2 tofts
22J acres ...
7 tofts
140 acres ...
4 acres
I acre
I acre
I acre
1 messuage and 40 acres ~
2 acres
1 messuage and 3 roods...
2 messuages and iS acres,
I messuage in Pamper-
dene
I messuage
I acre
I messuage
I acre ... ... ... J
I messuage in Uddynggate
13s. 4d. rent from a mes-
suage in St. Marygate
I acre
13s. 4d. rent
^ rood
1 messuage
2 acres i rood
I messuage and 60 acres
I messuage
8 messuages, 285 acres of
arable and 9 acres of
meadow
3 messuages and 28 acres
1 messuage, 30 acres of
arable and 3 acres of
meadow
2 messuages and q acres
6s. of rent in reversion on
the death of John de
Backworth
I messuage and 112 acres
in reversion on the death
of John de Bacworth
I messuage, 2 tofts and
4o| acres
I messuage and 6 acres...
Grantor.
Robert Chevale
»
John de Horton
Walter fitz Roger fitz
Hughtred
)» ))
Robert de Bebside ...
,,
Adam de Pickering ...
,, ...
William fitz Alan le
Machun
Adam le Vacher
William de Kenneslawe
Geoffrey fitz ."Man
Thomas de Raynton ...
John de Felton, chap-
lain
Yearly value.
£ s. d.
O O 12
o 14 6^
026
I II
0 6
3 o
1 4
Dale.
r Thomas de Ravnton . .
John Gros of Berwick
Thomas de Aukland,
vicar of Whalton
John Deste
John Deste and Robert
de Kelleseye
Richard de Dalton of
Newcastle
John de Thoresby,
rector of Elwick
Henry de Burnetoft,
chaplain
John de Libert ofSa.\ton
Robert de Stevcnton
and Roger Tumour
Robert de Tewing
o
o
o
o
o 17
o o
o
o
O I I
O 2
6
6
5 74
3 6
8
o
1307
o 4
o 4
4 4
13
(o 13 & ]
1 over and I
< above >
rents and
ser\ices
4 marks
1325-
1326'
1328'
6 0 0 1
0 13 4
'335'
0 4 10
over and
above \
'337'
rents and
services
0 10 0
1339'
■340'
2 14 10 \
o 15 5
o 13 4
076/ 1345'
060
Hcnr)' de Burnetoft.
chaplain
John Lyberd ...
9 5
134S"
66 acres and
12 oxen
pasture for
Richard Scot
castle
of New-
Ii6
TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
Place.
West Murton, West Back-
worth, Tynemoulh, Pres-
ton, East Backworth and
East Chirton
Tynemoulh ...
Wolsington
Murton
Middle Chirton
Denton and Redewood near
Newbum
Tynemoulh, Monkseaton,
East Chirton, Middle
Chirton, Preston, East
Murton, East Backworth,
Cowpen, Wylam and
Eglingham
Newcastle ...
Haltwhistle
Newcastle
Extent of property.
9 messuages, i toft, i6o
acres and los. rent
3 tofts and 14 acres
2 tofts and 10 acres
8 tofts, 140 acres, lod. in
rent, and half a pound
of pepper in rent
1 toft and 14 acres i rood
I toft and 6 acres I rood
The whole manor (subject
to two yearly rent
charges of 10 marks
and I mark)
8 messuages, 8 tofts and
362' acres
I messuage and 2 shops
I garden
I messuage
Reversion of 3 messuages
upon the death of Robert
Galeway of Newcastle
and of Agnes his wife
Advowson
2 messuages
2 messuages
3 messuages
I messuage
4 messuages
4 marks rent
Grantor. Yearly value.
i s. d.
John de Wheteley, i g 4
vicar of Tynemoulh
John de Wheteley and
Alan Whitheved,
chaplain
Alan Whitheved
Richard de Stanhope
Date.
•354"
7 shillings rent ...
John Cisseson...
Simon del Vikers
.'Xdam de Fenrolher,
clerk ; William Mer-
yngton, chaplain ;
Hugh de Brandon,
William de Chevyng-
ton and William de
Seton
Alan Whitheved, vicar
of Tynemoulh, and
Robert de Fenrolher
Alan Whitheved, Adam
de Fenrother, master
of the hospital of St.
Edmund. Gateshead,
and H ugh de Brandon
Alan Whitheved, Hugh
de Brandon, and
Roger del Bulh,
chaplain
Thomas de Walton,
Thomas de Whilly,
William Warenner
and William V'escy
Hugh de Brandon and
William de Chevyng-
ton
Adam de Fenrolher,
rector of Stokesley,
.Man Whitheved and
Thomas de Walton
Alan Whitheved and
Thomas de Walton
Alan Whitheved, John
de Dalton, chaplain,
Robert de .■\mble,
chaplain, Thomas de
Walton and Thomas
de Whilly
Robert de Amble and
Thomas de Walton
Thomas de Walton and
William de Seton
Alan Whitheved,
Thomas de Walton,
Adam de Fenrother
and Sampson Hard-
yng
John de Dalton
i2 II 6i
over and
aboveser-
vices and
customs
1 360 '=
4 1 4*
over and
above ser-
vices and
customs
1380"
> -
1382"
7 4
1384"
1391 "
I
> 15
139' "
tynemouth priory.
117
Place.
Elswick
Newbiggen ...
Widdrington
Cowpen
Tynemouili, Preston, Chir-
ton and Milneton
Tynemouth ...
Backworth ...
Seghill
Tynemouth, Preston and
Chirton
Whitley
Extent of property.
5 acres
I messuage
I cottage ...
3 messuages, 3 cottages,
42 acres and 3 roods
4 cottages and 48 acres...
1 messuage, i acre, and a
yearly rent of 3s. from
a tenement formerly
belonging to Philip
Tailliour
I messuage, i cottage and
29 acres
Yearly rent of 20s.
I messuage and g acres...
The whole manor
Grantor.
John de Dalton and
William Cheseman
Thomas de Walton and
Hugh Ainl)le
Thomas de Whitly and
William de .Seton
Thomas de Walton and
Alan Whitheved
Yearly value. Date.
£
o
r
3 4
-•Man Whitheved
Thomas Thornburgh,
William Parker and
William Asshe
I 13 2
1392 '•
10 o o
over and
above ser-
vices and
customs
1404
' Acquired without licence, Iiiq. act quod damnum, file 65, 10. Pat. Rotts, 35 Edw. I. m. 29. The
properties here mentioned were purchased at \arious dates after the Statute of Mortmain (1279) and
before 1307, e.g., Adam le Vacher's acre was acquired in or before 1291. Assize Rott.
- luq. ad quod damnum, file 175, 3. Pat. Rolls, ig Edw. II. pars I, in. 35. The acquisitions of
1325-1345 were made in virtue of letters patent, dated June 26th, 1323, according licence to the prior and
convent to acquire lands and teneinents of the annual value of ;f 10.
' Ibid, file 187, 4. Ibid, pars 2, m. 4. ' Ibid, file 194, l. Ibid. 2 Edw. III. pars I. m. 35.
' Ibid, file 235, 9. Ibid, g Edw. III. pars i, m, 6.
' Ibid, file 243, 3. Ibid. 11 Edw. III. pars 1, m. 2.
' Ibid, file 247, 4. Ibid. 13 Edw. III. pars I, m. 11. Assigned to be held as of the value of 15s. yearly.
" Reg. Pal. Dun. vol. iii. p. 279. Confirmed to the priory by Bishop Burj', subject to a perpetual rent
charge of 5s.
° ///(/. ad quod damnum, 19 Edw. III. No. 31. Pat. Rolls, ig Edw. III. pars 3. m. 4. .Assigned to be
held as of the value of 29s. Sd. yearly.
'" Inq. p.m. 22 Edw. III. pars 2, No. 12. Ibid. 22 Edw. III. pars 2, m. 30. The acquisitions of
1348-13S0 were made in virtue of letters patent, dated October 14th, 1335, according licence to the prior
and convent to acquire lands and tenements of the yearly value of ^10. The properties here mentioned
were assigned to be held as of the value of 30s. yearly, in part satisfaction of the said .i{^io.
" luq. ad quod damnum, 27 Edw. III. No. 3. Ibid. 28 Edw. III. pars I, m. 2. Assigned to be held
as of the value of 40s. yearly.
'- 7)11/. p.m. 34 Edw. 111. pars 2, No. 52. Ibid. 34 Edw. III. pars i, ni. ig. .Assigned to be held as
of the value of 30s. yearly.
" Inq. p.m. 4 Ric. II. No. 122. Ibid. 4 Ric. II. pars 2, ni. 3. Assigned to be held as of the value
of ;CS yearly.
" Pat. Rolls, 5 Ric. II. pars 2, m. 2. Inquisition missing. The acquisitions of 1382-1404 were made
in virtue of letters patent, dated February 20th, 13S0, according licence to the prior and convent to
acquire lands and tenements of the yearly value of ^^20.
"■ Ibid. 8 Ric. II. pars I, m. 2. Being a grant from the Crown.
'" Inq. p.m. 15 Ric. II. pars 2, No. 3g. No entry on Patent Rolls.
" Ibid. No. 155. Pat. Rolls, 15 Ric. II. pars i, 111. 12.
'" Inq. p.m. 16 Ric. II. pars I, No. 1 12. Ibid. 16 Ric. II. pars I, m. 6.
'" Inq. ad quod damnum, 5 Hen. IV. No. 13. Ibid. 6 Hen. 1\'. pars I, ni. 35. Assigned to be held
as of the value of ^^15, in full satisfaction of the grant of ^20.
Il8 TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
Annual payments had to be made to St. Alban's by its cell. Various
regulations were made at different periods. Richard, who was abbot
between 1097 and 11 19, decreed that Tynemouth should pay thirty shillings
yearly, and took into his own hand the manor of Amble, Coquet Island,
and the churches of Bywell and Woodhorn.' Fragmentary accounts for
the years 1270- 1277 in the St. Albans Register show that the priory was
then paying yearly ;^i5 15s.- At the dissolution the sums paid were ;^20
pension in token of subjection to the abbey, £1 13s. 4d. contribution
towards a sum of seventy marks paid yearly to the king and the Pope, and
£b 8s. paid as pensions for scholars at Oxford.' Extra-ordinary payments
were numerous ; for instance, a grant had to be made by the priory upon
the election of each new abbot.
Restrictions were placed upon the prior's control of the finances of his
house. He was forbidden by the regulations of Abbot Maryns (1302-1308)
to make any alienation, to sell or lease customary lands to a free-man or
to enfranchise them in any way, or to grant corrodies and pensions in
perpetuity. He might not, without previously obtaining the abbot's consent,
lease manors, mills, tithes, or rents for a term of more than three years.''
These regulations were subsequently relaxed by de la Mare, who, by a
constitution of 1352, permitted the priors of his cells to lease lands and
tenements, which their predecessors had retained in their hands, for thirty
years or for one or two lives, without special licence from the abbot.^
In the premier cell of St. Alban's literature was sure to find a place.
The contents of its library have been scattered and for the most part lost,
but the few volumes remaining show something of the character of the
collection. They are :
1. Brit. Mus. Cottonian MSS. Julius A X. Life of St. Oswin, an illuminated manuscript of about
1300, published by the Surtees Society, No. 8.
2. Ih'id. Galb.'i A V. Psalter ; an Irish manuscript of the twelfth century, illuminated in purple,
scarlet and gold, erroneously called King Oswin's psalter.
3. Ibid. Vitellius A XX. Various historical collections, including an abridgment of Matthew Paris.
This portion of the volume was given to the library by Prior Ralph de Dunham (1252-1265), and is said to
be the work of Matthew Paris himself, but see Catalogue of Materials for British History, Rolls Series, vol. iii.
p. 318. Also a history of England from ISrutus to 1348 and chronicles from the birth of Christ to 1347.
' Gesta Abbatum, vol. i. p. 69.
• St. Alban's Register, fols. 65 and 71, cp. fol. 65 b. ' Memorandum quod quolibet anno percipiendum
fuit de Tynemuth x['' vj"] et iiij", videlicet pro pensione magistri Bonetti v'', de cornagio iij' et iiij'', de
Northon xlv", de Torp xxx", ad opus [procuratoris] Romani j marca, pro Conisclive j marca ; de quibus
debent subtrahi xl denarii [qui] debent solvi pro cornagio Carlebur' et Morton.' Two additional items
elsewhere mentioned are abbot's cornage (£2 16s. 8d.) and tithes from the house (£3 13s. 4d.).
' John of .'Vmundesham, vol. ii. p. 309. ' Gesta Abbatum, vol. ii. p. 96. " Ibid. p. 447.
TYNEMOUTH PRIORY. II9
4. Ibid. Faustina, B IX. Three chronicles, namely, the Chronicle of Melrose, Rishanger's Chronicle
(printed in the Rolls Series), and a chronicle of English history, 1360-1399 (printed to 1377 in the Rolls
Series as Chronicon Angliae). This is the volume which Leland says he found in the Tynemouth library
{Collectanea, ed. Hearne, 1774, vol. iii. p. 403), and which he cites as the Tynemouth Chronicle. It is to
be distinguished from the work so named by Glover and Camden.
5. Bodleian library, Laudian MSS. No. 657. Richard de Wallingford, abbot of St. Alban's, on the
Albion and Rcclcmgulum, revised by Symon Tounstede ; a fifteenth century manuscript presented to
the priory by John de Westwyke, and afterwards the property of Thomas Horsley.
6. Library of Corpus Christi College, Oxford ; No. 134. Life of St. Oswin, a sermon on his passion,
and oflices, hymns, etc., for his festival, with musical settings ; an illumin.ited manuscript of the twelfth
century.
7. Ibid. No. 144. Astronomical and poetical treatises, including Geoffrey de Vinsauf Dt- noKa /loe/ica,
and Richard de Wallingford on the Albion and Rectangulum. This volume was presented to the library
by John Hamburgh, sub-prior, in 1438, 1447, and 1450. It and the life of St. Oswin mentioned above
were given to Corpus Christi College by Bryan Twyne, the antiquary. The life of St. Oswin contains
the autographs of Gilbert, Robert, and Mark Errington of Woolsington.
8. Library of Pembroke College, Cambridge, No. 82. Bede's Ecclesiastical History ; late twelfth
century manuscript, containing the autograph of John de Westwyk.
g. Library of the Dean and Chapter of Durham, A. N. 6. The books of Daniel and Esdras, with
interlinear gloss ; a thirteenth century manuscript given to the priory by brother Henry de Goreham.
10. The Duke of Northumberland's MSS. Tynemouth Chartulary. This contains, besides the
chartulary and register already mentioned, transcripts of many documents which were formerly in
the treasury of the priory, including rentals and custumals of 1295 and later dates, extracts from the
Testa de Nevil and from plea-rolls, and Walter de Henley's tract on husbandry. It has never been
published as a whole, but an abstract of its contents is given in the sixth report of the Historical
Manuscripts Commission, pp. 224-226. In the seventeenth century it belonged to Sir Ralph Portington,
from whose executors it was bought for ^5.
Of literature properly so-called, the only existing work known to have
been produced in the monastery is the life and miracles of St. Oswin,
which is valuable for the light which it throws upon the history of the
priory during the twelfth century. The life and the earlier portion of the
miracles was the work of an anonymous prior of Wymondham who visited
the priory in i iii and was subsequently invited by its monks to write an
account of their patron saint. His volume appears to have drawn a healing
power from the miracles of which it told, for one of the brethren of
Gervase, abbot of Westminster, on applying it to his eyes, staved off the
blindness which threatened him.' Fresh chapters were added from time
to time as noteworthy events occurred, but the work, as it e-xists, stops
short with the close of the twelfth century.
John of Throckley (Trokelowe), whose history of Edward II. is one
of the best accounts of that king's reign, was once cellarer at Tynemouth,
but he did not commence his work until some years after he had been
' Vita Oswini, cap. xxxii. The life in the twelfth century Corpus Christi College manuscript
concludes at this point.
I 20 TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
carried thence in chains to St. Alban's. John Bainburgh, his life of
Whethamstede being lost, has left nothing but a short commentary upon
Geoffrey de Vinsauf. John of Tvnemouth has little or no claim to be
considered a member of the monastery which his name has made famous.
Much has been lost. The early court-rolls have been long missing.
Of the numerous deeds which once filled the treasury, a twelfth century
grant to the priory of a few acres in Jesmond and a lease of a fishery
in the Tyne were found among the records of the Court of Augmentations
and again disappeared.' The fine charter of Edgar, son of Gospatric, re-
produced in this volume, remains because it was handed over to Durham
priory in 1174. Two late leases of little consequence complete the tale.
Nothing is known of the long roll of which one of the earl of North-
umberland's officers wrote to his master about the year 1600 :
' It is to be remembered that his lordship may move Sir Robert Cycill to have the ancyent grantes
of Tvnemouth againe containing three large skinnes of parchment, which the late earle your father
did deliver to the late Lord Treasourer, Sir Robert's late father, which he can come by and gett if he
please, which would greatly further his lordship's proceedinges for the libertyes, etc., bycause the[y]
conteyne the grantes and confirmacons of sundry kinges and princes of this land, and made to the
prior and convent of Tynemouth.' '
The Tynemouth Chronicle survived long enough to be quoted by
Glover and Camden, and then all knowledge of it was lost. Judging from
the few extracts from it which remain, it must have been of some value for
northern history during the twelfth century.'
' Brand, Newcastle, vol. ii. p. 77.
- Duke of Northumberland's MSS. ; an early seventeenth century survey of Tynemouthshire.
' Anno 1080, Walterus, Dunelmensis episcopus, in loco qui dicitur (Jatesheveth, id est caput caprc,
a Northumbrensibus innocenter est occisus in ultione necis Liulfi nobilis generosque ministri.
Anno gratiae 1093, ecclesia nova Dunelmi est incepta, iii kal. Augusti, feria quinta, episcopo
Willelmo et Malcolmo rege Scotorum, cum Alexandre fratre suo et Turgoto priore, ipso die ponentes
primos lapides in fundamento.
Anno domini 1179, in Natali Domini, apud Oxenhal in territorio de Derlington in episcopatu
Dunelmensi, elevavit se terra in ahum ad similitudinem procerae turris, et mansit ab ilia die quasi
imniobilis usque ad vesperam, et tunc cecidit tam horribili strepitu quod vicinos terruit omnes, et absor-
buit eam tellus, et fecit ibidem puteum profundum, qui est ibi in testmionium usque in hodiernum diem.
Anno 1 177 Willelmus comes Gloucestriae, filius Robert! comitis fratris imperatricis, dedit Johanni,
filio domini sui regis Angliae, filiam suam in uxorem cum comitatu (iloucestriae, si praefatus Johannes
praediclam mulierem licentia domini papae posset sibi in matrimonio copulare. Et pro hac concessione
dominus rex Angliae pater dedit promogenitis filiabus ejusdem comitis ducentas libratas reddituum in
Anglia, scilicet uxori Aumari comitis Ebroicarum centum libratas, et uxori Ricardi comitis de Clare
centum libratas.
The third of these extracts is from Camden's Britannia, ed. 1587, p. 498; the others from the
Ashmole MSS. (Bodleian Library), vol. 860, fol. 7 b, 'ex codice MS. collectaneorum Roberti Gloveri,
scilicet miscellaneorum liber 2,' fols. 18 b to 21. For an allusion made by a writer who was apparently
a monk at Tynemouth in the fifteenth century to 'a very old book kept in this monastery called Septcm
Signacula,' which book contained an account of the later history of Robert de Mowbray, see Registrum
Whethamstede, vol. i. p. 449.
TYNEMOUTH PRIORY. 12 1
Lastly nuist be added to the list of lost records the Great Book, also
called the Black Book, of Tvnemouth. In the early years of the seven-
teenth century it was kept in the custody of John Carville, solicitor to the
earl of Northumberland, and it was frequently consulted upon points of
law and title. Robert Helme, an officer of the earl, wrote about it in
1606 to George Warde, the king's surveyor for Northumberland :
I perceyve you have scene Codnelian's purchase of the paisonadge of Ovingham, parcell of the
late monastery of Hexham. Nowe to prove and shew you that the tyethes of Ovington were and are
belonginge to the late monastery of Tinemouth ys very easye to be made and done yf you can procure
the Lord Highe Treasurer's lettre to the nowe earle of Northumbreland to deliver the great book of Tine-
mouth, which is the king's evidence, nowe in the custody of John Carvile, his lordship's solicitor ; in
which booke yt appeareth playnely ; and the gift of John Baliole, lord of liywell, who did give the said
tyeth and the tyeth of Wyllim to the church of Tinemouth, annexed to the said bookc will shewe.
Besides there is in the same book iiij severall sentences against John Pikeworth, dark, parson of
Ovingham, at the suyte of the pryor and covent of Tinemouth, with like chardges, which I think ys
suflficyent prouff of the mater, ^■ou must not make me an author that Carvile hath the book, leste by
some sinestcr informacion to my lord and master 1 lease his lordship's favour ; but use the mater in that
sort as to your good discretion shall seame convenyent and good, so hereby 1 may be saved lil.amclesse.'
This letter was intercepted by George Whitehead, the captain of Tyne-
mouth castle, who sent it on to a friend at Esse.x House with the commentary :
Sir. P.y great happe, 1 met with this lettre which somewhat concernes my lorde ; and yf I had not
by great fortune prevented the delivery therof as it was directed, it might wrought soome discontent
to his lordship. Onely nowe it rests to prevent the lyke hcareafter, and is good we have found out a
false disciple to soe good a master, which to make knowen to his lordship I thought it my dewty, and
therfor intreat you to certefye his lordship heareof.-'
It subsequently passed out of the earl's hands. A note in the Tync-
moiith Chartulary informs iis that 'Sir Orlando Bridgman hath a coucher
book of his lordship's for Tynemouth in fol : '
Among conventual seals and seals of the priors of Tynemouth may
be noticed :
1. Dur. Treas. 3"" t^'^' Spec. No. 37, and 2"" i'""- Ebor. Nos. 10 and 1 1. Seal of Prior .\karius in 1 19S,
oval, 2\ inches by li inches; tonsured figure standing to right ; cape of habit thrown back; right hand
placed on breast ; a clasped book held in the left hand. ^ sigillvm .-vch.ar . . . RlORlS DE TINE.MV
2. Ihid. 4'" 2''"'' Spec. No. 25. Seal of a prior of Tynemouth between 1210 and 1239 ; rounded oval,
lij inches by ij inches, ancient gem; head of an emperor. >i< CAPVT NOSTRVNt XPS EST.
3. Ibid. I'"" I'""" .Archidiac. No. 2. Seal of Prior Germanus, circa 1230; oval, ij inches by
li inches; figure kneeling to right, holding right hand on breast and some object in the left hand.
ijl NON CL.WSAL.-VT NGIS P.\TET.
4. Charter in the possession of the Duke of Northumberland. Seal of Prior Ralph de Dunham (?) ;
oval, if inches by \\ inches ; (a) Our Lady seated with the Child on her knee. PLENlT de . . . . th.\.
(b) On counter seal a male figure seated facing. .-X conventual seal attached to a lost charter of Prior
Germanus is described as having on it the figure of St. Oswin, on the counter seal the figure of the
Virgin (Augmentation Oflfice, Cartae Antiquae, B. 81).
' Duke of Northumberland's MSS. ' Ibid.
Vol. VIII. >6
122 TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
5. Dm: Tims. Misc. Chart. No. 4361. Seal of I'rioi- Simon ilc Walden, 1310; oval, ij; inches by
I inch ; demi-king facing, holding a sceptre topped with flein" de lys in right hand, his left hand on his
breast ; a pinnacle on each side on a canopy above him ; beneath, under a sharply pointed trifoliated
arch, a demi-figure praying to left ; on the canopy work above the praying figure, sf;rvf. deL'.m.
FRIS S . . . NIS : PRIORIS : DE Tl . EMV . . . This seal was used by Prior Richard de Tewing in 1330
{Dm: Treas. 4'" i"" Elemos. No. 8), and by Prior Clement de Whcthamstede in 1380 to a charter in the
possession of Sir Charles Legard, bart., reproduced as frontispiece to vol. vii. of the Genealogist, new series.
6. Ditr. Treas. i™* 3"" Pont. No. 7 and .Augmentation Ofifice, P.R.O. Deeds of Surrender, No. 228.
Conventual Seal, 1385 and 1539; oval, 3 inches by :i inches; Our Lady standing facing, holding
Christ with the left hand ; on her left a king standing holding a spear in his right hand and a sceptre
in his left; each under a canopy; above, a female bust facing, with a star on each side of neck.
SIGII.I.V : COE : PRIORATV.S: SCE : MARIE: ET : HI: OSWINI : DE : riNE.M\' rii.\.
In a visitation of 1530 the following arms were ascribed to the monas-
tery : ,ii'i(/cs, t/ircc cravens or. The three crowns were formerly visible on
a shield on the eastern exterior of Percy chapel.' Thev appear, along
with the arms of the founders of the other cells of St. Alban's, at the east
end of the chapel of Abbot Ramrydge in the abbey church (1490-1521).
Priors ni' rv.\i;\inriii.-
1129. Remigius.
1148. Germanus, elected abbot of Sclby in 1153.
II.... Ruelendus.
Geoffrey.
[Henry.]"
[Robert.] »
Gilbert.
1 189 (before). Akarius, elected by the monks of Tynemouth on the death of (lilbert ; occurs as prior in
1 195 and 1 197; afterwards prior of St. .Mban's ; elected abbot of Peterborough in 1200;
died 1 2 10.
1200, fi'irn. [Hugh Gubiun.]
1208. Ralph Gubiun [prior of liinhiuii in 1 199] ; as prior of Tynemouth was party to tines in 1208
and I2I2;' resigned circa 1217 and retired to St. Alban's; died May 4th, 1223.
1224. [William de Bedford, elected prior of Worcester and admitted to that office November 21st,
1224; died October 29th, 1242.]^
1227. Germanus [^pcr resig. Gubiun].^
' Tunge's Visitation, Surt. Soc. No. 41, p. 35. lirand, Newcastle, vol ii. plate to face p. 47. A shield,
similarly blazoned and encircled with the inscription, Sciitiini Sancli Osjryni Regis, occurs on the ceiling
of the choir of St. Alban's church. The ceiling has been ascribed to John de Whcthamstede. See
J. G. Waller, '.Armorial Bearings on the Ceiling of the Monks' Choir in the Abbey Church of St. Alban,'
Archaologia, vol. li. pp. 427-446. The same arms were attributed to Offa, king of .Mercia, the founder
of St. Alban's monastery, whose shield appears on the ceiling of the nave of the same church. See Rev.
C. Boutell, ' The Early Heraldry of the Abbey Church of St. .-Mban,' Journal of A rcha:ological Association,
vol. x,\xiv. pp. 16-30.
■ For further details and authorities see Gibson, Tynemouth, vol. ii. Several additional priors are
given in Gibson's list, whose inclusion is not warranted by evidence.
" Henry and Robert occur in the Belvoir Obituary as priors of Tynemouth, but without date. Their
absence of surname makes an early period probable. ' ' Feet of Fines, John, \os. 2 and 17.
'The Curia Regis Rolls, Nos. 88 and 96, show that Germanus was prior in 1227, and consequently
there is a conflict of evidence between Gesta Ahhatum, vol. i. p. 275 (where Germanus is said to have
immediately succeeded Ralph Gubiun), and Annalesde Wigornia, Rolls Series, Annales Monastici. vol. iv.
p. 417 (where William de Bedford is stated to have been prior of Tynemouth in 1224).
Plate VI
4(bJ
TYNE MOUTH PRIORY SEALS.
nCHARD PfcULUSSEH. VIENV\
TYNEMOUTH PRIORY. I 23
1233. Wallei- de noluin,' died January 2nd, 1244.
1244. Ritliard de Parco, surnanied Kufus, of Winchelconiljc ; prior of liinham 1226-1244 : elected
prior of Tynemoutli before February 20th, 1244; died April 25111, 1252.
1252. Ralph de Dunham, elected prior on or l^efore May ist, 1252; living in 1264; died August
13th, 126...
1265, f (mi. William de Horlon, prior of W'ymondham in 1264.
1273. Adam de Maperteshall."
1279. William Bernard, died 12S0.'
1280. Simon de Walden,' p.m. Hernard ; deposed in 1294 or 1295 ''"d banished to St. .Alban's.
1295. Adam de Tewing, party to a suit with the master of the leper hospital at liurton in 1300.'
1305. Simon de Walden, restored; living in 1310;" died April 17th, [131 1].
131!. Simon de Taunton, presented July ist and admitted July 21st, 131 1.'
1315. Richard de Tewing, presented March 20th and admitted March 31st, 1315 ;' died September
29th, 1340.
1340. Thomas de la Mare, born in 1309 ; presented October 6th, 1340 ;° elected abbot of St. .Alban's
in 1349; died September ist, 1396; buried at St. .^Iban's.
1349. Clement de Whethamstede, pcy irsig. de la Mare, admitted . . . 1350;'* living in 1389."
■393- John Macrell '- of Whethamstede, took part in the election of .-Xbbot Heyworth in 1401 ; buried
at Tynemouth.
1419. Thomas Barton, [p.m. Macrell,] presented May 12th, admitted June 6th, 1419 ; " living in 1436.
1440, circa. [Robert de Rhodes.]
1450. John Langton, deposed March 15th, 1478: living in .May, 1480; died August 21st, 14...
147S. Nicholas Boston, nominated successor to Langton in 1477 ; presented by Richard, duke of
Gloucester, and Lord Say ; appointed prior for life in May, 1478 ; resigned May 17th, 1480.
1480. William Dixwell, prior of liinham, 1462-1480; appointed prior of Tynemouth. May 8lh, 1480;
presented, June 29th, 14S0 ; removed from Tynemouth .and again made prior of Binhani,
circii 14S1 ; created prior of Hertford in 1495; living in 151 1.
1 48 1, ciirii. Nicholas Boston, restored ; appointed prior for life by grant of the abbot of St. .\lban's,
March 8th, 1483, and by grant of the abbot and convent, November 19th, 1483 ; died
June 12th, 1495 ' buried in the chapel of St. Francis in the church of the Crey Friars,
London.
1503. John Bensted," born 1455 ! prior of Hertford in 1483 ; appointed abbot of Whitby and received
episcopal confirmation in that office .\ugust I2th, 1505; died in 1514.
1512. John Stonewell, S.T.P., received from Wolsey exemption from the Jurisdiction of St. .Albans
for life, November 14th, 1518 ; as prior, made a return of the revenue of his house in 1526 ;
died or resigned before July 3rd, 1527.''
1528. Thomas Gardiner, chaplain to Henry \TII. ; ajipointed prior for life in 1533; died or resigned
shortly Ijefore December 13th, 1536.'"
1537. Robert Blakeney, appointed prior before .April, 1537 ; signed deed of surrender of his monastery,
January 12th, 1539 ; received a pension of ^80 and retired to Benwell ; died before 1553.
' Curiii Regis Kulls, No. 1 16. -' Feci of Fines, I Edw. L No. 4.
' Put. Rolls, 7 Edw. 1. m. 2 d. .Issi^t; Rolls, No. 1254. m. 7.
' Ibiil. 18 Edw. I. m. 5 i\. ^ Assi:c Rolls, No. 658.
' Coiani Rcgc Rolls, No. 202. ' Rcgiiliiim PiiLiliiiiim Diiitclmense, Rolls Series, vol. i. pp. 44, 79-S4.
" Ibid. vol. ii. pp. 696, 699. ° Ibid. vol. iii. p. 37S.
" Durham Registers, Hatfield, fol. 1. " Hodgson, Sorthumherlaiui, pt. ii. vol. ii. p. 252.
'- Cal. Papal Registers, Letters, vol. i\-. p. 487. " Durham Registers, Langley, fols. 267, 26S.
" Registrum Whetluimstede, vol. ii. p. xlviii.
''Letters and Papers, Hen. VIII. vol. iii. p. 176; vol. iv. p. 1469.
'" Ibid. vol. V. |). 329 ; vol, vi. p. ^^y ; vol. xi. p. 524.
1^4 TVNEMOUTH I'ARISH.
The Parish Chikch.
Part of the priorv church at Tynemuiilh was set apart lor parochial
purposes and divided from the rest of the building by a stone screen
erected at the time of the Transitional extension of the chancel. The
vicar was appointed by the prior of Tynemouth with the consent of the
abbot of St. Alban's, and admitted by the bishop of Durham. The church
shared the immunity from contributions to the diocesan conferred by Pope
Adrian IV. and his successors on churches in the gift of St. Alban's.'
Disputes having arisen between Durham and St. Alban's as to the
bishop's right of visitation, an agreement was effected in IJ47, and by it
the bishop's right to visit the parochial portion of the church was acknow-
ledged. It was arranged that the vicars should be responsible to the bishop
for spiritualities, and to the monks for temporalities.
An instrument drawn up bv Prior Dunham in 1250, with the consent
of his abbot, specified the extent of the endowment of the vicarage. The
vicar for the time being was to receive the fruits of the vicarage, estimated
at forty marks, to be paid to him in kind in the following way : every day
he was to have from the priory two monks' loaves, four bottles of ale,
one small white loaf, one squire's loaf, and two gallons of ale drawn from
the wood, as well as a quarterlv pavment of forty quarters of oats for his
horses, and fodder for two horses. The prior and convent further assigned
to him the tithes of corn and hay in the townships of Burradon and Murton,
and the tithe of one of their fisheries. They were to pay him weekly one
pennv for bread for the mass, and allowances for service books. He
had, as vicar, two houses in the village of Tynemouth and two houses at
Earsdon, free from all customary service, to be kept in repair at his own
cost. He was to serve the church of Tynemouth in person along with a
competent chaplain and clerk, and to find a chaplain and a clerk to cele-
brate mass daily in the chapel of Earsdon. These had to be lodged by the
vicar, and were all to take oath of fealty to the prior and convent. The
vicar was to find the mother church of Tynemouth and the chapel of
Earsdon in wine, wafers, lights, vestments, vessels, utensils, and all things
' Chronica Majoni, vol. \. p|>. ij-ii.
Tynemouth parish church. 125
needful, for which the sacristan was to pay him forty shillings vearlv. On
the other hand the sacristan was bound to provide, in the usual manner,
lights for burial services. All the ordinary dues to which the church of
Tynemouth and the chapel of Earsdon were liable were to be paid bv
the vicar/
This sum of forty marks paid to the vicar was only a small portion of
the total yield of the rectory, which was stated in a taxation of 1292 to be,
apart from the vicar's endowment, £111 12s. lod., of which thirtv pounds
was yearly bestowed in alms and ten pounds in pittances to the monks. It
was made up of _£. 87 i is. 8d. from the grain tithes of the parish (excepting
those of Burradon and Murton held by the vicar), five marks from the
mills, sixty-nine shillings from the tithes of wool and lambs, five shillings
and six pence from the tithes of geese and pigs, fortv shillings from the
' [Omnibus] sancle niatris ecclesie filiis ad quorum noticiain presens sciiptum per[vcnent, Rijcardus
prior de Tynemuth et ejusdem loci conventus, salutein in domino seni[piternam.] Noverit universitas
vestra nos, de consensu venerabilis patris nostri [Johannis,] Dei gratia abbalis de sancto Albano, ad
sustentacionem doniini Petri vicarii et successorum ejus [de Tynemuth.] ac capellanorum ac clericorum
eorundem lam in ecclesia [de Tynemuth] quani in capella de Krdesdun deser\iturorum, in hunc modum
providisse. . . . Predictus Petrus vicarius et successores ejusdem, qui pro tempore [fuerint, singujiis
annis nomine vicarie percipient ad valenciam quadragin[ta m]arcarum, quam juxta estimacionem
bonorum virorum sic duximus expri[mendam, \ide]licet duos panes tnonathalcs et qualuor justatas
cervisie mo[nachaHs,] et duos panes, unum panem parvum album et aliuni paneni anniycri, et duas
lagenjas cervisie de dolco expensabilis singulis diebus percipient. Ad sustentacionem^ suoruni equorum
quadraginta quarteria avene qualiter de garba [ad qua]tuor terniinos, videlicet ad fcstum sancli .Mich.ielis,
ad festum [Purif]icationis virginis. ad paschani et nativitatem beati Johannis, [quolibet fest]o decern
quarteria, et foragium ad duos equos singu[ii5 diebus percijpient. Preterea dicti prior ct conventus
concesserunt decimani garbaruni et fenorum de ISurudon imperpeluum, [et gran]i et fcni de
Morton, cum decinia garbaruni per [tines] tote parochie sue ; item decimam piscarie ihree
lines illegible sacristam dicte ecclesie et dictum vicarium et ejusdem su[cccssores] legataria
fabrice ecclesie, luminaria sancti Oswini, et cap dictarum fabrice capcUe et cerei memorati
predictus vicarius et successores [septimanis] singulis unum denarium pro pane
benedicto ofierendo, denarios missalicios et denarios salicios. Habebunt e[tiam imjperpctuum
vicarius et successores ejus nomine vicarie duo mcssuagia in villa d[e Tynemuth,] unum videlicet t|Uod
fuit quondam Kogeri le Harpur et aliud i|Uod fuit Koberti Coki Dunelmensis de empcione Petri ejusdem
loci tunc vicarii, sibi et success[oribus] suis imperpetuum possidenda, et terciuni mesuagiuni in villa
de Herdesdun capelle, preter unum ex parte orientali, ex omni servili exactione
liberum et [quietum], sibi et successoribus suis propriis cum sumptibus constituenda cl, cum o[ccasio]
fuerit, eadem reparanda. Et sciendum quod supradiclus vicarius et ejus [sucjcessores in prcdicta
ecclesia de Tynemuth in propriis personis cum capell[ano] et clerico competenti dcscrvient. et
capellanum ydoneum et clericum compete[ntem in] capella dc Herdesdun singulis diebus niinistraluros
invenient, et o[mni]bus cum habitaculo competenti exhibebunt. Preterea predictus Petrus vicar[ius ct]
successores, necnon et eorundem capellani et clerici, juramentum tidelitatis pr[i]ori et conventiii de
omnimoda indenipnitate dicte ecclesie et de aliis .... tibus successive preslabunt. Predictus vcro
vicarius et ipsius successores onine [nii]nisteriuni, lam niatricis ecclesie de Tyneni' quam capelle de
Erdesdon, nec[non ui]pote in vino, oblatis, luminaribus, vesiimcntis, vasis, ulensi[libus, et] aliis con-
similibus invenient ; ad que invenienda percipient a[nnuatini] de sacrista quadraginta [solidos]. scilicet
inedielatem in festo sancti [Cuthberti in] autunipno. et aliani medietalem ad paschani, luminaria
tantum ad et niorluorum cxec|uias perlinencia sacrista more solito inveniet. [Et scienjdum
quod vicarius de Tynemuth qui |)ro tempore fuerit omnia s[ervicia] malriceni ecclesiam de Tynemuth et
capellani de Erdcsdon quocum[que nomine con]tingencia sustinebil : extra ordinarium vero juxta
quantitatem sue ' porcionis. UtJ autem liec ordinacio imperpeluum robur optineal tirmilatis, [prior el
convenjtus et Petrus vicarius huic scripto in modum cyrograh s[igilla bua] apposuerunt. Uatuni apud
Tynemutham in vig[ilia] anno gratie in'cc" quinquagesinio. 67. .llhiin's Kigiilcr, fol. I2i>.
126 TYKEMOUTH PARISH.
tithes of hav and flax, forty shilliiii,'s from wax, twenty shillings from baptism
and churching fees, seventy shillings from mortuaries and the sale of the
clothes of deceased persons, six pounds ten shillings from annual offerings,
and forty shillings from sundries ('de niinutis rebus propter conscientiam ').
It appears from an inquisition taken in 1295, upon the death of the
vicar, that a third jxirt of the goods of all fugitives within the parish was
paid over to the incumbent, that the chaplain and the clerk received a
proportion of every mortuary, and that the vicarage was of the annual
value of forty-five marks.'
Sometimes the right of presentation Iiac vice was accorded by the prior
and convent to others. Anthonv Bek, bishop of Durham, presented divers
of his clerks to the vicarage upon three occasions. In 1308 he drew up
a statement acknowledging that this was not done of right but by the
courtesy of the prior and convent, who should henceforward make iree
exercise of their privilege.'
John de Barneburgh was presented to the living in or about that
vear. He was succeeded bv John de Howvk, who was followed in his
turn bv John de Howorth. One of these three men may have been the
compiler of the Saiicti/oj^iiuii and the Hisioiia Aiiica, John of Tvnemouth,
who is connnonlv reputed to have been vicar here, and to have afterwards
entered St. Alban s monastery as a monk. John of Tynemouth's history
and identity are, however, obscure. vSir Thomas Grey, the earliest writer
who mentions him, has recounted a vision in which he was led by a sybil
up the ladder of historv ; and, when thev had stepped upon the fourth
rung, thev were in a chamber in a village that stood before a strong
castle, where they found a chaplain writing upon a lectern. 'Sweet friend,'
said the svbil, 'this is the vicar of Tillmouth, who is writing the I/i.ston'a
' St. Alhtiii's Kcj^idir, fol. 108 b. liraiul, Scutmlli, vol. i. p. 593.
■ St. A Iban's Kcj^istcr, fol. 1 29 h.
^ [A. pennijssione divina sancte Jeiosolimile etclesie patriaiclia et episcopus Dunulnieiisis. .Atten-
ilcntfs quod relijjiosi .... prior el convciuus de 'rvnemutli. nostre diocesis Dunulmcnsi^, diversos clericos
nostros [ad vitariam] de 'lyiicnv predicte jam per Ires vices ad nostri ro^atiis inslanciani presentarunt,
.... [indjeiiipnitate probpicere in hac parte, ne eciani eoruin curialitas ipsis in prcsenlai ionc dicle
vicarie [sil] in prejiidiciinn \el jaiUirani. iMii\ersib tenore presencium volumus esse nouini quod ditli
[religiosi] non ex aliquo de1)ito nominacionis nostre set ex sola liberalilatc sua dictos clericos nostros [ct]
lion aliter presentarunt, quodque nee nos nee successores nostri occasione noniinacionis nostre [claiii]einus
in jure ipsoruni ad dictani \ icariani liberc prcscnlandi quicquam juris ali(|uibus [modis], sed dicti prior
et conventus clericuni queni volucrunt ydoneuni possint ad dictani vicariani libere presentare. In cujus
rei testimonium has nostras patentes litteias prefa[ 1 siyillo nostro episcopali signatas fieri
fecinius coniniunitas. Datum I.ondoniis, anno domini m"ccc""'octavo, patriarchalus nostri tercio et
consccracionis nostre [vicesimo se.\to_. Ibid. fol. 21J.
TYNEMOUTH PARISH CHURCH. 1 27
Aiirea.' Sybilliiie sayings are dark, and, as the niannscript of Grev's
history is unique, it is impossible to say whether 'Tilhnouth' is a copyist's
error, or whether it contains a correct tradition.'
No visitations of the church antecedent to 1501 have been recorded.
In that year it was presented that the vicar was non-resident, that matins
and vespers were not said at fitting times, and that the glass windows in
the choir were broken."
After the dissolution, the choir or conventual portion of the church
was suffered to fall into ruin, but the nave remained standing as a separate
church. This probablv necessitated some alteration in its structure, and
on Januarv 19th, 1546, Sir Francis Leeke, then captain of the castle, had a
warrant from the Privv Council for '/. 20 towards the making of a church
at Tvnemouth.' Use was made of the building for storing artillery, a
procedure which Bishop Tunstall of Durham brought in 1558 to the notice
of the Privy Council, with the result that an order was issued to the lord
lieutenant and to Sir Thomas Hilton, captain of the castle, for the removal
of the ordnance, ' to th'ende the inhabvtauntes may have the use of the
churche for the hearing of Devyne service, as reason is.' ' The conversion
of the monasterv into a roval castle and a house for the Percys made it
inconvenient to the residents to have a parish church within it, and on
October 27th, 1566, Sir Henry Percy wrote to Sir Robert Cecil: 'I
have alreadv told vou the annoyance to this house by the parish church
being within it, and much frequented by the strangers who visit the
haven. At my request Sir Richard Lee has inspected it, and can report
on the cost of a new one, and the value of this towards it.'^ Percy's
suggestion was not carried out ; on the other hand, little was done to
keep the church in repair, though Luke Akome of Tynemouth, by will
dated December i8th, 1563, left 2od. to the mending of the south window,''
and I2S. 4d. was paid in 1592 for the making of new stalls in the church
for the use of the captain of the castle.'
' Sciilachnmicii, ed. .Stevenson for the Maitland Club, p. 3. There was a chantr>' but no vicamge at
Tilhnouth. It stood near to the strong castle of Wark, which was Clrey's home. Upon John of Tyne-
mouth see Xova Le^cmia Anglic, edited for the Clarendon Press by Carl Horstman, who, with too
Kreat positiveness, identifies Tynemouth with John of Howyk. Horstman relies upon a statement made
by John Boston of Bury : 'Johannes dictus .\nglicus, vicarius de Tynemuthe, floruit A.C. mccclx\i_ et
scripsit Historiam .Aureani, etc' Boston, who wrote about fifty years after Oey's death, was the first
writer to jfive a full account of John of Tynemouth s works. Pits, in 1619, adds that the vicar afterwards
became a monk of .St. .Alban's. a statement unsupported by direct evidence.
= Ecclesiastical Proceedings, Surt. Soc. No. 22, p. xxi. ' Ads 0/ the Privy Council, 1542-1547, p. 316.
' Ibid. 1556-155S, p. 382. ' Cal. State Papers Domestic, .Addenda, 1566-1579. p. iS.
" l?rand. Xeurnstte, vol. ii. p. 1 14. ' Duke of Northumberland's MSS.
128
TVNF.MOrTH PARISH.
Upon a visitation mack' in lAoS the church was stated to be in great
decav.' Sir William Hrt-rtton, who came to TvntMnoiith in 163:;, in the
course of a tour throuL;h llic countv, described it as 'the fairest church
I have seen in anv castle, but nmv it is out of repair and much neglected.''
Wlu-n the Civil War broke out the j-jarishionL-rs were no longer able to
obtain access to their church, since it lay within the castle. It was rapidlv
becoming dismantled, and the Oliveriau commissioners in 1650 reported
it to be quite ruined.' Ten vears later the roof fell in. Work had then
alreadv commenced upon a new parish church (Christ Church), near North
Thf Priokv Chi'K(~h fkom the South-west.
Shields. Proposals made to rebuild the ruined nave of the priory church,
which had been used during four centuries for parochial services, were not
executed, but the east chapel was fitted up and appropriated to the parish ;
a movable oak communion-table, covered with a red marble slab, being
substituted for the former altar.'' This building continued to be used
' Diirluiiii \'isiliitioii Books.
■ Brereton, SoUs of a Journey throiii;h Dnvham ami NovthiiinhciUvK}, Rirli.irdsnirs Reprints, p. 17.
' Arch Ad. ist series, vol. iii. p. 9.
' 'April [31!), 1675. Richard, son of Richard Hudson of Tinemonth, baptised ; ve first baptised in
Tinemouth church after it was rebuilded.' Tyncmouth Parish Registers, ed. Couchman', vol. i. p. 97.
TYNEMOUTH PARISH CHURCH. 129
for services until 1810, when it was taken over by the Board of Ordnance
and converted into a powder magazine, in which state it remained for forty
years. It was then restored to the parish and repaired under the supervision
of Mr. John Dobson. vServices are occasionallv held in it.
From the commencement of the seventeenth century, if not earlier,
the chancel of the priory church was used as a burial ground for the parish.
In the course of two centuries and a half interments had covered a
considerable area, including the nave and site of the Ladv- chapel and
ground on the east and south sides of the chancel. The incongruity of a
churchyard with undefined limits existing within the walls of a government
fort was a circumstance which not unnaturally led to disputes between
the parish and the militarv authorities. The governor of the castle raised
a claim in 1826 to a payment of ten shillings upon each occasion that
ground was broken for the interment of a parishioner. This claim was
abandoned, but at the same time the parish consented to a limitation of
the burial ground.' E.xcept in certain vaults, burials no longer take place
within the precincts of the castle.
Monumental Inscriptions.
Here lyeth the body of the Reverend Mr. Ralph Clarke, vicar of Long Benton, who departed this
life March the 4th, 1733/4, aged 59 years. Also near this place lyeth interred Eliz. Taylor, daughter to
the Rev. Ra. Clarke, who departed this life Nov. the 9th day, 1741, aged 41 years. Eliz., wife of the
Reverend Ralph Clarke, died .Sept. the 3rd, 1758, aged 79 years. Also lieth here Ralph Clarke, son
of the above Rev. Ralph Clarke, who died the 2nd of May, 1785, aged 77 years. .Arms: A saltire
engrailed between four horses' heads coupcd.
In memory of Henry, son of Robert Clarke of North Shields, master mariner, who died the 26th of
December, 1768, aged 5 years. Also four more children who all died young. Dorothy, wife of the said
Robt. Clarke and mother of the above said children, died the 12th of October, 17S4, aged 51 years.
Near this place also lyeth interred the body of the above named Robert Clarke, who departed this life
the 3rd August, 1786, aged 73 years.
Thomas Dawson, esq., died 9th October, 1784, aged 59.
Barbara Dawson, died July 27th, 1781, aged 24. Also in memory of Dorothy Sanderson, sister
of the above, who departed this life on the 9th day of Oct., 1S09, aged 41 years. Also of Mary
Clementina, eldest daughter of Capt. \Vm. Henry Temple, late of the 52nd reg., and granddaughter
of the above-named D. Sanderson, who died on the 13th of Jany., 1830, aged 6 years and 6 months.
The burial place of Armorer Donkin at the Low Lights. Here lieth the body of Elizabeth Donkin,
who departed this life the 8th of May, 1772, aged 46 years. Also the above-named Armorer Donkin,
who departed this life the 12th of March, 1798, aged 76 years. Likewise two of his children who died
young.
William Sidney Gibson, esquire, born Nov. 12th, 1814, died Jan. 13th, 1871, greatly beloved and
deeply regretted.
' Gibson, vol. i. pp. cl.\.\.\ii-clx.\xv.
Vol. VIII. '7
130 TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
Sacred to the memor>' of Frances, wife of Rev. William Haigh, vicar of Wooler, who died October
17th, 1824, aged 60 years. Frances Susannah Haigh, eldest daughter of the above, departed this life
Sept. 23rd, 1851, aged 63 years.
Sacred to the memory of William Preston Haigh, esq., captain, Royal Engineers, eldest son of the
late Rev. William Haigh, A.M., vicar of Wooler, departed this life March nth, 1840, aged 49.
In memory of Edward Hall of Whitley, esquire, who died the 7th of June, 1792, aged 65 years.
Erected to the memory of John Johnson of Woodhorn, who departed this life March 22nd, 1825,
aged 70 years. Isabella, his daughter, died July i8th, 1821, aged 8 years. Also three of his children
died young. Mary, wife of the above, died Feby. 25, 1825, aged 53 years.
The burial place of Samuel Lacy of Great Yarmouth, master and mariner, who died October the 6ih,
1762, aged 71 years. He marryed Ann, the daughter of the Reverend Mr. Ralph Clarke, vicar of Long
Henton, who had issue eighteen children — si.\teen died young. Ann, the wife of the above-named, who
died the 6th of December, 1765, aged 60 years. Arms : On a bend three martlets, over all a label of as
many points, Lacy ; impaling a saltire engrailed between four horses' heads cottped, Clarke.
The burial place of Richard Lacy, esq., of Newcastle, who married Dorothy, third daughter of
Joseph Dacre, esq., of Kirklinton in the county of Cumberland. Richard Lacy died March iSth, 1778,
aged 34. Joseph Dacre Lacy, his second son, died May 25th, 1772, aged 5. Arms: On a bend three
martlets. Lacy ; impaling quarterly first and fourth three escallops, Dacre ; second and third six martlets,
three two and one, Appleby.
Sacred to the memory of John Liddell of Dockwray Square, who departed this life the 14th of Nov.,
1802, aged 67. Jane Liddell, wife of John Liddell, departed this life the i6th of August, 1805, aged
69 years. John and Anthony, sons of John and Jane Liddell, both died young. Also Jane, their
daughter, departed this life the 21st of May, 1781, aged 12 years. Elizabeth Cay, granddaughter of
the above John and Jane Liddell, died the 27th of August, 1803, aged 11 months. Sarah Wright,
daughter of John and Jane Liddell, died the loth of Dec, 1821, aged 58 years. Albert Liddell, son of
the above-named John and Jane Liddell departed this life the 17th of Dec, 1826, aged 61 years.
Elizabeth Cay, died at Edinburgh the 27th of Oct., 1831, aged 61 years. Isabella Robinson, died in
London, the 13th of June 1833, aged 57 years. George Liddell died at Beech (irove, near Chester-le-
Street, i6th of Aug., 1835, aged 68 years. Barbara Liddell, died in Edinburgh, Jan. 2nd, 1845, aged
72 years.
Here lyeth ye body of Mr. John Lomax, who departed this life May ye 25, 1693.
In memory of John Lowes, genlilman, died Jany. 13th, 1760, aged 44 years. Eleanor his daughter,
died June i6th, 1764, aged 16 years. Jane Boucher, his daughter, died July 29th, 1782, aged 28 years.
Mary Lowes, wife of Ralph Clarke Lowes, departed this life January 23rd, 1784, aged 25 years. Jane,
relict of the above-named John Lowes, died the 19th of August, 1794, aged 75 years. Mary, wife of
Willm. Fall, died July 23rd, 1804, aged 82 years.
In memory of Anthony Pearson of North Shields ropery, who departed this life ye 6th day of
February, 1769, aged 58 years.
Here lieth interred the body of Henry Reay, esq., alderman and twice mayor of Newcastle-upon-
Tyne, and Hannah his wife, daughter of Utrick Whitfield of Whitfield, esq., by whom he had issue two
sons, Utrick and Joseph, who both survived them. She departed this life July loth, 1733, aged 58, and
he October 18th, 1734, aged 63. Here lieth interred the body of Utrick Reay, son and heir of Henry
Reay, esq., alderman of Newcastle-upon-Tyne By his wife Bridget, daughter of Henry
Blencowe of Blencowe, in the county of Cumberland, esq., he had issue three children, Philadelphia,
who died .A.pril 4th, 1736, in the first year of her age, Hannah and Utrick who survived him. He died
April loth, 1742, aged 30. Here also lieth the body of Utrick Reay, his son, who died March 4th, 1744,
aged 6 ; to whose memory this monument was erected by the above-named Bridget Reay.
Sacred to the memory of Sarah Shadforth, who died the loth of March, 1806, in the 35th year of
her age, leaving four young children and a most disconsolate husband ever to lament her loss.
Here lieth the body of Prudence, late wife of John Topping, some years governour of this castle,
who departed this life in child-bearing the 19th day of Feby., 1658, as alsoe four of her children, Ellinor,
Hichard, and a sonne still borne, with a child who was interred with her, the 21st Febr., 1658 ,
PRIORY AND CASTLE. I3I
Also lieth here, Mary, the wife of Zechariah Tizack, who died May, 1748, aged 44 years. Also Benjamin
Cowley Tyzack, chain and anchor manufacturer, of North Shields, who died April gth, 1851, aged 78 years.
Hie sitae sunt mortales reliquiae Henrici Villiers, armigeri, stirpe antiqua prognati, unici honora-
tissimi comitis de Jersey fratris, necnon hujus presidii circiter 20 annos fidelis et perquam dilecti prefect!.
Vixit annos 49; obiit 18 Aug., Anno Domini 1707.'
Here lies the body of James Wilkinson, merchant, of Newcastle, who died the nth of August,
1761, aged 46. Here also lieth interred the body of Bridget, the wife of the above-named James
Wilkinson, who died the 12th day of November, 1776, aged 71. Christopher Wilkinson, merchant,
died the 21st November, 1784, aged 38 years. Also lie interred the remains of James Wilkinson, esq.,
most sincerely and deservedly lamented by all his friends : he departed this life on the 28th of .August,
1801, aged 52 years. Here lie interred the remains of Jane Wilkinson, widow of the above James
Wilkinson, who died March loth, 1823, aged 71 years.
Sacred to the memory of John Wright, esq., of North Shields, founder of several elegant streets
both there and at Newcastle. He died the 25th November, 1806, aged 75 years. Also of .Ann, his
widow, who died on the 29th of June, 18 12, in the 60th year of her age. Also of his eldest son, William
Wright, who died Dec. loth, 1S47, aged 80 years. He was many years deputy-lieutenant and acting
magistrate for the county of Northumberland and Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Also of Frances, his widow,
who died the 5th of April, 1864, in the 83rd year of her age.
.Sacred to the memory of Stephen and Margaret Wright of Dockwray Square. Margaret Wright,
died March 28th, 1795, aged 72 years. Stephen Wright, died June 28th, 1803, aged 86 years. Also
near this place lie eleven of their children who all died young.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIORY AND CASTLE.
Pre-Conquest Remains.
As might be expected on the site of an Anglian settlement, occupied
from early davs bv a religious congregation, Tynemouth has supplied some
remains of the sepulchral memorials of its early christian inhabitants.'
They are few in number, however, and are all fragmentary, consisting of
portions of the shafts and heads of the crosses which once stood over the
graves in the cemetery of the church. One of these stones is of more
than ordinary interest. It is known as the Monk's Stone, and now stands
a mile to the north of the priory ruins, at a little distance from the road
to Whitley. Its present position is not the original one, and it is without
doubt part of a memorial cross, originally placed in the cemetery.
The roughly-hewn square base, on which the cross stands, is modern.
The upper portion, including the cross-head, is wanting, and the shaft, which
Grose ^ described as being ten feet in height, is now only si.\ feet high
above the socket. The two faces, which stand east and west, taper from
' Brand, Newcastle, vol. ii. p. 122. ' For Roman remains found at Tynemouth see pp. 36-3S.
' Antiquities 0/ England and Wales, new edition, vol. iv. p. 127.
132
tYnEmouth parish.
i8 inches to 14 inches; the sides from ii| inches to 8^ inches. For a
space of 22 inches from the base, the shaft is plain on all sides, never
having had any carved work there. The remainder has been sculptured
over the whole surface with human figures, a tree, animals, lacertine
creatures, and interlacing knot-work patterns. These elaborate ornamental
designs exhibit many tasteful qualities, giving evidence
of the emplovment of a skilled and experienced work-
man, though there is nothing to show the influence of
the vine and other foliage motives, characteristic of the
Hexham school, or of that which produced the Bew-
castle and Ruthwell crosses. Neither the design nor
the execution show any sign of decadence, and the cross
mav be assigned to a time not later than the first part
of the ninth century. As it has suffered considerably
from weathering, an adequate description of its sculp-
tured work cannot easily be given.
The angles of the stone have all been occupied
by bead-mouldings, carried across the four sides as single
beads, immediately beneath the ornamental work. The
heading is also to be seen on the north side, above the
upper pair of loops of knot-work, as well as on the south
side, between the interlaced pattern and the two lacer-
tine creatures presently to be described.
On the north side alone can the design
be made out with any degree of certainty.
That has had an interlacing pattern in double
bands of a not uncommon kind, very similar
to that on a cross once built into the tower
of St. Oswald's church at Durham.' Ten sets
of circles, similar to those on the Dnrhani
stone, can be clearly seen, the bands which form them being continued as
four sets of knots up to the point where the side is crossed by a line of
moulding. AboVe this, for a space of six inches, the stone is covered with
interlaced work.
The south side has, on the lower part, two pairs of creatures whose
extremities appear to form groups of knot-work, filling the intervening
' Victoria County History of Durham, vol. i. |)p. 224-225. Durluim ami Northumberland Architatural
Society, vol. iv. pp. 2S1-2S3.
Monk's Stone, North Side and
West Face.
PRIORY AND CASTLE.
133
spaces. Above them there seems to have been a quatrefoil flower of con-
ventional design, and, above that again, are apparentlv two birds, whose long
beaks cross each other at the middle of their length. Beading traverses
the stone at this point, separating the last mentioned design from two
lacertine creatures, whose bodies are placed saltire fashion, the tails being
rolled round towards one another. Limbs and tails are
continued as bands, which intertwine and compass the
bodies. This pattern, though similar, is more elaborate
than that on the St. Oswald's cross mentioned above.
The design on the west face has almost entirely
perished. It seems to have been divided into three
panels. The bottom space, which is 13 inches in length,
contained two creatures facing one another, from whose
limbs an interlacing design was perhaps evolved. The
middle panel is 9 inches long, and the upper 26 inches
appear to have been filled bv a subject carved in
bold relief.
The east face is the most interesting, and contains
two human figures, much worn away but still standing
out in some degree of relief. Above the head of each
figure, the arching branch of a tree forms a sort of
canopy. Higher branches of the same tree make similar
arches over a pair of animals somewhat like
sheep. Other parts of the tree may have
branched into interlaced work. The lowest
compartment of this face has had upon it a
design of interlaced work of a delicate and
unusually minute pattern. If a conjecture
may be hazarded, the subject perhaps repre-
sents our first parents in the Garden of Eden, among the trees and animals
with which it was filled.
In addition to the Monk's Stone, portions of four other crosses have
been discovered at Tynemouth, and are now preserved at the Black Gate
Museum in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
The first (fig. i) consists of one limb and the central portion of the
head of a cross. It is made of sandstone and is 14 inches high, 9^ inches
Monk's Stone, South Side anu
East Face.
134
TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
wide, and 4^ inches tliick. In the centre is the not uncommon feature
of a round boss, surrounded by a raised circular rino;. The limb is occupied
by a knot made by a ribbon interlacing at
each end, and other knots probably existed in
the missing limbs. A similar design occurs
on the other side. The sides are plain.
The second (fig. 2) is a single limb of a
cross-head, 8 inches in height, 7^ inches in
width, and of a thickness diminishing from 6
inches to 5 inches. The sides are plain. An
interlacing knot-pattern of a single band occu-
pies both faces.
The third stone ^ is a portion of the shaft
of a cross, 14 inches high, the faces tapering
from 1 2 inches to 1 1 inches, and the sides
from 8 inches to 7^ inches. On one face the
design has been chiselled off. The remaining
face has upon it two series of well sculptured
knots of double bands, placed one above the
other, an effective and beautiful pattern
found upon many crosses of Anglian
work. The sides have an interlacing
j knot-pattern of one band.
The last fragment is also part of
the shaft of a cross. Though of in-
ferior workmanship to those already
described, it is, in regard to the sub-
jects carved upon it, of equal interest
to the Monk's Stone. It is 18 inches
>\ y i ^RPIk higli) with faces tapering from 11^ to
^ ^ ,^ " II inches, and sides from 9^ to 9
inches. The edges consist of a plain
roll-moulding. The faces are divided
into panels by a band of broad cable-
m /
Fig. I.
Fig. 2.
moulding, bordered on each side by a
An illustration of this stone is given in Arcli. Ael. 2nd series, vol. xxv. p. 121
PRIORY AND CASTLE.
135
narrow roll-moulding. One face of the fragment is occupied ' by a draped
human figure standing facing. With each hand he holds a book in front
of his chest, and he seems to be standing between two trees, which arch
over his head. The lower part of the other face (fig. 3) contains an
interlacing pattern of three knots placed horizontally. Above is a creature
which has been described as a centaur, since, besides having four legs, two
appendages like arms proceed from the shoulders. If these are arms, then
the creature is holding, poised in its right hand, a long shaft ending in
a spear-head at the bottom, and in a round ball at the top. With its left
hand it grasps its tail, which seems to be pro-
longed into an interlacing pattern over its back.
A raised ring is placed between its legs.^ The
creature, which is apparentlv in motion, has
a counterpart upon one of the crosses at
Aycliffe^ ; but while that on the Aycliffe cross
resembles a horse, this animal has cloven hoofs,
and is more like a lamb. The carved work
on one side of the stone has perished ; the
other side is covered by a double row of
knotted cords, placed perpendicularly and con-
nected at the top and bottom.
These fragments of sepulchral memorials
represent all that remains of the monastery
which stood upon the headland in the eighth
and ninth centuries. The church in which
Saint Oswin's body was discovered, and its tower seen by the soldiers of
William I. upon their foray, are gone, and no trace of Anglian masonry is
found in the later structure. The monks of St. Alban's apparently began
to build a new church about the year 1085, as soon as they had been
established at Tynemouth. This building was in course of construction in
1093, when King Malcolm was buried in it, and was sufficiently far ad-
vanced in 1 1 10 to receive the body of St. Oswin, translated in that year
from the Anglian church, which then fell into disuse.
' For a view of this face and an alternative account of the design upon it, see Arch. Ael. he.
cit. p. 1 19-120.
- A similar ring occurs on two of the cross heads from the foundations of the chapter house at
Durham, there in connection with the Holy Lamb: Durham and Sorthumbcrland ArchtUctural Society,
vol. iv. p. 129 ; I'ictoria County History of Durham, vol. i. pp. 226, 228. 'bid- P- 220.
Ki(,.
136
TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
The Church : Technical Details.
The great monastic churches erected in this country shortly after the
Conquest were invariably cruciform, having an eastern arm with aisles and
an apsidal end, transepts with eastern chapels, and a nave with aisles. It
was not unusual for the eastern terminations to be apsidal internally, and
square externally, as at Durham and Lindisfarne ; more rarely, as at
Worcester, Gloucester, Norwich and Winchester, the aisles continued round
the apse, forming an ambulatory. Recent excavations have shown that the
priory church of Tynemouth was of the latter and rarer type,' differentiated
in this case by the addition of three chapels, radiating from the choir, the
middle one being the longest. A single eastern chapel is a common feature,
and occurs at Winchester ; at Canterbury and Gloucester there are side
chapels in the crvpts, but the design carried out at Tynemouth was most
uncommon in the smaller Norman monastic churches, and this example is
probably unique in England.
A. T/ie Noniuui Structure.
The position of the west end of the Norman nave is indicated on
Plate VTII., and remains of the bases of the arcade piers and the internal
TYNEMOUTn PRIORY.
NORTHUMBERL'AND.
CONJECTURAL PLAN OP Tht NORMAN CHURCH.
HEFEHtNCtS TO bn&DINC
tXISTINC ^H
POUNDATIONb 1^
ASSUMED. CZ]
■...f....r
W n KHOVMLtS. H> A
fp MENS CT del!
SCALt otfttr
' The above plan is developed on evidence afforded by these excavations. The portions in black
represent existing walls, the shaded portions foundations or other evidence, and the dotted lines
conjectural work.
TYNEMOUTn PRIORY
NORTnVMBERLT^ND .
GROUND PLAN.
lo 5 o
liiiihiiil-
5CALE OF FtET
PLATE nil.
CMOID
f— yss.
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— C=7
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^ \
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I ! FOVNOATIONS.
WJ1 JOI0WI.E5. F.5-A.
MEJ«S ET OELTAUC 905
PRIORY AND CASTLE. 137
and external pilasters of the aisle walls show the nave to have been of seven
bays. A central tower surmounted the crossing space. The transepts,
as at St. Alban's, were aisleless, with eastern apsidal chapels similar to
those at Lindisfarne, Tewkesbury and Romsey. As nothing of the choir
remains except foundations, it is not possible to say with certainty how it
was subdivided, but its length suggests that it had two bays of the same
width as those of the nave, the apse being divided into five bays, as in
Norwich cathedral.
The foundation walls of the ambulatory, or apse, which formed the
eastern termination of the choir, are in coursed ashlar work ; while those
of the radiating chapels, at a lower level, arc of rough masonry, somewhat
coursed, and carried five or six feet down in a sandy soil. There is no
indication of the floor level, and the depth of the masonry appears to be
due to the insecuritv of the foundation. Three of the crossing piers, which
carried the central tower, remain, as also the foundations of the fourth.
The two western piers have responds composed of triple semi-shafts
towards the crossing, transepts and nave, and broad flat pilasters towards
the aisles ; in the case of the eastern piers there are similar responds
towards the transepts and crossing, and pilasters on the sides towards the
choir and aisles. The piers have slightly moulded bases on a massive
square plinth ; their capitals are cushioned with chamfered abaci continued
as a string course on each side. Only a few square voussoirs of the outer
order of the crossing arch remain. The greater part of the south and east
walls of the south transept is standing, the former containing two built-up
window-openings with chamfered string-course below the sill level, the
latter, which has been pierced in its lower stage by the later choir aisle,
retaining portions of two round arches about the level of the clerestory
and of an archway below giving access to the ambulatory. In the west
wall of the north transept there is a similar semicircular arch opening
into the aisle, flat on the soflSt and springing from a chamfered impost.
The nave arcades appear to have carried a clerestory. They have
all fallen except a single pier at the east end of the north side. This is
cylindrical in plan, and the bases of other piers suggest that they were
all of the same design. It has a many-sided capital of cushion form, with
carving imitative of arcading, and over it is a portion of two square orders
of a round arch. The north and south nave walls have chamfered plinth
138 TYNKMOIJTH PARISH.
courses, and are emphasized externallv and internally bv flat pilasters
corresponding; with the bays of the arcade. The eastern bay of the north
wall contains portions of a semicircular-headed window, of a single light,
opening above the level of a chamfered string course. Possibly a similar
window occupied each bav between the pilaster buttresses. Opening ofl"
the cloister, and in the second bay from the east end of the south wall
of the nave, there is a semicircular arched doorway of three orders, each
springing from a chamfered impost, with the exception of the middle
order, which was supported by a detached nook-shaft.
The construction of the domestic buildings was commenced as soon as
the church was completed. Documentary evidence shows that a dormitory,
forming part of the eastern range of the cloistral buildings, and probably
raised over the monastic parlour, was being erected in iiii. On the op-
posite side of the cloister a building projected beyond the west end of the
nave on its south side, as is shown on Plate \'III. Its lower stage was
decorated by a simple arcade on attached semi-shafts resting on a chamfered
stone seat.
H. I'lic Early English Dcvclopinoit.
The Norman choir lasted for a century and then gave place to the
noble eastern arm which dominates the coast, and recalls Whitbv in its
style and situation. Throughout England, and especially in Northumber-
land, considerable building operations were proceeding at the commence-
ment of the thirteenth centurv. At Tynemouth the reconstructed choir
was abnormallv large, for the separation of the nave for parochial purposes
was probablv already contemplated. The work may be attributed to
Prior Akarius, and was commenced during the last decade of the twelfth
century, at the same time that John de Cella, abbot of St. Alban's, was
beginning the extension westwards of the mother church. Its magnitude
may be understood when it is remembered that the Norman choir extended
only about 48 feet eastwards of the crossing, whereas this arm of the
Transitional church covered a length of 116 feet. It was larger than
the corresponding limb of the priory church of Hexham, and its length,
with the addition of the tower, was equal to the total length of Brinkburn.
Besides being increased in length, it was made 10 feet wider than the
former choir. Its arcade piers occupy the outer alleys or aisles of the
Norman church, the new aisle walls being outside those which thev
PRIORY AND CASTI.E. 139
replaced. The demolition of the old choir was therefore not necessary
until the completion of its successor, in which it was enclosed, and the
work of building did not interrupt the services of the monastic body.
The Transitional choir consisted of five bays with aisles, and was
continued eastwards as an aisleless presbytery of four bays. The presbytery
and a portion of the south aisle of the choir remain.
The e.xterior of the east end has an impressive simplicity of design.
It is divided into three compartments by buttresses, of Hat pilaster shape
in the two lower stages, becoming semi-octagonal on the face of the gable.
In place of the tiers of triple lancets which occur at Brinkburn and
Whitby, the Tyncmouth elevation is occupied, on the lower stage, by three
tall lancets of two chamfered orders, and, on the second stage, by two
small pointed windows in the outer and a vesica in the middle compartment.
The gable is more ornate, each division comprising an arcade of three
pointed arches on shafts with nuuilded caps and bases ; the arches occupy-
ing the side bays are of varying height, following the rake of the original
roof line. The middle arch of the centre bay is pierced by a lancet of
two orders with banded nook -shafts. Stepped string courses divide the
stages, and octagonal turrets originally capped the angle buttresses above
the level of the roof. The south wall is pierced by lancets having their
sills on the same level as those in the lower stage of the eastern gable, to
which they correspond in design. Smaller pointed windows with nook-
shafts occur above the lancets, the eaves course above the latter being
carried on corbels carved as grotesque heads. A flat pilaster divides the
windows of the first and second bav, whilst a buttress of greater projection
encloses a staircase formed in the masonry of the fourth bay.
The interior of the presbytery was vaulted. It is finely proportioned
and the design is full of resource in its varied form and detail. The space
below the level of the window-sill is occupied bv a wall arcade of pointed
arches on detached shafts with moulded bases and slightly carved capitals
with square moulded abaci. The centre of the wall arcade on the east
side is pierced by a door giving access to the Percy chapel, and on either
side of the door are aumbries. At the east end of the north and south
walls the arcade is broken bv wide segmental arched recesses, intended
to receive effigies, anti in the third bay on the south side it is similarly
broken by a double sedile with trefoil-headed openings. There is also an
aumbry and piscina in the second bav.
tJ[0 TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
Triple clustered shafts or responds divide the bays and the eastern
lancets, their bases resting on the string course over the wall arcade. The
capitals are carved and have octagonal-shaped abaci, which are continued
as a string over the side lancets, but at the cast end are at the level oi
the springing of the lancet arches. Wuilting ribs, moulded and enriched
with dog-tooth ornament, spring from the capitals. The window openings
arc deeply recessed, and their treatment is varied in detail. At the east end
the lower lancets have a hood-moulding with dog-tooth, but the openings
in the side compartments above them have only a single roll moulding
to both jambs and arch, the capitals to the jambs having square abaci
continued as strings. The vesica has an enriched hood-moulding with
sunk trefoiled circles in the spandrils below. On the sides, the lancet
arches are of two moulded orders carried on detached banded nook-shafts,
the clerestory lights over them being similar in arrangement but having
a hood -moulding with dog-tooth ornament, whilst the same enrichment
adorns the angles of the jamb between the shafts. The two westernmost
bays contained staircases, and there is a wall gallery at the level of each
stage. The south wall of the presbytery has, at the level of the choir
triforium, a double pointed arch within a semicircular containing arch.
String courses above and below indicate the height and proportion of this
member of the choir arcade.
Unfortunately nothing remains of the choir excepting a portion of
the aisle at the west end of the south side.' That fragment, however,
together with the pier plinths and the responds on the side of the presbytery
bay containing the staircases, and the drawings of Ralph Waters, made in the
middle of the eighteenth century, provide sufficient data for reconstructing
this beautiful arm of the church.
The choir comprised a central alley with north and south aisles, and,
independently of the aisleless presbytery, measured 73 feet in length
and 63 feet in breadth between the aisle walls. An arcade of five bays,
with a triforium and clerestory windows above, separated the aisles. Its
main arches were of three deeply moulded orders, and sprang from piers
formed of a cluster of eight large shafts filleted towards the cardinal
points of the compass, the diagonal shafts being pear-shaped. Each pier
carried a moulded octagonal capital, and its base, which was also moulded,
rested on octagonal plinths with a roll moulding on the edge, continued
' .See illubl ration on page 56.
H
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PRiORY AND CASTLE. I4I
on a dwarf wall between the piers. .\.t the east end the arch sprang from
a triple-shafted respond supported on a corbel. Similar responds rose
from the pier capitals and terminated at the level of the Hat ceiling which
covered the central portion of the choir, being divided in their height by
a string course at the levels of both triforium and clerestory, and bv the
abacus moulding of the latter. Above the arcade was a triforium of three
members, the two outer of single pointed arches, and the inner of two
sub-arches within a semicircular containing arch, all supported on clustered
and nook shafts. Above that again was a clerestory consisting of three
arches to each bav, decorated with carving and supported on detached and
nook shafts, with moulded caps and bases, the angles between the arches
being ornamented with the dog-tooth flower.
The aisles were vaulted in simple quadripartite form, with moulded
transverse and diagonal ribs. These sprang from the aisle walls on triple
clustered responds, with moulded octagonal capitals, the abacus moulding
-being continued as a string between the single lancet windows which occu-
pied each compartment. An arched opening, broken through the east wall
of the Norman transept (at the west end of the aisle), was of four orders
towards the transept, and supported bv nook-shafts in the jambs below.
The division of the church for conventual and parochial uses was
effected, as at Wymondham and Binham (also cells of St. Alban's), by
assigning the nave to the parish. At Tynemouth that arm of the church
was shut off from the rest bv a stone screen, built between the western
piers of the crossing. This is plain towards the nave, where the high
altar of the parish church stood, and is pierced on either side by low
doors, between which, on the eastern face of the screen, is an arcade
of five pointed arches on detached shafts, standing on a stone seat. A
door was inserted in the east bay of the south aisle of the nave in order
to give access from the cloister to the conventual church.
After the enlargement of the choir, the ne.xt great alteration in the
structure of the church was its extension westwards by the removal of
the Norman west wall, and the erection of two bays. This was done about
the year 1220, a work possibly to be associated with Abbot Trumpingtons
notable visitation of his cells. It is interesting to observe that this exten-
sion appears to have been completed before the removal of the old gable,
which accounts for the unusual width of the bav uniting the old and the
142
TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
new bays. The piers and respond carryiii<( the arcade arches were octa-
gonal in plan, with moulded capitals and bases. The aisles were vaulted,
and the chamfered ribs of the vaulting sprang from corbels in the aisle
walls. Details in the walling suggest that the work, which included the
vaulting of the previously unvaulted aisles, proceeded from west to east.
The west front arrests attention directly the castle gateway is passed,
thousih in heis-ht it does not compare with the east end.' The elevation is
divided into three compartments by Hat pilaster buttresses dying into the
wall at the eaves level. In the centre is a deeply recessed door of five
richlv moulded orders with hood, placed on shafted jambs having moulded
capitals and bases. The space on either side between the door and the
buttress is occupied by a pointed arched recess, the two recesses being of
unequal width. Above the doorway was a row of lancets, ornamented
on jamb and arch with the dog-tooth moulding. This was afterwards
replaced by a large fifteenth century window, which filled the whole width
of the nave, and of whicii the sill and jambs remain. The south compart-
ment is divided into three stages, the lower being filled with an arcade
of three pointed and moulded arches on detached shafts with moulded
capitals ; the middle stage contains two trefoil-headed openings with only
a simple roll to both jambs and arch ; the upper stage comprised an arcade
of four arches stepped to the rake of the aisle roof, and supported by
capitals resting on detached shafts. The north compartment, like the centre
bay, received in the fifteenth century a window which filled the space.
A bold moulded plinth passes round the thirteenth century extension, and
on either side is a lancet window. In the west bay on the north side is
a doorway which was screened by a porch or gave access to a vestry,
whilst on the south side is a mutilated door-opening which originally gave
access to a chamber that projected beyond the Norman west end and was
afterwards used as a means of communication with the interior of the church.
C. I'lic L(ul\-chapcL
Before the middle of the thirteenth century the church iiad reached
a length of 261 feet. In interest, variety and beauty it compares well,
especially in regard to the choir, with any of its contemporaries. It
continued unaltered until about 1336. In that year a Lady-chapel was in
course of construction. It was presumably in this chapel that Prior de
' See illubti'.uion on page 12S.
PRIORY AND CASTLE. 1 43
l:i Mare, about 1347-1349, placed the shrine of St. Oswin, 'so that those
who came to it might more quietly, freely and fittingly continue their
devotions around the martyr.'' The large chapel, shown in an Elizabethan
plan of the castle (Plate XII.) as existing on the north side of the presby-
tery, appears to be the onlv one of sufficient size to answer the requirements
of such a building. Its foundations can still be seen running eastwards in
continuation of the north wall of the presbytery, and, as the wall arcade
of the latter is intact on this side, access to the chapel must have been
from the north aisle of the choir or from its first bav. Its length on the
interior was therefore not less than 70 feet. It was larger than the Ladv-
chapel that Abbot Eversdon had built, some twenty vears earlier, at St.
Alban's, itself a gem of the decorated period of architecture. Apart from
the moulded plinth courses and the plan already mentioned, the onlv
evidence of the work is to be found in a drawing made by Grimm about
1780," in which is delineated the jambs of a window attached to the
north-east angle of the presbyterv. Some fragments of traceried work on
the site may have belonged to the windows, and there are also some
spandril pieces, richlv carved with emblems and foliage, which may have
formed part of a screen.
D. T/ic Cliambcr over t/ic Clioir.
About the same time, and possibly bv the energy of Prior de la Mare,
who spent the large sum of £^(:>\ upon the church, the presbytery and
choir received an additional storey, of which evidence remains in the jambs
of windows above the Transitional south walls and the massive masonry
over the original roof line of the east gable. This large and important
chamber was probablv intended to receive relics, muniments, or other
church moveables. A similar addition was made at Brinkburn priory
(vol. vii. p. 485). It is not a common feature, but is to be found in
some parish cliurches, as at Stewklev and St. Peter's in the East, O.xford,
the cathedrals of Canterbury and Linc<iln, the chapel of King's College,
Cambridge, and it existed in the demolished chapel of Pembroke College,
Oxford. About this period the single-light Norman window in the eastern
bav of the north aisle of the nave gave place to a double-light ogee
window a little to the west of it, and a door of communication between
the church and the prior's lodging was inserted in the same bay.
' Gis/(i Alibiitiim, vol. ii. p. 379. ■ Rrit. Mus. P.R., Kaye. vol. iii. p. llS.
144
TYNEMOrTH PARISH.
/•;. 'Ilic Pcrcx Chapel.
The only portion of the church reniaininj; to be noticed is the
interesting chapel at the extreme east end, commonly but erroneously
known as the Lady-chapel. It was built about the middle of the fifteenth
centurv, when John Langton was prior. From the occurrence of the
arms and badge of the Percys upon its walls and vaulted ceiling, it
appears to have been erected by that family, possibly, as the heraldry
suggests, by the second earl (14 17- 1455). The interior of this chapel,
which measures only 19 feet by 12 feet, is divided into three bays,
each containing a double-light traceried wiiulow with jamb mouldings,
formed of a series of hollows continued across Hat-pointed heads. At the
east end is a circular window tilled with modern tracerv, and on either
side a niche with a cusped head. Below are square aumbries, and in the
south wall is a piscina under an arched recess. Each compartment ot the
vaulting has a ridge and transverse and diagonal ribs ; and, on each side of
the centre, the semi-compartment is again divided by longitudinal, trans-
verse and diagonal ribs At each intersection of the three longitudinal
ribs is a large circular boss with representations of the Redeemer and the
Apostles, sacred monograms, etc. The subjects, commencing with the
central ridge rib and proceeding from the east, are :
He.-ul of Christ with nimbus.
Standinj; figure of the risen Christ holding n b;inner in liis right h.ind ; .it his feet is a small female
figure I Si. Mary M.agdalene) ; the whole encircled by a label bearing the inscriptions : RAUO .
E M.\(;isTKR and Noi.i .mk t.\ngkkk.
.Seated figure >J< . . .\ndre.\ >J« ok.\ p nop. . .
.Seated Majesty between four angels, blowing trumpets. . N Dili ivdicu \.\\\.\ xo? no ... .
Seatetl figure, staflf in left hand, book in right. ^ scE l.\COBE ORA p NOi;'.
.Standing figure holding a lamb, sck iohks B.\prisT.\ ORA p nobis.
Agnus Uei with cross and flag surrounded by cable mounting.
On the north side of the central ridge are :
Eagle of St. John ; scroll missing.
Sacred monogram, 1 H S, surmounted by crown.
Seated figure with palm leaf in right hand and book in left, sce iOh ev.\(;elista ORA p Nor.is.
Monogram of the Virgin, 9^.
Seated figure, three loaves in right hand, book in left, sce phii.ippe ORA p NOBIS.
Star with nine waving rays.
.Seated figure, a sword in left hand, book in right, the feet on a cushion supported by a human
head. >J« sce pavi.e oka p nobis.
Sun in splendour ; round the edge the inscription >J< IHES . mercv.
Seated figure holding book in right hand, flaying knife in left. scE barthoi.omf.e or a |) nob'.
Percy crescent and shacklcbolt on a shield.
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Seated figure, book in right hand, pillar in left. ^ scE SVMON ora p NOBIS.
Monogram of Prior John Langton, 4^
Lion of St. Mark, holding scroll lettered ScE M.\RCE ORA p NOB . .
On the south side of the central ridge are :
Cheiub of St. Matthew holding scroll ; lettering obliterated.
Square rose of fifteenth century type.
Seated figure holding fuller's bat in left hand and book in right. .scE lACOBE MINOR ORA p NOBIS.
Emblems of the crucifixion, namely, cross encircled by crown of thorns, and at its foot three nails
and a scourge.
Seated figure, book in right hand and spear in left. scE thoma ORA p NOBIS.
Circular rose.
Seated figure with keys in right hand, and book in left, the feet on a cushion supported by a human
head. ^ scE petre ora p nobis.
Bearded head.
Seated figure, book in right hand and saw in left. scE mathias ora p NOBIS.
Monogram of Prior John Langton repeated.
Seated figure, book in right hand and halberd in left. ScE thadee ora p NOBIS.
Emblem of the five wounds, namely, a cross with central boss, the boss and limbs each pierced with
a nail mark, the whole surrounded by a cable mounting.
Bull of St. Luke holding scroll lettered ScE LVCA ora p N . . . .
On the west wall :
Over the door a crowned figure seated, sceptre in left hand ; at the feet to the right a kneeling
figure holding scroll lettered fvndator ; on the base .... oswyne ....
At the terminations of the hood-moulding two shields, that on the south bearing a cross (for St.
George ?), that on the north bearing arms of Percy and Lucy quarterly.
On the east wall :
North of window, kneeling figure of an angel.
South of window, standing female figure (the Virgin).
Human heads, angels holding scrolls,
and square-shaped roses also enter into
the
the
which still occur placed diagonally at the
eastern angles. On either side of the cir-
cular window are panels, which formerly
contained shields, bearing the arms of St.
Alban's and of Tynemouth. Above the
window is a third panel containing the
sacred monogram, IHS. The hood-
moulding over the two side panels, as
well as that of the gable, terminates in two portrait-heads, the one that of
a bishop or mitred abbot, the other bearded and bare-headed.
Vol. vin. '9
scheme of decoration. On the exterior, /■-.r' ^ r ". " v ^" '
bays were emphasized by buttresses, \\^' J \'
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.\R.Ms OF St. Alban's in Percy Chapel.
146 TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
Sepulchral Remains.
The floor of this chapel was dug up in 1774, 'in the hope of hnding
the remains of St. Oswin, or some other curiosity," but the onlv discovery
was of a large matrix of a brass, perhaps that one of which some fragments
still remain. A brass or stone effigy once existed in the church, com-
memorating Prior Whethamstede. Round the border ran the verses :
Quern pax legavit cum se super astra levavit
Pace gregem pavit pius hie prior et saturavit,
Huic grex implores implorandoque perores,
Pacis in Auctore requiescat pacis amore.
At the feet of the effigy was written :
En licet oblita jacet hie sub pulvere trita
.Sculpta suis annis W'ethamstede ymago Johannis.-'
St. Henry of Coquet Island was buried in 11 27 in the Norman choir,
and, though no memorial marks his grave, his biographer has indicated
the exact spot of his interment. He was buried to the south of the
shrine of St. Oswin, 'where the wall bows outward,' a description which
tallies with the position of the apsidal chapel opening off the choir to the
south of the high altar.'
No inscribed stone is now remaining. An effigy of a lady,^ clothed
in a long garment reticulated over the head and draped in loose flowing
robes to the feet, formerly filled the northern arched recess in the presby-
tery, and is nearly contemporary with that part of the building. The head
of the figure rests within a trefoil-arched canopy ; the hands appear to
have held some object now worn away ; and the general effect is dignified
and graceful. A second effigy,^ of a later date, was found during the
excavations of 1905 in the south wall of the nave, where it had been used
as a foundation stone. Top and bottom of the stone are missing. The
figure is that of a lady, carved in higher relief than that on the earlier
effigy, but its features are less well cut. The head rests within a cusped
' A Tour in the Northern Counties, Duke of Northumberland's MSS.
' Regislrtim Whethamstede, vol. ii. p. 441.
' ' In latere parietis arcuato.' Acta Sanctorum, vol. ii. p. 61. The site of the southern apsidal
chapel is covered by a high bank of earth in which several modern interments have been made.
' See illustration on p. 51. ' See illustration on p. 75.
Pier Works S*'^'^'
PLATE Xl.
W.H.KNOWLES. F-5A.
MEN5 tT DELTAUG 1905.
PRIORY AND CASTLE. 1 47
arch and is covered by a hood falling over the shoulders. The hands
are raised in an attitude of prayer. A loose garment covers the figure
and reaches to the feet ; its sleeves have lappets. Carving imitative of
arcading occupied the right edge of the slab.
Four medieval grave -covers have been unearthed. The earliest in
point of date bears, in relief, a cross of which the head is in the form of
a cross patee. On two other stones the cross is of a design common
in the neighbourhood, good instances occurring at St. Helen's Auckland,
Barnard Castle, and Chester- le -Street. The shaft of the cross is plain,
the head is voided, and the four arms are of the fleur-de-lys type. One of
these grave-covers has a chamfered moulding and is carved with a sword
in addition to the cross. It is of a smaller size than the others. The
fourth is fragmentary and shows a sword and cross-shaft.
A limestone slab, broken in several pieces, contains a portion of a
matri.x of a brass, probably dating about the middle of the fifteenth century.
The indents are the lower quarter of a figure and, on the de.xter side of
the foot, what seems to be an outline of part of a dog's breast ; whilst
between the figure and the shafts, which supported a canopy, are the
indents of two shields, and an inscription filled the borders.'
Little evidence is left of the internal arrangement of the church.
Besides the high altar there was an altar of St. Alban and St. Amphibalus,
and altars in the various chapels. King Edward I. had a private chapel
in the church," and a chantry was founded by Ralph fitz William, lord of
Grey stoke, in 1315.
The Site : Conventual Buildings.
The church occupies a central position within the twelve acres of
ground which form the castle precincts. On its south side were the
monastic lodgings and offices, and beyond them again a south court com-
prised the slopes down to the Prior's Haven. Gardens e.xtended eastward
from the church, farm buildings lay to the north of it, and due west a
medieval gate-house still stands and affords communication with the town.
A curtain-wall, strengthened at intervals by towers, followed the lines of
' For a detailed account of monumental stones at Tynemouth, see Mr. S. .S. Carr's article on the
subject in Arch. Ael. 2nd series, vol. xxv. p. 1 18.
" Wardrobe Accounts cited by Gibson, vol. ii. p. civ.
148 TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
the cliffs and contained the whole site. But now, besides the church and
the gate-house, only a single chamber and a few isolated fragments of
masonry are left of the medieval buildings ; graves, cottages and roadways
cover the whole site. It is therefore necessary, in order to obtain a picture
of the monastery, to supplement architectural evidence by documentary
records, of which the chief is a plan of the castle made in the time
of Queen Elizabeth,' a plan involved and incorrect in its details, but
tolerably trustworthy in regard to the disposition of the various buildings.
Though evidence with regard to the conventual buildings is slight,
the little that remains points to four periods of construction : (i) the wall
arcade at the west end of the south wall of the nave, (2) a similar wall
arcade attached to the south transept, (3) the existing building shown on
the plan, which stood possibly outside the south-east angle of the cloisters,
and (4) the fourteenth century fragments of buildings engrafted on the
south-west corner of the nave.
The western arcade marks the position of a range of buildings, probably
consisting of the refectory and dormitory of the lay brethren, which
enclosed the cloister garth on this side. A chapter-house and a dormitory
are shown on the Elizabethan plan as forming the opposite side of the
cloister. The early thirteenth century arcade on the south wall of the south
transept indicates the position of a building which may be identified with
the chapter- house. The dormitory of 11 11 was rebuilt by Prior de la
Mare in 1347- 1349 ; it stood at the south-east angle of the cloister, and
was raised on a substructure, being probably built over a parlour or
warming-house, and a ' slype ' or passage leading to the monks' cemetery
and to the sacristies and vestries adjoining the choir of the conventual
church. The chamber shown on Plate VIII., south of the dormitory, is
designated 'the lord's lodging' in the Elizabethan plan. It is of thir-
teenth century date, but has been altered and adapted to modern uses.
There are built-up window -openings and recesses in its south and west
walls. Its ceiling is vaulted, with chamfered ribs springing from moulded
corbels. A narrow space covered with a similarly ribbed segmental vault,
and having an opening in the west wall, adjoins it on the north. According
to the plan, the lord's lodging formed part of the south side of the cloister
garth. If that were so, the cloister was of an anomalous shape, a double
' Cotton MSS. Augustus, pt. i. vol. ii. p. 6.
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PRIORY AND CASTLE. 149
instead of a single square, measuring 83 feet from east to west and 164 feet
from north to south. More probably the range of buildings on the south
of the cloister occupied the usual position, but was pulled down before
the Elizabethan plan was made. On this supposition, the lord's lodging
may have been one of a series of guest-chambers to the south of the
cloistral buildings. A refectory existed on the south of the cloisters, as
described in the account of the fire which broke out in the time of Prior
Ruelendus. Kitchens lay to the west of it.
Already in 1577, 'the ruynes of certeine lodginges abowt the cloyster '
were 'all uncovered and defaced.'' It is, therefore, not surprising that
hardly a vestige of them is now remaining.
The fragments at the south-west corner of the nave belong to a
fourteenth century vestibule or open porch added to the earlier chamber
which formed the western boundary of the cloister. Its addition neces-
sitated the lowering of an Early English window and the rebuilding of
the angle of the nave. Some springer-stones inserted in the wall-arcades
of the west gable show that a later structure was attached to the church
at this point, perhaps the ' litle towre used for a prison, called the Hye
prison,' described in the survey of 1577 as being 'on th'est parte of th'entrye
in th'enner court.' ^
Upon entering the castle through the gate-house, the great court was
reached. The church lay straight in front. On the right a bake-house
and brew-house, built by de la Mare, were ranged with other domestic
offices round an inner court, which enclosed the space between the gate-
house and the cloisters. A malt kiln and a building where the constable
lodged were on the left. A passage round the north side of the church
led to the prior's lodging, of which the foundations are shown on Plate
VIII. To the north of this point there was a large poultry yard and
barn yard, containing barns, garners, stables, and a farm pond. All these
buildings are shown in the Elizabethan plan, but there is no trace in it
of an infirmary. Probably this indispensable adjunct of a monastery was
to be found east of the lord's lodging.
' Exchequer Special Commissions, No. 1736.
= Hutchinson alludes to 'a gateway of circular arches, comprehending several members inclining
inwards, and arising from pilasters' as existing at this point in 177S and givmg access to the cloisters ;
History of NortliiimberUind, vol. ii. p. 344-
150 tynemouth parish.
The Great Gate-house.
As at Dunstanburgh, Bywell and Bothal, the strength of the castle
lay in its gate-house. Originally the monastery was approached by a raised
causeway which led through a narrow entrance cut out of the rock. This
was superseded bv the great tower, which formed part of the Edwardian
defences, and probably dated from 1296, in which year Edward I. gave
his licence to crenellate. As it had fallen completely into ruin a century
later, Richard II., the duke of Lancaster, and the first earl of Northumber-
land contributed funds towards constructing a new gate-house on or near
the site of the old one, and in 1390 the present group of buildings was
erected by Prior John Whethamstede. This comprises an oblong tower
with a projecting barbican, similar to those of Alnwick and Prudhoe. The
tower has an external measurement of 56 feet by 35 feet, and is four stories
in height ; the barbican projected 54 feet beyond. The outer portion of
the barbican was covered over. It measured 38^ feet by 34 feet. In the
survey of 1577 it and the loftier structure behind it are respectively desig-
nated the low tower and the gate-house tower.' The intervening space
of 20 feet originally formed an open courtyard." Enclosing the south-east
angle of the gate-house tower is a building to which the same survey gives
the name of the mount chamber.
In 1783 the Government fitted up the gate-house for barracks and
mess-rooms, removed the turrets and upper portions of the high tower,
and added to the barbican, in this way completely altering the old lines
of the building and still further concealing them by a coat of stucco. On
Plate XIII. is shown the amount of medieval work which has been
retained.
The entrance was through an arched opening protected by a portcullis
and gates, and was flanked on either side by towers, of which the basements
were vaulted and used as guard-rooms, each being twenty-eight feet long
' They are the low white hall and the high white hall of an inventory of 1585. 'The white hall
or towre is the gatehouse and entrance into the castle, wheare the powder and shott lyeth, and some
other nesesaries of that kinde.' Letter of Sir John Fenwick, April ist, 1617. Duke of Northumberland's
MSS.
■ 'The tower comprehends an outward and interior gateway, the outer gateway having two gates at
the distance of about six feet from each other, the inner of vvhicli is defended by a portcullis and an open
gallery. The interior gateway is in like manner strengthened by a double gate. The space between the
gateways, being a square of about six paces, is open above, to allow those on the top of the tower and
battlements to annoy assailants who had gained the first gate." Hutchinson, Northumberland, 1778,
vol. li. p. 342.
TYNEMOATH PDIOCY GA
GROUND PLAN
PID5T noon PLAN,
PLATE XIII.
^PEHOUSE
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SCALE OF rCET.
TniDD riOOR PLAN.
SECOND PLOOP PLAN
W.n KN0WLES.F.5A.
mens et oelt.
Aug. \9os.
PRIORY AND CASTLE. I5I
by eight feet wide. A newel, emphasized bv an opening in the vaulting
overhead, indicates that a staircase occupied a portion of the south guard-
room. Possibly there were chambers, including one for the working of
the portcullis, upon an upper floor. A chamfered offset, forming the lower
member of the parapet, is visible on the exterior. The roof could be
reached from the gate-house tower at the level of the second floor.
On the south side of the small courtyard is a narrow chamber which
may have been covered with a lean-to roof, or else was carried up to
increase the side walk leading from the tower to the barbican.'
The middle section of the ground floor of the tower is gated at each
end. The massive masonry covering the entrance from the priorv precincts
appears to have been carried no higher than the ground floor. On either
side of the passage is a vaulted store-room, of which the doors and one
loophole are ancient. The other openings in these rooms have been
enlarged, including one at the west end of each chamber, commanding the
sides of the barbican. At the south-east corner are two chambers, ac-
cessible from the exterior only. It appears from the name of the ' mount
chamber' given to this portion of the gate-house that it adjoined and
possibly intruded into a slope which was utilized as an ascent to the
first-floor level.
This could only be reached by the existing door (marked A on
Plate XIIT.) through the vestibule, B which gave access either directly or
through a screen at C to a large room measuring forty-five feet by twenty-
three feet. This is probably the great chamber of the castle. It was
lighted on all sides by windows since modernized. Some corbels intended
to carry the floor joists still remain. In the east wall there is an ancient
fireplace, with an arched head supported bv corbels carried on chamfered
jambs, and the beginning of a mural stair which must originally have served
as an approach to the second floor. A staircase in the west wall gave
access to the parapets of the barbican, and at the south-east corner a
newel stair led up from the outer doorway to the third floor, and so to
the tower roof. In this way the great chamber commanded the movements
of all the occupants of the gate-house. The ceilings of the passages about
the newel staircase are of large flat stones on a chamfered stone cornice.
The openings are arched, and the work is generally of a fair character.*
' See an ini.iginary sketch in Anh. Ad. 2nd series, vol. xviii. p. 62.
' See pp. 99 and 1 10 for illustrations of the newel stair and doors leading to it.
152
TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
On the second floor the newel stair leads on to a landing which opens
on the right into a small chamber, and on the left into one or more apart-
ments which may have been used as kitchens. The stair which starts in
the thickness of the east wall of the great chamber probably continued
and opened at E into the jamb of the east window of the room above.
This room is of the same dimensions as the great chamber, and was once
lighted upon three sides.
The third floor was lofty before the modern insertion of an e.xtra floor.
It was lighted at either end by a large window, with rear-arches of simple
proportions, and had a fireplace similar to that in the great chamber. At
the south - west angle there are signs of a mural chamber, possibly
used as a garde-robe. Almost the entire length of the east wall is
pierced by a passage which was perhaps divided into garde-robes or small
chambers, though another purpose is suggested for it in the view of the
north-east side of the gate-house, given in Grose's Antiquities. There a
door is shown,.about the level of the third floor, opening on to an external
landing corbelled out on the north side of the tower, and it is possible
that the mural passage led through this door to the curtain-wall, which
may have been high at this point. Similarly, the door leading out from
the newel staircase landing may have admitted to the curtain on the south
side of the gate-house. These approaches suggest that the third floor was
occupied by the garrison.
A staircase led upwards from the south-east angle of the same chamber.
The upper portion of its south wall and part of the west wall were also
occupied by a passage or stair. Either or both of these staircases may
have led to a newel in a turret at the south-east angle of the tower. In
Grose's view the tower is shown finished at the four angles by round
bartizans, oversailed from the walls below like those at Chipchase castle.'
The Curtain.
About one hundred and seventy-five feet north of the gate-house, with
which it was connected by a curtain wall, a fragment of the Whitley tower
clings to the side of the cliff'. Its masonry is massive, and indicates three
floor levels below the present surface. The basement contains a door
leading north into a second chamber lately fallen away, popularly
known as Jingling Geordie's Hole. On the south side of the gate-house
' See vol. iv. of this work, plate facing p. 332.
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TYNEMOUTH CASTI.E. 1 53
the curtain wall screened the mount and led to the mount tower, of which
a fragment, corbelled out on the first-floor level, can be seen from the
Pier Road. The wall immediately beyond it has been largely rebuilt.
Probably it was at this point that a gallery, described in the survey of
1577, extended behind the curtain as far as the drum tower, where the
inner wall of the south court was reached. At right angles to the latter
a considerable length of wall descends rapidly towards the Prior's Haven.
It is curved in plan and has some stepped and splayed plinth-courses, but
no buttresses.
In an eighteenth century drawing by Waters,' as well as in a painting
of somewhat earlier date (Plate XIV.), the western wall of the castle
is shown terminating in a square tower, having a door towards the Prior's
Haven. Over the doorway, at the roof level, the tower is finished with
heavilv corbelled machicolations. This is probablv ' the tower in the
madder garth' of the 1577 survey. It stood at the south-western angle
of the south court, but has disappeared, together with the wall which ran
eastwards from this point to the sea, for the side of the cliff has been
quarried away to form the present pier. Midwav between the tower in
the Madder Garth and the eastern e.xtremitv of the wall there once stood
the dovecote tower, shown in Waters's drawing as having a door or postern
from which steps descended to the haven. The height and precipitous
character of the cliffs on the east and north rendered towers unnecessary
along the curtain, which pursued a devious course along the edge of the
promontory until it reached the Whitlev tower.'-
' Repioduced in Arch. AcL 2nd series, vol. xviii. p. 80.
- Absjract of inquisition taken at Tynemouth castle, July 15th, 1577 :
At the entry of the house towards the west is the gate in ' the low towre,' 1 2 yards square, 9 yards high.
.Vdjoining the same, with a void place between, is 'a towre called the yate-house towre,' three stories
in height, 14 yards square, 15 yards high.
.Adjoining the south end of the said tower is another little house called 'the mount chambre,' 10
yards long, 7 yards high.
'The barne called th'oote barne,' 38 yards long, loi yards broad, 4 yards high.
'The barne called the wheat barne,' 53 « 14 " 5 yards.
The wheat garner, 20 x 8 x 5 yards.
The hay barn, 21 y. 10 x 4 yards.
' The gate howse betwene the capteyn's stable and the hay barne,' 7 yards long, 5 yards high.
The captain's stable, 24 x 6 x 2' yards.
The guest stables, 17x9x4 yards.
' The store-house wher th'artillery lyeth, vawted over with stone, and the gardner above the same."
37 X 10 X 8 yards.
'The howse at the water stone .adjoyninge upon the pound, and the chambres above the same,"
15x8x4 yards.
Vol. VIII. 20
154 TYNEMOtTM PARISH.
TVNEMOUTH CASTLE.
The promontory now occupied by Tynemouth castle being easy of
defence, the supplies of the surrounding country were carried thither, at
the time of William the Conqueror's inroad of 1070, that they might not
fall into the hands of the Norman soldiery.' Perhaps defensive works
already protected the western side of the rock, where approach was alone
possible, and the castle may date from a period earlier than the Conquest.
Setting aside the theory of a Roman occupation, there is a tradition that
it was made a military base by the Danish invaders.^ But there is no
certain evidence of a castle here before 1095 ; it is straining the words
of the Life of St. Oswiii to represent Earl Tostig as having had a
'The water poole or pound lyinge upon th'est syd of the sayd howse.'
The house called ' the kylne dodd,' 9 yards long, 8 yards broad.
'The malt-house adjoyning upon th'est ende of the sayd kylne,' 21 x 13 x S yards.
The plumber's house, 14x6x4 yards.
The horse-mill, 14 yards long, 10 yards broad.
The bake-house and bolting-house, 16x6x3 yards.
The brew-house, 15 x 13 x 4 yards.
'On th'est parte of th'entrye in th'enner court is a litlc towre used for a prison, called the hye prison,'
10 X 6 X 5 yards.
Adjoyning the same are ' the ruynes of certeine lodginges abowt the cloyster, all uncovered and
defaced. A litle within ys th'entrye into the hall, ascendinge upp certeyne stepps, which entry is of
stone and vawted over.'
The hall, buttery and yellow chamber on the right hand of the entry, 19 x 10 x 7 yards.
Then out of the hall southward is a chapel and a chamber, .\djoining the same westward, ascending
certain steps, is a little chamber railed ' the utter parlour. Next adjoining thereto is th'inner parlour as
a too-full, both adjoininge together with the gallery end,' 22 x y x 5 yards.
Within which parlour is certain chambers and lodgings and a gallery ' placed as in four houses ' near
to the brew-house, 15x6x5 yards.
Upon the other side of the entry into the hall is a house called Edmund's chamber, 10 yards square.
Adjoining thereto is a house called ' th'old kytchinge,' defaced and uncovered. Adjoining thereto
is 'the kytchinge which befor was called 'ewryall,' 17 x 14 x 9 yards.
Another little house adjoining, called the steward's chamber.
A tower on the north-west part called 'Whitley towre,' with stone vaulting and battlement,
10 X 10 X 13 yards.
The walls from thence to the gate-house towre south, 62 yards long, 7 yards high.
The mount between the mount towers is 40 yards long, 2J yards high. ' Th'ester towre," 5x5x7
yards ; the other, 10x6x7 yards.
The wall betwi.\t the gallery and the tower ne.xl to the Prior's Haven. 14 yards long, 6 yards high.
The tower in the madder garth, with a little turret adjoining, each 5 x 5 x 15 yards.
The walls betwixt the said tower and the 'duckett' tower, with two small towers thereupon, 80 yards
long, 6 yards high.
' The dowecoate towre, containing about yt 30 yardes,' 1 5 yards high.
' The walls from thence and the end next to the I'ryour's Haven, being the uttermost part to the sea,'
110 yards long, 5 yards high. Exchequer Special Commissions, No. 1736.
The .above is only a partial survey, containing estimates of the cost of repairing those parts of the
castle which required restoration ; thus it leaves out of account the ruined monastic buildings and the
curtain-wall on the east and north. Its measurements, where they can be checked, as in the case of
the gate-house, are found only approximately accurate.
' Vita Oswini, cap. viii. See also p. 43.
• I.eland, Coltectaiien, ed. Hearne. 1774. vol. iv. p. 43. See also p. 40.
TYNEMOUTH CASTLE. 155
Stronghold here,' or even a permanent residence, nor is there reason for
connecting his name more closely with Tynemouth than witli any other
village on his demesnes.
If the castle be not pre-Conquest in its origin, Robert de Mowbray
may be regarded as its founder, as he was of the priory within it. In the
summer of 1095 William Rufus captured, after a two months' siege, ' Earl
Robert's castle which is at the mouth of the river Tyne.''^ Seized again
by Mowbray, it again fell and the rebel earl was captured within it.
A suggestion that has been made^ that the Norman fortifications were
not on the castle promontory, but on the little spit of land afterwards
occupied by the Spanish battery, hardly merits consideration, being opposed
to the evidence of one who saw the place iifteen years later, and has
described the church of St. Mary as being ' within the circuit of Mowbray's
castle of Tynemouth.' ' They probablv did not consist of more than earthen
ramparts, surmounted by a wooden stockade. In this connection it is
noteworthy that at the present day a sloping bank of earth, some fifteen
feet in height, lines the interior of the western wall and stretches across
the neck of the promontory. The same slope or ' mount is mentioned
in a survev of 1577^38 extending southward from the gateway. As the
entrance to the gate-house, built in 1390, is on the first-floor level, it is
clear that it was reached, if not by an outside staircase, then by an inclined
plane. Similar 'mounts' are known to have existed at Newcastle and other
fortified positions where defences were erected .shortly after the Conquest,
though no stone curtain-walls can be assigned to so early a period. These
earthen mounds at Tynemouth are therefore perhaps the work ot Mowbray
or of one of his predecessors in the Northumbrian earldom, and were
incorporated into the later line of defence.*
' Vita Oswiiii, cap. vii. Cf. C. J. Bates, Boiilcr HuUls, \i. 2.
- ' Castellum comilis Rolbeili ad ostium Tinae lUiminis situin.' Florence of Worcester, fw^'/. Hist.
Soc. vol. ii. p. 38. See also p. 52.
' Dy the late I'rofcssor Freeman, Reign of Willinm Ru/iis, \ol. ii. pp. 606-607.
'•Hie I'Koberlus dc Mulbray' coepil sanctum regem ct niartyreni Oswiniim cxiniiae devotionis
diligentia excolerc, ct ecclcsiani in (.[ua sani tissimum ejus corpus rei|uicsccbat, quia infra ambitun\ caslri
ejus in Tyncinudtha conlinebatur, fundorum et praediorum copia ditavit. I'l/ii Osuini, cap. iv. p. 15.
' Excheiiuer Special Commissions, No. 1736.
' 'The motive for erecting; moimds amid lowers is not obvious ; anil it is extremely probable that in
such uorks vvc may often have the sites of the wooden edifices on earthen mounts which preceded the
more elaborate fortresses of the later Norman period, and are conspicuous in the Hayeux tapestr)'.'
W. II. n. Lonystaffe in Aiili. Ail. 2ni.\ series, vol. iv. p. 74.
156 TYNEMOITH PARISH.
On September 5th, 1296, Edward 1. granted his licence to the prior
and convent of Tvneniouth to surround their monastery with a w'all of stone
and lime, and to hold it without let or hindrance on the part of the king
or his officers.' The medieval walls and towers still remaining belong,
with the exception of the gate-house, to that period. According to the
terms of Edward I.'s patent, the Crown had no special rights over the
castle. When Edward II., in a time of general confusion, put John de
Haustede in charge of it, he first obtained the consent of the abbot of
St. Albans to the appointment.' In the following reign (1346) Ralph de
Neville attempted to treat Tynemouth as a royal fortress, but was frustrated
by Prior de la Mare, who won from the king a recognition of the right
of the prior, for the time being, to exercise sole authority within its walls.'*
Prior Richard de Tewing (13 15- 1340) maintained a garrison of eighty
armed men within the monastery,' but a permanent force was probably
only necessary during the Scottish wars. In 1380, 1384 and 1390, petitions
addressed to the king called attention to the decay of the walls consequent
upon the encroachment of the sea.° The gate-house, built in the latter
year upon the site of an earlier work, marks the completion of the medieval
castle ; ;^666 13s. 4d. was subscribed by the king, the duke of Lancaster
and the earl of Northumberland towards its erection."
On January 12th, 1538/9, Prior Blakeney and tlie convent surrendered
their house to the Crown, and, on March 29th following, Henry VIII.
granted to Sir Thomas Hilton of Hilton the site of the monastery and
of the dissolved hospital of Tynemouth, Tynemouth demesnes, Flatworth,
various coal mines, salt pans and mills, and the tithes of the parishes
of Tynemouth and Woodhorn, for the term of twenty-one years, to
hold at the rent of ;£ 163 is. 5d. yearly.' Hilton had already established
a connexion with the place, for he was the leader in the attack on the
priory in Thomas Gardiner's time ; he had taken steps to keep order there
during the Pilgrimage of Grace, and was in receipt of an annuity of two
pounds from the house when it was dissolved.'^ He now took up his
' Cal. Pat. Rolls, 1292-1301, p. 197. See also p. S3.
- Ibid. 1317-1321, p. 140. .See also p. 87. ' Gcslu Abhatum, vol. ii. p. 379. See also p. 95.
' See p. 86. * See pp. 97-99. " See p. 99.
• Letters and Papers, Hen. Mil. vol. xiv. pt. i. p. 610. (Jibson, vol. i. pp. 216, 217.
' Ibid. vol. xi. p. 524. Uutj'dale, Mumtsticon, vol. iii. p. 308, note ' e.'
Tynemol'th castle. 157
residence in the quarters Injin which the monks had been expelled.
Richard Bellasis of Henkiiowl in the countv of Diiriiani, who had previ-
oiislv joined Hilton in attacking; tiie monastery, acted as agent for the
Crown in selling the goods and chattels.'
In April, 1544, the earl of Hertford made Tynemontii a base for the
Knglish fleet in his invasion of Scotland. He seems to have realised the
importance of converting the dissolved priory into a royal fortress, for
in the following Januarv tiie Privy Council directed Sir Richard Lee to
view the state of Tynemouth and to set in liand such works as should
be thought necessary for strengthening the same, taking with him Antonio
de Bergoma and John Thomas Scala, Italians expert in fortification.-' Lee
reported that he thought it ' a place so nedeful to be fortihed as none within
this realme more,' and sent up plans showing what work it was proposed
to carry out.' One of these plans is still in existence, annotated in Italian.'
The new fortifications were to include an outwork in front of the gate-house,
a battery on the low promontory to the south of the caStle but separated
from it by the Prior's Haven, and walls connecting the new battery with
the priory ; while cannon were to be mounted along the old landward
wall. Spades, shovels, mattocks, and baskets were to hand, having been
stored at Tvnemouth for the late expedition into Scotland.
Work was connnenced on February 21st, 1545, and continued until
July 19th following. A thousand workmen were impressed / 2,1 18 6s.
was spent on labourers' wages, and £2^^^, 8s. 6d. on the wages of masons
and other artizans. As the total expenditure amounted to no more than
£2,62^^) 4s. 3d., it is evident that materials were ready to hand. Boards,
nails and ironwork were purchased, but stone was to be had for nothing,'^
the priorv church no doubt proving a readv quarrv.
The earl of Shrewsbury, lord lieutenant for the northern counties,
made arrangements for garrisoning the castle. On April 30th he wrote
the foUowinc; letter to the kinu :
"&
' Gibson, vol. i. p. 211. " Lotlyc, Illustrations a/ British History, vol. i. p. So.
^ Hamilton Papers, vol. ii. p. 555.
' Cotlon MS.S. .Augustus I. ii. 7, beiny a plan of Tyneniouth castle, /t;H/>. Henry \lll. llie plan
i;ives measurements for the foitilicntions above described, is annotated in Italian, and therefore can be
attributed, uitli a fair measure of certainty, to Sir Richard I.ee's cn};inccrs in r54;. It has been repro-
duced in Anil. Acl. 2nd series, vol. \ix. to face p. 68.
' I'ipe (.)rtice, iJeclared .Accounts, No. 3534.
I 1^8 TYNEMOUTH I'AKlSH.
I'lease it your roy.ill maje^-li; tAiiulresland. that presentlie arrived here letters from the loriles and
others of your hiyhiies most honorable privie coiuibaile, addressed to nie, th'erle of Shrewesbury, by
the whiclie I doo perceive that your majeste's pleasure is that I shulde appoynt suiniiie mete personage
with 2 or 300 men to lye in garrison at Tynmouthc for the defence and safegardc of your highnes' newe
fortifications there : for th'accomplishment wherof, considering that there be at Tynemowthe at this
piesent aboutes a thousand woorkemen or nio, wherof, as we be infoiirnied, inayc be pyked oute aboutes
400 able and tall men, we have thought mete to take order for the sending thither of harnes and weapon
to furnishe a good nomber of them, whiche shall bothe supplie the woorket;, and reniayne there as
souldiours for defence of the saide foitressc, as the case shall rei|uyer, withoute puttyng your majeste
to any further charge then for the wages whiche they have alreadie as woorkemen. And for the better
order of them in case of defence, if th'ennemyes shall approche, we have not onelie taken order with
oone John Norton of Clydderowe, who is a hardie gentilman and of good experience of the warres,
to repayre fourthwith unto Tynniowthe, to reside there and to joyne with John lirende, your majeste's
servaunt, who hathe the oversight and ordre of the saide woorkes to be as capitaynes to the saide
wc)orkemcn ; but also wc have appoynled Hughe Boyfelde, master of your majeste's ordinaunce in theis
panes, to sende unto Tynniowthe aforsaide from Xewcastell a cannon, a saker, 2 fawlcons and 2 slynges,
for to be placed for the lyme in suche places of the saide fortresse as shalbe most mete for defence ; and
also the countrcy thereaboutes shalbe in a readines to repayre thither for defence at all tymes as the
case shall requyer. This order wc have thought best to be taken in this behaulfe, bothe for the avoyding
of your majeste's further charge, and also for that victualles be so scarce that there is uuichc adoo to
gett sufficient for the saide woorkemen which be alre.idie at Tynniowthe as is aforsaide.'
Two days later Slitevvsbiiry informed the king that thirteen hiuidred
Spanish troops had arrived at Newcastle, and that the wardens of the east
and middle marches intended to divide them up into small bodies and place
them at dilFerent points along the coast. He suggested that some of them
should be placed in garrison at Tynemouth ' for the better defence of his
majesty's new fortifications there.' " The suggestion was adopted. A body
of mercenaries appears to have been placed in the new outwork, which
received from them its name of the Spanish battery.
Sir Francis Leeke, who was also governor of Berwick, was appointed
captain of the castle. Some maintenance had to be found for him. It was
therefore decided to attach to the office of captain the second and more
lucrative post of steward of all the estates of the suppressed monastery.
This was in the hands of Sir Thomas Hilton, who was approached with
the view of inducing him to sell his interest for 200 marks. He proved
so amenable that ' he offered not only his farm and stewardship aforesaid,
but all that iie hath in the world besides, to be at the king's majesty's
pleasure.'"* Accordingly, on January 20th, 1545/6, Leeke was given the
' state Papers, Hen. \'I11. \o\. \. p. 441. Cp. vol. i. p. 7S6. Ldtirs mul Piipcn, Hen. \'11I. vol. x\.
pt. i. p. 294.
'■ Stall Papers, vol. v. p. 443. Litters and Papers, vol. \\. pt. i. p. 289. !■ or the employment of
mercenary troops upon the Borders, see vol. ii. of this work, pp. 125-126.
' Slate Papers, pp. 490, 495. A els 11/ I lie Privy Council, 1547-1550, p. 100.
TYNEMOUTH CASTLE. 159
office of Steward, together with the demesnes, tithes, fisheries and coal
pits attached to it. -As captain he also received a hnndred marks yearly, a
snm increased on December 6th, 1547, to £^i 14s. lod., in consideration
of his continuing captain for life.' He kept fifty men under him, for a
larger permanent garrison was found unnecessary. Rv way of obtaining
a reserve 'it was ordered that the footmen within the lordship of Tynemouth
should be attendant upon the castle there, and not to assemble with the
warden unless it were for resistance of an urgent or dangerous invasion.'-'
Three culverins and a saker were sent from Newcastle to add to the
artillery.' Leeke did not long continue to hold office, bt-ing succeeded
on April 5th, 1549, bv Sir Thomas Hilton.'
Tvnemouth had so far remained Crown property, but on December 8th.
1551, the site of the monasterv and all its possessions in the parishes of
Tynemouth and Woodhorn were granted to John Dudley, earl of Warwick,
and afterwards duke of Northumberland, in exchange for lands in the
counties of O.xford and Worcester, with the reservation of a fee farm rent
of /"is 15s. 6d. payable to the Crown. The mistake of letting a national
fortress become the private property of an ambitious statesman was rectified
by the subsequent exchange (November Sth, 1552) of the castle, site of the
monasterv and demesnes of Tvnemouth, for lands in Wiltshire, Yorkshire
and Norfolk.'
Hilton appears to have remained in uninterrupted possession of the
site of the monasterv, and its demesnes were restored to him when Leeke's
occupancy ended. His lease was due to expire in 1560. Though he applied
for its renewal, that was denied to him, the site of the priory being leased
to Thomas, seventh earl of Northumberland, on August 17th. 1557, for
twenty-one vears, at an annual rent of /."53 3s. 4d.'' In May, 155Q, before
the expiration of the lirst term, Hilton diet! of a fever, having devised the
' .Vugnientation Office, Miscellaneous Books, \a\. 236, fol. 121, and vol. 21S. fol. 172. Ctil. Slate Papers,
Foreign, 15 59- 1560, p. 279.
■ Sir Robert IJowes' -Survey. Hodgson, Sorthumherland. pt. iii. vol. ii. p. 245.
' Acts of the Privy Council, 1542-1547, p. 316.
' Augmentation Office, Miscell. Jiooks, vol. 220, fol. iSi.
' .Vugnientation Office, Deeds of Kxcliangc, box ("., No. 30, and 1)0\ H, No. 8. C.ibson. vol. i.
pp. 237-238.
" Acts 0/ the Privy Council, iJS^-iSjS, p. 21)5. I\il. Kolh, 4 and 5 I'liilip and Mary. pt. 2. C.ibson,
vol. i. p. 239.
l6o TYNEMOUTH TAKISH.
remainder of his lease to his wife, who survived him.' She shortly after-
wards married William Bulleiii, her husband's phvsician. He was author
of several popular treatises upon medicine, including a work upon the
'Governance of Health' whicii he had dedicated to Sir Thomas Hilton
about the time of tliat knight's fatal illness. A brother of the latter,
William Hilton of Biddick, accused Bullein of murdering his patron and
brought him to trial before the duke of Norfolk, but failed to prove his
charge.'"'
The post of captain now being vacant, Sir Henry Percy, governor of
Norham castle and younger brother of the seventh earl, was appointed
to the ofHce through the iuHuence of Sir William Cecil, the future Lord
Burleigh.' Letters patent, dated February 8th, 1561, formallv placed him
in command,' but he did not find it easv to effect an entrance. Writing
to Cecil, he explained :
I li.ivc been at Tyncmoutli, and fnidinj,' no man save one priest in the house, have left Raiilph
Lowrauncc and twelve of ni\- men to keep it. I demanded of my lady Hilton the delivery of the house
•ind all things of tlie queen's by right, whereon she sent a servant with me and look a note of the
munition .ind artillery, l)ut would not deliver, as by indenture she received it — saying the indenture
was not there — so I took the house only. On Thursday next she has promised her indenture shall
be ready. If I took the house as the lady would deliver it, there would be neither door, lock, key,
forms or boards, mill, brew-house, or anything except munition and ordnance, for, as she says, .Sir
Thomas Hilton bought it all.
Hilton's death gave an opportunitv for reducing the cost of the garrison,
which had been £47^ los. vearlv in the time of Henrv VHL Some pro-
vision had to be made for Sir Henry Percv, who became a rival with his
brother, the earl, for the tithes of Tynemouthshire. Oueen Elizabeth
decided that these should be ' let to the keeper only of the house from
' Will dated November cSth, 155S : Surtees, Durham, vol. ii. pp. 32, },■>,. Inventory of goods taken
on .April 24th, 1559; W'llh ami Iiiviiiloriis, Sun. Soc. Xo. 2, pp. 181-1S4. The inventory details goods
an{| chattels remaining in the kitchen at Tynemouth, the brew-house, the bake-house, the kiln, the salt-
garner, the gallery, the closet within the gallery, the cellar, the outer parlour, the buttery, the chapel
chamber, the hall, (lilbert Erringlon chamber, and the mill house. C.ilbert Errington's connexion with
the monastery throws light upon the circumstances in which the manuscript life of .St. Oswin, containing
his autograph, may have come into his hands. He was brother-in-law of Richard Bellasis, who had the
disposal of the goods and chattels of the dissolved monastery.
"Diet. Nat. Biog. sub voce William Bullein. Ijullein, Booke oj Simples, 1576, fol. 79. Flower,
I'isitation 0/ Yorkshiye.
' Cal. State Papers, Foreign, 1558-1559, pp. 338, 359.
* Pat. Roll, 3 Eliz. pt. i.
' Cal. Scottish Papers, ed. Bain, vol. i. p. 238 ; letter dated August 4th, 1 559. In an inventory t.aken
November 30th, 155S, the following pieces of brass ordnance were found at Tynemouth: one cannon,
one demi-cannon, two demi-culverins, two sakers, and four falcons ; also o.ie iron demi-culverin, and
one iron saker. State Papers, Borders, vol. i. No, 16.
PLATE XV.
Chart of the Tvne temp. Henry VIII.
TYNEMOUTH CASTLE. l6l
time to time, and not to be dissevered from the house as it now is ; the
like also shall be with the demesnes.' ' This did not content Percy, who
wrote on April 30th, 1560, to Cecil :
For my own atitaiis— I mean Tynemouth— I pray you let me not be burdened with sa weighty a
piece and so small a commission to rule it ; for you know I have kept it this twelve-month almost
at my own charges, too sore a burden for a younjjer brother of my ability."
Accordingly, the duke of Norfolk was directed to report on the cost
of the establishment. He recommended, on August 8th, that the garrison
should have one captain with a salary of a hundred pounds a year, a
constable and a porter who should receive ten pounds each, four gunners
engaged at a shilling a day, and thirty-two soldiers at eightpence a dav,
an advance of nearly a hundred pounds upon the sum paid in Henry Vni.'s
reign, when fiftv soldiers were maintained.' This did not accord with the
queen's views. She wrote on October 5th to Sir Richard Lee :
Trusty and welbeloved, we grete vow well. Where as our chardg hath bene lately in the tyine
of these late troubles, that waye amongst other thynges, augmented at our howse of Tynemouth, which
by advise of our counsell we meane to abridg ; our pleasure is that ye, at your retoune from Barwyk,
shall view the seate thereof, and consider whyther the same be nedefull to be kept in fortification as
it is for the defence and gard of the city of the haven there, or that some other lower place nerer
the same haven might be more mete for the same purpoose to be kept and with less chardg, as it
hath bene hertofore at other tymes thought, and with small chardg to us might be kept by our towne of
Newcastell ; wherin we praye yow have as good consideration as to such a case belongethe.'
The letter is interesting, as it shows a change coming over the system
of national defence. It had been the practice in the middle ages to have
strong castles built on sites where nature assisted the engineer in rendering
the work of defence easy, castles which provided shelter for the inhabitants
of the neighbouring districts until the tide of invasion sank back e.xhausted
from an attack upon impregnable positions. In the si.xteenth century the
growth of foreign navies, the danger of continental invasion, and the
extension of mercantile towns beyond the limit of their neglected walls,
made it increasingly necessary to guard coast and estuary. Batteries
furnished with good artillery were of more value than the double or triple
defences of fourteenth century strongholds. Tynemouth was no longer
regarded as an isolated place of refuge, but as the chief of the defences
of the Tyne.
' Cal. state Papers, Domestic, 1547- 1580, p. 147. Haynes, State Papers, p. 220.
" Cal. Scottisli Papers, vol. i. p. 391.
" Cal. State Papers, Foreign, 1560- 1 561, p. 217. ' State Papers, Borders, vol. iii. No. 346.
Vol. VIII. 2'
l62 TVNF.MOrril takish.
Lee could hardly be expected to advocate the demolition of works
which he himself had planned. A compromise was effected, by which Sir
Henry Percy received ^'66 13s. 4d. a year for his fee, and an annnity of
£2)2> 6s. 8d., an allowance of a shillinj^ a day for a master gunner, and
provision for eight gunners at sixpence a day, and for eleven household
servants at £b 8s. 4d. yearly, the total sum being £2b^ us. 8d. a year,
a saving of ^^215.' Certain repairs were carried out upon the castle, which
was otherwise left unaltered. Percy experienced difficulty in recouping
himself for his outlay, as well as in getting his salarv regularly paid." Stores
and munitions were despatched to Tynemouth, as well as to Berwick and
Holy Island, in December, 1560, conveyed thither by Sir William Winter
on his mission to help the Scottish reformers, then in arms against their
regent.'
In the succeeding autumn Mary Stuart returned to Scotland out of
France. Her voyage was unopposed by the English government, though
plain hints were given of the action which Elizabeth would have liked
her subjects to take if occasion offered. Ten days before Mary set sail
for her father's kingdom, on August 5th, 1561, the earl of Rutland wrote
significantly to Sir Henry Percy :
1 require you, upon the entry of any strange ship, especially French or Scottish, into Tynemouth
haven or road, to cause some trusty man of yours to search the same. If there be any matter that
carrieth with it any manner of suspicion, give orders that the ships be courteously stayed and 1 speedily
advertised. I do understand by special intelligence that there is like to happen such things of
importance as, being well forseen and stayed, may highly advance her hignhess' service. Use diligence
and good circumspection in this service, as the same may lend to a good end.^
Queen Mary arrived at Leith in safety, without touching at any port
on the way. Eighteen months later, in January, 1563, her future husband,
the earl of Bothwell, was captured on Holy Island when escaping from
confinement in Edinburgh, and was committed to the custody of Sir Henry
Percy at Tynemouth. There Bothwell was kept for a year, during which
time he captivated his keeper by his ' courteous and honourable behaviour.'
Percy told Cecil, ' he is very wise and not the man he was reported to
be,' and wrote again after Bothwell's release, ' I doubt not but that this
realm will find him a friend for his usage here.' '
1 Haynes, State Papers, p. 400. - Cat. State Papers, Foreign, 1 561-1562, p. 388 ; ibid. 1562, p. 159.
' Ibid. 1559-1560, pp. 199, 311. ' Diihe of Rutland's MSS. vol. i. p. 73. Hist. MSS. Com.
" Cat. Stale Papers, Foreign, 1 563, pp. 66, 1 29 ; ibid. 1 564- 1 565, p. 83.
TYNEMOUTH CASTI.E. 1 63
Other important Scottish prisoners, such as Lord Keith, son of the
earl marshal of Scotland, and Sir Andrew Ker of Cessford, were detained
for a time within the castle walls.'
Sir Henry Percy refused to join his brother, the earl of Northum-
berland, in the Rising of the North. He was strongly opposed to that
movement, and was considered by so capable an observer as the Spanish
ambassador to have contributed largely to its failure. Early in December
the news came that the rebels were in retreat, making for the northern
fortresses. It was important to bar their way at the Tyne, still more
necessary to prevent a royal stronghold like Tynemouth falling into their
power. Percy mustered all the men of the shire, and put a garrison of
two hundred in the castle ; at the same time he sent out twelve hundred
horsemen to keep watch along the river between Tynemouth and Newcastle.
Sir Valentine Brown, who commanded at Newcastle, ' for the more surety '
sent a hundred shot of his old band to join Percy's garrison. Had not
Scrope, at Carlisle, been half-hearted in his support, few of those who came
out with the earls would have escaped.^
After the rising was over Percy came to court, where he was very
well received. His brother, the seventh earl, was attainted ; consequently
the lease of the site of Tynemouth monastery fell to the Crown, and was
on May 3rd, 1570, granted to Sir Henry Percy for life, with remainder
to his sons, Henry and Thomas, successively for their lives, at the annual
rent of ^16^ us. 5d. The offices of captain of the castle and of seneschal
of the estates of the dissolved religious house were regranted to Percy
with the like reversion.^
Barely a year passed before he was involved in one of the ramifications
of the Ridolphi conspiracy. He consented to be party to the escape of
the Queen of Scots from her prison at Tutbury, and to convey her into
Scotland.* Apparently tiie scheme was abandoned before its discoverv,
but none the less a warrant was issued for Percy's arrest. Sir John
Forster, warden of the inarches, came to Tvnemouth to search for him.
' Cal. Slate Papers, Foreign, 1564-1565, p. 366 ; 1566-1568, p. 269. See also vol. v. of this work, p. 66.
-' Ibid. 1569-1571, p. 162 ; Domestic, Addenda, 1566-1579, p. 154.
' Gibson, vol. ii. pp. 115-119. Pat. Rolls, 12 Eliz. pt. 10.
' ' He said he had a sine at this parlament to be enheritoiir to his brother, and if that did not take
effect, he wold do the best he could for the deliveiy of the Scots quene ; but if it did, he wold not medle,
because of his nere children, but he wold loke through his fyngars, if she eskapcd away.' .Murdin, State
Pa f CIS, pp. 21-22.
1 64 tynemouth parish.
He found the porter, John Metcalf, standing at the gates with the keys
in his hand. Misliking the man he removed him and added trusted men
of his own to the garrison.' Percy had already hastened to London to
clear himself, and there he was committed to the custody of Sir Ralph
Sadler. At the same time Forster was directed by the Privy Council to
take with him two justices of the peace ' not holden suspected of aiiy un-
kindness towards the said Sir Henry,' and with them to view and examine
the state of Tynemouth castle. He accordingly went with Sir John
Delaval and viewed the ordnance there, which he found 'almost useless
for want of stocks, ladles, sponges and wheels.' ' Munition,' he continued,
' is needed, and a master gunner of skill should be assigned, as the castle
is destitute of one.' "
Upon the receipt of Forster's report. Sir Henry Percy was thrown into
the Tower of London upon a charge of criminal negligence in the queen's
service. ' I think,' Queen Elizabeth said to the earl of Leicester, ' his fault
is as great as any man's, though it be no high treason.' ^ A confession of
carelessness was extorted from him ; he was brought to trial and condemned
to pay a fine of 5,000 marks, and eventually was set at liberty but not
allowed to return to the north. He was allowed to retain the captaincy
of Tynemouth upon appointing and paying the fees of a deputy, the first
man who filled that position being the earl's brother-in-law, Francis Slmgsby
of Scriven, the keeper of Tynedale.^ Sir John Forster was disappointed
in his hopes of securing the castle for his son-in-law. Lord Francis Russell,
eldest son of the earl of Bedford ; otherwise, as Lord Hunsdon told
Burleigh, the Rising of the North had been ' a happy rebellion for him.' '
The town of Newcastle was also an unsuccessful suitor for Tynemouth,
having, in 1574, addressed the following petition to the Crown :
That it woulde please heyr heighnes, in consideracion of tlieir dutyfull services donne by them and
their predyssessors to hir majestie and to hir most noble proginitors, as also for the pacyfienge of the
greate controvercies which hathe byne of a longe tyme betwixte the ofificers of the castell of Tynmouthe
and the officers of the aforsaid towne of Newcastell, to unitte the said castell with the membars of
' Cal. State Papers, Domestic, Addenda, 1 566-1 579, p. 369.
■ Ibid. p. 374. Acts of the Privy Council, 1571-1575, p. 51. There was only one hundredweight of
serpentine powder and one hundred shot at this time w-ithin the castle. State Papers, Domestic, vol. .\.\.
No. 100, pt. ii.
' .Murdin, State Papers, p. 229. ' Duke of Northumberland's MSS.
' Cal. State Papers, Domestic, .\ddenda, 1566-1579, p. 393.
TYNEMOUTH CASTLE. 1 65
tl)c same as the carle of Noilhoinbarland clothe nowe injoyc the same by force of his majesties
graunte, unto the corporation of Newcastell aforsaid ; and they sliall not onlye see the aforsaid castell
safelye kepte unto hir majesties use, and paye yearlye unto the earlc of Northomberland and hi^
Sonne duringe ther patten the some of fower hundreth poundes, but also shall discharge hir majestie
and hir successors of the some of fower hundreth markes in monyc, which hir majestie dothe nowe
yearlye paye for the kepinge of the said forte : and what debiiie shalbe appointed by the said towne
for the kepinge of the said forte to be allowed at all tymes l)y hyr majestie and to injoye the same
but duringe pleasure.'
Thomas, seventh earl of Northumberland, had been e.\ecuted for
treason on August 22nd, 1572 ; but it was not until 1576 that Sir Henry
Percy was formally recognised as having succeeded to his brother's dignities.
Though partially restored to favour, the eighth earl plunged more deeply
into conspiracy. Throgmorton's confessions in November, 1583, revealed
the preparations made for the invasion of England by the Catholic powers
of France and Spain, and disclosed the names of the English leaders, of
whom the earl of Northumberland was chief. He was again imprisoned
in the Tower. This time he was not allowed to retain the charge of
Tynemouth ; Lord Francis Russell was given the post which he had sought
to obtain twelve years before. Northumberland refused at lirst to deliver
up the keys of the castle. He represented that his estate was but small
to maintain the dignity of an earl, and that the benefit of the office of
Tynemouth was a good portion of his living, without which he would not
be able to sustain the charge of housekeeping and the education of his
children. By holding this office he had been able to maintain twenty of
his old servants who had served him ten to thirtv vears, which he had no
other means of doing, and, if they should be displaced, they would be
left to beg their bread. Disgrace, he said, would grow to him in his own
country bv his removal from the office which he tendered as his life.'
His appeal was disregarded. Allan King, the deputy at Tynemouth,
was instructed to report on the supplies in his charge, which he did on
March 24th, 15S3/4. There were then ten pieces of ordnance in the fortress ;
each gun had live to nine shot ; ammunition was represented by a single
barrel of powder, small-arms by si.\teen unserviceable harquebuses. There
were no calivers, pikes or bills, no spades, nails, pickaxes or lanterns ;
nothing in fact but decayed cannon, insufficient annnunition, and no match
' state Papers, Domestic, Elizabeth, vol. xcvii. No. 24.
"' Cal. State Papers, Dou/ts/ii , .\ddtnda, 1580-1625, p. 134.
1 66 TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
with which to light it. Even the walls were tailing into ruin ; their repair
was estimated to cost five hundred pounds 'only for workmanship, besides
lime and stone whereof thev have sufficient store.' '
Lord Francis Kussell came to Tyneniouth in April, 1585, to find
nothing done. ' Kemember that the castle, which is without ordnance and
powder, may be furnished,' was the burden of his repeated letters to
Walsinfjhani. It was stated that one hundred calivers were necessary and
as many pikes and bows, two hundred sheaves of arrows, four barrels of
corn powder, eight barrels of serpentine powders, and two hundred shot
for each class ot ordnance, namely, culverins, dcnii-culverins, sakers, demi-
sakers, falcons and falconets.^ 'The time is dangerous,' he wrote on June
22nd, 'and her majestv's house here had need be provided." Danger of
foreign invasion was certainly great. Throgmorton's revelations had dis-
closed but not disarmed conspiracy. Northumberland, released from the
Tower, had again begun the work of plotting, and was lodged for the third
time in his old prison. The morning before Russell wrote his letter, the
earl was found dead in his bed, a bullet in his heart. It was given out
that he had died by his own hand, and so Walsingham told Russell, who
replied frankly, ' the lord of Northumberland's death will hardly be believed
in this country to be as you have written, yet I am fully persuaded, and
have persuaded others, that it was not otherwise.''
' state Papers, Domestic, Elizabetli, vol. clxix. No. ;i2. A more specific iinentorj-, taken a few months
later, is here given :
The first daye of July, 1584. This inventory was taken of all the quenes majesties store att
Tynmowth castle, viz. :
First there is uppon the niounte headc a saker and two falcons mounted uppon cariagies not service-
able ; in the store howse a falcon without cariage ; a demi-coheryn of brasse mounted uppon unshod
cariage ; a demi-colveryn of iron mounted uppon unshod cariage ; a flancker of iron and fower chambers
not serviceable ; uppon the back side of the barnes a demi-coheryn of brasse mounted uppon cariage
not serviceable ; in the churche ycirde a saker of brasse mounted uppon decayed cariage ; in the mather
yeirde a saker of iron mounted uppon decayed cariage; seventene falcon shott of iron ; eleven saker
shott of iron ; sixe and twenlie dcmi-colveryn shott of iron : thre score stone shott ; a falcon ladle ; a
saker ladle ; a demi-colveryn ladle ; one sponge : one old decayed harquebus of crock ; more in the
store howse twentie harquebutes, broken and not serviceable ; two and twentie olde plates of iron;
fewer collers and trayces for carte horsscs not serviceable ; xlviii'' sheves of old decayed arrowes not
serviceable ; two cressett headcs ; two bill heades ; eighte cloven shott for small peces ; thre small
peces of webbes of leade which were parccll of a sestern : a pece of a strake of iron for a whele ; a bowe
chest wantinge a coveringe ; a bodye of a cart not ser\ iceable ; more thre percelles of webbes of leade
taken of the steple ; more a broade plate of iron ; thre cranes to mounte ordynaunce not furnyshed nor
serviceable ; in the churche one old salt panne of iron decayed ; more twelve sondry peces and a rownde
bottom, parcelles of decayed salt panns of iron ; in the hall tenne olde decayed corslates with burgonettes
and collers ; more in the store howse certeyne peces of tyniber which were the whole frame of an old
decayed howse taken downe, and some other od peces of tyniber. Ibid. vol. clxxii. No. 2.
■ Stale Papers, Domestic, vol. clxxxi. No. 79.
' Cat. Stale Papers, Domestic, .Addenda, 1580-1625, pp. t42, 143, 145. ' Ibid. p. 145.
TYNEMOl'TH CASTLE. 1 67
A month later there was a day of truce on the inarches, and the
wardens met at Cocklaw to hear and satisfy complaints. Sir John Forster
was there, accompanied by Lord Francis Russell. The Scots were restive ;
a slight incident, a few beats on a drum, and they were charging, three
thousand strong, upon the surprised English. Volleys of shot set Forster
and his followers flying, leaving Russell dead on the field.'
Robert Carey, Lord Hunsdon's son, was appointed to replace Russell
at Tynemouth.^ He made Robert Delaval of Seaton Delaval his deputy.
The inventorv of household stuff" handed over with the castle is worth
quoting :
Ane inventorie of such parcells of howshold stuffe as ar remaninge in Tynemouth castell and
belonging to the earle of Northumbreland, being delyvered by Thomas Dickhani into the charge of
Mr. Roberte Delavale, esqr.. constable of the said castell, 14th Octobre, 1585.
Hull. The hall hanged with hangings of woUen, read and blake. Item, one table with a paire
of tressells, two formes, twoo benches.
The utter parlor. Imprimis, a framed table of waynscott, a table with a paire of tressells, three
formes and benches, a plate candlesticke, a irone chymney, greyne hangings, a portall with a dore.
Great chambre. Imprimis, a framed table of waynscott with drawing leves, a square framed
table of wainscot in the wyndowe, sixe buffett stowles, a wainded skrej-ne, a paire of plaing tables
without men, a spring locke on the dore. Item, a shelfe and a tressell.
Item, a bedstedd of waynescott, cupbord and lockers of waynescotl .-ibout the chamber.
a table with two tressells, three locks with three keys.
The gallorie hanged with hanging of grene sales.
Read chamber. Imprimis, hangings of redd about ye chamber, a read chaire imbrodered over
the back, a cupbord with a foldcn frame, a iron chymney, a standing bedstedd of walnott tree, a ponall
with a dore, a locke and key.
The studie howse hanged with hangings of blewe sayes. Item, one cupbord with locke and no key.
The blewe chamber hanged with blew wollen. Item, a blewe chaire imbrodred on ye backe. a
standing bedstedd, a irone chymney, a lock without key, a matted chaire of ease.
The inner chapell chambre hanged with greyde. Item, one irone chymney.
[Three other chambers are mentioned and their contents given. In one 'a ledd spowie for
avoyding water,' in another 'one gret banded chist with two locks and one key.' Inventories follow
of Edmund's chamber, the cooks chamber, the chamber over Dune's lodge, the high white-hall, the
low white-hall, the porters lodge, the laundry-house, the inner brewing-house, the outer brewing-house,
the baking-house, the buttery, the larder-house, the kitchen, and the paistry." '
Meanwhile an armada was preparing in Spain, It was essential for
safety to look to the coast defences. On March i8th, 15S8, Lord Hunsdon
informed Walsingham that, if a letter were directed to him from the Privy
Council, he would take the surveyor of works with him from Berwick
and an officer of the ordnance, and so take ' a perfect view ' of Tynemouth :
' Cat. Border Papers, vol. i. p. 138 .■/ Sd/. " IM. vol. ii. p. 1X3.
' .Marquis of Waterford's MSS.
l68 TYNEMOrill I'ARISH.
but no letter came.' News reached England that the duke of Medina
Sidonia had sailed from Lisbon on May 19th. The Privy Council, meeting
on June 17th, sent a letter to the earl of Huntingdon, lord president of
the north, directing him ' for the better defence of the castle of Tynemouth
and that coast,' to repair to Newcastle that he might be the readier to make
resistance should the Spaniards send their forces thither.-
Huntingdon sent back word ;
I trust your wisdoms will consider how unable I should be to do her majesty fit service, unfurnished
.IS I am of men and munitions. Tynmouth I doubt is defenceless, and there is little in the storehouse at
Xewcastle. Your lordships give me no direction how many men to take with me. Order must be taken
for money, armour, munition, and victual there, iic forti' .Scotland should prove to be a worse neighbour
than I hope it will.'
It was of this castle of Tynemouth that Camden had written in the
previous year, ' Tvnemouth glories in a splendidly fortified castle.'^
The danger was great. Writing from Newcastle, Huntingdon told
the queen on August 3rd : ' Sure I am, the enemy cannot be ignorant of
the weakness of these parts, neither doth he doubt to find some friends
here, and yet the same shall little hinder him in anything that he purposeth
to do in the south.'"' The decisive action had then already been fought,
the Armada was in flight, and fear of foreign invasion at an end.
Henry, ninth earl of Northumberland, had given proof of his loyalty
bv volunteering against the Spanish fleet. He was admitted to the royal
favour which his father had lost, and in 1591 was restored to the captaincy
of Tynemouth, presumably in consequence of an arrangement with Carey.
News of his restoration to his dignities was hailed with joy by the gentry
of Northumberland, who came in inconvenient numbers to offer their
congratulations. Captain Power, the earl's deputy, explained to his master,
' I cannot let them go without their dinners or suppers, which will grow
to some charges in the year ; and yet I cannot devise to be a better husband
respecting your lordship's honour and my credit.' Power was fully resolved
not to let the castle go again out of the hands of the Percys. In the same
letter, dated June 17th, 1592, he wrote :
■ Salisbury MSS. vol. iii. p. 313, Hist. MS.S. Com. - Ads 0/ the Pi-ivy Council, 1588, p. 129.
' Cal. Border Papers, vol. i. p. 325.
' ' Castro magnifico et munito superbit.' Camden, Biitcinnni, 1587, p. 543.
^ Cal. Border Papers, vol. i. p. 327.
TYNEMOUTH CASTLE. 1 69
Right honorable and my most especiall good lord. It dide please your lordship to writt unto
me from the B.iythe that all suche thinges as was necessarye I should have with all convenient speed.
Her is great want of those weapones which I acquainted your lordship withall, especially if any device
should be put in practise for the takinge in againe of the castell, which I will prevent so farr forthe as
my bones shall witnesse howc I parte from it befor it gooe. I feare no waye (if they be so minded)
but to be surprized, for, Ictt me have but one bower's warninge, I will make the old walles stronge
enoughe to keepe ther forces out by strengthe of mene. I will have five hundred men in that space,
but men cane do lyttle without weapones. Many other occasiones here will be to use those small
store of weapones which I dide writt to your lordship for, besides the cominge in of the contre which
shall see the men without furniture.'
Again and again the attention of the government was called to the
dismantled state of the castle. All the artillery upon which the castle
had to rely in 1597 was the ordnance pronounced useless twenty-si.x years
earlier.^ Joshua Delaval, a cadet of the Seaton Delaval family, drew up the
following report about 1596 :
Josua Delavale, one of the jurie for enquiric of decayes in Tinemouthshire, enformcth as foloweth, viz.:
Tineniouth castle, since the decease of the late earle of Northumberland, is fallen into great decay,
and, by reason that ye lead is taken of severall lodgings, the timber flores and tymber above the sellers
and larder and many other necessarie houses of office are like utterlie to be decayed and waisted if
ye rofe be not fourthwith covered againe with sclait or otherwyse. The bakehouse and other houses
of office are either pulled downe or suftcred to fall downe, and the timber and sclaits theirof conveied.
Also ther is municon ther planted in severall places about the castle, viz. : on the mount one saker
of brasse and iii falcons of brasse all lying on ye grass unmounted with their cariadge crushed under
theim ; in the madder garth one saker of iron lying in like case ; in the church yearde one saker
of brasse in like sort unrnounted with her cariadge rotten crushed under her ; in the bulewarke in
Tineniouth park one saker of brasse lying in like sort ; in the store house three sakers of brasse
with whole cariadge and one fowler without a cariadge ; and not so much as one shot or dischardge
of powder for any of the foresaid peeces within the castle at this instant if they were mounted. Ther
is furniture for soldiers in the armorie but 14 muscetts, bandelers, and rests, tcnne pelronelles, xx pykes,
19 halberds, but neither powder nor shot at all for the same pieces nor trayning of men for presente
service if need required. The decay and naked estate of this house is so corned to passe by reason that
the custodie therof haith bene committed unto severall deputies since the late earle of Northuml)er|and
deceased, who have rather sufTred decay then any way procured reformation, as upon view and
inquisition therof had and maid may and will appere. .Also I'eter Delavale, gentleman, since
Candlemas last gardeth the said castle as deputie unto the now earle of Northumberland, and haith
severall times since his entry enformed the earle of the decay of municon and want of provision
and furniture for defence of the house wherby his honour might move for refonnation, which as yet
is not had. Ther is in Tinemouth castle of able men attending Peter Delavale. deputy captaine ther,
and his brother Raiphe Delavale, xx'"' able men, all which ser\e the said Peter and haith
interteynment ther.^
Even more serious than the decay of the castle was the dearth of
yeomen upon whom it had hitherto been dependent for its reserves.
Delaval went on in his report to describe how the policv of the neighbouring
' Duke of Northumberland's .MS.S. - Cal. Border Papers, vol. ii. p. 361.
' Delaval MSS. in the possession of the Newcastle Society of Antiquaries.
Vol. VIII. iZ
170 TYNEMOCTH PARISH.
landowners in evicting their tenants and in turning their land into pasture,
as well as the heavy burden of the 'hall-corn ' on the tenants of Tyneniouth-
shire, was driving them perilously near to extinction. Further, so long
as the Tyne defences were neglected, Newcastle lay open to hostile
attack. 'It is most needful,' says a writer of the time, 'that the ordnance
at Tynemouth castle should be mounted and placed for defence of the
castle and haven, if there was a sufficient gunner there resident to attend
them ; there has been no such man in the place of late. I must not
omit to advertise how nakedly and dangerously the town of Newcastle is
at present, if the queen's enemies intend harm on these coasts.' '
Toby Matthew, the bishop of Durham, did not mince matters in a
letter of February 17th, 1599, in which he described the state of Newcastle.
He told Cecil that he had found
The place of more iinportanre than strength ; the people of more courage than experience; their
provisions rather competent as aforehand than sufficient for a fierce assault ; their number not many ;
their leaders none ; Tynemouth castle, a promontory in the mouth of the haven seven miles off, utterly
disfurnished ; no blockhouse or other piece or platform for defence on the river between that and
Newcastle ; no shipping among the merchants worth the naming ; therefore of themselves, their men
being untrained, unable to resist a mean force."
With a non-resident governor and landlord, and oflTicers whose aim
was to serve the interests of their master rather than those of the state,
it was not surprising that the castle was neglected, and that the earl of
Northumberland was more bent on getting in his rents and tithes than on
effecting repairs for which he received no encouragement from Elizabeth's
government. Peter Delaval, a younger brother of Joshua Delaval, was
invited from London to farm the earl's estates in Tynemouthshire. A cadet
of a good Northumbrian family, ' well qualified, sober, discreet, very careful,
honest and well experienced,' after ten vears of trading in the east countries,'
he had become a London citizen and had settled down to work cloth in
Bishopsgate Street. He had a keen eye in matters of business, stood on his
rights, carried litigiousness to a fault, did not scruple to make enemies in the
performance of his duty, and rose superior to reversals of fortune. Already
he and his brother, Ralph Delaval, held the rectory of Tynemouth, and
he now took leases from the Crown of coal mines in Bebside, Cowpen
and Preston, as well as of salt pans in Bebside, Cowpen and North Shields.
' Cal. Border Papers, vol. ii. p. 232. s Ibid. p. 589. '' Ibid. p. 6.
TYNEMOUTH CASTLE.
171
He also purchased freeholds in Tynemouth and copyholds in Tynemouth,
North Shields and East Chirton. Very soon after cominj,' north he had
a violent quarrel with Thomas Power, the captain of the castle. His
account of it was as follows :
Thomas Power .ind I beinj;e bothe alone in the K^eat chamber in Tyncmoulhc, he fynding hymselfe
discontented, began to charge me that I had wrought hym great injurie over his hcade in abridging his
libertie within the castle, and sundrye other displeasures to long nowe to treble your lordship uithall,
wherby he perceived I dyd not love hym. And therfore he challenged me to pytch the feild to feight
with hym. My answere unto hym was that I had a wife and vj children, and great matters I had to
discharge as well unto your lordship as unto others, and that all th.it herde of my appoynting such a
mattch, knowing mync estate and his, woulde condempne me for having the lawe so muche advauntage
of mc, whichc I woulde prevent.'
' Duke of Northumberland's MSS.
DELAVAL OF TYNEMOUTH.
Edw.akd Dei.avai. ((/), second son of Sir John Del.iv.il of ^ PhiUis («), daughter of John Ogle of Ogle (6) ; she re
Seaton Delaval, knight, by Mary Carey, his wife, dead
before 31st December, 1571, when his brother, Sir John
Delaval, made his will, leaving five children then living (c).
married, secondly, George Cramlirgton of Cramlington,
and, thirdly, John Ogle of Ncwshani (and Bebside), and
made her will at Leraington, 22nd June, 1606 (d}.
Joshua Delaval (/*), had River :
Green by grant of his brother
Ralph (/) ; had a rent charge
out of llailley under the will of
his uncle. Sir John Delaval (f) ;
described in the seltlcnicnl made,
iSlh June, 1599, by Sir Robert
Delaval, as his cousin geiman
(e); will proved 2Sth Septem-
ber, 16 14 (1/).'
.Anne, daugh-
ter of Robert
Raynics (rt)
of Shorlllal,
named in her
husband's
will (</).
Ralph Delaval (/<), had a grant of River Green, 27th = Grace ad-
J une, 1 583, out of the Court of Exchequer (/) ; was
residing at Tynemouih castle in 1599, being then
4S years of age (^Exch. J)ipos.\l Eliz. 19 North.) ;
named in settlement, I.Sdi June, 1599 (<■) : -'d-
minislration of his personal estate, 7th December,
1609 ((/) ; buried 22nd July, i6og (»).
Phillis, under age 7th December, 1609 (</).
mmistratnx to
her husband's
personal estate
(1/) ; [remar-
ried 4th Sep-
tember, 1627,
John Heslop,
vicir of Tyne-
mouth (^)(0].
Robert De- = .Vnne, daughter William Delaval (it), murdered
laval (<0, of Mid- at Hexham, 35lh May, 1618
apparently dieton («). (»•).'■
died in his Edward Delaval («) of River
falher'slife- Green, buried 26ih February,
lime. 1654:5 {g).
I I I I
Ralph, under .age at the date of his fathers will (d) ;
[query married .\rin Smith, l6lh .\ugust, l6l8(,f)].
John, under age at the date of his father's will (</).
James, baptised 27th August, 1599 («).
Francis, baptised Ilth June, itJOI («).
.\nn, baptised 26th October, 159S (.»).
Robert Delaval (.«), to whom his grandfather gave his lands at River Green (d). = ,
Robert Delaval, born before 28lh August, 1666 (a).
Peter Delaval (_i) of London (O, = -Mary, daugh
afterwards of Tynemouth, ler of Thomas
named rn the settlement of .Allen of Lon-
iSth June, 1599 (,c) ; rruiicu- don (^).
pative will, Sth .\ugust, 161 1
(c/) ; buried lOlh .\ugust,
l6ii(/).
Clement Delaval (/5), joint lessee with = Lucy (/),
his brother Ralph of Crown lands daughter of
at Cowpen in 1599 {Exih. Dtpos. Gawcn .Mil-
41 F^iz. 19 North.) ; named in the burn of Bed-
seldement of iSth June, I599(<'); lington («).
administi"ationof his personal estate,
l6th June, 1607 (./).
I
Barbani, ["mar-
ried John
Watson of
Newcastle and
Bedlington
172
TVNEMOUTH PARISH.
John ncl;iv;il of :
Tynemouth,' lo
whom (wilh his
mother) his f;Uher
gave his hinds in
Tynemouth ; died
at Tynemouth ;
buried 27lh July,
1632 (/) ; ad-
ministration of his
personal estate,
I7lh.\usjust, 1632
{'0-
I I I I I I I I
James, baptised 30th July, 1592 (A).
Son, baptised 6th Oitober, 1593 (//).
Thomas, baptised I4lh December, 1597 (/;) ;
apprenticed midsummer, 1614 (<«)■
Mary, married at Tynemoutli, 3rd l'"el)ruary,
161 1/2, lidward Lee of Monkwearmouth (/);
died in childbed, 25th May, 1617 ; .Monumental
Inscription, Monkwearmouth.
Martlia, baptised 1st Inly, i;<jo (//).
Elizabeth, baptised i;th .Xus^nst, 1591 (/;).
Catherine, luplised lyth Feliruary, I594'5 (//),
[married Ijth Janu.uy, i6lo'l, John Hanswell
of Preston (0-
Jane, baptisedat Tynemouth, Gth .\ugust, 1609 (/).
I I I I I I I I
Gawen, under age l6lh Juiu*, 1607 ('/).
Thomas, under age i6ih June, iCioj (//).
Ral|)h, under age i6th June, 1607 (</).
Robert, uniler age 161I1 lime, 1607 ('^) ;
living 7th December, 1609 (</).
Clement, baptised at Karsdon, 7th April,
1605, as son of Clement Delaval and
Lucy his wife (/) ; living iCnh June,
1607 (r/).
Margaret, under age l6tlijunc, lOo?
Dorothy, under age 1 6th June, 1607 (</).
[Lucy, married lOlh June, 16^5, John
Hall (:).]
I I
:alph
November, 1623 (()•
Peter Delaval, baptised l8th Novem-
ber, 1625 (;■) ; dead before 17th
August, 1632 ((/).
I I I I
Frances, baptised loth June, 161S (/) ; dead before 17th .August, 163: (./").
Mary, baptised Slh July, 1621 (; ) ; living 17th .\ugust, 1632 (</).
Phillis, ba])tised l8th November, 1625 (0 ! called 'daughter and sole heir';
married before 2oth .\ugust, 1652, George Grey of Newcastle, master and mariner.
Sarah (r/), living 17th August, 1632 (r/).
(rt) Dugdale's VisitatuiiiofNorlhumlieiliinil, 1666.
(/<) h'lower's Viaitalion of Yorkshire, 1 563-1 564.
(<:) Durlinm Wills ami /nvenlories, Surt. Soc.
((/) Raine, 7V.</. Dunelm.
(e) .Martiuis of Waterford's MSS.
(y) Earsdon Register.
(^) >S'/. John's Register, Newcastle.
(//) Register of St. Helen s, Bishopsgale.
(/) Tynemouth Register.
(/) Cooke's Visitation of London, 156S.
(/) Hodgson, Northuinherland, ])t. ir. vol. ii. p. 23.
(w/) .Skinners Com]>aiiy .Apprenticeships, Misc. Gen.
et Her. 3 ser. vol. i. p. 1 02.
(«) Berwick Register.
* Seal of Peter Delaval of London, citizen and clothvvorker : oval, J in. by J in., a shield of arms. Quarterly, i
and 4, liarry of six ermine {and vert]. 2. Three eagles displayed, two and one. 3. A lion rampant. Crest: On a
helmet, ornamental mantling and wreath, a ram's head attired. Brit. .ilus. Catalogue of Seals, vol. ii. p. 726.
' Note of slaughters committed by inhabitants of the East Wardenry, 1596 : John Daglish of Wideopen slain in
his own house of \Videopen by Joshua Delaval and others of the Berwick garrison. Cal. Border Papers, vol. ii. p. 181.
Delaval was subsequently found 'foul' of the said murder. Iliid. p. 248. On June loth, 1598, he occurs as constable
of the horse .it Berwick. Ibid. p. 540. For a further account of Joshua Delaval and his descendants, see Hodgson,
Northumherland, pt. ii. vol. ii. p. 23.
- May 26th, 1618. Deposition of .Anne Ridley of Westwood, widow. The said Anne Riddley sayeth uppon her
oath that j'esterdaye, beinge the xxv"' of -Maye, 161S, she was rydinge toward Westwood one horseback behynd Mr.
William Delavale, and in there compenye .Mr. Edward Delavale, Joseph Ward, and Thomas Hebourne, servant to the
said William Delavale. And as they came to Hexham grean about nyne of the clock in the eveninge, there Edward
Delavale gott a fall, wheruppon the said Joseph Ward and Thomas Hebourne went backe to heipe him, and the said
William Delavale rydd one with this examynat behynd him. .And as soone as they came to the allors at the weste end
of Hexham greane, there came south to the allor bushes there a man of middle stature, thick shouldred, brownishe
bearded, bigg faced, apperelled with a sadd-cullered cloak under which he carried a drawen sword ; which man
presently steepl before the said William Delavale in the high waye, who asked who he was. The man aunswered :
'Thou art noe justice of peace to examyne me; and alllhough thou knowe not me, 1 knowe the.' and presently
strook at the said William Delavale with his sword, who instantly fell of horsback therewith, and then gave the said
William Delavale ane other stroke one the hynder parte of his head, and said to him : ' Thou art Delavale, and I
have vowed thy death,' and then went his wayes into the allorr busbies : whom this examynat purseweinge, he said
unto her : ' Goe thy waye or els I will thrust my sworde in the.' And theruppon she lost sight of him, and the
said William Delavale presently dyed of the said strokes. (From 'A book of the examynations touchinge William
Delavale's death.' Marcjuis of Waterford's MSS.)
' Petition of John Delav.ale to the earl of Northumberland : Humbly shewing unto your lordship that, whereas
your suppliant's father, Peter Delavale, dyed greatly indebted unto your lordship, as alsoe to dyverse other persones, in
great somes of money, not leavrng wherewith fully to discharge the same, being left most indebted unto your lordship,
which your said suppliant with much care and endevour hath payd the most parte tif unto your lordship's officers ; the
p.aing whereof and other great deptes, with his great charge of his mother and eight children, your said suppliant ys
almost undone and not able to pay the same unless yt might please your good lordship to take commiseration of your
said suppliant and to geve your said suppliant tyme for the paing of his dept due to your lordship, being xlvj" xiij^ iiij'',
and the last pament dew to your lordship of his said father's depte, without which he shalbe utterly over throwen and
undone. And he, his mother, and the rest of his falherles brothers and sisters, wyll pray for the most prosperous
estate of your lordship ever to continewe. Duke of Northumberland's MSS.
TYNEMOITTH CASTLE, 173
To prevent further dissension, Northumberland deposed Power and
appointed Delaval in his place.' The latter assured his position by
persuading his master to let him farm the demesnes and mills of Tyne-
mouth and the hall corn of the shire, for the round sum of a thousand
pounds yearly.' Military considerations were subordinated to estate
management and speculation in coal, salt and agricultural produce. An
account of a scuffle in the castle, sent bv Delaval to the earl's solicitor
in London, lights up the history of these uneventful years :
This clayc one uiddowc Dymon and one Roljeil Atcheson hir brother, of Middle Chirton, within
the liberties of Tynenioiith, coniplayning unto me that Willni. Kenwick of the Sliccle Milnes dyd not
onely viheniently threatten to beat them, but in forceable manner tooke away ther corn and were
threshing it fourthe to convert to his owne use, and therfore they craved to have justice that the
threshing of ther come might be stayed till ther cause was herde, and that they might have Willm.
Kenwick and his man Robert Fenwicke bounde to keepe the peace against them, wherby they, being
verie oulde and poore, might lyve in peace. Uppon which complaynt I sent for the threshers of the
come commaunding them to remayne in the castle till ther master came to aunswere the poore
widdowe's complaynt and hir brother's. Sone .after dynner, I being in the great chamber together
with my brother Raph Delavale and thre gentlemen of the Fenwicks dyning with me ther and departing,
my servaunts being all abrode tything in severall townes in Tynemouthshier and busy about the bames
in the castle, in the meanetyme Willm. Fenwick, against whome the widdowe and hir brother com-
playned, came into the same great chamber in verie sawsye manner, accompayned with towe of his
servaunts with swords, daggers and daggs charged and bent together, with one Roger Murton who
weares my lord's cloth and servaunt unto Mr. Fenwick of Wallington and Thomas Pore at Flatworth.
And at F"enwick's first speche he affirmed unto me that he was wonderfully abused by a peasantly
fellowe which he said I maynteigned against him, and swore by God he had much adoo to houlde his
hands for beating of hyni. I tould Fenwick I was to deale upreightly betwLxt hym and those that
complayned of hym, as with all others under my charge, and he dyd to farr abuse me in that place
in charging me to be a niaynteigner of any peasant to abuse hym or any other : but I said unto him,
' Heare is towe honest aged folks, a widdowe and hir brother, that earnestly craves the peace against
you and your servaunts, and therfore they being sworne you have both bett them dayly, thretneth them
and oppresseth them, so that they stand in doubt of bodely hort to be done by you and your servaunts ;
and for that cause you must fynde suertie to keepe the peace ere you depart.' Said Fenwick, standing
with liis halt on his heade in verie sawsye and scornefull manner, ' Your authoritie will not extend to
bynde me to the peace.' I tould him, although I were no justice of peace, yet he should knowe that
by my office and prescription of the libertycs of this place, I was a conservator of the peace here, and
by vertue of that I shoulde be of such-lyk misdemeanor as he was of by enformacion geven against
hym. Said Fenwick unto me, ' If you undertake to quell me, you shall fynde me the unruelyest coult
to tayme that ever you undertook to quell in all your lyfe ;' and therwith syngiing hymself in the great
chamber, unfoulding his cloke, and laying his hand uppon his dagger, wylled none come nere hym or
touch hym, for, if any dyd, he swore by God he woulde stik. My brother Raph, standing next hym
and asking hym if he eather knewe where he was or what hec dyd, and preassing nere F'enwick as
he dyd threaten, so in deed he drewe his dagger and assaulted my brother Raph, who allso drewe
his dagger, having nothing ells about hym, and so closed with F'enwick. The thre Fenwicks ther with
me before Wm. Fenwick's coming, and I having nothing but my dagger onely about me, bestiring
ourselves to part Fenwick and my brother, who ere we got unclosed, Fenwick's men drawes ther
swords and ran uppon my brother and smot hym over the bare headc a grevous wondc, being dosed
' Uukc of N'orthumbcrland's MSS. '•' /'"'•'•
I 74 TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
with Fcnwick. The thre Fenwicks, returning towards William Fenwick's scrvaunts having ther swords
and daggers drawen and ther daggs bent readye to shoot, partlye stayed them ; but I, seing my
brother spoyled, ran uppon Wm. Fenwick and, being closed with hym, one of the thre Fenwicks and
Roger Murton aforesaid allso closing with us, my brother Raph drawing nere ine to releve me, Roger
Murton caught hym by the dagger and hand and helld hym l\ II one of Fenwick's men smot my brotlier
twise over the head agayne deadly woonds suposed. Therwith 1 having my dagger in Fenwick's
chast, and he crying he was slaync, praying to save his lyfe, with that I unclosed with hym, and,
felling hymself loose, rann fourth of the great chamber with his men, which when Roger Murton
perceived and seing me follow, he stept betwene me at the great cliamber dore and helde me untill
the ryoters ran away, till I was forced to stik hym ere he would let me pursue, as my sister helld
my brother, Murton never oflring to liould Fenwick or his men, but still my brother or me. Yett my
brother and I, getting wcapens in our hands and pursuing the ryoters, overtook them at the gate,
which contrary ther expectacions they found shutt by others then the porter ; and wee offring ther
to assalt them, they yeelded themselves, saying they were allready slayne, and being bluddy shewed
ther woonds, whereat I stayed myselfe and brother, and apprehended Fenwick and his men and
comittcd them to prysone.'
For seven years Delaval was captain of the castle. His fall was due
to pressure brought upon the earl bv the authorities of Newcastle. Delaval
told the earl that the real reason of his loss of favour was ' soni harde
information luito your lordship againste me, which, my good lord, hathe
beane in plottinge this fyve yeares bv thym of Newcastell, who spake
thies words in my presents to my fayce, that it should coste fyve thowsant
pounds, but that theye woulde crose me.' ^
Delaval's successor, William Wycliffe, the earl's receiver-general, was
probably no better suited to his new charge, but he was wise enough not
to encroach upon the liberties of Newcastle. He soon obtained leave from
' Duke of Northumberland's MSS. Letter of Peter Delaval to John Carvile of the Inner Temple,
September 17th, 1597.
■ Ihiil. Delaval has elsewhere given a more explicit account of his dismissal.
'That W'illyam Wyklyfe hath beine the cause of my troubles I will prove as followethe :
Thai first he soughte for my place of Tynemouthe, and to efect the same he unjustly
suggested unto my lord of Northumberland that I should be indepted unto his lordship dew ^550,
whearby he gott a warrant from my lord for my place Upon the which I repaired prcseiitly
to London unto his lordship, he then ready within 3 dayes to take his jurnay of travaile beyonde the
se.iees, and, at my coming to London, moved my lord of my discharge by Willyam Wykelyfe ;
whearupon my lord replycd that he had reason so to doo, for that he was informed I owghte him /550
long dew ; to the which I answered hym I owghte him no monye at all that was dew, but I had paied
him £330 thre monethes before my daye. So presentlye his lordship sent for Mr. Francis, his lordship's
steward, and Mr. Powlton, his cotierrer, who cold not disprove me. Wherupon my lord apoinled me
to come the next daye for a warrant to Willm. Wykelyfe for my continewance in Tynemouthe castle as
afore. I'>ut that very daye Willm. Wyktlyfe, contrary his promise and oathes, had written his letters
which came to London to my contrary to this cficct, that Thomas Wykelyfe, his brothei-, should presently
repaire unto hislordship and geve him to know from hym that, whcaras his lordship had appointed him
to be his deputie captaine at Tynemouthe, and so the wholl country dyd liould and reputt him, « hich if
his lordship should discharg hym againe of the suddon, yt would no lyltle redound discredytt. Therfore
he hoped his lordship would consyder the prei\iisses and Icve him with as much creadytt as his lordship
found he brought with hym The next day after, according to his lordship's appointement, I
rcpared to his lordship as he had appointed me, to come for his warrant to Willm. Wykelyfe for the
contynewing of my place as before. His lordship tooke me asyde and went into his garding and tould
me that so it was, he had refar all things unto Wykelyfe, and, his tyme being short, he could not alter
what he had done before. " But," quothe he, " Wykelyfe will deale well with you." ' Marquis of
Waterford's MSS.
TYNEMOUTH CASTLE. 1/5
his master to resign the command in favour of his brother-in-law, George
Whitchratl of Boulmer, described by Delaval as 'such a spochting fellow
as is not manye such in ail thi- countre, as I refar me to the generall report
of all such as knoweth hym in the countre, what George Whythead is.' '
Whitehead wrote in 1604 'to remember his lordship for some powder
and shot, as also allowance for mounting the ordnance that lie in decay,"-
but failed to obtain either. A year later the Gunpowder Plot changed
the position of affairs. The earl, who was not always fortunate in his
choice of officers, had appointed his kinsman, Thomas Percy, receiver of
his rents in the north, and had used his influence to obtain for him a
post at court. In the autumn of 1605, Thomas Percy, having collected
the earl's rents in Northumberland, came up to London with three thousand
pounds which he had gathered in, and on November 4th dined with the
earl at Svon House. Next day the news was abroad that a plot for
blowing up the king and ixith houses of parliament had been discovered,
and that Thomas Percy was one of the conspirators. Whitehead, on
hearing ol what had happened, wrote to his master :
I have taken upon mc for the belter further.ince of your lordship's service to make seasure for
your lordship's use of such goodes as could be founde of Mr. Percey's, which was very small, the
inventory wherof I send your lordship. 1 wishe to Clod he had never bene borne to prove himself
a traytor to soe gracious a prince, and false to so honourable a master by whom he did onely live.
For 1 doe muche doute he is much behynd with your lordship in his accompts; for I knowe he got
upe towards 300'' of me and others at Lammas, saying he must of necessity send it to your lordship;
and I hard he neyther came nor sent it to your lordship. Besides, befor I know him to be arreared for
Tynemouth last yeare. 1 pray God send him soone t.aken, that he may have his desarts. For my
chanlye heare I take the best course bothe by sea and land for the apprehensione of thesse traytors;
for I kepe wach in the porte every night, and cause every shipe going out or cominge in to be
throiighely searched both for passengers and lettres. This is all I can doe till 1 heare your lordship's
further directiones.'
Meanwhile suspicion fastened upon the carl. His relations with the
Catholic party and his patronage of one of the conspirators gave a colour
of probabilitv to the supposition that he had a hand in the plot. There
was no direct evidence to prove it, but Cecil boldly ordered his detention
and directed Sir Henrv Widdringfton to seize on the Percv castles of
' Duke of Northumberland's MS.S. William Wycliffe was probably brother of John Wyclifie of
Offerton, who married Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Whitehead of Monkwcarmouth and sister of the
above-mentioned George Whitehead. Surtecs, Durham, vol. ii. p. 194. George Whitehe.ad settled at
Bouhner in 160S ; his family coniinued to reside there until the close of the eighteenth centur>-. .As
George Whitehead of Newcastle he made his will on January 22nd, 1625. Me was great-nephew of
Hugh Whitehead, the last prior of Durham. .\ pedigree of the family of Whitehead of Monkwearmouth
is given in Surtees, Durham, vol. ii. p. 8, and of Whitehead of Boulmer in vol. ii. of this work, p. 403.
' Duke of Northumberland's MSS. 'Ibid. Letter dated November 12th, 1605.
176 TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
Tvnemouth, Alnwick, Prudhoe and Cockermouth.' Ten days later King
James commanded Widdrington to hand over Tynemouth castle to Sir
William Selbv, the younger, of Twisell, sheriff of Northumberland in that
year, and lately appointed one of the commissioners of the north.-' ' Not
from any dislike of vou,' the royal letter ran, ' but other respects, we think
fit to commit the castle of Tynemouth to some other person. We therefore
require you to deliver up the said castle with the housing, armour, artillery,
munition, etc., to Sir William Selby, whom we have appointed, being sheriff
of the county, to take charge thereof until we otherwise dispose."
Enquirv was forthwith made into the decayed state of the castle.
Various buildings had been destroyed and their materials carried off by
unauthorised persons. The kiln had been pulled down and its timber
and slate used for the ' repayring and lofting ' of the house of the vicar,
William Hamilton. The covering and leads were gone from Edmund's
chamber ; ' the little chamber wherin John Harbotle and John Smvth
laye, called by theire names,' had been demolished ; the bake-house and
bolting-house had been pulled down and its timber and slates conveved
into the town of Shields.^
After a preliminarv examination Northumberland was committed to
the Tower. His imprisonment came as a shock to the servants who had
never doubted his loyaltv. Wycliffe, in a letter of December 28th, wrote
sadly to a friend at Essex house :
God send you as much coniforth as by your lettres I have had, being contynuewalhe filled with
nialitious and slanderous reports of his lordship's doeinges, some such as I did know to be most
faulse and untrewe, as the stour of gould and mony found in his howse, haps and fothers above
2000, with many moor such like. I am and ever was confident of his lordship's loyaltie, and I
beseche God deliver him of his trowbles with the king's majesty's favor and to his honor ; for he
shall endure greyves so many to heare the robbing of himself and his tennants by that unfortunat
wretch more than almost is credeble.^
In the following June, Northumberland was tried in the Star Chamber,
found guilty, and ordered to pay a fine of thirty thousand pounds. He
was further sentenced to deprivation of all offices held by him from
the Crown, and to remain a prisoner in the Tower during his majestv's
' Ctil. Stiitt- Papers, Domestic, 1603-1610, p. 254.
' Sir William Selby was also gentleman-porter at Berwick and thrice represented that place in
parliament. He is to be distinguished from his uncle and namesake, also member of parliament for
Berwick, to whose property at Igtham in Kent he succeeded in 161 1. Raine, Sorth Dtiihiim, p. 315. A
full account of the Selbys of Igtham .Mote is given in Archacohgia Ccmtiana, vol. xxvii.
' Cal. State Papers, Domestic, .Addenda, 1 580-1625, p. 490. ' Duke of Northumberland's MSS. ' Ibid.
TYNEMOUTH CASTLE. 1 77
pleasure. Under the terms of the sentence the governorship of Tynemonth
castle was taken away from liiin and granted to George Hume, earl of
Dunbar, Sir William Selby being allowed to retain his post as captain.
The governorship was, however, distinct from Northumberland's other
offices as being of the nature of an entailed estate. He explained this to
Dunbar, who at once withdrew his claims, thus leaving the castle in the
nominal possession of Northumberland, though Selby continued to draw
full pay for his charge.
Selby petitioned in 1607 for money for the repair of the castle. His
request, forwarded to Northumberland, met with criticism from the earl :
For the importance of the castle, I shall not neede to saie more then thankes be God Scotland
is our frende and Dunkerke not our enemie. For the reparacions 5,000'' will not make it tcne.able
for 18 men against a verie meane force. What Sir William Selbie may require to make an old
monastry fitt for his dwelling, I know not.'
None the less Selby set to work to repair some of the houses in the
castle and to relav the conduit which broutrht water thither. . He sought
out some rusty suits of armour, muskets, pikes, partizans, and halberds from
the storehouse at Newcastle, cleaned them and brought them to Tynemouth.
Finally, the old cannon which he had found 'in case neither to defend nor
oiTend ' were at last mounted on carriages. It cost only ^^i 8s. to make
them serviceable, but the government had delayed for forty years to take
this otvious precaution."
If a prejudiced statement can be trusted, Selby found it convenient
to draw his pay without wasting money on maintaining an e.xtensive garrison.
Information reached Northumberland that
Sir William Selby hayth had from your lordship thesse seven yeares by past these allowances
due to your lordship :
Imprimis, the captaine's fee ... ... 66'' 13* 4''
Item for eleaven souldiers and seaven gunners with a master gunner ... 164" 11" 8'
I'or which number of 19 he hayth kept thesse 3 or 4 yeares by past but one N.athaniell Orde, his
deputie, one Thomas Milles, an olde souldier of Barwicke, and one John Selby, .another old soldier who
is nowe deade, a pore fellowe to kepc the lightes and to be porter lykwise, and nowe this last yeare
he hayth hyered foure pooer fellowes that woork at the cole pitts and allowes them every one xl' by
yeare to attend his deputy to the church one the Sund.ay, but els never comes within the castle,
himself continewinge allways in Kent.
All thesse men have but small allow.ance, wheras he himself h.ayth from his majesty, all which
belonges your lordship but an encrcasc fee of 66" 13" 4'', the soome of 356" 13" 4''.^
' Duke of Northumberland's MSS. Letter to the lords of the council, May 26th, 1607.
° Gibson, vol. ii. pp. 120-122. Devon, Issues of the Exchequer, James I. p. 301. Slate Pilfers,
Domestic, James I. vol. xli.K. No. 57. E.xchequcr Special Commissions, No. 4352.
' Duke of Northumberland's MSS.
Vol. VIII. 23
178 TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
An unsatisfactory state of affairs was remedied by the recognition, on
the part of the Crown, of Northumberland's right to the governorship, and
by appointing Sir John Fenwick of Wallington to be captain during the
governor's restraint in the Tower (March, 1616).' Fenwick came into a
ruinous possession. He and Whitehead and Sir Henry Widdrington re-
ported to the earl that ' the most parte of the houses ar so ruinated that
without some present coste they ar not fitt to lodge any person ; and all
the platformes ar so gonn to decay that they must be new made.' '' The
terms of Fenwick's appointment were rather ambiguous. Whitehead told
the earl : ' I doc publikelv give it out that thcr he is by vour lordship's
choyse and as vour deputie, as all other have bene for vour lordship, and
no otherwise, and, for anythinge I can perceave, he is a right Northumber-
land man, once in possessione houldes himself better half ovvener.''
Fenwick was allowed to retain possession after the earl of Northum-
berland's release in 1621, and was sent bv the latter in November, 1622,
to the earl of Middlesex, then lord treasurer, to report to him personally
on the decayed state of the castle. '' The larger part of the ordnance
had been latelv removed elsewhere.' So great was the neglect to which
the castle was subjected that Fenwick at last, in November, 1625, informed
the lord-lieutenants of the north parts that the castle was so ' ruinated '
that he could no longer remain there." Richard Neile, bishop of Durham,
joined in advising that Tynemouth haven should be secured. ' Newcastle,'
he wrote, ' lies open to the enemy, who, besides the spoil of a great,
populous, and very rich town, may burn 200 or 300 ships, for there are
oftentimes so many lying in the river.' ' The lord-lieutenants laid the matter
before the Privy Council, with the result that on December 14th an order
w^as sent out for repair and fortification. An engineer named Cramfield
was to be employed in the work.' The government did not, however,
undertake the whole expense, but agreed to provide twelve hundred pounds
towards it ; the town of Newcastle, in whose interests the fortification had
been commenced, undertaking to bring it to completion at their own
' Duke of Nortliumberland's MSS. For Sir John Fenwick see Diet. Nat. Diog., and Welford,
Men of Mark 'Iwixt Tyne and Tweed.
- Duke of Northumberland's MSS. • 'Ibid.
• Earl De la Warr's MSS. Hist. MSS. Com. 4th report, appendix, pp. 278, 315.
» Cat. State Papers, Domestic, 1625-1626, p. 129. ' Ibid. p. 152. ' Ihid. p. 134.
'Duke of Devonshire's MSS. Hist. MSS. Com. 3rd report, appendix, p. 40.
TYNEMOUTH CASTLE. 179
charges.' The twelve, hundred pounds was to be raised by privy seal within
Newcastle and the county of Durham, and to be administered by the bishop
of Durham, the mayor of Newcastle, and five other persons appointed by
order of council dated April 21st, 1626.
Apparently the original plan of repairing the castle was abandoned
in favour of a scheme for building a fort elsewhere. There was delay in
commencing work. Bishop Neile wrote to the lord president of the council
in August :
Your lordsliipp knoweth th.it the getting and carryeing of the niaterialls to soe great a worke will
require the authoritye of a commission for all sortes of cariagcs at reasonable prices, especially at this
tyme of the yeare when all mens cartes waynes and cattell are necessarily imployed in their harvest,
and perhapps there may be need of a commission for workemen, which I must leave to your lordship's
consideracion. The setting of many handes upon the worke must recompence the tyme hetherto lost.'
In its turn the modified scheme was dropped on the score of expense.
Twelve months afterwards Lord Clifford, lord-lieutenant of the northern
counties, visited the ground where they had intended to hav-e erected a
fort. He found that advantage could be taken of the Tudor outworks,
known as the Spanish battery, that this provided a better situation, and
reduced the cost to a quarter of the sum originally proposed. He added :
Surely, my lord, the townc of Newcaslell is for the lime well provided with amies and powder,
but the castell of Tineniouthe hathe not one peece mounted nor any amies within it fitt for use ;
and therfore I am much importuned by the mayor and the aldermen to nioove his majesty for sum
ordinance for ther towne (for which they will give money for the one halfe), and that likew•i^e his
majesty would be pleased to bestowe sum cost upon Tineniouthe castell, it beeinge his majesty's ownc
house and the key of that towne and cuntr%e.'
Subsequent events show that Clifiord's advice was disregarded. The
proposed fortifications were only carried out fifteen years later, and under
a different set of circumstances.
In 1632, on November 5th, the ninth earl of Northumberland died.
His death determined the Percv tenure of the post of governor of the
castle, which had been created by the patent of 1570, for Thomas Percy,
a younger brother to whom the office would have reverted, was already
dead. Letters patent, issued at the commencement of King James's reign,
had renewed the grant of 1570 in favour of the earl's eldest son, Algernon
Percy, but they had subsequentlv been revoked and the governorship given
to Robert Carey, who had already held command before Northumberland's
' Cat. Slate Papers, Domestic, 1625-1626, p. 567.
' Slate Papers, Domestic, Charles I. vol. xxxiii. No. 39. ' Ibid. vol. Ixxv. No. 55.
l8o TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
restoration to favour in 1592. A clause in the new patent gave the rever-
sion, upon Robert Carey's death, to Thomas Carey his second son.' The
father, now earl of Monmouth, consequently succeeded in 1632 to the
nominal duties of a governor.
King Charles I. visited Tynemouth on June 5th, 1633, when on his
way to Scotland to be crowned, being conveyed thither from Newcastle
by the master and brethren of the Trinity House, who took the opportunity
of presenting a petition to the king, in which they set forth the damage
done to the river by allowing ballast to fall into it.'
The lack of ordnance, to which Cliiford had called attention in 1627,
met with the serious attention of the Privy Council nine years later. A
report was presented to the following effect :
May it please your honors, being informed by the clarke of the councell tliat il was your honors
pleasure I should article what ordinaunce and other munition were fitt for the present supplie of the
castle of Tynmouth for the strengthning of the haven there, doth humbly offer theis proposicons follow-
ing to your honorable consideracon.
That his majesties castle of Tynmouth standeth at the mouth of the said haven, but of such height,
that if it were furnished with ordinance and munition would bee to little or noe purpose for the hindering
of shipps to come and goe forth of that harbor, and his majesties daylie charge there ymploied to little
or noe purpose.
That the safest and readiest course wee can conceave to offend and hinder the enemies to enter that
harbor in future tymes is to build twoe block howses, one of either side of that haven neere unto a highe
water marke, where stone and lyme is to be had at reasonable rates, in either of which block howses
thre or fower peeces of good ordinance being placed, with all furniture thereunto belonging, will
command any shipp or vessel which shall come or goe foorth of the said haven, ffor the said haven at
the entrance of the sea is soe narrowe that with a faire wind there cann come but twoe vessells sydeling
together, and if the wyndes doe never soe little crosse the east or southeast, then they are to make
2, 3, or 4 borders or turnynges before they cann recover the harbor.^
This proposal was taken up by the Lords of the Admiralty, who ob-
tained the royal consent to demolish Tynemouth castle, and in lieu thereof
to build a block -house on the river.* There the matter rested for two
more years.
In the spring of 1638 the Scottish Covenant was drawn up and signed,
and war threatened to break out between the two kingdoms, making it
more necessary than ever to strengthen the border fortresses. Once more
the abandoned schemes of 1625 and 1636 were revived. At a meeting
of the council of war, held on September loth, it was decided that the
' Letters Patent, 9 Jas. I. pt. 17.
- Tynemouth Register, ed. Couchman, vol. i. p. 235. Arch. Ad. 2nd series, vol. xxi. pp. 85-89.
' State Papers, Domestic, Charles I. vol. ccc.\li. No. 65. * Cal. State Papers, Domestic, 1635-1636, p. 555.
TYNEMOUTH CASTLE. l8l
fort of Tynemouth should be 'slighted,' and a fort made half a mile from
the same.' Only the lirst half of this design was executed. Sir Jacob
Astley, who was sent to secure the north, had his time too well occupied
in putting Newcastle into a state of defence, and the erection of a ' sconce '
at North Shields," as being of minor importance, was again postponed. On
the other hand the ordnance, carriages and furniture belonging to Tyne-
mouth castle were handed over to the earl of Newport, master of the
ordnance.' It was at first intended that this artillery should be sent up to
the Tower of London, but, upon representations made of the defenceless
state of Newcastle, Astley was allowed to transfer the guns and military
stores to that town.' He informed Secretary Windebank :
As concerning this place (Newcastle), which will be the centre of the war, here must be a train of
artillery. I have sent for the brass pieces in the cellar at Tynemouth to be broujjhl here, according; to
the Lords' order, being six, shooting a bullet of six in the pound and three of three in the pound, and
have already bespoken timber and workmen to mount them on carriages. Here are already six iron
pieces, shooting a bullet of nine in the pound. ^
The cannon arrived a few days later, and were mounted on carriages
for use in the field." Astley had previously visited Tynemouth in the
company of some of the aldermen of Newcastle, but found that there was
no means of fortifying it against a siege,' so the place was vacated and
the haven left unguarded.
Astley's prediction that Newcastle would be the centre of the war
seemed at first to be unwarranted. The first Rishops' War came to an end
without the Scots having crossed the Tweed, but the campaign of 1640
had a different conclusion. On Friday, August 28th, 1640, the rout of
Newburn opened the passage of the Tyne to Leslie's Scottish force. Ne.xt
day Conway, the royalist general, hurriedly evacuated Newcastle, which
was entered by Leslie on Sunday. A detachment of the invading armv
was at once despatched to Tynemouth to occupy that deserted position,
and establish communication with Scotland bv sea.'' So long as they held
the port of Tvne the Scots had the northern coal-trade at their mercy,
and by that means could e.xert pressure upon the English government.
Tynemouth was re-fortified and supplied with good ordnance.' By an order
' Cell. State Papers, Domestic, 163S-1639, pp. 9, 404. ■' IbiJ. p. 176. ' Ibiii. pp. 15, 20.
' Ibid. pp. 28, 3S6. ' Ibid. p. 436. ' Ibid. pp. 45S, 512. ' Ibid. p. 349.
' Clarendon, State Papers, vol. ii. p. 98. Cal. State Papers, Domestic, 1640-1641, p. 28.
' Ibid. p. 14S. Diary of John Rous, Camden Soc. p. 98.
1 82 TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
of the committee of estates, dated September I5lh, Hugh, Lord Mont-
gomery, was appointed to ' lodge in the castell of Tinmouthe, and to keep
watche therein and doe all devvty requisite. Item, to caus assist the
searchear there, and to appoint twentie four or nioe musquetiers to wait
upon him for arresting the ships who will not doe dewty. It is appointed
that his lordship sail have two keills and a whery to w^ait upon his regiment
at all occasiones, and to be at all places where he sail appoint.' '
Negotiations followed. A treaty was drawn up at Ripon, ratified on
August 7th, 1 64 1, and on the 21st the Scottish armv evacuated their
positions and returned home. Ten months later, on June 20lh, 1642,
William Cavendish, marquis of Newcastle, received the royal command to
take upon himself the government of Newcastle-upon-Tyne and the four
northern counties. He at once went to Newcastle and started to fortify
that town and to secure the haven. Sir John Marley, in a memorandum
of military proceedings in the north between 1641 and 1645, 'i^^ given the
following account of the visit made bv the marquis to Tynemouth :
My lord [of Newcastle] ridd downe to Tynemouth castle, and took soonie horse and foot with him ;
but the puritans had possessed his soldiers with a fear that my lord carryed them that way to shipp
them for Ireland or soome other place, which made they ready to mutynie and refuse to j,'oe, but with
good words and persuasions they weare appeased. When my lord came to the castle he found it
exceding ruianous, and none in it but one Captain Fenwick" and his famylie, who was willing that
the castle should be at my lord's commaund ; but, it being then of no valewe until! it weare repared and
fortified, which could not sodainely be doone, my lord for the present caused make soom little forts
ujipon the river on both sides, to kepe the seamen in subjection, least he might receive soome prejudice
by them.-'
The little forts upon the river were situated, the one near the Low
Light house at North Shields, the other upon the opposite shore. Together
they commanded the narrow entrance of the river. They were built of
baskets filled with sand and mortar, with guns placed between the baskets.'
Troops were raised by the marquis, and three companies were sent to Tyne-
mouth. Marley tells that he had been promised the command of that
fortress as well as of Newcastle, but now
' Earl of Eglinton's MSS. Hist. M.SS. Com. loih report, appendix, pt. i. p. 36.
- Henry Fenwick was captain of the castle under .Sir John Fenwick in 1634, and the baptisms of
several of his children are recorded in the Tyncmuuth Rc-i^istir, 1634-1636. He was now given a command
in the army by the marquis of Newcastle, and was slain in Yorkshire, leaving a widow who was living in
1656. Cal. Stiih- Papers, Domestic, 1656-1657, p. 196.
' Bodleian Library, Clarendon Papers, No. 2064. ' Brand, Newcastle, vol. ii. p. 331, note.
TYNEMOUTH CASTLE. 1 83
My lord, being much intreated and perswaded by frends, told me he must nowe make Sir Thomas
Kiddell, junior,' governor of Tynemoulh castle. 1 must confess I was not well pleased, but, after soome
debate, rather then disturbe the service, I yealded the power, which afterwards, I think, proved not much
lo Jiiy lord's content nor to the advance of his majesty's service, but 1 am sure much to my prejudice."
The puritan party in Newcastle was llioroii^lily alarmed. One of its
members informed the House of Connnons :
We fear a storm and we see it already begun. The earl of Newcastle came here on Friday last, to
be governor of Newcastle. . . . Three hundred soldiers is sent down to Tynmouth castle to guard it,
and they have all arms given lluin out of the magazine here in this town. There is great guns going
down to tliem, six pieces. They are casting up trenches as fast as may be. There is a fort making
at the haven mouth, that no ships can go in or out without their leave. We never lived in the like fear
which we now live in. ... I was down at .Sheelcs and saw the trenches myself . . . They have got
engineers out of Germany and gunners for the great guns. . . . The earl is making forts at Sheeles,
one on each side. There is divers of the great ordnance removed to the keyside to be sent down.
There is here an expectation of some ilircclions from Parliament to countermand them ; and, if speedy
course were yet taken, it might reduce all that is done.'
Upon receipt of these letters two ships were sent by order of Parlia-
ment to guard the mouth of the Tyne, 'to receive and execute from time
to time the directions of the Parliament . . . for the preservation of that
place, and prevent the inconveniences that might happen bv the fort there
in building.''' It was represented that by the fortification of the mouth
of the Tyne, 'the whole trade of Newcastle, for coal or otherwise, will
be subject to be interrupted whensoever his majesty shall please.''' Lords
and Commons therefore petitioned the king to forbear all preparations
of war, and particularly to remove the forces from Newcastle, Tynemouth,
and other places, to which the king replied that ' when he shall be assured
that the same necessity and public good which took Hull from him may
not put a garrison into Newcastle to keep the same against him, he will
remove his from thence and from Tinmouth ; till when, the example of
Hull will not out of his memory.'"
King and Parliament were already on the verge of civil war. On
August 22nd the royal standard was set up at Nottingham. Men, money,
horse and ammunition poured into Newcastle from Holland. An ordinance
of Lords and Commons was passed on January 14th, 1643, that 'no ship,
ships or barks shall from henceforward make any voyage for the fetching of
' Of Fenham ; so styled to distinguish him from his father, Sir Thomas Riddell of Gateshead ; was
member of parliament for Newcastle in 1640. For biographies of him see Diet. Sat. Biog., and Wejford,
Mill of Murk : and for a pedigree of the Riddell family see vol. iv. of this work, p. 2S4.
• Clarendon Papers, No. 2064. ' Journals of House of Lords, vol. v. pp. 170, 171.
' Journals of House of Commons, vol. ii. p. 59S. ' Lords Journals, p. 202. ' Ibid. pp. 207, 236.
1 84
TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
coals or salt from Newcastle, Siinderland, or Blythe, or carrying of corn
or other provision of victual, until that town of Newcastle shall be freed of
and from the forces there now raised or maintained against the Parliament.' '
Meanwhile, the fortifications of Tynemouth were repaired, four pieces of
heavy artillery were sent down from Newcastle, and Sir Richard Lee's low
stone walls, which formed the Spanish battery, were raised by the addition
of a brick superstructure furnished with casemates for guns. Three hundred
men were ' in worke making a sconce to command all ships that come in
The Spanish Battery.
and go out,' with the result that ' ship masters refuse to go in, least their
ships be stayed, seeing such strange combustion beginning to arise.' ^ The
forts at the Shields were annexed to the governorship of Tynemouth castle.
Neighbouring landowners purchased protection for their property by sub-
scribing funds for the maintenance of the garrisons.^
' Lords Journals, p. 555.
• Terry, Life and Campaigns of Alexander Leslie, p. 172, qunUng Lamentable and Sad NeJt'es from the North.
"April 15th, 1643. Mrs. Harb.-ira Delaval of .Seaton Delaval, widow, paid Sir Thomas Riddell,
junior, governor of Tynemouth castle, /^loo for his ni.ijesty's present service for the maintenance of the
garrisons of Tynemouth antl -Shields, for which she is to be protected in her person, goods and estate.'
Arch. Act. 2nd series, vol. xv. p. 219.
TYNEMOUTH CASTLE. 1 85
On January 19th, 1644, the Scottish army crossed the Tweed into
Northumberland, and on February 3rd appeared before Newcastle. Parlia-
mentarians looked for an immediate success. A certain Colonel Curset
wrote on the 12th, 'as for the Shields, they are not yet taken, but, being
only but houses, they doe expect that it will bee no great matter to take
them ; they can doe it when they list. The greatest matter ne.xt unto
the taking of Newcastle town is Tinmouth castle.' The same writer adds
in a postscript that he ' is very confident that Newcastle is before this time
in the hands of the Scots, and that they are in the town, after which they
intend to take the Shields, and so to fall upon Tinmouth castle, without
which there is no passage for ships to bring us coals.' '
Similar optimistic accounts appear in the London papers :
If the Scots are now besieging Tinmouth castle, while some other forces are diverting the enemy
from releiving it, it will be an excellent service, for by taking of the said castle, we shall be master of
the sea, and be inabled not only to bring in provision by our ships for the army of .Scots, but to send out
coale and accommodate the city of London with them, which would be a far better way of merchandize
then to transport them as the enemy now doth into Holland, whereby to get mony, arms, and other
accommodations for the supporting of this unnaturall warre.
And the said castle of Tinmouth being once taken, the towne of Newcastle would never long be
able to hold out. There is a report that Coloncll Riddel, governour of Tinmouth castle, hath been
summoned by the Scots to surrender it to the Parliament of England, and that the said Colonell hath
had a parley, and received propositions from them, but I conceive this report to be very uncertaine, and
no great credit to be given to it.-
Leslie, now earl of Leven, the commander of the Scottish anny, had
an initial success in the capture of Shieldfield fort just outside the walls of
Newcastle. Though Sir Marmaduke Langdale inflicted a reverse on Leslie's
outposts at Corbridge on February 19th, the loss was made good about
the same time at Tynemouth. A number of the garrison of that place,
variously estimated at fifty and a hundred musketeers, was sent out to burn
and destroy corn in the enemy's quarters.' The party met with twenty-five
Scottish horsemen, commanded by one Montgomery, major to the earl of
Esflinton, lost several of their number and had fortv-five or fiftv taken
prisoners. Leven kept two of the prisoners and sent the remainder to
' Richardson, Reprints, vol. ii. ; .4 Tikc Relation of the Scots taking of Cocket Island, pp. 1 1 - 1 3.
' The Weekly Account, February 29th to March 6th, 1644.
' In a schedule of his losses, drawn up in 165 1, Ralph Gardner of Chirton stated that the king's
party burnt fifteen ricks of corn and eighty loads of hay belonging to him. Uuke of Northumberland's MSS.
Vol,. VIII. 24
l86 TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
Newcastle. The marquis of Newcastle, who had thrown himself into the
town the day before the arrival of the Scots, thanked Leven for his civility
and said that he hoped verv shortly to pay the debt with interest.'
Heavy artillery had been despatched from Scotland and landed on
the 6th at Blvth, but the Scots were not prepared to commence a lengthy
siege, so on the 22nd they retired, marched up the Tyne, crossed into
Durham, and on March i6th appeared before South Shields. Two assaults
were delivered, but the fort and Tynemonth castle ' plaved hotly ' on the
attackers. Thev fell back, renewed the attempt on the 20th, and this time
met with success, the garrison escaping across the Tyne to Tynemouth."
This event and some operations round Hilton closed the first act of the
northern campaign of 1644. The Scots followed the marquis of Newcastle
into Yorkshiie, leaving garrisons at Morpeth and South Shields, and the
centre of interest shifted.
In May the royalists at Newcastle were joined by the marquis of
Montrose. Morpeth and South Shields were captured with his help, but
the latter place was regained shortly afterwards by the Scots stationed at
Sunderland. Even so, the north remained in the hands of the king's
party. Upon June loth, therefore, instructions were issued by the Scottish
parliament to the earl of Callander to lead a second army into England.
'You shall,' the order ran, 'be all meanes endevor to reduce and secure
the towne of Newcastell, castell of Tynemouth, and all other places
possessed by the enemy.' ' After reducing Morpeth, Hartlepool and
Stockton, Callander advanced on July 27th to Gateshead. The victory of
Marston Moor and the capitulation of York enabled Leven to join him on
August 15th, and the siege of Newcastle commenced.
Tynemouth also was closely blockaded. ' There is no hope of supply
from Tynemouth,' a London news-letter announced, 'for all passages and
intercourses between the town (of Newcastle) and it are cut off.' * Though
in the latter part of September two successful sorties of the royalists in
Newcastle caused a temporary withdrawal on the part of its besiegers,'^
Tynemouth did not long remain free. Early in October the Scots attacked
' Cal. State Papers, Domestic, 1644, p. 42. Richardson, Reprints, vol. ii. ; A Faithful! Relation of the
late Occurrences and Proceedings of the Scottish Army, p. 11. Teiry, Life of Alexamler Leslie, p. 192.
-Arch Ael. 2nd series, vol. i. p. 2 13. ' Acts of the Parliament of Scotland, pt. i. vol. vi. p. 112.
* Diary or Exact Journal, September 5ih to 13th.
^ Merctirius Anlicus, September 28th to October 5th.
TYNEMOUTH CASTLE. I 87
the Low Lights fort at North Shields, carried it by assault, lost it, and
recovered it on the same day.' Nine Scottish soldiers were killed on this
occasion. Five pieces of ordnance, arms, powder, and some prisoners were
taken in the fort.^ Newcastle itself fell on October 19th, its governor
surrendering at discretion two days later. Leven was now able to turn
his whole attention to Tynemouth.
A letter from Sir Thomas Riddell to Sir Thomas Glenham, governor
of Carlisle, had lately been intercepted, and from it the Scots learned that
plague was working havoc with the Tynemouth garrison. Eight of the
soldiers had died in one week ; sixty more were infected ; the chief surgeon
was dangerously ill.'* It was said that the chief commanders had already
fled.' Leven now sent his troops to Tynemouth,' whither he came in
person on the 27th. But plague was more effectually reducing the garrison
than the Scottish artillery could liave done. 'Though we cannot reach
them in that high hill,' a letter-writer of the time reflected, 'yet God can,
vou see ; and indeed it is very wonderful to observe how wonderfully God
hath wrought for us in these troubles, without and beyond the help of man."'
There was a short parley. Leven offered easy conditions which were
readily accepted. These were as follows :
I. — That every officer, soldier, gentleman and clergyman shall march out with bag and baggage
and the officers with their arms ; and that such goods as properly belong to them, but which they
cannot take with them, shall be kept for them till fit opportunity.
2. — That the National Covenant shall not be enforced either upon officer, soldier, gentleman or
clergyman.
3.— That all who stay in their own country shall have protection for their persons and estates,
and such as will go to his majesty shall have free pass with a safe convoy.
4. — Oblivion for all things past in this service to be extended to officers, soldiers and gentlemen
who will stay at home in their own houses.
5. — That Sir Thomas Riddell shall deliver up the castle this day with a perfect list of all arms,
ammunition, cannon and furniture.
6. — It is always provided that those who stay at home and have protection for their persons and
estates shall be liable to all ordinances of parliament."
Late that evening the castle was delivered up to Leven, who put his
own soldiers in it,** constituting himself governor. 'The royalists were glad
' Arch. Ai-l. 2nd series, vol. x.xi. p. 200, quoting Country Misscitgir, October 4th to i ith.
' Wallis, History of Nortliumberland, vol. ii. p. 255.
' Richardson, Reprints, vol. iv. ; A True Relation of the Taking of Newcastle, p. 34. ' Ibid.
' Weekly Account, October 23rd to 31st.
' Arch. Ael. 2nd series, vol. xv. p. 219, quoting Perfect Occurrences, No. 11.
'Cat. State P.ipers, Domestic, 1645-1647, p. 206. ' IhiJ. 1644-1645, p. 74-
I 88 TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
to yield,' said the historian of the siege of Newcastle, 'the pestilence having
been live weeks amongst them with a great mortality.' ' A schedule taken
of the arms found in the castle showed a supply of twenty-nine pieces of
ordnance, fifty barrels of powder, five hundred muskets, ball and match.''
News of the victory reached London on November 4th. ^ The next day
had been appointed a day of thanksgiving for the victories of Newbury
and Donnington castle. Tynemouth was now added to the number of
successes, and the preacher at St. Margaret's, Westminster, received orders
from the House of Commons to take notice of it in his sermon.''
Riddell might have been less ready to yield had he known that two
days before his surrender a resolution had passed the House of Commons
that he was to expect no pardon.'* On November 19th an order was issued
that he and his brother, Sir William Riddell, who had taken part with
him in defending Tynemouth castle, should be sent up to London." Sir
Thomas managed to escape in a fishing boat from Berwick, and reached
Antwerp, where he died in 1652.' Sir William Kiddell, less fortunate,
was committed to the Tower.'^ Representations were made by Prince
Rupert that the imprisonment was a violation of the articles of surrender,"
but the House of Commons insisted on their right to detain their prisoner.'"
The remainder of the garrison were allowed to scatter themselves over the
country, carrying with them the plague, which made its way into Scotland."
'Now,' was the comment made on the news of the capture of Tyne-
mouth, 'we shall have firing at a reasonable rate.' '" Trade revived with the
rescinding of the order which had prohibited intercourse with Newcastle,"
and the price of coals sank in the London market. The Civil War was
at an end in the north ; the Scots were free to join the English Parlia-
mentary troops.
' Lithgow, Siege of Newcastle, Newcastle Typographical Society, p. 41.
■ Weekly Accoiiiil, October 31st to November 6tli. The Perfect Diurnal, No. 67, puts the number of
pieces of ordnance at thirty-eight.
^ Cal. State Papers, Domestic, 1644-1645, p. 94.
' Journals of the House of Commons, vol. iii. p. 687. ' Ibid. p. 676. ' Ibid. p. 700.
' Surtees, Durham, vol. ii. p. 127. " Journals of the House of Commons, vol. iii. p. 723.
» Duke of Portland's MSS. Hist. MSS. Com. vol. i. p. 206.
" Commons Journals, vol. iv. p. 131. The reason given was 'that since the recklition of Newcastle
there have been meetings of dangerous persons and malignants, wearing their arms, whereof Sir William
Kiddell was one, and that he is a known recusant, and so ought to be liable to the laws of this kingdom.'
" Lithgow, Siege of Newcastle, p. 41. '- Weekly Account, October 31st to November 6th.
" Commons Journals, vol. iii. p. 694.
TYNEMOUTH CASTLE.
189
With the capture of Newcastle the Scots had obtained a foothold in
the north from which they did not intend to be dislodged, for its occupation
allowed them to treat advantageously with both political parties, and to
assist those who most favoured the Presbyterian order of government.
They refused to accede to the thrice-
repeated request of the English com- , . ,: '
missioners that their garrisons in
Warkworth, Tynemouth, Newcastle,
Hartlepool, Stockton, and Thirlwall
should be removed.' Instead they
began negotiating with the king,
who, on May 13th, 1646, entered
Newcastle.
Attended by the earls of Lothian
and Dumfermline and others, with
twenty-four captains to wait on him,
the king went on the 21st in a barge
to Shields and dined with the gover-
nor of Tynemouth castle.' He had
a cold reception. 'The most solem-
nity of his entertainment were three
pieces of ordnance fired at the castle,
and some fired by the collier ships
that rode in the harbour both as his
majesty went and returned.' ' Later news was more disquieting to the
parliamentarians. The governor of Tynemouth had delivered up the keys
of his castle to the king.'' A cornet, John Carruth, testified on June 5th :
FlKEl'LACE I.N THE GKEAT ROOM OF THE GaTE-HOOSE.
At Monkseaton I met with a party coming from Scotland to recruit the garrison of Tynemouth
castle. I asked the officers what news in Scotland, who answered that in Scotland they were levying
the sixth man. I replied, ' I hope we shall have peace, and then what will be done with those men?'
They answered they were to be for his majesty's service, and at his command whenever he would
command them.'
x'Vgain, on September 2nd, the king visited Tynemouth, dined at the
castle, and was ' entertained there very gallantly ' in ' the great room, richly
' Ciil. State Papers, Domestic, 1645-1647, pp. 16, 200, 226.
■ Arch. Ael. vol. x.\i. p. 1 16, citing Moderate Intelligencer, No. 64.
" Ibid, quoting Kingdom's Weekly Intelligencer, June l6th to 23rd.
' Perfect Occurrences, July 3rd to loth.
• Duke oj Portland's MSS. vol. i. p. 360.
I go
TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
liunc;.' ' During the remainder of the month he was occupied in conference
with commissioners who had arrived from Scothuid. The final failure of
these negotiations impressed the Scots with the hopelessness of coming to
terms with the king, and they consented to evacuate Newcastle. It was
af^reed that Newcastle, Gateshead, and Tynemouth should be delivered to
the Parliament, with all arms and ammunition there.' On December iith,
Major-General Skippon was approved of by the House of Commons to
be governor of those places,'' an appointment to which a condition was
added in the House of Lords : ' Provided that this ordinance, nor anything
therein contained, shall no way prejudice the earl of Northumberland's
right, title, or interest unto the castle of Tvnmouth.' '
King Charles had no wish to be left in England after the departure
of the Scots, and made his own arrangements for escape. A Dutch
man-of-war, sent by his son-in-law, the Prince of Orange, appeared olf the
Tyne in November. Its captain was met at Tynemouth bv persons in
the king's suite, wlio all were feasted bv the governor of the castle, when
' thev drank hcallhs to the king and all his friends.'" There seemed likeli-
hood of the castle turning royalist. A Newcastle letter of December 14th
reported :
There are many cavaliers of espcciall iiiialily, both captaines, heutcnants .iiul ensigiies, hitlcy taken
into Tynniouth, and all in capacity of common souldicrs; such is the people's feares, that they think
this to purport some new designe. They give out harsh speeches, as that those northern parts, in
particular Tynniouth and Newcastle, must once more be in their hands; and, saith the letter, is like to
be if not timely prevented."
Escape was planned for Christmas night. The captain of the Dutch
ship was prepared to leave the river in face of any opposition which might
come from the guns of Tynemouth castle. The ship waited in vain.
Charles had failed to make his way out of Newcastle.
Skippon was already on his way north. He reached Newcastle on
January 30th, 1647, the Scottish rearguard quitting the town the same
afternoon. On the following day he informed the Speaker of the House
of Lords :
' Arch. Ael. vol. xxi. p. 123, quoting Perfect Occurrences, September 4th to i nh.
■ Commons Journuls, vol. v. p. 2. ' Ibid. p. 10. ' Ibiil. p. 22.
' Arch. Act. vol. xxi. p. 133, quoting Diulinus DriUinicus, November 25tli to December 2nd.
• Ibid. p. 134, quoting Moderate Intelligencer, December loth to 17th.
TYNEMOUTH CASTLE. I9I
I have received an express fioni liim whom I commanded to receive ihe castle of Tynmoiith that
the same was fairly and quietly delivered into our possession about six of the clock last night; and I
doubt not, through the blessing of (}od, but that, as things have happily succeeded hitherto between our
brethren an<l us, so there will be such an issue of the same as will be to the good of both kingdoms.'
Parliament resolved, on March ist, that a garrison of three hundred
foot should be kept in Tynemouth castle and its outworks.- At the end
of the month Skippon was called up to London and ordered to depute one
in his place to take charge of Tynemouth and Newcastle.'
Parliament was face to face witli a discontented and ill-paid armv.
The soldiers of Skippon's regiment shared in the general feeling' when free
from the moderating influence of their general. John Cosyn, a Puritan
alderman of Newcastle, writing on June 7th, said of them: 'As yet they
come not to doe anything vissible, but certainly as soone as they receive
the word, they will secure this towne and the castle of Tinmouth in a
moment. For mv part I looke for it everv day.'^
One of the first acts of the House of Commons, when |nirged of its
leading Presbyterian members, was to order one month's pay upon account
to the forces at Newcastle and Tynemouth.*
Later in the year, Sir Arthur Hesilrige, a staunch Independent, was
nominated by Lord Fairfax to be governor of the two northern garrisons,
his appointment being ratified by the Commons on December 30th, when
thanks were voted to Skippon for his services in that quarter." Hesilrige
had two regiments of foot at Newcastle, from which he drew four companies
to garrison Tynemouth. On March 21st, 164S, certain sums of money were
allotted by Parliament to be paid over to the mayor of Newcastle for
repair of the fortifications about the town of Newcastle and the castle of
Tynemouth, in such inanner as Sir Arthur Hesilrige should direct.' A
month later, as the case was urgent, it was resolved that five thousand
pounds should be raised and advanced forthwith for this object.*
In the same autumn the second Civil War broke out. Sir Marmaduke
Langdale received a commission from the Prince of Wales for recovering
the five northern counties for the Royalists. ' I had,' he afterwards narrated,
'intelligence with the governor of Tynemouth castle, who, by means of
his majesty's friends in those parts, was persuaded to declare for the king
' Lords Journals, vol. viii. p. 700. - Commons Jouriuits, vol. v. p. 102. ' Ibid. p. 129.
Clarke Papers, Camden Soc. vol. i. p. 126. Welford, Men of Mark, vol. i. p. 630.
'' Commons Journals, \o\.\. -p. 21!^. , /tirf. pp. 410, 41 1. ' /fc/rf. p. 506. ' /*i./. p. 544.
192 TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
and to accept of a coiiimission from me.'' The officer in question was
Lieut. -Col. Henry Lilburn, deputy to Hesilrige. His defection was
altogether une.xpected. ' He was governor of that castle,' Hesilrige said
of him, ' before 1 had command of it. He hath been in the Parliament's
service since the beginning of the wars, and under mv command near seven
years since. He was ever verv active and faithful for the Parliament, and
known to be a valiant man. He did not give the least suspition of being
a traitor to the Parliament till the day of his revolt.' The story of the loss
and recapture is best told in Hesilrige's own words.
Yesterday between 2 and 3 of the clock in the afternoon, Lieut. -Col. Lilburn, being deputy-governor
of that castle, commanded most of the ofTicers upon several services out of the castle, and then armed
and set at liberty the prisoners, and plucked up the drawbridge, and told the soldiers, that he would
pistol every soldier that would not be for himself and King Charles. Whereupon many ran over the
works,' and a very honest and faithful corporal, refusing to deliver up his arms to him upon those terms,
he thrust him through the body and killed him. And immediately he shot otT several pieces of ordnance,
declaring that he kept the castle for King Charles, and sent to the Sheels and other adjacent towns, and
made proclamation for all that loved him and King Charles to come to the castle for his assistance ; antl
many seamen and others came to him immediately.
So soon as I heard the sad news of his trayterous revolt, I commanded a very considerable body of
foot to be drawn out of the regiments in this garrison, under the command of Lieut.-Col. Ashfield, and
sent also one hundred dragoons with them. I sent also many ladders down by water and gave orders to
storm the castle that night whatsoever hapncd.
Between one and two of the clock this morning they drew near to the castle. Lieut.-Col. Lilburn
fired four pieces of ordnance upon them as they came up. Major Cobbet led on the forlorn hope. They
took no notice at all of the canon, but, when they came within twenty yards of the works, bringing their
ladders with them,' they gave a great shout and fell on. The works are exceeding high, and, though
their ladders were long they could not easily get up ; the enemy still, as they mounted, with pikes and
gunners' ladles pushed them down. Some storming at the gunholes, the enemy were forced to come so
high upon the works that our soldiers underneath shot them into the bellies and killed divers of thcni ;
but at last ours mounted the works, recovered the castle, and killed many sea-men and others ; and,
amongst the number that were slain, they found Lieut.-Col. Lilburn.'
The castle had been recaptured with the loss of only three wounded
and one slain on the side of the attacking party.'^ Lilburn's head was cut
off and set up on the castle, and his property was confiscated. ° Hesilrige
received a letter of thanks from Parliament for his energy and promptitude."
' Ciil. State Papers, Domestic, 1651-1652, p. 388.
■ Amongst them was Captain Henry Goodyeare (of Auckland in Durham), who carried off eighty
soldiers with him to Newcastle and returned to take part in the attack. Cat. Committee for Aiivanee
of Money, p. 1234.
'August 2 1 St, 1648. Paid to Captain Rogers, which Lieut.-Col. Ashfield promised the soldiers for
carrying ladders to the storming Tynemouth castle, to 33 soldiers, 3s. per man ; ^4 19s. State Papers,
Domestic, Commonwealth, Exchequer, Bundle 133.
' Hesilrige's letter, which was printed by order of the House of Commons {Commoiisjonrnals, vol. v.
p. 670), has been republished in Arch. Ael. 2nd series, vol. xv. pp. 221-223.
' Rushworth, Collections, pt. iv. vol. ii. p. 1226. ' Cal. State Papers, Domestic, 1660-1661, p. 250.
■ Ibid. 1 648- 1 649, p. 244.
TYNEMOUTH CASTI.E. I93
' Let this gallantry of Sir Arthur Heslerig and the stormers,' said a
pamphleteer of the time, ' never be forgotten. Let London especialy
remember this, for unlesse so happily regained, no more coles could be
expected this year. Treachery was never yet unpunished.' '
Colonel George Fenwick of Brinkburn was put in command, and four
companies of foot were raised to replace Lilburn's soldiers.' The new
garrison joined with those of Newcastle, Hartlepool and Holy Island,
in a petition presented to Fairfax on November 14th.' In this they
demanded that the king should be speedily called to justice as 'the
principal author, contriver, abettor, manager, of all the bloodshed,
massacries, devastations, and whatsoever ruines have befaln not only this
kingdom but also that of Ireland.' ' All endeavours,' they affirmed, ' for
the bringing of other instruments and incendiaries to condign punishment,
while the grand delinquent is untouched, are to little purpose, as being not
an acceptable sacrifice to the justice of God, to offer him ought else while
the Agag is spared.'
Few local records are to be found of the adventurous six years which
have just been described in their relation to Tynemouth. During the
Scottish occupation Leven held the earl of Northumberland's demesnes and
the rent known as ' hall corn ' to his own use. The tenants were subjected
to quartering of troops. Ralph Gardner of Chirton estimated his losses in
this respect at eleven hundred pounds, namely, the royalists five hundred,
the Scots four hundred, and the parliamentarians two hundred pounds.
Those who were coalowners were compelled to provide the garrison with
coal free of charge.'* As parishioners they were deprived of the use of
their church, which fell completely into ruin, and were forced to bury their
dead elsewhere.^
On February i6th, 1649, Parliament directed the committee of the
army to take into consideration the supply of stores for the garrisons of
Newcastle, Tynemouth, Berwick and Carlisle, to settle an establishment
for those garrisons, and to consider what lands and revenues had formerly
' A Bloody Fight at Tiiimouth Castle, reprinted in Proc. Sac. Ant. Nr.icasth; 3rd series, vol. ii. pp. 23-25.
■ State Papers, Domestic, Commonwealth, Exchequer, Bundle 240.
' Given in Richardson, Reprints, vol. ii., as a separate tract.
* Duke of Northumberland's MSS.
=■ Tynemouth Churchwardens' Books. There is a break in the parish register of marriages and burials
extending from January, 1644, to May, 1646.
Vol. \-in. -S
194
TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
belonged to them.' Among other sums allowed to them was a temporary
tax of four shillings per chaldron of coal, payable at Newcastle, and other
charges both on imported and exported coal, which were imposed for the
supply and fortification of the four castles.'^ A magazine, under the charge
of a storekeeper, was established at Tyncmouth,^ which also served as a
state prison, several Scottish prisoners being sent thither after Worcester
light. ^ Upon the appointment of Colonel Fenwick in 1649 to the governor-
ship of Berwick, Captain Robert Blunt succeeded to the Tynemouth
command. He received two shillings a dav out of the five shillings allowed
to Hesilrige as governor of Tynemouth and Newcastle. The usual weekly
pay of each of the four companies amounted to /31 14s. 8d.^
Various efforts were made by royalist refugees to win over the troops
at Tynemouth. A certain William Slade was committed to prison in 1650
for endeavouring to draw the officers into disobedience against their
commander." Nicholas Armorer of Belford suggested to Sir Marmaduke
Langdale in 1652 a scheme for seizing Newcastle and Tynemouth with the
help of the Dutch.' During the war with Holland then in progress, a fleet
was stationed off the Tyne for the protection of the coal-trafiic, though
that did not prevent De Witt making an attempt to raid a fleet of colliers
in April, 1653. Owing to a mistake in a signal given, twenty of his best
sail ran in under Tynemouth castle and got oflT again with difliculty,
receiving many shot from the English guns.**
During the year 1654 a scheme was hatching for a general royalist
rising throughout England. Armorer was again active. He wrote to Sir
lulward Hyde that he must have ;^I50 for Tynemouth, 'which will put
that place in a good and thriving condition.' ' A few days later he reported
that ' if anything of man be certain, we shall go near to make Tynemouth
do what the king desires.''"
Major Topping, the commander, appears to have been in ignorance
of what was passing. But in February, 1655, information with regard to
' Commons Journals, vol. vi. p. 144. - Ibid. vol. vi. p. 210.
'' Cal. State Papers, Domestic, 1651-1652, p. 559 ; 1659-1660, p. 48.
* Ibitt. 1651-1652, p. 64. They were released by order of the Council of State, October 31st, 1653.
Ibid. 1653-1654, p. 224.
^ State Papers, Domestic, CommoiiHealth, Exchequer, Bundles 133 and 240. In 1659 the pay of the
governor of Tynemouth amounted to 4s. per diem. Harleian MSS. No. 6844.
' Cal. State Papers, Domestic, 1650, p. 90. = Cal. Clarendon Papers, vol. ii. p. 149.
» Marquis oj Ormondes MSS. Kilkenny Castle, new series, Hist. MSS. Com. vol. i. p. 288.
" Cal. Clarendon Papers, vol. ii. p. 336. " Ibid.
TYNEMOUTH CASTLE. I 95
the conspiracy came into the hands of Cromwell and his ministers. Writing
on March 8th, the very day on which the insurrection was to break out,
Topping told Secretary Thurloe, ' Newcastle men will not believe there is
any plot.' Several of the Erringtons and other northern gentry were
suspected, but 'nothing can be found by them, they are so secret.' The
previous evening, the ' Elizabeth ' of Newcastle had come from Antwerp
into Shields harbour with a lad of nineteen on board, Robert Marley by
name, son of Sir John Marley who had been governor of Newcastle during
the siege. Topping had him searched, but found no letters on him, ' only
an ould peice of paper with some verses writ, and in four places begune the
verse with "God damne me ".'*
A wedding party had been fi.xed for the 8th at Duddo, in the parish
of Stannington, and guests were bidden there 'to wash the bridegroom's
head.' They came horsed and armed. With Thomas Carnaby as their
leader they were to march on Newcastle that night and enter by the
Sandgate. Willoughby and Cholmley had undertaken to seize Gateshead ;
one of the Delavals was to lead three troops in at the Westgate. News that
a fleet of three hundred sail had entered the Tvne came to baffle their
design, and the party marched away westward.'
A second party of royalists mustered at Morpeth. Colonel Howard,
marching from Berwick with three hundred foot, surprised them there.
Thev confessed to having intended to seize Tvnemouth castle, whither ten
or eleven of their leaders were promptlv sent under escort.' In a letter
of the 17th, directed to Thurloe, Topping described the worn-out state of
his soldiers :
Wee have 1 1 contray gentlemen prisoners, who are suspected persons ; and I expect more to be sent
in this day. Wee have two companyes into this garrison, consisting of 70 men in a company. Yesterday
I sent thirty men, comanded by captain Simpson, to secure the castle, untill 130 men, who are on their
march from Barwicke, come to secure the towne alsoe. Wee were on the third night's duty before I sent
this party away; and indeed this place is as cold, standing into the sea, as any place 1 ever came to,
which causes our soldiers to falle sicke, and will weaken us muche if thecentinells go on ever)- third hour,
as nowe they doe. Lord's day last a party of the ca\eleares, about 60, were in armes neere .Morpeth,
and yesterday captain Lilburne was upon his march to fall upon a party of caveleares, got together at
Barnye-castle. .All these things considered, I thought it my duty, to request you inform his highness
therewith, that, if it seeme good, a greater number of men may be allowed to secure this place, for here
was never soe small a number, untill the yearc 52, in all the late warrs. ... I am unwilling, yet if I doe
not make it knowne, it may redound to my shame : we cannot subsist without a constant supply of
' Tliiirlo^s Stale Papers, ed. Birch, vol. iii. p. 207. " Ibid. p. 216.
' Clarke Papers, vol. iii. pp. zy, 29. Cal. State Papers, Domestic, 1655, p. 409.
ig6 TVNEMOUTH PARISH.
money ; our soldiers are i6 weeks pay beliinde ; and it made us poore, because we live upon one
another. I have lent the other company out of my own purse 50/., and we are in as much want as ever.
Barwickc and Carlisle can borrow, or provide otherwise ; it is not soe w ith us. I blcssc God, we are
all contented ; and I heare noc inquictnesse ; but want of pay hatli bcgott mutinycs, and 1 feare the
worst.'
Though considerablv reduced in 1652, the co.st of iiKiiiUainino; a garri-
son at Tvnemoiith was hcavv, amounting in Jiilv, iC'55, tt) / 199 5s. 4cl.
per month." By an order dated xVugust lotli of that year, the establisiinient
was further limited to fifty sentinels.^
The failure of the general rising did not put an end to royalist intrigue.
Lady Appolonia Hall, who was employed as an agent by the e.xiles of the
Hague, betrayed her trust in 1656, and disclosed further designs on Tyne-
mouth. According to her statement, the castle was to be betrayed to the
use of Charles Stuart ; Major Towlehurst had had conference with one
Marley for that purpose ; Mr. Clavering and Adam Shipperdson were to
contriv^e a way from the coal-pits, about two miles distant, underground
into the castle, and so to supply the garrison with provisions in the event
of its declaring for the king and having to stand a siege. ^
At the close of 1659 the military and constitutional parties in the
Commonwealth came into conflict. Major-General Lambert, after expelling
Parliament from Westminster, marched north in November to Newcastle,
that town and the two companies then stationed at Tynemouth immedi-
ately declaring for him.^ The soldiers of the castle assembled in the old
church to sign an engagement to stand by Lambert, when part of the
building fell in and killed five or si.x of them.*' The accident seemed
ominous. November and December passed in fruitless negotiation between
Lambert and General Monk, who placed his veteran army upon the Scottish
border, ready, when the time came, to enforce parliamentary supremacy by
the sword. On New Year's Day, 1660, Monk crossed the Tweed at Cold-
stream, and Lambert's men at once fell away from their leader, who escaped
south.
As soon as the news of Monk's action reached Durham, pistols, swords,
bandeleers, pikes and muskets were despatched from that castle to Tyne-
' Thurloc's State Papers, vol. iii. p. 262. ' Cal. State Papers, Dumestic, 1655, p. 239. ' Ibid. p. 279.
' Thurloc's State Papers, vol. v. p. 572. The information was certainly inaccurate ; Major Towlehurst
was governor of Carlisle and not of Tynemouth.
' Clarke Papers, vol. iv. p. i iS.
" lirand, Newcastle, vol. ii. p. iiS, quoting Mercuritis Briltanicus, December 23rd, 1659, to January
3rd, 1660.
TYNEMOUTH CASTLE.
197
mouth/ but they were not needed, for on the same day (Monday, January
2nd), Major Topping and the officers under him declared for Monk and
the Parliament, their example being followed the next day by the rank and
file.- Monk meanwhile advanced to Wooler on Monday, and sent forward
Colonel Knight, with three troops of horse to Newcastle, which they
entered at six o'clock on Tuesday morning. Knight was able to announce
that Tynemouth had declared for the Parliament, his letter reaching Monk
at Morpeth on Wednesday. The general requested his subordinate to get
the soldiers to march out of the castle at once, and he would appoint
quarters for them in the country.'' On Thursday, the 5th, Monk was in
Newcastle, quitting it on Friday for Durham. Apparently there were
rumours that Topping's surrender was insincere, for, on the 6th, Monk
received two letters, one from the inhabitants of Newcastle, praying that
Tynemouth castle, ' the key of the trade of that place,' might be committed
to an approved commander ; the other from the soldiers at Tynemouth
castle, denying the report that their governor was about to revolt from his
obedience to the Parliament.^
Monk's march south to London led directly to the restoration of
monarchy and the return of Charles II. The position of parties was re-
versed. Hesilrige was brought to trial with the other regicides and found
guilty. Only Monk's interposition, and the fact that he had stood aloof from
Lambert at a time when ' his conjunction with him might have hazarded
the hope of all,' saved him from the penalty of death.' Algernon, tenth
earl of Northumberland, and his son Joscelin, Lord Percy, received a grant
of the office of captain of Tynemouth castle ; " the post of governor, to
which alone real duties were attached, being allotted to Colonel Edward
Villiers, nephew of the first duke of Buckingham. Two companies of foot
were raised to form a garrison, and the monthly sum of ^261 6s. 8d. was
appointed to be paid to them.'
' Bishop Cosin's Correspondence, Surt. Soc. No. 55, p. 89. Cal. State Papers, Domestic, 1661-1662, p. 271.
" Duke of Portland's MSS. Hist. IVIS.S. Com. vol. i. p. 692. Letter of John Topping and others to
VVilHam Lenthall, January 5th, 1660. This corrects Gumble's statement (Life of General Monk, 1671,
p. 205) that the soldiers of Tynemouth castle secured the governor and other officers and brought them
to the general.
' Sir Wnt. FitzherberVs MSS. Hist. MSS. Com. 13th report, appendix, pt. vi. p. 3. Letter of General
Monk to Colonel Knight, January 4th, 1660. Cp. Clarke Papers, vol. iv. p. 238.
' Mr. Leyhorne-Pophamh MSS. Hist. MSS. Com. p. 139. ' Clarke Papers, vol. iv. p. 302.
' Pat. Rolls, January 19th, 1661. Cal. State Papers, Domestic, 1660-1661, p. 497.
' Privy Seal, January 15th, 12 Chas. II. Arch. Ael. 2nd series, vol. xviii. p. 74.
198 TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
The disbanded forces which hiy about Newcastle, the sectarians and
the Tvneside merchants who had risen to power during the Connnonvvealth,
furnished elements for future conflagration on which, as William Delaval
told a London friend, 'the pulpit blew sparks.'' There were rumours in
July, 1662, of an intended general rising in the north, and Lord Fauconberg
ordered Sir John Marlev to have an eye to Tynemouth, for Captain Thomas
Love, the deputy-governor there, was keeping the old chaplain and many
of the soldiers of the Commonwealth army." Sporadic risings took ])lace
in October, 1663, but were easilv suppressed. Captain Leving, one of the
rebels, confessed that Love had been tampered with and would betray the
place for gain.^
A traveller to Tynemouth, Marmaduke Rawdon of York, has described
the castle as he saw it on September 13th, 1664 :
A lar^e and slroiif^e place itt is, situated iippoii a rock over the sea, att the very nioiitli of the river
Tine. Itt is well forlefied, haith very good guns, and a good guard of soldiers that doe constantly keepe
itt, of which was then captain a worthy gentleman, captain Guillims, who was of thosse that killed
.■\schani, Oliver's ambassador in Madrid. Ther is within itt a prettie faire church gon much to decay,
but since, I heare, repaired. Itt haith a bowlinge grecne and convenient howses for thosse that live
theirin. Itt haith a faire watch-tower lately built, where every night all the yeare longe their is a greate
coale fire made to be a guide to ships that saile into that port. One Collonel Moyer, a greate slider in
Oliver's time, was here prisner.'
\'arious sums were paid to Colonel Villiers in 1663 for repairs effected
on the castle.* In May, 1665, the king requested the citizens of Newcastle
to contribute towards the cost of repairing and fortifying the castle, for
the security of their town and trade during the war with Holland, and thus
to relieve him of an expense not convenient in the great and pressing
occasions of the war.'' Two hundred pounds was accordingly voted by the
Common Council.''
Tlure was danger of the Dutcli joining hands with the malcontents
at home. Sir John Marley informed Clarendon in September that the ill-
affected party at Newcastle were high and vigilant. ' If things fall out
' Oil. State Papers, Domestic, i66o-i66r, p. 470. - Ibht. 1661-1662, p. 441.
' //)/(/. 1663-1664, p. 615. The plot was known under many names, and in Durham was celebrated
as the Muggleswick I'lot, for ;in account of which see Surtees, Durham, vol. ii. pp. 3S9-392, and Depositions
from York Castle, Surt. Soc. No. 40.
' Life of Mannaciuke Rawdon, Camden Soc. p. 1 43.
^ Cal. Treasury Books, 1660-1667, P- 532. Cal. Slate Papers, Domestic, 1663-1664, pp. 100, 146.
" Ibid. 1664-1665, p. 384.
' Brand, Newcastle, vol. ii. p. uy, citing Common Council Books, June 2Slh, 1665.
TYNEMOUTH CASTI.E. 1 99
Otherwise,' he said, ' nothing but a governor and a strong garrison can
prevent Newcastle being delivered into the enemy's hands.' A fortnight
later it was rumoured that a plot was forming among the garrisons of
Berwick and Tynemouth/ ' The fanatics at Shields, where there is a nest
of them,' said another letter-writer, 'pray and hope for deliverance by the
Dutch and French.' ^ As the war proceeded, men's nerves were on the
tension. An Ipswich mariner, sailing to the north of Shields, saw 'appear-
ances in the heavens of ships, first one or two, then three or four, which
vanished ; then the hull of a great ship without masts, and at last a fleet of
ships, one of which was a very great ship, with hull, masts, vards, vanes, etc.,
all discernible;' the apparition was 'much credited, but most among the
fanatics.'* Orders were sent to the governors of the seaside forts, including
Tynemonth, to have their works repaired and victualled for two months,
and to fill up the allotted number of soldiers, in face of a coming invasion.*
Meanwhile round about Newcastle ' quakers and other sectaries met often,
and in greater numbers than formerly, and little care was taken to
hinder them."'
Upon June I2th, 1667, the Dutch sailed up the Medway and burned
three men-of-war lying anchored in the river. For a few days England was
in a state of panic. ' People are distracted and at their wits' end with the
sad news,' Richard Forster wrote from Newcastle: 'the people generally
give up the place for lost, and daily apprehend the enemy's landing ; they
cry that all is lost for want of care.' ' Fortunately a battery, recentlv
completed at Tynemouth, gave some protection to the shipping at Shields,
and Colonel Villiers and Sir Ralph Delaval got the shipmasters to man si.x
Newcastle shallops and some long boats. Three hundred volunteer horse-
men were raised in the county, of whom Villiers remarked that ' they may
do good service in frightening an enemy at a distance.' *
At the end of the month the earl of Carlisle reached Tynemouth,
having been appointed lieutenant-general of all militia forces and of all
towns and garrisons in the four northern counties." Thither came also the
' Cal. State Papers, Domestic, 1664-1665, p. 547.
'-' Hist. MSS. Com. 12th report, appendix, pt. vii. p. 38.
= Cal. State Papers, Domestic, 1665- 1666, p. 270. ' Ibid. p. 5S3. » Ibid. p. 461.
" Ibid. 1666-1667, p. 116. ■ Ibid. 1667, p. 205.
" Ibid. p. 220. The battery is perhaps the half-moon battery, which was to the east of the lord's
lodging and is traditionally supposed to have been erected in the civil wars. ' Ibid. p. 20S.
200 TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
earl of Ogle, governor of Newcastle, and Lord Widdrington, governor of
Berwick, with a volunteer troop of a hundred or a hundred and twenty
horse, ' most of them the best gentry in the county.' ' Four companies of
guards marched from Berwick to Tynemouth castle.' Lord Ogle was busy
raising a regiment and fi)uncl no difficulty in getting volunteers. Villiers
reported, 'the number could easily have been doubled, that being the
best part of England for raising foot.' ' ' Men are so willing,' Forster
wrote, ' to serve against a proud insulting enemy like the Dutch.' '' On
July 1st, the regiment was mustered upon Killingworth moor.* The earl
of Carlisle actively proceeded with the defence of the Tyne. Ships were
ready to be sunk if needful, and two fireships and other guardships were
anchored at the harbour mouth. On Julv 4th he was able to announce
that no attempt by water need be feared."
All at Newcastle were 'mad for peace.'' The news that reached
England on July 26th that peace had actually been concluded was
received everywhere with enthusiasm.
Joscelin, eleventh earl of Northumberland, dying on May 21st, 1670,
the captaincy of Tynemouth castle was granted, by warrant dated June
16th, to Colonel Villiers.'' A second warrant, issued on June 2Sth,
abolished the office but continued to Villiers his present fees."
The third Dutch war (167 2- 1674) provided no such exciting incidents
as the second war had done. When it broke out Villiers was appointed
lieutenant-governor of Newcastle, with powers to command all ships and
seamen in the river, and, if necessary, to sink ships for security.'" A new
fort just completed at Shields, and named after Lord Clifford of Cabal fame,
added to the security of the Tyne. The garrison at Tynemouth was
temporarily increased to three companies by the addition of a company
from Carlisle."
' Cal. Stnti Papers, Domestic, 1667, p. 242. The officeis in Lord Witldiington's Uoop were : captain,
Lord Widdrington ; lieutenant, Sir \Vm. lUakeston ; cornet, Jo. Thornton ; quartermaster, Ralph Read.
Hiid. p. 182.
- Ibid. p. 241. " Ibid. p. 255. ' Ihid. p. 2S9.
' Its officers were: colonel, earl of Ogle; lieut.-colonel., Edw. Villiers; major, Wm. Strolher ;
captains, earl of Ogle, Edw. Villiers, Wm. Strother, Robt. IJclaval, Jo. Strother, Thos. Haggerston, .Sir
Jo. Swinburne, Roger Widdrington, Jo. Digby, Fr. Sandvs ; lieutenants, Rob. Anderson, Jo. Price,
Lance. Ord, Mich. Whitehead, Rolj. Marley, Jo. Grey, R'al])h Kutherforth, Jo. Forster, Rob. Sutton,
Edw. Tourney ; ensigns, VV. Erington, Rog. Mollineux, Wm. Armorer, Fr. Read, Edw. Widdrington,
Lance Errmgton, Allan Swinborne, Ralph Widdrington, Jo. Walker, Geo. Sandys. Ibid. p. 180.
" Ibid. p. 266. ' Ibid. p. 286. » Ibid. 1660-1670, pp. 280, 406. ° Il>id. p. 302.
'" Ibid. 1671-1672, p. 252. " Ibid. 1672, pp. 408, 669.
TYNEMOUTH CASTLE.
20 1
On May 2nd, 1674, a warrant was issued for a grant to Colonel Villiers,
for ninety-nine years at the yearly rent of five shillings, of the ground
adjoining to the lighthouse erected by him within the castle, whereon he
had built a house at the cost of eleven hundred pounds, the better to
enable him and his heirs to maintain the lighthouse in order, and also of
the waste ground within the castle, whereon he had begun the rebuilding
of an old ruinated church, which he had promised to finish at his own
charge ; with a proviso that he should not by his building prejudice the
j/ie llMfKc/ f^differPj'/^rf J^mtii /ifc fltc//:~'
Cliffori/'s Fort, from a Sketch takfn about i6So.
fortifications of the soldiers' quarters.' The governor's house, then built,
stood on the north-east side of the priory church and was demolished in
1902. Above the gateway were the Villiers arms, argent on a cross gules
five escallops of the field, and crest, a Hon rampant, and the date 1676
appeared on the waterspouts."
' Cal. State Papers, Domestic, 1673-1675, p. 23S.
- Brand, Newcastle, vol. ii. p. iig, note. The governoi-'s house and lighthouse, as they stood in 17S4,
are shown in an engraving by Byrne in Hearne's Pictorial Antiquities, vol. i. See also Proc. Soe. Aiit.
Newcastle, 2nd series, vol. x. p. 274.
Vol. VIII.
?6
2o:
TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
VILLIERS OF TYNEMOUTH CASTLE.
SiK EnUAKIi N'lI.l.lERS, knight, of IJrookesby-hiill (son of Sir KLUvanI \'illiers, h;ilf-brother of =
George, first duke of Buckingham), born i;th April, 1620; governor of Tynemouth casile,
l66o-~i6Sg; obtained a grant of Tynemonth lighthouse, 13th June, 166;; knighted 7th .'\pril,
1680; buried in Westmiiister Abbey, 2nd July, 1689 ; will dated 8th May, 168; ; proved at the
Prerogative Court of Canterbury, 8ih July, 1689.
!•' ranees, daughter
of Theophilus,
eail of Suffolk.
Sir Edward Villiers,
knight, son and heir,
created Baron \'il-
liers, 20th March,
1690/1, and earl of
Jersey, I Jlh October, ^
1697.
Barbara, daughter and heir
of William Chafifinch,
Keeper of the Closet of
Charles II.; articles be-
fore marriage, 19th and
20lh December, 168 1.
Henry Villiers, governor of Tynemouth = Ann, to whom
administration
of her hus-
band's person-
al estate was
granted, 25th
April, 1 709 («).
castle 1689-1707, and colonel of foot,
acquired his brother Edward's right in
Tynemouth lighthouse by purchase,
14th June, 1695; died nth, buried at
Tynemouth priory, 22nd August, 1707,
aged 49 (a) (^).
Elizabeth, married George Hamilton, first earl of
Orkney.
Catherine, married first, Marquis de Puissars, and
second, William Villiers.
Barbara, married John, Viscount Fitz Harding.
I I I
Ann, married William, first earl of Portland.
Henrietta, married John, second earl of
Breadalbane.
Mary, married William, thiid earl of liicliiquiu.
wife of Colonel Macdonell (,/y
.Xrabella, daughter = Henry Villiers, lieut.-governor of = Mary Lockey, sister
of John Rossiter
of Sowerby, Lin-
colnshire; married
13th February,
1726/7 (?) ; died
13th October, 1 733
W-
Tynemouth, died 29th May,
1753, aged 60, seised of Tyne-
mouth lighthouse ; ' happy
himself, his family, friends and
acquaintances were happy in
him ' (rf).
of
Thomas Fawk, Lieut. -
General ; married 5^^
February, 1736/7 (^) ;
died 7th January, 1767
(r/) ; will dated 22nd
October, 1766.
I I I
William, baptised 14th June,
1 69 1 (a).
FMward, baptised 20th July,
1693 (a).
James, baptised 20th July,
1703 (a); buried 26th
February, 1703/4 (a).
Mary, baptised 20th May, 1685 (a) ; buried 13th November, 1688 («).
Barbara, baptised 12th May, 1686 (rt).
Charlotte, baptised 24lh June, 1692 ; buried igth January, 1703/4 (a).
Catherine, married I7ih January, 1726/7, John Craster of Craster (^)i and died 1st October, 1772; will
dated 30th September, 1772. 4,
(fl) Tyiienwiil/i Register.
(Ji") Monumental Inscription, Tynemouth Priory.
(c) Geni:s .iUg. 1733, p. 550.
(d) Monumental Inscription, Taplow, Bucks.
(e') Raine, 7'est. Dimehn.
(/) Hist. MSS. Com. 15th Report, appendix, pt. i. p. 124.
(^) Registers of Christ Church., Newgate Street ; Harl.
Soc. Registers, vol. xxi.
Though there are other references to the rebuilding of the church
at this period,' nothing in the e.xisting ruins points to any reconstruction.
Tradition has represented Colonel Villiers in a worse light than that of a
restorer, for he is said to have pulled down much of the monastic building
to erect barracks, the lighthouse, the governor's house and other edifices,
and to have stripped off the lead which till then had covered the church.^
' Brand, ibid. p. 120, note, states that Bishop Cosin was petitioned to grant his licence to pull down
the east end of the old church, that a less chapel at the west end might be fitted up for the service of
the garrison.
• Grose, Antiquities of England and Walei, new edition, vol iv. p. 151.
TYNEMOUTH CASTLE. 203
Ralph Thoresby, visiting the castle in 1681, found it 'almost ruined
and maintained by a slender garrison." Repairs appear to have been
undertaken in the following year.^
On November 5th, 1688, William of Orange landed at Torbay. The
close connection between his family and the Stuarts rendered Villiers
naturally loyal to the reigning house, and two companies, one of foot, the
other of grenadiers, marched south from Tynemouth to oppose the Dutch,
but were captured by the earl of Danby at York.' A few days later, on
December 14th, Captain Love wrote to Danby from Tynemouth, informing
him of the condition of the castle and garrison, and offering to procure a
surrender. Philip Bickerstaffe of Chirton wrote to the same effect, and on
the 1 8th, Henry Villiers, son of Colonel (now Sir Edward) Villiers, informed
Danby that there was not a Roman Catholic in the garrison, that they were
for protecting the Protestant religion and for a free parliament. Next
dav Tvnemouth castle was summoned and surrendered. Carlisle had
surrendered on the 15th and Berwick on the 16th, leaving the king no
stronghold in the north.^ Tynemouth was temporarily entrusted to the
mayor of Newcastle, but the Villiers family were restored to favour upon
their submission to William III. Sir Edward Villiers died in i68q and
was buried in Westminster abbey, being succeeded as governor by his
second son, Henry. The connection of the Villiers family with the castle
lasted for three generations, ending with the death in 1753 of a second
Henry Villiers, lieutenant-governor.*
The revolution of 1688 set at rest the religious and constitutional
questions whieh had for so long agitated the country. Administration has
become centralized, rendering local politics of less national importance ;
and the later history of Tynemouth castle is of less interest than the
century and a half of plot, insurrection and invasion which began with the
Pilgrimage of Grace and closed with the ' Glorious Revolution.' Many of
the old features have disappeared. In 1784 the gate-house was modernised
and nearly all the remaining monastic buildings were destroyed. During
' Richardson, Reprints, vol. vi., Wayfarings of Ralph Thoresby, p. i;.
= Earl of Dartmouth's MSS. Hist. MSS. Com. I Ith report, appendix, pi. v. p. 75-
' Earl of Lindsey's MSS. ibid. 14th report, appendi.x, pt. ix. p. 450.
' Duke of Leeds' MSS. ibid, iitli report, appendix, pt. vii. pp. 28-29.
' Mr H. A. Adamson has given an account of the Villiers family as governors of Tynemouth castle
in Arch. Acl. second series, vol. xx. pp. 15-26.
204 TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
the earlier part of the nineteenth century the floor of the chapter-house
was dug up, and the interments within it scattered, to make ceUars for
a regimental canteen. In 1863 the foundations of the claustral buildings
were removed without record taken of their position. Since then the old
Spanish battery, the half-moon battery, the governor's house and the
lighthouse have given way to the exigencies of military defence, and a
trench excavated on the landward side of the castle in 1856 has altered
the character of the approach. On the other hand the work of demolition
has resulted in the discovery of various Roman and Anglian stones. The
ruins were handed over by the War Department in 1904 to the care of
His Majesty's Office of Works, as the authority, under the Ancient Monu-
ments Acts, for the care and protection of ancient monuments and historic
buildings in Great Britain ; and, with the sanction of that office and the
permission of the military authorities, careful plans have been made of
the medieval gate-house and excavations have laid bare the foundations of
the Norman church. Much more may be done towards the elucidation
of the history of the castle rock, especially for the pre-Conquest period, if
only exact records are kept of fresh discoveries.
Captains of Tynemouth Castle.
1545/6, January 20th. Sir Francis Leeke, lent.
1549, April 5th. Sir Thomas Hilton of Hilton Castle, knt., died May, 1559.
1560/1, February 8th. Sir Henry Percy, knt., afterwards eighth earl of Northumberland, died June 21st,
1585.
1585. Henry, ninth earl of Northumberland, on the death of his father, under terms of grant, dated
May 3rd, 1570; died November 5th, 1632.
1632. Robert Carey, first earl of Monmouth, by grant dated March 2nd, 161 1/2 ; died April 12th, 1639.
1661/2, January 19th. Algernon, tenth earl of Northumberland, died October 13th, 1668.
1668. Joscelin, eleventh earl of Northumberland, under the terms of his father's patent; died May 21st, 1670.
1670, June i6th. Edward Villiers. Office abolished on the 28th of the same month.
Governors of Tynemouth Castle and Clifford's Fort.
1670. Edward (afterwards Sir Edward) Villiers.
1702, July 2nd. Henry Villiers, his son.
1707/8, February 20th. Thomas Meredith.
1714/5, January i ith. Algernon, earl of Hertford, afterwards seventh duke of Somerset.
i749/5o> February 13th. Sir Andrew Agnew of Lochnow, co. Wigtoun, bart.
1771, August 28th. Hon. Alexander Mackay, afterwards commander-in-chief of the forces in Scotland.
1778, April 4th. Lord Adam Gordon.
1796, November 2nd. Charles Raineford.
1807, May 27th. General David VVemyss, upon whose death, in September, 1839, the office was allowed
to lapse.
THE LIGHTHOUSE. 205
The Lighthouse.
In a letter from the Privy Council to the mayor of Newcastle, dated
January 17th, 1581/2, reference is made to 'a certaine order established
for the kepinge of a continuall light in the night season at the easte ende
of the churche of Tinmouthe castle, as in former times had ben, for the
more safegarde of such shippes as should passe by that coast.' ' The light
was maintained by Henry, eighth earl of Northumberland (captain of the
castle, 1 561- 1 585), with whom the master and mariners of the Trinity
House at Newcastle compounded to pay yearly, during the life of the
said earl, four pence upon every English ship and twelve pence upon
every stranger ship coming within the river. These tolls were collected
for the earl at the custom house of Newcastle and went to defrav the
charges of maintaining the light." It was a fire made of coals, burnt
probably in an open brazier upon the top of one of the two turrets flank-
ing the east end of the presbytery of the priory church.^ It does not
seem to have burned continually through the night but to have been
lighted every half-tide, when the water in the river had become deep
enough for vessels to venture over the flats and shoals which studded the
Tyne between its mouth and Newcastle. In 1608 the fire was said to
have been established thirty years before, and the tolls were estimated
as amounting to forty pounds yearly/
This arrangement continued until 1659, the profits of the light usually
going to those who had the charge of the castle ; but about Martinmas
of that year the stairs leading up to the top of the turret fell down.
In the following May representations were made by the master and
brethren of the Trinity House at Newcastle of the ' great necessity of
having a new light high-placed, either in the east end of the castle wall,
or else a new one built upon the ground a little way east from the said
castle ' ; and this was followed up by a petition from many masters of
ships using the port of Newcastle.^ Consequently, upon September 14th,
a warrant was issued to the mayor of Newcastle, the governor of Tyne-
' Acts of the Privy Council, 1 581-1582, p. 306. ■ Duke of Northumberland's MSS.
" ' Upon an old steeple.' Trinity House Letter-book.
' Land Revenue Misc. Books, 223, fol. 294. The estimate was low ; for example, between Michaelmas,
1604, and Michaelmas, 1605, 1,983 English ships and 346 strangers paid duty, and the profits were
therefore £jO 7s. Duke of Northumberland's ^iSS.
'' Trinity House Letter-book.
2o6 TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
month castle, the master of the Trinity House and others, to have the
charge of erecting the light. It was only proposed to repair the stair in
the turret, and the collector of customs at Newcastle was ordered to pay
a hundred pounds towards this.'
There was delav in executing the work, of which Colonel Villiers,
then governor of the castle, took advantage and negotiated with the ship-
masters of Newcastle and Sunderland for the raising of the former toll
from fourpence to twelvepence per ship on every English ship and from
one to three shillings on every foreign vessel. This he obtained, as well as
a grant from the Crown of the said toll to him and his heirs to hold at a
yearly rent of twentv marks,'^ and then proceeded to build a new lighthouse
at the north-east corner of the castle promontory. It was completed
before September, 1664. An early painting (Plate XIV.) shows it to have
been a stepped tower carrying a conical roof. Like the former light it
burned coals. Though complaints were made that the old one was much
better, Villiers was probably justified in claiming superioritv for his new
tower, as it threw out light on both sides and not forward only.'
The new light proved costly. 'Some lights,' to quote Villiers' words,
' are low candle lights. These cost little building and less maintaining ;
but your high fire lights, where coals burn in cradles, waste coals e.xcessively,
and put the owners to great charge in repairing the iron works, insomuch
that one of these cost more building and keeping than four others.' Finding
that the toll did not pay the interest on the monev which he had expended
on building the tower, he petitioned the king in 1681 for an alteration of
the charge from twelvepence per ship to a farthing per ton, arguing that
it was fair that ships of great burden should pay proportionably more than
smaller craft. His demand met with strong opposition from the Trinity
House of Deptford, which offered to repay him his principal expended in
the erection of the light and to reimburse him for his past expense in
keeping it, and so to maintain the same without any further increase of
charge upon navigators. Sir Edward Villiers abandoned his claim but
retained the lighthouse.''
' Cal. Treasury Books, 1660-1667, P- 278-
-• Cal. State Papers, Domestic, 1661-1662, p. 383 ; 1664-1665, p. 283. Letters Patent, June 30th, 1665.
' Exchequer Depositions, Easter, 23 Chas. II. No. 32. Trinity House Letter-book.
'Bodleian Library, Riuclinsoii MSS. A, vols. 178, I S3 and 190. Other correspondence relating to
the dispute is to be found among the manuscripts of the Trinity House at Tower Hill, London. Hist.
MS.S. Com. Sth report, appendix i. pp. 257-259.
TYNEMOUTHSHIRE. 207
His grandson, Henry Villiers, attempted in 1728 to obtain a toll of a
penny per chaldron of exported coals towards the erection of a new light
at Tynemouth, but the construction was held to be unnecessary.' Mary
Villiers, his widow, devised her freehold estate in the lighthouse to her
nephew William Fowke. About 1775 the old tower was taken down and
rebuilt. Further alterations were made in 1802, when William Fowke
added a copper lantern and substituted for the old coal light an oil lamp
with silver-plated reflectors and a revolving machine, obtaining for so doing
a further toll of a farthing upon every chaldron of coal exported by river.'''
By Act of Parliament, August 13th, 1836, the lighthouse was transferred
to the London Trinity House, by whom it was purchased from Mr. Fowke's
representatives in 1840 for /"i 25,678/ It was demolished in 1898 (when
nearly two hundred carved stones from the priory ruins were found to
have been built up into its structure), its further continuance having been
rendered unnecessary by the erection of new lighthouses upon St. Marv's
Island and Souter Point. There are also lights at the end of the north
and south piers in the hands of the Tyne Commissioners.*
TYNEMOUTHSHIRE.
The Liberty.
The term ' shire ' is capable of several interpretations. Primarily it
means an office. In a secondary sense it is used to signify a district
' ashired ' or severed for certain purposes from other districts, and, in its
usual acceptance, is identical with the county, the unit of royal administra-
tion. In Northumberland, however, as in Yorkshire, shires exist within
the county. Sometimes the name is applied to a division of the county,
namely, a hundred or wapentake, and this is perhaps the origin of Bam-
burghshire.* It is equally applicable to an outlying portion of a regality,
such as Islandshire, Norhamshire and Bedlingtonshire, all formerly portions
' Trinity House Letter-book.
- ' An .-Vet for improving the Tinmoiith Castle Lighthouse and Light, and for authorizing additional
Light Duties in respect of such improvement,' 42 Geo. III. cap. 43.
' 'An Act for vesting Lighthouses, Lights and Sea Marks in the care of Trinity House of Deptford
Strand,' 6 and 7 \Vm. lY. cap 79. Statutes at Large, vol. Ixxvi. pp. 445-474.
" For further particulars see Mr. H. A. Adamson's article on 'The Villiers Family' in Arch. Ael,
2nd series, vol. xx. pp. 15-26.
^ See vol. i. p. i.
208 TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
of the conntv palatine of Durham. Finally, a shire may itself be a regality,
withdrawn from the sheriff's jurisdiction, having its own court in which
justicf is administered without reference to the courts of county and
hundred. E.xamples in Northumberland are to be found in the cases of
Hexhamshire' and Tynemouthshire.
A regality was not necessarily limited to a contiguous area, and the
liberty of Tynemouth comprised all the scattered manors and townships
held in free alms by the prior and convent. A charter accorded to the
monastery by Richard I. in 1189,^ while it prefaced a grant of liberties by
an enumeration of the temporal possessions of the convent, was worded
with sufficient vagueness to allow of the inclusion of later territorial
acquisitions within the liberty. It was probablv from fear of prejudicing
his successors by a limitation of their franchise that, in the course of judicial
proceedings taken in 1291, Prior Walden refused to state what townships
were included within it.' In 1381 the following townships had their con-
tributions towards the expenses of the knights of the shire for North-
umberland remitted as being in the liberty of the prior of Tynemouth :
Tynemouth, Milneton with Shields, Preston, East Chirton, Middle Chirton,
West Chirton, Flatworth, Murton, Whitley, Monkseaton, Earsdon, Back-
worth, Seghill, Wolsington, Dissington, Elswick, Wylam, Welton, Hartford,
Cowpen, Bebside, Hauxlev, Amble, Eglingham, Bewick, and Lilburn.^
West Denton and Benwell, acquired by the monastery at a later date,
came to be included within the libertv.
A theory has been put forward'^ to account for the origin of the
Northumbrian palatinates, which, as far as Tynemouth is concerned, may
be taken as representing the probable course of events. 'The regality
of the Northumbrian kings,' according to Mr. Page, ' was continued in
the person of the earl, who exercised jura regalia over all his lands
' For an account of the regality of Hexham, see vol. iii. pp. 20-65. ' See p. 67.
' 'Ut attrahere possit libertati suae terras extra libertatem suam, libertatem predictam elargantlo et
super coronam occupando.' Gibson, Tyiu-mouth, vol. ii. p. Ixxvii.
' Wallis, History of Northumberland, vol. i. appendix i. A similar list is given in an inquisition held
.-It Tynemouth on May 31st, 1428, before commissioners appointed to levy and collect a subsidy of 6s. 8d.
on every knight's fee. Shields and Milneton are, however, omitted in this later list, as is Wolsington ;
Dissington, Hartford and Lilburn are defined as South Dissington, West Hartford and East Lilburn ;
and the prior is stated to hold only half the townships of Cow pen and Bebside. Lay Subsidy Roll, \^f.
'By Mr. \Vm. Page in Archaeologin, 2nd series, vol. i. pp. 143-155, 'Some Remarks on the
Northumbrian Palatinates and Regalities.' Mr. Hodgson Hinde had already pointed out that all
jura regalia in Northumberland were in the hands of the earl and not of the king. Hodgson Hinde,
History of Northumberland, p. 245.
TYNEMOUTHSHIRE. 209
north of the Humber,' and the rights subsequently enjoyed within the
liberty of Tynemouth had their orisrin in this regality. After the resumption
of the earldom in 1095, upon Robert de Mowbray's forfeiture, William II.
granted to the monks of Tynemouth a court with soc and sac, toll and
theam and infangenetheof, to hold as freely and fully as the king himself
then held it.' In three charters issued in or about 1 108, Henry I., with
slight verbal differences, confirmed to St. Oswin and to the monks of Tyne-
mouth their court and their customs, 'to hold in as full a manner as ever
Earl Robert held the same in mv brother's time before he forfeited to him.'^
The fact that later royal charters contain grants of special privileges
is not inconsistent with the supposition that in theory all jtira rc^aliiX
passed under the charters of William II. and of Henry I., and that the
court and customs of Robert de Mowbray contained the potentiality of
a fully-developed palatinate. Royal recognition was accorded to established
custom ; royal charters gave form to the practices which developed inde-
pendently of them. A charter of Henry I. gave the monks free warren,'
and their men enjoyed exemption from royal tolls in the reign of the
same sovereign.^ By a charter of King Stephen (1136) they were
freed from work on the royal castles in Northumberland.' Two charters
of Earl Henry (1147) released their free tenants and villeins from the
obligation of the fyrd." Henry II., by a charter given in 1158, conferred
upon the monks immunity from all existing forms of royal ta.xation.' But
the keystone of their liberties lay in a charter which Richard I. accorded
to them in 11 89.' In this their right was recognised to deal with
pleas of the crown, including in that category cases of larceny (infan-
' See above, pp. 52-53.
- ' .Sicut unquam Robertus comes melius habuit tempore fratris mei antequam ei forisfactus esset,'
P- 55 (3)- ' ^icut unquam melius habuit Robertus comes tempore fratris mei,' '\hid. (5). ' Quemadmodum
rex Willelmus frater meus dedcrat eis,' ihid. (4). A tradition current at Tynemouth in 1293 derived the
customs and liberties of that monaster)', not from the charters of William II. and of Henr)- I., but from
an earlier ^rant made to the monks there by Mowbray before his forfeiture. ' Monachi sancti .Xlb.ani
habuerunt in aqua de Tyne et alibi libertates'et consuetudines quas dictus comes habuerunt, ex quo m^
dono quod dictis monachis donaverat, nihil sibi retinuit, et super hoc, ut dicitur, cartam eis fecerat.
St. A Weill's RcgisUr, fol. 77 b. Whichever view is correct, whether the creation of the liberty occurred
before or after Mowbray forfeited his earldom, the rights afterwards exercised by the prior and convent
were those which had previously belonged to the earl. The Tynemouth tradition implies that Mowbray
had the right of creating regalities within his earldom.
'Ibid. {16). ' See above, p. 58, note 2 (5). ' /6uf. (4). ' See above, p. 59, note 2 (5) and (8).
' See above, p. 62, note (i). ' Quieta et soluta de omni geldo et scoto et adjutorio, et ab omnibus
consuetidinibus et operibus et auxiliis et aliis querelis.'
' See above, p. 67.
Vol. VIII. -7
2IO TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
genetheof and utfangenctheof), breach of tlie peace (grith-breclie), burglary
(ham-soon), murder (murdrum), premeditated assault (forstal),' and out-
lawry (flvmena-frith). Yet more important was the complete exclusion
from the liberty of the sheriff and of the royal justices. ' We will that no
man,' the charter runs, 'either French or English, in any way have to
do with their lands or with their men, but only they themselves and
their officers to whom they will give commission. . . . We forbid the
placing of any officer in their lands or houses contrary to their will and
assent, either in our time or in the time of our successors, by direction of
any prince or justice, upon any occasion whatsoever.'
Before the close of the thirteenth century the prior of Tynemouth
had come into the possession of an extensive franchise, based in part upon
royal charters and in part upon prescriptive right. He had the ' return of
writs.' All pleas of the crown, as well as common pleas touching his
men or lands and tenements within the libertv, were heard in the prior's
court" and before his own justices, to whom he granted commissions of
assize, oyer and terminer, and gaol delivery. On the other hand the
supremacy of the Crown was marked by the customs of craving court and
petitioning for pleas of the crown. When a civil action came before the
royal courts and cognizance of the plea lay with the prior, the baililf of
the liberty appeared before the king's justices and asked leave to transfer
the plea to the prior's court. When the royal justices itinerant came to
hold assize in Northumberlantl, the prior or iiis bailitV met them ' at the
well called ("liille at the head of Gateshead ' if they came from Durham, or
at Fourstones if they came from Cumberland, and requested to have his
liberties. On this being granted, he asked for a copy of the articles of
the eyre for execution within the franchise, and the prior then issued a
similar commission to two of his justices, to whom the justices itinerant
assigned a third.'' An assize was then held by the three within the libertv,
the usual place for it being the held of Elswick, outside the walls of the
' In 1291 Prior Walden based on this grant of forstal the right of forstalling the market of Newcastle
by tlie purchase of goods bound for that market at his own port of Shields. The kin;.4's advocate gave
the true interpretation of the term. ' Hoc verbinii Jor>.taUnm interpretari del^et et intelligi ad inipediendum
aHqiiem vel insultandum in regia strata, el non .alio modo, siciit praedictus prior ilhid inlelligit.' Rutuli
Piirliiiiiuittaiii, Record Com. vol. i. p. 28.
■Time Northiimhrian A$si~.e Rolls, Surt. Soc. No. 88, p. 54. Cp. Tynemouth Charliiliuy, fols. 51 b
and 5S b ; 'Consuetudo antiqua fuit quod nullus viscinus portaret aliiiuod breve regis ad implacitan(him
viscinum suum, nisi prius breve directum priori ad placitandum in curia sua propria.' The practice was
already obsolete at the date of this entry (late fourteenth century).
' Kegislniiii PaUiliiuim Duiielmense, vol. iii. p|). 49-50.
TYNEMOUTHSHIRE. 2 I I
preaching friars of Newcastle.' Appeal lay from the priors court to the
king, and, it it was found that a miscarriage of justice had occurred, the
case was brought up to the royal courts by a writ of ccitididii? A con-
sideration ot the special forest jurisdiction exercised by the lords of the
libertv is reserved for the account of Bewick township.
Besides a regular start of justices, the prior had his own coroner. He
had at Tynemouth a prison,^ gallows, tumbrel, and pillory, and a gallows and
tumbrel at Bewick.' Hi- held an assize of bread and ale, and punished by
line or pillory for breach of the assize.^ The royal casualties of waif, estray,
treasure trove and wreck of the sea were his, as well as all mines of coal
within the liberty, e.xcept perhaps the mines under freehold land. He had
free warren. The profits of jurisdiction went to him, namely the fines and
amercements of his men," deodands, and the goods of murderers and felons.
The right of sanctuary was another important privilege possessed by
the priory from an early date. Tynemouth had its grith or special peace,
of which the boundaries, marked by crosses where roads intersected them,
probably extended a mile around the priory,' and it is not impossible
that the Monk's Stone near the junction of the roads leading from Tyne-
mouth to Whitlev and to Monkseaton, is a memorial cross removed
from the Anglian cemetery to serve in post -Conquest times as a grith -
' The following two rubrics from the Assize Rolls illustrate the procedure: 'Assisa capta extra
niuros fratrum predicatorum apud Novum Castrum super Tynam infra libertatem prioris de Tynemuthe,
die martis proxima post festum apostoloruni Petri et Pauli, anno regni regis Edwardi sexto, coram
Johanne de Reygar et Willelmo de Xorthbury, justiciariis assignatis, et Willelmode Middclton qiiem sibi
associaverunt.' KoU 1239, m. 14 d. ' Placita de juratis et assisis apud Elstewyk in crastino Epiphanie,
anno regni regis Edwardi undecinio, coram Johanne de Farneakers et Kadulfo de Essenden, justiciariis
domini prioris de Tynemuth, et Roberto Bertram assignato per dominum regem.' Roll 1254, m. 7.
- For an instance of this in 1284 see Abbreviatio Placitorum, Record Com. p. 276.
' (Prior) dicit quod sicut prisona domini regis Novi Castri super Tynam hucusque deliberata exlilit
per breve domini regis et ejus justiciarios, ita prisonam suam de Tynemuc hucusque deliberari fecit sine
breve regis per justiciarios et coronatores suos quos idem prior ad hoc constituit. Gibson, Tynaiwulh,
vol. ii. p. Ixxiv.
' Placita de quo zcurniiito. Record Com. p. 593 ; Hodgson, Northumberland, part iii. vol. i. p. I49-
'Memorandum quod in crastino apostolorum Petri et Pauli, A.D. 1307, frater S[imon], prior de
Tynemuth, per consilium amicorum levari fecit in villa de Tynemuth collistrigium, hoc est pillori, eo
quod t.ile judicium pertinet ad assisam panis et cervisiequam dictus prior et predecessores sui habuerunt
sicut communiter dicitur a tempore quo non extat memoria, per liberlates concessas in cartis regum
Angliae; sed tali judicio, hoc est pillori, per suam negligenciam usi non fuerunt usque ad lerminum
apostolorum Petri et Pauli supiadictum. Tyiiemoiith Ciuirtulary, fol. 191 b. .At an assize held in
Newcastle in 1279 the jurors presented that the prior of Tynemouth had had a gallows and had kept
the assize of bread and ale since the time of Henry I. Three Xorthttmbriait Assize Rolls, p. 54.
' Memorandum quod preceptum fuit xvij die Aprilis, anno regis Henrici undecimo, per comnnunc
consilium regni, quod abbas de Sancto .Albano habeat amerciamenta hominum suorum de Tynemuth. et
quod ea de cetero capiat ad scaccarium. St. Alhaii's Register, fol. 97 b. Tynemouth Chartulary, fol. 207.
' As in the case of Hexham, for which see vol. iii. p. 242.
212 TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
cross.' Suspected or convicted felons who crossed the bounds of the grith
escaped the penalties of life and limb. To these the prior gave his pro-
tection, as in the case of Thomas de Carliol, for whom the mayor and good
men of Newcastle asked permission to live in his hired house at Tyncmouth,
as he had been guilty of an assault." A lawless population of grith-men
grew up within the limits of sanctuary, whose services were occasionally
useful in Scottish wars. In 1342 Edward Baliol was empowered to array
the grith-men of Tynemouth and other northern sanctuaries, if they were
willing to serve at their own expense upon a pardon being granted to them.'
Occasionally prisoners in Newcastle succeeded in breaking prison and
found a safe asylum at Tynemouth, their escape, on at least one occasion,
being attributed to the miraculous agency of St. Osvvin.''
In grave cases, as where a murder had been committed within the
liberty, the guilty person might insure himself against loss of life or limb
by taking refuge in the priory church, where he confessed to his deed
before the coroner and abjured the realm.^ A late instance of the use of
sanctuary occurred in 1523, when one Robert Lambert, having taken part
in the murder of Christopher Ratclift'e at Sherston in Durham, fled to Tyne-
mouth priory for refuge. Cardinal Wolsey, upon that occasion, requested
Lord Dacre, warden of the marches, ' by all means and politic ways which
ye can devise,' to secure Lambert's apprehension."
The liberty of Tynemouth had its financial as well as its judicial side.
The prior and his men enjoyed freedom from tolls and customs,' and by a
' In 1294 the abbot of St. Albaii's and the prior of Tynemouth were summoned to shew 'quo
warranto clamant receptarc omnes homines felones vcnientes 'mfvAgyitlicyos de Tynemuth.' PLuilii dc quo
Karrtinto,p. 593; Hodgson, Nortltiinibirhiiul, part iii. vol. i. p. 149.
■' Viro rehgioso et discreto ac aniico^suo, si placet, specialissimo, domino p[riori] de T[yncmuthe], sui
devoti major et prolji homines de Novo Castro, salutem in domino sempiternam, cum omni reverencia et
honorc. Noverit eminens discrecio vestra tiuod Thomas de Karl', lator presencium, noster fidelis
comburgensis est et lauilabiliter inter nos conversatus, cujus famam testamur bonam et probabilcm, nisi
tantum quod verberavit quendam hominem et inde satisfecit dicto homini, unde amici facti sunt. Quare,
propter discrecionem vestram.omni qua possumus affeccione altentc et devote exoiamus quatinus dictum
Thomam et suos, si placet, manuteneatis, proteyatis et defendatis, non inferentes eideni nee inferri
permittcntes injuriam, molcstiam, dampnum ant gravamen, sed potius ipsum in donio sua conducla in
villa vestra de T[ynemutheJ pacifice remancre permittatis ; ila quod preces nostras senciat valiluras et
vobis et vestris ad codignas teneamus gratiaruni acciones. Valete in domino, liodleian Library, Digby
Cviliccs, 20, fol. 125 b.
' Rotiili Scotiae, Record Com. \ol. i. p. 629. ' Vita Os-u'ini, Surt. Soc. No. 6, cap. xlii.
^ This practice explains the anonymous monk's panegyric upon St. Oswin (quoted on p. 72), 'cujus
munimine muniuntur profugi et exules a propria patria propter homicidia furta vel sediciones contr.i
regem et regni statuta nequiler perpetrata.'
° Cal. Letters and Papers, Henry VIII. vol. iii. ]). 1299 ; Heaine, Ottcrtntrn, vol. ii. p. 579.
'Writ of Henry II. given in 1158: ' Precipio quod omnes res sancti Oswyni et monachorum de
Tynemutha, quas homines sui poterunt affidare suas esse proprias, [sint] quiete de iheoloneo et passagio
et de omni consuetudine.' See p. 62, note (3).
TYNEMOUTHSHIRE. 213
charter of Henry III. they were immune from the murage paid on merchan-
dise brought into walled towns.' It has even been asserted that the prior
had a mint at Tynemouth.^ Sheriffs took nothing from within his liberty.
He and his men were exempt from most forms of royal taxation, including
danegeld, tallage, and cornage.' The monks were liable, as clergy, to
contribute to all clerical aids and subsidies. Compulsory loans were exacted
from them,^ and the king's purveyors enforced them to levy supplies and
to provide horses and carts for military campaigns.^ Otherwise the onlv
taxes paid into the royal exchequer bv the men of the shire were lay
subsidies. Upon the receipt of the sheriff's writ, officers were elected in the
prior's court to carry out the unpopular task of assessment and collection.'
Though the prior and convent were released in 1204 from the obli-
gation of paying cornage to the Crown, they continued to collect it from
holdings within the liberty. Cornage had ceased to be forensic, it continued
to be an intrinsic service. A portion, amounting to £2 5s. lofd., was paid
to the abbot of St. Alban's on the feast of St. Peter and St. Paul, and went
by the name of abbot-scoth ; 7s. ffd. was paid at Michaelmas to the prior
of Tynemouth. Assuming that these figures, which are given in a document
of the fourteenth century," correspond with the sums paid before 1204,
' 'Concedimus quod ipsi et homines eorum per totum rcgnuni et potestalcm nostrani in perpetuum
de nuiragio sint quieti.' Charter of April 22nd, 1271 ; Gibson, Tyiumoullt, vol. ii. appendix, No. Ixxxvi.
-' Horsley wrote in 1729/30 that he had seen a piece of money coined at Tynemouth, Inedikd
Contributions to the History of Northumberland, p. 23. It is much more probable that what he saw was a
token, similar to those engraved in Gibson, Tynemouth, vol. i. p. 164.
' See p. 69. ' Rymer, Foedera, Record Com. vol. iii. pars i. pp. 116, 132.
* Tynemouth Chartulary, fol. 214 b. Rotuit Seotiae, vol. i. p. 122.
" Edwardus, Dei gratia rex .-\ngliae, etc., vicecomiti Northumbriae, salutem. Cum . . . dilecti el
tideles nostri, Johannes de Haullon et -Simon de Creppynge, taxatores quintedecimc in comitatu predicto,
per breve suum ballivis libertatis prcdictae mandassent quod de comitatu dictae libertatis cerlos homines
ad taxandum bona omnium hominum ejusdem libertatis eligi et eos coram prefatis Johanne et Simone
super hoc praestandum venire facerent ; ac insuper iidem ballivi averia Walteri Scot de Wcltedeii et .Adae
de Selby, duorum hominum de libertate predicta ad hoc electorum, pro eo quod coram eis veniie et
hujusmodi sacramcntum facere contcmpserunt, cepissent prout ad ipsos |)ertinuit r.-itionc libertatis
predictae ; dictus Walterus et .\dam averia sua, ea ratione capta, sibi per te repligiari maliciose
procurarunt, et ipsum priorcm et balHvos suos inde iniplacitant coram tc in coniitatu tuo, per quod
taxatio quintedecime nostre infra libertatcm predictam nimiam ccpit dilationem, in nostrum dampnum
et predicti prioris et libertatis sue prejudicium manifcstum ; et te nolumus prcdictum priorem vel ballivos
suos occasione distructionis prcdicte, si pro contemptu predicto et non alia de lam facta sil. per
hujusmodi placitum vexari ; tibi precipinuis quod, si ita est, tunc placito isli nominato supersedeas,
et predicto priori averia pretliclorum Walteri et .Adae pro contemptu predictorum capta retornari facias,
quousque sacramentum predictum praestiterint, et officium per taxatores predictos eis milii motum
fecerint in hac parte. Teste mcipso, etc., 22'" iMaii, anno quarto [May 22, 1276]. Tynemuuth Churlnlary,
fol. 215 b.
' Tynemouth Chcirtul.irv, fol. 67, printed bv Brand, Xeuaistle. vol. ii. p. 79- Hodgson Hindc
{Northumberland, p. 261) adduces a similar instance in the barony of .Appleby. The origin of this rent
has been discussed by I'rofessor Wailland in the English Historical Review, vol. v. pp. 625-632. See also
Dr. Lapsley's treatment of the subject in Victoria County History of Durham, vol. 1. p. 272 et seq., and
authorities there cited.
214 TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
when twenty-four sliilliiigs was vearly cleniaiuled by the ("rown, it follows
that less than half of the sum exacted from the tenants found its way
into the national exchequer. Cornage was imposed alike on hee and on
customary tenements, but not all the lands helil of the prior in any one
township were liable to it, and some townships, including; those of Eglingham,
Bewick and Lilburn, paid no cornage. It is not easy to discover the
principle of the assessment. Possibly each township was assessed at a
certain figure, averaging 3s. 4d., and certain holdings were then made re-
sponsible for its payment.
Castle ward was another source of profit. The whole township of West
Chirton was paying a quarter of a maik vearly to the monastery for castle
ward in 1295,' though the monks of Tvnemouth made no corresponding
contribution to the defence of Newcastle.
Certain military obligations were incumbent upon the prior and his
men, but here too the liberty had its privileges. As the lands of the monas-
tery were held in frankalmoin, they were free from the feudal obligations of
military service. On the other hand the prior maintained tlie castle of
Tynemouth at his own cost, and so contributed to the work of national
defence. His men were not required to go out with the fyrd, except in
cases of actual invasion of the earldom.- They were released from work
upon Newcastle and other castles in Northumberland (the hiirh-bot of the
tniKnhi iicccssit(ts) by a charter given to them in 1136 by King Stephen.'
With the use of commissions of array, the liberty lost much of its ex-
ceptional character, but its men formed a separate levy under their own
commander,' and as such they were present at the battle of Flodden when
they 'fled at the first shot of the Scottish guns.'*
' Tynemouth CiuirtiiUiiy, fol. 40. Castie ward occurs only as an incident of military tenure, and its
payment by West Chirton is accounted for by tlie fact that the township had been held by military
service until 1256, when it was acquired in frankalmoin. Yet the payment continued to be collected.
Upon the subject of castle ward see Hodgeon Hinde, Northumberland, pp. 261-263, ^"d ^''<:'<- ^'^l- >st
series, vol. iv. p. 285.
•-• See above, p. 59, note 2 (5) and (8). » See above, p. 58, note (4).
' John de -Segrave, tenaunt le lieu nostre seigneur le roi en le parties de North', au baillif de la
fraunchi=e Tabbe de seynt Alban de Tynemuth, salulz. Pur ceo que nous serroms a Rokesburgh le
denieynge proscheyn devant le quaresme, prenant ove tot le poer que nous porroms purchaccr auxi bien
des parties avant dites com de ailliours pur reboter les eneniys le roi en Escoce, sicom est acorde entre nous
et la dite communalte, vous maundonis de par le roi sur quant que vous poetz forfaire, que, veues cestes
lettres, facetz eslyre deynz la dite fraunchise ceniz honimes a pee et un centener vigrous et defensable,
issynt que vous le eietz as ditz jour et a lieu sauntz nul defaule. . . . Et sachetz que, si vous n'eietz
mesmes le gentz as ditz jour et lieu, vous encurretz qeu est ordeyne com celuy q'est desobeileaunt au roi.
Don a Bamburgh, le disme jour de Fev', Pan du regne le roi Edward xxxj [Februarv 10th, 1303/4].
Tynemouth C/iartultiry, fol. 214.
' Cal. Letters ami Papers, Henry Mil. vol. i. p. 687.
TYNEMOUTHSHIRE. 21 5
Like other seaports, Tvnemouth was called upon in time of war to
provide its quota of ships to the royal navy. Orders for the impressment
of vessels were directed to the bailiff.
The officers of the liberty included a staff of justices, a bailiff and a
coroner. The bailiff held a position within the liberty corresponding^ in
almost every respect with that of the sheriff outside it ; he was the chief
executive officer. By an arrangement uncommon in palatinates the coroner
was elected in the free court.' A grand jury or standing committee of
twelve {jiiratorcs coroiiac) existed for the purpose of making presentments
in the court of the liberty.* There was a receiver general of rents, and
a seneschal who held the manorial courts. The post of seneschal after-
wards lost its ministerial character and came, in the later days of the priory,
to be an honorarv office conferred upon noblemen.^ The castle was under
' Willelmus Stiwaid . . . dicit quod est coronator intromittens se de his quae pertinent ad coronam
domini regis. . . . Reqiiisitus per qiiem factus est coronator, dicit quod electus est ct factus per ballivum
et liberam curiam praedicti prioris et non per breve domini regis. . . . Et dicit quod multotiens excrcuit
officia coronalia, faciendo visum de liominibus occisis, oppressis, et submersis. Gibson, Tyiumuiilh,
vol. ii. p. Ixxv.
= In the subsidy roll of 1295 (Lay Subsidies P.R.O. No. 158/1) the jurors of the libeily are given
imder a separate heading, and their names consequently do not appear under the townships to which
they respectively belong. The entry was as follows ;
Sunima bonorum Willelmi de Welteden ... 270 undc regi
„ Radulphi servientis de Seyton
,, Willelmi de .Seyton
,, Roberli filii ("lilbcrti
,, Alani de Hcrtlaw
„ Willelmi clerici de Welteden
„ l\(il)erti de Prudhow ...
„ Willelmi de Chirton ...
,, Johannis de Copun
„ Willelmi (jray ...
„ Johannis de Wytteley ...
„ Roberli de Chirton
Summa hujus iluodcnae £27 los. 2d., uncle regi £2 loo,[d.
' As deeds drawn up in the prior's court were often dated simply by the stewardship of tlie presiding
officer, it is as well to give a list of such seneschals as have their names recorded in the Jyiumoiith
Cluirtiiliiry, the SI. Athan's Rff^ish-r, and early charters :
1256. Hugh le Moyner. 1302. John de Dudden. 1351- William de Heppescoles.
1264. John de Middleton. i^[2 (ctrca). Thomas de Fishburn. 1392. John le Ornford.
1276. Thomas de Clyvedcn. 1319-i 320. ' Henry de Harden. 1421. William de Mitford.
1291. William de Heslerig. 1325. Thom.as de Raynlon. 1426-1434. Robert W hclpmgton.
1294/5. Nicholas le Vigrus. 1333-1344. Robert de Sorcys. 1 530 (riio(). Lord Rochlord.
After the dissolution the office of chief steward of the lands of the dissolved monastery and of the courts
there was held by Sir Cuthbert Ratcliff; Sir Francis LeeUc, January 20th, 1545/6 (••Xugmentation Office,
Misc. Books, vol. 236, fol. 121) ; Sir Thomas Hilton, April 6th, 1549 {ihiil. vol. 220, fol. iSi) ; Su- Henry
Percy, afterwards eighth earl of Northumberland, I'ebiuary 8lh, 1561 : Henry, nnilh earl of Northumber-
land, on the death of his father in 15S5, under terms of patent dated May 3rd, 1570. , , , „
The court rolls of the manor give the names of ihe following persons who have held office snicc
1685: Thomas lioath, 1685; William Coles, 1707: Thomas Elder and Henry Sunon, 1725; rhomas
Elder, 1735 ; James Scott, 1756 ; Richard C.rieve, 1760 ; Collingwood Forster, 1761 ; Henry tollmgwood
Selby, 1775; Jonathan Raine, 1796; Christopher Cookson, 1831; Cresswell Cresswell, 1832; SirW.^ller
Buchanan Kiddell, bart., 1S42 ; Cuthbert Umfreville Laws, 1S70; Edward Leadbitter, 1SS2 : W ilham
Hall Ryott, 1S94. Since 1735 the title of steward has superseded that of seneschal.
£
s.
d.
2
7
0
4
'3
8
-T
1 1
9
1
10
4
0
'3
3
0
18
0
3
"9
4
0
12
8
0
'5
0
3
■7
4
3
'5
6
2
1 1
4
2i6 TVNEMOUTH PARISH.
the rule of a constable.' Chief among the lay officers of the prior's
household was the dapifcr or server, whose duties became a grand serjeantry
hv whicii the manor of Seghill was held.
There is some slight evidence for the e.xistence of a council or advisory
body, composed partly of the chief tenants, partly of officers of state, in
receipt of salaries and liveries from the prior. It was upon the advice of
his council that Prior Walden erected a pillory at Tynemouth in 1307.*
In I2iji the liberty of Tvnemouth was forfeited to the Crown under
the following circumstances.^ At noon on October 29th, 1290, according
to the plaintiffs statement, John de Whitley, lord of the manor of Whitley,
Gilbert Andre, and William de Cowpen, came to the house of Walter litz
Nicholas in Whitley, broke through the east door of the house with an
axe, and concealed themselves in a chamber within till midnight, when
thev forced open a chest and a strong-box, and took thence two women's
cloaks, one green and the other blue, valued at two marcs ; two pieces
of Rheims tapestrv, worth one marc ; forty ells of linen cloth worth ten
shillings, and two kerchiefs and four sleeves valued at twenty shillings.
Next morning, finding his house rifled and the burglars fled, Walter fitz
Nicholas, as soon as he was able, raised hue and cry after them, and
followed them, until they were caught and attached at his suit. William
Stiward, coroner for the liberty, took pledges from fitz Nicholas for his
appeal, and, on November iith, threw the defendants into prison to await
their trial.
Late on the 28th of the same month, a letter from the sheriff of North-
umberland was given into the hands of the bailiff of the liberty, informing
him that next morning William Heron and two other of the king's justices
were coming to Tvnemouth to hold a gaol deliverv, and ordering him to
have the prisoners and a jury ready to appear. According to a statement
subsequently made by Prior Walden, there was no time to summon the
' .'Vmhony Mitford, who held the office of constable at the dissolution, had a fee of ^5 yearly.
Uugdale, Monaslicon, vol. iii. p. 308.
• ' Per consilium amicorum ' ; Tynemouth Chartulary, fol. igi b. The St. Albein's Register (fol. 129 b.)
gives a list of officers receiving salaries about 1306. ' Isti accipiunt pensiones de Tynemuth per priorem.
Thomas de Kisburn, 40s.; Ricardus de Ciikesho, 40s.; (ialfridus de Herterpol, 40s.; Johannes de Insula,
IOCS. ; Johannes Gray, robam el ... ; dominus Walterus de Cambou, 20s. ; Johannes de Horton, 20s. ;
Adam de Benton, robam et . . .'
' The record of these proceedings is given in the Coram Rege Rolls, No. 130, printed by Gibson,
Tynemouth, vol. ii. appendix, No. xci. and, with some additional details, in the St. Alban's Register, fols.
I 50 b to 132 b, and the Tynemouth Chnrtuhiry, fols. iSo-183.
TYNEMOUTHSHIRE. 217
jury, but, more probably, the prior and his officers regarded the holding of a
gaol delivery by the king's officers as a violation of their privilege. On the
following morning the justices came and sat down in the prior's great hall
and there read the warrant to the bailiffs, whom they ordered in the king's
name to bring their prisoners before them ; but the bailiffs replied that
the place in which they sat was within the precincts of the church, and
that they must not bring any prisoners before them there. Then the justices
went to the door of the prison, where the same demand met with the same
response. Finally they proceeded to the market cross which stood in the
village outside the monastery,' and, sitting upon its steps, the justices read
their warrant for the third time ; whereupon the bailiffs made answer
that they had never seen any of the king's justices come there to make
delivery of the prior's prison, and that they would not bring any prisoners
before them. So Heron and his companions returned without eflfecting
their purpose.
Afterwards, upon January 6th, 1291, William de Heslerig, the prior's
seneschal, issued a summons for a court at Preston on the 20th, and made
public proclamation that a gaol delivery would be held on that day. The
court met, the three prisoners were brought before it, and Walter fitz
Nicholas made appeal against them. They pleaded a variation from the
original indictment, and asked that this should be read. Stiward produced
his coroner's roll, which, upon examination, was found to contain the indict-
ment in the form of an inquest, and not of an appeal, and that too was
without the twelve attestations necessary to render it valid. The appeal
was therefore rejected by the court. The prisoners were then asked how
they wished to purge themselves of the charge of robbery and breach of
the peace. They replied that they would put themselves on their country
and craved a jury ; but the bailiffs refused to hold the inquisition at the
same court, though there were sufficient suitors there to impanel a jury,
and sent the three defendants back to prison, to remain there till the ne.xt
meeting of the court on the 30th of the month. At that court the
bailiffs stated that the appeal had been illegal ; no precedent could be
adduced for the hearing of appeals in the prior's court without a writ
and special order from the king ; and John de Whitley was sent back to
' A cross is shown at the head of the village street, near the gate-house of the prioiy, in the plan of
Tynemouth castle made in 1545. Arch. Aft. 2nd series, vol. .\ix. plan facing p. 6S.
Vol. VIII. 2S
21 8 TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
the prior's prison with his two companions pending the arrival of the
justices itinerant at Newcastle upon their next assize, when the case was
to be recommenced.
The three were detained in prison for three months, and then were
released upon the king's writ. They had suffered such hardships during
their confinement that William de Cowpen died on the day after his release.
Letters of over and terminer were issued by the king at Newcastle on
April 25th, directing certain of his justices to hear the appeal. Two days
afterwards the justices came to Tynemouth to carry out their commission.
Prior Walden met them by claiming his old liberty of jurisdiction. As
they were not prepared to decide so large a subject as the legality of the
franchise, the whole case was referred to the king and his council at
Norham, where proceedings recommenced on May 13th. Walden took his
stand on the charter of Richard I.,' but could not bring any evidence to
show that pleas of the crown or common pleas were heard in his court
before 1235. He produced a king's writ given in that year, and several
from 1255 onwards, which had been delivered to him by justices of the
king's bench, justices of oyer and terminer, and justices in eyre, showing
that his court had latterly practised a civil and a criminal jurisdiction. But,
as proof of continuity of seisin since 1189 was not forthcoming, the king
in council pronounced the liberty claimed by the prior to be not consonant
with the law of the realm, and on this ground, and because various ille-
galities had been committed in the course of the proceedings against John
de Whitley, the franchise was, on June 24th, declared to be forfeited and
annexed to the Crown.
Though forfeited by the prior, the liberty continued to have an inde-
pendent existence. Its criminal jurisdiction is illustrated by a record of
the pleas of the crown taken by the king's itinerant justices in 1293.'^
Pleas of the crown of the liberty of the prior of Tynemouth at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, before H. de
Cressingham and his companions, justices itinerant, on the Tuesday next after Ascension Day, in the
twenty-first year of the reign of King Edward [May 12th, 1293].
Jurors. Gilbert Andrew, bailiff; Nicholas de Morton, Nicholas Faukes of Backworth, Alan de
Hertlawe, electors ; John le Clerk of Coupoun, Robert de bracina, Roger de Morton, Richard de
Hereford, Peter de Backworth, William Russel, Roger de Tynemuth, Robert Acorne, Hugh de Back-
worth.
' Requisitus si predictam libertatem clamet alio modo vel per aliud quam per predictam cartam,
dicit quod non.
- lK.ssize Rolls, No. 651, m. 23.
TYNEMOUTHSHIRE. 219
From the whole liberty because it does not share in the geldable land,' by way of fine for false
judgment and other trespass, 20 marks.
These were coroners since the last iUr : Adam de Pykering, who is dead, William Styward and
Roger Maudut, who are alive and make answer. And Adam has no heir or executor to answer for
the rolls, for before his death he enfeoffed the prior of Tynemouth of his lands and tenements. Order
to the sheriff to make the prior appear. The prior came in the person of Nicholas Vigerus, his attorney,
and made fine of 40s.
Thomas Bridock and Nicholas Leker were crushed to death in the field of Elswick in a pit which
fell in on them ; verdict, misfortune. Adam de Pykering, who is dead, has no heir or executor to
answer for him on that plaint, for he died destitute. Recourse had to the prior of Tynemouth, the
then lord of the liberty.
Agnes, who was wife of Nicholas Belle of Newcastle, was found dead from exhaustion in the field
of Elswick. Nicholas Belle, who first found her, did not appear ; neither he nor anyone else is
suspected ; verdict, misfortune. Nicholas was attached by Robert, son of the said .Agnes, and Walter
de Halywell of Newcastle, who now have him not, therefore fined. The townships of .-Vmble and
Hauxley did not come to the inquest, therefore fined.
Richard de Ryton dug for coals in the field of Elswick and the earth fell in on him and crushed him.
An unknown man was found dead in the field of Monkseaton, in a place called Wellepeth. The
townships of Hertford, Wclton, Eglingham and Cowpen did not present that plaint at the next county
court, therefore fined.
Christiana, wife of Laurence the tailor of Tynemouth, was found dead from cold in the field of
West Chirton.
William Gut, son of Robert de Roucestre, fell into a pit in Elswick moor and was dashed to pieces.
Roger de Mykeley, wishing to cross the Tyne, was drowned.
An unknown man was found in Wylam wood, killed by malefactors unknown. It was not known
who they were or what became of them.
Roger Horlyne and Robert Fundelyng made away for com stolen from the prior of Tynemouth.
Sentenced to exile and outlawry. They have no chattels.
Of wine sold contrary to the assize. They state that Peter Mareys of Bewick sold three jars of
wine, Roger de Tynemouth, clerk, six jars, and Richard Prat of Tynemouth three jars, contrarj- to
the assize ; therefore fined.
Thomas, servant of William de Hamcldon, killed Adam Langthong in the town of Tynemouth
in the daytime, and at once after the deed was done he fled to Tynemouth church ; and there before
Roger Maudut the coroner he confessed the deed and abjured the realm ; value of his chattels, five
shillings.
John le Flemyng fell out of a boat in the Tyne and was drowned. Misfortune. Price of the boat,
two shillings.
Of unjust distraints. They state that the prior of Tynemouth and his bailiffs do not allow the
free men of Tynemouth to herd their cattle in the king's highway between Tynemouth and East
Chirton, nor between Tynemouth and Tynemouth wind-mill, as they were wont ; but whenever they
wish to cross there with their cattle, the prior sends his bailiffs to impark the said cattle and detam
them till they have made fine for them. And the prior, in the person of his attorney, questioned
as to this, says that he never sent his bailiffs to impark the cattle of the free men in the king's
highway nor prevented them from herding them there : but he says that there is in that place a
certain pasture near the road which is his severalty, of which he found his church seised , and if it
happens that their cattle cross the road into the pasture and do damage, then he imparks them as
he lawfully may, and not otherwise. And as to this he puts himself on his countr>-. .And the jurors
state on their oath that the said pasture is the prior's severalty, namely, from Tynemouth to the bridge
of the hospital of St. Leonard, and that the prior has not prevented the free men from herding or
driving their cattle on the king's highway. Therefore the prior is quit, and the twelve jurors arc
fined for false presentment.
' ' Quare non participat cum geldabili.'
220 TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
Of lands alienated contrary to the Statute of Mortmain. They state that the prior of Tynemouth
acquired an acre of land from Adam le Vacher and one acre of land from William de Wytton since
the statute. The sheriff ordered to make the prior appear.
Walter, son of Nicholas de Tynemouth, appealed in the court of the prior of Tynemouth, John
de Whitley, Gilbert Andreu, and William de Coupoun who is dead, for robbery, burglary and breaking
the king's peace. And the appeal was carried before the king, and there terminated as the jurors
testify. And upon this came the aforesaid John and Gilbert and state likewise that the appeal was
there terminated and that they were acquitted of it, etc.
The jurors present that William de Chirton of Tynemouth was distrained by the township of
Tynemouth of a cow, for eightpence, which he owed towards the charges of the four and of the reeve
of Tynemouth coming before the justices at Newcastle. And after the cow was imparked, William
took the cow out of the park without licence. Therefore the sheriff is ordered to make him appear.
And he comes and denies the whole and says that he did not take the cow out of the park, but that
a boy of si.x years old, to whom the cow had belonged, took it out of the park. Judgment given by
jurors against William, who is fined half a mark.
Of those who fish with ' kidell and starkell.' They state that Simon Post of Suthloges, John
Scot of the same, John, son of Arnold, Roger Nelle, Liolf, son of John, and Patrick Gobyclif fish
with fine-meshed nets in the Tyne in common through the whole year, as well in the close season
as in the open. And they catch salmon, contrary to the statute. Order to the sheriff to arrest them.
They also state that Patrick de Sheles catches salmon in the Tyne in the close season. Order to
the sheriff to arrest him, and to summon Thomas de Milleburn and Robert de Throckelawe, conser-
vators of the said river. And Patrick now says that he has not fished for salmon with fine-meshed nets.
The jury find him not guilty, therefore he is quit. Afterwards the sheriff announces that Symon and the
others have not been found in his bailiwick, nor have they anything by which they may be attached.
The jury bear witness that they have twice contravened the statute. Order to the sheriff to arrest them
if they are found in his bailiwick, and to imprison them for three months according to the statute.'
The jurors present that one Michael de Flaundres killed Geoffrey le Messor of Tynemouth in the
daytime with an axe in the field of Tynemouth, and he was at once caught and imprisoned in the prior
of Tynemouth's prison, and was guarded there by the township of Tynemouth. And afterwards he
escaped from prison and put himself in the priory church, and there, before Adam de Pykering, the
coroner, who is dead, he confessed the deed and abjured the realm. He had no chattels. The said
township put on its trial for allowing the escape, for they had guard of the prison. And the twelve jurors
concealed that felony in their verdict, therefore they are put on their trial.
Of Hugh Gobyon, sherifl", for the forfeited chattels of an unknown woman who sought sanctuary at
Tynemouth, because she did not confess before the coroner that she had any chattels ; fourteen shillings.
The jurors present that William de Coupon was arrested for robbery committed upon Walter, son of
Nicholas de Whiteley, of which the latter brought an appeal against him in the court of the prior of
Tynemouth, and he was placed in the stocks at the order of William Styward, coroner, and guarded
there for three months and more by one William Glede and John, son of Christiana de Tynemouth, who
so wickedly kept the said William in duresse of prison in the said stocks during that time, that he died
in consequence of the imprisonment on the day after his release. This was done at the order of William
Styward, coroner, and of Henry de Harden, clerk to the prior of Tynemouth. Therefore let them be
arrested. Afterwards William Styward and John, son of Christiana, came and made fine for postpone-
ment at one mark. Bail found for them. Afterwards it was announced by the sheriff that the said
Williain Glede had not been found, but had made away, and is suspect. Therefore he is exiled and
outlawed. He has no chattels. Then William Styward, Henry de Hardenn and John, son of Christiana,
came and were asked how they would acquit themselves of the death of the said William. They plead
not guilty, and put themselves wholly upon the country. And the jurors state on their oath that none of
them is guilty of the said William's death ; therefore they are all quit.
Entry of payment of two marks by the twelve jurors for concealment and other trespasses.
' For regulations respecting salmon fisheries on the Tyne, see Cal. Due. Rel. Scot. vol. i. p. 512.
TYNEMOUTHSHIRE. 221
Six years later, upon the petition of the prior and convent of Tyne-
mouth/ on February 20th, 1299, Edward I. restored to them all their former
privileges/ which were afterwards specifically confirmed to them by a
charter of Edward IV., dated March 19th, 1463.' The civil jurisdiction
of the priory does not seem to have outlasted the fourteenth century. The
difficulty of enforcing royal prerogatives, which had outlasted their useful-
ness, led to a practical extinction of the franchise long before the dissolution ;
but, for that very reason, the liberty was never, and has never been formally
abolished.
The Manor.
As stated above, there was one court {libera curia) for the whole
liberty, held every three weeks and attended by all the free tenants of
the monastery. It was usually convened in the prior's great hall at Tyne-
mouth, but might be held in any part of the liberty. It was at once
seignorial and feudal, and combined the functions of a court leet with
those of a court baron.
The franchise was not, however, devoid of a manorial organization,
though the manor was rather an economic than a jurisdictional unit. An
assessment-roll of 1292 enumerates the ten manors of Tynemouth, Preston,
Monkseaton, Backworth, Flatworth, Bebside, Elswick, Wylam, Amble,
and Bewick.^ On a tour through the liberty made by Abbot Norton in
1264, courts were held at Tynemouth and at the five places last named.''
Though Preston, Monkseaton, Backworth, and Flatworth do not appear in
the record of 1264, corroborative evidence of their manorial character is
found in their possessing halls, while Flatworth, Backworth, and Monk-
seaton had separate demesnes, though Preston and Tynemouth had their
demesnes in common. It may be inferred that the liberty was parcelled
into manors, and that courts were retained in the outlying districts, though
'Ancient Petitions, P.R.O. No. 3761. ... Petunt etiam quod si dominus rex ob amorem Uei et
reverenciam sancti Oswyni velit reddere dictam libertatem prefate ecclesie de Tynemutli, ut possinl
habere illam ex special! done suo, sicut illam habuerunt ex speciali dono regis Ricardi antecessoris sui.
Kt ubi dicitur in carta dicta regis Ricardi omnca homines et omnes terras, etc., quod ipse velit specilicare
villas et loca, si placet, et qualiter debeant amodo justiciaries et coronatores suos creare. ..... Ista
petunt prior et conventus ut dominus rex concedat eis, si placet, ex sua clemencia et pro sancti Oswyni
reverencia, et quod capiat de eis pro tali gracia juxta facultateni domus eorum ita quod habeant racion-
abiles terniinos de solucione sine depressionc domus sue. Et sciat dominus rex quod dicti prior et
conventus non petunt aliqua de quibus dominus rex danipnum vel jacturam habere poterit. Et hoc
scire poterit pro certo, si placeat jubere ut rei Veritas per lidedignos inquiratur.
■ Dugdale, Monasticon, vol. iii. p. 318. " Gibson, Tynemouth, vol. ii. appendix, .No. c.x.xxvii.
' Dugdale, Monasticon, vol. iii. p. 315. ' Registriini WhcthamsteJe, Rolls Series, vol. ii. pp. 319-324.
222 TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
round the monastery itself, and under the shadow of its great hall, there
was no scope for their development. The free court of the whole liberty
was also the court of the adjacent manors.
In this inner group a distinction arises at the outset between Tyne-
mouth (with its later offshoots of North Shields and Cullercoats) and the
remaining townships. Not only had Tynemouth its own mills, while its
neighbours did suit to the mill at Flatworth, but it had a separate pasture,
the other vills intercommoning upon the Shire Moor. In this connexion
it is significant that Tynemouth did not contribute to the cornage rent
imposed on the rest of the district.' It is undoubtedly an older settlement,
less distinctly pastoral in its origin, while the presence of a fishing and
seafaring population prevented it from becoming a purely agricultural
community. It contained numerous small freeholds. The bondage system,
which formed the basis of the agricultural system of other vills, was absent
here. Racial difference may account in part for its individuality, for there
are traces of a marked Danish element in the population' of the sea-bord.
The greater part of each township was arable, and, besides the de-
mesne, comprised free land and land held by base and customary services.
The customary land was divided up into a number of bondage-holdings
{bondagia) of equal size, having equal rights of common and meadow
appurtenant to each. A mensuration taken by Prior Adam de Tewing at
Christmas, 1295,^ shows the method of division. An estimate was made of
the whole of the land within the township held by bondage tenure, and
the total was then divided into holdings comprising two bovates or thirty-
six acres. Each holding consisted of a number of acre or half-acre strips
scattered over the common fields, and was farmed by a single person of
unfree status, termed a bond or huse-bond (husband).' The remaining
acres — the odd fraction in the division sum — were portioned out among
' There is a total absence of the burr, or uvular pronunciation of the letter 'r', in the speech of the
old inhabitants of North Shields, of the seafaring communities of Tynemouth and Cullercoats, and of
the fishing population along the coast. For the bearing of this on the racial origin of the population,
see Mr. R. O. Heslop's article on 'The Permian People of North Durham,' Arch. Ad. 2nd series,
vol. X.
■■' Tynemouth Chartulary, fols. 7 b to 8.
' The terms ' villain ' and ' villainage ' never found currency in Northumberland, their meaning being
expressed by 'bond' and 'bondage.' The old Norse word 'bonde' first finds place in the English
language in the laws of court, and became anglicised as 'bonda' or 'bunda.' Cp. Vita Oswini, cap.
xxiv. p. 38. ' Ut moris est provinciae, servi ecclesiae, quos bundos vocant lingua materna, de jure operis
sibi impositi, annonam in plaustris suis ad coeptam metam advehunt, et earn in brevi ex messis allatae
abundantia insurgere compellunt.' This passage, written in the first half of the twelfth century, contains
an early description of the carriage-work in harvest-time, known a century and a half later as mUuie, and
shows that bond had already degenerated from its original signification of a free ceorl. The term
huubandi occurs once in the custumal of 1295 ; Tyncmoutli Chartulary, fol. 40.
TYNEMOUTHSHIRE. 223
the bonds and formed a surplusage to their holdings for which they paid
rent.' For their two bovates they performed, each of them, similar services,
all carefully set out in a custumal drawn up in or about the year 1295.
John Miller of Preston serves as a model for the rest.
John Miller holds a toft and 36 acres of land as bond, and pays in pence, 8d. ; for Merdeflfen-penies,
2S. ; for heth-penies, 6d. ; for Hertenes-penies, 3d. ; for abbote-scoth at the Nativity of St. John the
Baptist, 3|d. Sum total in pence, 3s. 8|d., excepting conevais-silver. He pays at the feast of St. Oswin
in the autumn one cock and one hen, and at Easter 60 eggs.
He shall cart two cartloads for his inlad, doing service anywhere, if so ordered, and for this carting
he shall not have lade-bund. When he carts as part of his work from the field of Tynemouth north of
Keneualdes-den, on the west of the dene leading to the hospital, he shall cart four loads;' and between
Kenewaldes-den and the town and the dene leading to the hospital and to the town, he shall cart six
loads ; and from all the closes round about the town, he shall cart eight loads. When he carts tithes
from Whiteley, Preston, from the three Chirtounes, and from Milneton, he shall cart three loads ; and
from Erdesdon, Seton, Moerton, and Flatford, he shall cart two loads in the course of the day ; and he
shall do this for all the corn that has to be carted. When he carts from Hertelawe, Haliwell, North
Seton, Neusoni, Seighale and Bacworthe, he shall cart once in the course of the day. For all the above-
mentioned cartings, except for his inlad, he shall have lade-bund. When he carts turves, and when he
mows Segrestan-leche, then he shall cart two loads ; when he does not mow, then three loads in the
course of the day. Item, when he mows Wymber-leche, he shall cart two loads in the course of the day.
Moreover, when it is necessary, he shall mow and he shall do anything else at the will of the prior,
wheresoever the prior or his servant wills, or else he shall do it as part of his work. When he carts
from Hertlawe and from Haliwell to Seton Monachorum he shall cart twice and shall have lade-bund.
When he carts from Seton to Tynemouth, he shall cart three loads and shall have lade-bund.
From the feast of St. Martin to the feast of the Purification of the Blessed Mary, he shall thresh
daily one thrave of wheat or winter-wheat ; moreover at other times one thrave and eight sheaves of
wheat or mesline, and of barley or of oats always two thraves, and of beans or peas as well after the
feast of St. Martin as before. The said John shall reap in the autumn two days with two men in each
week, and those two men shall each day have three 'bilmynges" and six herrings with pottage. And
he shall do the great auth-rep with the whole family of his house except the house-wife ; and he shall
bring out with him fifteen 'kakes' as food for the reapers, which he shall hand over to the servant or to
the reeve to distribute on the prior's behalf; and he shall have on the same day, together with another
given him as a messmate, three 'bilmynges' or six 'kakes,' and pottage and meat and cheese and beer.
And it is to be understood that when the bonds mow the prior's pasture, they shall have three sheep by
way of custom.
The said John shall give every year 5^ quarters of malt on the feast of St. Martin, and one quarter
of conevais-ates at Christmas. And it is to be understood that the bonds of Preston shall give every
year for conevei-silver 7s. 7id., and the said bonds shall retain in their hand one quarter of malt and one
quarter of conevais-ates.
The said John shall do every week in the year two days' work without food, excepting the feasts of
Easter and Christmas and Whitsuntide. He shall plough and harrow one acre of the prior's land when
he is given notice, and he shall sow the same with the prior's seed, without food. He shall do one boen-
ere and shall have food, to wit two 'bilmynges' and one 'swayn-laf,' six herrings, and one dish of peas,
and beer in plenty. He shall cart three loads from MerdefTen.'
' West Chirton ; sunt ibidem xv bondi, et debent habere cccxv acras, scilicet quilibet x.\v acras ; et
inveniuntur ibi cccxxvij acras, scilicet xij acras plus, quarum vj acras debent habere quinque bondi, et
alias vj decern homines. Tynemouth Cltartulary, fols. 7 b to S.
^ The name of Kenewaldes-den survives in the corrupted form of Kennersdean. The hospital was
that dedicated to St. Leonard ; its ruins are visible in the Northumberland Park at Tynemouth.
' Probably some kind of scone or bannock. ' Tytumouth Chartulary, fols. 36 b to 37.
224 TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
Week-work is the characteristic trait of the bond's tenure. At Martin-
mas he has to plough and harrow an acre of the prior's demesne, and then
to sow it with the prior's seed. When called upon he has to put in an
extra dav, with his plough (bon-ere), and a day with his horse and harrow
(bon-harrowe), receiving three or four loaves, six herrings, a dish of peas
and beer in plenty for the ploughing, but providing himself with food at
the harrowing. During the time of harvest he has to join in the reaping
two days each week, and to bring two other labourers to work with him.
The whole population of the manor turns out into the harvest-field for the
prior's great boon-work (magnum auth-repe), and then John Miller and
the other bonds bring each of them fifteen cakes for the reapers. They
fare well upon loaves and pottage, meat, cheese, and beer, provided at the
prior's cost. Then the harvest has to be carted to the manorial grange,
and for each cartload the bond receives his sheaf (lade-bund). At the close
of the harvest, all the prior's tenants, bond and free, join in the harvest-
home. Each has a specified number of ' thraves ' to cart, and on this day
they have no lade-bund. Other cartings, such as the bringing of tithes
from Newsham (Neusum-lade) and turves from Mason, are carefully regu-
lated. From Martinmas until the feast of the Purification the bond has to
thresh wheat daily in the prior's barn, and there is threshing to be done
at other times.
At the feast of St. Oswin he has to render a cock and hen, and sixty
eggs at Easter, the latter payment being perhaps the ' egge-brod ' for which
all the bonds of the whole parish received each of them a ' swayn-Iaf.'
There are also various forms of customary rent paid by him, namely 8d. on
Palm Sunday for ' yevel-penies ' (that is, gafol or rent in the strict sense,
as distinct from payments in commutation of services) ; at Whitsuntide
a shilling in lieu of carting turves from Mason (MerdefFen-penies), and
the like at Michaelmas ; si.xpence on Ascension Day as chevage or poll-
tax (hed-penies) ; upon St. John the Baptist's Day a sum varying from 3d.
to 4jd. for abbot's cornage (abbote-scoth) ; three pence at Michaelmas
as commutation for bringing in tithes from Hertness (Hertnes-penies) ; and
upon St. Andrew's Day ii^d. in place of provender-rents (conevais-penies
or conevais-silver).
The ' conevais ' is in practice, if not in name, identical with the ' cum-
feorm,' or duty of feeding strangers, mentioned in Anglo-Saxon charters of
TYNEMOUTHSHIRE. 225
the ninth century.' In its fully-developed form it appears as the chief
incident of the drengage tenures of Whitley and Backworth in the four-
teenth century. There at Christmastide the tenants of each of these two
townships had to entertain the prior and his household, his servants, horses
and dogs, for two days and two nights, and to find them food and shelter.
The bonds of other townships had to give five or five and a half quarters
of barley-malt at Martinmas, and a quarter of oats (conevais-ates) at Christ-
inas. ' Scat ' malt and ' scat ' oats occur as distinct payments. In Earsdon
the bonds who gave scat-malt were to be remitted twopence of their
' conevais-penies.'
Recognition had to be made for the right of pannage in the prior's
woods ^ and of herbage upon his waste. Suit to the manorial mill was
obligatory. Finally, above and beyond all customary services, the bond
could be tallaged 'high and low.' In 1294 the prior and convent collected
as much as ^78 9s. 8d. by tallage from their bondage tenants.' The fact
that some paid a mark, while others were excused all payment on the score
of poverty, shows that equality of holdings by no means implied equality
of wealth. Their tenure was precarious ; they held by the will of the
lord, and had no fi.xity of holding.
Customary services were also owed by various classes of free men.
The name of drengage is not met with in the custumals of this period, but
the tenure exists, and three townships, namely, Seghill, Whitley, and Back-
worth, are so held of the prior. Graffard's charter of enfeoffment for Seghill
stipulates that he shall go with the host and perform riding services, do
suit of court, answer for his men, and do all other things incumbent on
men of his status. In thf case of Whitley the customs are more specifically
set out. They comprise the service called 'conveys' already mentioned,
the payment of a money rent, as well as cornage and the composition rent
known as ' Hcrtnes-pcnyes,' and suit to the prior's court from three weeks
Id three weeks. There are various services connected with the manorial
mill, namely suit to the mill, the payment of multure, the reparation of the
mill and mill-pond, and the carting of grind-stones. Agricultural services
include the boon-ere, boon harrow and autumn works (auth-reps), which
' Thorpe, Diplomatarium, p. 102.
'" At the dissolution two pence was paid by each tenant in hiisbandr)- for pann.age or ' swine-tack.'
'St. Allan's Ri\!;islcr, fols. 109-11 1. The tallage was presumably levied as a means of paying
Edward I.'s taxation of the same year.
Vol. VIIl. ;q
226 TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
were also incumbent upon bondage-tenants, and carting from Newsham
and from Seaton Delaval. Finally, by a curious jumble of incidents of
free and unfree tenure, the lord of Whitley pays aids to the prior, gives
fine upon the marriage of his daughter (merchet), and yet the prior claims
the feudal rights of marriage and wardship.
A second group, found in East and in Middle Chirton, is marked by
the payment of five shillings from each holding as 'rad-mal' or composition
for riding-services. The holdings vary in size from eighteen to forty-five
acres. The agricultural services owed bv them are similar to those in
Whitley, namely, boon works and the cartings termed Neusum-lade and
in-lade. They also render provender-rents of oat and malt, pay i|d. upon
the feast of St. Peter and St. Paul as ' miln-silver ' in lieu of carting mill-
stones, and pay rent.
In the third class of free holdings no rad-mal is paid. On the other
hand cornage is due to the abbot or the prior, and in some cases, a toll
called 'abbot's welcome,' payable when a new abbot of St. Alban's came
on his first visit to Tynemouth. Special duties are annexed to some of
these tenements, such as the guarding of the prior's prison or the herding
of the cattle taken by him by way of distraint. The tenants give merchet
and ' layre-wite ' (fine for incontinency). In other respects, both as to
services and as to the extent of the holding, there is little to distinguish
this class from that of which the payment of rad-mal is the characteristic
feature.'
All these classes of customary free holdings are hereditary. Son
succeeds father upon payment of a fine or relief amounting to two years'
rent. Widows have their free-bench. The holding or any part of it may
be alienated upon fine made in the prior's court, to which the tenants owe
suit from three weeks to three weeks.
In other cases labour-services are for the most part wanting, and a
money-rent is the chief or the sole burden. These form a miscellaneous
' Thus at Cowpen in 1323 'Johannes Flane tenet j toftum et cioftum, j cotagium, xx acras et j rodani
terre heretlitarie, et reddit per annum domino priori iij* viij'' et welcum abbatis et merchetuni pro filiabus.
Filius suus post obitimi patris releviabit lerram patris sui, et talliabitur per priorcm, el dabitur pro
anccHis et filiabus suis layreuyt cum advenit, et dabit cornagiuni abbatis, et mulier dotabitur post
obitum viri.' Tyinmoiitk Chiniiildiy, fol. 33. His services stand as a type for all free land wiiliin the
township. At Preston it is laid down in 1295 that all the free tenants shall do suit to the prior's mill at
the thirteenth dish ; also they shall do suit to the prior's court (hal) ; and they shall give merchet and
leirwyt for their daughters; also they shall cart millstones from Slawlee (that is, Slaley) to all the
prior's mills along with their peers within the liberty of Tynemouth. Ibitl. fol. 37 b.
TYNEMOUTHSHIRE. 227
group of laiul held in common socage, burgage tenements, intakes, lease-
holds, and cottage holdings. Parcels of the demesne and vacant bondage
lands arc often leased out for a term of years or for life, the terms of the
lease, which admit of considerable variety, being enrolled on the court
roll.' The cotman or cottager has a cottage and one bovate of land or
less, and pavs rent. He appears to be distinct horn the selfode, whose
holding includes a cottage, for which he pays rent, and a small plot of
land, varying in size from half an acre to four acres, for which three days'
work are due in the autumn."
It is not possible to obtain more than a few glimpses of the change
of system in progress during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The
year 1295 found agriculture in Northumberland on the crest of a wave.
It witnessed the first of a long series of Scottish raids. A survey of
Cowpen taken in 1323, in a brief interval of truce, shows that war had
already driven the bonds there out of existence. All bondage holdings
within the township were, at the taking of the survey, in the prior's hands
for want of tenants. In 1377 things had gone from bad to worse. In
Monkseaton, where in 1295 fifteen bonds had cultivated as many arable
holdings, only ten tenements remain ; and, of these ten, four render no
labour services and are in the prior's hand, while the remaining si.\ have
lain waste since the Black Death for want of tenants. Within the township
of Middle Chirton there were twelve bondage holdings in 1295, eleven
cultivated by bonds and one by Roger de Wylam, a free man. In 1377
John de Wvlam was farming seven out of the twelve tenements ; the
other five, having no tenants, were leased out for a rent of malt. The
townships of Preston, East and Middle Chirton, Monkseaton, and Earsdon,
contained sixty bonds in 1295 and twentv-three in 1377.
In 1539 the greater part of the arable land in each township was still
divided into customary holdings of equal size, though, in consequence of
a diminution of population during the long period of border warfare,
accompanied by a rise in the standard of living, their number had
diminished and their size increased.
' ' VValterus filius Uctredi tenuit viij acras de bondagio prioris per rotulum curie et reddidit xli/., que
servicia in manu prioris propter i,'ucrrani.' Survey of Cowpen, 1323 ; ibiii. fol. ^^.
• In a survey of Woodhorn taken in 1271, selfodes are glossed as 'reddilarii.' dil. Doc. Rcl. Scot.
vol. i. p. 532.
228 TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
Number of Holdings.
Number of Acres of Arable
to each Holding
Township.
In I2g.|.
In 1539.
In 1294.
In 1539-
Preston
7h
5
36
45
East Chirton
S
5
36
45
Middle Chirton
1 1
3
36
40
Whitley
—
5
—
40
Monkseaton
isi
10
36
36
Murton
—
4
—
42
Earsdon
17
8
36
26
Backworth
—
10
—
36
There has been strikingly little change in appellation ; bondage hold-
ings have become husbandry holdings, and husebondi have turned into
husbands, whose tenure is still nominally at the will of the lord. On the
other hand the tenants have attained freedom and become suitors at the
manorial court. Their services equate with those rendered in 1295, by
the 'liber homo' and not with those of the bond. Merchet and layrewite,
chevage and tallage are no longer paid. The servile badge of week-
work has gone, leaving monev rents, provender-rents, boon-works, autumn-
work, carriage work, and suit to the lord's mills' still due from the tenant.
Owing to the loss of the court rolls, it is impossible to speak positively of
the certainty of the tenure, but the fact is to be noticed that many of the
same family-names recur in successive rentals, and there is a case of testa-
mentary disposition of a husbandry holding as early as 1570.° It is highly
probable, and evidence quoted later supports the assumption, that a
nominally precarious tenure had acquired fixity, and that the right of the
son to succeed the father was recognised by the manorial officers, though
the amount of the fine payable upon succession had not yet become fixed
by custom. A curious story was told in 151 1 before the Council of the
North, of how one of the later priors of Tynemouth would not grant a
tenant a copy of his father's tenement in Amble ' untill he was content
to give so many nobles as there were dores about his house, and there
were found xiiij dores ' (an improbable number) ; and then, upon the said
tenant giving satisfaction to the prior, he had his copy according to custom.'
In a trial held in the Court of Exchequer in 1609 it was stated that the copyholders were bound to
present their corn to be ground at the lord's mills, unless wind or water did not serve to grind their
grain in reasonable time. Freeholders were not bound to do suit, neither were tenants dwelling in
newly erected houses and having no corn growing within the manor. Exchequer Depositions, Mich.
7 Jas. I. No. g.
- By will dated February 2nd, 1569/70, Robert Cutter of Earsdon devises his farmhold to Alice, his
wife; 'and she to pay ^10 to Thomas Cutter my father.' Bequests of this nature were, however,
without legal validity, and depended for their execution upon the good will of the steward of the manor.
See vol. v. of this work, p. 279.
TYNEMOUTHSHIRE.
229
Arable demesne lands no longer existed at the dissolution except in
Tynemouth and Preston townships. The original demesnes, enlarged by
freehold land of which large quantities were acquired by the monastery
during the fourteenth century, as well as by bondage holdings which had
fallen into the lord's hand and had never been granted out again for lack
of tenants, had been turned iiUo pasture, and appropriated by the customary
tenants, so that each husbandry holding had now extensive rights of
common appurtenant to it. Several townships, from being almost entirely
arable, had become mainly pastoral, and every tenant in husbandry had
now common of pasture for six oxen, six to twelve cattle, twenty to forty
sheep, and two to four horses.
Money-rents, now distinguished as ' shire-rents,' ' show a very large
increase, the average rent for a holding of thirty-six acres of arable being
twenty shillings. Six quarters of corn, consisting of oats and barley in
varying proportions, is paid yearly out of each tenement. The payment is
known as 'hall-corn' and is estimated to be of equal value to the money-rent,
whence the name of ' half-corn ' sometimes applied to it. At first sight the
identification of the six quarters of barley and oats rendered in 1539 with
the six or six and a half quarters of barley-malt and oats rendered in 1295
may seem obvious, but this point will require further examination. For the
present it may be noticed that the term of payment of the hall-corn, namely,
St. Andrew's Day, coincides with that for the payment of 'coneveis-penies' in
the thirteenth century, ' coneveis-penies ' being a commutation of provender-
rents.
Money
Rent.
Corn
Rent.
Township.
In 1^94-
In I
539-
In 1294.
In 1539.
s. d.
s.
d.
Preston
4 Si
26
S
5i qrs. barley-malt
and I qr. oats.
4 qrs. barley and
2 qrs. oals.
East Chilton
4 8]
37
4
5i qrs. barley-malt
and I qr. oats.
3 qrs. barley and
3 qrs. oats.
Middle Chirton
4 4i
44
6
5i qrs. barley-malt
and I qr. oals.
None.
Whitley
—
33
4
—
4 qrs. barley and
2 qrs. oats.
Monkseaton
4 iJ
20
0
ji qrs. barley-malt
and I qr. oats.
4 qrs. barley and
2 qrs. oats.
Murton
22
0
—
4 qrs. oats.
Earsdon
5 2\
20
0
5 qrs. barley-malt
and I qr. oats.
4 qrs. barley and
2 qrs. oats.
Backwoith
—
20
0
—
2i qrs. wheat and
[l qr. oats].
' The shire-rent is clearly an assize-rent and not, as has been suggested, an acknowledgment for the
privilege of depasturing on the common and open lands within the manor.
230
TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
Meadow-closes aiul the <,'art!i of tlie manor-hall are tanned in coiniimn
bv the tenants of each respective township for a separate money-rent ; and
as the few remainiiii; freeholds are usnally annexed to some customary
tenement, it follows that almost the whole of the land within the township
is already in the hands of husbandry tenants.
By deed of surrender, dated January 12th, 1538/9, all the possessions
of the monastery of Tynemouth were made over to the Crown. During
the succeeding century the lordship of Tynemouth, in which expression
were included the townships of Preston, East Chirton, Whitley, Monkseaton,
Murton, Earsdon and Backworth, was let out on successive leases of twenty-
one years each, at a yearly rent of ;^105 7s., renewable upon the payment
of a fine of double that amount. The lessees were John Banester, February
1 2th, 1545/6;' Thomas Kay, November 6th, 1558;" Henry, eighth earl of
Northumberland, December 12th, 1580;' Henry, ninth earl of Northumber-
land, November 23rd, 1596.^ The office of seneschal, the demesnes of
Tynemouth and Flatworth, and certain mills and coal mines within the
liberty went with the governorship of Tynemouth castle.
A change of custom was introduced bv Sir Thomas Hilton, the first
lessee of the demesnes after the dissolution, who substituted a money-rent
for the various labour-services. This was termed boon days or day-work
rent, and is still payable. A survey taken at the close of the century states :
Ther is besides the dayworkes of the icnnantes of every of these townes following, that is to say,
Ersden, Moreton, Munckseaton, Whitley, Preston, Est Chirton and .Middle Chirton. Every tennant of
these townes did lead to the castle in the priors tynie one load of hay, mow three severall dayes work of
hay, rake one day worke, and sheare three severall dayes worke in the corne in harvest every yeare,
which dayes worke Sir Thomas Hilton, knight, in his tyme immediately after the suppression, turned
into money ; that is, every tennant of these towns abovesaid paid for the said day workes at Michaelmas
onely 2s. 4d., and 2d. for hempe and line, which made upp 2s. 6d. a man ; besides every of them two
fudder of whynnes at Mayday yearely ; yett the captaine of the castle saith that they ow every of them
a fudder at Michaelmas allso yearely, wheruppon some of the tennantes stand and most part pay.
Thcr is allso two shearing day workes dew by every cottinger of every of these townes aforesaid and
of the husbandes and cottingers in Tynemouth besides. All which were also in Sir Thomas Hilton's
tyme turned into money ; that is, every husbandman in Tynemouth for day workes, hempe and line paid
lod. a peice, and every cottinger ther and in the townes above named Sd. a peice, wedow and others."
' Augmentation Office, Miscell. Books, vol. 217, fols. 25-28 and 89.
' Patau Roll, 5 and 6 Philip and Mary, part 3. ' Ibid. 23 Eliz. part 3.
' Ibid. 39 Eliz. part 8. The lease was renewed to him on October iSth, 1617.
' Early seventeenth century survey of Tynemoulhshire ; Duke of Northumberland's MSS. Carriage-
work remained uncomniuted. 'The tennants of Tynemouthshier have ahvayes ben accustomed since I
served ther to bring in two further of whynes every of them, one in somer and th' other in wynter,
comonly after St. Eline Day and Michelmas ; to lead every of them, if nead required, one wayne load of
TYNEMOUTHSHIRE. 23 1
The various payments, and particularly the hall-corn, proved a heavy
burden upon the inhabitants of the shire. At a muster of the middle
marches held in 1580, the tenants of Backworth, Murton, Earsdon, Preston,
Monkseaton, Whitlev, East and Middle Chirton, Hauxley, Amble, Denton,
Benwell and Elswick were not able to furnish more than six horsemen.
The inhabitants of Benwell and Elswick said that they could not serve as
they did before the monastery was suppressed. Those of Hauxley and
Amble were so exacted by the queen's officers that they were ready to give
up their holdings. Those of Tynemouthshire were not able, by reason that
their corn, which they called the hall-corn and paid yearly, did so undo
them, paying as they did 24 bowls (6 quarters) of corn for 20 shillings of
rent, and some 10 bowls of wheat for 20 shillings of rent. The tenants
of Amble and Hauxley, it was stated, were accustomed to pay partly
money and partly corn. At the audit the custom was that the price of
the rent-corn should be delaved until the audit twelve months after, ' and
then of curtesie of th'officers it ys set at a grote in a bowll under the price
of the markett at Newcastell.' '
Considerable light is thrown on the payment of hall-corn by the
records of a suit in the Court of Exchequer in 1597 between Edmund
Milbanke and other tenants of the seven towns of Tynemouthshire and
Peter Delaval, farmer of the hall-corn under the ninth earl of Northum-
berland. The plaintiffs by their bill complained that, whereas they and
their ancestors had been customary tenants of the prior of Tynemouth
and afterwards of her majesty, paying rent and doing services on the
borders and in defence of Tynemouth castle at their own charges, and by
reason of the scarcity of money the prior was wont to allow them to pay
half their rent in corn according to the Winchester measure, eight gallons
to the bushel ; the defendants would have their corn in Newcastle market
measure, which was bigger than the other by two and a half pecks in
every bushel of oats and barley, and one peck in every bushel of wheat,
hay from Flatworth or the closscs of Preston Brok close or Tynemouth park, and the coales to ser\e the
howse. besides ijs. vj./. for ther daye work. Some easement of this sersice ther was in the tmie that my
lord of Nortlunnbreland kept his drawj^lit, that the tennants were not altogether charged so wholy, but
after Richard Dawson occupved the fourih pait of the demayne that his lordship h.ad in occupation, then
his lordship chari,'ed the tc'nnaiUs as befor with the service aforsaid.' 1575. Dehiv.al MSS. in the
possession of the' .Newcastle Society of Antiquaries. ' Kept his drawghf = 'had his team of plough-
oxen ; had the demesnes in his own hand.'
' Ctil. Border Pupcrs, vol. i. p. 22.
232
TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
'and by reason of this exaccion, the spoyles they susteyned by night-rodes,
and the great dearth in the countrey ' they were so impoverished that
they could not do her majesty their due service.'
In a letter written to the earl of Northumberland on October 31st,
1595, Delaval informed his master
That the tennants of half-come yesterday served proces uppon me, and this day they brought to the
castle everye man towe bushells of come, offring to delyver it by a bushell brought by them conteyning
as they said Wynchestcr measure. My brother Raphe, being ther ready to receive ther come by the
accustomed measure due to your lordshipp, they would delyver none but with that measure they brought
with them ; which bushell my brother Raphe required miglit remayne ther in the castle untill it were
knowen to be the true half-come bushell ther, the which they utterly denied to levc behynde them. But
my brother Raphe, thinking it fytt to kepe the bushell wherwith they offred to delyver ther corne, being
not half so much in quantatie as your lordship's antient bushel, they snatching the bushell from my
brother Raphe in forceable manner to go awaie withall, he in truth gave one of them being most busy a
bob of the lypps till he bled, for that they most bytterly exclamed you beggcred them and that they were
the quen's tennants and ought you no senice. The rest, being about xvj or xx persones, all bent them-
selves to carry away the busshell, but my brother Raphe kept the bushell contrarie ther niynds, and
remaynes in the castle till further order be taken in that matter.'^
The tenants followed tip their action by petitioning the earl of Hunting-
don, lord liLUtciiant for the north. Bennet Watson and Thomas Otway, on
behalf of seven townships to the number of eight hundred persons in Tvne-
mouthshire, set out their case, adding :
I'.y reason of sundrie cominge in sithence the dissolucion under her majestie, the measure is so
niuche encroched upon as it is nowe come to duble the measurs, so as by enforcinge that measure
your suppliants ar become so poore as where a great parte of the countrie's strengthe consisted in
the said towneships, nowe they ar not able with horse, furniture and geare to serve as there
ancestors have done, as it appeared upon the late muster, but ar extreeme poore, not able to releve
themselves and there families, whereupon there humble sute is nowe in tryall before the lord treasurer
and barons of the exchequer.^
A commission to hear the case was directed, on June 25th, 1596, to
Robert Delaval of Seatou Delaval, Thomas Hilton of Hilton, Thomas
Bradford of Bradford, and John Featherstonhaugh of Stanhope, and
lengthy depositions were taken before them.
Depositions taken in the church of .St. Nicholas at Newcastle, on behalf of plaintiffs, before the said
commissioners, on 'I'uesday, August 24th, 38 Eliz. (1596).
Robert Baylif of East Chirton, yeoman, aged 80, deposes :
I. That he knows the parties, and the seven towns within the manor of Tynemouth, namely, Chirton,
Preston, Whitley, Monkseaton, Earsdon, Murton and Backworth. 2. The said towns 'stande on the
seacoste and are subjecte to forren invasion and rodcs, and are bounde to serve bothe by lande and sea
when they shalbe charged by hir m.ajestie or hir officers.' 3. In the times before the dissolution of the
' Exchequer Decrees and Orders, vol. 23, fol. 179. - IJuke of Northumberland's M.SS.
' Marquis of Walerford's MSS.
TYNEMOUTHSHIRE. 233
monastery there was great plenty of corn and scarcity of money : hence rents were partially paid in
corn. 5. There was a measure kept in the priors' time for rent-corn, which was less than the Newcastle
measure by a ^reat deal. 13. The value of the corn now paid for every tenement amounts to nearly half
the value of the tenement ; the tenants are hardly able to make husbandry and do her majesty's service
with the other moiety and to maintain their families.
Robert Helme of Tynemouth, yeoman, aged 64, deposes :
3. That in the priors' time the tenants did sue to deliver corn for half their rent, to wit, after the rate
of I2d. for a bowl of bigg and 6d. for a bowl of oats : therefore for a 40s. farmhold they paid 16 bowls
of bigg, 8 bowls of oats, and 20s. in money. 4. He has seen an account of the time of a survey taken
after the dissolution, showing that the tenants paid half their rent in corn. In those days it was easier
to them so, bigg being then 3s. a quarter and oats 2s. a quarter. 7. King Henry VlII.'s receiver
accepted the rent- corn in money, sometimes at one rate, sometimes another, as the market ruled.
9. Wheat is now i6s. a bowl, bigg los., oats los., and so to pay the same amount of rent-corn as in
the priors' time doth now amount to much more than then ; thus in Backworth, which delivereth lo bowls
of wheat (/5 at least), besides the 20s. paid in money, for a 40s. farmhold; Earsdon, Monkseaton,
Whitley and Preston deliver 16 bowls of bigg and 8 bowls of oats (^8 at least), over the 20s. paid in
money ; and every farmhold in East Chirlon delivereth 12 bowls of bigg and 12 bowls of oats (^8 los.),
besides i8s. in money ; every farmhold in Murton payeth 16 bowls of oats for 8s. rent, which is £6 12s.
at least above what they paid in the priors' time, besides 22s. in money. 11. This examinate hath
received the said rent-corn for thirteen years, and since Thomas Dacham and others of the earl of
Northumberland's officers received it for eighteen years, by the same measure which the defendant
now claimeth. 12. He hath seen an order from the Exchequer, dated June 27th, 1556, on behalf of
Bannester. 15. Some part of the said hall-corn has always remained unpaid, except the very first year
that he was receiving. 16. The said rent-corn now amounts yearly to /^loo above the rent reserved to
her majesty. 19. At Newcastle all kind of grain is straiked ; at Tynemouth they heap bigg and oats
and straik wheat for the hall-corn.
Richard Cutter of Earsdon, yeoman, aged 80, deposes :
I. That there are about ei.uhty householders in the seven towns. 2. The most inland of the seven is
within four miles of the sea : the inhabitants are charged with much service upon the borders, and have
to supply men and furniture. 4. In Prior Blakeney's time he sold oats by the market ineasure, which
was much greater than the hall-corn measure, at lod. a bowl, wheat at 2s. a bowl ; the com at that time
was of no more value than half the rent. 6. In the priors' time there dwelt in Backworth, where ever)'
tenant pays 10 bowls of wheat, one Raphe Wheldon and one Thomas Bowmaker, who came and told
the prior they had no corn to bring : who allowed each to bring 10 capons instead. The change from
rent in money to rent in kind was originally made for the benefit of the tenants, not for the profit of the
priors. ' Hath harde his ancestors saie that money was so scante then that coyned leather wente
bargaininge betwene man and man.' 7. For two years after the dissolution King Henry accepted the
rent in money only. 8. Bannester, farmer of the manor and of the seven towns in Queen Marj-'s time,
insisted on having half the rent in corn, for his own benefit, because the price had gone up. Mr.
Rookbye, Mr. Bellasis of Henknowle, and their assigns, to wit, Mr. Farewell and John Payne, his
servant, received the said rent in money. 10. Of late the defendants demanded the rent-corn by the
Newcastle measure, which is greater than the Winchester measure by half in half, and two gallons
more in the bushel. The Newcastle measure hath been very often increased within his remembrance.
II. It is forty years since Bannester enhanced the rent by the measure by which the defendant now
claimeth. David Wynyarde, the cooper who made the measure, dwelt at the corner of the Sandhill
in Newcastle. Before that, there was an old measure at Tynemouth called the hall-corn measure, less
than the Newcastle measure by half in half: whereupon the neighbours finding fault were sued to
answer in the E.xchequer at London, and divers of them went to London, of whom this deponent was
one. 12. There was a suit in the Exchequer in the time of Philip and Mary, between Bannester and
the tenants of the seven towns for the rent-corn according to a new exacted measure. Of the two
neighbours who should have gone to prosecute, one fell sick, and the other not appearing, Banister
Vol, VIIL 30
234 TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
procured an order that the said hall-corn should [not ?] be paid by the old measure. 13. In some years,
when the seed-corn is sown and the hall-corn is paid, the rest of the corn growing upon the tenement
will not find the house. 14. The tenants are so impoverished that they cannot do service upon the
borders with horse and man as they were wont, by reason of payment of liall-corn, stealing, and these
unseasonable times. 15. 'The payinge of the hall-corne rente and the exaction of the oulde measure to
the newe greater measure is the speciall cause of their impoverishinge.' 17. My lord of Northumber-
land's officers were wont to let the tenants have their corn for £^ for the rent-corn of every tenant which
paid hall-corn for 20s. rent, rather than sell it to strangers. Defendants have declined to let the tenants
have any part of their corn except on payment of market price. 18. Defendant demanded, for the rent
of a 40s. tenement, half of which was to be paid in corn, ^12, but was content to take ^10, to wit, of
Edmunde Meelbankc, John Smith, Thomas Owlwaie, Robert Hall, Robert Dowe and George Errington,
and drove their distresses for the same. The tenants offered him £^ for each 40s. tenement for the last
year's corn, or the corn after the old measure.
Benedict Watson of Earsdon, yeoman, aged 70, deposes :
g. That wheat is now worth l6s. a bowl, bigg los., and oats 7s. or 8s. 11. Some of the tenants
have paid for thirty years by the measure by which defendants now claim : some have never paid corn
at all, but always money. The old measure kept at Tynemouth and called the hall-corn measure was
committed to one William Hodshon of Whitley to keep.
Thomas Dacham of Gateshead, county Durham, gentleman, aged 60, deposes :
I. That in the seven towns there are forty-seven farmers or tenants, besides cottagers. 2. If the
captain of Tynemouth castle go to serve on the borders, then the tenants have to serve for fourteen days
at their own charges. 13. He holds a tenement in Rackworth for which he pays 10 bowls of wheat
(£3 ^^- S"^) '"■■ hall-corn, and 21s. in money ; proffering to let it at 'a racked rente was offered onelye
fortie shillinges for the same and discharge the saide hall-corne rente and money due to the lorde oute
of the said tenemente.' 16. He computes yearly value of hall-corn now as ^120 over reserved rent.
17. My lord's officers let them pay in money or kind as they chose.
Oswald Ogle of Shilvington, gentleman, aged 82, examined September i6th, deposes :
3. That in Prior Gardner's time, the second prior before the dissolution, the tenants of the seven
towns paid hall-corn for half their rent by the London bushel, eight gallons to the bushel. 4. .At that
time wheat was i2d. the bushel, bigg 6d., oats 3d. 5. 'Att that tyme their was a brassen bushell
containing London measure kepte in the said prior's storehowse at Tynemouth for the said hall-corne.'
He was servant to the said Prior Gardner for eight years before his death. 9. A bushel of wheat is now
worth 8s., bigg 6s., oats 4s.
Edward Dinnande of Newcastle, yeoman, aged 100, deposes :
3. That he was servant to Prior Gardner when the tenants asked him to be allowed to pay their rent
in corn: the prior did not wish it and would rather have had the same in money, saying, 'you will
repente it another dale ;' but yielded as to half the rent. This deponent was servant to Mr. Anthony
Mitforde, constable of Tynemouth, and received weekly of the ' bowsser ' ' of the said house a bowl of
oats by the hall-corn (or London) measure for the said Anthony Mitforde's horses. 9. Wheat is now
20s. a bowl, then I2d. ; bigg now 13s. 4d., then 8d. or gd. ; o.ats now los., then 4d.
William Cutter of Newcastle, cooper, aged 67, deposes :
10. That the Newcastle bushel for hard corn (wheat, rye and peas) contains 12 gallons, the London
or Winchester bushel 8 gallons ; Newcastle water measure contains 1 1 gallons. Newcastle market
measure for bigg and oats contains 18 gallons the bushel ; and the oatmeal measure at Newcastle 16
gallons the bushel. Within his remembrance the market measure of Newcastle hath been twice changed.
Depositions on behalf of defendant taken at St. Nicholas's, Newcastle, Tuesday, August 24th, 38
Eliz. (1596).
Robert Helme deposes :
2. That the queen is seised in her demesne as of fee of the manor of Tynemouth, and of five tene-
ments in Preston, five in East Chirton, five in Whitley, ten in Monkseaton, four in Murton, eight in
' ' Powsser ' = burser.
TYNEMOUTHSHIRE. 235
Earsdon, and ten in Backworth, and of the parcel of ground adjoining to Preston called Welflatt ; all
customary lands of Tynmouth ; except Welflatt as to which he is uncertain. 4. Two bushels of com
make a 'howle,' four bowls a quarter, four quarters a chalder. 5. The queen, in the 23rd year of her
reign, leased the tenements in the seven towns to Sir Henry Percy, then earl of Northumberland, and
the now earl rightfully holds them. 6. Thomas Deckam, Edward Scott, and Richard Rawe have for
twenty years received the rent-corn for Sir Henry Percy. After the dissolution of the monastery, 'one
Medcalfe that had but one hand ' received it for the use of Banister and Bowser, farmers there. The
said corn was paid to the prior before. 8. There are two measures in Tynemouth castle sealed
with the seal of the town of Newcastle. Thirty-two years ago, by command of Sir Henry Percy,
this examinate fetched the same from Newcastle from David Winyarde, cooper, who kept them in
Banister's and Bowser's times : one is the boll for hard corn to be straiked, the other for bigg and oats
upheaped. 10. Being both straiked, the two measures hold the same, within less than a pint. 1 1. They
are'muche lesse then the land measures or cawsey measures of Newcastle,' agreeing with the water
measure at Newcastle. 13. These measures are greater than two bushels of the statute measure called
Winchester or London measure by seven gallons and one quart in each bowl. 14. Newcastle is the
nearest market town, and the tenants buy and sell among themselves by the Newcastle land measure.
15. At St. Martin's last past a boll or two bushels of wheat was sold in Newcastle market for 14s., bigg
los., oats 7s.
William Darneton of North Shields, yeoman, aged 57, deposes :
8. That in Bowser's time Uavid Winyard kept the said two measures, but had to bring them yearly
at Martinmas to Tynemouth castle for measuring the hall-corn.
Robert Dowe, examined September i6ih, 1596, deposes :
7. That when they paid money instead of corn, the tenants of Preston, Whitley, Monkseaton, and
Earsdon paid £^ yearly, those of East Chirton ^4 los., those of Murton 40s.
Michaell Hutton of Newcastle, cooper, aged 42, deposes :
This day he saw an old measure, which Ralph Delavale, gent., Edmund Mylbanck, John Smythe
and John Hall, customary tenants in Tynemouthshire, called the hall or half-corn bowl or measure of
Tynemouth, sealed with the seal of Newcastle, and marked with David Winyarde's mark, this deponent's
master's master. This deponent measured it with the brasen gallon of Newcastle, and it contained
twenty-two of the said gallons, straiked, which is equal with Newcastle market measure upon the water.
He has also seen the other hall-corn bowl, which is of like measure.'
The plaintiffs were considered to have established the truth of their
bill. It was therefore ordered, on April 14th, 1597, that the tenants of the
seven towns should deliver their hall-corn by the Winchester or London
measure, containing eight gallons to the bushel.^
The depositions leave no doubt that hall-corn was a commutation for
half of the money-rent of the holding, made by agreement between Prior
Gardiner (1528- 1536) and his tenants, and that the change was made in
consequence of the scarcity of coin of the realm. On the other hand, the
practice of paying part of the rent in corn was one for which precedent
existed in much earlier times, as is shown by the custumal ot 1295. The
new corn-rent took on the character of the old. Just as the bishop of
Durham's tenants of Heighington paid their corn ' by the hall-measure '
' Exchequer Depositions, Mich. 38-39 Eliz. No. 28, Northumberland.
' Decrees and Orders, vol. 23, fol. 179.
236 TYNEMOUTH TARISH.
in 1 183,' so in the sixteenth century the men of Tynemouthshire meted
out their produce bv a ' hall-corn measure,' kept in the lord's store-house ;
and at Amble, another of the manors of the prior of Tynemouth, the
copyholders came yearly with their corn, almost within living memory, to
the ruined hall, and there poured it out in the presence of the officers
of the lord of the manor.'
Since Prior Gardiner's time money had become cheaper. The debase-
ment of the coinage caused a general rise in prices which was not checked
by Queen Elizabeth's efforts to improve the standard. This alone would
not have seriously affected the tenants of Tynemouthshire. The rise in the
price of corn had not, however, been equalled by the rise in wages and
the cost of living. Moreover, a fixed payment in corn proved especially
burdensome after a poor harvest, and left the farmer with proportionately
less grain to sell in the market, so that he was deprived of the advantages
which high prices would otherwise have afforded. The steady rise had
been suddenly accelerated by a succession of bad harvests, and the year
1596 was one of serious famine. In little more than half a century wheat
had risen from eight to seventy-six shillings a quarter, barley from three
or four shillings to forty or forty-eight shillings, and oats from two shiUings
to two pounds.
The payment of hall-corn long continued to be a source of discontent
among the tenantry. Ralph Gardner of Chirton characteristically met a
demand for rent in 1651 by answering plainly that 'he would not pay one
corn nor anything else.' ^ It is now no longer paid in kind, and the rents
are calculated on the average price of the corn or grain obtained in
Newcastle market on the Saturday previous to and the Saturday next after
November 30th, that being St. Andrew's Day, when such payment accrued.
Not long after the hall -corn measure had been settled, the tenants
were engaged in a new struggle over the form of their tenure. As stated
above, the farming class in Tynemouthshire at the dissolution consisted of
tenants in husbandry, holding at the will of the lord. Though possessed
of customs, their condition was in most respects similar to that of other
customary tenants in Northumberland, border-service forming the character-
istic feature of their tenure. ' The customary tenants upon the borders of
' 'Ad mensuram aulae.' Boldon Book, Surt. Soc. No. 25, p. 20.
- Vol. V. of this work, p. 278. ' Duke of Northumberland's MSS.
TYNEMOUTHSHIRE. 237
Scotland,' Coke wrote, ' who have the name of tenants, were meer tenants
at will ; and though they keep the customes inviolated, yet the lord might,
sans co)i/ro//, eject them.' '
Custom, however, was a more potent factor on the estates of an
ecclesiastical corporation than within the manor of a lay lord. The earliest
extant copies (1575 and later years) admit the tenant 'according to the
custom of husbandry of the manor,' the liabendmn being to him and to
his heirs (or assigns) or, in rare cases, for life only. Lord Ellenborough,
commenting upon the phrase in the case of Brown v. Rawlins, expressed
his opinion : ' The words accordino^ to the custom of hushandi\ of the
manor may have different interpretations. They may, though not properly
for the present purpose, refer to a known course of husbandry in the manor,
regulating the culture of the tenants' estates, or they may mean that the
tenants hold as husbandmen of the lord, in like manner as the villeins of
the lord formerly were employed in the culture of the lord's lands, and
as distinguished from an holding bv military service properlv so called,
etc., etc.''
That the custom of husbandry was no novelty is shown by a letter
written in 1605 to the earl of Northumberland by Robert Helme, one of
his officers. 'Therwas,' Helme wrote, 'in the late pryor's tyme emongest
the tennants of the pryor an old and auntyent custom called in the copy
secundum consuctudinem Jiusbandriac, which custom was to the man onlv
and not to the woman, but only at will.' ^ George Whitehead, another of
the earl's officers, also upheld the view that females were altogether
excluded from the inheritance, and traced back the custom to the four-
teenth century, asserting that it ' haythe for thre hundred yeares continewed
only to heires male.' *'
Though there is no authoritative presentment of the customs of the
manor in the sixteenth century, the law of descent is set out in a bill in
Chancery dated April 28th, 1596. The suit related to lands in Elswick,
parcel of the manor of Tynemouth ; and the plaintiff's assertions were not
traversed so far as they related to manorial custom. These were :
' Compute Copyholder, sect. 32.
• Brown v. Rawlins : 7 East, at p. 433. ' Duke of Northumberland's MSS.
' Ibid. The obvious reason for the exclusion of females is given in the case of \'cwton v. Shafto
(l Siderfin, at pp. 267-268). ' Si tiel general custonie ne serra allow, uncore serra bone ley ratione loci
car tiel mannor est bordering sur Scotland, et les escotes en temps pass ont usualment invade le terre ;
et par cela serra s.ife pur seigneurs de provide eux-mesme de tiels tenants qui poent eux aid et defend,
scilicet homes et nemy femes ; et cela tend al safety dc tout ceo roialme.'
238 TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
It hath been accustomed that such person so admitted tenant shall have only estate therein for life ;
and at his death the tenant-right therein falleth to his son if he leave a son, or to his next heir, provided
such heir or one in his name come in at the first or second manor court holden after the death of the
said tenant to demand the same, and be admitted tenant thereof for life ; and if such person do not
so come, then he loseth his tenant-right, and the queen's officer may of his free will grant the premises
to any other person for life, and such grant hath always been reputed lawful according to the custom of
the manor.'
So far as evidence is forthcoming, it appears that copyholds in Tyne-
mouthshire were for life, with a tenant-right of renewal to the heirs male.
' But to support such a custom,' to quote the leading authority upon copy-
holds, ' the tenant must prove a constant usage of renewal upon payment of
a fi.xed fine.' * The tenants asserted the certainty of their fines ; the earl
denied it, and endeavoured to induce the tenants, not only in Tynemouth-
shire but on all other his copyhold estates, to exchange their copies for
leases of twenty-one years.' The policy is apparent from the letters of
the earl's officers during the first ten years of King James's reign ; for
instance Robert Delaval informed the earl on June 13th, 1609 :
It hath put the fermours of tlie sayd tennements in such feare, I acquanteinge them withall with the
laett order in Chansarye sensured against the ladye of Cumberland's tennents, that noe coppye houlder
lyable to a fine at the death of lord and tennent can have any state of inheritance at all. And therfor
all there humble sutts are your lordship wylbe pleased to grante them leases for xxj yeares, and they wyll
paye in lew of there fyne duble rent for everye farme. Some moe coppye houlders I have gotton to be
wyllinge to take leases, which by a note hearen inclosed your lordship maye understand, humbly intreat-
ing your lordship wylbe pleased to send them all leases, which I doubt not but wylbe a good begineinge
to make all your land in this countrye that's in coppye and tennent-right leassers.^
In the same year Robert Anderson, Peter Riddell, Robert Shaftoe,
Henry Bowes, Anthony Errington, Thomas Dectham, and other of the
king's customary and copyhold tenants within the manor of Tynemouth
exhibited a petition to the king, in which they affirmed that they were
copyholders of inheritance within the said manor, and that they had been
severally seised of several estates of inheritance according to the custom
of the manor ; that there were certain ancient customs for the payment
' Chancery Proceedings, Eliz. Ff. i, No. 46, m. 1.
'"' Elton, Law of Copyholds, p. 43.
' The fate of the Northumbrian customary tenants stands in curious contrast with the history of the
peasant class in the rest of England. Their tenure was not consolidated as copyhold of inheritance,
although at the start it was more advantageous than the ordinary villain tenure which developed into
copyhold. Compare .Savine in Political Science Quarterly, 1905, and the instances given in this work,
vol. i. pp. 314-316, and vol. ii. pp. 334-336, 427-428, 432-434. Welsh tenant-right followed a similar
course. The reason of the deviation seems to have been that the interests of the lords were exceptionally
favoured in the marches. E.x in/. Professor V'inogradofT.
' Duke of Northumberland's MSS.
TYNEMOUTHSHIRE. 23q
of fines for admittance to customary lands held by copy of court roll
secundum consuctudinciii /nishdiu/n'ac of his majesty's manor of Tynemouth,
namely, that every tenant, holding by copy of court roll lands in the town-
ships of Monkseaton, Preston, Backworth, East Chirton, Whitley, Murton
and Earsdon, paid on every admittance, if upon descent, £2, and, upon
alienation, ^4 for a fine ; and that every tenant holding by copy of court
roll lands in the townships of Elswick, Benwell, South Dissington, Wylam,
Hauxley, and Middle Chirton, paid on admittance, if upon descent, one
year's rent, and, if otherwise, two years' rent ; and so in the case of the
township of Amble.
The petitioners were summoned before the Court of Exchequer, and
there confessed that there had lately been differences in the forms of
surrenders and the assessing of fines. The ancient court rolls, and other
evidences for proof of the estates of inheritance and of the certainty of
the fines, had been lost and were nowhere to be found. They therefore
craved to receive confirmation of their estate and of their customs. Upon
the examination of copies of court rolls and other evidences it appeared
to the court that the copyholders were copyholders of inheritance. It was
therefore decreed, on April 26th, 16 10, 'that the said copyholders are and
always have been copyholders of inheritance, and so from henceforth shall
be,' that the continuance of their ancient rights and customs was just, and
that the forms of surrenders and admittances should be such as were
commonly used before the twentieth year of Queen Elizabeth. The
petitioners, on their part, agreed to pay the sum of £7?)^ 13s. 4d. into
the king's receipt.'
In a letter written about the year 16 15, Whitehead reported to the
earl 'that heare ar letters coomed downe by the kinge's auditor to sell
all the coppyehould estates in Tynemouthshire to the tennantes in fee
farme, and to dissolve the kepinge of courtes ther.' This, however, was
not done, the freehold remaining vested in the Crown until 1633. On
May 1 6th in that year the seven copyhold townships, together with the
township of Middle Chirton, the fee farm rent of Seghill, and land in
Seghill and Hartley, were granted to William Scriven and Philip Eden,
to hold in free socage, subject to the yearly rent of ^126 13s. 4d. Scriven
' L.r.R. Maiwranda Rolls, N'o. 142. The decree secured validity from .A.ct of Parliament, 7 Jac. I.
cap. 21 (an Act for confirmation of decrees hereafter to be made in the Exchequer Chamber and Duchy
Court, concerning customary or copyhold lands and tenements\ for which see Statutes of the Realm,
vol. iv. pp. iiSo-iiSi, and received special confirmation by letters patent dated May ist, 1610,
240 TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
and Eden, on August 2nd following, conveyed their estate to Henry Taylor
and Thomas Cartwright, who made a similar conveyance on March i6th,
1640, to Algernon, tenth earl of Northumberland. The same earl had
alreadv acquired the town of North Shields in 1635, and the lordship of
Tynemouth in 1637. These several estates have descended to the present
duke of Northumberland.'
The property which then passed from the Crown to the Percy family
comprised that portion of the manor of Tynemouth known as the ' inshire,'
The various townships forming the ' outshire ' were also sold off during
the reign of James I. and the early years of his successor. From that
time their dependence upon the manor court of Tynemouth became merely
nominal. Within the inshire there was a distinction between the freehold
and the copyhold townships, or, as they were usually termed, the town and
the country. The town included Tynemouth, with its offshoot of Culler-
coats, and North Shields ; the country was made up of the seven copyhold
townships.
From the following extracts from the earlier court rolls, some idea
may be had of the working of the manorial court. The earliest complete
roll is undated but may be assigned to the year 1620. A consecutive series
does not commence until 1650, and admission books and surrender books
begin in 1681.
Extracts from Tynemouth Manorial Court Rolls.
October, 1562. Nomina juratorum.
Robert Bartram, gent. Arthur Lee. Christopher Barker.
Henr>' Anderson, gent. Thos. Thomson. Mark Cometh.
George Wilkinson. \Vm. Browne. Robert Denand.
Robert Pattison. John Mould. Thos. Spearman.
John Read. Cuthbert Blithman. Thos. Winsoppe.
Anthony Errington. Thos. Otway. George Denand.
Nicholas Ritson. Jo. Hills. Wm. Raye.
Thos. Bitleston. Thos. Doves (sic). John Matlyne.
Thos. Errington. Nicholas Pearson. Thos. Mills.
October, 1609. Fines imposed on the tenants dwelling outside Westgate for non-appearance, on all
the tenants in Benwell for overloading the common, and on the tenants of Fenham for destroying hedges
and ditches of the tenants of Benwell.'
April, 1610. Richard Fenwick, bailiff, ordered to levy 39s. of Thomas Humble for diverting the
course of Stanley bum to the hurt of the tenants of Wylam."
Circa 1620. Names of the two constables and two ale-tasters of Tynemouth, and of the four
constables and two ale-tasters of Shields. Names of the Jury of the inshire, of the jury of Tynemouth
and Shields, and of the jury of the outshire. Surrenders made of lands in Benwell and Amble. Officers
appointed for Benwell, Elswick, Westgate and Cowpen.
' Puke of Northumberland's MSB. ' Court Rolls, P.R.O. J«|. ' Ibid,
TYNEMOUTHSHFRE. 24 1
April, 1623. Mr, Anthony Swinburne presenled for building bouses in the king's street, and
working of slate or (lay-stone in the king's highway, and sinking of pits to the hurt of the same way
and hindrance of the way of the king's subjects.
April, 1649. Sir Nicholas Tempest, Lady Melton, Mr. Ralph Gardner, and Mr. George Milbume
presented for noi making a free passage for the water that comes from ihe coal pits, to the annoyance of
the highway to Newcastle.
October, 1651. Names of the jury for the country, and of the jury for the town and manor of
Tynemouth. The town of North .Shields presented for the want of a pair of stocks, to the neglect
of the execution of justice. John Nicholson and others presented for building and erecting houses on
the common of Tynemouth, without the approbation of the lord of the manor or of the inhabitants or
tenants of the same. Elizabeth Kenwick and others presented for not keeping gates in their hedges
where they have been accustomed, to the great damage of the tenants, who have no liberty of grassing
their geese in the common lanes.
April, 1652. James Rainsey presented for keeping, and hunting with, a greyhound contrary to
the statute.
October, 1652. William Peterson of the North Shields presented for being drunk upon the Lord's
Day, and for swearing and cursing fearfully upon the same day. Gawen Forster presented for building
up the common passage to the ferry boat in the North Shields. Thomas Hall presented for ploughing
his high close without lease or satisfaction.
Apiil, 1653. Richard Saborne presents the inhabitants of Monkseaton for not repairing the roadway
to Newcastle, and for drawing it so narrow and strait that carls and wains cannot pass along it, to the
damage of the neighbouring tosvns.
October, 1653. Backworth ; the condition amongst our neighbours is that every beast that is put
in our stint is 4d. a beast. The township of Murton presents Ralph Wilson for the bad grinding
of their corn.
October, 1654. The tenants of Cowpen and Elswick presented for making default.
October, 1655. Robert Clark presented for keeping his geese in liackworth pasture and living m
Earsdon.
April, 1656. The town of Tynemouth, for want of a common pinfold, is amerced.
April, 1659. It is found that there are no butts either in Shields or Tynemouth ; that the highway
belwi.M Tynemouth and Shields is not repaired, and likewise the common lonings are fallen in by means
of the coal pits.
October, 1659. A presentment against Stephen Bowes for suing out of my lord's court to the
county court.
October, 1662. Thomas Barker, for refusing to be sworn as constable, is therefore amerced
three pounds.
October, 1663. The jury present that the farmers and inhabitants of East Chirton ought to keep up
a gate in the place called the lUaw Pit between East Chirton, for the preservation of the pasture of
Preston and the corn of Chirton, but they have not done so.
April, 1668. On an inquiry whether the town of Whitley ought to pay a horse's grass yearly to
Mardon Mill, it is found that there is no horse's grass in the town-fields of Whitley belonging 10
Mardon Mill.
March loth, 16S5/6. Nomina juratorum.
Thos. Ottway, gen. Christopher Barker. John Mills.
Henry .Archliokl. Anthony Hyndmarsh. Thos. Hall.
Henry Barker. John Rolherford. Mark Corneath.
Win. Reay. George Rutter. Luke Winshopp.
Edw. Spearman. Robert Dining. Jeremiah Lowe.
The said jury being charged to nquire what the particular customes belonging to the manner of
Tynemouth arc, and what dutyes, rents and services are or ought to be paid to the lord of the manner
of Tynemouth for their coppyhold farmes in the severall touns within the mannor of Tynemouth.
Vol. VHI. 3«
242 TYNEMOITTH PARISH.
Imprimis. Wee finde that all the coppyhold estates within the niannor of Tyneinouth are coppyhold
estates of inheritance according to the custome of the niannor ; and if any coppyholder dye seized of any
coppyhold estate, having a wife, that she shall enjoy such coppyhold estate diueing her widdowhood
only, by vertue of her husband's coppy, without paying any fine to the lord on taking any admittance.
And thai after the death or marriage of the widow, the said coppyhold estate shall descend and
come to the eldest sonn of the said coppyholder, and to take a coppy thereof att the next court held for
the said mannor ; upon such admittance by descent to pay to the lord 40s. for a whole farnie, twenty
shillings for a halfe farme, and tenn shillings for a quarter of a farme. If he dye without issue, the second
sonn to take a coppy, and pay such line as before mentioned, and so from sonn to sonn. And for lack
of sonns, to the eldest daughter of such coppyholder for life only, paying four jiounds for a fine of a
whole farme, and so proportionably ; and soe to descend and come to the next heire male in succession.
Wee finde that upon any voluntary surrender or alienation of any coppyhold farme and admission
thereupon, there is due to the lord for a fine four pounds upon such surrender, and soe in proportion for a
quarter or halfe a farme.
Wee finde that if any coppyholder surrender a close or any parcell of ground belonging to his coppy-
hold estate, though it do not amount to a quarter of a farme, yet by the custome of the mannor, he shall
pay to the lord for a full quarter for a fine and one shilling increased rent. And if the surrender com-
priseth more than a quarter, then he shall pay for his fine for halfe a farme. And if the surrender
amounts to above halfe a farme, he shall pay for a fine for a whole farme.
And if any coppyholder surrender any cottage or other house, part and parcell of his customary
tenement, lie shall pay to the lord yearely one shilling increased rent over and above his rent for the
tenement, and a fine to the lord as much as though it were a full quarter of a farme. But if the surrender
be only a niorlgage, and the same be surrendered back againe to the mortgagor or his heircs, then the
said increased rent to cease, because the full rent of the farme is preserved to the lord, and the lord
can have no prejudice thereby.
Wee finde that by the custome of the mannor, if any cop|)yholder surrender upon mortgage part or
parcell of his farme, that the same ought to be specified, and endorsed by a memorandum under or upon
the back of the surrender expressing the condition upon which the same is surrendered.
Wee finde that all surrenders passed of coppyhold estates ought out of court to be passed before
and in the presence of two of the homagers or customary tenants of the said mannor.
Wee finde that the coppyholders by the custome of the mannor may lett to farme their coppyhold
lands to any tenant by indenture of lease for three yeares without lycense ; and if for tl-.e terme of twenty
or one and twenty yeares, then such coppyholder ought to have lycence from the lord's steward paying
his fee, without paying any fine to the lord for the same.
Wee finde that all surrenders of coppyhold farmes ought to be presented att the next court after the
making thereof, otherwise such surrender is void according to the custome of the mannor.'
The most striking of the manorial customs, here recited, is the provision
that, in default of male issue, a copyholder's eldest daughter shall have
a life interest in her father's tenement. This was extended, by a decision
in the case of Neivton v. S/iafto, to include the eldest surviving daughter.'
The custom was apparently of recent origin, forming no part of the ancient
custom of husbandry, which ' was to the man only and never to the woman.'
Fines are reckoned at so much a ' farm.' ' Farms ' also formerly served
as units for the assessment of poor rate and church rate. The meaning
of the term and its relation to the ancient husbandland has been a matter
' Duke of Northumberland's MSS. • 1 Siderfin, at p. 267.
TYNEMOUTHSHIKK. 243
of controversy. A Chancery suit {^Attonicx-Gcneral v. Trevelyaii), insti-
tuted in 1710, was revived in 1832 by Mr. William Woodman, as solicitor
for the master of the Morpeth Grammar School, and copious evidence
was collected as to the meaning of the term ' farm ' in Netherwitton and
other townships in Northumberland. The theory advanced by the plaintiffs
was that a farm was ' an aliquot portion of the value of an entire township.'
It may be safely admitted that, while the suit has led to a more thorough
examination of the history of agricultural holdings, the proposition then
advanced was untenable and failed to account for the facts adduced to
support it.
The evidence in the Netherwitton case formed the foundation of papers
bv the late Bishop Creighton in the Archceolo^ical [ounial (1S84)' and
by Mr. F. W. Dendy in Arc/iaco/of^ia Acliana (1892).'^ A paper read in
1894 by the present duke of Northumberland before the Newcastle Society
of Antiquaries' brought the evidence of si.xteenth and seventeenth century
surveys to bear upon the question, whether the farms which formed the
basis of rating in the eighteenth century were identical with the uncieiit
husbandlands. The conclusions there set forth were based on a study of
townships in the parishes of Warkworth and Lesbury, but are equally
api^licable to Tynemouthshire and may be accepted with little modification.
When we reflect how often the nuniljer of husbandlands is the same as tlial of the more modern
farms ; how in many cases there are indications pointing to a relation between them, though at tliis
stage of the enquiry not a very explicable one, it appears highly probable that they were identical. But
if the ancient farms be the same as the husbandlands, nothing can be more certain than that they were
not aliquot parts of the whole township, of which they covered but a portion. They did not even include
in many cases the whole of the land under cultivation, for in addition to them there were frequently
freeholds, leaseholds, cottage lands, etc. Nor were they equal inter si-, at anyrate in the sixteenth
century, for they diftered in .icreaye, in rental, in the number of cottages held with ihcm, in the amount
of multure paid to the mill ; in short, in every particular incident to an agricultural holding.
At the date, probably very remote, when the plan of rating by farms was inaugurated, whatever the
nature, variety or complexity of the tenures under which the land was held might be, a sharp line was
drawn between that portion of the township which was composed of demesne land, and that portion
which was not. The latter alone was rateable.
Originally that portion of a township which was not demesne, that is to say, which did not form a
part of what has been sometimes described as the home farm of the lord, was divided into husbandlands
of equal area, paying an equal ' ferme.' Within this rateable area there might or might not be a certain
number of ' cotingers and cotterels,' holding directly of the lord. Whether they were rated or not we
cannot tell. The main part of the burden indubitably fell on the husbandlands.
In course of years parts of the demesnes were granted to freeholders or leaseholders, but these
having once been demesne, remained exempt from local taxation. Similarly, as time went on, some of
' Arcliteological Juiinuil, vol. xlii. ' Arih. Act. 2nd series, vol. xvi. ' Ihid. vol. xvii.
2 11 TYNEMOUTH PARISH,
the land wliicli was not demesne fell into the hands of the lord by escheat, forfeiture, etc., and might be
-■ranted by him to freeholders or leaseholders, but, havini,' Ijeen part of the rateable area, it continued
to be subject to that liability.
Probably, from the very commencement of this plan of ratinjj, the husbandlands had constantly
tended to become more and more unequal, and thus to deviate from the theory of their existence. From
time to time some of the more enterprising of the inhabitants would break up small portions of the moor,
with or without the consent of the authorities. They annexed, more or less intentionally, portions of the
demesne to their holdings,' and again exchanged these strips with those of other tenants, so that there
was a constant accretion on the part of some, and an increasing discrepancy between the size of the
various farms.
By the commencement of the sixteenth century the meaning of the word 'farm' had undeigone an
important modification. It had ceased to be applied to the payment incident to the holding, and had
become applicable to the holding itself.
At length the day arrived when there was a very general conversion of copyholds into leaseholds."
The process was not popular, but the practical change which it introduced into the economy of the
manor may be easily overrated. Numbers of the old tenants and their descendants c<nitinncd for very
many years to occupy the same holdings after they had accepted leases. The tenants who already had
land in the township were very ready to take up any farms that might fall vacant. This tendency had
shown itself freely long before the extinction of the copyholds and it gradually led to a larger number of
farms being held together than before.
But now a much more important and radical change took place, namely, the abolition of the
common fields, and the inauguration of the modern system of several husbandry.^ Let us suppose a
township consisting partly of leasehold farms, partly of demesne lands, partly of cottage holdings,
and partly of common or waste. The leasehold farms were practically the old husbandlands. The
demesnes had become almost entirely merged in them. When the copyholds had finally disappeared
there was no object in keeping up the distinction between the demesnes and the husbandlands, and,
as the same individuals held both, all trace of the former tended rapidly to disappear. But the land of
which the husbandlands originally consisted, as well as large portions of that which had been demesne,
lay scattered over the whole township. A held 200 acres in 5^ farms, B 120 acres in 3! farms, C 120
acres in 34 farms, and so on.
The first difficulty that would arise would be found in the varying character of the land of the
district. The 120 acres which B would receive in severalty might be the worst land in the township,
while the same amount allotted to C might be the best. The arbitrator would therefore be obliged
in fairness to add a few acres to B or to deduct a few from C. Thus there would be a further inroad
into the small amount of equality which may still have existed between the farms.
Either now or at a later date the common would be divided.' How was the arbitrator to allot the
' The extinction of the lord's rights over particular portions of the township is probably due quite as
much to actual agreement as it is to gradual encroachment on the part of the tenants. Communal
action on the part of the township in leasing the demesne, the lord's pasture and the garth of the
manorial hall, should not be overlooked. Partition of the demesne among the customary tenants of the
township probably took place in many townships during the late fourteenth or fifteenth centuries, though
direct evidence of the fact is rare. 'It is to be noted,' says a survey of Long Houghton taken in 1567,
'that before the partition of this towne, every tennant had besyd his husband-lande certayne parte of the
demayne lands. Every husband-lande was at the yearly rent of xxij" ; the rent that any tenant paid
more was for the parcell of demayne lande laid to his tenement which was vij' by yeare.' See vol. ii. of
this work, p. 370.
■ This took effect in the townships of Tynemouih and North .Shields. Copyhold survived in the
seven towns of Tynemouthshire, but not without a struggle.
' The north and south fields of Tynemouth, two-thirds of Preston, and the whole of the common
fields of Earsdon were enclosed in 1649. Six-tenths of Backworth township was enclosed in 1654.
' Shire Moor was divided among the freeholders and copyholders of Tyneitiouthshire in 178S. Most
of the commons lying within the various townships had been enclosed much earlier, though Whitley
links still remain unenclosed. (leorge Whitehead, in or about the year 1613, advised the ninth earl of
TYNFMOUTHSHIRE. 245
common ? A with his five and a half farms of 200 acres would have as much land as he could con-
veniently mana<;e, while 1! and C on the contrary might be glad to take a little more. And thus the
actual extent of a holding would, after the division, bear no relation whatever to the number of 'farms'
at which it was assessed. This method of allotment would go to increase the size of the holdings
in proportion to the ability of the tenant to cultivate it, not with relation to the number of 'farms'
lie liekl, and thus gradually the 'farms' would extend, in some cases, over the whole township. In
such instances there would be no difficulty in rating the township by farms, but it was a different
matter where there were cottage holdings and leaseholds not liable under the ancient system to a
rate. .Sometimes also there were small parts of the demesnes which had not been merged in the
(arms. One of these was the lord's mill. If these hitherto unrated portions of the township were few,
it seems that they were ignored, upon the principle ' de minimis non curat lex.' Hut where they
collccli\cly embraced a considerable area, it would be felt to be unfair that they shouUl contribute
nothing to the rate. The course pursued in these cases was probably different in different places, and
at different times in the same place. At Longhoughton it is said that four, and at Kennington three
cottages were accounted equal to one farm.
So far as the data at present in our possession go, they seem to point to the following conclusions :
First, that the farms which formed the basis of assessment at the end of the last and the commencement
of the present century are the descendants and representatives of the ancient husbandlands ; secondly,
that it is highly probable, if not certain, that originally these husbandlands were, generally speaking,
of equal value within the limits of the same township ; thirdly, that they constantly tended to lose this
equality, and that in the sixteenth century, if not long before, their inequality had become very marked ;
fourthly, that, notwithstanding, they continued to be regarded as equal bases of assessment ; fifthly, that
they were never conterminous with the township, save in cases in which the lord of the manor was the
sole proprietor, and the husbandlands contained the only cultivated land within it. In this event they
would indeed cover the whole area after the common had been divided, but even then the proportion of
common added to each holding depended on other considerations than those of mere equality of value. '
A ' farm ' is not and never has been an aliquot part of the value of
the whole township. At most it is an aliquot part of the rateable value.'-
The farm, which was taken as a convenient unit for assessment of church-
rates in nearly a hundred townships in the county,' originated in the
Northumberland : ' That your lordship take soonie course that all your commons that ar already
surveiglied be, with wliat convenient speade to your lordship's best lykinge, lett by lease in parcells as
may be best improved, the tenants havinge sufficient left. My reasone is, the nature of the people is
that, yf any busiues be deferd, they thinke it is prolonged onely bycause your lordship cannot doe ii, and
soe growe headestronge. In all ihesse affaires 1 shall upon u)y credit provide your lordship's best
profitt and take leasses at reasonable rates, and inclosse and sufficiently fence and hedge them, which
after the first lease will much advance your lordship's revenewcs, havinge made choyse of good
tennantes that ar good husbandes and men able to bestowe chardge of the enclosure oi" the same ;
which course must be especially observed in all your demises,— the choyse of sufficient men to be your
lordship's tennantes.' Duke of Northumberland's .\1SS.
' ."Vbridged from Karl I'ercy's paper on the 'Ancient Farms of Northumberland,' Anii. Ail. 2nd
series, vol. xvii. pp. 22-35.
■ Professor V'inogradoff has pointed out that the Early English township may best be regarded as a
community of shareholders, its members holding equal shares known as husbandlands, virgates,
bovates, etc. The shareholders were 'in scot and lot,' and the taxes or tribute imposed upon the
township were equally partitioned among them. On llie other hand manorial development brought
w ith it the formation of ' inland ' or demesne, which was omitted from the system of taxation. Demesne-
land was outside the gflilnhU area, anti stood superior to the dependent holdings. See The Growth 0/ the
Miiiior, book ii. chapters 3, 4, 6. This finds its counterpart in the medieval rating-system.
' See appendix .A to Mr. F. W. Dendy's paper on the '.Ancient Farms of Northumberland,' in Arch.
Ael. 2nd series, vol. xvi. pp. 152-154.
246 TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
luisbaiullaiul or two-bovatc holdiiii; ol arable in the common liclcls heUl
bv customary services. Later accretions gathered round it ; tiiere was a
tendency for farnis to increase in unequal proportions ; l)ut the intention
of equality remained.
Had it not been for the church-rate, the farm system would have long
ago disappeared and left little trace behind it. Farms survived as fiscal
units after they had ceased to exist as separate agricultural holdings, for
the church-rate stereotyped the economic system of the period when it was
lirst imposed. No definite date can be fi.\ed for the introduction of the
rating system. The earliest known reference in English history to what
was afterwards known as the church-rate occurs in the year-book of the
forty-fourth year of Edward III., when it is mentioned as a custom in a
single parish.' Probably it became general before the close of the fifteenth
century. The ' farms ' of the churchwardens' books in Tynemouth parish
correspond with the husbandry holdings of 1538 but not with those of 1377.
With the abolition of church-rates there was no longer any need, in
the majority of cases, to preserve the fiction of equal holdings. Copyhold,
however, engenders conservatism, and in the manor court of Tynemouth
the land included in any surrender or admittance is always stated to consist
of so many farms or fractional parts of a farm. Fines, shire-rents, hall-corn
rents, and boon-day rents are calculated upon the same principle.
' Gneist, History of the Eiij^lish Constitution, vol. ii. p. 200.
TYNEMOUTH TOWNSHIP. 247
THE BOROUGH OF TYNEMOUTH.
The townships of Tyiiemouth, North Shields, Chirton, Preston, and
Cullercoats were, by the Reform Act of 1832, constituted a parliamentary
borough under the name of the Borough of Tynemouth ; and by an order
in council issued on August 6th, 1849, and coniirmed by the statute 13 and
14 Victoria, chapter 43, they were incorporated under the same name as
a borough for municipal purposes. Before dealing with the history of the
modern municipalitv, some account may be given of the five distinct town-
ships included within it.
TYNEMOUTH TOWNSHIP.
The township of Tynemouth is bounded by the sea upon the east
and by the river Tyne upon the south. Its northern limit is the dry
water-course of the Marden burn ; while on the west it runs up to Preston,
Chirton, and North Shields. It has an acreage of 1,347 acres.' The popu-
lation is rapidly increasing, and in igoi numbered 24,881.'' This is mainly
due to the fact that the greater part of the modern town of North Shields
lies within the limits of Tynemouth township.
Until 1690 Cullercoats formed part of Tynemouth, and in earlier
times the township even included North Shields, that town being built
upon the prior's demesne. On the other hand it has swallowed up the tiny
township of Milneton, of which the insignificance may be gauged by the
entry against it of 4d. for cornage, the average assessment of the neighbour-
ing townships being ten times that amount.^ Milneton lay near North
Shields, and perhaps took its name from Tynemouth windnnll on the
' The titlic-comimitation map of 1S43 specifies the acreage of the township as follows :
a. r. p.
.\ral)ie 7S5 2 9
Meadow and pasture ... ... 161 I II
Woodland ' - °
Huildinys, lanes, chiin hyaid, etc. ... ... ... 120 3 38
Kocks and sand to low-water mark ... S3 3 26
Roads, wagyon-ways and waste ... ... ■•■ 66 I 14
Total i,;i9 2 "8
-The Census Returns are: iSoi, 3,856; iSii, 5,834; 1821, 9,454; 'Sj", 10,182; 1S41. 11,854;
1851, 14,650; 1861, 16,560; 1S71, 19,326; 1881.22.548; 1891,23,678; 1901,24,881.
" Tynemouth ChurtuUiry, fol. 67.
248 TYNEMOIITH BOROUGH.
eastern bank of the Spital dene.' A steep, wooded slope led down from
the mill to the Pow burn, and eastward the mill field e.xtended as far as
the village of Tynemouth. Hugh de Milneton did fealty to the abbot of
St. Alban's for this holding in 1264, as did his son, William de Milneton,
in 1 29 1. In 1306 the owner of Milneton was excused payment of relief
on the score of poverty.' The prior and convent of Tynemouth acquired
two messuages and eighteen acres here in 1325,' and more land in 1348.
In 1377 they were in receipt of 4s. yearly as rent of assize out of Milneton,
and of 14s. yearly rent from lands in the prior's hand.^
There can be little doubt that Tynemouth formed part of the original
endowment of Mowbray's monastery. It was mainly an agricultural settle-
ment, though, even in the twelfth century, fishing played an important
part in the life of the villagers. The population, English in the main,
had a large leavening of Danes. Peculiarly Danish names, such as Orm,
testified to the origin of those who bore them.* Orm was a poor villager
whose onlv daughter was a paralytic, and lav all night in prayer before
St. Oswin's tomb, until, in the early morning hours, while the bretliren
were chanting matins, she felt life come back to her crippled limbs, and,
rising, she walked, and laid her crutch as a thank-offering upon the altar.''
There is an early rental of the township, assignable to the close of
the twelfth or the commencement of the thirteenth centurv.' Amongst
purely Teutonic names, such as Milo, Edulph, Algar, Wlryk, Archil,
and Edrike," are found names that are evidently of Scandinavian origin ;
' The mill was burned down in 1S05, and in 1S37 a mariners' asylum was erected on its site by the
Master Mariners' Association, a society founded in North Shields in 1829 for the purpose of supporting
aged, infirm, or decayed master mariners of the port of Newcastle. The organization has since l^een
reconstituted as the Tyne Mariners' Institute. The name of Mil! field is still applied to the land between
the Spital dene and Tynemouth village.
•• SI. Albans Register, fols. 62 b, in b, 153 b, 164.
'Tynemouth Chiirtiiliiiy, fols. 86 b to 87. The deeds there set out are :
(i.) Grant from Robert de Middelton, chaplain, to Robert Carter of Earsdon, of all his land and his
two tofts in Milneton, 'juxta les Sheles.' Hiis testibus, Johanne de Hacworlh, Johanne de Plescies,
Henrico Faucus, Roberto de Rihille, Johanne de Morion, Alano de Castro, Henrico de Harden, tunc
senescallo de Tynem', et aliis. Dated at Tynemouth, December 23rd, 1319.
(ii.) Grant of the premises from Robert Carter to Thomas de Raynton. Hiis testibus, Johanne de
Hacworth, Johanne de Plescies, Henrico Faukes, Roberto de Ryhill, Johanne de Morton, .Alano de
Castro, Thoma de Hidewyn, Roberto Sauvage de Tynemouth, et aliis. Dated at Tynemouth. August
1 2th, 1324.^
(iii.) Grant of these and other lands from Thomas de Raynton to the prior and convent of Tyne-
mouth. Dated August 5th, 1325. See Gibson, Tynemouth, vol. i. p. 138.
* Ibid. fols. 51 b and 58 b. * Old Danish, Orm ; old Norse, Ormr. ' Vita Osjcini, cap. x.xxiii
' Tynemouth Chartiilary, fols. I b to 2.
' The names Edulph, .Algar, and Wlryk represent the commoner forms, Eadwulf, yElfgar, and
Wulfric.
TYNEMOUTH TOWNSHIP. 249
such are Svan, Hcdne, Mother, and perhaps Heftin." Thirteen persons
are entered as paying rent for holdings of a toft and two bovates apiece,
the annual sum paid varying from two to three shillings, probably according
to the size of the toft. There is one holding of a single bovate, one
of twelve acres, one of eight acres, three of four acres each, and one of
three acres. The majority of the inhabitants hold single tofts with no
land in the common fields. A few rents are partly paid in corn. Sixty-
six names in all are recorded, the total of the rent being £^ 6s. 4d. and
ten ' cendra ' of barlev-malt. Milo, whose name heads the list, had, besides
his two bovates, half an acre of land on the road to Whitley and the land
formerly held by the porter of Tynemouth. He may be identified with
the Milo, son of Hubert, who attests several charters of the period, and
with the father of Simon, son of Milo, whose claim to two monk's corrodies
from the priory led to Prior Gubiun's resignation. -
In an account of homages and fealties rendered to Abbot Norton in
1264, it is recorded that there were fifteen chief tenants, whose names are
given.^ A similar entrv for 1291 again gives fifteen names, some of which
are identical with those in the earlier list.^ Light is thrown on the char-
acter of this group bv a memorandum drawn up by Thomas de Rainton,
who was seneschal about the year 1325 :
In the town of Tynemouth there were some fifteen tenants, of whom some held twenty-four acres,
some twenty-six, some thirty. Wilham, son of Alan, held one land by doing at the prior's maintenance
one bon-er, and one bon-harowe without food, and one in-lad (namely, three thraves of wheat, four
thraves of barley, and four thraves of barley) without food ; and by doing one Neusum-lad, and then
he shall have food ; and by doing three boon-works in autumn, namely two, and a third which is called
the great boon-work, at the prior's maintenance. And four sworn men of Tynemouth shall be reapers
at the great boon-work. And each of the aforesaid fifteen tenants does and shall do the same services
as the aforesaid William, son of Alan, used and ought to do.*
' Svaii: old Danish, Svai : old Norwegian, Svaiiit. Hcdnc : old Danish, Hithin : o\A Norwegian,
Hedhiiui. Hother, used as a proper name, is exclusively Danish, and in old Danish is written Hoihtr and
Hvthir. Hijtin is perhaps Hcjnc, a name exclusively old Danish.
-■ See p. 70. In 12 13, Ralph, son of Ralph, paid a mark for having an assize in the king's court
between himself and Simon, son of Milo of Tynemouth, defendant, for two carucates m ' Elfinton' and
forty acres in Tynemouth. Fine Rolls, 1 5 John, m. 7.
Willelmus Hendele, ct Robertus Poyen.
' Ibid fol. 153 b. This list gives the following names : Willelmus filius Alani. Petnis hiius Radulfi,
lohannes filius Richardi Bercar', Robertus del breuhos, Robertus filius Haldewini, Oallridus films
Hcnrici, Radulfus filius C.ilberti, Petrus de Bakworth, Willelmus filius Alexandri, Johannes de Kedinges,
Galfridus de molendino, Adam de coquina, Willelmus filius Rogeri de Wittone, Ihomas films l.ermani,
at Alanus de Hertlawe. » Tynemouth Chartulary, fol. 71 b.
Vol. VIII.
250 TYNEMOUTH BOROUGH.
These services are borne out by a fuller custunial of the township,
known only from fourteenth-century transcripts, but probably drawn up
about the vear 1200.' A distinction is there drawn between (i) the
holders of lands who do boon-ere and boon-harrow, (2) the holders of
lands and tofts who also do three boon-works and the great auth-rep, (3)
the fifteen tenants who perform the additional services of in-lade and
Neusum-lade." 'Selfodes' do three boon-works in the autumn. The men
of Tynemouth are keepers of the prior's prisons and pay £8 for every
escape. The fifteen tenants pay 40s. as abbot's-welcome on the first visit
made to Tynemouth by a new abbot of St. Alban's.
Rights of common are set out in detail. After the harvest is over, the
fifteen tenants have common of pasture in the town fields for all their live
stock except swine. On the other hand the Midhope and the Howes form
a pasture held in severalty by the prior as lord of the manor, and here the
prior has e.xclusive grazing rights, as well as on all the balks in the open
fields. He may also, at will, enclose a portion of the land lying tempor-
arily fallow, and depasture his cattle there, though the communal rights
of the townsmen are recognised by permission afforded to them of turning
into this enclosure the plough-oxen with which they do the boon-ere or
tillage of the lord's demesne. Cottagers have no pastoral rights within
the township ; they must go with their beasts to the shire moor.
There is no trace of any base service except the payment of merchet
and layrewite, and in the north that custom was never a mark of unfree
status. The fifteen possess all the characteristics of customary freeholders.
When a tenant dies, the next heir of the blood succeeds upon paving
double the first year's rent. They may alienate their holdings in whole
or in part, subject to the pavment of a fine in court. Thev do fealty and
suit of court from three weeks to three weeks. Other customs include
' Tynemouth Chartulary, fols. i, 51b, .ind 58b; printed by liiand, Newcastle, vol. ii. p. 594. The
custunial is repeated on fol. 71 b, with verbal differences. Neusum-lade, or the carting of two loads
from Seaton Delaval, is there described as a service to which all the fifteen tenants were liable,
' preter terrain Ulryg et Roberti filii Wolrik, qui duo carriabunt unam carectatam.' Robert, son
of Wlryk, reappears in the early rental already quoted as tenant of a single bovate, a fact that
accounts for his performing only half the carriage-service incumbent on the two-bovate holdings.
Ulryg's land is not mentioned there probably because it was then in the prior's hand ; but the
specification of only fourteen in place of fifteen tenements leads to the surmise that Ulryg's land
was the fifteenth. Thus the institution of fifteen chief tenants is carried back into the twelfth
century, and the custunial is found to synchronise with the rental, though allowance must be made
for insertion into the custumal of later additions, such as the note of Philip of Marsden's e.\emption
from merchet.
- See above, p. 224, for an explanation of these terms.
tYNEMOUTH TOWNSHIP.
251
the payment of multure at the thirteenth dish, the prohibition against
carting the harvest until the prior has begun to cart, and the payment of
eight shillings as amend for bloodshed.
Regulations are given for the holding of assize of bread and ale.
Toll is mentioned as being paid on strong ale and small beer before the
liquor was exposed for sale. In the fourteeenth century the toll on ale
{tolnetiim cervisic) for the township was usually farmed out at a yearly
rent of 15s. to 20s.,' and after the suppression of the monastery the Crown
continued to receive annually the sum of 26s. 8d. from the tenants as the
farm of this assize.''
A survey made in 1292 shows that the yearly money-rent due from
Tynemouth amounted to £s os. lod., and that nine quarters of barley-
malt were paid in, and valued at 2s. 6d. each. The demesne consisted
of four carucates of arable, the annual net return from a carucate being
£\ 7s. The pasture-land was stocked with 14 cows and 124 sheep, and
a yearly . profit of lod. was made from each cow, and of 4d. from each
sheep. Coal mines brought by estimation £2> ^s. 4d. ; the perquisites of
the court amounted to £1 8s. There w^ere six mills, valued, by general
estimation, at four marcs each per annum. The total yield was £1^ 13s. jd.'
Two years later the demesnes were measured. Those of Tynemouth
and of Preston appear to have lain in common. Their extent is given as
533 acres 10 perches, which corresponds roughly with the estimate of four
carucates in Tynemouth and two carucates in Preston. The demesnes
are specified as follows^
a.
r.
p-
a.
r.
p.
The close on the south side of the
The Flores
15
0
20
town of Tynemouth
9
0
0
Stanylawe
30
2
0
Gilberdesacies
13
I
0
Wytleygate
22
->
0
The buttes on the nonh side of
Belhow flat
27
0
20
(iilbcrdesacres
II
0
0
North-wel flat
5'
2
30
The mill field
jO
2
0
Est-den-side
23
0
0
The close called the lirokes
6
■>
20
West-den-side
24
3
20
The same
15
3
0
Tunstal dyke
24
2
30
Aver-acres
47
2
0
Buttes near the park
4
-»
10
On the north side of the town of
Crumbe flat
21
I
0
Tynemouth
32
0
20
Ploumen landes
8
3
0
Merden flat
14
I
0
Wei flat
35
2
30
The Brokes near Merden
28
I
0
Burdestan flat
34
0
0
< Tynemouth Chartuhny, fols. i6l, 165, 169b, 172, 176 b. ' Gibson, Tynemouth, vol i. p. 220.
' Brand, Newcastle, vol. ii. p. 591, citing Tynemouth Chartutary, fol. 54. ' Tynemouth Chartulary, fol. 4.
252 TYNEMOUTH BOROUGH.
The subsidy-roll of 1296 gives the follo\vin<; names of residents who
then paid subsidy :
Tynemouth Subsidy Roll.
£
s.
d.
s.
d.
Sumnia bonorun
Kicardi de pistrina ...
1
6
a
imde regi
4
3
>»
Galfridi dc bracina ...
I
13
10
3
I
»»
Roberli Scot
I
19
10
3
7i
»j
Willelmi de Wylom ...
I
14
9
3
2
i»
Johannis de Reding ...
1
S
4
2
7
»»
Robert! Turnur
1
I
4
I
Hi
»)
I'liilippi de Meiston ...
I
13
9
3
of
ji
Juliana Tieuelove
0
>5
s
I
5
ff
Rogcri Biun
I
6
2
2
4i
»»
Tunnok I5oyt
0
16
6
I
6
>i
Ade Burward
I
I
II
2
0
»
Willelmi Dabbei-
0
15
3
I
4l
»
Nicholi del Hay
0
II
10
I
I
>»
Willelmi Rakedul ...
0
14
5
I
3i
»
Petri de llakeworth ...
I
2
6
2
oi
Probatur. Siinima liujus ville, ^19 2s. gd. ; unde regi, £1 14s. ghd.'
By an inquisition taken in 1275, it was found that the prior had lately
begun to hold markets at Tynemouth on Sundays.'^ This encroachment
on the royal rights formed one of the charges brought against Prior Walden
in 1290; and it was then urged in addition that he held assize of bread
and ale without warrant, and that in the year 1279 he had built four
common bake-houses at Tynemouth. These bake-houses were farmed by
William Savage, William Barbitonsor, Robert de Bruerne, and Alan le
Taliour, common bakers, at a yearly rent of eight marks. The tenants
came there to bake their bread, paying furnage for the use of the ovens ;
and there the prior brought his own flour to be baked into loaves which
were then taken down to the shore at Shields and sold to the sailors and
merchants who put in at that port. Newcastle merchants, hitherto secure
m their monopoly of victualling and provisioning foreign vessels, found in
the priory a dangerous rival.
Walden denied holding a regular market. He had a tumbrel by grant
from Richard I., and this implied the assize of bread and ale. He admitted
having bakers, brewers, and fishermen in his employ. The presence of
stalls, booths, and shambles testified to the sale of meat and drink, and men
met and chaffered on Sundays in St. Oswin's church. But he argued that
' Lay Subsidy Roll, Northumberland, JJA " Rotuli Hundrcdonim, Record Com. vol. ii. p. i8.
TYNEMOUTH TOWNSHIP. 253
there was no fixed market-day ; he took no market-tolls ; and he pointed,
as justification for his own practice, to the informal retail trade carried on
in every country village. His plea was not held good. For taking furnage
and amends for bread and ale he was fined five marks, and all signs of a
market were ordered to be removed.'
In 1304 the monks took advantage of a visit paid to them by Edward I.
and his queen to petition for a grant of an annual fair. Queen Margaret
used her influence with her husband, who on September 17th accorded
licence to hold a fair at Tynemouth every year upon the eve of St. Oswin's
Day, and the fortnight following. A protest from the burgesses of New-
castle followed upon this act, with the result that the charter was recalled
in deference to their wishes.'
William Savage, who was one of Prior Walden's four bakers in 1298,
was the founder of a mercantile family of some note. Robert Savage,
whose name occurs on several occasions in the Tynemouth Chartulary, was
a householder in Tynemouth in 1336.^ A second William Savage, settled
in York as a merchant, was admitted as a freeman of that city in 1336/7,
and filled the post of bailiff in 1356.^ In 1366 he successfully claimed a
toft and twenty acres of land in Tynemouth as nephew and heir of William
Gaclut, whose property had been seized for supposed adherence to the king
of France.* He became mayor of York in 1369, and died during his year
of office, having by will devised all his lands and tenements in York, upon
the death of his wife Constance, to his nephew Robert Savage and his
heirs, and, for default of heirs, to the prior and convent of Tynemouth."
Robert Savage the younger was a merchant like his uncle. He was
admitted as a freeman of York in 1364, became chamberlain in 1370, and
was thrice mayor (1384, 1391, 1392).' His son, William Savage, succeeded
on his father's death to lands in Tynemouth, Preston, and East Chirton,
of which he enfeoffed William de Mitford and William de Haliwell by
' Gibson, Tynemouth, vol. ii. appendix, No. Ixxxviii-xc.
- Ibid. No. ciii-cv ; Memoranda de Parliamento, 1303, Rolls Series, pp. 96-97 ; Inq. ad quod damnum,
33 Edw. I. File 55, No. i.
' Tynemouth Chnrtulary,{o\s. 14, 13, 18.
* Freemen of York, Surt. See. No. 96, p. 31 ; Drake, Eboracum, ed. 17SS, vol. ii. pp. 118-119.
^ Coram Rege Rolls, No. 424, m. 24. ' Tynemouth Chartulary, fol. 218.
' Freemen of York, pp. 59, 67, 80, 89, 90. The will of Robert Savage of York, merchant, dated
August 1st, 1391, and proved March 21st, 1398/9, is printed in Testamenta Ebor.ucnsia, Surt. Soc.
vol. i. p. 157-
254 TYNEMOUTH BOROUGH.
deed dated January 8th, 1 399/1 400.' Another Robert Savage was a tenant
and baker in North Shields in 1447." The Savages continued to reside
at York into the sixteenth century, and on several occasions held civic
offices. Archbishop Savage came of a different stock.
In spite of its struggles with Newcastle, Tynemouth must have benefited
by the increased commercial prosperity of its rival. The Newcastle trade
brought many merchants and skilled artizans to the sea-board town, A
family of Goldsmiths living in Tynemouth probably practised the art that
named them. In 1333 a commission of oyer and terminer was issued upon
the complaint of Robert Jouyn, Robert de Chastelon, and their fellows,
merchants of Montivilliers in Normandy, that certain merchants of Hull,
Raven-ness, Lynn, and Yarmouth, had entered their ship, the Saint Martin,
when stranded near Tynemouth, assaulted the mariners and carried away
the cargo. ^ Wrecks were frequent on the shoals of the un-buoyed and un-
charted Tyne. Where there were survivors, the prior bought up the
wreck,* and, where there were none, he seized it as lord of the manor.
The destruction of Hexham priory by the Scots in 1296 came as the
first intimation of the storm that threatened every quarter of the county,
and drove the inhabitants of Tynemouth to take shelter within the newly
fortified castle.^ In 131 5 a Scottish army advanced to the very walls of the
priory, destroying the prior's coal-workings at Harden and maliciously
setting fire to Sir Walter de Selby's house in Tynemouth." A year or two
later, Gilbert de Middleton occupied the town, and kept the monks closely
besieged.' Evidence of these attacks is to be found in a survey of Tyne-
mouth taken in 1336.*
' Assize Rolls, P.R.O. No. 1517, 111, 40 d. In 1407-1408 William de ll.-iliwell and Aynes liis wife sold
their land in Tynemouth, Preston, East and Middle Chirton, and Milneton, to Robert Hornsee of North
Shields for 100 marks. Fed 0/ Fines, 9 Henry IV. No. 5. It comprised seven messuages and forty
acres, an estimate which helps to identify it with the lands held at the dissolution by the Uacres of
Gilsland, and subsequently by the Howards of Carlisle.
■-• Brand, Netvcastk, vol. ii. p. 572. ' Cal. Pat. Rolls, 1330-1334, p. 445.
' The Tynemouth Chartulary (fol. 163) contains three such agreements drawn up on March 27th, 1332,
between the prior of Tynemouth and the masters of wrecked vessels. A single example suffices to show
their nature : Pateat univcrsis i)er presentes quod ego, Petrus Grif de Whitsand, nauta et dominus cujus-
dam navis de Whitsand vocate navis sancti Johannis, fracte tempestate maris in niari apud Tynemuth,
die veneris proximo post festum annunciacionis beate Marie, anno regni Edwardi tercii sexto, pro
quadam sunima pecuniae mihi pre manibus soluta, vendidi priori et conventui de Tynemuth omnimodum
maeremium proveniens de predicta navi, cum anchoris, velo, et omnibus cordibus et omnibus aliis uten-
sihbus, appendiciis, et omnibus aliis rebus quocumque nomine nominantur [?], mihi et predicte navi
pertinentibus seu inde aliquo modo provenientibus, ad quorumcumque manus devenerint et ubicumque
invenianlur, etc. Quibus sigillum meum est appositum, cum sigillo Willelmi Hering, Johannis de Grete-
vill, et Johannis de .■\inewyk, burgensis ville Novi Castri super Tynam. Datum apud Tynemuth, die et
anno supradictis. s gee above, p. 83. « Tynemouth Chartulary, fols. 168, 12 ; see also above, p. 86.
' See above, p. 87. " Tynemouth Chartulary, fols. 1 1-24.
TYNEMOUTH TOWNSHIP. 255
The town then consisted of four long streets running east and west,
carried at one end up to the priory gate. There were 117 houses in the
town, having most of them plots of land attached. On the north side was
the vicarage, in which John of Tynemouth may, a few years previously,
have projected or composed his Golden History and his collection of the
lives of English saints. The total rental of the town was /'6 9s. lod.
The majority of the houses were hereditable and capable of alienation, but
some were the freehold of the prior and convent, by whom they were
leased for life or for a term of years. As the survey is too long for
quotation, a few extracts from it must suffice to show its character :
Farms, rents, customs and services of the house of Tynemouth, written in the month of .March,
A.D. 1336.
In the first place there is a plot (placea) of waste ground next to the gate of Tynemouth priory, on
the south side. When it was built upon, it used to pay is. Sd. per annum ; but, when the houses built
upon this plot had been pulled down by the prior of Tynemouth, and, as need was, demolished, that
the shavaldores and other barons in time of war and shavaldry might not be received and hidden
in the said houses, to the destruction and capture of Tynemouth priory, then Robert de Slikbome
surrendered this plot to the said prior ; but up to now it lies waste in the prior's hand and pays
nothing. Memorandum that the aforesaid houses were built on different plots, namely, on a plot
which Nicholas del Hay once held, and on another plot which Alice de Thorkelawe once held.
* * * *
Item, William Alcok had a plot, and Geoffrey Alcok had another plot, which they sold to Richard
Strangale, who built a house upon them, paying is. 6d. rent. But when the house had been pulled
down by the prior, like Robert de Slikborn's houses, Richard surrendered the said plot to the prior
for a sum of money in which he was bound to the prior. William .-Mcok had nine acres of land
in Tynemouth field, of which the almoner bought four, and he now holds them and pays Sd. rent ;
and the remainder are in the hands of divers tenants, who pay lod. rent for them. This is one of
the lands of the fifteen.
* * * *
Item, there is another plot, on which was a house burned by the Scots. Sir Waller de Selby
now holds it. It used to pay is. rent.
Item, there is standing a messuage which belonged to Robert de Whiteley, and he gave it to
Nicholas le Granger and to Alice his wife, in perpetuity. .Afterwards John Defte acquired it from
them and paid is. rent. .Afterwards the said John gave it to the prior of Tynemouth in perpetuity.
* « « •
Item, John de Tewyng holds for a term of years a messuage which belonged to John Shephird,
and now it belongs to Emma Shephird, sister of the said John Shephird, whom John Fesefoul of
Wylam, the prior's serf, married. [ ] acres of land in Tynemouth field belong to it and are in
the hands of diverse tenants. It is one of the lands of the fifteen.
* • • •
John de Stiford, who married Agnes, daughter of Laurence le Lader, holds and has a third part
of a tenement formerly belonging to Gilbert Baldwyne. He pays id. rent and 2d. for a third part of
a croft-land let to Robert de Hertlawe for life while he was still alive.
Item, Simon Mazon holds two parts of the last-mentioned messuage, and pays 3s. 4d. rent for
these two parts and for land in Tynemouth field in the hands of diverse tenants ; and, as the land
is in the hands of diverse tenants, Roger le ToUere, who is one of these tenants, is assigned by the
other tenants to collect and levy the said sum and to pay it to the prior's bailiff.
256 TYNEMOUTH BOROUGH.
Item, the said Simon holds a piece of the prior's croft on the south side of the town of Tynemoiith,
which Richard, prior of Tynemoiith, leased to Robert de Hertlawe without writing and without enroUe-
ment, for the term of the said Robert's hfe, at 4d. per annum. Though Robert is now dead, the prior
allows the said Simon to hold the plot at the aforesaid rent.
* • « *
Item, John, son of John dc Horsloy, who married a daughter of William Russel of Dissington,
and Richard le Myrie, who married his otlier daughter, hold a toft upon which they intended to
build, paying id. rent ; but it now lies waste.
* * * «
Item, Ranulph le Taillour holds a messuage with land in the field which belonged to Geofl'rey
Dabbere, and pays 3s. rent. Ranulph gives yearly, on St. Michael's Day, fd. for ' Hertnes-penies' ;
and he is one of the fifteen, and pays 2d. for having ingress and egress to and from his grange at
the head of the town of Tynemouth on the south.
* • * *
Item, William, son of Robert, son of William, holds by inheritance a messuage with land in the field,
and pays 4d. rent.
* • * •
Item, from the house which, with land in the field, belonged to William le Sclatere, 2s. 2d. The
said William conferred this house on the prior and convent to the use of the chapel of St. Mary.
* * * *
Here ends the South-Rawe and the Cauce begins.
* * « *
Here ends the Cauce, and the South Middle Rawe begins at the west end of the town of Tynemouth.
There is a plot in the prior's hand which Roger Gray once held ; it was once built upon and used to
pay IS. rent. Item, there is another plot in the prior's hand, which Nicholas the goldsmith once held,
and it used to pay is. rent. Item, there is another plot in the prior's hand which Gilbert Rape once held ;
it used to pay 2s. 3d. and now is let out at the prior's will for 6d. rent.
Item, William, son of Roger Mazon, holds a plot, which William de Bebeset once held. Walter
Mazon bought the plot from the daughter and heir of William de Bebeset. It pays 2d. rent.
John de Slikborn, who inarried the daughter of Ralph le Barkere, the prior's serf, holds a messuage
and an acre of land in Tynemouth field on the south side of the town of Preston, both once held by the
said Ralph ; he pays 3s. rent.
Item, Alice de Whitelcy holds of the prior for a term of years a messuage which belonged to Walter
Crok. Upon Walter Crok's death, his son and heir surrendered this tenement to the prior. It used to
pay 3s. rent and two days' work in the autumn.
* * # *
Item, John, son of John de Horton, holds a messuage and land in Tynemouth field which formerly
belonged to John de Redyng, and pays 2s. 8d. rent. He is one of the fifteen. William Bacon, who
married Maud, daughter and heir of John de Redyng, holds a third part of the said messuage and
land ; and they two pay Jd. at Michaelmas for ' Hertnes-penyes.'
« • * •
Item, there is a plot in the prior's hand which belonged to Robert de Slikborn. This Robert
surrendered it to the prior. It used to pay yd. rent. The prior assigned it to the new chapel of
St. Mary, reserving to himself the rent of yd.
* * * *
Item, Christiana, widow of William de Neuborn holds a messuage which her husband once held,
and pays a third of the rent to the refectorar, and 6d. as new rent to the prior. It is not known whether
it was leased for a life-term, therefore let inquiry be made.
* * • *
Matilda, widow of John Litel, holds a messuage leased to her for the term of her life, and pays 6d.
rent ; but Prior Richard de Tewyng has remitted her the rent so long as he shall have the care of the
monastery.
TYNF.MOUTH TOWNSHir.
257
Heie ends the South Midel Rawe, and the North Midel Rawe begins.
Simon Sutor held a messuage next to the gate of Tynemouth priory, on the north side, which used
to pay twelve horse-shoes and nails for the same. It has now been wholly pulled down and can never
be rebuilt, because of the new part of the priory.
* * * •
Gilbert de Whiteley holds a messuage which he bought from John Stobbard. It once belonged to
William de Chirtone. He pays nothing to the prior except [ ] days' work in autumn, because William,
son of Robert son of William, pays 8s. 4d. rent for that tenement and for otliers which he holds in
Tynemouth.
* * * »
Roger Walys holds a messuage of the prior for a term of years, and pays 2s. 6d. rent. The lane on
the west side of this messuage is the prior's severalty, and none but the prior and his successors have
right of way.
* * » «
The warden of the chapel of the blessed Mary holds a messuage which Roger Tumour once held,
and pays 6d. rent.
* * * *
Here ends the North Midel Rawe, and the North Rawe begins.
* * • *
William de Copon, the prior's chief carter, holds a cottage which William de Stiklawe once held,
and pays 6d. rent.
* * • *
John Clerk of Slides holds a plot upon which part of the vicarage has been built, and pays 4d. rent.
* # * *
In this survey the fifteen tenants are again prominent. Before the
close of the century one of their lands had been acquired by the chamber-
lain. Four had fallen out of the economic system, being two of tluin
farmed out for three quarters of barley-malt yearly, and two for si.\ bowls
of barley-malt.' Ten holdings were left, and it was at ten 'farms' that
the township came to be assessed for church rates.
From time to time the prior and convent added new lands to their
demesne. Besides land of unspecified amount acquired in 1345, 1348, 1354,
1380, and 1392, they had royal licence to receive the following parcels
of property in the course of the fourteenth century :
Kxtent of Property. Grantor. Date.
4 acres William, son of .Man le Machun 1307
I acre ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Adam le Vacher ... ... „
I acre ... ... ... ... ... ... ... William de Kenneslawe ... „
1 messuage ... ... ... ... ... ... John Deste ... ... ... 1337
3 tofts and 14 acres ... ... ... ... John de Whetclcy and .-Man Whitheved ... 1360-
2 tofts and 10 acres ."Man Whitheved „ '
I messuage, i acre, and a yearly rent of 3s. from Thomas de Walton and .Man Whitheved 1392
a tenement
' Tyneinouih Chartulnry, fol. 71 b.
- Ibid. fol. 1 10 b. Deed dated at Tynemouth, June loth, 1360. Hiis testibus, Willehno de la \'ale,
Gilberto de Whitley, Roberto de Tewing, Johannc de Murton, .\dam Fauconer, Willehno del Kylne,
Roberto tuib, Johaiine Clerk, Johanne de Thorntcin, Wdlelmo de Heppescotes, et aliis.
' Ibid. fol. 1 1 1 b. Deed dated at Tynemouth, June 3id, 1360, in the presence of the same set of
witnesses (except Fauconer).
Vol. VIII. 33
258 TYNEMOUTH BOROUGH.
There were several small freeholds in the township, owing fee farm
rents to the prior but subject to no customary service. One of these was
the property of the Savages, to whom allusion has been made above. Two
series of charters illustrate the descent of other estates.' Gilbert Wilkinson,
son of William Robinson of Tynemouth, who held one of these freeholds
in the second part of the fourteenth century, was chaplain of the Greystoke
chantry in the priory church." His sister Agnes married William de Hepes-
cotes of Hepscot near Morpeth.' He entailed his property upon a nephew,
Gilbert Webster,'' who in 1413 parted with it to Robert de Harbottle of
Preston.' A younger branch of the Harbottle family appears to have
settled at Tynemouth and to have held land here until the year 1579."
The second series relate to land in Tynemouth, Preston, and East and
' See Appendix II. ' See p. 85, note i.
^ Hec indentura testatur quod Gilbertus de Tineimith capellanus concessit at ad feodi firniain
dimisit Agneti relicte Willelmi de Episcotys sorori sue unam partem tenementi sui in villa de Tinemulh
ex parte australi dicte ville, in latitudine inter tenementum Willelmi de Seton ex parte occidentali et
tenementum Koberti Savage ex parte orientali, scilicet aulam cum selario et solario ex parte occidentali
dicte aule, duo selaria ex parte orientali dicte aule, et ununi gardinum modicum intra aulam et grangium,
cum una domo pistri[n]e et brascine, cum libero introitu et exitu dicto Gilberto capellano ad alias domus
suas congruis temporibus pro suo com[m]odo faciendo in aliis partibus dicti tenementi sui, habendam et
tenendam, etc., usque ad terminum vite dicte Agnetis, reddendo inde annuatim pro primis tresdecim
annis unam rosam in festo nativitatis sancti Johannis Baptiste si petatur, et post tresdecim annos, etc.,
reddet decem solidos argenti ad duos anni terminos, etc. Hiis testibus, Alano Whitcheved perpetuo
vicario de Tencmuth, Roberto de Fenrother, Willelmo de Chevington, Willelmo , Roberto de
Bynham, Willelmo del Kylne, et aliis. Data apud villam de Tinemuth in festo pentecoste A.D. 1 381.
Duke of Northumberland's MSS.
' Hec carta indentata testatur quod Willelmus de Heppiscotes dedit, etc., Gilberto de Tynemouth
omnia terras et tenementa sua, etc., que idem Willelmus nuper habuit ex dono et feofamento predicti
Gilberti in villis et territoriis de Tynemuth et Preston, habenda et tenenda, etc., predicto Gilberto ad
totam vitam ipsius Gilberti, etc., ita quod post monem predicti Gilberti omnia predicta terre et tenementa,
etc., integre remaneant Agncti sorori ejusdem Gilberti tenenda sibi et heredibus de corpore suo, etc., et
si contingat quod predicta .Agnes obierit sine heiede, etc., quod tunc omnia terre et tenementa, etc.,
remaneant Gilberto filio Petri Webster et heredibus, etc., et si contingat quod predictus Gilbertus obierit
sine herede, etc., tunc omnia terre et tenementa, etc., remaneant heredibus Gilberti de Tynemuth, etc.
Hiis testibus Johanne de Murton, Willelmo de Kylne, Roberto Gubbe, Willelmo liacon, Johanne Clerk,
Johanne de Preston, Roberto Maymond, Johanne de Thornton, et aliis. Datum apud Tynemoutli die
dominice proximo ante festum Sancti Georgii, A.D. 1363. Seal : an old man in dress of the period : in
front of him a shield charj^cd with a chevron engrailed, two crescents in chief. S. will. DE HEPPISCOTIS. Ibid.
* November 20th, 1413. Gilbert de Tynemouth, alius Gilbert, son of Peter Webster, gives power of
attorney to John Wilkynson and William Davy of Tynemouth to give seisin to Robert de Harbotell of all
his lands and tenements in Tynemouth and Preston. Dodsworth MSS. vol. xxxii. fol. 123.
' In '477 John Harbottle of Tynemouth sold a house in Framvvellgate, in the city of Durham {Arch.
Ael. 2nd series, vol. ii. p. 31). He is perhaps to be identified with John Harbottle of Swarland, who
appears in 1466 as a trustee for his kinsman, Bertram Harbottle of Preston. Compare the charters
dated respectively January 20th, 1465/6, and June 1st, 1478, given in Hist. MSS. Cum. nth report,
appendix, pt. vii. p. 73. He died August 27th, 1485, seised of the manor of Bekley Hall and other lands
in the county of Durham. John Harbottle, aged eighteen years, was found his son and heir. Deputy
Keeper's Reports, vol. xliv. p. 413. On November 2nd, 1492, John Harbottle, junior, released to
Sir Ralph Harbottle of Preston all interest, under a settlement made in 1466, to lands in Yorkshire,
Nottmghamshire, and Suffolk, late the inheritance of Bertram Harbottle. Dodsworth MSS. vol. xxxix.
fol. 108. He died circa 1524 (inquisition taken October 17th, 1524), leaving a son and heir, John
Harbottle, aged thirty. Deputy Keeper's Reports, vol. xliv. p. 420. For further information as to cadets
of the Harbottle family, see vol. li. of this work, pp. 324-326, and Surtees, Durham, vol. ii. p. 223.
TYNEMOUTH TOWNSHIP. 259
Middle Chirton held by John de Tewing (i 333-1 350. and afterwards by
John Horsley of Shields. John Horsley of Kichinond, goldsmith, son of
the latter, and his kinsman Thomas Horsley of Benwell,' conveved their
land in 1426 to John Cartington. A deed dated December i6th, 1445,
records a grant made by Cartington of a yearly rent of 6d. for the main-
tenance of a light before the high altar of the priorv church." His estates
descended to the Radcliffes of Dilston.
The Spital demesne was attached to the little-known hospital of St.
Leonard. Allusion is made in an assize-roll of 1293 to the bridge by
St. Leonard's hospital, a precursor of the modern Spital dene bridge.
There was at that time no other passage across the Pow burn, for the
present Tynemouth road to Newcastle stopped short at Tynemouth mill,
turning south from that point down the eastern side of the dene.'' On the
farther side of the bridge, between two branches of the burn, the foundations
of a medieval building were discovered in 1885, though the excavations
were not carried far enough to disclose its plan. The building appears to
have been of a considerable size. Its chambers were paved with stone,
and the few mouldings that remained were of an Early English character.
Some fragments of flowing window-tracery, the base of a cross, and the
matrix of a brass, were also found on the spot.
The matrix is a plain limestone slab, measuring 5 feet 9 inches in
length by 2 feet 7 inches in breadth.* It has contained the brass of a
' In 1432/3 Thomas Horsley of Benwell had pardon of outlawry from the bishop of Durham.
Deputy Keeper's Reports, vol. .\xxiv. p. 137.
■ Omnibus Christi fidelibus ad quos presens scriptum indentatum per\enerit, Johannes Cartyngton
de Cartyngton salutem in domino. Noveritis me, prcfatum Johannem, dedisse, etc., Ueo et ecclesie
sancti (Jswini de Tynemouth ac sacriste ejusdem ecclesie pro tempore existenti, in purani et perpetuam
elemosinam, pro salute aninie mee et animarum antecessorum et successorum meorum, ad susten-
tacionem luminaris coram summo altari ejusdem ecclesie circa corpus Christi ibidem ardentis, quendam
annualem redditum sex denariorum argenti, percipienduni et habendum annuatim de tenemento meo
cum suis pertinenciis, modo in tenura Emmotc liadby, situato in le Middelrawe ville de Tynemouth,
ad finem orientalem ejusdem Middelrawe, videlicet propinquiorem caslro de Tynemouth, prefato sacriste
pro tempore existenti impcrpetuum, ad terminos I'entecoste et sancti .Martini in yeme equis porcionibus,
etc. Hiis testibus, Henrico (iray, ballivo libertalis de Tynemouth, Henrico Lancastre, constabul.irio
castri de Tynemouth, Johanne Robynson, Willehiio Peresson, Willelnio White, et aliis. Datum apud
Tynemouth predictum, sextodecimo die Decembris, anno regni regis Henrici sexti vicesinio sexto.
Greenwich Hospital Deeds, Bundle 100, Tynemouth, No. 2.
^ John Archer, the elder, of North Shields, by will dated December 2nd, 1562, left 40s. for the
reparation of the church and the Pow bridge ; Canon Raines collections from Durham I'robate Registry.
.At quarter sessions held at Michaelmas, 17 18, it was ordered that the bridge called the -Spittle bridge,
leading from Tynemouth to Klatworth in the parish of Tynemouth, should be repaired by the said
parish. Sessions Order Books, vol. v. p. 444. Evidence of the track down from the mill to the river at
Low Lights is to be found in a charter dated July isl, 1331, by which John de Horion granted 10 the
prior and convent of Tynemouth a right-of-way over his land 'que jacet in longitudine in le Pol-side,
ex parte orientali del Spitel-den.' Tynemouth Chartulory, fol. 91 ; Gibson, Tynemouth, vol. i. p. 143.
' This matrix is figured in Arch. A el. 2nd series, vol. xxv. p. 131.
26o TYNEMOUTH BOROUGH.
lavnian and liis wife, connected by an inscription-fillet. Below the two
principal figures are live smaller indents for the brasses of their daughter
and four sons. The male figures stood on mounds, and seem to have worn
long tunics with loose sleeves. The lady and her daughter had similar
costumes ; their hair is curled at the side, and each of them had a head-
dress covered by a kerchief. A date between 1400 and 1420 may be
assigned for the execution of the work. Though the slab is not in sitii^
there can be no dcnibt that interments were made upon the spot. Two
stone coffins were unearthed in the course of the excavations. In the
si.xteenth century the priory church and the Spital appear to have been
alternative burial-grounds, for, in 1603, William Milbank of North Shields
left his body to be buried at either of these two places at the discretion
of his executors.' Many persons were buried here during the Civil War,
when access to the parish church was restricted. The latest date of an
interment at the Spital is January 6th, 1707/8.^
The endowment of the hospital was small. It contributed 6s. 8d. to
the subsidy of a fifteenth imposed in 13 14.' In a terrier of 1649 the extent
of the hospital demesne is given as 13 acres, 3 roods, 5 perches, lying in
forty-six rigs and various corners of land in Tynemouth and Preston, as
well as certain lands in Chirton.^ There is no record of the character of
this foundation. Probably it was dependent upon the priory, though certain
facts suggest a connection with the Benedictine nunnery of St. Bartholomew
in Newcastle. Prior Germanus {circa 1141) granted to the nuns of St.
Bartholomew an annual dole of eight quarters of wheat out of his granarv;^
the prioress of St. Bartholomew held or claimed to hold propertv in
Tynemouth in 1293 and again in 1326/7 ;'^ and a contemporary list of
monasteries suppressed in 1536, as having incomes under ^200 per annum,
contains the name of the nuns of Tynemouth.'
During the fourteenth century the town increased in size and import-
ance, and on several occasions furnished its contingent of vessels to the
' R.Tine, Test. Ebor.
- See also Mr. H. .\. Adamson's account of the hospital in Proc. Soc. Ant. NcK'custU, 2nd series,
vol. iii. p. 35-36.
' Reg. Pill. Dun. Rolls .Series, vol. i. p. 499. ' Arch. Ad. 2nd series, vol. xii. pp. 173-174.
' Augmentation Office, Cartac Antiquae, B. Si ; Br.and, Newcastle, vol. ii. p. 82.
' Assize Roll, 21 Edw. I. ; Pat. Rolls, 20 Edw. II. m. 29 d.
■ Letters and Papers, Henry VIII. vol. x. p. 516.
TYNEMOUTH TOWNSHIP.
261
royal navy during the Scottish wars. Though never formally constituted
a borough it acquired something of a corporate character. A royal writ,
requiring the favourable treatment of Flemings, was addressed on April
15th, 1325, to the bailiffs and communitas of the town;' and on December
13th, 1326, the bailiffs were commanded to send three or four men to an
informal parliament at Norwich, to treat of aff"airs concerning the naval
defence of the realm.^ The prior's rental nearly doubled, amounting in
1377 to £<^ I2S. 4|d. ;•'' but twelve years later the town was destroyed by
fire in a Scottish invasion,^ a disaster from which it failed to recover.
On January 12th, 1539, the prior and convent of Tynemouth sur-
rendered their monastery and all their possessions to the Crown. The
site of the monastery and various lands and revenues formerly belonging
to it were leased on March 9th following for twenty-one years to Sir
Thomas Hilton. The demesne or home farm passed under this grant, and
is described as containing
Rent.
Description.
Character.
Acreage.
i
s.
d.
New Close or Broke Close
... pasture ...
••• 30
'3
4
Preston Park
... meadow ...
•- 15
I
'3
4
New Park
... pasture ...
•■• 30
T
'3
4
Heugh Close
... pasture ...
•■• 4
o
lO
o
Land in the common fields
... arable
... 2S6
4
'5
4
Land in West Spytell Uean
... arable
... 20 selions and 6 ,
butts ...
o
2
1
Land in the Lord's NLirsh
... pasture ...
... 6 acres ... '
The Spytel House
—
■•• 4
The Spytel Close
... arable
o
ID
o
Land in the fields there ...
... arable
... 4 '
Pinfold Garth
pasture ...
->
o
4
o
Hilton also received the ' day's work in harvest ' due from the tenants
and inhabitants of the town, a coal mine in Tynemouth worth /. 2 6s. 8d.
a year, and the windmill called Tynemouth mill and the water-mill called
Harden mill, both in the tenure of Robert Dove and John Dove and
paying ^^9 os. 8d. rent yearlv.'
In the first account of the township presented after the suppression,
covering the year Michaelmas 1538 to Michaelmas 1539, Hilton accounted
for rent paid for the lands demised to him, and also for rents of free tenants
and tenants in husbandry and rents for herbage.
' Cal. Close Rolls, 1323-1327, p. 367.
■ Rutiili Scotiae, vol. i. p. 475. Writs were also sent, on this occasion, to Newbiggin and to .\lnniouth.
' Tynemouth Chtirtutiiry, (oh. 51 band 58 b. ' See above, p. 98. * Gibson, r^'iK-Mnmr/i, vol. i. pp. 216-217.
262
TYNEMOUTH BOROUGH.
Rental ok Tvnkmouth, 1539.
Free rents. The heirs of Volensbyc and Henry Madeson, /i us. ijd. .Sir Cuthbert RattlifT, knight,
7s. 3Jd. The heirs of Christopher Hell, los. 104'd. Sir Thomas Dacres, kniyht, lord Dacres of C.illis-
land, 9s. lod. The heirs of Christopher Welden, 2s. Christopher Mitforlh, 3s. Thomas Sheldon, is.
The heirs of Midelton, is. 3d.' The wardens of the parish church, is. Thomas Watson, 3d. Thomas
Wydall, 8d. Sir Wigiott Harbottell, 8s. lod. Thomas Smith, 8d. Total, .£3 17s. lod.
Rents of farms of husliandry and cottages. Edmund Richardson, £z 13s. 4d. John Sainebraine,
£2 l6s. 8d. William llucheson, £2 6s. Sd. Robert Johnson and Thomas .Michellson, £2 13s. 4d.
Robert Doewaye, £2 13s. 4d. Thomas Pate, £\ los. Thomas Hall, £\ 2s. Thomas Dunne, 13s.
Fulk Acone, 13s. 4d. John Otway, Ss Wydewe, 13s. 4d. Anthony Mitfurth, 13s. 4d. John
Tailour, 5s. Robert Shelton for a cottage, 6s. 8d. Margaret Pate, los. Robert Dove for a garden, 6d.
Fifteen cottages, ^^4. Rent for Stonylawes and the Towne Merche, paid by all the tenants, £2 2%.
Total, £2b OS. 6d.
Rents of herbages." Over Spittell Deane, 13s. 4d. The West Lonynge, is. 4d. South
Lonyngc, 8d. Stobbe Close, 2s. Parke Dike, 6d. Dunstane Garth, is. Well Bancke, is. Nether
Spittell Deane, l6s. 4d. Spittell Closse Corner, 6s. Sd. Akehope Hewgh, 3s. 4d. Charte Dick, is.
Skater Deane,' is. 4d. Spittell Brugge, is. 5d. A parcel of land on the left side of the Spittell, is.
A parcell of land in North Well, is. A parcel of land called Nether Marden, in the tenure of Robert
Shelton, 2s. A parcel of land called Upper Marden, 2s. Total, £2 15s. iid.
Fines on assize of bread and ale, due from the tenants of the town by ancient custom on Christmas
I^3y, ^i 6s. 8d. Pannage or take of swine received yearly from the tenants of husbandry in the town,
namely 4d. from every tenant, payable at Martinmas, 3s. 4d.
Sum total, ^34 4s. 3d.''
Further particulars regarding the various freeholds are given in a survey
taken in 1608.'
TvNEMOUTH Freeholds, 1608.
Tenant. Former tenant. Holding.
Peter Dclavale ... Sheldon Lands
„ ... Thomas Smith ... „
„ ... — I cottage and 3 riggs ...
„ ... — 2 tenements
Rent. Pannage. Hall-corn.
£ s. d. s. d. s. d.
...010 — —
...008 — —
...008 — —
nil — —
William, Lord How- (Lord Dacre of i messuage, 6 cottages, and 40 099 04
ard Gilsland) acres in the fields, and i
cottage and 12 acres in
Preston
Robert Dowe' ... Christopher Met- i cottage and 2 acres 030 -
forde
' This land was formerly the property of Sir Allan de Heton of Lowick, who died in 1388, and passed
to the Middleton family through the marriage of Margaret, daughter and coheir of Sir Henry de Heton,
to Thomas Middleton of Silksworth in the county of Durham. See Arch. Ael. 2nd series, vol. .\xv.
pp. 69, 77.
- The herbages are also described as ' land-ends ' or ' quillets ' of demesne, of which the herbage or
eatage was farmed by all the tenants of the township acting in common.
' Skatter or Sl.atcr Dean is identified in some surveys with the Dagger Letch, properly Dacre's
Letch, a runner which followed the course of Bedford Street, and fell into the Tyne near the present
Low Dock in North Shields.
■•Gibson, Tynemoiith, vol. i. pp. 218-220; Rcntiils and Surveys, Augmentation Office, bundle 121,
Northumberland, 30-31 Henry VII L
' Land Revenue, Mtscell. Books, vol. 223, fols. 281-282.
» Acquired by feet of fine, Mich. 36 Eliz. (1594} from Henry Mitford and Barbara his wife.
TYNEMOUTH TOWNSHIP.
263
TYNEMOUTH FREEHOLDS, 1608 (continued).
Tenant.
Robert Dowe '
The churchwardens
Robert Hehne and
Robert Dowe "
Peter Delavale, John
Bowe, and James
Robinson
Roger Morton
Robert Spereman and
Thomas Otway
Thomas Otway
Robert Dowe of
Whitley
Peter Delavale and
Robert Helme
Former tenant.
Holdin;;.
C
Rent
s.
d.
Pannage,
s. d.
Halt-corn
■ . d.
Ratcliffe
t messuage, 2 cottages, 34
acres
0
10
0
0 4
1 4
(Churchwardens)
I cottage and garth
0
I
0
--
Ralph Harbottle,
I messuage and 18 acres
0
8
10
0 4
—
knt.
(Heirs of Volens-
I messuage and 9 cottages in
I
II
n
0 4
5 0
bye and Henry
Tynemouth, Monkscaton
Madeson)
and Murton
(Thomas Watson)
I waste burgage and 2 acres...
0
0
3
—
—
Bell
I messuage and 6 cottages in
0
10
.oi
0 2
—
Tynemouth, 1 cottage in
Preston, and 32 acres in
the fields of Tynemouth
and Preston
Edward Robin- I cottage and 3 acres
son'
Symon Welden .
(Thomas Wydall)
Matthew Welden
2 cottages and i acre
2 cottages
2 tenements and 4 acres ... o ; o — —
The heirs of \'olensbye hold certain lands and pay yearly 1 quarter of malt, rated at 8s. The heirs
of Cuthbert Ratclifife hold certain lands, and pay yearly I ounce of malt, rated at is. Sum total,
£5 IS. 2id.
On August 2nd, 1610, Tynemouth and Marden mills were granted to
Edward Ferrers and Francis Phillips of London, to hold of the Crown
in free socage ■* All the copyhold lands in Tynemouth, excepting two
tenements formerly in the tenure of Fulk Aeon and ot James Uoune, were
similarly granted on March 13th, 1623/4, to Henry, ninth earl of North-
umberland.* Finally, on December 8th, 1631, the manor and town of
Tynemouth, the two tenements previously excepted, and all the lands and
' On February 14th, 1559/60, George Radclitile of Dilston, knight, in return for a payment of /|o,
conveyed to Christopher Mitford, merchant and alderman of Newcastle, his tenement and cottage in
Tynemouth, subject to a perpetual rent-charge of 26s. Sd. Gnaiwicli Hospital Dciiis, Bundle 100, M,
No. I. The same tenement was confirmed by Francis RadclifTe and Edward, his son, on November 20th,
1614, to Ralph Dowe of Tjnemouth. Ibid. Nos. 2 and 3.
-■ Acquired by feet of fine, Mich. 21 Eliz. (1579) from John Harbottle.
' By indenture dated June 12th, 1570, Richard Ruthall, heir and representative of Thomas Middlcton,
granted to Edward Robinson, to hold at the will of the lord for 21 years at the yearly rent of 5s., one
cottage, a garth containing half an acre, and 5 acres of arable held in 3 distinct strips in the north
field of Tynemouth. Robinson was also to have common of pasture in the common fields for all his
beasts without stint after harvest was over. Marquis of Waterford's MSS.
* Piit. Rolls, 4 Jas. I. The two mills were purchased on July iSlh, 1659, by .Algernon, tenth earl of
Northumberland, from Catherine, Lady X'anlore, alias Pelhani. Duke of Northumberland's .M.S.S. .-\
fee farm rent of £g os. 8d. reserved upon them is payable to the Colston almshouses in Bristol.
'Pat. Rolls, 21 Jas. I. pt. 5.
264 TYNEMOUTH BOROUGH.
rights in Tynemouth leased to Sir Thomas Hilton in 1539 (reserving the
site of the monastery) were, in consideration 01^13,545 15s. lod. paid into
the Exchequer bv Sir William Russel, granted to William Collins and
Edward Fenn of London, to hold in free socage at a yearly rent of
^45 14s. 7|d.' Collins and Fenn, on the 21st of the same month, conveyed
their estate to Henrv Taylor and John Melton, who, on April 30th, 1637,
transferred it to Algernon, tenth earl of Northumberland." In this way all
the demesne and copyhold land within the township became vested in the
Percy family.
Various attempts, not at first successful, were made to induce the
tenants to come to an agreement for the division of the common fields.
Whitehead informed the earl on December loth, 1602 :
I doe presume to send iinto your lordship hereinclosed an agrement of the tennants and frehoulders
of Tynemouth under ther hands for the division of Tynemouth,' wherby your lordship may se in what
forwardnes it was brought and siidaynely quasht, by what meanes I knowe not. But nowe agayne I
have revived it and have all ther consents save one or two trooblesome fellowes that ar unwilling,
because they make a pray of the grasse of your lordship's demaynes, which is and wilbe a cause of
your lordship's disprofit and decay of the rent that noHe is payed for the demaynes. The reason is
that all ther winter grasse which should releive ther goods in winter befor the fyne of .September
is by the tennants eaten upe.'
On April i8th, 1631, the freeholders and the earl came to terms for
the appointment of two surveyors to measure out and divide the lands of
both parties. The copyholders were persuaded to surrender their copies
in e.xchange for leases of seven years at an advanced rent, to be renewed
so as to make up the term to twenty-one years, if they should, within the
term then granted, come to an agreement and enclose. A terrier was
prepared in 1649, and lands were allotted to the several tenants in
proportion to their original holdings, in spite of the protest of certain
freeholders, who feared that any change meant increased poverty, stating
that ' about 7 years since, their houses have bene pulled downe to their
severall damages of ^500 a yeare, the burthen of cess and billet soe greate
as noe man hath for that tyme made anything of all his estate.'' The terrier
is valuable in setting out the various holdings with some detail, as may be
seen from the following abstract^ :
't5
' Pat. Rolls, 7 Chas. I. pt. 15. - Land Revenue Enrolments, vol. 202, fol. I29d.
^ Agreement dated .-Xpril 5th, 159S. ' Duke of Northumberland's MSS. » Ibid.
' The terrier has been printed in full, with explanatory notes, by Mr. H. A. Adamson, in Arch. Ael.
2nd series, vol. xii. pp. 172-190.
TYNEMOUTH TOWNSHIP.
265
Tenant.
Lord Howard ...
Robert Otway
Robert Spearman
John Carruth ' ...
William CoUinson "
Robert Dove
John Morton of Tynemouth ...
John Morton of Willington
George Robinson and John Bowes
Freeholds, 1649.
Number of strips.
157 rigs, I headland, 7 butts, and 1
dale of meadow
19 rigs and I butt
2ii rigs
59 rigs, 2 butts, li headlands, and a
meadow spot
21 rigs, 2 butts, and 2 headlands ...
88 rigs, 2 butts, 3 headlands, and i
butt of meadow
8 rigs
3 rigs
108 rigs, 2 butts, and 4 headlands ...
Acreage.
Area allotted.
a. r.
p-
a.
r. p.
48 2
29
50
0 0
6 1
9
6
2 9
6 2
20
6
2 10
20 2
36
20
2 36
8 2
27
8
2 27
28 2
II
29
2 II
4 3
30
4
3 30
I 0
32
I
0 32
33 1
13
33
' '3
Leaseholds, 1649.
Tenant.
John Bowe
Katherine Ogle
Robert Spearman
John Morton ...
Gilbert Otway...
Lieut. (John) Dove
Robert Otway ...
William Collinson
John Carruth ...
John Morton ...
Richard Pryor...
John Sutton
Robert Rotherford
Holding.
I j farms
I farm
I farm
I farm
I farm
I tenement
Farm lands
I markland
I markland
I markland
Farm lands
Farm lands
Farm lands
Area allotted,
a. r. p.
70 1 28
40 I I
40
40
40
12
9
7
7
7
j'
32
32
32
35
24
28
Tenant in 1538.'
Edmund Richardson and Thomas Pate.
John Sainebrain.
William Hutcheson.
Robert Johnson and Thomas Michellson.
Robert Doeway.
Thomas Hall.
John Otway.
Fulk .-Vcon.
Prior to the division, the arable lands of the township had lain in three
large fields. It seems that the middle field had already been allotted to
the earl of Northumberland, farmer of the demesne, in lieu of the 286
acres of unenclosed demesne land. The north field, totalling 258 acres,
and the south field having an area of 188 acres, were now divided
among the freeholders and leaseholders. With certain exceptions, the
whole of the south field, south of the Spital dene road, went to the
' John Carruth purchased these hinds, August 20th, 1652, from George Gray of Newcastle, master
and mariner, husband of Phillis, who was daughter and sole heiress of John Delaval and granddaughter
of Peter Delaval. See the pedigree of Delaval of Tynemouth, p. 171.
■ These lands represent the moiety of Haibottle's lands held in 160S by Robert Helme. They were
sold, circa 1652, to Captain William Collinson, an officer stationed at Tynemouth castle. Tynemouth
Court Rolls. Collinson also bought .A.ydon castle. See pedigree of Collinson of .\ydon castle in vol. vi.
of this work, p. 136.
' Taken from counterparts of leases in the possession of the duke of Northumberland.
Vol. VIIL
34
266 TYNEMOUTH BOROUGH.
freeholders, and the whole of the north field, north of Kennersdean, was
assigned to the other tenants.' The practice of granting twenty-one-year
leases was continued until 1755, and was then abandoned in favour of
shorter terms."
A comparison of the terrier of 1649 with the ministers' accounts of 1539
shows that the ten farms, at which the township was assessed for pannage and
for church rate, had diminished in number to five and three-quarters, that
their average size was 40 acres i rood i perch, and that the usual rent was
four marks {£2 13s. 4d.). Besides the complete farms, there were other
farm-lands of varying extent and three 'mark-lands' or quarters of a farm,
paying a mark rent yearly.
The later historv of the township is largely connected with the develop-
ment of the freeholds in the south field.
The fifty acres allotted to Lord Howard in 1649 remained in possession
of his family luitii 1796, when Frederick, iifth earl of Carlisle, by indenture
dated August 30th, 1796, sold his lands in Tynemouth to John Wright of
North Shields. The latter made his will on June 30th, 1806, leaving his
freehold property to be divided equally between his two sons, William
Wright of North Shields, and John Bowes Wright of Lincoln's Inn. John
Wright and his two sons laid out Northumberland Square and Howard
Street upon this estate, which extended from Norfolk Street on the east
to Newcastle Street and Little Bedford Street, the township boundaries,
upon the west.' Coal was worked upon the Howard property as late as
the eighteenth century, and there was a shaft at the top of the Shields
bank, at the south-west corner of Howard Street.' A building on this site
was afterwards used for the detention of prisoners taken during the French
wars, and was replaced by the North Shields theatre, opened in 1789 and
destroyed by fire in December, 185 1.'
' Spearman had a freehold assigned to him in the Brocks which his son, Robert Spearman of
Durham, sold, together with copyhold land in Chirton, to Henry Walker of Whitby. The lands assigned
to Robert Otway were in the north field, and were termed Otway's Holes. His grandson, John Dove of
the Low Lights, left the estate, by will dated June 28th, 1704, to his sister, Susanna Walker, for whom
see the account of Dove's freehold. Durham Probate Registry.
» Duke of Northumberland's MSS. ^ Mr. H. A. Adamson's collections.
' In 1757 Sir Ralph Milbanke, bart., and others petitioned Hugh, earl of Northumberland, for
licence for a waggon-way to the Tyne, from North Shields colliery on the earl of Carlisle's lands. Ibid.
„, 'The theatre was rebuilt in 1852, and in 1876 it was converted into an assetnbly-room and shops.
Ihe hrst theatre m North Shields stood on the Ropery Banks.
TYNEMOUTH TOWNSHIP.
267
MITCALFE OF TYNEMOUTH-HOUSE AND NORTH SHIELDS.
William MitCALKE of North Shields, buried in Tynemouth church, I2lh February, 1628,9 (")•
William Mitcalfe, senior, of North Shields, buried nth March, 1694/5 (a). =
William Mitcalfe of North Shields, baptised 7th August, 1650 (a) ; buried ist October, 1734 («).
I
John Mitcalfe of Tyne- = Dorothy Reed,
mouth, baptised Ist married 15th
September, 1684 («) ;
died 24th January,
1765, aged 81 (fl)
co-
July, 1707 (rt);
died gth Janu-
ary, 1 762, aged
77 (0-
William = Dorothy
Mitcalfe. I P'orster.
Henry Mitcalfe of North Shields,' = Barbara
baptised 29th April. 1702 (fl); died died 24th Ue-
9th October, 176S (£); will diited cember, 1761,
20th March, 1767; proved at aged 63 (c).
Durham {6). ^
Mitcalfe of Murton-house.
I I
John, bapt. William Mitcalfe =
4th .Aug., of Tynemouih,
1 7 1 8 (n) ; baptised 6th
buried 7lh March, 1720/I
February, («) ; died 3rd
I723;4(«). Nov., iSo6,aged
86 (^) (0 W.
Susanna, daughter John, bap- Henrj- Mitcalfe of Preston, = Dorothy .Anderson,
of Brodrick, tised 1724 baptised I3ih December, married 30lh
married i6thjanu- (n), buried 1726(a); died 5th Dec, July, 1765 (a);
ar>', 1746 (/5); 1727 («). 1802, aged 77 (fl) (f). died 25th Apnl,
died 5th January, Other issue. s.p.; will dated 16th 1795. aged 79
1764, aged 38 (rt) December, 1801 ; proved (.") (c).
(c). 29th December, 1802 (J).
I
Lockwood, bap-
tised 7th
October, 1746
(a) ; buried
25th Novem-
ber, 1747 (a).
I
John Mitcalfe, :
baptised 15th
March, 1747/8
(«) ; died 5th
October, 1779
.Mary .Atkin-
son, married
17th l-'eb.,
1772 (rt) ;
died 15th
June. 1789,
aged 54 (c).
William Mitcalfe of Dockwray = .Margaret, widow of John
Square, North Shields, baptised Kelso, and daughter of
ijlh Januaiy, 1751 (n) ; purchased
Tynemouth-house ; died 1 3th
June, 1S27, aged 77 («) (<r) (/) ;
will dated 19th December, 1821 ;
proved 2Cth July, 1827 (</).
Stephen Wright of Dock'
wray Square, married I2ih
.\ugust. 1776 («) (,i) ; died
30th Noveml>er, 182S, aged
77 («) (0 (/)•
Lockwood, born l8th May, 1753 (/<) ; buried 28th M.ay, 1753 (a).
Henry, born Ist May, 1760 ; died young (i).
Elisha, born l6th March, 1763 ; died young (i').
.Anne, baptised 31st July, 1749 (a) ; died young (<).
Dorothy, baptised 21st June, 1756; married,
January, 1779, Shallett Dale of Newcastle.
William, baptised 5th
Feb., 1 78 1 (a) ;
died young (/')•
Mary Anne, dau. of
J. B. Plowman
of Wimbledon,
married loth
June, 1816 (rf).
: William Mitcalfe of Tynemouth-house, bom 3rd = Marj-, daughter of
.March, 1787 (/) ; baptised 23id September, 1788 '^ '-^
(a) ; of the Coal Exchange, London ; died 8lh
.April, 1S63 (a') ; will dated loth September, 1861 ;
proved 20th Alay, 1863 (rf).
Dowson (</),
2nd wife.
Henry Mitcalfe of Whil-
ley-house, born 28th
November, 1788 (a) ;
baptised 30lh Novem-
ber, 1788 (a); .M.P.
for Tynemouth, 1841-
1847 ; died 4th June,
1853, aged 64 (/).
Thcodosia, daughter
of Edward Drury,
nvirricd 4th Feb-
ruary, 181 3 ; died
at Little .Anglesea,
Hants, 31st July,
1848, aged 59
John, baptised I2th
.\ug., 1790 (a) ;
died 22nd Feb.,
1 80S, aged 1 8(c).
Thomas, baptised
23rd October,
1792 (a); died
young (*).
I
Henry Theodosius Margaret, married her cousin, Henry Percy Mitcalfe.
.Mitcalfe, died Anne Emma, married 27lh February, 1840, John
.May, 1856, aged Fenwick of Preston.
-,5 (<•) (/). Isabella Catherine, married Major-General John
Edward. Henry Francklyn. C.B.
Theodosia, died unmarried (/) Ijth December, 18S2.
Susanna, baptised 25th March, 1778 (a) ;
married 2isl .April, 1S03, Cuthbert Smith
Fenwick (a).
Margaret, baptised 5th July. 1781 (a); mamed
I4"lh November, iSoi, William Redhc;id (,a) of
Newcastle.
Anne, baptised :8th July. 17S2 (a) ;^ married 30th
March, 1S24, Edward Jackson of Gateshead (a).
Dorothy, baptised 28th April. 17S4 (a) ; m-arried
1st September, 1807, James Methold Goble (a)
of Brighton.
Isabella.' baptised :3rd September, 178S (a);
married 7lh .March. 1S09, John D.ale (a).
J.ane, b;\ptised 25lh January, 1795 (a); mamed
7th April, 18:5, Daniel Edward Stephens of
North Shields (a).
268
TYNEMOUTH BOROUGH.
Mary Anne, dau.
of JohnRell:imy
Plowman of
Wimbledon,
born loth No-
vember, 1793;
mar. at Wim-
bledon, loth
June, 1816.
=William Mitcalfe of Tynemouth-house, born 3rd March, 17S7 (li) ; baptised 23rd = Mary Dowson
September, 1788 (a) ; of the Coal Exchange, London ; died Slh April, 1863 (rf) ;
will dated loth September, 1861 ; proved 20th May, 1863 (d).
(^d), second
wife.
I I I I
r)alr)rmple Mitcalfe, born 1834, died 1863.
Chirles Lockwood Mitcalfe, born 1838, died 1867.
Mowbray Mitcalfe, born 1842.
Ralph Dowson Mitcalfe, bom 1843.
Sophia Amelia, married, first,
George Manley, and secondly,
Edward Klein.
Constance, married J. R. Upton.
William Brod.= Emily, dau.
rick .Mitcalfe of John
of London, Jobling.
born 1817;
died s.p.
I
John Bellamy
Mitcalfe,
born 1820 ;
died s.p.
I I
Henry Percy = Margaret, dau. of Stephen ;
Mitcalfe, born Henry Mitcalfe Wright
1823 ; died of Whitley- Mitcalfe,
9th Novem- house, died 19th b. 1826.
ber, 1891. July 1900.
: Jane
Phillips.
Mary Anne,
married Spur-
geon Green.
Henry Percy Mitcalfe.
I
Frederick .Mitcalfe.
I
Leonard Mitcalfe.
Blanche, died
in infancy
Winifred.
(0
Tytti-tnouth Rfghtgr.
Genealogical table of the Mitcalfe family, compiled by
Mr. John B. Dale in 1875, from information communi-
cated by Mr. H. \. Adamson.
Monumental Inscriptions, Tynemouth Priory.
{d) Documents with .Mr. H. \. .^damson.
{/) Matthew Forster's Obituary,
(y) Monumental Inscriptions, Christ
Church, Tynemouth.
* Henry .Mitcalfe (l) of North Shields, by Barbara, his wife, had issue, with other children, Henry Mitcalfe (2)
of Murton-house, baptised 19th May, 1729 ; married 22nd March, 1755, Elizabeth, daughter of Isaac Bell of ,\orth Shields,
by whom he had issue Henry Mitcalfe (3) of Murton-house, attorney-at-law. Henry .Mitcalfe (3), baptised 20th June, 1758,
married, first, at Bishopwearmouth, Sth March, 1790, .Anne Bird, and secondly, at Bath, 4th June, 1S02, Eliza, widow of
Colonel de la Beche of Halse-hall, in Jamaica. He resided, in the latter part of his life, at Clifton and at Bath. Henry
.Mitcalfe (3), by his first marriage, had a son, Henry Bird Mitcalfe (who died unmarried in his father's lifetime), and
a daughter, .Anne Bird Mitcalfe, who became her father's sole heiress, and was married at Clifton, 13th June, 1808, to
Levi Ames of Rodney-place, Clifton.
Robert .Mitcalfe, a cadet of this family, died in 1812 at the age of 56, leaving issue, by Catherine Stanley, his wife
(whom he married in 1780), a son, Robert Stanley Mitcalfe, born in 1786, the father of the present Mr. John Stanley
Mitcalfe of Tynemouth.
CoUinson's land lay to the east of the Howard estate. Henry Collinson
of Aydon castle, son and heir of Captain William Collinson, sold his estate
to Ambrose Hambleton of Tynemouth. Hambleton left two daughters
and coheirs : Hannah, wife of William Williams of North Shields, and
Sarah, who married John Atkinson.' About the year 1714, Atkinson's share
was purchased by Edward Stewart of North Shields, and the land was then
divided, Stewart taking the eastern moiety and Williams the western.
There were roperies or ' rope-walks ' on both properties, extending from
the Tynemouth road to the bank head. Williams' land afterwards came to
the Stephenson family,- and at a later date became the property of the
' Duke of Northumberland's MSS.
^ John Stephenson of Earsdon and North Shields, rope-maker, son of Robert Stephenson of North
Shields, rope-maker, married Elizabeth Hall, by whom he left issue John Stephenson the younger, and
Elizabeth, who married James Perrin of Newcastle. He died September l6th, 1752, having by his will,
dated November 22nd, 1751, devised his freehold property in North Shields to his daughter. His son,
John Stephenson of Uockwray Square, married Maiy, daughter of Francis Gowland of Scarborough, but
left no surviving male issue. He died July 12th, 1801. Mr. H. A. Adamson's collections, and monu-
mental inscription at Christ Church.
TYNEMOUTH TOWNSHIP.
269
Mitcalfes of Tynemouth house. The Stewart estate came, in 1768, into the
hands of William Linskill, afterwards of Tynemouth lodge. Stephenson
Street and Linskill Street perpetuate the names of these former owners.'
Proceeding eastward, John Carruth's freehold is reached. Carruth sold
his land on October ist, 1667, to Edward Toll of North Shields, formerly
captain-lieutenant in Sir Arthur Hesilrige's regiment.
I. Edward Toll, purchased lands in Cowpen, October ist, 1679, from Cuthbert Turner of the
Middle Temple. He was buried in the chancel of Christ Church, January ist, 1680/1, having by will
devised his lands in Tynemouth, known as the High Lighthouse Closes, to Edward Toll, his son and
heir. By his wife, Elizabeth Knowles, he left issue: (i) Edward Toll, above mentioned, who died
without issue ; (2) Thomas Toll (II.).
II. Thomas Toll, of North Shields, draper and mercer, by his will, dated May 2nd, 1704, devised
the High Lighthouse Closes and his lands at Cowpen to Edward Toll, his son and heir. He married
Ursula Airey, by whom, amongst many other children, he had two sons: (l) Edward Toll, who died
without issue in May, 1713 ; (2) Thomas Toll (III.).
III. Thomas Toll of London, master and mariner, and subsequently of Wolviston in the county
of Durham, by his will, April i6th, 1744, left his Tynemouth property to his sister, Elizabeth, wife
of Josias Dockwray of Wolviston and North -Shields."
' Mr. H. A. Adamson's collections.
- Based on the duke of Northumberland's M.S.S., Mr. H. A. Adamson's collections, and wills in the
Durham Probate Registry.
DOCKWRAY OF TYNEMOUTH, ETC.
Stephen Dock\vr.a.V, minister of St. .Andrew's, Newcastle, 1647-1660 ; buried there Illh .August, 1660 (_e).
Thomas Dockwray, D.D., vicar of New-
burn, 1663-1663 ; vicar of Whitburn,
1667 - 1672 ; vicar of Tynemouth,
1668-1672; chaplain to the earl of
Sandwich, with whom he was slain in
a naval engagement against the
Dutch, 28th May, 1672 (/().
Katharine, Josias Dockwray (yf), of Christ's ;
dau.ofThos. Coll., Camb. ; M.A. 1665;
Naylor vicar LL.D. 1673 («) ; curate of
of Newcastle Lanchester, co. Durham,
(/), married 165. .-1668; vicar of Newburn,
31st May, 166S-1683 ; will dated nth
1669 (/). October, 1681 (/) ; buried
July, 1683 (0).
i
Mary, dau. of Samuel
Sanderson of Hedley-
hope, CO. Durham,
mar. at Lanchester,
23rd Novemljer, 1658
(i), named in her hus-
band's will (/).
Josias Dockwray, baptised 19th July, 1670 (i), of Corpus Christi College,
Oxon. ; matriculated 26th March, 1686, aged i; ; B..A., 1690;
M..A., 1693 ; rector of St. F.bbe's, Oxford, 1695, and of Duntsbournc
Knights, CO. Gloucester, 1696 (c).
Arabella, baptised 7th March,
1671/2 (a), buried in the chancel
of Christ Church, Tynemouth,
28th .April, 1672 C<i).
.
Thomas Clarveato Dockwray of (Queen's College, Oxon., matriculated 23rd November, 1733, aged 24 ; B.A., 1737 (<•)•
Stephen Dockwray, of Sidney-Sussex ^ Jane Lawson,
College, Cambridge: B.A. 166S ; married nth
M..A. 1672 («) ; vicar of Tyne- '• August, 1674
mouth. 1673-16S1, died 20th buried : («), buried in
22nd September, 1681, in the '. the chancel of
chancel of Christ Church, Tyne- ChristChurch
mouth (a) (/;) ; administration of Tynemouth,
his personal estate, 20th Septeni- loth Decem-
ber, 1681 (sic), granted to his her, 1694 (a),
widow (^).
Thomas Dockwray of St. = Elizabeth Love,
John's College, Cambridge,
matriculated 14th April.
1673, aged 16 (_d) ; B.A.,
1676 ; .M.A. COxon.).
1680 (c) ; vicar of Tyne-
mouth, 16S1-1725 ; also
perpetual curate of Walls-
end ; buried 24th February,
1724/5 (.")■
married 4th
June. 1689
(a), buried 6th
May. 1728
(a).
Abigail, married
Richard Wake
of Whitburn ;
named in the
will of her uncle
Josias; buried
1 5th .April, 1 684
(A).
Barbiira, bur. 24th
.March, 1662(0).
270
TYNEMOUTH BOROUGH.
TlKim;is Dockwray, baptised 14th .\pril, 1676 («),
buried in ihe chancel of Christ Church, Tyne-
mouth, l6th April, 1676 («).
Barbara, baptised 1st December, 1681 (a), daughter and
heir ; married Thomas Davison and was living in pos-
session of a tenement at North Shields in 1707 (m).
[Mary Grey, = Thomas Dockwray, baptised 1st April, 1690 («) ; = Mary Maynard,
bond of mar-
riage, 5th
May, 1729.]
of St. John's College, Cambridge ; matriculated
23rd May, 1706, aged 16 (</) : B.A., 1709 ; M.A.,
'713 (") ; lecturer of St. Nicholas', Newcastle,
1724-1752 ; perpetual curate of VVallsend, 17...-
1760; died 15th May, 1760, aged 70; Monu-
mental Inscription, St. Nicholas' (<) ; will dated
nth .May, 1759; proved 1760 (/).
bond of mat
23rd October,
1732 ; married
26th October,
1732 (■/)•
Mary, baptised ist May, 1734 (/) i 'J'^'' "'' h^i" father's lifetime.
I I I
Stephen, baptised 9th .\ugust,
1692 (n) ; buried 24th January,
1692/3 la).
John, baptised nth January,
1693/4 (a) ; buried iSth April,
1696 (a).
Francis [a son], baptised 21st
January, 1695/6 (a) ; buried
I4tli December, i6g6 (a).
Josias Dockwray of
Wolviston, CO. Dur-
ham, baptised 26th
.August, 1697 (a) ;
afterwards of North
Shields salt offices ;
buried, 3rd Novem-
ber, 1745 (a).
Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Toll of
North Shields, and sister and devisee
of Thomas Toll of the same place ;
bond of marriage, 22nd September,
1724; was living a widow at New-
castle, 27th October, 1756 (^) ; named
in her son's will (/) ; buried 29th
I'ebruary, 1792, aged 98 (a).
I I I I
Elizabeth, baptised 14th April, 1691 (a) ; married l8th
September, 1723, lieutenant John Pedie (a) ; died s.f.
before nth May, 1759 (/).
.Martha, bapi. 13th Dec, ifigS (a) ; bur. 14th Feb., l688/9(a).
Barbara, baptised 2nd February, 1699/1700 (a) ; buried
9th of the same month (,«).
Frances, baptised 8th .May, 1701 (a); buried i6th July,
1701 (a).
I
Thomas Dockwray, son and heir (g). ■■
of St. John's College, Cambridge;
matriculated 30th .April, 1 744, aged
18 ((/); B.A., 1747; .M.A., 1751 ;
D.D., 1766 (n) ; lecturer of St.
Nicholas', Newcastle, 1753-1783 ;
vicar of Stanifordham, 1 761 until
his death, 14th Dec, 1783 (() ;
will dated i8th June, 1782 (/).
Hannah, daughter of
Robert Ellison of
Otterburn, married,
12th February, 1757
(/") ; she married,
secondly, 13th Dec,
1787, John Barker,
D.D. (/), of Christ
College, Cambridge.
(a) Tynemouth Registers.
(b) Whitburn Registers.
(c) Foster, Alumni Oxonienses.
{d") Scott, .Aiitnissions to St. Johns College ^ Camhritige.
(.) VVelford, Men of Mark.
(y) Registers of St. John's^ Ne^vcastle.
(,?) Schedule of deeds in the possession of Mr. H. ,-\.
Adamson.
M I I I I
Josias, baptised 23rd .April, 1734 (a).
Margaret, baptised gth May, 1727 (a).
Elizabeth, bapt. 1st July, 1729 (a) ; mar. circa 1754, William
Harbottle of Newcastle ; named in her brother's will.
.Mary, baptised 23rd February, 1730;'! (a) ; married William
Charlton of Newcastle ; named in her brother's will.
Ursula, baptised 21st November, 1732 (a).
Martha, living unmarried at the dale of her brother's will ;
will dated 22nd May, 1799 (,?).
(//) Monumental Inscription, Christ Church, Tynemoulh.
(/) Brand, Newcastle, vol. i. pp. 286, 31;.
(/■) Surtees, Durham, vol. ii. pp. 316, 343.
(/) Durham Probate Registry .
(wi) The Duke of Northumberland's MSS.
(«) Luard, Graduatt Cantahrigienses.
io) Newburn Registers.
(fi) Cal. State Papers Domestic, 1672, p. 223.
Evidences to Dockwk.w Pedigree.
December 17th, 1666. The king to the University of Cambridge. Requires them to admit Thomas Dockwray,
vicar of Newburne, Northumberland, to the degree of Doctor in Divinity, without the customary exercises, in reward of
faithful service as chaplain in the fleet, for which some ecclesiastical preferment is to be bestowed on him. Cal. State
Papers Domestic, 1666-1667, p. 351.
June 15th, 1668. The king to the bishop of Durham. Dr. Thomas Triplett, who has for many years been
legally possessed of the rectory of Whitburn, in his diocese, has lately been dispossessed by Dr. Dockwray, on pretence
of Triplett not subscribing to the declaration enjoined by the late Act of Uniformity, and of Dockwray having
obtained a letter of recommendation from us. We never wished our letter to prejudice a person so deserving as
Dr. Triplett, and wish him to be restored to the rectory, and not henceforth disquieted. We hope to have no further
cause to resent the usage of a person most particularly recommended. Ibid. 1667-1668, p. 439.
June 3rd, 1672. Col. Edward Villiers to Williamson. I have written to Lord Arlington on behalf of the bearer.
Dr. Dockwray 's son, whom I found here supplying his father's place. It would be a great charily to procure him to
succeed his father in the parsonage of Whitburn, having a brother and two sisters to provide for, and it would much
conduce to the service to have it known that such care was taken for orphans whose fathers died so honourably in the
king's service. I have a particular obligation to promote it all I can, for I was the means of his father being with
the earl of Sandwich. The duke had taken him into his ship, had he not before been engaged, so well this good doctor
was known in former engagements at sea. Ii,id. 1672, p. 143. See also pp. 215, 223, 408 and 612.
TYNEMOUTH TOWNSHIP. 27 1
Thomas Dockwray, vicar of Stamfordham, the eventual owner of this
property, may be rej^arded as in some respects the founder of the modern
town of North Shields. The old town had hardly extended beyond the
narrow and crowded Low Street at the river side, when Dr. Dockwray
commenced buildinsr squares and streets upon his land at the top of the
bank. Dockwray Square was begun in 1763, Toll Square soon followed,
and, after his death, his representatives, upon September 2nd, 1784, conveyed
the whole of the Toll inheritance to trustees upon trust to sell the same
for building purposes.' Their example was quickly followed by the other
freeholders, with the result that nearly the whole of what was once the
south field of Tvnemouth township has been swallowed up in North Shields.
The land east of Carruth's freehold, as far as the Pow burn, was
allotted in 1649 to Robert Dove of Tynemouth. His son, also named
Robert, married Anne, daughter of Robert Otway of Preston, by whom he
had a son, Robert Dove of the Low Lights. This last-named Robert Dove,
by will dated December 21st, 1704, devised his two messuages called the
Pow bank, and the parcel of land called the Dean, to his sister, Susanna
Walker.- For more than a centurv the estate remained in the Walker
family, who built Walker Place and other streets upon it. A portion of it
was eventually sold to the Tynemouth Corporation by John Kerrich of
Geldestone Hall in Suffolk (son of John Kerrich of Harleston by Elizabeth,
daughter and heir of John Walker of Wallsend'), and now forms part of the
Northumberland Park.' The southern end of the dean, known as the Low
Lights, was once a level flat of swampy ground called 'salt-grass,' covered
at high spring-tides, though now reclaimed and busy with factories and
warehouses. Thither came in 1766 a quaker, John Richardson, a member
of a Whitbv family, and set up a tan-yard, draining the soil and raising it."
Another family of quakers, the Tyzacks," descendants of huguenots in- Lor-
raine, who had established glass-works at Gateshead and Newcastle, also
came to the Low Lights, and there started an iron foundry on land acquired
' Mr. H. A. Adamson's collections. ^'"'Z-
'John Walker of Dockwray Square and Wallsend, who died in January, 1S22, by his will, dated
May l6th, 1S18, devised his estate at the Low Lights to his son, John Walker, for life, with reversion 10
testator's grandson, John Kerrich. John Walker the younger died unmarried, .August 25th, 1S33. Ihid.
' The park was formed in 1885, land being made over to the corporation for the purpose by the
duke of Northumberland.
* Boyce, Annals of a Quaker Family : The Richardsons of CUveland, p. 66.
• An account of this family is given by Grazebrook, Families of Henzey, Tytlery and Tyzack.
27i
TYNEMOUTH BOROUGH.
in 1632 by George Milbourne of Chirton.' Prosperous shipowners built
their residences there, and several of these large brick houses, with their
wide fore-courts, still remain.
LINSKILL OF TYNEMOUTH LODGE.
Wtl.I.IAM LiNSKII.L of
Chirton, 20th April
proved 1783 {d).
Whitby, N.R.Y., and of North Shields, died at
1783, aged 57 {6); will dated 24th April, 1779;
Jane, daughter and heiress of Anthony
Pearson of North Shields, married
13th October, 1754 (")•
Robert l.inskill of Whitby,
son and heir, born gth
June, 1757 (/) ; named
in the will of his maternal
grandfather ; administra-
tion of his personal estate,
29th September, 1790 (</).
I I I
Anthony, born 15th
November, 1758 (/).
John, born 2 1st Aug.,
1760 (/).
Anthony, born 29th
July, 1 761 (/).
William Linskill of North Shields, = Elizabeth IVlary, dau. of
born i8th October, 1766 (/) ;
built Tynemouth Lodge circa
1790; high sheriff of Northumber-
land, 1806 ; died at Humberstone,
Leicestershire, I3lh May, 1845 ;
buried at Ruddington, Notts.
Ralph William Grey of
Backworth, married at
Earsdon, 1st August,
1805 ; died 21st Sept.,
1 84 1 (e) ; buried at
Ruddington (c).
Abigail, born 14th September, 1755 (/) ; died in infancy.
Margaret, born 15th August, 1756 (/) ; married 7th September, 1784,
John Blackburn (/),'and died 1818. ■
Jane, born 25th October, 1759 (/) ; married 26th November, 1784,
Henry Coward of Preston (/).
Hannah, born 30th July, 1762 (/).
I I I
Abigail, born 21st June, 1764 (/).
Esther, born 13th October, 1767 (/).
Maria Antonia, born 7th January, 1 77 1 (X) i
married 26th November, 1795, John Man-
sell, captain 3rd Dragoon Guards, and
died 25th January, 1843 {/).
William Linskill of Tynemouth
Lodge, born 28th .'\ugust, 1807
(/) ; entered 2Sth Foot ; captain
5lh Dragoon Guards (ir) ; three
times Mayor of Tynemouth ; pur-
chased and sold .\Iorwick ; died
I7lh March, igoi ; buried at
Cambridge (c).
Frances A. C. .^nnesley,
daughter of Arthur,
Viscount Valentia, mar-
ried at Bletchington,
Oxon., 17th October,
1853 ; died at Cam-
bridge, 13th May, 1904.
I I I I I
John Anthony Elizabeth, born 27th March, 1808
Pearson Luis- (/) ; buried at West Linton (c).
kill, born 28th Mary Jane, born 25th April, 1810 (/).
July, 18 I 2 Frances Sarah, born 17th May, 1811
(/); buried (/).
at Beaudeserl, Charlotte Antonia, born 19th October,
Warwickshire 1813 (/) ; died 1885; buried at
(c). Weymouth (c).
William Thomas Linskill of St. Andrews, N.B., born at Tynemouth = Jessie Monro, daughter of James Stewart, married at
Lodge, 25th June, 1855. I Edinburgh, 7th March, 1881 (c).
Violet Frances, born 30th
December, 1881 (/).
Mary Seton, bom loth March, 1883 ; died 5th
September of same year {/).
Nora Douglas, born 6th
November, 1886 (<:).
(rt) Tynemouth Registers,
(f)) Monumental Inscription, Tynemouth
Priory.
(0 Ex mf. Mr. W. T. Linskill.
{d) Raine, 7Vt/. Ebor.
(J) Matthew Forster's obituary.
{/') Ex family bibles and communicated by Mr.
H. A. Adamson.
To the north of Dove's freehold, on the other side of the Tynemouth
road, thirty-three acres were allotted to Gerrard Robinson and John Bowes.
This land was purchased from their representatives by James Stewart, son
of Edward Stewart mentioned above. James Stewart died childless. Bv
his will. May 31st, 1743, he left his lands in North Shields, Tynemouth,
the parish of Ponteland, Tweedmouth and Spittle, and Callerton, to his
' Mr. H. A. Adamson's collections.
TYNEMOUTH TOWNSHIP.
273
CLARK OF BLYTH. CHOPPINGTON, NORTH SHIELDS, AND BELFOKD.
John Clark of Long Houghton. =
William Clark of Long Houghton, baptised 20ih June, 1711 (a) ; died '797.
aged 86 {b).
: Ann died May, 1742,
aged 30 {b).
- Other
John Clark of Blyth, afterwards of Bebside,
born at Long Houghton (/}) ; voted at
the election of knights of the shire in 1774
for a freehold at Hlylh (^) ; owner of a
moiety of Long Houghton tithes ; pur-
chased Choppington in 1803 ; died 29th
May. 1809. aged 73 (i) (c) ; will dated 1st
September, 1804 (rf).
Elizabeth Fair-
lam, daughter
of George Mar-
shall of Blyth,
mar. iSth -May,
1773(f); died at
Newcastle, Feb-
ruary, 1825.
William Clark of Dockwray :
Square, North Shields (/), a
native of Long Houghton ;
voted at the election of knights
of the shire in 1774 for a free-
hold at North Shields (jp) ; died
l6th August, 18 10, aged 69
Elizabeth Thomp-
son, mar. 20th
Dec. 1758 (A);
died 9th Oct.,
I788.ai.'cd40r<'"). I
Othe
I I I I I I
John Clark, baptised 30th June, 1774 (c) ; of Little Tower
Street, London.
William Clark, bapti.^ed I3ih October, 1777 (c) ; buried i6th
November, 1798 (c).
Robert Clark, baptised gth January. 1781 (c) ; of St. Mary-
at-Hill, London, and of Choppington.
George Clark, baptised 29th April, 1783 (c) ; of London
and of Sheepwash.
Charles Taylor Clark, baptised 22nd July, 1785 (c) ; of
Cowpen Ouay, shipbuilder.
Selby Clark, baptised 20th October, 1786 (<) ; named in his
father's will.
. I I I I I I I
Jane, baptised 20lh October, 1775 (') I married, 4th .April,
'799. John North of London (rf) (»").
Elizabeth, baptised 1st November, 1778 (<r) ; died unmar-
ried ; buried I7ih May, 1S04 (c).
Ann, baptised 8th November, 1779 (c) ; died at Bebside ;
buried 3rd October, 1806 (c).
Harriet, baptised 15th .April, 1784 (c) ; named in her
father's will (rf).
Maria, baptised i8th September, 1788 (/).
Sophia Isabella, baptised iSth September, 1788 (»).
.Maria Isabella, baptised Illh August, 1799 (') I married
Joseph Ferguson of Carlisle.
.1
.•\nne, dau. of James Hut- ^ William Clark of Tynemouth, == Mary, daughter of =
- - - ... William Brown
of Long Benton,
married 14th Feb-
ruary, 1S05 (J~) ;
died 19th January,
1 8 14, aged 40 (if),
second wife.
chinson of Tynemouth (y),
married 23rd Se])t., 1793
(A); died 23rd Sept., 1802,
aged 32 {e), first wife.
afterwards of Long Benton,
purchased Belford in iSlI ;
high sheriff of Northumber-
land, 1820; died loth June,
1837, aged 72 (r).
I I I
Anne Elizabeth, died 26th December, 1847 (<•).
Mary Elizabeth, mar. Wm. Clark King, clerk in orders (^f).
Elizabeth Sarah (/).
: Margaret, widow
of Thomas Bell
of .Alnwick and
Shortridge. and
daughter of
George Selby
of Twizel. third
wife.
Samuel Clark, died
unmarried in
l.ondcn, Aug..
1792, aged 21
if)-
Lydia, married
loth June, 1795,
John Wright of
Wallscnd \K).
William Brown Clark of ■■
Belford, born 12th Nov.,
1807 ; of University Col-
lege, Oxon. ; matriculated
15th June, '825, at;ed 17 ;
B.A., 1S29; M.A.", 1S32 ;
admitted to Gr.ay's Inn,
1st May, 'S26 ; died gth
November, 1840.
Eleanor, dau. of
Addison F'enwick
of Bishopwear-
mouth, mar. I Itli
June. 1833 ; she
mar., 2nd, at St.
James's, London,
March, 1S47, Sir
Edw. Bracken-
bury, bart.
John Dixon Clark, bom
loth January, :8l2 ; of
University College, Oxon. ;
matric. 30th June, 1829,
agedi7;B.A.,i833;M..\.,
1S36 ; clerk in orders ;
succeeded to Belford on
the death of his brother ;
died s.p.m. 'st Sept., 1S70.
Anne, dau. of
Addison Fen-
wick, married
8th June.
1843 ; died at
Bishopwear-
mouth, Sept.,
1847, aged
53.
Jane Margaret, mar. 2nd
July, 1833, William
.Atkinson (/), clerk in
orders, incimtbent of
Gateshe-ad I"cll ; suc-
ceeded her brother and
assumed the additional
name of Clark ; died
1S7S. I
Emily Anne, married Francis Swan, clerk in orders, rector of Aswardby, co. Lincoln.
Julia Mary, married 20th August, 1863, George .\L Murray, clerk in orders, vicar of
Shrivenham, Berks.
Ann Elizabeth, married 2lst June,
1864, John V. D. Butler, afterwards
earl of Lanesborough.
(a) Long Houghton Registers.
(/;) Monumental Inscription, Long Houghton.
(c) Earsdon Registers.
(</) .Abstract of Title to Choppington.
('■) Monumental Inscription, Tj'nemouth Priorj-.
(/) Bell Collection. Tortfolio 369.
(,e) Poll Books.
(It) TyiiemoHth Registers.
(/) Norton Registers.
Vol. VIII.
35
274 TYNEMOUTH BOROUGH.
nephews, Edward Clarke and James Stewart Clarke, subject to their taking
the name of Stewart. They sold their Tynemouth property in 1763 and
1767 to Anthony Pearson, a rope-maker in North Shields, who, on Feb-
ruary 26th, 1768, devised all his real estate, including freehold property in
Whitbv, to his son-in-law, William Linskill. Mr. Linskill built Tvnemouth
lodge upon this land about the year 1790.' The house has since been
demolished, and its grounds are covered with new streets. Linskill Terrace
(formerly Squire's Walk), Washington Terrace, and the Tynemouth road,
mark the boundaries of this property.
Beyond the Pow burn, and between it and the deep cut called the
Howlings, where the priors of Tynemouth had once their fish-ponds, lands
were assigned to John Morton of Tynemouth" and to John Morton of
Willington, partly as freehold, partly as copyhold. The whole is now the
property of the duke of Northumberland and of various owners. On the
clilT here, above the Mussel scarp, barracks for four hundred men were
erected in 1758 by the board of ordnance. These buildings, known as
Percy Square, ceased to be used as barracks upon the conclusion of the
Napoleonic wars.' Many of the picturesque cottages forming the square
have been carried away by landslips in the boulder clay of the cliffs.
Clifford's Fort and the Lighthouses.
In the year 1536, on September 21st, King Henry VIIL gave licence
to Richard Grey and other masters and mariners of Newcastle-upon-Tyne to
found a fraternity or guild of sailors and other persons in honour of the
Holy Trinity. The guild was to have a master and four wardens, who, with
their brethren and sisters, might make laws for the navigation of the port
of Tynemouth, for the preservation of order among masters, pilots, governors
of ships, and mariners, and for the maintenance and continuance of the
port. They were empowered to build and embattle two stone towers, the
one on the north side of Shields, at the entry of the port, and the other
upon a hill there. The towers were to be adapted for ' signals, metes, and
' Mr. H. A. Adamson's collections.
- John Morton of Tynemouth was son of Roger Morton of Tvnemouth by Bridget, daughter of
Ralpli Holme of Monkwearmouth. Leighton, Family of Goodchild of Pallion Hall, p. 31.
An Act of Parliament to enable his majesty to grant the inheritance of certain lands, tenements,
etc., m North Scotland Yard, in exchange for the inheritance of certain buildings, barracks, etc., con-
tiguous to Tynemouth castle, belonging to the duke of Northumberland, and also to empower the said
duke to make out exchange ; 25 Geo. III. The exchange was never carried into effect.
TYNEMOUTH TOWNSHIP. 275
bounds,' for the safe and sure keeping of the town and fort, and for burning
lights perpetually through the night; and all vessels coining into port were
to pay fourpence if foreign, and twopence if English, for the maintenance of
the towers, port and light. A few days later, on October 5th, the Trinity
House of Newcastle received the charter of its foundation.'
Three years elapsed before the building of the towers was taken in
hand. The low light was the first to be set up, a site being found for it
at the mouth of the Pow burn, on the left bank of that stream. Here, at
the point called ' the Narrows,' the Tyne is not more than a hundred and
twenty yards broad, but immediately to the east its two shores diverge, and,
as the towers were intended for defence as much as for illumination, there
was wisdom in choosing a point where a fort could, even more effectively
than Tynemouth castle, command the entrance to the river. The erection
of the low light and the purchase of a house at Shields cost £8 5s. gd.
The second tower, known as the high light, was built at the top of the bank
on the other side of the burn, and both were completed in 1540.*
A single tallow candle was kept burning in each tower from quarter
and half-quarter flood to half ebb, the lights being in the charge of an
attendant who received a yearly wage of twenty shillings.' In 1606 the
Trinity House had a new charter given to it containing a clause for the
raising of lightage to fourpence for English, and to a shilling for foreign
vessels.* This was again increased, by order of council, October 9th, 16 13,
to the sums of sixpence and is. 4d. respectively, upon the erection of two
new turrets on the summits of the lighthouses, each turret to contain two
candles." There was a constant e.xpense involved in keeping the lights in
repair, and in 1658/g the old stone towers appear to have been taken down
and rebuilt in timber." Combined forts and lighthouses were coming to be
out of date. It was advantageous to have moveable structures which might
also serve as sea-marks, and as the shoals in the river were frequently
shifting, the lights were as often moved from place to place. An advert-
isement was issued on October 26th, 1667, to masters and seamen trading to
' Letters and Papers, Henry \'lll. vol. xi. p. 376. Welford, Neuxastk and Gateshead, vol ii. pp. 151- 154.
- Ibid. pp. 197, 201. Trinity House MSS. Books of Payment.
' Welford, Nezi'castle and Gateshead, pp. 211, 251.
' Ibid. vol. iii. p. 174. Brand, Xenxastle, vol. ii. pp. 696-702.
' Brand, Newcastle, vol. ii. p. 326. Welford, Xewcastle and Gateshead, vol. iii. p. 199. The toll levied
on English vessels was increased by a subsequent charter (July 26th, 16S7) to eiyhtpence. Brand, vol. ii.
pp. 709-717- « Trinity House MSS. Books of Payments.
276
TYNEMOUTH BOROUGH.
Newcastle, informing them that the upper lighthouse had been removed
more northward, and now directed to the best channel into the port ; also
that there was a point of sand striking over from the Herd within the bar,
directly northward, almost to the place called the Black Middings, whereof
they were desired to take care.' Sands shifted so quickly that in the
following April it was again found necessary to move the house."
It was on a spit of sand close to
the low lighthouse that the marquis
of Newcastle erected, in 1642, one
of the two blockhouses that were to
guard ' the Narrows.' ' The capture
of this fort two years later by the
Scots has been described above, as
well as the building of Clifford's
fort near the same spot in 1672. The
low light was included within the
circuit of the new fort, of which
some walls remain, though its keep
has been demolished.'' Drawings
made of the fort soon after its
construction show the keep as a
three-storey building with a central
turret. It was fortified with thirty
culverins and ten demi-culverins, °
on the east and south sides, trained
so as to command the river, and was
placed under the command of the
governor of Tynemouth castle. At
the present time it is garrisoned by a company of volunteer submarine
engineers.
' Cat. State Papers, Domestic, 1667, p. 547. -' Trinity House MSS. Order Books.
' Its foundations were laid bare and washed away by a heavy sea in October, i8ii. There was also
'a fort raised between the Uplight and the town,' which was destroyed by Sir Thomas Riddell in
January-, 1643/4. Duke of Portlamfs MSS. Hist. MSS. Com. vol. i. p. 167. Compare Various Collections,
Hist. MSS. Com. vol. ii. p. 258.
' See above, pp. 187, 200, and Cat. State Papers Domestic, 1671-1672, pp. 399, 439.
'Brit. Mus. King's Library, xxxiii. 23 g, reproduced on p. 201 of this volume. These drawings are
by Sir Martin Beckmann, chief engineer of Charles II., who appears to have designed the work
See also plate in Brand, Newcastle, vol. ii. p. 36.
' Richardson, Reprints, vol. ii. Biog. Div.; Wayfarings of Ralph Thoreshy, 16S1, p. 16.
■f..
Corner Turret in Clifford's Kort.
TYNEMOUTH TOWNSHIP.
277
In 1686 the Trinity House of Newcastle petitioned for an increase of
the duties imposed on vessels entering the Tyne. Both lighthouses were
inefficiently lighted and required to be rebuilt. It was stated that the high
light was too low and had become ruinous, and that the low light had been
rendered inefficient by its want of elevation and in consequence of the
obstruction caused by the
garrison buildings lately
erected. ' The light at
Tinmouth,' according to
this petition, ' receives for
its mainteynance for every
English ship I2d., and for
every forraigner 3s., where-
as their are two lights at
Sheilds, which, although
butt candle-lights, yett each
light consists of two candles
in the pound ; each of which
lights is as chargeable to
mainteyne as that of Tin-
mouth, although it bee a
fire light ; and two men are
alwaies imployed to looke \
after those lights at Sheilds,
who, besides their candles,
fireing and house free, re-
ceive thirty pound per
annum sallery from the
Trinity House.'' New
lighthouses were erected ^-^^ y^^^ Low Light.
in 1727, and these are still
standing. Tallow candles were still in use, but three were now burnt
in each tower in place of two." Copper reflectors were introduced in
1736, and oil lamps were ordered to be substituted for candles at the
end of 1773.-' Lightage dues were remodelled in iSoi, and graduated
' Trinity House MSS. ■ Ibid. ' Mackenzie, Hist. ScucaslU; p. 684.
278 TYNEMOUTH BOROUGH.
according to the register tonnage of the vessel.' In their turn the light-
houses of 1727 were superseded by other lights built in 1806- 1808 under
powers granted to the Trinity House of Newcastle, by Act of Parliament.-
The old lighthouses were subsequently converted into almshouses, the
lantern-turret being removed from the old low light to make way for an
additional storey. Additional almshouses were built in 1887 adjoining to
the old high light in Beacon Street.'
NOTE ON ROMAN ARMOUR FOUND ON TYNEMOUTH BAR.
By F. Haverfield.
Two interesting pieces of Roman armour have been found in the Tyne : the boss and ornament
from a shield, and the cheek-piece from a hehnet. They are said to have been dredged up at or near
the bar across the mouth of the river, more than thirty years ago, and they appear to have been
discovered together, or at least in proximity. But the actual circumstances of the discovery have
not been recorded, nor did even the name of the finder transpire at the time. The shield-boss was
bought by Canon Greenwell and, after long forming part of his collection, was recently acquired by the
British Museum. The cheek-piece came into the hands of Dr. Stephens of North Shields, and is now in
the possession of his son, the Rev. Thomas Stephens of Horsley in Redesdale.
(1) The shield-boss is a metal plate, rectangular in shape, loj inches in width and ii| inches
in height, and slightly curved, so as to fit on to one of those oblong shields, curved to cover the
body, which may be seen figured, for example, on the column of Trajan. It occupied the centre of such
a shield, and was attached by eight nails, the holes for which are visible on its edges. The material
is bronze, and that part of the surface which forms the background of the ornamentation appears to have
been silvered (not tinned as is stated in the Lapidarium, p. 58). The silver is now blackened, and has
sometimes been taken erroneously for nidlo.' Probably the ornamentation was made by first silvering
the whole, then punching the outline in small holes in the silver, and finally scratching oft" the silver
within the outline.
The ornament consists of a raised central boss and eight small flat compartments round it. The
boss is adorned with the figure of an eagle with outspread wings, holding in its beak a twig with leaves.
The ^iiius of the tree is undislinguishable on the actual bronze, but analogies, such as the eagle on
the tombstone of Cn. Musius at Mainz, suggest that it is meant for oak, rather than for olive as Dr. Bruce
suggested. A similar shield-boss, found near Mainz, shows an eagle holding in its beak a wreath or
garland. On either side of the raised boss a flat compartment contains a legionary standard of the
ordinary type, having a point to fix it in the earth, five of the usual disks or phalerac, a cross-piece with
ribands dependent from it, and on the top an upright hand. Over one of the standards are dotted the
' The rates were fixed at 2s. for every loaden foreign ship, ild. for every British ship of less than
100 tons burden, is. id. for British ships above 100 and not exceeding 200 tons, is. 3d. for British ships
above 200 and not exceeding 300 tons, and is. 5d. for every British ship above 300 tons burden.
'An Act for extending and enlarging the powers, and increasing the rates and duties of the corporation
of the Trinity House of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.' 41 Geo. III. cap. Ixxxvi.
'' 'An Act to enable the master, pilots and seamen of the Trinity House of Newcastle-upon-Tyne 10
erect two new lighthouses at Nortli Shields, at or near the port of Newcastle, and to raise a fund for
defraying the charge thereof.' 45 George 111. cap. Ixv.
'■' For further information respecting the lighthouses at North Shields and Tynemouth see Hesleton,
Charitable Establishments for Merchant Seamen (manuscript in the library of the Literary and Philosophical
Society, Newcastle-upon-Tyne). Mr. Hesleton computes the number of ships that paid lightage to the
North Shields lights to be as follows : in 1539, 847 ; in 1650, 3,125 ; in 1700, 3,182 ; in 1750, 2,897 ; in
1780, 4,249 ; in 1800, 7,865 ; in 1818, 11,165. Lightage and other dues payable to the Trinity House of
Newcastle were abolislied in 1862 by the Harbour and Passing Tolls Act, 24 & 25 Vict. cap. 47.
' Information from the Anglo-Roman department, British Museum.
TYNEMOUTH TOWNSHIP. 279
letters LEG viu and over the other avg — tegio viii Augusta. It seems prob.ible— though it has not,
I think, been noticed — that the eagle and two signa form a group, exactly like the groups consisting
in each case of an eagle flanked by two signa, which occur regularly on Roman monuments and
coins.' Below the central boss is a flat compartment containing the figure of a bull, with a half-moon
and four stars above him. The bull is the emblem of the Legio V'lII Augusta, as Dr. Bruce first
suggested and as the coins of (iallienus and Carausius amply prove. Prof. A. von Domaszewski has
pointed out that it received this emblem from Julius Caesar, and for a definite reason. The deity of the
Julian house was Venus genetrix, and the part of the year over which she presided was that which fell
under the zodiacal sign of the bull. What the moon and stars denote I am not sure.
The five other compartments of this ornament contain male human figures. Along the top are
three. On the left is a nude dancer, or the like, with a scarf hanging behind him from his arms, and a
festoon or scarf held over his head somewhat as if it were being used for a skipping-rope. His attitude
is that of a man springing backwards in some game or dance. In the centre is a nude figure, also
springing backwards, with a similar scarf over the arms, but equipped with a helmet, a shield and
a spear. In the right-hand corner is a winged nude figure in a similar attitude of springing backwards,
again with a scarf over the arms and holding in his right hand what looks like a scythe or sickle.
At the bottom of the shield are two erect standing figures. That on the left is winged and undraped ; a
scarf hangs over the arms ; in the right hand is a bunch of fruits (?) and in the left a fruit basket
or bucket (?). That on the right is clad in a tunic and has a scarf over the arms and a scarf or festoon
over the head, somewhat like its diagonal vis-ii-vis.
It is not quite clear whether these five figures possess any special significance, or are merely
conventional decoration. The centre-piece at the top may be intended for Mars, though the scarf is
somewhat strange in this connection. The other four were explained by Dr. Bruce and Prof. Hiibner
as the four Seasons. According to this view Spring, in the top left-hand corner, is a youth vainly
pulling his clothes around him in windy March weather." Summer is an unclad husbandman with a
scythe. Autumn holds fruits and a basket, and Winter is wrapped in fur, while his scarf is blown about
by the wind. This explanation is in part, at least, correct. The figures identified as Summer, Autumn
and Winter agree with figures of those Seasons in other works of ancient art, and Spnng is not
unsuitable to the same idea. But figures resembling the four Seasons are so frequently used as a mere
decoration of corners, that we may wonder whether real meaning attaches to them in this case. No
connexion is apparent between a soldier's shield and the four Seasons. It would be fanciful to argue
that a soldier's business goes on in all months equally. Indeed, under the conditions of ancient warfare,
it tended not to do so. Probably, therefore, the decorator of the shield merely chose four corner-pieces
suitable to his design without thinking of their special significance. What he meant by the pieces of
drapery (?) which hang from the top of each compartment, like curtains in a room or stage, is not clear.
But it is never safe to press the details of conventional ornament.
The shield also bears two inscriptions, the letters of which are made with dots punched through the
silver covering of the surface. One of these, LEG vill avg, has been already noted. The other fills
the edge near the lower left-hand corner and reads O IVL .M\.^GN'I IVNI DVBIT.vii, that is, ccnturia lul{i)
Magiii, Iiini Diibitati. In other words, the shield belonged to lunius Dubitatus. a soldier in the centur)-
of lulius Magnus and the Eighth Legion Augusta. The insertion of an extra element in the M of
Magiii is, of course, a mere slip of the man who punched it on. Similar inscriptions, recording the
ownership of armour, are not uncommon among Roman remains.
The Eighth Legion was never quartered in Britain. But it contributed a detachment or vexillalio
for temporary service in the island on one occasion, and probably did so on another. It is possible,
though not certain, that some of its men were included in the army of the Claudian invasion in .VD. 43.
It is certain, as an inscription of Ferenlinum tells us, that vfxillatioiies, a thousand strong, of the
■ .A.. V. Domaszewski, Fahiun im rumischen Heen (Wien, 1885), p. 4", Figs. 20, 34 foil. ; Arch. Epigr.
Mitt. vol. XV. p. 192, Fig. 3.
-Dr. Bruce puts in a snake at his feet, 'to indicate the renewal of vital energy in the lower
creatures.' This is improbable as symbolism, and I cannot see the snake on the original.
Lindenschmidt seems not to believe in the four Seasons at all.
28o TYNEMOUTH BOROUGH.
Legions VII Gemina, VIII Augusta and XXII. Primigenia, joined in an cxpcdilh Brittinitica about the
time of Hadrian.' The date of the expedition is not given. Hut it would appear to have taken place
a few years after the death of Trajan, in .\.U. 117, and it may be reasonably identified with the visit of
Hadrian to Britain in or alrout .\.v. 122, and the erection of the Wall of Hadrian from Tync to Sohvay.
The vexillation was doubtless here only for a brief period, and it has therefore left very scanty traces of
itself. One such trace is our shield. It is not possible to connect this with the Claudian invasion. No
Roman soldier could have penetrated so far north as the Tyne in a.d. 43. On the other hand the Tyne
was the centre of Hadrian's activity. It may be added, as a straw indicating the wind of probabilities,
that the description of the owner of the shield Ijy his noinen and cof^iioiiicii, without h'lfi pnunonuii, suits
far better with the time of Hadrian than with that of Claudius.
It is not unlikely— though it cannot of course be proved — that the owner of the armour was wrecked
on the Tyne bar. We possess some little evidence that Roman troops sometimes sailed from the Rhine
to the Tyne instead of landing in south Britain and marching inland." Such a voyage had its special
perils, and the entrance to the Tyne may well count as one of them. It may be, as Canon Greenwell
has suggested, that the rest of the equipment of lunius Dubitatus is still lying in the mud of the river
bed near -Shields.
(2) The other piece of armour found in the river demands less comment. It is the left cheek-piece
of a helmet, 7j inches high by 4| inches wide, decorated, as such pieces often were, with a design made
by lines of small punched dots. This design shows one of the Dioscuri (Castor or Pollux 1, holding a
spear in his left hand and the bridle of his horse in his right. Below and above is some conventional
geometrical ornament. The other of the pair was doubtless figured on the right cheek-piece.'
CULLERCOATS TOWNSHIP.
The north-east corner of what was formerly Tynemouth township now
constitutes a separate poor-law township and forms the village of Culler-
coats. It lies by the seashore on the south side of the Marden burn,' is
bounded by John Street on the west, comprises an area of fifteen acres,
and in 1901 had a population of 1,743.^ Coal was worked here in 13 15,
when the workings were destroyed in a Scottish invasion.^ Though the
water-mill of Marden is not mentioned by name before the suppression of
the monastery, it was probably one of the six mills belonging to Tynemouth
in 1292," and may be identified with the water-mill existing in 1483, when
Richard III. gave ;£, 100 to Prior Boston as provision for its maintenance."
In 1538 Marden mill was in the occupation of Robert Dove and John
Dove, and formed part of the prior's demesne.'* Receivers' accounts show
' Corpus Inscr. Lat. x. 5,829, Dessau 2,727. " Arch. Ael. second series, vol. xxv. p. 143.
' The shield-boss has been published and figured in the Lapidarium Septentrionalc, p. 58, No. 106,
and in Lindenschmidl, /l//tv<yn(wif>- unscrer hcidnnchen Vorzeit (Mainz, 18S1), vol. iii. pt. iv. Plate III.
The cheek-piece was exhibited to the Newcastle Society of Antiquaries in li?,^ {Proceedings, second series,
vol. i. pp. 340-341), and has been kindly lent by its present owner for the purpose of this description.
' The course of the Marden burn can still be traced in the depression running up by Eskdale Terrace.
'Population statistics for the township are: 1801, 452; 1811, 454; 1821, 536; 1831, 542; 1841,
738; 1851,695; 1861,866; 1871, 1,398; 1881, 1,365; 1891, 1,620; 1901, 1,743.
' Tynemouth Chariulary, fol. 168. ' See above, page 251.
' See above, page 106. ' Gibson, Tynemouth, vol. i. jjp. 217-218.
PLATE XVI.
Boss OF Roman Shield found in the Tyne.
CULLERCOATS TOWNSHIP. 28 I
that it was being rebuilt in 1598- 1599. Trees were felled and squared in
Hedley wood, and carted thence to Blaydon staith, after long delay 'for
that the frehoulders of Proddoo refused to lede the same which fell for
ther partes to lede by the baylif s order and th'other tennants.' The timber
was wrecked in the river and had to be weighed up again. The cost of
building was £1"] 17s., besides £(i for a pair of millstones.*
Amongst the parcels of demesne of which the tenants of Tynemouth
had the herbage in 1539 were two closes called Nether Marden and Upper
Harden." A close containing two acres of pasture, called Culvercoats
close, is mentioned in a survey taken about 1600 as being part of the
demesne.' The dovecote from which the name was derived may have
stood near, and been built in connection with, the mill. Arnold's close
alias Marden close, also known as Culler Corners, was held in 1606 by
Ralph Delaval of Tynemouth. Ralph Delaval conveyed it in that year to
his brother Peter Delaval, whose son, John Delaval, sold it as freehold in
1 61 8 to Thomas Wrangham." The latter disposed of his estate in 1621
to Thomas Dove of Whitley.' John Dove of Whitley, son and heir of
Thomas Dove, joined the Society of Friends, and, with his brother William,
was imprisoned at Tynemouth castle for attending a quakers' meeting in
1 66 1. In the following year he enclosed a piece of land at the north end
of John Street (formerly called Back Lane) as a private burying-ground,
and interments took place here until 1818.' He became partner in 1676
with John Carr of Newcastle, John Rogers of Denton, Henry Hudson of
Newbiggin, and others, in Whitley colliery. By way of providing for the
exportation of coals won at Whitley a pier was erected at CuUercoats in
1677, and was constructed at the joint expense of Lady Elizabeth Percy
' Duke of Northumberland's MSS. That the mill was at the mouth of the burn, and not near
Marden farm, appears from Thomas Dove's lease in 1644 of land in Arnold's close (novv (.ullercoats)
boundered by Marden mill on the north and by the sea on the north-east, romhnson, Hisloncal .\oUs
on CuUercoats, etc., p. 5.
- See above, page 262.
' Duke of Northumberland's MSS. Early seventeenth century surN-ey of Tynemouthshire.
' Dr. Simpson's deeds, from Mr. H. A. .\damson's collection. Arnold's close is defined in the deed
of 1621 as 'late the inheritance of one Maddison and Follensby, situate and being within the tield
and liberty of Tynemouth, boundering on the town moor on the west, and upon a beck or river called
Marden on the north, and the sea banks towards the east, and upon a gutter or running swirl towards
the south-east.'
> Accounts of the Dove familv have been given by Mr. W. W. Tomlinson, CulUrcoats, pp. 4:13- and
39-40, and by Mr. Maberly Phill'ips, Arch. Ael. 2nd series, vol. xvi. pp. 2S1-294. For a pedigree ot
the family see Arch. Ael. 2nd series, vol. .xix. p. 125.
"With regard to the bur>ing-ground see Maberly:.Phillips, 'Forgotten Hur>ing Grounds of the
Society of Friends,' Arch. Act. 2nd series, vol. .\vi. pp. 275-2S1.
Vol. VIII. ■^^
282
TYNEMOUTH BOROUGH.
and of the lessees of Whitley colliery, the total cost being ^3,013. Upon
a petition presented in the same year by Lady Elizabeth Percy to the lord
treasurer, Cullercoats was made a member of the port of Newcastle, and,
like Seaton Sluice, was put under the charge of a custom-house officer
resident at Blyth. Salt pans were started at Cullercoats in connection with
Whitley colliery. Coal was also worked upon the estate.^
In 1682 Thomas Dove of Whitley, son and heir of John Dove above
mentioned, built himself a dwelling-house in Cullercoats, which is still
it-V'
,vly:
m
' "L,
'il<
lAl
y{x.^
'^M^j'
i^-'y.'^&:''!>
■/:^::
'■'■'ly- .
I'l '''i
M'
liJlM
im
I'-^S
Sparrow Hall.
Standing and is known as Sparrow hall. His son, John Dove of Wapping,
sold it in 1706 to his kinsman, Zephaniah Haddock." Eleanor Dove, only
daughter of John Dove the younger, by his wife, Mary, daughter of Enoch
Hudson of Brunton, inherited her father's property at Cullercoats, and, on
August 5th, 1742, married Curwen Huddleston, incumbent of St. Nicholas',
Whitehaven, and of Clifton in Westmorland.' Their representatives still
own property in Cullercoats.
' Tomlinson, Cullercoats, pp. 6-9. - Ibiit pp. g, 13.
' The Rev. Curwen Huddleston was second son of Wilfrid Huddleston of Hutton John, for whose
ancestry see Miscellanea Genealogica et Heraldica, new series, vol. ii. p. 40S.
CULLERCOATS TOWNSHIP.
283
In consequence of its growing population, Cullercoats was separated
from Tynemouth by an order made in quarter sessions on July 6th, 1690,
and created a distinct township.' The coal and salt trade flourished.
Besides two salt pans erected near the pier by Thomas Fearon of South
Shields in 1677, there were seventeen pans in the hands of John Rogers
and partners,- namely, seven on the north side of the bay and ten on the
south side, on the point then called 'Coning Garth,' above Smuggler's Cove.
In the year 1708 these pans produced 2,180 tons and yielded a clear profit
of £53^-^ Warburton estimated that the harbour, piers and salt works
^■'v^-;/.v«l&;;'«*''^:^^^
■ -' 'V(
Cullercoats Harbour.
would bring in ;^i,700 per annum. ^ This commercial prosperity did not,
however, last for long. About the year 17 10 the outworks of the pier were
carried away by a heavy sea. Whitley colliery ceased working in 1724,
and Cullercoats colliery was laid in on June 4th of the preceding year.
The salt trade did not survive the loss of the local supply of ' pan ' coal
on which it was dependent. In 1724 only 756 tons of salt were cleared
' ' Ordered that whereas the towne of CuUercoates is growne numerous and populous, and but
about a mile distance from Tynemouth, and many houses new built there, it is ordered that it be made a
distinct constabulary of itselfe ; that William Richardson be svvorne petty constable there. -And it is
further ordered that Mr. John Mills, high constable, doe order and settle their proportions of assessments
and rates of Cullercoats and Tynemouth, and what in particular shall be paid by Tynmouth and what
by CuUercoates. St:ssioiis Order Books, vol. ii.
■ John Rogers, son of John Rogers the elder, by will dated September 20th, 1711, devised to his
mother, Elizabeth Rogers, for life, with other properties, his collieries and salt pans at Cullercoats,
Monkseaton, Whitley, and Hartley, with remainder to Colonel Nathaniel Blakiston. .An account of the
Rogers family has been given by Mr. W. W. Tomlinson, Denton Hall and its Associations.
' Purvis papers in the custody of Messrs. Griffith.
' Warburton, Magna Britannia ; Duke of Northumberland's MSS.
284 TYNEMOUTH BOROUGH.
coastwise, and 668 tons in the following year. In 1726 the export trade
ceased altogether, six of the pans being sold to Richard Ridley and Com-
pany for ;^456 and transferred to Blyth.'
After salt had ceased to be manufactured at Cullercoats, the village
developed into a fishing station, and was described in 1749 as 'the best
fish-market in the north of England.'^ The pier, after long lying in ruins,
was rebuilt in 1848. Herring fishing has now left the village, but white
fishing is carried on during the winter, and many cobles are employed for
catching salmon during the summer months.
NORTH SHIELDS TOWNSHIP.
North Shields township is a narrow strip of land along the northern
bank of the Tyne. Its boundary commences about half a mile up the
river from Tynemouth, to the south of the bridge crossing the Pow burn
at the Low Lights, and proceeds along the north side of the Low Light
Stairs and along what was called in the eighteenth centurv ' Shields Bank
Head ' to a point opposite the foot of Stephenson Street. It then
intersects some of the houses on the south side of Tyne Street and crosses
the Library Flags at the foot of Howard Street, whence it proceeds in a
north-westerly direction to the Magnesia Bank ; thence northward to
Union Street and westward to the Church Stairs and Causey Bank. There
it traverses Wooden Bridge Bank and so goes along the Ropery Banks
(crossing the bridge over the Borough Road) as far as Collingwood Street.
Running up and across that street it reaches Mount Pleasant, and, crossing
Burdon Main Row, continues along the north side of North Street, Milburn
Place, to the west end of the street. At that point it turns south-west
by Dock (or West) Street, and intersects the Ballast Hill on the south
side, to the west of Smith's Dock, whence it goes in a southerly direction
to the river Tyne. Its area is 103 acres, but this includes seventy acres of
water, the southern boundary being taken to be a line equidistant from
the Northumberland and Durham shores of the Tyne.
'All over the wastes (as they call them),' says Camden, writing of the
condition of the south-west of the countv in Elizabeth's time, 'as well as
' Tomlinson, Cullci-coats, pp. 13-16. ■ Ibid. p. 17, citing Newcastle Journal, October 7th, 1749.
NORTH SHIELDS TOWNSHIP. 285
in Gillesland, you would think you see the ancient Noinades ; a martial sort
of people that from April to August lie in little hutts (which they call
shcals and shea lings) here and there among their several flocks." As far
back as the seventh century of the Christian era there were to be found in
Northumberland these thatched and turf-built huts, tenanted by shepherds
during the summer months and left deserted in the winter time.^
Into the Tyne on the north side, at the point where the banks begin
to trend away north and south and the river finds a broader channel, there
flows a little stream called the Pow burn, which now finds a vent through
a conduit into the river, but was once an important tributary, called ' Pwl,'
the stream or water. Here there were three fishers' huts or shiels.^ At
the end of the thirteenth century no one knew how long they had stood
there. The fishermen of Tynemouth had always made use of them and put
out and in at this point. There was a wharf here. In September, 18 19,
in digging to make gas tanks at the Low Lights in the Pow dean, the
workmen came, at a distance of twelve feet six inches from the surface,
on a framing of large oaken beams, as black as ebony, pinned together
with wooden trenails, the whole forming a pier to which vessels drawing
nine or ten feet of water had come. Large oak trees were also found
embedded in the mud, hollowed out as if to convey water. ^
In or about the year 1225 Prior Germanus began to build at the Sheels,
or, as the name is now written. Shields. The land was the prior's demesne
and was then within the township of Tynemouth. A permanent population
of fishermen was settled here, who, in return for the privilege of having
boats of their own, were bound to provide fish for the monastery. Seven
houses were built between the Pow burn and a 'sikket' to the west, in
which one may recognize the now dry Dogger letch. Beyond the sikket
there were twenty more houses. All were built close down to the shore,
and a few must have been raised on piles, for they extended six to sixteen
feet within high-water mark. Every house had a quay attached. Some
had two quavs. Mills were built there, and the place developed into a
' Gough, Camden, ed. 1772, p. 1079- ' Bede, Vita Cuthbcrti, cap. 5. See also vol. iv. of this
work, p. 30.
" 'To many of the fisheries on the Tweed is attached a building called a shid or shuUt, in which the
fishermen at certain seasons keep their nets, etc., and use as a dwellnig, Arch. Ad. Ist series, vol. w.
P- 303-
'Newcastle Coiirant, October 2nd, 1819. Gentleman's Magazine, vol. I.\x.xix. pt. n. pp. 341-342.
The pavement of an ancient roadway was discovered near the same place in September, ii>4«>, at tne
depth of si.\ feet below the surface. Latimer, Local Recoids, p. 220.
286 TYNEMOUTH BOROUGH.
small port. Vessels put in and were laden with coal at the pier at the
Pow burn mouth. Dressed hides were sent out from a tannery at Preston.
An import trade of fish, wine and wool came into existence. The number
of merchantmen who used the port caused a retail trade to be started for
supplying their needs.
The new settlement aroused the jealousy of the merchants of New-
castle. About the year 1267, a large number of Newcastle burgesses, led
by their mayor, Nicholas Scot, armed themselves and descended on the
village. Thev beat and maltreated the monks and servants of the priory on
whom they could lay their hands ; they set fire to the mills and houses,
and carried off a vessel loaded with coal which they found lying there. The
affair was notorious. To preserve the dignity of the order, the abbot of
Waltham, as conservator of the privileges of Saint Alban's, wrote insisting
that satisfaction should be made, or, failing satisfaction, that these 'Satan's
satellites of Newcastle-upon-Tyne' should appear before him.' At the
assizes of 1269 the prior brought a writ against 149 persons for the recovery
of damages estimated at ^300, but, as he did not appear and so suffered
the case to drop, parties must already have come to an arrangement." New
houses were built on the east of the Pow burn where the Low Light and
Clifford's fort now stand; thirty-two had been erected before 1280 and
si.xteen more in the course of the next ten years. In 1292 a hundred houses
existed, at Shields.
The growth of the mercantile port and the loss of royal tolls consequent
upon the decrease of Newcastle trade was brought to the notice of the
king in 1275.' Fifteen years, however, were suffered to elapse before any
' Abbas sancte crucis de Waltham, conservator privilegiorum monasterii sancti Albani et ejusdem
cellarum, etc., discrete viro magistro Roberto de Dryfteld, rectori ecclesie de Poiiteland et vicario de Neu-
burn, salutem in domino, etc. Quoniam Sathane satellites de Novo Castro super Tynani, prout in quadam
ccdula huic litterc appensa quorundam nomina duximus nominanda, in quosdam monachos de Tynem'
et scrvientes eorundem, Uei timore postposito, manus violentas injecerunt, eosdem verberando aliasque
male tractando, et domos eorundem infra libertatem sancti Oswyni combusserunt, necnon et plura bona
eorundem maliciose asportaverunt, in ma.vimum dicti monasterii prejudicium et libertatis ecclesiastice
conceptuni ac scandalum plurimorum, quod ita manifestum est in partibus Northumbriae quod nulla
tergiversacione potest celari ; vobis in virtute obediencie firmiter injungendo mandamus sub pena
canonice districlionis quatinus dictos malefactores moneatis et efficaciter inducatis quod sine mora de
prefata yiolencia injiiriis et spoliacionibus uno et dampnis actenus illatis tam publiciter et notorie dictis
monachis plenarie satisfaciant. Alioquin si monuitis vestris, quod absit, parere neglexerint, eosdem
omnes et singulos, prout nomina eorundem in cedula du.xerimus redigenda, peremptorie citatis quod
coinpareant coram nobis vel commissariis nostris in conventuali ecclesia nostra de Waltham pro.ximo die
juridico post festum s. Jacobi Apostoli, abbati de sancto Albano et priori suo de Tynem' et ejusdem loci
conventui super sibi obiciendis responsuros, etc. Datum apud Waltham. Tyncmouth Chartulary, fol. 1 16 b.
' Northumberland Assize Rolls, Surt. See. No. 88, p. 162.
' Roiuli Hundredoruiii, Record Commission, vol. ii. p. 18.
NORTH SHIELDS TOWNSHIP. 287
Steps were taken. In 1290 the prior of Tynemouth was summoned to
appear in parliament to answer the king and the burgesses of Newcastle.
The charges against the prior were that he had made a new town at Shields
and had fishers, bakers, and brewers living there, from whom he received
an annual rent of thirty-six marks and upwards, and took ' furnage ' and
' forstall ' which were rightfully the king's, with a consequent loss to the
royal treasury of thirty pounds yearly ; that he took tolls and prises in
kind of the wine, herring, and haddock brought into port, which prises
ought to be taken at Newcastle by the king's oflScers ; that he had bakers
at Tynemouth, who sold bread at Shields to the sailors and others who
put in there, whereas these ought to have gone to Newcastle to buv their
victuals ; and that sailors were allowed to put in to the new port for the
purpose of selling their merchandise and cargoes, with the result that the
market dues went to the prior instead of to the king. The prior, while
denying that he had any market or bakery at Shields, admitted the sub-
stantial truth of the other statements, but proceeded to justify them bv the
practice of his predecessors and the charter granted to the monasters' bv
Richard I. ; this charter being antecedent to the granting of similar and
conflicting privileges to the burgesses of Newcastle by King John. In
dealing with the landing and selling of fish without payment of toll, he
drew a distinction between strangers, who did, or at least ought to, pav
toll and custom to the king for fish sold or taken on board,' and the fishers
of his own demesne. These latter were employed for provisioning the
monastery ; thev, therefore, were privileged by Stephen's charter, which
allowed the monks to buy freely, that is, free from the payment of any
custom, whatever was necessary for the maintenance of their house. He
took exception to the form of the proceedings, which was a series of
criminal charges ; the subject-matter in dispute was, according to him, his
free tenement, for which he was not bound to make answer except under
the king's writ.
This ground of defence was unfortunate. The king's attorney replied
that the prior's demesne did not extend to the middle of the stream as he
claimed, but only to high-water mark, and that, consequently, some of the
houses in Shields were on the king's land. It was also pointed out that
' On October nth, 1485, the king granted for life to Edward Vavasour the office of 'prayser; offish
at Newbiggin and Tynemouth. ^taterials illustrative of the Reign of Henry Vll. Rolls Series, vol. i. p. S2.
288 TYNEMOUTH BOROUGH.
the prior had himself admitted the port of Tyne to be the king's, and that,
therefore, he could have no liberties therein. The prior's defence with
regard to his own fishermen was inconclusive, since sixteen large fishing
boats could not be supposed to be required for the provision of as many
monks with fish. His real object was trade, and not simply to provide for
home consumption. An account was given by the prosecution of how
vessels, large and small, a hundred or even two hundred at a time would
come in to Shields ; how the prior and his men came down to the port with
horses and mules and made their purchases, and then the ships and boats
went on their way to Newcastle, half empty, or else with a cargo made up
from the remainders of several vessels which had disposed of the greater
part of their freight. The victualling trade at Shields was said to be so
thriving that many bakers and brewers had left Newcastle and settled there
and at Tynemouth, to the damage both of the king and of Newcastle.
A judgment was delivered in the king's favour. Owners of vessels
were forbidden in future to unload or to take in cargoes at Shields, or to
sell their merchandise in that town. No provisions were to be sold there
to merchantmen. All wharves which extended below high-water mark
were ordered to be removed. So ended the first attempt made by Tyne-
mouth priory to establish a trading community on the Tyne.'
Shields continued to exist as a small township. The subsidy roll of
1296 gives the names of its principal inhabitants:'
Shields Subsidy Roll, 1296.
£ s. d. s. d.
Siimma bonnium Roljerti Suynuynd
0
15
0
unde rcgi
1
4l
Willelmi filii Ricaidi
I
10
0
)>
2
H
i>
Robert! Gray
I
13
4
»»
3
oh
)»
Rogeri Gray
0
14
0
i»
1
3i
»»
Johannis filii Patricii
I
0
0
J)
1
9i'
T)
Petri cie Hautliorn
I
10
0
»)
2
8i
i)
Roljerti Gait
I
0
0
1
9l
)»
Hatkorn
I
0
0
)»
I
9l
i»
Willelmi Suynewynd ...
2
0
0
It
3
7l
J'
Roberti filii Matildis ...
2
6
8
11
4
3
,,
Radulphi filii Matildis
I
0
0
n
1
9l
»)
Thome filii Rogeri
I
6
8
M
1
5
>»
Henrici filii Elie
2
6
0
»)
4
2l
.Summa hujus ville, ^iS is. 8d. ; unde domino rcgi, £1 12s. loid.
' The proceedings are printed in Kotiili I'aiiiamentdrii, vol. i. p. 26, and lirand, NcK'castlc, vol. ii.
pp. 557 d scq.
■ Lay Subsidy Roll, 1 j"^, 24 Edw. I.
NORTH SHIELDS TOWNSHIP. 289
Shields began to revive in the hitter part of the fourteenth century.
The town had its own bailiffs in 1364.' In 1376, the priory was receiving
from the township an annual rent of £() 7s. 6d.- It began to be called
North Shields to distinguish it from the prior of Durham's town on the
other side of the river. Its second development dates from about 1390.
Some four acres of land below high-water mark were reclaimed and
covered with two hundred houses — inns and stables, wine taverns, butchers'
stalls, shambles, shops, ' herynghowses ' and ' fishe-howses.' A new market
was started. An assize of bread and wine and ale was kept. The prior
made himself thirteen bake-houses, where a thousand quarters of corn
were yearly baked into bread ; and brew-houses, at which he found a
vent, every year, for two thousand quarters of his barley-malt. He claimed
and took wreck of the sea, flotsam and jetsam, and deodands found upon
the water. Twenty years later, as trade increased, he commenced build-
ing staiths along the shore, where ships could lie to and load at all
stages of the tide.^
The merchants of Newcastle were ever ready to defend their extensive
privileges. In 1401, a commission was appointed to enquire into the
report that divers men of Northumberland and Durham had loaded and
unloaded vessels with merchandise on either side of the river Tyne ;
had taken prises, toll, custom, and wreck of the sea ; and had bought
and sold in places unaccustomed in times past, built on either side ot the
river within ' flood-mark,' all within the liberty and port of Newcastle.^
In 141 7, complaints were exhibited against the prior of Tynemouth for
making new weirs in the river.^
Nevertheless the monks, undeterred, went on with their commercial
undertakings. About the year 1433 they bought a vessel of their own, and
then another, and briskly carried on an export trade in fish and salt and
coal. They were fishmongers on a large scale, salting and smoking herring,
dealing in cod and ling caught in the seas about the Shetlands, and in
salmon taken close at hand in the three long weirs or 'salmon-yares ' that
stretched across the Tyne towards Jarrow, and almost barred the way to
Newcastle." By letters patent, dated July loth, 1446, Henry VI. granted
' Rymer, Foedera, Record Commission, vol. iii. pars 2, p. 728.
- Tynemouth Chartidary, fol. 51b. ' Brand, Newcastle, vol. ii. pp. 569-574.
* Crt/. Put. Rolls, 1399-1401, p. 461.
' Brand, Nemastle, vol. ii. p. 15, note, citing Murray MS. ' Ibiti. pp. 569-574-
Vol. \'II1. 37
290
TYNEMOUTH BOROUGH.
to Prior Langton tlie custom and toll received for grain, salt, salt-iish,
leather, merchandise, and coal loaded ami unloaded by him and his tenants
within the port of Tyne, as well as all Hnes and amercements of tenants
and farmers within the lordship of Tynemouth and at Shields for bread
baked, ale brewed, and victuals sold to mariners within the liberty and
jurisdiction of the town of Newcastle.' This measure called forth an angry
protest from Newcastle. An inquisition was held on January 4th following
to enquire into encroachments made on the privileges of the municipality,
and provides an interesting record of the state of trade at Shields. The
jurors computed that fourteen staiths had been erected between 1386 and
1429, varying in size from twenty by fifteen to si.xty by forty feet, having
most of them 'mussel-scalps'- annexed to them, and in some cases, curing-
houses and stables. There were twenty cobles in the towm and seven
larger craft owned by four shipowners.' A staith, coble and baking-house
appear to have been owned by each of the principal tenants, amongst whom
is one with the Teutonic name of Herman Duchman.^
Prior Langton was allowed to retain the privileges granted to him for
some years longer. They were recalled under an Act of resumption passed
in 1450.' Twelve years later, Edward IV. conferred upon the priory the
right of baking and brewing at Shields, and of selling victuals to mariners
who put in at that port. By the same charter the prior and convent were
permitted to import victuals for their own use and the preservation of their
castle, free of all toll and unmolested by the Newcastle merchants, as
well as to export, within the port of Tyne, coal, salt, and other merchandise,
reserving to the king his customs upon wool, leather and hides."
The strife with Newcastle increased in bitterness. About the year
1 5 10, the mayor, aldermen and commonalty of Newcastle addressed a
petition to the king, stating that Prior Stonewell ' hath subtilly and
forcibly accroched to hym great quantyte of grounde within the porta
and haven, and theruppon hathe rered and made diverse and many wharffes,
' Foreign Accounts, 33 Henry VI. m. II.
■'Unani statham longitudinis 60 pedum et latitudinis 40 pedum, et desuper statham illam unam
domum vocatam herynghowse, unum stabulum equinum, et unam scalpam pro musculis, jam in tenura
Ricardi Gaddon.' Brand, ibid. p. 572.
"The inquisition distinguishes between the cymba (coble) and the larger navis, which may be
identified with the 'crare' or 'crayer' employed in deep-sea fishing.
* Brand, he. cit.
» Foreign Accounts, quoted above. Rotuli Pnrlinmcntarii, vol. v. pp. 183-199. " See page 104.
NORTH SHIELDS TOWNSHIP. 29 1
stathes and keyes, and uppon them made many howsses, salt-pannes,
milnes, and other buyldynges ; and them so made ryottoiisly with great
compeny forcibly kepeth and useth to his propre use. The said ungraciouse
priour,' they continue, ' dayly chargeth and dischargeth shippes and
other vesselse at Sbelez and Tynemovvthe with diverse merchandyses, and
ther maketh oon new porte and haven. Also the seyd priour dayly inaketh
fysch-garthes and weeres for takyng of salmons in the seid haven between
the seid town of Newcastell and the see, and yerly remeved them from
place to place att his pleasure.' Acts of violence took place on both sides.
Fyve hundreth persons and above, riottously and forcibly armed in hernays as thowgh it hadd ben
in tyme of werre, with speres, gleyves, bowes and arrowes, by the exhortacion, comaundement, and labour
of the seid priour, assembled togyther att Tynemowthe aforeseid ; and with them in compeny great
nombre of th'enhabitauntes of Tyndale and Reddesdale, to whom, as is supposed and openly spokyn
in the contrees there, the seid ryott and unlawfull assemble was comytted. The seid priour gave wages
vj' by the day to th'entent that the seid mysdemeaned persons by his comaundement shuld have
murdred the meyer, aldermen, and other th'enhabitauntes of your seid town, and to have takyn, drowned,
and distroyed ther shippes, beyng in the porte of the same. And so they hadd drowned the best
shipp belongyng to the seid town, if they hadd nott well defended and it rescowed ; and so in hemays,
riottously ageyn your lawes and peas assembled, dayly roode abowt your seid town of Newcastell
by the space of vj dayes, and tooke many of th'enhabitauntes of the same town, and them imprisoned
att Tynemouth ; and, as is opynly seid by suche as wer of the seid rioltouse compenye, the seid
priour said, thowgh they kylled oon hundreth of the caytyffes dwellyng in Newcastell, he shuld be
ther warraunt Also th'enhabitauntes of your seid town, durynge the tyme of the seid
unlawfull and riottous assemble, durst nott for drede of ther lyves goo to ther shippes att Sheeles or
otherwise abowt ther besynesses, butt kept them close within the walles of your seid town, as thowgh
they hadd ben asseged with enemyes. And of suretie, most graciouse sovereign lorde, suche a great
gadderyng and unlawfull assemble of people so long conlynewed together in tyme of peas hath nott ben
seen in thoose parties of many yeres past, nor to so perillouse example of other offendours in tyme
comyng.'
Finally the questions in dispute were referred to arbitrators, who,
upon March 23rd, 151 1/2, gave their decision:
23rd March, 3 Hen. Slh. A copy of an awaid of the bishops of Norwich and Coventry and Sergeant
Elliott between the prior and convent of Tynmouth and major of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, concerning
diverse libertys and franchises, etc., in the river of Tyne and in the town of Tinemouth and North Shields.
Firste, we awarde ordeyne and deame, that the saide maior, sheref and commonalty, sufTre the saide
prioure and convente to have thaire werres or yares standinge in the porte of the watere of Tyne as
longe as oder werres standinge in the same porte belwene the saide townes of Newcastle and
Tynemouthe, in the same side of the saide porte be suffrede to stande.
Item, we awarde that the saide maior, etc., suffre the saide prioure and convente ihaire ser\aunts in
eveoe parte of the saide porte [to buy] even-thing for his owne use or howseholde withoute license of
the saide maior, etc., and withoute anye duetie or custume therfore to be paied to the saide maiour,
etc., by the saide priour or convente or by anye of thaym or by the sellers therof to thayme for the same.
' Slur Chamber Proceedings, Henry Nil I. Bundle 20, No. 2.
2g2 TYNEMOUTH BOROUGH.
Ilem, we awaidc that the saide maior, etc., suffie the saide priomc, etc., to charge and discharge
within the saide porte all suche thing as they bye too thaire own or sell of thaire owne marchaundiss
in any place within this realnic of F,ngland, without anything paying to the saide maior, etc.
Item, we awarde th.it the saide maior, etc., sutifre the saide jirioiire, etc., to passe with thaire shippcs
and boots to any parte of this realnic of England, Wales and Ireland, oiitc of ihc saide haven with thaire
owne sake, fishe, heringe and oder marchandisses of thaire owne, withoute bringinge it to the saide towne
of Newcastle, and withoute payinge anye tolls or custumes for it to the saide niaiourc, etc., and that the
prioure nor his successors colloure' any marchands or other thinge of any oder personne to passe
withoute payinge of thaire toll and custume due to the saide maior, etc.
Item, we awarde that the saide maior, etc., sufTre the commcn bakehowscs and brewehowses now
being in ']"ynemoiithe and Noithe .Shelcs to be occupiede in like forme as tbeye have bene xx ycre nexte
before the date nowe, and that non other furnage be takyn of the said bakehowses than have bene takyn
bye the said tyme, and that the prioure and convente have the correxion of the assise of brede and alle
of the same.
Item, we awarde that at such tymc after this, whan any vessaile cumylhe into the saide porte with
whete or other vitaille in tyme of starving, as when a busshell of whete is at the price of xx'' or more,
that than the saide prioure shal bye thcrof but a reasonable quantitie for the relefe of his saide
monasteiye, levinge to the saide maire and communaltie and to the inhabilaunts of the conlreye there
aboute a reasonable parte thereof to the relefe of thayine, and than the saide prioure to certifie the saide
maior what quantitie the saide prioure have boughte therof.
(Clause to the effect that the two parties shall enter into mutual obligations.) "
Too much was conceded to Tyneniouth monastery to content the
burgesses of Newcastle. They aimed at having a legal recognition of
their exclusive right to trade in the port of the Tyne. This, with an
important exception, they obtained by the insertion of the following
clause into 'An Acte concerning Newcastell-upon-Tine, and the porte
and haven therunto belonging,'' passed by the parliament of 1530:
In consideracion whereof it may please your highnesse of your moste abundaunt grace, with the
assent of your lordes spirituall and teitiporall, and the commons in this present parliament assembled,
and by the auctoritie of the same, to enacte, ordeine, and establisshe, that from hensefoorth any marchant
or marchantes, or any other person or persons, shall not ship, lode, or unlode, charge or discharge any
maner of goodes, wares, or marchandises to be solde here within this your realme or elswhere, in, to, or
from any ship or shippes, or other vessels, in or at any place or places within the said port, river and
haven, betwene the said place called the Sparhauke,' and the said place called Hedwinstremes, but
onely at the said towne of Newcastell, and no where els, upon peine of forfaiture of all suche
goodes, wares, and marchaundises to the king, our said soveraigne lorde, and to his heires, kinges
of England Provided alway that this act be not prejudicial or hurteful to any person or
' To colour strangers' goods = to enter a foreign merchant's goods at the custom-house under a
a freeman's name, for the purpose of evading additional duties. Murray, New English Dictionary,
vol. ii. p. 638.
-' Duke of Northumberland's MSS.
■' 21 Henry \'I1I. cap i8. Stiitiites of the Realm, vol. iii. pp. 302-303.
' The Sparhawk or Sparrowhawk has, like Tynemouth bar, disappeared before the improveinents
of the Tyne Commissioners. lirand describes it as a sand, at a depth of four feet below the surface
of the sea at low tide, lying about a quarter of a mile from the Spanish battery. It was nearly of the
shape of a crescent, of which one point was directed towards Prior's Haven, and the other towards the
bar. Newcastle, vol. ii. p. 16, note (;«)•
NORTH SHIELDS TOWNSHIP. 293
peisons, beinge the kinges subjectes, for bicng, shipping, lodinge or unloding of any salte or fishe
within the said river and porta, or to any of them, or any other person or persons, repayring to the
saide porte with shippes and marchandises, for seUing or bieng of any wares or marchandises,
nedefull for the vitellyng and amending of their sayde shippes, at the time of their there being
within the saide porte : this acte or any thing comprised in the same noihwithstandynge.
By this Act the fishing and victualling trades and manufacture of salt
received special protection. On the other hand the burgesses of Newcastle
won their object in checking the further commercial development of the
twin towns of North and South Shields ; for the blow was aimed at the
prior of Durham as much as against the prior of Tynemoiith, and the feuds
of the one monastery with Newcastle had their counterpart in the history
of the other. For more than two centuries industry in the two towns of
Shields was confined within the narrow limits imposed by the Act of 1530.
At the dissolution the total rental of North Shields was £\^ 3s. 8d.'
It contained only ' small fisher cotages, and befor the suppressione never
in copye, but in the prior's hande in demeisne.' In a letter written to
Henry, ninth earl of Northumberland, Robert Helme has described the
tenure by which they were held.
Consider the Sheilds to the prior and convent of Tinemoulh was deniayne, and no howses iher but
such as they buylded and upheld before the dissolucion of the priory of ther onely proper coasts
and charges ; and so from tyme to tyme did keape the same in good and sufficient reparacions, and
never no copy used ther of any house, but leased by convent seale ; and then the rent was, or ought
to have bene, xvij" x' by year. . . . Wherupon your lordship's late father had forth of the exchequer a
comission to him and others to lett by lease or copy at their pleasors ; and by vertue therof your
lordship's sayd late father lett copyes by court rool, which were the first copyes that ever were in the
Shields."
From that time the rents rapidly diminished. Houses fell into utter
ruin and decay, and new tenants could hardly be found. A commission,
appointed to inquire into the causes of this decline, gave a sketch in
its report, January 7th, 1564/5, of the condition of the town and the
best course that might be taken in dealing with the tenants :
The said towne of Northe Sheales bene lille howses builded under the watter banke, and have nether
groundes belonginge unto them nor yet anye row-me on the backsids to make onyegardines Or orchardes,
but onlye howses for fishermen, and on the fore partes litle kyes and shores maid before everye howse
for ther cobles and ther geare to ly at and to drye ther fishe and geare upon, so that, yf it be not for
suche poore fishermen, the nomber wherof is nowe muche decayed and like rather to minishe then
increase, by reason the fishe is nothinge so plentifull in that costc as it hathe bene, ther will not howse
ther be nihe biled oneless it shalbe one or two that may be maintened for vittillinge howses, and so the
hole rentes shalbe without some regardes therto had for th'amendment therof in perrill to decaye in
shorte processe of tyme.
' Gibson, Tyiu-mouth, vol. i. p. 223. ' Uuke of Northumberland's iMSS.
294 TYNEMOUTH BOROUGH.
Morover the howses beinge builde, they wer ahvaies both Ijuilded and repaired by tlie monastery
and at ther chearges ; therfor the rentes beinge the greater, the removinge of the tenants from the same
(which happenethe muche amongste fishermen ther not to inhabite longe in one place), was no decaye of
the rente ; and nowe, because the chearge of the reparacions are not allowede unto them, yt is the cause
of the decaye ; and yf the yearelye reparacions shalbe allowed, it wilbe for the most parte of yeares
amouente to more, or at enye tyme as muche as the rentes.
For thes causes it was thought beste that the said howses or as manye could so be lett to suche
fishermen as are given to inhabite ther, and for a reasonable rente much lesse then before, so that the
tennants should be chargeable with the buildinges and reparacions and that they shoulde have by copye
or otherwise assurance therof for the said rents to them and to ther heires for ever, which wilbe nieanes
that these rentes shall to contenewe, and the howses better repaired and builded, and the meane to trayne
fishermen to inhabite ther, which of necessitye must be done in that sorte or ells the rente shall not
without allowance of yearlye reparacions stand and contyenewe.'
The recoiiimendations of the commission were adopted. Tenements
were henceforward let by copy of court roll, and these grants, it is said, 'were
the first copyes that ever were in the Sheilds.'" They continued to be
granted for forty years, until the year 1604, when vShields was visited by
plague. Several houses then fell vacant. They were seized by the lord's
officers for want of heirs male, but the copyholders advanced a rival claim,
and a letter written by George Whitehead to the ninth earl of Northumber-
land, upon March 28th, 1604, gives the first tidings of the coming struggle:
Here is diverse deade in .Sheales in the plague, and by that meanes soome houses ar fallen into
your lordship's handes for want of heyres male, according to the auncient custome of the mannor, which
houses I have seized for your lordship's use ; notwithestanding Peter Delavall and his brother Raphe
Uelavall ar buyinge women's tytles already to defraude your lordship of your right."
'Of layte,' wrote William Wycliffe in a later letter, 'the tenants,
refusing the auntient custome of all other the tenements within the shire, will
have a custome of ther own making, and women to be heires, which in
common honor is absurd, beside custom, unles they will mayntayne
navigacion by soome, which was the cheife ground of establishing the
Sheels for a fishe towne.''' The custom to which the tenants of Shields
laid claim, namely, the right of the daughter to succeed to her father's copy,
was one subsequently recognised for the whole manor, but does not appear
to have accorded with the ancient custom of husbandry. There was pre-
cedent, however, for either contention. 'Many examples,' Robert Helme
informed the earl, 'that women have therby enjoyed the custom as well as
men, I could sett downe ; and even now of late dayes, in your lordship's
tyme, women have bene found to have the custom and have so enjoyed yt.''*
' Duke of Northumberland's MSS. " IbiJ. ' Ibid. ' Ibid. ' Ibid.
NORTH SHIELDS TOWNSHIP. 295
On the other hand it was argued that copies granted to women as heirs
were obtained by bribery, and could not invalidate the other custom.
George Whitehead put forward this view in a letter to the earl :
It may be in ther petitione to your lordship they will alledge that your lordship hayth sigened with
your hand sundrye copyes and receaved fynes for women's titles, and therfor not fit your lordship
should nowe make questione for answere. The fault was the cornipt dealinge of your officers, and never
till nowe made knowen to your lordsliip, soe as yowre lordship coulde not befor this tynie see thosse
abuses reformed, for it is most strandge that ther should be in one manner two severall customes, and all
thos copyes granted by vertue of the commissione rune in thes very wordes, secundum consuetudinem
manerii, which custome haythe for thre hundred yeares continewed onely to heires male.'
The case was brought before the Council of the North sitting at York.
' Ralph Delavall of Sheels thought lately,' Whitehead wrote on Januan,'
5th, 1606/7, 'to have had a judiciall hearing at York for certayne houses in
Sheels, wherof I did prevent him, and sent Robert Helme and Roger
Morton to Yorke as witnesses, wher our cause was proved so just as we had
possessions and charges awarded against the plaintiffe.'' Whitehead felt
naturally piqued at the support given by Ralph Delaval and his brother
Peter Delaval to 'these broken titles.' 'The suyte at Yorke,' he told the
earl, ' coste vour lordship x'' at the least, and for myself I had two horses
that cost me xviij'' eyther poysoned or bewiched to deathe in followinge that
suyte for thesse tytles they have set afoote, for which they give the poore
people, as I am enformed, nothinge but small potts of ale and goose pyes,
Ralph Delavall beinge an alehouse keper without anv other trade to live.'^
His success at York encouraged Whitehead to attack the whole system
of copyhold tenure in North Shields, as is seen from another of his letters,
written on March 23rd, 1606/7, in which he states: 'I have had opinione
of the best councell this place will afforde, who doe assure me the
commissione by which they hould ther copyes can erect no custome.'^
He pressed his advantage and carried war into the enemy's camp, with
the result that the principal tenants in Shields laid their case before the
earl of Northumberland in the following petition :
Humbly complayninge shewethe unto your good lordshipp your daylye orators, all his majestie's
tenants, the inhabitaunts of the North Sheeles, that wheras in the vij"' yeare of quene Elizabethe's
raigne, etc., etc. Tyll nowe of late sundrye verie pore wemen, after the decease of ther kynffolkc and
parents in the last great plage at Sheeles, being founde by the homage to be next heires to sundrye
cottages ther wherof ther parents and auncestours dyed seized by coppye of court role as aforesaid, and
craving ther admitlaunce therunto, are not onelye denyed therof by Mr. William Wicliff, your lordship's
under-stewarde here, but ther cottages and rentes seized uppon and disposed by your said under-stewerde
' Duke of Xorthumlierland's MSS. -' Ihul. ' Ibid. ' Ibid.
296 TYNEMOUTH BOROUGH.
to Mr. t'.eorge Whilheicie, his biolher-in-lawe, by coppye of court role as vacantes, objecting that wee
are but tennants at will and no copyhouldcrs. .And thernppon haith not onelye disinherited ihre verie
pore wyddovves, Ann Liidgate, Elizabeth liowes, antl Margaret Robeson, and graunted ther estates of
ther cottages to the said George Whitheide, but allso they tow joyne together pretendinge and pressinge
the overthrowe of the customarye estate of all the pore fishermen, beinge by ther coppies tyed to repaire
ther bare cott.ages, to yeelde ther rents, fynes and services, and to kepe a fisherman in everie cottage, by
whose fyshinge trade your lordshipp reapeth a great deale more yearely benefitt then his niajestie by his
yearly rentes ther. The overthiowe of the tennants' said customarye estates woulde, assure youre good
lordshipp, not onelye greatlye decaye the fishinge trade here, to your lordshipp's great losse, but allso
greatlye impoverish and bannish fishermen from this place, whose customarye es'ates uppon the con-
sideracions aforesaid were founded by your good lordship's late father and contynued by yourselfe above
xl yeares. The which customarye estate we most humblye beseche your good lordship we maye
contynue with your favorable permission and honorable countenance to us and our heires generall in
suche sorte as wee and our predecessors have done, and by the custome of the said mannor wee ought
to doo by our coppies from your good lordship's father and yourselfe, unto whome we have contynuallye
payed our fynes, which haith bene and wilbe more beneficiall unto your good lordshipp then if wee were
leassers unto his majestie, as sum ther be here leassers, vvherby no profitt at all cometh to your lordshipp
as doth by our fynes after chaunge of everie tenante, which contynually befalleth either by death or
saile. And allso that suche coppies as your lordshipp farthe graunted to Mr. George Whitheide of the
foresaid pore wyddowes cottages may be recalled and the wyddowes therunto admitted.
Signed : Raphe Delaval. Henrye Hclme. John Patteson. An Lydgath.
Peter Delaval. Thomas Harker. A. Dobson. Elizabeth 15owes.
James Rawlinge. Steven Patteson. Robt. Dowe.'
Apparently the earl refused to disown his officer, and there was a
renewal of proceedings before the Council of the North. In their instruc-
tions to counsel the tenants of Shields described their ' litle dovett" or
thatched cottages under the sea banckes nere the river of Tyne, havinge
neither lande, meadowe, pasture, nor stedinge for anye kynde of cattle
apperteyning to anye of them, saveinge onelye litle stone keyes or whartfes
before ther fronts nere the sayd ryver to drye ther ffishinge lynes uppon.'
They narrated the establishment of copyhold tenure in 1565, and then
laid their charges against Whitehead and Wycliffe. ' The said George
Whitheade and his brother-in-lawe, William Wicliff, deputie stewarde
unto the said earle, denye all his majestie's pore tennants of a lease of
all ther cottages, to th'ende to overthrowe ther said custome, to the utter
undowing of his majestie's pore cottegers and ther wifes and children,
and to the overthrowe of the trade of ffyshing in that place of Tynemouth
haven, wherby his lordship gaynethe one hundred markes yearlye for
the tythe fyshe he receiveth of his majestie's pore tennants ther, beside
ther ffynes from age to age wher his majestie's rents ther is.'^
' Duke of Northumberland's MSS.
' Divot, a sod, piece of turf, especially a thin, flat, oblong turf used for covering cottages. Divot-
house or hut, a house or hut covered with turf. Wright, English Dialect Dictionary, vol. ii. p. 94.
' Duke of iXorthumberland's MSS,
NORTH SHIELDS TOWNSHIP.
297
The vice-president and council at York referred the matter to be
tried in the Court of Exchequer, in regard that it concerned tlie king's
inheritance, whereupon the inhabitants of Shields petitioned the earl of
Dorset, as lord high treasurer, 'in respecte of their povertie, being not
able to endure the charge of lavve to trie their custome ' that he would
be pleased to continue their copyhold estates in such sort as thev had
had them heretofore.' Dorset referred them to the Court of Exchequer,
but, as a new trial meant heavy legal charges, Ralph Delaval took the
first step of petitioning the king, who 'red his petitione himselfe, and
presently called my lord of Dunbare, and asked him vf he knewe Northe
Shells, and gave him the petitione, sayinge, " Looke how my poore tennantes
ar abosed by my lord of Northumberland and his officers. He sure you
take this matter to hearinge, and call my lord of Northumberland his
officers befor you."'^
In the following summer, on July iith, 1608, a commission was
issued out of the Court of Exchequer to take a survey of Tynemouth-
shire, and to enquire by what tenure the tenants held of the king.
Haggatt and Ward, the commissioners, sat at Tynemouth during September.
After taking evidence with regard to North Shields, they reported :
' Seeing their copies have no better foundation, nor are above thirty
years' standing or thereabouts, and that it is manifest upon record they were
tenants at the will of the lord before the granting of tlie said copies, we
are of opinion and do perceive that they may easily be reduced to
lessors, so as they be favorablv regarded in their fine.''
Thus the copyhold tenure, which the tenants of North Shields had
for a brief period enjoyed, was transferred into leasehold. The change
was bound to affect the character of the population, as Whitehead pointed
out to the earl of Northumberland a year later :
The tennants of Slieeles ar lykewise made upe to leasse the whole towne. Yf ther be not soonie
course taken in that leasse. your fishinge will be utterly decayed, for the best parte of the towne ar
victuallers and tiplers wher they had wonte of very late tyme to be all fishermen ; and what course ther
is to be taken I cannot thinke, unles my lorde treasorer were moved of the decay bothe of men for the
navy in time of service, as allsoe the decaye of his majesty's tythe ther ; and that his lordship woulde
tye every house in the towne to maynteyne a fisherman as formerly they were bounde by ther copyes."
The svstem of leaseholds established in 160S, did not long continue.
Until that time, and for a few years longer, the whole of the township
' Duke of Northumberland's MSS. ' /'"<'•
' Land Revenue Surveys, miscell. books, vol. 223, fol. 326. ' Duke of Northumberland's M.SS.
Vol. VIII. 38
298
TYNEMOUTH BOROUGH.
remained crown property' ; but, on March 13th, 1623/4, a grant was made
to Henry, ninth earl of Northumberland, of two salt pans at the Pow
pans, the salt pans called Stodwede's pans, and other pieces of land.''
On August 26th, 1624, twenty-four cottages, and the ferry over the
Tyne were granted, at the requisition of John, earl of Holderness,
to Edward Ramsav of Hethersett in Norfolk and to Robert Ramsey
of London,^ to whom, on May 21st following, five more cottages were
conveyed, together with the salmon fishery from Howden head to the
point where the Tyne falls into the sea.' Four salt pans, various parcels
of land at the Pow pans at the east end of the town, and between
Dortwick and Coble dean at the west end, and the profits arising from the
anchorage of all vessels coming into the river of Tyne at North Shields,**
' Exceptin;;- a cottage and some waste ground at the west end of Shields, granted on June nth,
1600, to Benjamin Harris and Robert Morgan, and conveyed by them to Wilham Milbanke of North
Shields.
■ Patent Kails, 21 James I. pt. 5.
" Land Revenue Enrolments, vol. 200, fol. 192, and vol. 201, fol. 321. For the Ramseys, see Mr. J. C.
Hodgson on 'The Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century Owners of Bewick' in Arch. Ael. 3rd series,
vol. ii. The house property acquired by Ramsey and Ramsey was sold by them on November 4th,
1624, to Anthony Uphill of London, who on May 13th, 1631, resold to Sir Alexander Davison of
Newcastle. Lund Revenue Enrolments, vol. 202, fol. 166. For Davison see Welford, Men of Mark.
' Robert Ramsey conveyed his salmon fishery, on February 15th, 1637, to George Milbourne, then
described as of South Shields, and to William Milbourne of Newcastle. Their representatives, Mary
Roddam and Winifred Roddam, conveyetl the fishery, inter alia, on August 1st, 1729, to Robert Loads-
man, who, on January i6th, 1730, sold the same to James Stewart of North Shields for £-,. On .May
2nd, 1759, the heirs of James Stewart sold to Hugh, duke of Northumberland. The fishery was known
as the Low Lights fishery. The usual mode of catching salmon was by sweep nets and stake nets.
.Sweep nets were nets to the two ends of which ropes were attached. One of these ends was taken out
in a boat, which was then rowed round in a half circle and brought again to land. Both ends of
the net were then gradually drawn towards and on to the shore, and thus any fish were landed that
might be caught within the sweep. Nets could be drawn ashore at the Black Middens, the .Mussel
scalp, Coble dean. White Hill point, and Howden. Stake nets were nets attached and fastened to
stakes driven into the bed and soil of the river. They were used at the Low Lights down to about the
year 1833, when their use was discontinued. Duke of Northumberland's MSS. The salmon fishery
was profitable before the deepening of the river by the Tyne Commissioners. Warburton, writing
about 1720, speaks of the incomparable salmon which North Shields supplies to most parts of
Europe. Ibid. As late as 1775 no less than 265 salmon were caught at one draught at the Low
Lights. Brand, Newcastle, vol. ii. p. 33.
* Anchorage is a toll paid upon every ship coming to anchor between the Trior's stone (near the
mouth of the Tyne) and Howden pans, and is associated with groundage, a toll paid upon every ship laid
on shore within the said limits. The payments date from the sixteentli century or earlier. Sir Henry
Percy stated in a letter written to Cecil on January 27th, 1566/7, touching the grievances alleged by the
mayor of Newcastle and others, that he and his servants took of every stranger's ship a shilling as a new
exaction. 'There is no general custom taken, but such as touch or lie upon the shore a time pay th.at
money to the officers there as groundage.' Cal. State Papers, Domestic, Addenda, 1566-1579, p. 26.
Anchorage and groundage used to be collected by the bailiff of North Shields, whose ofiice, as described
in 1633, was 'to areast all actions of dept under 30s. and not above, to sease upon all wrackes coming
in within the towne, all fellons' goodes, all wafes, straies and deodantes and whatsoever else, and be
accomptable for the same to his lordship's prime receavor.' Duke of Northumberland's MSS. A
manuscript among the Delaval papers, in the possession of the Newcastle Society of Antiquaries,
states, under the date 1575 : 'The Ijailey of the North Shields, by vertue of his office apperteyning to
the castle, was to bourd every ship comyng in at the haven there, and did take up for the furnytur of
NORTH SHIELDS TOWNSHIP. 299
were, by letters patent dated December Sth, 1631, granted to William
Collins and to Edward Fenn.' The salt pans, anchorage dues, and other
of the premises conveyed to Collins and Fenn were acquired in 1632
and in 1635 by Algernon, tenth earl of Northumberland."
The development of the salt trade and extension of coal mining in the
neighbouring townships brought new families to reside in Shields, and trade
grew, especially the victualling industry. Alehouses became numerous.
Brewing, though apparently sanctioned by the Act of 1530, was regarded
by the Newcastle Company of Brewers as an infringement of the monopoly
claimed by them within the part. In 1627 the niavur and burgesses pro-
secuted one Humphrey Johnson for keeping a brew-house in North Shields,
and obtained an order that the brew-house should be suppressed.' In a
petition presented to the king in 1634 they set forth their suits for mainten-
ance of their corporate privileges against the inhabitants of North and South
Shields, and prayed him to cause a general restraint and inhibition to be
made, that no baker, brewer, victualler or smith, or other person using any
trade, should exercise the same in any part of the port or its precincts, but
her majestie's castle, whatsoever she had in loding, a parcell of everything for the service of the castle
at the quen's majestie's price ; and to the bailey only of every such ship, being a stranger, his fee is
for groundage xij' and aunkeradge xij'', notwithstanding the order taken between his lordship and the
town of Newcastle, which is but upon pleasor only, or so long as yt shall pleas the captain there for
the time being.' In 1679 the fees were stated to be a penny tor anchorage or groundage of every ship
belonging to any of the Cinque ports, six pence for anchorage and a shilling for groundage of every
English ship not belonging to the Cinque ports, and a shilling for anchorage and two shillings for
groundage of every foreign ship. Brit. Mus. Additwiud MSS. 24,815, fol. 240. The number of foreign
vessels that paid anchorage or groundage in the year Michaelmas, 164S, to Michaelmas, 1649, was 123.
Uuke of Northumberland's MSS. . .
The right of boarding and searching vessels, alluded to above as belonging to the bailiff of North
Shields, was claimed and exercised within that portion of the river which lies between Howden burn
and the sea. A letter directed by the lords of the privy council on June 4th, 1597, to the bishop of
Durham and to Lord Eure alludes to inconveniences which have arisen by 'the discontynuance of
an auncient order which hath bin observed in former times, that all shippes of her majesty's domymons
cominge on the sea by the said castle [of Tynemouth] should vailc their topsaile as a token of their
dutie and alleageance to her majestic, and that all shippes of forraine countries should, at their
passage that waye, comme to anchor and send a-shoare to the bailiffes of the Sheeles the merchaunt,
master, lactour, or other officer of the shipp, to the end notice might be taken of the purpose of
their voyadge and of other circumstances.' Ads 0/ the Privy Council, 1597, p. 170. 1 he custom was
controverted by the officers of the custom house of Newcastle in a petition addressed two years later
to the chancellor and barons of the Exchequer, in which they stated : 'The earls officers dayly lake
upon them to bord and search all the ships of strangers and others passing m and out of those ports,
and take bribes of them to suffer them to pass quietly. They have thereby much discouraged all
merchants from trafficking with her majesty's ports there.' Brit. Mus. Ailiiiliomil M^i>. ^4,i>lS<
fol. 226. Conflicting evidence wiih regard to the time during which the right «> search had been
exercised by the earl of Northumberland's officers was taken in a suit brought before the Court ot
Exchequer in 1602 by Henry Sanderson and others against William Wyclifle and Oeoige Whitehead.
Exiluquer Dcpuutions, Mich. 44-45 Eliz. No. 13, and Hilary, 45 Eliz. No. 19.
' PiitciU Rolls, 7 Charles I. pt. 15. • Laiul Revenue Enrolments, vol. 202, fols. 114, 12/ d.
^ Exchequer Decrees anil Orders, series iv. vol. iii. fol. 300.
-^oo TyKemouth borough.
only at tlie town of Newcastle.' They were not strong enough to attack the
salt trade, though they could handicap it by compelling vessels bringing
material for the salt pans at Shields to come up the river to Newcastle to
unload. The salt-makers were secure in a monoply of their own. On
December 2^rd, 1634, a combination of Shields salt-makers was incorporated
under the name of the Society of Salt-makers at the North and South
Shields. The new society was empowered to erect salt works on the sea-
coast, and in the Tvne and the Wear. No new salt works might be erected
on the coast between Berwick and Southampton. The company agreed to
sell their salt at rates not exceeding £t^ per wey for home use, and sos. per
wey for fishing vovages. A payment was made to the king, in return for
this monopoly, of los. per wey of fine salt, and of 3s. 4d. per wey of fishing
salt." The greater number of pans were on the south side of the river,
but in 16^8 there were thirty salt pans in Tynemouth parish.'^ Brine was
collected in cisterns and pumped thence into shallow iron pans, where it was
boiled until salt crystals had begun to form. So much of the water as had
not evaporated was then drained ofi, and the salt was ready for use.^
As new collieries were opened up in the neighbourhood of Shields, the
prerogatives of the Hostmen's Company of Newcastle grew more irksome.
That company had the exclusive vending of coals, and no coal might be
shipped for exportation except at Newcastle.* Not only were trading
vessels of larger tonnage than formerly, but, since the corporation of
Newcastle had become conservators of the Tyne in 1613, the bed of that
river had been allowed to silt up, and both these circumstances rendered
navigation increasingly dangerous. Masters of vessels were obliged to seek
Newcastle in order to load or unload, to cast ballast, or to undergo repairs,
for no persons were allowed to build or repair ships within the port unless
' Cal. State Papers, Domestic, 1634-1635, p. 100.
• For the history of the salt trade in North and .South Shields, see G. B. Hodgson, Boyough 0/ South
Shields. An account of the salt works of Durham and Northumberland, composed in the reign of
Charles II., has been printed from Lansdowne MSS. 258, by Richardson, Reprints, vol. iii. as a
separate tract.
' Tynemouth Vestry Books.
' Detailed descriptions of the salt pans at Shields and the method of manufacture have been given
by Sir William Brereton in 1635 (Richardson, Reprints, vol. vii. 'Notes of a journey thioujjh Durham and
Northumberland'), and by Lord Harley in 1725 {Duke of Portland's MSS. vol. vi. p. 105 ; Hist. MSS.
Com.). See also an article on 'The Art of Making Salt' in the Northumberland and Newcastle Magazine,
181S, pp. 280-281, 311-312, 342-343.
" Newcastle Hostmen's Company, Surt. Soc. No. 105, passim. For orders prohibiting the shipping of
coals at Shields upon pain of seizure, see pp. 74-76 and 90.
NORTH SHIELDS TOWNSHIP. 30I
they were free of the Newcastle company of shipwrights or paid a yearlv
contribution for licence to work within the liberties.' If carpenters were
not freemen of Newcastle, then they plied their trade at their peril, as did
Thomas Cliffe of North Shields, who, in the month of April, 1646, got a
ship off the rocks under Tynemouth castle ; whereupon two sergeants and
several free carpenters came down from Newcastle, hailed the unfortunate
shipwright to prison, and beat his wife to death. The mayor and burgesses
of Newcastle further sued ClifFe in the Court of Exchequer, but, failing to
make good their case, were ordered to pay costs. ^
In 1650 the masters of vessels trading to the Tyne for coals gave vent
to their grievances in a petition to the council of state. Their complaints
were referred to the council of trade, by whom, after long debates, the
action of the Newcastle citizens was pronounced prejudicial to trade and
navigation, but the report was allowed to lie dormant.' Hostilities broke
out again before long. Ralph Gardner of Chirton was cast into prison at
Newcastle in 1652 for refusing to close his brewery at North Shields. He
escaped from his confinement, but a warrant again went out for his arrest
for default of payment of ;^'900 for fines. While sitting in his cottage in
Chirton he found himself surrounded by men with swords drawn and pistols
cocked. He offered resistance; 'much blood was spilt'; and the Tyne
seamen, hurrying to his rescue, drove back to Newcastle the wounded and
discomfited officers of the law.^ Gardner, however, did not long remain at
liberty, and he was again in gaol when, on September 29th, 1653, he
petitioned parliament, desiring that the report of the council of trade should
be called for and reviewed.
Gardner's petition, like that of 1650, demanded the abolition of re-
strictions upon trade in the port of Tyne. It also included a request that
North Shields might be made a market town, and proposed the transference
of the conservancy from the corporation of Newcastle to a representative
' Some of the free shipwrights were, however, resident at Shields. On January 24ih, 1649/50,
Edward Smith of Gateshead, master and mariner, deposed that for fifty years past there had been
certain vessels called 'Shetland barques,' which, being little ships and bringing in fish which was usually
dried at Shields, did seldom or never come up to Newcastle; that complaint was made that for their
repair ship carpenters were wanted at Shields, whereupon some liad been sent from Newcastle to reside
there. Exclicqucr Depositions, Hilary, 1649/50, No. i. m. 3 d.
- For further particulars of Cliffe's case, see Gardner, Eiiglmid's Gr'uvanc£, chapters 26, 31, 11, 34,
36; Richardson's Reprints, vol. vi. 'The humble petition and appeal of Thomas Cliffe'; Exchequer
Depositions, Hilary, 1649/50, No. I, and Exchequer Decrees ami Orders, series iii. vol. xx.\iii. fol. 173.
^ Hostmen's Company, p. 92. Gardner, England's Grievance, chapter 25.
Gardner, England's Gricvame, chapter yj.
302 TYNEMOIJTH IJOROUGH.
body elected (ui liuc} The matter was referred to the council of trade, to
whom Gardner exhibited his charges against the corporation." In vigorous
ungrammatical style he propounded the need of giving Shields a market :
The maior and burgesses do all iiigross all commodities and provisions into their own hands which
comes in by sea, and setts their own rates thereon, compelling all people to their markets, the poor
salt-makers and colliers often not having above i8d. to receive of their wages at the week's end, to
releive themselves, wife and six or seven children, pays 4d. out of it by going and coming by water,
besides a day's labour lost, often the river frozen, no boat can pass, snow so deep, coale pitts open,
having died att Shields for want of food, besides many drowned in stormy weather in the river in coming
from their markets, and that by their hording upp corn in their corn lofts for to make it dear, and kept it
till it was so dear that the poor could not buy it, but were forced to eat dead horses, doggs and calls,'
and the other sort in the county of Northumberland exposed to let their beasts blood to make cakes to
eat, which beasts, being over blooded, dyed in the spring, and yett corn kept so long in Newcastle that
it moulded and rotted,' and many hundred bowlcs thrown then into the river, not tollerating a markett
at Shields for the releif of Tinmouth garrison, the fleets of shipps, the concourse of people and in-
habitants, which are thousands, nor baking nor brewing, but have ruinated men at law for the same
by their great purse, which is too great for any to contest with, and which is a great crying oppression
and hinderance to trade.
The conclusion is best given in Gardner's own words. ' All which
said charge was proved upon oath, before the council, at Whitehall,
1650, and the committee for trade and corporations, at Whitehall, in
November, 1653. And order was given, that Mr. Thomas Skinner, be
desired to draw up an Act, for a free trade in that port and river of
Tyne, to present to the parliament.' The proposed 'Act for a free trade
in the river of Tyne, for coals, salt, etc.,' was accordingly drafted. It
provided for the creation of a new conservancy board, the erection of
ballast shores and holding of a market at Shields, and the abolition of
the monopoly enjoyed by the free shipwrights, pilots of the Trinity
House, bakers and brewers, and hostmen of Newcastle.* By skilful delays
the corporation postponed the conclusion of the investigation which
threatened to go against it. December 13th was fixed for the final hearing
of both parties. On December 12th, Parliament was dissolved and
Gardner's legislative projects were baffled.
' Und. chapter 27 ; Richardson, Rtpriiits, vol. iii. 'The Conservatorship of the River Tyne,' pp. 24-2S.
The tract here quoted, printed from a manuscript account of the proceedings before the council of
trade, includes the answer of the mayor and burgesses of Newcastle to Gardner's petition and to the
charges exhibited by him ; and the other documents connected with the case are given in a more
accurate form than in Clardners own version. England's Grievance gives many depositions taken before
the council of trade, but mingles with them the evidence given in Clift'e's trial.
= Printed in England's Grievance, chapter 28, and Conservatorship of the River Tyne, pp. 28-32.
Many country people were necessitated to eat dogs and cats, and to kill their poor little coal-
horses for food,' says Gardner.
' Gardner adds, 'The very swine could not eat it.' * England's Grievance, chapter 54.
NORTH SHIEI.nS TOWNSHIP.
303
'The honourable committee,' says Gardner, 'met in Whitehall, and
drew up another report, and signed the same, against the corporation of
Newcastle, and would have presented the same to his highnesse, the Lord
Protector. But I conceived to give a narrative was better." . . . 'The thing I
aim at is a right understanding between the free and unfree men of England ;
a perfect love, every one injoying their own, and to be governed under our
known and wholesome laws, as also an obedience thereunto ; and not by a
hidden prerogative, a//'as charters."' He continued, with disjointed eloquence :
The mayor, aldermen, and recorder, with the burgesses, and others, against the freeborn of England,
which prohibited all trade, from the 9th day of January, 1642, to the 14th of November, 1644, in that
port ; which caused coals to be four pound the chaldron, and salt four pound the weigh ; the poor
inhabitants forced to flie the country, others to quarter all armies upon free quarter ; heavy taxes to them
all, both English, Scots, and garisons ; plundered of all they had ; land lying waste ; coal-pits drowned ;
salt works broken down ; hay and corn burnt ; town pulled down ; men's wives carried away by the
unsatiable Scots, and abused ; all being occasioned by that corporation's disaflfeclion ; and yet to
tyrannize as is hereafter mentioned ; I appeal to God and the world.'
Gardner did not abandon hope of procuring a market for North
Shields. In a letter written on February 21st, 1654/5, to one of the earl
of Northumberland's officers, he stated : ' I am bringing an ai/ quod danuium
in the earle's name for a markett at Sheilds, and to have the toules and
other profitts thereby accruing, that towne beinge part member to the
mannor of Tynemouth, which I doubt not but effect notwithstanding the
greatest of Newcastle opposition.'* A petition addressed to the Protector
in 1654 shows his handiwork.
To his highnes the Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland. The
humble peticion of the inhabitants of North Sheilds and parts adjacent in the county of Northumberland
and the gentry.
Sheweth that for want of a markett in the towne of North Shields in the county of Northiimberl.and,
being a place of great trade for coles, salt, and grindestones, wherein and the parts adjacent are thousands
of familyes besides thousands of seamen and passengers daily resorting thither, as also your garrison of
Tynemouth castle, all which are much necessitated and prejudiced and a great hindrance of trade and
navigation, there not being any market in that county nearer then twelve myles.
That in tyme of deepe snowes, the cole-pitts always lying open, the people dare not atlventure by
land in the winter season to Newcastle markett, which is six myles distant from Sheildes (it being a
towne and county of itselfe), in extremity of weather many boates are cast away and many people are
drowned in goeing to and from that markett at Newcastle, the river also in the winter season being .also
frozen, so that the poorer sort are exposed to great want and misery.
Your peticioners therefore humbly prayes your Highnes will be plased to graunt a markett to be
kept on Mondays and Thursdayes in the said towne in every weeke in the earle of Northumberland's
name, by reason hee is lord of tlie mannor of the said Tynemouth.'
' Enghuui's Grievance, chapter 28.
■ The bibliography oi Enghuui's Grievance is the subject of a paper in Arch. Ael. 2nd series, vol. .\iii.
by the late Mr. C. J. Spence.
" Englivhi's Grieviince, preface. ' Duke of Northumberland's MSS. ' IbiJ.
304
TYNEMOUTH BOROUGH.
The struggle between the Newcastle hostmen and the coalowners
not of their company went on ft)r several years. Ships were laden at
Shields in spite of the bylaws of Newcastle companies, and an attempt
made by the hostmen to check the practice by charging for lighter-hire
was quashed by the Protector and his council. Kalph Gardner again
directed his complaints against the hostmen, and, but for the Restoration,
it seems likely that they would have come to terms.' After the Restoration,
Newcastle returned to the attack. On May 20th, 1661, William
Old Ohavs fn 1876.
Collingwood of North Shields was called before the conservancy court
and presented for setting forth his quav at North Shields about seven
yards into the river. Threatened with the destruction of their wharves
and of the houses built on them, the townsmen of Shields petitioned the
earl of Northumberland to take up their cause :
To ye right honorable ye carle of Northumberland, the humble petition of the inhabitants of North
Sheilds, part of your honor's mannor of Tynemouth.
' Ilostmeii's Company, pp. 110-112, 114, 117.
NORTH SHIELDS TOWNSHIP.
305
Humbly sheweth that ye toune of Newcastle upon Tyne hath, under ye pretence of preservation of
the river of Tyne, taken upon them to impose great mulcts and fines upon your peticioners because they
will not pull downe and demolish their keyes and houses thereupon erected, which is noe way prejudicial!
but of much advantage to the navigablenese of the said river.
And that, except some speedy remedy be found out for your peticioners' reliefe in this particular,
your poore peticioners will be constrained to suffer themselves to be ruin'd, or otherwise to disowne your
lordshippe and owne the interest of the said towne, who is willing upon a very small acknowledgement
too free and remitt ye said fines and impositions.'
In spite of the con-
tinued efforts of the mayor
and burgesses of New-
castle, who succeeded in
1672 in suppressing John
Overing's brewery at North
Shields, * the town grew
rapidly. ' They are build-
ing daily,' said a letter-
writer in 1658.' The
hearth-ta.x returns of 1664
show a hundred and eighty
householders. Ten years
later the number had risen
to three hundred and five.*
Many of the older build-
ings in the town date from
this period ; on the lintel
of one of the dwellings still
remaining on the Wooden
Dolly quay is the inscrip-
tion 16 I'^A 74, :^"d in houses
which have vanished be-
fore modern improve-
ments, coats of arms with-
out, and tile and carving
' Duke of Northumberland' MSS.
' Excluqucr Depositions, Mich. 24 Chas. II. No. 3; ; Decrees a>id Orders, series iv. vol. xi. fol. 2SS.
' Duke of Northumberland's MSS.
' The principal residents in 1664 were : Katharine Gardner (wife of R.alph (Gardner of Chirton), John
Blakeston, Edward Carr, James Denton, William Colling«ood, hdward loll, Jeremiah Lo«, and .Mr.
Ashburnham.
The Woohe.n Dollv Vv.w, issg
Vol. \'111.
39
3o6 TYNEMOUTH ROROUOH.
within, testified to former opulence. Like many other riverside towns
North Shields consisted of one long narrow thoroughfare, extending from
the Low Lights to the Bull Ring, and known in later times as the Low
Town Street. The greater part of the street was from nine to eleven feet
wide, but, at a few points, and for short distances, there were expansions
that increased the width from sixteen to twenty-five feet. The ' little
dovett and thatched cottages ' made way for lofty houses, solidly built of
brick or stone, with rounded gables and red-tiled roofs. On the river side,
short lanes and quays led direct to the water edge ; on the other side
steep flights of stairs gave access to what was known as the Bank Head
at about seventy feet higher level. There were no houses on the higher
plateau. What are now the busiest parts of Shields were overgrown with
whin and provided a scanty pasture for cattle. Houses were packed tightly
together. They crowded round little courts leading off the street, extended
out on quays resting on piles driven into the bed of the river, and jostled
one another up the hill.
At the east end of the town there were several salt pans held by
the earl of Northumberland and the Milbourne family. A bridge crossed
the Pow burn at this point and gave access to the main thoroughfare.'
The street was intersected, about midway, by a piece of swampy ground,
known as the Dogger letch. Across it, connecting the present Liddell and
Clive Streets, ran a wooden bridge, and near to it stood the toll-gate house,
demolished by the Tynemouth corporation in 1857 for street improvement.
A causeway, commonly called the Half Moon, led up from the wooden
bridge to the Bank Head, and continued, as Church Way, to the parish
church. Farther along, a way led down to the ferry-boat landing.''
Beyond that again was the Bull Ring, where bulls were baited.' A
lane, starting from this point, connected the town with the Newcastle
road. At the west end of the town came more salt pans at a place
called Dortwick, whence sands stretched out across the Tyne.
' In 1648 the Trinity House of Newcastle gave ten shillings towards building a bridge over the
runner at the Low Lights. Mackenzie, Neuraslle, p. 6S3, citing Trinity House M.SS. .'\t Christmas,
1701, several of the inhabitants of Tynemouth parish having refused to pay their shares for the mainten-
ance and repair of the bridge at Pow panns, and the highway between Hillymill and Shields, it is
ordered that the fines be levied and paid to the surveyor of the highways. Sessions Order Books,
vol. iv. p. 20.
'At quarter sessions held at Christmas, 1724, the following order was made : 'The way in North
Shields leading to the church (a conduit or current being stopt, the water overruns the streats, by which
the streats are very much abused) to be repaired by the town of North Shields. The way to the ferry-
boat landing at North Shields, in the parish of Tinmouth, so bad that a horse going to the boat is in
danger of having his legs broke.' Ibid. vol. vi. p. 357.
' A large flat stone, containing an iron bolt and ring, was turned up here in June, 1S20,
NORTH SHIELDS TOWNSHIP. 307
North Shields was not a healthy town. Plague was a constant
visitant.^ Refuse accumulated in the streets, and ways were foul. Most
of the scavenging was done by pigs. Dense clouds of steam, ascending
from the salt pans, wrapped the place in a white mantle.'
The town was under the joint control of manorial officers chosen in
the court leet and of a select vestry known as the four-and-twenly. The
following bylaws exemplify their jurisdiction :
April 15th, 1639. It is agreed by the minister and four-and-lwenty that the first Sunday of every
month shall be a collection in the church for the relief of the poor of the parish of Tynetnoulh, and
likewise the money collected at every communion throughout the year shall be put in the church box
and recorded in writing ; the said moneys collected and distributed to the poor at Christmas and Easter
time, and account to be made every Easter to the four-and-twenty. Tynemouth Vestry Books.
April 19th, 1647. Agreed that profaners of the Lord's Day, or being absent from the church
drinking in time of preaching, being drunken and swearing, to be severely punished according to the
penalty laid on by the minister and churchwardens, acquainting the four-and-twenty with it. Diligent
search to be made every Lord's Day, before and after noon, by the churchwardens, their assistants, and
the assistance of all the petty constables, for the observing and keeping of the Sabbath. Ibid.
October 15th, 1694. Whereas complaint hath been made from court to court of the great newsances
and trespasses committed or done by the keeping of swine unbowed and unringed in North Sheilds, and
notwithstanding the several amerciaments made of those that were presented at the several past courts,
there is no amendment, but dayly greater numbers are kept therein, and by reason of the narrowness of
the streets, and the town of late grown so populous that the keeping of swine in the said town is very
infectious and nautious (especially in the summer time), insomuch that we do order that from and after
the 17th day of October untill the next court no person or persons whatsoever shall permit or suffer any
swine to go abroad in the streets or keep them in any place which shall or may annoy any of the
inhabitants or be a publick newsance to the said town upon pain of xxxix' xj'' upon every one that shall
be found to keep the same. Tynemouth Court Rolls.
As early as 1620, Shields appears to have been divided into four wards,
each represented by a petty constable, who was also surveyor of highways.
A hi^^h constable acted for the whole town. The town was represented by
a special jury in the manor court and had two bread-weighers and ale-
tasters. The supervision of the salt measures also came within the manorial
jurisdiction.'
Churchwardens and overseers of the poor were elected at the vestry
meetincrs. These officers joined with the constables in policing and super-
visino- the sanitary condition of the town, but their chief task was the
administration of the poor law.
■ Plaaue was at Tynemouth and Shields in 1346/7 {Miiiislfrs' Accounls); in 1583 (Cal Border Papers,
vol i p 114}; in 1604 (Duke of Northumberland's MSS.); \n ib^^^ (Court of High Commisswnat Durham,
Surt. Soc. No. 34, p. 171) ; and again in 1666 (Tynanouth Register, ed. Couchman, vol. 1. p. 255).
■ Life of Mannaduke R.mdon of York, Camden Soc. 1S63, p. 143 ; l^^'n'c' l^ef^e, Tour through the
whole Island of Great Britain, 1727, vol. iii. p. 193.
" Duke of Northumberland's MSS.
-^OS TYNEMOUTH BOROUGH.
North Shields was the poorest part of the parish, and this fact caused
the other townships within the parish to feel that they were unduly
burdened. With a view of remedying this inconvenience, it was ordered by
the justices of the peace at Christmas, 17 13, 'that the severall villages in
Tineniouth parish doe from henceforth maintain and take care of the poor
in each village, but that all the poor that are now charged upon the parish
be taken care of as they formerly have been, and for the future noe village
to be chargeable, but, as before-mentioned, each village for their own poor.''
The consequence of this order was to overburden the town of North
Shields, the overseers of the poor for that township stating, in a petition
presented to quarter sessions in January, 17 16/7, that there were more
orders granted by the magistrates against them by _£ 6 5s. a quarter, than if
the whole cess was well paid, and that 'till of late they had the help of
Chirton, Preston, Tynemouth, and Cullercoats, and now the town of North
Shields decays and the poor increases.' '■'
By turning back a few years in the history of Shields it may be possible
to detect the causes that led to the impoverishment of the town at the
commencement of the eighteenth century. The hostmen of Newcastle had
renewed their ancient quarrel. In 1684 complaints were made of the great
damage sustained by that company by the loading of ships at the Low
Lights.' Orders were made by the same society in 1691 for the seizure
of all coal shipped at Shields by other than freemen.^ They were lighting
against the natural tendency of trade to drift down to the harbour towns.
As Roger North observed about this time, ' Ever since ships have been
built larger, partly for better roads, and partly for better pilotage, the port
towns have crept nearer the main ; as they say would happen upon the
Tyne, and Shields would become the port town, if Newcastle had not a
privilege that no common baker or brewer should set up between them
and the sea.' * The common council of Newcastle, in alarm, referred to
a committee, in the year 1690, the consideration of what means were
necessary to be used ' for preventing the great growth of trade at Shields.' '^
' Sessions Order Books, vol. v. p. 173.
' Sessions Papers, Christmas, 1716/7. The method of poor law administration inaugurated in 17/3
continued until the formation of Tynemouth union in 1836. A select vestry for the concerns of the poor
in North Shields township was appointed on November 4lh, 1S24, under the powers of the Poor Law Act
of 1 81 9.
' Hostmen's Books, Surt. Soc. No. 105, p. 142. ' Ibiil. p. 148.
' North, Life 0/ Lord Keeper Guildford, p. 121.
' Brand, Newcastle, vol. ii. p. 28, note, citing Common Council Books, September 30th, 1690.
NORTH SHIELDS TOWNSHIP.
309
Large fleets of colliers rode daily all along the northern shore by the
Low Lights. Proposals made in 1699 for building a quay at that point
met with strenuous resistance from the Newcastle Trinity House,' but
appear to have been eventually carried, for staiths existed in 1714 not only
at the Low Lights but near the ferry-boat landing and at the west end
of the town (the Long Staith).^ A little later, Warburton described North
Shields as ' a large, well built and populous seaport town, situated at the
very confluence of the river Tine with the sea, where there is a haven
sufficient to contain a thousand sail of ships of the largest burden. It is
The River Side near the Low Lights, iS-:.
the harbour for Newcastle, drives a great trade in salt made of sea water,
and in fish, which are here cured to admiration, particularly the incom-
parable salmon, which they supply to most parts of Europe.'^
The salt trade had, however, already begun to decline, as may be seen
from the following petition presented to quarter sessions :
To the honourable the knights, citizens and burgesses in parliament assembled, the humble petition
of the justices of the peace for the county of Northumberland at the quarter sessions for the said county
held by adjournment at the castle of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, the 2ist day of March, 1701, humbly
sheweth that great numbers of poor people who have been employed in the salt works at North Shields,
' Richardson, Reprints, ' Conservatorship of the river Tyne,' p. 92 (from Trinity House papers).
-■ Duke of Northumberland's MSS. ' Ibid.
310 TYNEMOUTH BOROUGH.
Cullcrcoats, and other places in the county, by the decay of the salt trade arc sett on begginy and
become burthensome to the inhabitants of this county. Your petitioners therefore humbly pray that
this honourable house will be pleased to take the same into consideration and do therein as in their
great judgments shall be thought meet ; and your petitioners as in duty bound shall ever pray, etc.
Given under the seal of the sessions at the sessions aforesaid.'
Gradually this industry became obsolete. A survey taken in 1707
shows ten salt pans in the hands of the Milbourne family, while seven were
owned by John Airey, two by Michael Coatsworth, three by Luke Killing-
worth's heirs, two by Mark Ogle, one by Sarah Chayter, and two by the
heirs of William CoUinson, making twenty-seven in all. At the same time
the Pow pans, formerly granted to Sir John Melton and Ralph Reed for
twenty-one years from 1631, lay waste, being long since decayed.^ Si.xty
years later all the salt pans upon the duke of Northumberland's property in
North Shields had been taken down and houses built upon them.' A single
salt manufactory existed till recently at the Low Lights.
The decay of the salt industry undoubtedly inflicted temporary hardship
upon the poorer classes, upon whose unskilled labour it largely depended.*
Its place was soon taken, however, by the shipping industry, to which great
impetus was given by the wars of the eighteenth century. Numerous
masters and mariners came from Whitby and Ipswich to settle in North
Shields. Shipbuilding commenced with the formation of a graving dock
in 1752 by Mr. Edward Collingwood near the Bull King.' It is said
thai during the American war as many as thirty ships were turned out
amiually from the various shipbuilding yards in the town, several frigates
and gun-brigs being built for the government. ° In 1778 a society, named
the Union Society, was founded in North Shields for the insurance of
vessels belonging to the port of Tyne,' and several other ship insurance
associations and benefit societies were formed subsequently."* Various trades
subservient to the shipping industry found a footing in the town, chief
among them being rope making and iron founding.
' Sessions Order Books, vol. i. -■ Duke of Northumberland's MSS. '' Ibid.
' This is pointed out in a narrative of the salt trade drawn up about 1605 : ' It is to be noted that in
the countyes of Durham and Northumberland ther bee no great trades as clothing and such like used,
by which the poorer sort are sett on worke and releived from begery, saving only the trades of colyery
and salting.' Ibid.
' This dock was for many years owned by the Laing family, by whom it was sold in 18S3 to Mr.
H. S. Edwards of Corbridge.
« Mackenzie, NorlhumbcrUmd, ist edition, vol. ii. p. 552. ' Brand, Newcastle, vol. ii. p. 36, note.
"Amongst other benefit societies the 'Good Intent' was established in 1799, and the 'Seamen's
Loyal Standard .Association,' for the mutual relief of s.ailors belonging to North Shields, in 1829. In
1827 there were thirteen local insurance clubs in North Shields.
NORTH SHIELDS TOWNSHIP. 3II
Communication with Newcastle was improved. The old road had
become almost impassable in the winter season, and the surveyors of the
highways proved quite unequal to the task of keeping it in repair. The
first of a series of turnpike Acts, passed in 1749, entrusted the upkeep of
the road to a body of trustees, and provided for the erection of gates,
turnpikes and tollhouses.^
During the second half of the eighteenth century the town began to
expand northwards, and the freeholds lying between the Tynemouth road
and the Bank Head were covered with streets and buildings. When the
common fields of Tynemouth township were divided in 1649, the larger
portion of the south field had been divided into narrow strips running
north and south and allotted to the several freeholders. This circumstance
has left its mark upon the configuration of the town, for the main streets
followed the same direction as the properties on which thev had been built,
and access from east to west long remained difficult.
Public buildings and public institutions followed one another rapidlv
as the town increased in size. On January ist, 1777, a portion of the
Brocks pasture near Christ-church was leased by the duke of Northumber-
land to Henry Hudson and others as a site for a poorhouse.* An Act of
Parliament passed in 1786 incorporated six brewers of North Shields under
the name of ' the company of the proprietors of the North Shields water-
works.'^ The town, which had been formerly dependent upon Marden
well and upon a spring in the Whitley limestone quarries, now obtained
a good supplv of fresh water, reservoirs being constructed at Waterville in
Coach Lane, at the Ridges farm in Flatworth, and at the Brock farm in
Tynemouth township. In 1792 a house of correction was built on the
Tynemouth road. A dispensary was founded in 1802 in Church Street.
Upon May 23rd, 1803, Shields was accorded the long-contested right to
a market, and in 1806 a market-place was formed on the New Quay, where
weekly markets were held, as well as fairs in April and November.''
' An Act of Parliament for repairing the road from North Shields, in the county of Xorlliumberland,
to the town of Newcastle-upon-Tyne ; 22 Geo. II. cap. ix. There were two toll gates at Percy .Main, one
at Chirton, one at South Preston and one opposite to the Master Mariners' Asylum. The last of the
road trusts expired in 18S6.
■ Duke of Northumberland's .MSS. The land was purchased by the guardians of the Tynemouth
Union in 1870, and in 1884 the workhouse was considerably enlarged.
= An Act for supplying North .Shields and the shipping resorting thereto with water; 26 Geo. III.
cap. ex.; Statutes at Large, vol. xxxv. p. 932.
' A new market-place between Saville and Tyne Streets was opened in 1SS7,
312 TYNEMOUTH BOROUGH.
Shipping increased its proportions, and ontgrew the restrictions imposed
npon it by the corporation of Newcastle. Trade was carried on with the
East Indies, North America, and the Baltic ; and, after the Baltic ports
were shnt, about two hundred vessels sailed annually to British America.'
In 1788, the shipowners of North Shields entered into conflict with the
hostmen's company by introducing a Bill into Parliament for providing a
public office in Shields to register the arrivals and ascertain the returns of
ships laden with coal." The measure was rejected, but the enforcement of
a voyage up the Tyne on all vessels wishing to trade with Shields was
becoming impossible. Joseph Scott, a whariinger in North Shields, estab-
lished regular traders in 1808 for the conveyance of goods direct to the
harbour town.^ The Newcastle custom-house had a branch office in the
market-place, and a watch-house near Cliff'ord's fort, but it was a standing
grievance that there was still no separate custom-house for North Shields.
Vigorous eff"orts to obtain one were made in 1816, and, though they failed,
it was determined bv the Lords of the Treasury that masters of colliers
might be permitted to sign the coast-bond at North Shields.
A subscription library and town clock were built in 1807 at the foot
of Howard Street. Except for some slight provision for the instruction of
the poor children of the parish,^ education had been hitherto neglected,
but, upon the occasion of the jubilee of George III., subscriptions were
raised for a British school, for which a site was found near Christ-church,
part of the building being used as a school of industry for girls. ^ In 18 19
Mr. Thomas Kettlewell founded a charitv school in George Street, a clause
in the deed of trust providing that a lame person, if duly qualified, should
be appointed schoolmaster." In the same year the first banking under-
' Mackenzie, Northumberland, first edition, vol. ii. p. 552.
■ Hostmen's Books, pp. 216-217. '' Mackenzie, he. cil.
' A parish school existed from the time of the Commonwealth, when (in 1652/3) ^10 out of Allcnton
tithes were assigned to it by the Commissioners for the Propagation of the Gospel. Lambeth MSS. No.
1,006, fol. 424, ex inf. A. F. Leach. In 1655 Cabriel Coiilson, the parish clerk, was chosen school-
master for the poor children of the parish. Tynemouth Vestry Books. John Spearman of Thornley,
about the year 1703, bequeathed ^20 to the vicar and churchwardens on trust to apply the interest to
the education of poor boys in the parish. Surtees, Durham, vol. i. p. 96. The parish schoolhouse was
let in 1783 to the Rev. Air. Ireland, on condition that he should teach four poor children. Tynemouth
Vestry Books. On April 20th, 1785, permission was given by the Tynemouth Vestry to James Storey
of the Low Lights to erect a pew in the parish church on condition that he and his heirs should yearly
pay to the curate of the parish thirty shillings towards the education of four poor children of the
parish. Ibid.
' An account of the Jubilee School is given by G. H. Haswell, The Maister, a Century of Tynesidc
Life. In 1880 it was handed over to the School Boartl for the borough, and an infant school has been
added to it.
' Kettlewell's school was transferred to the local educational authority in 1905.
NORTH SHIELDS TOWNSHIP.
313
taking in the town was started by Robert Spence and others. It continued
under the name of the North and South Shields Rank until 1836, when the
business was transferred to the Newcastle, Shields, and Sunderland Joint
Stock Bank.' A Scientific and Mechanical Institute was formed in 1825,
and was re-organised eight years later as the Mechanics' and Tradesmen's
Library, with rooms in Tyne Street.
Industry centred round the Low Lights. A waggonway was constructed
connecting the Cullercoats Main Colliery and Whitley limestone quarries
The Low and High Lights.
with the Tyne at this point, and much coal and lime was shipped at staiths
erected on the foreshore. In 1848 the colliery was laid in, and the staiths
were shortly afterwards removed." Gas works were established near the
same place in 1820 by the newly-formed North Shields Gas Company.
' Maberley Phillips, History of Batiks and Banking, pp. 221-225.
- See p. 27. A good view of the lime staiths is given in T. Sutherhind's engraving of a sketch by
T. M. Richardson. See also views of the foreshore in Carmichael, Pictures of Tynesidc.
Vol.. VIII.
40
314
TYNEMOUTH BOROUGH.
Three years later the Union Quay was built, connecting the Low Street
with the ancient bridge over the Pow burn. The increase of the fishing
industry caused a fish market to be built in the market place in 1820. A
new graving dock, now the property of the Shields Engineering Company,
was formed about the same time by Mr. Thomas Metcalfe in Liddell Street.
Resular communication with Newcastle bv river commenced with
the organization of a steam-packet service in 18 14.' Coaches covered
the distance by road, starting from the Bull Ring at North Shields, and
proceeding up Coach Lane to the Tynemouth road." In 1798 proposals
were made for improving communication between North and South
Shields bv means of a tunnel under the river, and a subscription was
started with that object.^ Passage across the river was hitherto only
practicable by means of ferry boats belonging to the Dean and Chapter
of Durham.'' Plans were submitted in 1825 for the construction of a
suspension bridge, but the scheme was allowed to drop.^
By this time North Shields had extended far beyond the limits of the
original township. The joint rule of the vestry and the court leet had
become antiquated, and it was found necessary to define afresh the bound-
aries of the town and to establish some sort of municipal government. An
Act of Parliament passed in 1828'' defined the boundaries as follows:
To the east, a line drawn in a south-east direction from the correction house to the river Tyne : to
the north, the turnpike road from the said correction house to the south-west corner of the churchyard ;
from thence the west wall of the said churchyard to the north-west corner thereof; and from thence
a line drawn in a north-north-west direction to the lane or road called Hawkey's Lane, leading from
the Newcastle turnpike to the village of Preston : to the west, a line drawn from the termination of
the said northern boundary in Hawkey's Lane to the end of the road leading from the Newcastle
turnpike to the town of North Shields ; and from thence the said lane or road leading therefrom to
' ' Before steamboats became so numerous upon the Tyne, there were several covered passage
boats, called comfortables, which went every tide to and from North Shields. Some of these sailing
boats still remain.' Mackenzie, Neii-castle, 1827, p. 722.
-' Mackenzie, Northumberland, ist edition, vol. ii. p. 538. In 1827 there were ten coaches and
twenty-eight gigs, whereas 'about forty years before only one old crazy gig was employed upon
the road.' ^L^ckenzie, NcivcastU; 1827, p. 722. » Monthly Magar.im; vol. v. p. 149.
' Depositions were taken in 161 1 with regard to the tenure by which the ferry was held ; Exchiquev
Depositions, 9 Jas. L Hilary, No. 20 ; and again in 1619. Ibid. 17 Jas. L Mich., No. 11. A ferry was
granted by the Crown inter alia to Edward Ramsey and Robert Ramsey in 1624. In 1717 an order
was made by the Master of the Rolls that the Dean and Chapter of Durham should enjoy this ferry,
paying to the duke and duchess of Somerset and to their heirs the yearly and accustomed rent of 6s. 8d.
Duke of Northumberland's MSS. The ancient ferry rights of the Dean and Chapter were bought up
by the Tyne Commissioners under the Tyne Improveinent Act of 1865.
' Hodgson, Borough 0/ South Shields, pp. 141-143. Proc. Soc. Antiq. Newcastle, 2nd series, vol. ix.
pp. 24-25.
' An Act for paving, lighting, watching, cleansing, regulating and improving the town of Noftl)
Shields, in the county of Northumberland ; 9 Geo. IV. cap. xx.wii.
CHIRTON TOWNSHIP. 315
the town of North Shields as far and unto the south end of the Quakers' burial ground on the west
side of the said lane ; and from thence a line drawn straight therefrom to the north-west corner of
Milburn Place ; and from thence following the boundary between the townships of North Shields
and Chirton to the river : to the south the river Tyne : provided always that nothing in this Act
contained shall extend or be taken or construed to alter or in any manner affect the present boundaries
or limits of the parish of Tynemouth, or any of the townships contained therein, otherwise than for
the purposes of this Act, but that in all other respects and for all other purposes whatsoever the present
boundaries and limits of the said parish and the several townships contained therein shall continue
and be the same as they respectively were at and immediately before the passing of this Act.
Under this Act commissioners were appointed who comprised : (i)
all justices of the peace residing within the limits of the Act, (2) the
churchwardens of the parish, (3) the steward and bailiff of the manor,
(4) householders or occupiers of lands, etc., within the limits of the Act
of the annual value of £^0, or having real or personal property amounting
to ;^2,ooo. Various powers were conferred upon the commissioners, in-
cluding the appointment of watchmen, who were to have the full power
and authority of constables. North Shields was divided into four wards
and Tynemouth into two, a watchman being appointed for each ward.
Before tracing the further development of local government, some account
must be given of Chirton and Preston townships, which came to be included
within the municipal area.'
CHIRTON TOWNSHIP.
The township of Chirton is bounded by Preston and Tynemouth
townships upon the east, by Shields Bank-head and the river Tyne upon
the south, and by the Howden burn on the west. Northward it stretched
up to Shire Moor, the boundary in this direction before the enclosure of
the moor being an irregular line drawn from Moor Houses to INIurton Row.
A considerable portion of the moor is now included within its limits, in-
creasing its acreage from 1,820 to 2,576 acres.'
A deed of the year 1320 bears witness to the gradual process by which
the southern edges of the moor were brought into cultivation. Henry
Faukes of Backworth quit-claimed to the prior and convent of Tynemouth
all right to si.xty acres of Rodestane moor, on the west side of Preston,
'The following are the census returns for North Shields township: iSoi, 7,^80; iSii, 7,699;
1821,8,205; 1831,6,744; 1841,7,509; 1851,8,882; 1861,9,595; 1871,8,619; 1881,7.250; 1891,6,046;
1901, 5,737-
- Of these 2,576 acres 81 acres are inland water, 116 acres are tidal water, and 4 acres are lore-
shore. The census returns for the township are : 1801, 1,152 ; 18", 3,116 ; 1821, 4,35' ;'*3'. 4.9/j,
1841,4,360; 1851,3,960; 1861,5,544; 1871,8,005; 1881,11,248; 1891,13,066; 1901, 15,668.
3l6 TYNEMOUTH BOROUGrf.
The boundaries of this piece of land are described as being the way leading
from ' Billing ' mill to Murton, the North Street leading from Tynemouth
to Rodestane gallows, the furlong in Preston called vSpittal Hat, and the
furlong in East Chirton called Black Chesters. Full liberty was accorded
to the prior and convent to bring this land under cultivation.' Anotlier
proof of the gradual extension northward of Chirton township is afforded
by the fact that the moor retained its name of Billy Mill moor long after
that mill had fallen outside its limits.
The name of Black Chesters does not, as has been supposed, necessarily
imply Roman occupation. Chesters was a name applied generally to earth-
works of an early date ; a place on the boundary of Tynemouth and
Killingworth moors was termed Green Chesters, though it has never been
suspected to be Roman ; and no further inference can be drawn from such
place-names than that they mark pre-Conquest and possibly prehistoric
settlements. Black Chesters has been variously located. The deed quoted
above demands a site immediately north or west of Preston colliery, the land
there conveyed practically coinciding with Billy Mill farm. No traces of
it can now be discovered, though they are said to have been distinguishable
early in the nineteenth century.^
Other evidences of early occupation are not wanting. A stone cist
was unearthed in 1790 in Billy Mill quarry,' and another in Crawley close,
to the east of Chirton village.* In 1892 a bronze fibula, 5I inches long,
with a square head 2- inches across and a hatchet-shaped foot, was dis-
covered at Whitehill point. ^
' This deed is incorrectly printed from the Tynemouth Chartulary, fol. 80 b, in Brand, Newcastle, vol.
ii. p. 91. The portion of it bearing on the topic under discussion is as follows : ' Remitto insuper pro me
et heredibus meis ac quietuin clamo dictis priori et conventui omne jus si quid habui in quadam parte
more de Rodestane-more ex occidentali parte de Preston, que quidem pars continet in se sexaginta
acras, et extendit se in longitudine de via que ducit a niolendino de Billing versus Moreton usque ad
culturam que vocatur Spitel-flat in campo de Preston, in latitudine de ilia cultura que vocatur Blake-
chestres m canipo de Est Chirton usque ad North-strete que ducit de Tynem' versus furcas de
Rodestane ; quam quidem partem more Nicholaus f\aukes, pater mens, priori et conventui de Tynem'
et eorum successoribus concessit, remisit, et imperpetuum omnino quietum clamavit ; ita quod nee ego,
predictus Henricus, neque heredes mei, nee aliquis nomine nostro, aliquam communiam seu aliquid
ahud juris in predicta parte more de cetero exigere poterimus vendicare ; set bene liceat dictis priori et
conventui eorum siiccessoribus predictam partem more in culturam redigere et inde commodum suum
omni modo quo eis placuerit facere imperpetuum absque contradictione mei seu heredum meorum.'
[July 29th, 1320.]
= A laureated head and part of the shoulder of a large mailed figure are entered in the catalogue
of Roman stones at the Blackgate museum, Newcastle, as having being found at Black Chesters.
Arch. A el 2nd series, vol. 1. pp. 237, 242. Upon supposed earthworks at Chirton and coins found
there, see Arch. Ael. ist series, vol. i. p. 235.
' Mackenzie, Norlhumbertand, 2nd edition, vol. ii. p. 460.
' Newcastle Courant, November 7th, 1818 ; Richardson, Table Book, Hist. Div. vol. iii. p. 192.
' Proc. Sac. Antiq. Newcastle, 2nd series, vol. v. p. 236, and illustration on p. 238.
chirTon township. 317
Before the formation of the Albert Edward dock there was a natural
landing-place on the north shore of the Tyne, a little above North Shields.
It was formed by the confluence of two streams. The Red burn,' flowing
down from the north-west through Coble dene, is the larger of the two,
and divides Chirton township into two distinct areas. The second stream
flows more nearly north and south, down Chirton dene. Proceeding up
it, along haunted' Silky's lane, East Chirton village is reached at the
junction of this lane and of the Newcastle and Tynemouth road. The
stream turns east at this point, and then north, forming the boundary
between Chirton and Preston townships. Silky's lane continues north-
ward as Billy Mill lane, past Billy Mill to Moor Houses, where stood the
prior of Tynemouth's gallows,^ and where it was joined by the medieval
road from Tynemouth to Morpeth, known as North Street.
As the term ' chesters ' is not confined simply to Roman encampments,
so a 'street' might be other than a paved road, but at least it denotes a
well defined track. The deed of 1320, quoted above, shows that the North
Street turned north at Moor Houses, and passed through Murton. It must
have crossed the Seaton burn at Holywell, for Edward I. passed through
that village in 1304, on his way from Horton to Tynemouth." This line
from Murton to Holywell carries it through Earsdon, and an allusion to
a route from Earsdon to Holywell may be found in the mention, in i2o8,
of a field or furlong in Holywell called Erdesdunes-wei.' A deed drawn
up in 1326 furnishes positive evidence for the e.xistence of a road from
Holywell across Seaton Delaval moor to Stickley. Thence, as appears
from the itinerary of Edward I., it continued to Horton, and after crossing
the Blyth, probably at Humford mill, reached Bedlington.'^
When the monks of St. Cuthbert fled from Durham with the body of
their patron saint before the coming of William the Conqueror in 1069,
they rested the first night at Jarrow and the second at Bedlington,'
and so probably passed along this road. Edward I. followed the same
route upon three occasions on his way to or from Tynemouth priory.
' Called Reed's burn in a plan of 1769 ; Watson Papers, North of. England Institute of Mining and
Mechanical Engineers.
'" Mackenzie, Northumberland, 2nd edition, vol. ii. p. 456.
' Moor Houses is identified with Callow Houses in Tynemouth Parish Registers, ed. Coachman,
vol. i. p. 1 16. ' Cough, Itinerary of Edward I. vol. ii. p. 24<-
' Feet 0/ Fines, John, Northumberland, No. 13. ' Itinerary 0/ Edward I. vol. ii. pp. 100, 20:, 241.
' Symeon of Durham, Historia Regiim, Rolls Series, vol. ii. p. 189.
3l8 TYNEMOUTH BOROUGH.
His use of the road gives interest to an agreement drawn up in the reign
of his successor between Prior Richard de Tewing and Sir Robert de la
Val. This is dated May 4th, 1326, and recites that Sir Robert de hi Val
was in arrears for the rent of the multure of the prior's tenants in South
Dissington. He had also failed to keep up a road which had existed from
time immemorial over his moor between Holywell and Stickley, and had
allowed it to become so deep and muddy that carts could not go along it.
He undertook to repair the road at his own cost upon being remitted his
arrears.'
The evidence of these scattered entries points to the villages of Chirton,
Murtoii, Earsdon and Holywell being early settlements along a road which
had probably before the Conquest become a frequented route from north-
eastern Durham into Northumberland. Chirton threw off two colonies,
and the three hamlets were distinguished as East, Middle, and West
Chirton. The two former were, between the years 1093 and 11 16, granted
to the prior and convent of Tynemouth." West Chirton and Flatworth,
on the right bank of the Red burn, continued for a century and a half to
form part of the barony of Hadston.
A story is told in the Life of St. Oswiii of the pious discrimination
exercised by a flock of geese owned by a Chirton ' bond.' Their owner
' Ista incientura testatur quod, turn quedam controversia mota fuisset inter priorem de Tynemuth ex
una parte ct doininum Robertum de la Val, niilitem, ex altera, de eo quod predictus prior petivit de
predicto domino Roberto octo libras et sexdecint solidos que ei aretro fuerunt, de quodam annuo
redditu sexdecim solidoruni (|ue ei debet pro multura tenentium predicti prioris de South Uiscinton, et
etiam de co quod dictus doniinus Robertus ccpit carcctani predicti prioris in quadani via que ducit de
Haliwell usque Sticlawe per medium more predicti domini Roberti, et ubi dictus dominus Robertus
dicit quod nulla debet esse via pro carris ncc carecta alicujus nee esse consuevit, tandem inter eos
controversia predicta conquievit in liunc modum ; videlicet, pro co quod recta via, in qua dictus dominus
Robertus dicit quod carri et carcctc dc jure ire debent per medium more predicte et a tempore cujus
non extat memoria ire consueverunt inter Haliwell et Sticlawe, ita existit temporibus modernis profunda
et lutosa quod carri et carecte in instante ire non possunt ibidem, predictus prior remisit predicto
domino Roberto omnia arreragia predicta. Pro qua quidem remissione predictus dominus Robertus
concessit pro se et heredibus suis quod ipse et heredes sui rectam viam, in qua carri et carecte ire
debent et temporibus retroactis ire consueverunt de Haliwell usque Sticlawe per medium more sue
predicte, congrue et sufficienter sumptibus suis propriis emendare facient, ita quod carri et carecte
ipsius prioris et successorum suorum congrue et sufficienter absque impediniento preterire possint, et
quod interim, quousque predicta via sic emendetur, predictus prior et successores sui habeant viam
sufficicntem et congruam juxta predictam viam per quam ire solebant per medium predicte more cum
carris et carectis suis omni tempore anni de predicta villa de Haliwell usque Sticlawe, ad majus
aisiamentum ipsius prioris et successorum suorum, et ad minus dampnum ipsius Roberti et bereduni
suorum, quo ibidem transire poterint sine impediniento predicti domini Roberti vel heredum suorum.
In cujus, etc. Datum apud Novum Castrum supra Tynam, die dominica proxima post festum
ascensionis domini, A.D. 1326. Tynemouth Chartidary, fol. 89.
- Henry I.'s charter, by which he confirmed the two Chirtons to the prior and convent of Tynemouth,
is probably to be dated between llo5 and 11 16. See above, p. 55 (13). Matthew Paris states that the
grant was made in the time of Richard, abbot of St. Alban's, 1093-1119. Gesta Abbaium, Rolls Series,
vol. i. p. 68.
CHIRTON TOWNSHIP. 3I9
Stacked his corn after harvest, and leaving the tenth stook on the ground
as St. Oswin's tithe, he carted the remainder home.' His wife drove her
geese into the field, and tossed them one of the saint's sheaves ; but they
waddled away, so she took up the sheaf and cooped the geese up with it,
resolved that they should have that or nothing. Her curiosity • excited
her presently to open the door of the pen. The geese took their heads
out from under their wings, and raced towards her with expectant cackles ;
but not a grain of the saint's corn had they touched.' The tale of how
the daughter of Roger of Middle Chirton was cured of a bloody flux is
of a less miraculous character.^
East Chirton.
According to the survey of 1292, the sum of lis. lod. was received
from East Chirton in money-rents, in addition to forty quarters of barley-
malt, valued at 2s. 6d. the quarter.^ The tallage roll of 1294 gives the
following names of tenants :
East Chirton Tallage Roll, 1294.
s. d. s. d.
De Roberto tie Chirton ... ... ... —
De Willelmo Belle 13 4
De Willelmo Champeneys 12 o
De Willelmo Graye cum sociis, tenenti-
bus terre Huironis Dene —
De Willelmo filio Ranulplii ... ... 12 o
De Ricardo longo ... ... ... 3 4
De Roberto filio Willelmi i o
De Rogero filio Ranulphi ... ... 3 o
De Roberto filio Johannis ... ... 2 o
De Radulpho filio Willelmi ... ... 9 o
-Summa, £1 15s. Sd.''
All these tenants, except Robert de Chirton and William Gray, who
pay no tallage, reappear in the custumal as bonds, doing the same services
and having the same customs as those of Preston.'' Each bond held thirty-
six acres ; but as the whole customary lands of the township measured
299 acres, rent was paid for the eleven acres surplusage." There were four
minor holdings ; Robert Burdon had a house, and paid 6d. rent ; William
Barker, Robert Sis, and Ralph, son of William, each held four acres, for
which they paid gd. apiece. Robert de Chirton and Hugh the pounder,
who may be identified with Hugh Dene, reappear as customary freeholders
paying rad-mal. The hitter's services are thus set forth :
' Cum per metas modicas, ut moris est nietentibus, fruges suas collegisset in agro, decimam metam
sancto Oswino consignavit in decimam, eo quod terra sua ad sancti dommiuni pertmeret, et partein
bladi reliquam, quae eum contingebat, domum cum carro studiosus agricola deducebat. \ tta Oswini,
Surt. Soc. No. 8, cap. xli. - /(,,,/. ' Ibid. cap. .vxxvi. ' Tyncmuuth Chartulary, fol. 55.
' §t,Atban's Regisky, fol. 109 b. ' For these see above, p. 223. " Tymmouth Chartulary, fol. 7 b.
320
TYNEMOUTH BOROUGH.
Hugh Punder holds forty-five acres and pays yearly 5s. 2cl., and 5s. for rade-male, and three ' tawes '
of barley-malt and three 'tawes' of oats. He shall do one 'boen-ere' at the prior's maintenance, and
' bon-harrowe ' without food. He shall, together with Robert de Chirton, who is associated with him,
do one Neusum-lade at the prior's maintenance. He shall do three days' work in the autumn, as does
William Drymouth. Together with Robert de Chirton, who is associated with him, he pays Cjd. and
gives ijd. for milne-silver.
Robert de Chirton also held forty-five acres, for which he paid 2s. 6d.
yearly rent. He did in-lade in the field of Tynemouth without food, and
gave i|d. for milne-silver at the feast of St. Peter and St. Paul. The
other services imposed upon him were similar to those rendered by Hugh
the pounder.'
Six of the eight bonds paid subsidy in 1296. William Gray and Robert
de Chirton appear in that roll among the jurors of the liberty.
East Chirton Suhsidy
Roll, i
I s. d.
296.
s.
d.
Summa bonoruni
Willelmi Champenays
2 17 0
unde
domino
regi
5
3
Willelmi Bel
2 8 4
4
4l
Radulphi filii Willelmi
I 14 4
3
'i
Willelmi filii Ranulphi
2 4 s
4
of
Roger! filii Ranulphi
I III
2
0
Roberti filii Johannis
1 I 0
I
II
Summa hujus ville, ^11 8s. id. ; unde domino regi, ^i os. 8|d.'
Various pieces of land in East Chirton were acquired by the prior
and convent as demesne in 1348, 1354, and 1380.' Only twenty-five acres
out of the ninety acres mentioned above remained in the hands of free men
in 1377. The owners had compounded with the prior at 5d. an acre, as
an equivalent for all services except carting of millstones and tallage.
Eight acres lately acquired by the convent brought in 6s. 8d. rent. The
land which Walter de Hesilden held for the term of his life was in the
lord's hand and not yet let out. There were still eight bondage holdings,
but four were waste and were leased for a payment of barley-malt and
oats; the remainder paid a money-rent collectively of 15s. 3d.''
At the time of the suppression of the monasteries there were five tene-
ments in East Chirton. Each customary tenant paid £\ 17s. 4d. as money-
rent, 4d. for pannage, and is. for the tithe of hay, as well as three quarters
of barley and three quarters of oats. There was a payment of is. 4d. made
by the whole township for a garden.* A survey of 1606 specifies the extent
' Tynemouth Chartulary, fol. 39. ^ Lay Subsidy Roll, ifS. ' See above, pp. 115, 116.
' Tynemouth Chartulary, fols. 52 b and 60. ^ Gibson, Tynemouth, vol. i. p. 221,
CHIRTON TOWNSHIP.
321
of each holding as a house with barn and garth, forty-five acres of arable,
two acres of meadow, fourteen acres of pasture, and common on Billy Mill
moor. The five tenants were Rowland Marshall, Robert Andrew, William
Bailiff, Thomas Coward and Mark Milbanke.'
' Land Revenue, Miscell. Hooks, vol. 223, fols. 299-300.
REED OF CHIRTON.
Reed. =
I
Ralph Reed of Chirton, together with George :
Milbourne of Chirton purchased land at the
Pow Burn, and the coal mines in Monkseaton
and Chirton, in 1633 (i) ; buried gth October,
1636 (a) ; will dated l8th June, 1636 {d).
: Phillis [daughter of Stephen Kitchin of Jar-
row*], to whom her husband gave his lands
in East and Middle Chirton for life (</) ;
remarried before igih November, 1646, William
Chapman of South Shields (</).
Roger Reed, nam-
ed in the will
of his brother
Ralph (r/).
I I
Edward Reed, Ralph Reed of Chirton, baptised ;
bapt. nth 6thjuly,i6i7(«) ; ofSt. John's
February, College, Cambridge ; matricu-
1615/6 (rt) ; lated nth July, 1633, aged 17 ;
buried 28th to whom his father gave his
May, 1616 lands in East and Middle Chir-
(^a"). ton, subject to his mother's
life interest, his salt pans, his
coal pits in Preston, Chirton,
Monkseaton, and Billymoor
( d") ; buried in the chancel
of St. Oswin's, Tynemouth,
24th November, 1646 (a) ;
will dated 19th November,
1646 (</).
Catherine, daughter of John
Salkeld of Rock (c) ; to
whom her husband gave his
farms and freeholds in East
Chirton for her widowhood
((/) ; she remarried, gth
September, 1648, Ralph
Gardner of Chirton (/)
(«), the River Reformer,-)-
and as Catherine Gardner
exhibited an account of her
first husband's personal es-
tate in 1649 ((/), and paid
hearth ta.x for a house in
North Shields in 1663.
I I I I
Edward, baptised 3rd December, 1619
(«) ; apparently dead before i8th June,
1636 (</).
George, baptised 1st May, 1622 (a) ; an.
parently dead before i8th June, 1636 (</).
Thomas, baptised 9lh July, 1626 {a)\
buried 15th July same year (a).
Roger,! baptised 14th Feb., 1629/30 («) ;
to whom his father gave the manor of
Whitchester (</) ; mar. Margaret, dau.
of Robert Conyers of Bowlby (<).
Jane, baptised 9th July, 1626 (a) ; named
in her father's will (;/) ; married 7th
January, 163940, Gilbert Errington
(a) of West Denton (c).
I I
Ralph, buried
13th March,
1638/9 (a),
in Tynemouth
chancel.
Nicholas, bap-
tised 26th De-
cember, 163S
(a) ; buried
22nd January,
1638/9 (a), in
Tynemouth
chancel.
Ralph Reed of Chirton, baptised 15th July, 1640 :
(a) ; found heir to his father's lands, April, i6;o
(/5) ; admitted to Gray's Inn, 31st May, 1656 ;
rated for lands in East Chirton in 1663, and sur-
rendered same, April, 1672, to the use of Sir Thomas
Liddell (^) ; was of the parish of St. Margaret's,
Westminster, 20th May, 1673, when he mortgaged
his salt pans at North Shields to Ralph Milbourne,
of the parish of St. Clement Danes, gentleman (c) ;
described as of Newcastle in a release dated 7th
December, 1676 (f) ; buried at St. John's, New-
castle, 13th December, 1676 (^).§
I
Ralph Reed, baptised 3rd September, 1659 (a).
.Ill
Ann Francis, baptised 2nd December,
living at 164I (a) ; to whom his father
Newcastle gave his s;»lt pans at North
a widow. Shields ('/) ; died 2nd April,
14th Feb., 1675 (a).
1677/8 (^). Ludovick, baptised 23rd Septem-
ber, 1645 (a) ; named in his
father's will (d') ; but led 1st
Februar)', 1646/7 (a).
Barbara, baptised 20th June, 1644
(a); married gth .August, 1669,
Captain Jo. Tong (a), and 2nd,
at All Saints', Newcastle, loth
October, 1675, John Cluitcrbuck
of Newcastle.
• 1640, iSth July. Edward Kitchin, brother of Mistress Reede of Chirton, buried. Tynemouth Register. Compare
Surtees, Durham, vol. ii. p. 2g.
t 1648, 9 Sept. Rad. Gardiner gen. et Catherina Reed de Chirton vid. Earsdon Register of Murriages.
\ Roger Reed of North Shields compoimded for his delinquency in 1649 (Welford, Royalist Composition Papers').
On 15th June, 1652, he sold his burgage and two salt pans in North Shields to William Collinson {Tynemouth Court Rolls').
§ Administration of the goods of Ralph Reed of the chapelry of St. John, Newcastle, was granted in 1677, but the
document is missing from the bundle for that year remaining in the Probate Registry at Durham. The inventory of
his goods, appraised loth August, 1677, only amounted to .^40.
(a) Tvnenwulh Register. (<■) Abstract of title to salt pans at North
(b) Tynemouth Court Rolls and Duke of Northumberland's Shields. Bell Collection.
MSS. (/) Earsdon Reguters.
(ir) Welford, Royalist Composition Papers, Surt. Soc. (^) St. John's Register, Newcastle.
(d) Durham Probate Registry. (>4) Dugdale, Visitation 0/ Yorishtre.
Vol, VIII,
4>
22 2 TYNEMOUTH BOROUGH.
Marshall's and Bailiff's farms came, before 1650, into the hands of Ralph
Reed, a colliery-owner and salt-manufacturer. His son, Ralph Reed the
younger, appears to have sold his property at Chirton in 1672 to John
Clarke, an agent of Joscelin, eleventh earl of Northumberland. Clarke
obtained permission from the earl's widow to dismantle Warkworth castle,
and with its spoils he built Chirton hall on the west side of Silky's lane,
a road running down from the village towards the river.' After Clarke's
death, on May 6th, 1675, his widow married Philip Bickerstaffe, member
of parliament for Berwick in 1686, and for Northumberland in 1688 and
1694.- Mr. Bickerstaffe surrendered his copyhold lands in Chirton on
August 1st, 1699, to Sir William Blackett,' who concluded a sale of
Chirton hall to Archibald, first duke of Argyll. The duke was a great
lover of horse-racing, and kept a large stud at Chirton, where he died on
September 28th, 1703.''
A year before his death Argyll made over his English estates, including
Chirton, to Mr. Boutflower of Apperley, in trust for Mrs. Allison. The
duke's relatives put in a claim to the property. The full purchase-money
for Chirton had, however, never been paid, and Sir William Blackett
concluded a bargain with Mrs. Allison to enable her to dispose of the estate.
She sold Chirton to Mr. Robert Lawson of Cramlington, receiving £ 1,200
for her interest in those lands, while the rest of the money went to pay
off Sir William Blackett.'
Under the provisions of the will of Hilton Lawson,^ son of Robert
' See vol. V. of this work, p. 75.
• 1676, October 24th. Capt. Phillip Bickerstaffe and Maddam Jane Clarke married ; Tynemoidh
Registers. 1 Tynemouth Court Rolls.
' Duke of Portland's MSS. vol. iv. p. 70 ; Hist. MSS. Com. See also Dictionary of National Biography.
' Argyle Papers, Edinburgh, 1834, pp. 92, 121.
' Will of Hilton Lawson of Chirton, dated April 14th, 1748, proved March 25th, 1768 : To my wife,
Winifred Lawson, for her life, an annuity of ^100 payable out of my copyhold lands at Chirton, and the
use of my capital mansion at Chirton. To my god-dauyhtcr, Winifred CoUingwood, £100. The residue
of my freehold and copyhold estates at Cramlington, Chirton and Preston, to my brother, John Lawson
of Barton, co. Beds., esq., for life, .'^fter his decease to John Lawson the younger, eldest son of the said
John Lawson, for life. Remainder to the heirs of the said John Lawson the younger in tail male. And
for default of such issue, to the Rev. Wilfrid Lawson, vicar of Warkworth, for life, with remainder to his
heirs in tail male. And for default of such issue, to Mansfield Cardonnel, esq., commissioner of the
customs at Edinburgh, and his heirs and assigns for ever, upon condition that they shall take and use
the surname of Lawson. My wife sole executrix.
Hilton Lawson died at Chirton on December 15th, 1767 {Newcastle Coiirant, December 19th, 1767).
John Lawson the elder having died in his brother's lifetime, John Lawson the younger inherited under
the provisions of the will. Wilfrid Lawson died without issue, November 27th, 1777 (see vol. v. of this
work, p. 187). Mansfeldt Cardonnel died November 22nd, 17S0. Upon the death of John Lawson the
younger without issue in October, 1791, Adam Cardonnel inherited the property as eldest son and heir
of Mansfeldt Cardonnel. Bell Collection at Alnwick castle, No. 352. For Mansfeldt Cardonnel see
Alexander Carlyle, Autobiography, pp. 218-219. A biography of his son, Adam Cardonnel, is given in
the Dictionary of National Biography, vol. ix. pp. 41-42.
CHIRTON TOWNSHIP.
323
Lawson mentioned above, and high sheriff for the county in 1761, Cram-
lington and the Chirton farms came, in 1791, to Adam Cardonnel, who
assumed the name of de Cardonnel-Lawson. Upon the opening of the
Burdon Main colliery on the estate in 181 1, Mr. Lawson pulled down
Chirton hall, and went to reside at Cramlington. Only the gate posts and
CARDONNEL-LAWSON OF CHIRTON AND CRAMLINGTON.
Mansfeldt Cardonnel,* some time of North Shields, = Anne, daughter of Thomas Hilton of Low Ford, near
afterwards of Musselburgh, N.B., and a commissioner Sunderland, second son of Henry Hilton, a baron of the
bishopric; baptised jth June, 1 70S ; bond of marriage, 20th
August, 1726; married at Tynemouth, 8th September, 1726
(a) ; died 23rd July, 1786 (i).
of customs in Scotland, an appointment he held for
thirty-six years ; died 12th November, 1780 (^), aged
83 years (c).
I
Adam Cardonnel,+ a medical practitioner at Edinburgh, after-
wards called Adam Mansfeldt de Cardonnel-Lawson ; suc-
ceeded to estates at Chirton and Cramlington in 1791, under
the provisions of the will of his kinsman, Hilton Lawson of
Chirton ; Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland,
1780, and a curator of that society, 1782-17S4 ; high sheriff
of Northumberland, 1796; buried at Cramlington, 14th
June, 1820, aged 73 (rf) ; will dated 22nd May, 1819 ; proved
at the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, 2 1st November,
1820, and at Durham, 13th July, 1822 (c).
'Ill, . . .^^
Mary, daugh- James Cardonnel, baptised lOlh Decem-
ler of James ber, 1727 (a); buried at St. Nicholas',
Kidd, agene- Newcastle, Ijih .August, 1735.
ral in the Daniel Cardonnel, baptised 2 1st Janu-
army (<•), ary, 1733/4 (") J buried four days
named in her later («).
husband's Mary Margaret, baptised 7th October,
will; died I730(«)-
25th May, Ann, buried 2Sth December, 1735
1830 CO- (")•
Adam Mansfeldt de Cardonnel-Lawson of=p..
Chirton and Cramlington, an officer in the
2 1 St Light Dragoons ; married, first, circa
June, 1802, Lucy, daughter of Weston,
prebendary of Durham (/), and second,
: died at Acton-house, 21st November,
1838, aged 58 ; buried at Felton.
.Alexander Hilton Anne Lindsay de Cardonnel, married at Walcote,
de Cardonnel Bath, 14th September, 1S13, Magnus Morton
(/), baptised Kelly (j?) ; named in her father's will.
27th February, Hannah Mary de Cardonnel, married at Chclten-
1794 (a); ham, 19th February, 1824, Joseph Hdward
named in his Greaves, who afterwards assumed the name of
father's will. Elmsall C^) ; named in her father's will.
I
Janies Hilton de Cardonnel-Lawson of 3rd or Prince of Wales Dragoon Guards, = Caroline Russell, daughter of Lieut.-Col.
born 20th March, 1827 ; was stationed at Pontefract, 20ih March, 1S48, when Wilford;_remarned, I2th January, 1873,
he attained the age of 2i ; after\vards resided at Hilton Lodge, Tynemouth. Henry Warren.
* Mansfeldt Cardonnel was a kinsman of Adam Cardonnel, secretary of the great duke of Marlborough, whose will,
dated 29th October, 1718, was proved at London in the following year. It is stated m the Scot. Mag. for .November 17*0,
of Mansfeldt Cardonnel, that by his mother he was grandson of the duke of Monmouth, and not a distant relation ol Ulner
Cromwell. His father, James Cardonnel, was secretary to the duke of Schomberg, who was killed at the Uittle 01 in..
Boyne. Notes and Queries, series ii. vol. x. p. 239.
+ Adam de Cardonnel was author of Numisma/a Sco/me, or a Series of the Scottish Coinage from the Keign of William the
Lion to the Union. Edinburgh, 17S6. Also of Picturesque Antiquities of Scotland, London, 1793.
(<0 Tvnenioulh Registers. (0 Bell Collection, No. 352.
{b) iVlusgrave Obituary, FLul. Soc. vol. xliv. (/) Gentlemans Magazine, 1S02, p. 684.
(c) Notes and Queries, series ii. vol. x. p. 239. (^) JUd. 1813, pt. ii. p. 394-
id) D,ctw,iary~of National Biography. ih) Hunter, familiae Mniorum Gentium, vol. .1. p. / 18.
some of the outbuildings of the old house remain. Warburton described
it, a century earlier, as built of fine freestone and brick, having a good
garden on the south front. Mr. Lawson's son, James Hilton de Cardonnel-
Lawson, sold the greater part of his Chirton property, amounting to 293
acres, and it was purchased in 1865 by Mr. Trevelyan, now Sir George Otto
324
tYNEMOdTH BOROUGri.
Trevelyan of Wallington. Four years later it was sold in lots, the duke
of Northumberland being the principal purchaser. The estate included
the Meadow Well and Chirton Dene farms. The eastern portion is now
covered with streets, and the southern part is in the hands of the Tyne
Commissioners and used for storage purposes. Chirton Hill Lane farm,
on which Preston colliery stands, is still in the hands of the Lawson family.
MILBOURNE AND BUTLER OF CHIRTON.
Geokge Mii.hoiikne purchased lands in the parish of Tyiiemouih from John Erringtoii and :
Richard Lambert amj 1616 (c).
Ann = George Milbourne of Chirton, to whom circa 1619 his father conveyed =
first wife, | the lands pmchased from Errington and Lambert (c) ; admitted to
bur. 28th lands in Chirton, 22nd October, 1631, on the surrender of Henry
December, Andrew (c) ; purchased lands at Pow Panns in 1632, and a salt pan
1640 («). near that place in 1635 ; together with William Milbourne of New-
i castle purchased a salmon fishery at the Low Lights in 1637, then
1 described as of South Shields (c) ; buried 7th ALirch, 1650/51 {a).
- Jane, dau. of Michael
Mitford of Seghill,
married at Earsdon
gth March, 1642/3 ;
she married, 2nd,
1st Jan., 1651/2,
Ralph I'enwick (a).
John Mill
ilbourne
brother of
George Mil-
bourne of
Chirton, bur.
I gth Decem-
ber, 1640 (11).
1
William Milbourne of Chirton, baptised 13th August,
1644 (rt) ; apprenticed 15th .\ugust, 1660, to John
Butler of Newcastle, mercer ; admitted free of Mer-
chants' Company, 26th October, 1 670 (/) ; to whom
his brother George gave an annuity payable out of
his freehold lands (d) ; buried in the chancel of
Christ Church, Tynemouth, 28th Oct, 1675 {a).
Ralph Milbourne of;
Chirton, ba])tised 13th
Aug., 1646 ((0 ; died
22nd INLiy, 16S9, aged
43 W (") ; will dated
8th November, 1686 ;
proved 1689 ((/).
Winifred, daughter of
Thomas Richardson
of Clement's Inn,
London (/4) ; she re-
built Chirton-house
in 1693 ; buried 2nd
.\pril, 1720 (a).
II
Barbara, baptised
2 I St March,
1647/8 («).
Sarah, baptised
I ith December,
1649 («).
Winifred Milbourne, daughter and heir, married 4th July, = John Roddam of Roddam and Little Houghton, died at
1698 (rt) ; buried 29th December, 1722 (a). I Chirton ; buried 1st October, 1702 («).
III.
Winifred, baptised 27th September, 1699 (a) ; buried two days later («).
Mary, baptised loth December, 1700 (a) ; married Edward Collingwood of Byker.
Winifred, baptised 19th .August, 1702 (a) ; married 14th July, 1737/8, Hilton Lawson (a), and died his widow
at Chirton, 15th February, 1790.
George Milbourne of Chirton,* son and heir (c) [baptised 3rd
December, 1637 (a)] ; was admitted to his father's lands,
14th October, 1651, then aged 13 (c) ; was rated for lands
at Chirton, Murton and North Shields in 1663 ; died loth,
buried in the choir of Christ Church, 13th .March, 1671/2
(o) ; will dated 20th January, 167 1/2 ; proved 1672 (</).
Isabella Milbourne (Oi sister of =
the whole blood and heir of
George .Milbourne ; second
wife of John Butler (^) ; [bap-
tised ;7th October, 1639 (a)] ;
partytodeed 5th March, 1672.
; John Hutler of Newcastle
(^), merchant atlventurer,
was 46 years of age when
he entered his pedigree
at the visiuuion, 24th
.August, 1 565 (e).
, I 1 I
William Butler, was 5 years of age George Butler, =
in l665 (c) ; joined his parents in baptised loth
surrenders of lands at Chirton in Dec, 1667
1683 (c). (a) ; dead be-
Ralph Butler, was aged l year and fore 5th June,
10 months, 24th .\ugust, i566 (e). 1696.
Ann : she remarried
Thomas Sharper of North
Shields ; articles before mar-
riage, 5th June, 1696 ; living
a widow for the second time,
22nd March, 17 14.
24th
■| I !
Catherine, born before
.August, 1666 {e).
Milbournella, baptised 23rd No-
vember, 1675 (a) ; buried 6th
December same year (a).
Isabella, bapt. 19th Dec, 167S (a).
* There was a contemporary George Milbmn at Chirton, who, in one entry in the Tynnmndh Ret;ister is
described as a herd.
(a) Tynonoulh Registers.
(i) Monumental Inscription, Christ Church, Tynemouth.
(<-) Tynemoiilh Court Rolls and Duke of Northumberland's MSS.
((!') Durham Proliate Registry,
{/) Dugdale, Visitation of Nortkumlterlanti^ l665.
(_/") Newcastle Merchant Adventurers, Dendy.
CHIRTON TOWNSHIP. 325
Ballast hills, over a hundred feet in height, form a conspicuous feature
on what was once the Lavvson property. The ground on which they stand,
south-west of Milburn Place, was leased to Messrs. Smith, dock-owners,
who obtained permission from the corporation of Newcastle in 1825 to
make a ballast depot there. The heaps grew rapidly for a time, gravel
being delivered out of vessels by cranes and conveyed on tramways to the
top of the heap ; but gravel has now been almost entirely superseded by
water ballast, and the ballast heaps are being gradually demolished. A
time-gun, placed upon one of them in 1863, was fired daily at i p.m.
by a current from Greenwich observatory, but the practice has been
discontinued.
Andrew's farm was acquired in 1631 by George Milbourne. He, like
his neighbour, Ralph Reed, was actively engaged in the coal and salt
industries. His younger son and eventual heir, Ralph Milbourne, died in
1689, leaving his property at Chirton to his widow, Winifred Milbourne,
who, in 1693, rebuilt Chirton house on the east side of Silky's lane. Their
only daughter and heir, Winifred, married John Roddam of Roddam, by
whom she had two surviving daughters, Mary and Winifred. They married
respectively Edward Collingwood of Byker, and Hilton Lawson of Chirton.
The bulk of the Milbourne inheritance, including Chirton house, was
assigned to the elder daughter, and thus came into the hands of the
Collingwood family.
Edward Collingwood, the husband of Mary Roddam, was son and heir
of Edward Collingwood of Byker and Dissington. He was for many years
recorder of Newcastle, and was mayor of that town in 1740. On his doatii,
in 1783, he was succeeded in his estates by his son, Edward Collingwood
the younger. The latter by his will, dated June 26th, 1805, devised his
property at Dissington and Shipley to his niece, Mary Winifred (daughter
of Thomas Babington Pulleine of Carlton, and wife of Walter Spencer
Stanhope of Cannon hall in Yorkshire), in trust for her third son, Edward
Stanhope, who assumed the name of Collingwood, and from whom are de-
scended the Collingwoods of Dissington. Under another clause of the will
Chirton devolved, upon Mr. Edward Collingwood's death, to his kinsman,
Cuthbert, Lord Collingwood. Though naval commands prevented Lord
Collingwood from ever visiting Chirton, his letters show that he took a
keen interest in his new property, and his wife and daughters resided there
326 TYNEMOUTH BOROUGH.
until his death in 18 10. As he died without male issue, Chirton passed,
under the provisions of Mr. Edward CoUingwood's will, to Lord Colling-
wood's brother, John Collingwood, ancestor of the Collingwoods of Lilburn
tower, the present owners.' Chirton house was sold in 1876, and in 1899 it
was pulled down to make way for co-operative stores. The estate includes
Chirton and Billy Mill farms, with an acreage of 127 acres, besides lands
in Morton, Preston and North Shields.
Coward's farm was acquired, about the year 1620, by Thomas Spear-
man, second son of Robert Spearman of Preston. His grandson, Robert
Spearman of Durham, ancestor of the Spearmans of Old Acres in that
county," surrendered his Chirton property on September 21st, 1724, to
Henry Walker of Whitby, master and mariner, brother of John Walker of
the Low Lights. Mr. Walker also purchased property in Preston and Tyne-
mouth from the Spearman family. He left three daughters and co-heirs,
namely, (i) Esther, wife of Richard Ellison of Thorn in Yorkshire, (2)
Rachel, wife of John Yeoman of Whitby, (3) Mary, wife of Matthew
Waters of Wallsend. A portion of the Chirton property was purchased
in 1794 by Mr. Cardonnel-Lawson. The remainder passed by descent to
the Yeoman, Sibthorpe and Rudyerd families. It included the district
between the Coach Lane and Little Bedford Street in North Shields, and
is now covered with streets. Hawkey's farm has been sold to the Tyne-
mouth Corporation by the representatives of Richard Rudyerd of Whitby,
who married Anne, daughter of John Yeoman mentioned above. ^
Mark Milbanke, the owner of the remaining farm in East Chirton, had
inherited land in Chirton and North Shields from his grandfather, Edmund
Milbanke. He was high sheriff of Newcastle in 1638, and was mayor of
that town in 1658, and again in 1672. His son and namesake was created
a baronet in 1661, and from him are descended the Milbankes of Halnaby
in Yorkshire,' and of Thorpe Perrow in the same county. The following
wills illustrate the connection of its earlier members with this district.
' On the general descent of the Collingwood family, see an article by Mr. J. C. Hodgson on 'The
Ancestry of Admiral Lord Collingwood' in Arch. Act. 3rd series, vol. ii. Biographies of Lord Colling-
wood and of Edward Collingwood, recorder of Newcastle, may be foimd in Mr. Welford's Mai of Mark.
The standard authority for the life of Lord Collingwood is the I'uhlic ami Private Corrapondeiicc of Vice-
Admiral Lord Collingwood, edited by his son-in-law, Mr. G. L. Newenham, who took the additional name
of Collingwood. See also Dictionary of National Biography. A monument to Lord Collingwood was
erected in 1845 an^l stands at the mouth of the Tyne, near the Spanish battery.
" For a pedigree of Spearman of Old Acres, see Surtees, Durham, vol. i. p. 96.
" Abstract of title in the possession of Mr. W. H. Ryott.
' For a pedigree of this family see Surtees, Durham, vol. i. p. 274.
CHIRTON TOWNSHIP. 327
September 21st, 1596. Will of Edmond Milbancks of the parishe of Tynetnouth, sick in bodie ; to be
buried in the chancell of St. Oswold's [sic] cliurch at Tynemouth, so neare my late wife Joan Milbancke
as possible may be. To my wife that now is, Christobell Milbancke, one half quarter of the 'Jonas' and
;^2o ; to my eldest sonn, William Milbancke, my howse, my pann and farmehold of Chirton ; to my
second sonne, John Milbancke, my howse in Pilgrim strette in Newcastle, in the occupation of Stephen
Resley, my lease of a malt-howse which I have of Ralph Rawe, the lease of two chambers that I have of
Edward Hall that standeth by the Key-side, and the eighth part of the underwood of Chopwell, which
is myne own, and ^20 ; to my third sonne, Robert Milbancke, my land att Leades, accordinge to his
mother's will, and one howse in the Viccar Layne, and one close in the Hoanes (?;, both in the
occupation of my brother-in-law, James Dickson, one half quarter of the barke 'Sallamon,' and /[lo; to
my fourth sonne, Edmond Milbancke, my land in Willington, and a close in Merchut, called Askue, and
20 marks, half a dussen silver sponnes, my lesser silver peace, and my greate Bible ; to my fift and
youngest sonne, Richard Milbancke, his owne salt-pan which he holdeth of the quene by copie, the
third parte of my keale that I liolde partnarshipp with Mr. Heiirie Anderson, one quarter of the barke
' Sallamon,' and one quarter of the ' Elsabeth,' and ^20, and my sonne William Milbancke to have the
tuition of him, and putt him to schoole, etc., till he shall come to lawfull yeares of aigue [sic]. Urj'an
Walker of Willington to be tutor of my son Edmond. My sonne Richard, so soone as he can writte, rede,
cipher, and caste accompte, to be putt to an occupation or some good science. To John Milbancke, my
best silver pece; to Edmond Milbancke and Richard Milbancke, one quarter of the ' Sallamon ' to be
sould to William Milbancke. The twelve yeares which I have of Robert Midfortli in a cole-pitt in
Kenton moore, which began the 20th of March last past, and a lease for eight years of one quarter of a
cole-pitt in Kenton pasture, to be sould and divided among my children, and 20 marks to my daughter
Elinor ; to my brother, Bryan Milbancke, 30 shillings ; to my brothers, Richard Milbancke and
Nicholas Milbancke, 20 shillings ; to my brother, Lancelot Milbancke, 10 shillings ; to my sonne,
Edmond Milbancke, 10 shillings. My sons, William Milbancke and John Milbancke, e.xecutors.
Inventory, December ist. Goods, sheep, horses, etc., ^93 2s. 6d. Goods at North Shields ; one
salt pan, ^26; half and half a quarter of a fisher named the ' Salamon,' ;C75 ;' half of another fisher,
named the ' Elizabeth,' ^36 ; 3,000 of salt fish, praised five score, 40s. ; 20 tenns of coals, ^35 ; the
third part of a keel often chalders, ^8 ; two silver pieces and si.x silver spoons, £i 10s. Sum, /301.
He owes, for beer, ^29 los. 9d. ; for salt fish drying, 3s. 8d. ; two years' arrerages, 15s. 2d. ; for
winning the corn in harvest, £^ ; grassing of seven beasts, 46s.
July 3rd, 1603. Will of William Mealbanks of Tinemouth Sheeles, yeoman, to be buried in my
parishe churche of Sancte Oswin in Tinemouth, or in the yarde of the Spittle nere Tinemouth. To
Grace Mealbanks my wyef and Marke Mealbanks my sonne, for his noneadge, my tenement, etc., in
East Chirton; to my sonne Mark Mealbanks my howse in Tinemouth Sheeles wherin I nowe dwell, and
the saltpanne with the howse and scyte of the same, builded in and upon the kaye of my said dwelling
howse, with all other sumps, staythes, etc. ; my wife to bring up my said sonne ; to my brother John
Mealbanks all my parte and portion of my lands in Leads in Yorkshier, and the custody of my brother
Richard Mealbanks, with his portion amounting to ^^So, and one quarter of the good shipp called the
' Elizabeth ' of the Sheeles, given and left unto him by my father's last will, and in my custody till he be 21 ;
to my mother Christobell Mealbanks, my fatt kowe in Brearden and 2o"'' share fishe, and she to pay for
the grasse of the said kowe ; to Margaret Bell a fatt kowe in Flatworth ; to my wyef and my sonne Mark
Mealbanks my 8th part or i quarter of the good shipp ' Elizabeth ' with ankers, cables, tacklinge, boats,
etc. ; to my brother Edmond Mealbanks £s ; to my brother Richard Mealbanks my wissell with £4;
to my syster Elyonor 50 share fyshe ; to Robert Peresone one angell in gold ; to Christopher Pereson
one branded ridged qwhye which goyth in Est Chirton ; remainder to my wyef and son Mark, and
they my executors. My brothers John and Edmond Mealbanks super\'isors. Witnesses, Marke Norton,
John and Edmund Milbancks.
' About the year 1595 Richard Holdsworth, vicar of Newcastle, brought a suit in the spiritual court
against Ralph Cock and Edmund Milbanke for tithe of ling or salt fish caught 'm quodam loco vocato
Shetland aliisque partibus longe ab hoc regno .A.ngliae distantibus versus septentnonem m the
'Salamon' of Newcastle. Duke of Northumberland's MSS.
328
TYNEMOUTH BOROUGH.
Inventor)' praised November loth, 1603, by Raphe Delavale, Marke Norton, gents., Nicholas
Atkinson, master and maryner, and Robert Mylls, yeoman. Goods at East Chirton, ^59 17s. 2d.; at
Preston, £3 i6s. 5d. ; at Tinemouth Sheeles, a half quarter of the ' Elizabeth,' ;Cio ; 800 costingdale with
900 share fyshe, at £3 the 100, ;^40 ; 4 drynking towells, 4s. ; 2 drynking clothes, 2S. ; 100 old salt fishe,
33s. 4d. ; one rbalder boate, 40s.; one sake panne, ^20; salt remayning in the gardens, 40s.;
th'apparrell of the deade, los. ; 2 old alnieryes with one buttery of fyerdale, i6s. ; one broken silver peice
with 4 spooncs, 26s. ; one whistell of silver, 3s. 4d. ; one muskett with a callyver and furnyture, 6s. 8d. ;
for beare for the first viadge, £s los. ; in beare for the second viadgc, ^4 l6s. ; for cleashing his bowses,
£i; for coales for the howse and salt panne, £6 15s. ; East Chirton rents, 25s. .Suninia, ^202 i6s. 7d.'
The Milbanke farm in East Chirton formed part of the Balkwell estate
sold in 1805 bv Sir Ralph Milbanke, the si.xth baronet.
In the north of the township, near the edge of Shire Moor, stands
Billy mill, to which allusion is made as Billing's mill in the grant made
by Henry Faukes to Tynernouth priory in 1320. It stood upon demesne
land belonging to the prior and convent, was granted, as part of
Tynernouth demesne, on December 8th, 1631, to William Collins and
Edward Fenn, and was subsequently conveyed to Algernon, tenth earl of
Northumberland.' In the years 1597- 1599 Billy mill was being rebuilt,
as appears from the following extracts from contemporary accounts.'
£ s. d.
August 20th, 1597. Payed for the charge of Robert Singleton, miller, and Robert Helme,
for going with the mill-wreights thre dayes in Hedley and Proddowe woods to choose
X.X tymber trees for Billy mill ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ••• 080
Payed for the charges of Robert Helme and Rowlande Younger with ther horses vj dayes at
severall tymes in going to presse the horssing and conveying the tymber from Hedley
wood to the river syde ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ■•■ •■■ o 13 o
P.ayed for drincke bestowed on the tcnnants in Hedley and other places for helping to horse
the stob ' on the carridge ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 034
Payed to Robert Hallsey, bayliff, for his travaile in gatheringe and pressinge the tennants
together for horsing and conveying the same tymber at several meltings, the tennants
being verie unwilling therunto ... ... ... ... ... ... 0100
For a paire of mill stones for Billye myll and the carridge therof from ISarnacastle to the
Sheles by land and water ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... •-. 6158
June, 1599. Payed to John Soulbye of Bleadon, Mr. Tempesse's man, for freight of .\x trees
for Billy millne and vij pece of tymber for Mardon myllne from Stella to the Sheeles ... 3 14 4
Payed for thre fir masts xviij yeards long apece, for to make a fearne' to hoyste the millne
stobb anender and the rest of the tymber theron ... ... 100
Bestowed in drincke on the tennants of Tynemoulhshier for helpinge to horse the tymber on
carriage at Sheeles to be conveyed to Billy myllne ... ... ... •■• 030
For vj fyr buntyns'' to be sawen in barrs for the wynde mill wa]ds, at \}s. a pece ... ... 0120
' Raine, Test. Ebor. - Gibson, Tynernouth, vol. i. pp. 217, 244.
' Uuke of Northumberland's MSS.
' Stob = the central post upon which the superstructure revolves.
' Fearn or fern = a windlass.
' Buntyn or bunting = a great squared beam ; see Wright, English Dialect Dictionary, vol. i p. 448.
CHIRTON TOWNSHIP,
329
Payed to towe laborers fower dayes apece in rydding the grounde fytt for laying the cross-
trees wherin to sett the mill stobb 080
September 12th. Payed for drinck bestowed on the tennants and niill-wreights at the
hoysting the mill stobb and all th'other tymber theron 030
Payed Richard Rea, William Browne, and John Athyr of Newcastle, myll-wreights, for
building Bylly niillne and felling and sqiiaringe the tymber, and finishing all the same
myll's tymber-worke, ready and fytt to grynde corne 23 o o
Ralph Gardner of Chirton seriously endangered the mill in 1658 by
quarrying away the ground round it. A letter of the time states : ' Mr.
Gardner hath broken aquarrie
on ye west side of Billy milne
close by ye milne, so that
ye milne shall now have noe
constant winde, but every
great winde shall be in danger
not only to tear all her savles,
but also to blow her of ye
stob into some of ye quarries.' '
A survey of 1722, however,
shows the mill still standing
on its stob.' It was burnt
down shortly afterwards, but
about 1760 was rebuilt of
stone.' Since that time it
has fallen again into ruins, for
the milling industry, so far as
it depends on wind for its "^r.^^^
motive power, has become
extinct.
-^t^-^M
Billy Mill.
Middle Chirton or Balkwell.
In the year 1292 the prior and convent of Tynemouth were in receipt
of £\ 8s. 4d. and fifty-two quarters of barley-malt yearly from Middle
Chirton, the money value of the malt-rent being ^"6 los.' The tallage
roll of 1294 gives the names of fourteen tenants, of whom one, Roger Grey,
was exempt from tallage.
''Ibid. 'Ibid. ' Tynemouth Cli(irtul(iry,{ol. S^.
' Duke of Northumberland's MSS.
Vol, \-11I.
42
330 TYNEMOUTH BOROUGH.
MlDDLK CHIRTON TALLAGE ROLL, 1294,
s. d.
De Ranulpho de Middel Chyrton ... 13 4
De Roberto filio Ranulphi 11 o
De Henrico [filio] Wyot ... nichil quia pauper
De Ranulpho filio Willelmi ... ... 8 o
De Gilberto filio Miloth 10 o
De Rogero filio Willelmi ... ... 8 o
De Synione filio Radulplii ... ... 5 o
s. d.
De Roberto filio Margaretae ... ... 12 o
De Galfrido filio Willelmi 6 o
De IMilot Belle 12 o
De Willelmo Drymoth ... ... ... i o
De Gilberto Ayr 2 o
De Willelmo Hardewey ... nichil quia pauper
De Rogero Grey pro terra Rogeri clerici —
.Summa, ^4 12s. 4d. [sic].'
The bondage lands of Middle Chirton were measured in 1295, and
found to contain four hundred acres. They were cultivated by eleven
bonds, each holding thirty-six acres, and this left four acres' surplusage, for
which rent was paid.' The names of the bonds are those of the ten first
given in the tallage roll, with the addition of Ralph, son of Christiana, while
Ranulph of Middle Chirton has been succeeded by his son Ralph. They
had the same services and customs as the bonds of Preston, though each
bond paid an additional ' kenning ' ' of 'stac-malt,' and one 'kenning' of
' stac-ates ' of ancient measure. The township also paid yearly five shillings
for 'billing-male,' a payment probably made in composition for services
to Billy mill.
There were besides four free holdings, including 108 acres, held by
a tenure analogous to that of East Chirton, the distinctive features being
the yearly payment of five shillings from each holding as 'rad-mal.' The
services are briefly as follow :
(i) Roger, son of Ralph de Wylam, holds one messuage and thirty-four acres. He pays 5s. rent
and 6|d. as cornage. He does boon-ere and boon-harrow and two days' work in autumn. He attends
the great 'auth-rep' with his whole household, except the housewife, but does not provide ' kakes.' He
gives merchet. (2) John Ayr and Thomas Faccale hold thirty-si.\ acres. They pay Ss. rent and 5s.
'rad-mal.' They do boon-ere, boon-harrow, in-lade, Neusom-lade, and nine 'auth-reps.' (3) William
Drymouth holds twenty acres. He pays 2s. rent and 5s. 'rad-mal.' He does boon-ere, boon-harrow, and
two days' work in autumn with two men. He shall be reeve at the great boon- work and shall have one
monk's loaf and one gruel loaf for himself and one mess-mate. (4) Roger Gray holds eighteen acres
and pays 5s. for 'rad-mal.' He performs the same services as Drymouth does, but works for three days
in autumn. He pays 6d. for land reclaimed (frissura) in the common moor.'
The names of all the bonds except Henry, son of Wyot, and Symon,
son of Ralph, reappear upon the subsidy roll of 1296. Roger Grey is
entered under Whitley township.
' St. Alban's Register, fol. 109 b. - Tynemotith Chartulary, fol. 7 b.
' The term ' kenning ' is used in northern dialects for a dry measure containing half a bushel,
' Tynemouth Chartulary, fols. 38-30.
CHIRTON TOWNSHIP.
Middle Chirton Subsidy Roll, 1296.
£ s. d. s. d.
Summa bonorum Milonis liell i 13 6 unde regi 3 o4
Galfridi filii Willelmi ... i 14 10 „ 32
3i^
2 9j
3 o
4 'i
3 9l
2 II
3 lo]
3 51
„ Robert! filii Marjorie ... i 10 10
„ Radulphi filii Christiane ... i 12 10
„ Rogeri filii Willelmi 254
,, Gilberti filii Milonis ... ... 220
„ Radulphi filii Willelmi ... 1 12 o
„ Roberti filii Kanulphi ... 224
„ Ranulplii ... 1 17 10
Summa hujus ville, £i() us. 6d. ; unde domino regi, ^i los. ij[d.'
Faccale's land was afterwards acquired by Sir Adam de Benton." The
prior and convent had licence to acquire a toft and six acres and one rood
of land in Middle Chirton from Simon del Vikers in 1360, as well as land
of unspecified amount in 1345 and 1380.' In 1377 the rents from free
men there had diminished to 5s. 5fd. per annum, and tenements and land
lately acquired by the monastery were being leased at a yearly rent of
£ 2 5s. 5|d. The bondage system had ceased to e.xist. Five bondage
holdings were without tenants, and were farmed out in return for a payment
of barley-malt. John de Wylam, probably a descendant of Roger de
Wylam, w-ho was a free tenant in 1295, had lately taken a lease of the
remaining bondage holdings, for which he paid / i 12s. gfd. yearly.^
At the dissolution there were three customary tenants, each having
one tenement, forty acres of arable, two acres of meadow, twelve acres
of pasture, pasture for six o.xen in the ox pasture, and for six cattle, forty
sheep and two horses in the common pasture. Two-thirds of the township
appears to have been common pasture or waste. Each tenant paid
£2 4s. 5d. as rent for his holding, is. for the farm of the hay tithe, and
4d. for pannage of swine. The whole township paid 2s. for the farm of
a cottage.^ The money-rent was exceptionally high, but on the other hand
no hall-corn was paid. A possible explanation for this fact is to be found in
the statement that the Ridges, a farm in Flatworth, south of Middle Chirton,
' was understood to have been a large enclosure in which the tenants in
Flatworth and West Chirton held parcels by rig and rein, or in ridges of
ground, and that the owner of Middle Chirton gave up the ridges or parcels
of ground belonging to him in lieu of the lord's claim for hall or half-corn."
' Lay Subsidy Roll, ^'{-. " Tyiicmoutli Cliartulnry, fol. 67. ' See above, pp. 1 15, 1 16.
* Tynemouth Chartulary, fols. 52 b and 60. ' Gibson, Tyncmouth, vol. i. p. 221.
' Bell Collection, No. 436 a.
332 tyNemouth borough.
There were other ways in which Middle Chirton stood distinct
from the neighbouring townships. It was not comprised in the various
leases made to the persons who farmed the lordship of Tynemouthshire.
Its tenants refused allegiance to the manorial court. They were said to
hold not by custom of husbandry/ though in 1609 they joined in obtaining
a recognition of their right to be considered copyholders of inheritance.
Their fines, however, were those paid by the townships of the out-shire,
amongst which Middle Chirton appears to have been classed, all the other
copyhold townships in Tynemouth parish being reckoned members of the
in-shire." Notwithstanding, Middle Chirton was included in the grant of
Tynemouthshire made to William Scriven and William Eden in 1633, and
thus became definitely a part of the manor of Tynemouth.
Before the year 1604 all the three tenements had come into one man's
hands.' They became the property of the Reeds of East Chirton. Ralph
Reed, the second of that name, mortgaged his farms and certain collieries
about the year 1641 to his neighbour, George Milbourne, as security for
debts amounting to more than ^1,300. Milbourne assigned his mortgage
to Reed's father-in-law, John Salkeld of Rock. In 1646 Ralph Reed died
in prison, where he had been confined for espousing the royalist cause.
His widow married Ralph Gardner, the young and enterprising son of
Devereux Gardner, writing-master of the grammar school of Newcastle.*
Gardner quietly enjoyed the estate in right of his wife until the year 1650,
when it was sequestered on the ground of its former owner's delinquency.
In spite of his and John Salkeld's protests, the Chirton lands were included
in the third Act for Sale of 1652. The sale was stayed upon application
made by Ralph Reed, son and heir of Ralph Reed the elder, and on
March 2nd, 1653, the county committee requested that the estate should
be withdrawn from sale and no further proceedings allowed against it.^
The property at this time stood on the court rolls in the name of
John Salkeld. He surrendered it, on October iith, 1652, to his second
' Duke of Northumberland's MSS. ; early seventeenth century survey of Tynemouthshire.
= See .ibove, page 239. ' Duke of Northumberland's MSS.
' Ralph Gardner was baptised at St. John's, Newcastle, August 29th, 1625. He was entered at
Barnard's Inn, and subsequently, on January 29th, 1654/5, at Gray's Inn. He married Catherine,
widow of Ralph Kced, at Earsdon, September 9th, 1648, and had issue by her. In 1659 he removed
from Chirton to London. The time and place of his death arc uncertain. A biography of him is to be
found in Welford, Men oj Mark. See also above, pp. 301-304.
* Welford, Royalist Compositions, Surt. Soc. No. in, pp. 316-317.
CHIRTON TOWNSHIP.
333
son, William Salkeld.' William Salkeld, who received knighthood at the
Restoration, married Frances, daughter of Sir Francis Fernham of Kent,
and widow of Sir Robert Wildgose of Sussex. He had issue by her one
daughter and heir, ' married to a notorious counterfeiter of hands and very
poor.'^ Sir William Salkeld, or his representatives, sold Middle Chirton to
Mark Milbanke, mayor of Newcastle, and it continued to be owned by the
Milbanke family until 1805, when the Balkwell estate, consisting of lands
in East and Middle Chirton and Shire Moor, and comprising 544 acres, was
sold in four lots. The purchasers were Ralph Crawford of Hartley
(Balkwell farm), John Watson of Willington Quay (West Chirton farm),
Thomas Wright of Whitley Park and Stephen Wright of Dockwray Square
(Chirton Hill farm), and Richard Cowell of Long Benton (North Balkwell
farm). The present respective owners are the devisees of John Crawford of
Cambois, the representatives of John Hedley of Newcastle, the representa-
tives of Thomas Bell Barker of Westoe, and the duke of Northumberland.'
' Tyncinoulh Court Rolls. See vol. ii. of this work, pp. 140-141, for a pedigree of Salkeld of Rock.
■ Le Neve, Knights, Harl. Soc. No. 8, p. 72. ^ Documents in the custody of Mr. W. H. Kyotl.
CRAWFORD OF SE.VrON DELAVAL, H.A.RTLEY, AND OF BALKWELL.
[\Villi.\m] Ck.wvford.
George Crawford of Burradon =
in Coquetdale.
William Crawford of Coldmartin, and of-North iMiddleton, voted for Coldmanin at the
election of knights of the shire in 1748 ; will dated 3rd October, 1759 (<■). 4,
I
William Crawford of Seaton :
Delaval, born at Burradon,
1 2th March, 1744 (0 ; died
27th .May, 1812, aged 68
(3) ((6) ; will dated 5th Decem-
ber, 1809 ; proved at the Pre-
rogative Court of Canterbury,
nth July, 1812 (^).
Elizabeth Grey,
married 20th
May, 1773
(«) ; died
31st Decem-
ber, 'IS32,
aged 85 (^).
George Crawford
of Netherton in
Coquetdale, born
at Burradon 1st
July, 1747 W;
died 26th March,
1834, aged 87
Ralph Crawford of Monk- = Mary Duxfield.
....... — I ..f tj_-.i... . • 1
sealon, and of Hartley,
born at Burradon, 2Ist
.\ugust, 1750 (c) ; died
17th January, iSi8,aged
68 (li); will dated 30th
.■\ugust, 1817; proved
l6th May, 1818 {e).
married 31 51
December, 17S9
(u) ; died 15th
June, lSoS,aged
44 (") (<).
I I
George, baptised Ralph Crawford of Balkwell and
31st December, Hartley, baptised 27th December,
1790(a); died 1796 («) ; died 19th .April, 1821,
unmarried 23rd aged 24 (/i) ; will dated 2Ist June,
January, 1813 1S20 ; proved at Durham, 26th
(a) (J>). May, 1821 (/).
Mary, daughter of
Matthew Wilson
of Blyth, married
1817 (a); died
27th April, 1854,
aged 57 (li).
William and
Joseph, died
in infancy.
i I
.\nne, bapt. nth .Aug.,
1 793 (,/) ; died 2nd
.May, 1S09 (rt) ((().
Jane. bapt. 30th Oct.,
l8o3(<i) ; mar. John
.Moor of .Morpeth
High House. 4,
Ralph Crawford of Balkwell and of Horns Castle, bom 27th August,
1 8 18 (<r) ; died at Newburn 31st December, 1904. |
Mary, born 1st J.anuary, 1820(f); wife of
John George .■\rkless of Blyth.
334
TYNEMOUTH BOROUGH.
I I
I
died loth
July. 1855,
aged 59 (h).
George Crawford of Briardon, baptised 23rd October, 1774 («) ; died unmarried Ralph Crawford = Frances Nixon,
291I1 Sejitembcr, 183S, aged 64 (Ji) ; will dated July, 1S36 (/). of Seaton Dela-
Thoinas Crawfortl of Briardon, baj^lised 2nd February, 1777 C'^) ; died unmarried, val, bapl. 22nd
23nd January, 1832, aged 55 (/)) ; administration of his personal estate grained February, 1784
out of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, 27th February, 1832, and at Durham, («) ; died 22nd
20lh February of same year (<). June, 1869, aged
William Crawfoid of Whitley Lodge, baptised 1st August, 1779 («) ; married 85 (li) ; will
Dorothy bj' whom he had no issue ; died 2nd November, 1848, aged 69 (/i) ; dated I3lh No-
will dated 26lh October, 184S ; proved at Durham, 15th February, 1849, and at vember, 1867 ;
the Prerogati\e Court of Canterbury, 24th February of same year (e). proved 1869.
John Cniwford of Balkwell and of ^ Anne, daughter of William
Seaton Delaval, born 20th December,
1790; baptised 27th February, 1791
(«) ; died l6th February, 1847 (/;) ;
will dated 24th December, 1846 (<■).
Robson of Hartley, mar-
ried 28th Se]>tember,
1 817 (e); died 8th Octo-
ber, 1844, aged 49 (i).
I I
Jane, baptised 27th January, 1782 (a) ; married
John Grey of Hartley, and died 8th December,
1S63, aged SI (//).
Elizabeth, baptised 13th April, 1788 {a) ; died 30th
August, 1806 (a) (h).
I I I
William Robson Crawford of Balkwell, and of Cambois, born 5th April,
1825 (c) ; died unmarried, gth September, 1S59 (/<) ; will dated 27th
July, 1S59; proved at Newcastle, 29th September, 1859 (/).
John, born 1S27, died 182S.
John Crawford of Balkwell, and of Cambois, born 28th June, 1830;
died unmarried, 8th December, 1863 (b) ; will dated iSlh January,
1S62 ; proved at Newcastle, 4th June, 1864 (e).
I I I. I I
Elizabeth, wife of Thomas Freeman of
Benton. <!/
Mary, wife of Aaron Adshead of Bed-
lington. i/
Anne, wife of Patrick Freeman of Cambois. 4/
Jane, wife of Richard Hodgson of Cowpen. \1/
Dorothy, wife of J. Reinhard.
William Crawford of Seaton
Delaval, died unmarried,
15 th April, 1S69, aged 46
(1^) ; will dated 24th Klarch,
I S6g ; proved same year.
Ralph, died 3rd September,
1843, aged 18 (/,).
George Crawford of ■■
Gloster Lodge, born
1st May, 1830 (rt) ;
died 6th September,
1867, aged 37 ((4) ;
will proved 25th
October, 1867.
I III
Anne Lambert, Thomas, Elizabeth Anne, died 26th Sept.,
married 14th died 24th 1843, aged 21 (i).
Nov., i860 ; September, Anne Elizabeth, married David
died 22nd 1855, aged Thomas Jones, clerk in orders,
July, 1897 20 (J>). and chaplain at Blyth ; died
.aged 72 (/;). .(./. igth Feb., 1886, aged 58 (<i).
Frances, died 24th September,
1859. aged 27 (^).
Ralph Crawford of Morpeth, born
26th December, 1861 («).
Frances Anne, born
1863 ; died 1879.
I
Anne.
Mary Isabella, born
1866 ; died 1867.
(«) Earsdon Registers.
(Ji) Monumental Inscriptions, Earsdon.
(<■) Ahmntoit Registers.
{li) Monumental Inscription, Alwinton.
{/) Family papers in the possession of
Mr. J. C. Hodgson.
West Chirton and Flatworth.
Though the hamlet of West Chirton has disappeared without leaving
a trace of its position, the site of Flatworth, or, as it was anciently termed,
Flatford, is still marked by Flatworth mill. The mill stands on the right
bank of the Red burn, at the mouth of Coble dene, past which the
Tyne once ran in shallows over the Dortwick sands. Flatworth and West
Chirton together formed part of the Wirecester barony of Hadston, created
by Henry I.,' and continued to be held of the Crown by military service
' TtUa de Nevill in Arch. Ad. 2nd series, vol. xxv. pp,
Hadston barony, see vol. iv. of this work, p. 272, and vol. v. pp. 406-412
163, 166. For a fuller account of the
CHIRTON TOWNSHIP. 335
until 1 158. In that year Henry II., upon resuming possession of the
Northumbrian earldom, directed Ralph de Wirecestre, lord of Hadston, to
confer Flatworth in free alms upon the monks of Tynemouth.' The burden
of military service to which it had formerly been subject, amounting to the
eighth part of a knight's fee, thereupon reverted to the Hadston demesnes.
In the year 1166 Ralph de Wirecester informed his sovereign that
Jordan Heron held lands of him by new feoffment in return for the service
of a quarter of a knight's fee." The lands in question may be identified
with West Chirton. Jordan Heron appears, from his presence as a witness
to many palatinate charters, to have been a chief tenant of the bishop of
Durham. He also held lands in 1166 from Gilbert Hansard, who in his
turn held of the bishop of Durham a knight's fee in Yorkshire.' Though
connected with Dolphin, son of Uctred, progenitor of the Nevilles of Raby,
Hansard was not, as he has been represented, a member of that family,
and the relationship was probably that shown below.''
Dolphin filz Uctred (^Feodarium, p. 140) ; had grant of
Staindropshire in 11 31 (Jbid. p. 56).
!
Gilbert Hansard (I.) held lands in Alver- = ^ Meldred fuz Dolphin
stonshire in 1166 (Zifcr A'lf^r). I I (/vof/ar/M/n, p. 140).
I III
Gilbert Hansard (II.), son of Gilbert Hansard, Robert filz Meldred (j'vo- Gilbert fitz Mel- Other
'frater Roberti filii Meldredi \Feoilariutn, p. </a;/n«/, p. 53) ; paid relief dred (/Yix/ar/wm, issue.
114); paid relief in 1 196 {^Pipf Rolls). in 1 196 (^Pipe Rolls). p. 53).
I I
I I
John Hansard, married .Matilda, niece of Robert de Mowbray {Excerpta e Rot. Fin. vol. i. Geoffrey de Neville, a quo
p. 251) ; died in Gascony in 1254 (Mat. Paris, Chronica Majora, vol. v. p. 427). Neville of Raby.
' Henricus, rex Anglie, etc., justiciaiiis, vicecomitibus et ministris, et omnibus fidelibus suis de
Northumberland, sulutem. .Sciatis me concessisse et confirmasse Deo et ecclesie sancte Marie et sancti
Oswini de Tynemutha, et monachis ibidem Deo servientibus, donationem de Flatford, quam R. de
Wirecestr' eis racionabiliter fecit. Quare volo et firmiter precipio quod predicti monachi teneant eandem
terram bene et in pace et libere et quiete et honoritice et integre, in viis et in planis et pascuis et aquis et
piscariis et in molendinis, cum omnibus libertatibus et omnibus rebus ad eam pcrtinentibus, sicut pre-
nominatus R. vel antecessores sui eam unquam melius et liberius et honorabilius tenuerunt, et sicut
carta sua quam inde habeant eis testalur. Teste VVarino filio Ceraldi comitis, et Willelmo filio Johannis,
apud Wynton. See above, page 62, note i (7).
- Red Book 0/ the Exchequer, Rolls Series, p. 440. The service is equivalent with that rendered by
John Hansard for West Chirton circa 1240 ; Testa de Nevill, Record Com. pp. 381, 389: Hodgson,
Northumberland, part iii. vol. i. pp. 203, 205.
' Red Book 0/ the Exchequer, p. 416. ' Gilebertus Hansard [tenet] unum niilitem, nona parte minus,
quam Jordanus Hairun tenet.' The lands held by Gilbert Hansard in 1166 may be identified with
Landmouth, Hornby and High Worsall. See Kirkby's Inquest, Surt. Soc. Xo. 49, pp. 100, 103.
* Compare Mr. Horace Round on 'The Ancestry of the Nevilles' in Feudal England, pp. 4S8-490.
Surtees' assumption (Durham, \ol. iv. p. 157) that Gilbert H.ansard was son of Meldred fitz Dolphm
is inadmissible. He was more probably brother of the half-blood to Robert fitz Meldred, and, though
they were charged for relief in the same year, that is probably due to the fact that the king's
officers made use of their opportunity, during the vacancy of the see of Durham on Pudse/s death, to
collect all outstanding fines and debts. Pipe Rolls, ed. Hodgson, p. 56.
336 TYNEMOUTH BOROUGH.
Ralph de Wirecester died between the years 11 72 and 1184.' Jordan
Heron married the heiress to the barony, and became guardian of his wife's
lands. He conferred West Chirton upon his former lord, Gilbert Hansard,
whose son and heir, Gilbert Hansard (H.), became his ward. Dying about
the year 1191, he was succeeded by his eldest son, Ralph Heron, ^ on whose
death, in or about 1196, Jordan Heron (H.), younger son of Jordan
Heron (I.), came into the inheritance.' Jordan Heron (II.) was sued in
1202 by Gilbert Hansard (II.) for refusing to receive his homage for the
vill of Chirton. His defence was that Chirton was his mother's and not
his father's inheritance, and that Jordan Heron (I.) had no authority to
enfeoff Hansard with his wife's estates.'' It was agreed that Heron should
receive the proffered homage, saving his right. In 1221 the same parties
came to an agreement with regard to three carucates of land in Chirton.'^
Tynemouth monastery appears to have obtained an interest in these
lands before 1225, when its prior sued John Hansard on a plea of warranty
of charter." In 1256 the prior and convent acquired the manor of West
Chirton in free alms from William Heron, sheriff of Northumberland, son
and heir of Jordan Heron (II.). An entry in the St. Alhatis Register
shows that four marks were paid to William Heron and five pounds to
Sir Gilbert Hansard (HI.) in consideration of the transfer.' Prior Dunham
on his part received William Heron and his heirs into all the benefits and
prayers which from thenceforth should be made in his church for ever.* The
engagement was perhaps onerous, for Matthew Paris observes upon Heron's
death, which occurred two years later, ' He ground down the poor and
oppressed the monks. His thirst for riches was immense, and now he has
gone to thirst in hell.' ^
Having obtained possession of West Chirton, the prior and convent
proceeded to evict several of the original tenants. Between the years
1280 and 1293, various suits were brought against the priory for recovery
' Pipe Rolls, pp. 20, . - Ibiii. p. 51.
" Ibid. p. 57. For a proof of the descent, see Feodarium, Surt. Soc. No. 58, pp. 124, 168.
■• Jurdanus dicit quod non debet capere homagium ejus de terra ilia, quia fuit hereditas matris sue et
non patris sui ; et si pater ejus illam dedit patri ejusdem Gilbert!, injuste illam dedit, quia non debuit nee
potuit, desicut non fuit nisi custos hereditatis matris sue. Abhreviatio Placitorum, Record Com. p. 39 ;
Hodgson, Northumberland, part iii. vol. ii. p. 338.
' Curia Regis Rolls, 4 Hen. III. Mich, and 5 Hen. III. Hilary and Easter. * Ibid. No. 88.
' See above, p. 76, note i. » Three Northumbrian Assi::e Rolls, .Surt. Soc. No. 88, p. 410.
' Chronica Majora, Rolls Series, vol. v. p. 663.
CHIRTON TOWNSHIP.
337
of lands in West Chirton. Henry Clere claimed twenty-four acres ; Ralph,
son of William, claimed sixteen ; and William Cokeman twenty -five.
Henry, son of Adam, brought a suit for a toft and forty-eight acres in
Flatworth. So did Roger, son of Ralph de Wylam, claiming to inherit from
his grandmother, Alice, daughter of Questric de Flatford. In 1293 Hugh
Burdon attempted to recover the manor of West Chirton. He asserted
that his great-grandfather, Roger, had been seised of the manor in the time
of Richard I., but, like the others, failed to prove his case.'
In 1292 the prior and convent was in receipt of /"lo yearly rent from
West Chirton. Their manor of Flatworth had a carucate of arable land
attached to it as demesne, which gave no return. They made, however,
an annual profit of thirteen shillings from the hundred and four sheep kept
on the pasture.- A survey taken in 1295 sets out the demesne as follows :
In Wet-acres
In the same
In Slure-leyes ...
In the same ...
In the same, lying fallow-
In Huyos-hupp
In Me side' on the east of the hall
In Holletche-flat
In the same, lying fallow
There were 387 acres in West Chirton, an acreage roughly corres-
ponding to the three carucates mentioned in 1221. This hind was cultivated
by fifteen bonds, each holding twenty -five acres. Six of the additional
twelve acres were farmed out to five of the bonds, and six to the remaining
ten bonds.'
Fourteen tenants paid tallage in 1294.*
a.
r. p.
a.
r. p.
.. 16
2 0
In Clovengare
.. 10
0 20
.. 10
I 0
In Middel-flat
5
1 0
... 3
2 30
In the same
4
1 20
... 6
0 0
In Bone-flat
■• 9
0 20
... 16
0 0
In Tepe
1 1
3 0
... 4
3 20
On the east of the grange ...
1
2 0
... 16
I 0
In the Reie-flat
■• '9
0 0
4
3 20
In the Shel-feld
•• -i
0 0
->
2 30
De Willelnio filio Nicholai
De Gilberto filio Serlonis
De Willelmo Pointel
West Chirton Tall.voe Rolt., 1294.
J
s. d.
13 4
De Alano filio Robert!
S.
... 13
4
3 0
De Gilberto filio Galfridi Belle ...
1
6
6 0
De Henrico filio Radulphi
5
0
6 0
De Henrico .Sparu
5
0
3 4
De Roberto filio Margarete
13
4
3 4
De Roberto Caldewell
I
0
10 0
De Roberto Messore
... 13
4
Summa, £4 2s. 2d. [sic].
' The various suits are set out in the Tynemouth Chartulary, fols. 192-193. 203, 204, 205.
= Ibid. fols. 54 b, 55. ' Ibid. fols. 4 b and 7 b. ' St. Alb.m's Register, fol. 109.
Vol. vm, •♦^
338
TYNEMOUTH BOROUGH.
The names of the four tenants first upon the list are supplied by the
custuinal of the township. They were Derlyng, Henry Drury, Richard,
son of Matilda, and Henry, son of Robert. A very similar list is given in
the subsidy roll of 1296.
West Chirton Subsidy
Roll,
1296.
i
s.
d.
S.
d.
Summa bonoium Gilberli filii Serlonis ...
I
3
10
unde regi
2
2
))
VValteri Pyntel
I
18
0
»)
3
5^
)»
Alani filii Roberti
0
'3
7
»»
I
2|
»>
Henrici filii Radulphi
I
3
3
))
2
li
})
Henrici filii Edmundi
0
•5
4
»
I
4i
«
Roberti filii Maryarete
I
16
0
)»
3
3i
f)
Roberti de Caldewell ...
0
14
6*
»i
I
3l
It
Henrici filii Gilberti
0
19
7
ii
I
9i
»
Ricardi filii Matildis ...
I
6
->
i»
2
4i
»»
Willelmi filii Roberti ...
I
5
4
»i
2
31
jj
Willelmi filii Nicholai
0
13
4
»)
I
2i
V
Roberti filii Johannis
I
16
6
Ji
3
3I
Summa
hujus ville, /14 Ss. sid. ; unde domino i
egi
Zi
5s. iiW.'
These were the customs and services of the tenants of West Chirton :
Each tenant holds twenty-four acres, and pays yearly one mark to the chamberlain of Tynemouth.
He shall do one 'boon-ere' with food, and 'boon-harrow' without food. He shall find one man for the
prior's great boon-work in the autumn. If required to cart tithe-corn to his house, he shall have his
meal ; that is to say, every two tenants shall have fifteen 'swayn-laves,' and seven and a half jugs of ale,
and six herrings. If he does not cart tithe-corn, he shall go to the harvest with the servants of the free
men. The reeve shall attend the great boon-work in person, and shall have food, .^t the carting of
the tithe-corn he shall have one monk's loaf and a dish (of meat) and a jug of good ale.
The whole township pays the prior half a mark for fourteen acres in Flatford, 3s. 4d. on St.
Barnabas' Day for castle-ward (and the reeve who brings that rent shall have his food), 3s. at Martinmas
and Whitsuntide for fine of court, is. 3d. at Michaelmas for cornage, one mark every seven years
at Easter and at Christmas, and [ ] for twelve acres increment."
The bonds of West Chirton occupied a superior position to their
neighbours in East and Middle Chirton. They were free from week-
work and from payments in kind, and had very light labour- services,
their position comparing favourably in this respect with that of cus-
tomary freeholders elsewhere. Yet the three Chirtons were kindred
communities, and so wide a difference between their customs can only
be due to the different influences to which they were subjected in the
impressionable age of the twelfth and first half of the thirteenth century,
' Lay Subsidy Roll, ^K
• Tyncmoutli Chartulury, fols. 39 b to 40.
CHIRTON TOWNSHIP. 339
when East and Middle Chirton belonged to the prior and convent of
Tynemouth, and West Chirton formed part of the Hadston barony.
A neighbouring monastery proved a harder taskmaster than an absentee
lay lord.'
Communal action on the part of the tenants, noticeable in the custumal,
is further instanced by a joint lease taken in 1328 of the fishery of Sand-
yare in the Tyne.' The survey of 1377 gives the additional information
that the payment of a mark made every seven years was for chevage or
' hede-penys." Fifteen marks continued to be paid to the chamberlain,
and various small sums, amounting in all to i6s. lod., went to the prior.
' There is no freehold in the vill,' the surveyor notes, ' but the whole is
demesne, leased at the will of the lord.'^
A manorial hall, grange and mill formed the nucleus of Flatworth
demesne,^ to which the fishery of Depe-yare formed an appendage. The
' If further proof were needed that the sums paid for castle ward, fine of court, and comage were
chargeable upon West Chirton before William Heron conveyed it to Tynemouth priory, it is to be
found in his quit-claim, to which allusion is made in an agreement between Gilbert Heron and
Mary, widow of William Heron, dated March 25th, 1299: 'Et etiam eadem perdonat ad acquietan-
dum priorem de Tynemuth et Adam de Benton de iiijs. et quadrante pro warda castri, et de fine
curiae per annum duobus solidis et septem denariis, et de duobus solidis et uno denario de cornagio,
pro tenementis quae idem prior et Adam tenent in Flatsworth, Chirton, et Benton.' Lansdounc MSS.
vol. 326, fol. 45.
" Memorandum quod frater Ricardus, prior de Tynemuth, dimisit tenentibus suis de West Chirton
piscariam in aqua de Tyne vocatam Sand-yare, a festo sancti Martini in yeme, a.d. 1337. usque ad finem
trium annorum, etc., reddendo inde per annum dicto priori viginti solidos ad festa annunciacionis beate
Marie et sancti Petri ad vincula perequales porciones. Tynemouth Chartulary, fol. 173.
' Head-pennies formed the subject of the following petition presented to parliament in 1444 :
Please it to the full wise and discrete communes of yis present parlement to considre, yat where the
kynge's poure communes, and his true liegemen of his countee of Northumberland, longe tyme hath
ben oppressed and over-charged by sherytTs of the saide countee for the tyme beyng arrezyng and
makyng levee of theire goodes and catalles, to the somme of Ix'' and more, called Hede-penys, twyes in
vii yere ; that is to sey, every thirde yere and every forthe yere, to theire owen propre availle, withoute
ony accompt profite or avayll unto oure soveraigne lorde the kyng, and withoute ony lawful! cause or
grounde, but of theire grcte extortion ; ye which causeth divers men for to l.iboure and spctide grete
godes to be sheryff when the seid ycrcs comes, to the more and gretter oppression of the seidc poure
commimes. Wherfore please it to your right wise discretions to considre yat oure saide soverayn lorde
hath none availl of the same Hede-penes ; and how the seide shire of Northumberland is marchyng to
the Scottes, the kynge's encmyes. and with thaim the seid liegemen ben dailly troubled and deseased,
wherthurgh they are contynuelly enpovered ; and ycreupon to pray oure saide soveraigne lord the kyng,
yat he by y'assent of his lordes spirituell and tempore!! in this present parlement assemblid, and by
auctorite of the same parlement, to ordeine and graunte that the said colect of the saide Hede-penes
may be utterly put awaye for evermore, notwiihstondyng ony use or custume into the contrare, under
peine of c'' to be paide that one half ycreof to the kyng, and that other half yerof to the partie that sueth
the forfaiture agenst the shcrryff. this ordenaunce to beginne at the fest of the Nativite of Seint John
Baptiste, that shall be in tlie yere of our Lord MCCCCXLVI. Rotuli Purliamcntarii, vol. v. pp. 107-108.
This petition was embodied in the statute 23 Henry \T. cap. 7, sect. 6.
' Tynemouth Chartulary, fols. 52 and 59 b.
' The townships of East Chirton, Preston, Wliitley, Monkscaton, Backworth, and Elswick were
chargeable for the timber of Flatworth mill, and, together with Middle Chirton and Uissington, paid a
yearly rent to it (miln-silver}. Ibid. fol. 67.
340
TYNEMOUTH BOROUGH.
fishery was farmed out on short terms of three or six years,' but the
demesne land, of which no lease is recorded, appears to have been kept
in the prior's hand.
At some date between 1377 and 1538 the tenants of West Chirton
were evicted, and their lands annexed to Flatworth. The tillage was
converted into cattle pasture, and two large closes were formed, namely,
Howden close (200 acres), and the pasture lying on the moor (100 acres).
Flatworth, in 1538, included the ' Rigg ' meadow of sixty acres, and the
Coble Dene.
Fence close and Marte close, each containing eighty acres of arable. The
whole was leased to Sir Thomas Hilton and afterwards attached to the cap-
taincy of Tynemouth castle.^ A memorandum, drawn up in 1559, states that
Flatworth closes ' may continually well keep two thousand sheep, besides as
' Presens indentuia testatur quod dominus Ricardus, prior de Tyneniuth, concessit et ad firmam
dimisit Johanni filio Johannis Scot de Novo Castro super Tynaiii, Rogero Mathewson, et Roberto Fader
de Pipewelf^ate juxta Catcsheved, totam illam piscariam que vocatur le Depe, juxta Flatford, a festo
purificationis beate Marie virjjinis, A. I). 1328, usque ad teniiinum sex annoruni pro.xiine sequentium
plenarie complelorum, reddendo inde annuatim dicto domino priori et successoribus suis viginti sex
solidos et octo dcnarios, et duos salmones in quadragesima, etc. Datum apiid Tynemuth, die et anno
supradictis. Et sciendum quod solveliantur pro ingressu ])re manibus quadraginta solidi, preter annuam
firmam quadraginta solidorum predictam. Ibid. fol. 159 b. Cp. fols. 162 b, 170 b, 173.
■ Gibson, Tynemouth, vol. i. p. 216.
CHIRTON TOWNSHIP. 34 1
many beeves and muttons as a baron can conveniently spend in a year on
his house, and may very well also keep ten geldings and sixty milch kine.''
The salt-pans in the lands and wastes between Dortwick and Coble
dene were conveyed by the Crown on October 7th, 16 10, to George Salter,
and in 1631 a similar grant of the granges and closes of West Chirton and
Flatworth, and the coal mines in Flatworth fields, was made to William
Collins and Edward Fenn, from whom the property passed to Algernon,
tenth earl of Northumberland.^ The demesnes have continued in the
possession of the Percy family, by whom they were leased for terms of
twenty-one years^ until 1756, when they were divided up into nine separate
farms. A survey, taken in 1655, shows that Flatworth then contained 466
acres of pasture and 404 acres of meadow and arable land.'*
The industrial exploitation of this district dates from 1 799, when Percy
Main colliery was won.^ Waggonways, run down to Whitehill Point and
Hayhole, opened up a large colliery area." The modern village of Percy
Main was built, and the old names of Flatworth and West Chirton became
almost forgotten. The river front was further utilised by the formation
of docks. In 1857, the Northumberland docks were opened, having been
constructed by the Tyne Commissioners under powers conferred on them
by the Tyne Improvement Act of 1852. As far back as 1798, schemes had
been brought forward for making a dock at Coble dene.' This project,
several times unsuccessfully renewed, was finally sanctioned by the Tyne
Improvement Act of 1877, and executed in 1884, the new works being
opened bv the present king and named the Albert Edward dock."
. ' Ciil. state Papers, Foreign, 1559-1560, p. 279. ■ Gibson, Tynemuuth, vol. i. pp. 241, 243.
Among the lessees of Fl.itworth dcsmesnes in the seventeenth century was Sir Nicholas Tempest,
who appears to have made Flatworth his residence. He was a member of the family of Tempest of
Thornley in the county of Durliani, and was sherirt' of Newcastle in 1620. Dying in 1656, he was buried
in -St. Nicholas', Newcastle, on .September i6ih of that year. His son, Richard Tempest, who was
admitted free of the Merchant Company of Newcastle, on July 4th, 1667, died on August 15th, 1671
(Uendy, Merchant Adventurers, vol. ii. p. 2S1), having by a nuncupative will appointed William Carr, son
of William Carr, late mayor of Newcastle, his sole leg.atee (Surtces, Durham, vol. ii. p. 275). In 170S
Robert .\llgood took a lease of the demesnes, and renewed the s.ame in 1729 ^Uuke of Northumber-
land's MSS.). In the Neurastle Courant, February 20tli, 1714, occurs the advertisement : "To let. Low
Flatworth and brick-kilns and lime-kilns. .Apply to Robert .JLllgood, esq., of Low Flatworth, near
Howden Pans.' ' Duke of Northumberland's MSS. ' See above, pp. 22, 25-26.
»A waggonway h.-id been laid from Sliire Moor colliery to Whitehill Point in 1764, and branches
connecting it with Percy Main and liackworth collieries were formed respectively in 1799 and iSlS.
In 1825/6 the Cramlington railway was laid to Hayhole.
■ In 1733 Thomas IJurdon took a lease of Coble dene for twenty-one years 'with an intent of
inclosing it by a wall from the river, in order to h.ive made a ballast key ; but, as the coriioration
of Newcastle claim the sole right as conservators of the river to have the carrying and layinj; all ballast,
he was never able to inclose it.' Duke of Northumberland's MSS.
" The history of the formation of these docks is detailed by Guthrie, The River Tyne, and by
Johnson, Tlie Making 0/ the River Tyne.
342
TYNEMOUTH BOROUGH.
PRESTON TOWNSHIP.
Preston is a township of 646 acres lying between Tyneniouth on the
east and Chirton on the west. Albion Street forms its southern boundary.
On the north-west it ran up into Shire Moor, ninety- four acres being
anne.xed to the township upon the enclosure of the moor in 1788. Rake
Lane on the north, and Marden burn on the north-east, divide Preston
from Monkseaton township. The population in 1901 totalled 3,337.'
Preston, which was confirmed by Henry I. to the prior and convent
of Tynemouth not later than 11 16,-' formed a separate manor, though its
two carucates of demesne were worked in common with the demesne land
in Tynemouth. In 1292 these were computed to be each worth £\ 7s.
yearly. The convent was also in receipt of a money rent of £\ 4s. 3d.
and of 37I quarters of barley-malt, priced at 2s. 6d. the quarter.' The frag-
mentary tallage roll for 1294 is as follows:
Preston Tallage Roll, 1294.
s. d. i s. d.
De Johannc niolendinario
Uc (iilbcrto Ayr
De Koberto Scorht
De Koberto Silvermoth
De Willelmo Gray cum soc[iis, lenenti-
bus liberje terre ... De Willelmo Averai 070
De Matilda de Morton ... De Henrico longo 100
De Willelmo Rikelot ... [Del Emma vidua o 16 o
De Willelmo Chirton, totario
De Serlone de eadem ...
The bondage land of Preston was measured in 1294, and found to
contain 279 acres. It was divided into seven full holdings of thirty-six
acres each, and one half holding of eighteen acres, leaving a surplusage
of nine acres, for which rent was paid.^ Fuller information is given in
the custumal. The services of the bonds are identical with those of East
and Middle Chirton ; they are set out in great detail, and have been
'Population statistics are: 1801, 431; 181 1, 445; 1821, 627; 1831, 765; 1841, giy ; 1851, 983;
1861,1,456; 1871,1,593; 1881,1,707; 1891,2,178; 1901, 3>337-
-■ See above, page 55 (13). ' Tynemouth Chartulary, fol. 54. ' St. Alban's Kegiitfy, fol. 109b.
' Tynemouth ChariuUiry, fol. 7 b.
1 1 0
De Rogero filio [Juliane]
5 0
De Roberto Chirton pro terra [sua
0 8
in pas]tura de Preston
De Roberto Bateman pro libera
terra at aliis ...
De Willelmo Averai
De Henrico longo
[De] Emma vidua
De Adam Silvermoth pro tercia
fyn
Summa
£
5
5S. 2d.'
PRESTON TOWNSHIP. 343
already quoted at length in the account of Tynemouthshire.' The half-
holding was worked by Robert Bateman, who also held free land. These
eight bonds reappear in the subsidy-roll of 1296.
Preston Subsidy
Roi.l.,
1296.
£
s.
a.
S.
d.
a bonoium Robert! Bateman
2
3
6
und
e
regi
3
iiA
„ Willelmi filii Averiay ...
I
15
0
3
4
„ Henrici Long
2
12
10
4
9l
„ Willelmi Punder
->
II
4
4
8
„ Johannis molendinarii
I
10
2
2
9
„ Matildis de Morton ...
I
'9
5
3
7
„ Willelmi Rikelot
I
10
8
2
9j
„ Willelmi filii Johannis
I
16
0
3
3i
Sumnia hujus ville, £is iSs. iid. ; unde dom
ino
regi, £i
1 9s.
s
There were five freeholders, namely, (i) Gilbert Air, holding thirty
acres, rent 4s. ; (2) Roger Nades, holding eighteen acres, rent 3s. ; (3) Robert
de Chirton (also a freeholder in East Chirton), holding eighteen acres,
rent 3s. ; (4) Roger, son of Juliana, holding twenty acres, rent 4s. ; (5)
Robert Bateman, holding fifteen acres, rent 5s. 4d. Each held a toft in
addition to their land in the fields. Their services may be summarised
as follow :
Each freeholder pays a money-rent for his holding, and also half a quarter of barley-malt and half a
quarter of oats. He pays lid. for milne-silver and 9jd. for abbot-scot. He does one day's boon-ere
and one day's boon-harrow, and has food for his plough but not for his harrow. Every week in the
autumn, from the time when they begin to reap until the time when they finish, he works for two days and
employs a man to work with him, and he shall have food and ' binding-bund.' If the weather prevents
him from performing his work for the space of one week, it is not carried over to the next. He shall
cart his ' in-lade ' in the field of Tynemouth once in the autumn without receiving food or sheaf, and
shall cart one load from Neusum (namely, three thraves of wheat, or four thraves of barley, or five
thraves of oats), and shall have food and one sheaf. He gives merchet and leyr-wite for his daughters.
He does suit to the prior's ' hall,' does suit to the prior's mill at the thirteenth dish, carts millstones from
Slaley, and herds beasts that are taken by way of distraint, for which last service he shall have food.'
Robert Silvermouth, who held a toft and si.\ acres at a shilling rent,
and Roger Belle, who held a toft and sixteen acres, rent is. 4d., seem to
be classed in this custumal as ' selfodes.' Their only services were three
days' work in the autumn and three suits yearly to the prior's free court.
The list of tenants ends with the names of nine cottagers : William
Patadoille, holding five acres, rent lod. ; Ralph Thirnyn, holding one acre
' See above, page 223. ' Lay Subsidy Roll, ^^.
' Robert Bateman renders double the usual quantity of corn-rent, and reaps every week in th?
autumn for four days instead of two.
344
TYNEMOUTH BOROUGH.
and a half, rent is. 4d. ; Roger Scot and Roger Boyt, holding one acre each,
rent 4d. each; Nicholas de la Haye, holding one acre, rent i^d. ; Bolt's
daughters, holding two-thirds of an acre, rent 3d. ; Robert Short, holding
a half-acre, rent 3|d. ; Alan de Boldon and Robert, son of William, son
of Gilbert, holding a half-acre each, rent 2d. each.'
In this way the total of 413! acres is reached, held as arable or meadow
by tenants of varying status, and, as there were roughly two carucates of
demesne in addition, it follows that the whole township was under corn
or hay cultivation. There was no need for a common pasture ; that could
be found upon the neighbouring moor.
In Preston, as in the other townships, the priors of Tynemouth carried
out a piecemeal purchase of the freehold land.' The survey of 1377 notes
that a twelftli of the land let out at the lord's will was once free. There
were still eight bonds, paying a total rent of £\ i8s. i^d., while 17s. 7d.
was received from free men and cottagers.^ During the fifteenth century,
the quantity of land held in tenant-right remained fairly constant. On the
other hand nearly two hundred acres of original demesne and of subsequently
acquired freehold were converted into pasture. It appears probable that a
delimitation of the township took place, the tenants receiving an allotment
of strips in the North and West fields, while the South field was turned into
pasture and equal grazing rights over it were assigned by the prior and
convent to the customary tenants. The demesne farm was abandoned ; the
garth of the manor-house at the east end of the village was leased to the
tenants, and its origin was so completely forgotten that it came to be a
disputed point whether the hall -garth lay in Tynemouth or in Preston
township.'*
By the year 1538 the number of tenants at will had declined from eight
to five. Each tenant held forty-five acres of arable, one acre of meadow,
and pasture for six oxen in the ox pasture, and for six cattle, twenty sheep
and two horses in the common pasture. The rent paid for a husbandry
holding was £ i 6s. 8d. in money, four quarters of barley and two quarters
of oats, 8d. for the tithe of hay, and 4d. for pannage. Two cottages and
an acre of land were farmed separately for 21s. rent. Rents of 13s. 4d.
' Tynemouth Chartidary, fols. 36 b to 38. -' See above, pages 1 15-1 17.
' Tynemouth Chartulary, fols. 52 b and 60.
* See a case heard in the Court of Exchequer in 1591 with regard to this point; Exchtipier
Repositions, Mich. 33-34 Ehz. No, 20,
22
o 31
8
3 o
39
> 3
265
o o
335
o 34
PRESTON TOWNSHIP. 3415
and four quarters of wlieat respectively were paid by the five husbandry
tenants in common for the herbage of the pasture called the Hall garth
and of lliirty-five acres of arable called the Well flat.'
The common field svstem lasted in Preston until 1649. I" ^^at year
the meadow and arable lands within the township were enclosed. They
totalled 337 acres 31 perches, and included the North field (ieS3a. 2r.),
the West field (137a. ir.), and the Miller's leazes (r6a. ir. 3ip.).' A
terrier was compiled/^ and the lands in question were found to contain :
a. r. p.
Ri^'s belonging to Tynemoiitli but lying in Preston fields, loa. or. 4p. ; ditto belonging to
Monkseaton, 8a. 3r. 5p. ; part of Robert Otway's Tynemouth farm lying in Preston,
3a. ir. 23p. ; total
Highways
Robert .Spearman's freehold, 10a. 3r. I p. ; Mr. George Milbourne's freehold, 9a. 3r. gp. ; Mr.
Ralph Grey's freehold, 3a. 2r. lyp. ; Robert Otway's freehold, 15a. or. i6p. : total
Five farms containing 53 acres each, namely, Michael Spearman, one farm ; Mr. Ralph
Grey, one farm ; Robert Otway, three farms ; total
.Sum total
Two acres were, so to speak, lost in the division. After making the
necessary abatements and allotment of lands to freeholders, the remaining
265 acres were divided into five farms of equal value, for which lots were
cast by the copyhold tenants. The normal acreage of a farm was taken
at fiftv-three acres, but in each case certain additions or deductions were
made by reason of their several qualities and conveniences. Thus Robert
Otway took the East, Middle and West farms (153a. or. 31 p.) ; Michael
Spearman received the Marsh farm (56a. ir. 4p.), and Mr. Ralph Grey
took the farm next the Rake (55a. 2r. 5p.). The o.\ pasture and
common pasture probably remained unenclosed for another half-century.
All these farms are now the property of the duke of Northumberland.
Preston Grange farm, which may be identified with the Marsh farm, was
sold in 1808 by Ralph Spearman of Eachwick to John Burrell of Witton
Gilbert, in the county of Durham, who resold in 1844 to Richard Fenwick.
It was purchased from Mr. Fenwick by the duke of Northumberland in
1852. The Rake House farm was purchased in 1822 upon the sale of the
Backworth estate. Preston farm and White House farm represent the land
allotted in 1649 to Robert Otway.
' Ministers' Accounts of 1538. printed in Gibson, Tyncmoiilli, vol. i. p. 220. Supplementary details
are given in a survey of 1608 ; Lund RiVt-niit- Surveys, miscell. books, vol. 223, fols. 295-298.
- The meadow close, known as the Miller's le.azes, now forms part of Billy Mill farm, and is owned
by the Collingwood family. ' Printed in Arch. Ael. 2nd series, vol. xii. pp. 172-190.
Vol. VIII, 44
346
TYNEMOUTH BOROUGH.
Otway of Preston.
I. Thomas Otway of Preston, married, November l8th, 1610, Elizabeth Mills ; will dated
November 17th, 1634 : died seised of a tenement in Preston and a tenement in Rackworth ; buried in
Tynemouth parish church, [December] 6th, 1634. He had issue (i) Robert, died in infancy; (2) Robert
(II.) ; (3) Thomas Otway of the .Sandgate, Newcastle, ship carpenter, baptised .September 14th, 1617 ;
and had two sons, Gilbert and Roger (IV.) ; (4) John Otway of the Sandgate, Newcastle, master and
mariner, baptised March 26th, 1627 [buried at Newcastle, May 21st, 169S], left issue a son, John Otway,
who died in the West Indies, April, 1705, and a daughter, Elizabeth Reed, who was living a widow,
January iSth, 1706/7 ; (5) Gilbert Otway of Newcastle, merchant, baptised May 31st, 1631 ; apprenticed
December ist, 1647, to Samuel Cock of Newcastle, boothman ; admitted free of the Merchants'
Company, September ist, 1656; died May 27th, 1681, leaving issue a son, John Otway, who was
admitted free of the Merchants' Company by patrimony, March 21st, 1678, and died without issue circa
1697 : (6-9) four daughters.
II. Robert Otway of Preston, baptised May 14th, 161 5 ; was admitted to his father's lands in
Preston and Backworth, April 3rd, 1635 ; buried in Tynemouth church, March 3rd, 1666/7. He was
three times married, but had issue only by his first wife, namely, two sons, Thomas (HI.) and Matthew
who died without issue, and five daughters.
III. Thomas Otway of Preston, baptised August 23rd, 1644 ; was admitted to his father's lands in
Preston, April 8th, 1667 ; married March 17th, 1679/80, Susanna, daughter of Edward Toll of North
Shields. She married, secondly, John Snowden, and died in 1699. Thomas Otway made his will. May
22nd, 1696, and died without issue, being buried November 29th, 1696. He was succeeded by his cousin.
IV. Roger Otway of Preston, son of Thomas Otway of the .Sandgate, married Barbara, widow of
John CoUingwood ; will dated January iSth, 1702/3, proved 1704. He left an only daughter, but had no
heirs male.'
' Based on the duke of Northumberland's MSS., Tynemouth Re^isto's, wills in the Durham Probate
Registry, and Dendy, Merchant Adventurers.
SPEARMAN OF PRESTON.
Arms : Azure, a chevron ermine between three broken spears erect or, headed argent. Granted to Ralph Spearman
of Eachwick ; cf. Surtees, Durham, vol. i. p. 94.
Thomas Spearman, a juror at Tynemouth Manor Court, October, 1 561 ((().
George Spearman, a copyholder in North Shields circa 1565 (i).
Robert Spearman, in 1608, held lands in Preston by copy of court roll ^
dated October, 1601, and a freehold in Tynemouth (/).
: [Alice, daughter of John Brown (.^), ' lieutenant-
governor of Tynemouth castle.']
Margaret, widow of = Michael Spearman of Preston, to whom = Alice [daughter of Thomas Horner of the
" " " " ' - . . - Glass-houses, Newcastle, and widow of]
Morton, married I4ih December, 1649 (a) ;
had lands in Tynemouth by grant from her
father, 6lh January, 1662 ; buried in Tyne-
mouth church, 1 8th March, 1665/6 (n).
Mills of Monkseaton,
and daughter of John
Fenwick of Morpeth
(^); buried 19th June,
1649 («)
Robert Potts, circa 1622, surrendered lands
there (/;) ; rated for the same in 1663 ; buried
13th December, 1679 (a); administration of
his personal estate, Ist May, 1691, committed
to Anne, his third wife and his widow (/).
Thomas Spearman of Preston («), admit- = Margaret, daughter
led to lands in East Chirton, circa
1622, on surrender of Bertram Mitford
(Ji) \ died before .April, 1 649 (/<) ; [buried
15th December, 1631 (")].
of John Atkinson of
Cleadon (^), mar-
ried 1 6th Novem-
ber, 1620 (a).
[.Agnes, married Thomas Otway of Preston (j?).]
[Jane, baptised 12th December, 1600; married
Middleton of North Shields (^).]
[Isabel, baptised 2nd December, 1607 ; married
John Butler of Chirton f^).]
Robert Spearman, son and heir, baptised 7th October, 1621 (a) ; admitted to his father's lands in East Other
Chirton and Preston, April, 1649 (b). \ issue.
From whom Spearman of Thomley, co. Durham.
PRESTON TOWNSHIP.
347
Edward Spearman of Preston, bap- = Anne, daughter
tised 6th April, 1629 (a) ; admitted
to his father's lands, 4lh April, 1680
(/') ; buried 26th December, 1690
(rt) ; administration of his personal
estate, 28th Kebrimry, i6gi/2, com-
mitted to Anne, his widow (/").
of James Per-
kins, married
4lh May, 1663
(«) (/5) ; buried
25th July,
1695 («).
I I I I I
Robert, baptised 13th Nov., 1636 (a).
Ralph, baptised 1 2th August, 1638 (a).
Michael, baptised 3rd Nov., 1642 («).
John, baptised l6th .May, 1644 (a).
John Spearman of .Newcastle, attorney,
baptised 28th January, 1646/7 (a) ;
died 1686 S.6. (^).
I I
Elizabeth, baptised 2tst
.August, 1631 (a); mar-
ried John Hall (^).
Grace, baptised 20lh .\pril,
1634 (a) ; married Ralph
Billington of Birtley, co.
Durham {g).
I 1 I I I I 1
Michael, baptised 22nd December,
1663 (a).
Robert, baptised 29th January,
1666,7 (a) ; buried l6th March,
1674/5 («)•
Edward, baptised 8th July, 1669 (a) ;
buried 19th .March, 1686/7 (")•
Delaval, baptised ilth .March, 1672/3
(a) ; lieutenant R..\. ; killed at La
Hogue, 19th May, 1692 {g).
John, baptised 2nd .May, 1676 (a) ;
buried 30th May, 1677 (n).
Edward, baptised 3rd February,
167980 (a).
John Spearman of Preston, baptised
gth January, 1682/3 (a) ; buried
2nd September, 1702 (a) ; will dated
9th .August, 1702 (a).
Philip Spearman of Pres- :
ton, afterwards of Birt-
ley, CO. Durham, bap-
tised 31st March, 1685
(a); apprenticed I2th
August, 1701, to John
Grey of Newcastle, bar-
ber surgeon ; as eldest
surviving son, was ad-
mitted to his father's
lands, l6th .April, 1706
(i) ; surrendered lands
at Preston in 17 15 and
1 7 16 to the use ol various
individuals(^); buriedat
Chester-le-Street, .April,
17 iS (^) ; will dated
26th March, 1718 (J").
I I I I I I L I
Jane, daugli- Thomas, baptised 7th Septemljer, 1686
ter of James (a); buried iSth .November, 1687 fa).
Burfield of George, b-apiised 24th January, 1687/8
Wallsend, (a) ; died at Preston ; buried in Christ
bondof mar- Church, Tynemouth, 2nd July, 1714(a).
riage, 25th [.\nne, born at Monkseaton ; baptised
Aug., 1703; 8th May, 1665 (a)].
married26th .Margaret, baptised 24th January, 1670/I
Aug., 1703 (a); [buried under the name of Maiy,
(</); died 6th June, 1673 (a) ].
circa 1 746. Elizabeth, baptised 22nd September, 1674
(a) ; buried 7th June, 167; (a).
Margaret, baptised 26th February, 1677/8
(a) ; married, 28th .November, 1695,
Thomas Fenwick (a) {g).
.Anne, baptised 3rd .May, 1681 (a).
Dorothy, baptised 22n(J January, 1683 4
(a) ; buried 17th February, 1694/3 (a).
111.,
Edward, baptised
yth October,
1704(a); buried
20th November,
1705(a).
James, died s.p.
John, died s.p.
ig)-
Eleanor, daugh- :
ter of Edward
Anderson of
Newcastle
is)-
I
George Spearman of
Preston and, jure ux-
oris, of Eachwick,
burn lOlh June,
'71° (.f); buried 4th
November, 1753 (');
will dated 1 6th Oc-
tober, 1753 ; proved
1758 (/)•
Elizabeth, widow of William
Potter of Hawkwell, daugh-
ter of Edward Bell of
Eachwick, and sister and
co-heir of Edward Bell of
the same place (c) (jf) ;
married October, 1748 ; died
14th April, 1792, aged 69
(0-
Jaques Spearman, clerk in
orders, of Peterhousc, Cam-
bridge ig); B..A., 1734;
died s./>., 1745 (<e)-
Anne, married James Walker
of Newcastle (,e) ; an
executrix of her brother's
will (/) ; died at Each-
wick, 24th .May, 1778.
Edward Spearman of Preston, son and heir, died I"eb-
ruary, 1762: buried at Ileddon-on-tlie-Wall i g}.
John, named in his father's will (/) ; died s./>. (^).
Matthew, named in his father's will (y) ; died
George, named in his fathers will (/) ; died s.t>. {g).
Ralph Spearman of Eachwick, born 4th
September, 1749 (O ; named in his
father's will (/) ; held lands at Preston
in 1790 (li) ; died unmarried, 13th July,
1823, aged 74; buried at Heddon-on-
the-\Va"ll (c).
I
Mary,
heir,
.\lay,
died
sister
born
«75' - . .
unmarried.
;6th Feb., 1827,
aged 76 (•■).
and
iSth
(O;
(a) Tytifmoulh Registers.
(^) Tynemoulh Court Roll ^nA duke of Northumber-
land's MSS.
(c) Arch. Ael. vol. xi. p. 267.
(</) Bolam Register.
(c) St. John's Register, .Newcastle.
(_/) Durham Prolate Registry,
(g") Surtees, Durhitm, vol. i. p. 94.
(h) South Shields Register.
(/) Land Revenue Survey, 1608.
By indenture, dated September 2nd, 1714, the heirs of Thomas Otway
conveyed their lands in Preston to John Johnson of Bebside, high sheriff
of Northumberhmd in the following year, who was succeeded in his Preston
property by his eldest daughter, Mary, wife of Charles Fielding of Bebside.
Charles and Mary Fielding sold their land in 1758 to Samuel Lacy' of
North Shields, master and mariner. His grandson, Samuel Lacy of Kirk-
' See Proc. Soc. Antiq. Newcastle, 2nci series, vol. ix. p. 219, for an account of the L.icy family.
348
TYNEMOtJTH BOROUGH.
Oswald in Cumberland, sold Preston farm (eighty acres) to John Scott
in 1805, and White House farm (123 acres) to Sir David Smith, bart.,
in 1809. In 1821, Sir David Smith resold to the duke of Northumberland.
In 1817, Preston farm was purchased from John Scott by Thomas Fenwick,
whose representatives sold it to Mr. William Davison of North Shields
in 1872, and in 1894 it was purchased from the executors of Mr. John
Thomas Davison by the duke of Northumberland.
The chief of the numerous small properties, into which the southern
portion of the township was formerly divided, comprised lands purchased
in 18 14 by John Fenwick of Milburn Place, North Shields. Mr. Fenwick's
residence of Campville was built on part of this property. It is known
as the Fenwick Park Estate, and has been laid out for building sites.
A namesake, John Fenwick of Dockwray Square, North Shields, bought
lands in Preston in 1818 from Ralph William Grey of Backworth. This
property includes the house known as Preston villa and grounds. A portion
of it was sold in 1857 to the Tynemouth Corporation for the purpose of
making the Preston cemetery.
FENWICK OF PRESTON AND NORTH SHIELDS.
John Fenwick of Tynemouth. = Sarah Atkins, married 1st January, 1722 («) ; died 14th May, 1795, ■'g'^J 95 i^)-
Milburn Place, Xorth f ders,married
Thomas Fenwick of = Anne Saun- John Fenwick == Mary Smith,
married 29th
January, 1 765
(a) ; died
31st March,
1830, as;ed87
(0-
Shields, baptised 13th
April, 1724 (a) ; died
25th November, 1796,
aged 73 (a) (6) ; will
dated 17 th October,
1796 ; proved at Dur-
ham, 4th January,
1797.
5th Decem-
ber, 1767
(a) ; died
13th Decem-
ber, 1821,
aged 90 (/5).
of Dockwray
Square, after-
wards of Pres-
ton, executor
of the will of
his brother
Thomas ; died
3rd June, 1822,
aged 89 (rt) CO- ^
I I I I I I I
Jane, baptised 15th August, 1726 (a);
married, 1754, F-dward Hutchinson.
Eleanor, baptised loth November, 1728
(a).
Sarah, baptised 8th December, 1729 (a).
Ann, baptised 9th October, 1732 (a).
Eleanor, baptised 2Sth Jan., 1737/8 (a)-
Ann, baptised 26lh August, 174I (a).
Mary, baptised 27th January, 1743/4
(a).
Sarah Jackson, died 6th = Thomas Fenwick of Milburn Place, North Shields, afterwards of = Jane Bell, died
September, 1805, aged
32 (i)-
South Preston, bapt. 4th Jan., 1 77 1 (a") ; named in his uncle's
will ; died May, i860, aged 89 ; will dated I3lh Sept., 1845.
August, 1864,
aged 72.
i ' I
Thomas, died in infancy (//) ; Margaret, baptised 4th April, 1804 ;
buried 20th September, married 3rd March, 1827, James
1802 (a). Eddowes of South Shields.
I
John William Fenwick of North :
Shields and of Preston, bom
1818.
: Isabella Dale,
married 1 8th
October, 1853.
Frederick Bell Fenwick.
John William Fenwick.
Thomas Fenwick.
Francis Fenwick.
Henry Fenwick.
Percy Fenwick.
I I
Isabel.
Kate Forster.
John Fenwick of Campvill and North Shields, bapt. = Elizabeth Frank, married 17th
13th September, 1773 (a); named in his father's I September, 1801 (a); died l8th
will ; died 4th May, 1850 (a), aged 76. May, 1846, aged 66 (i).
.Mice, baptised 15th Novem-
ber, 1768 (a) ; buried 7th
November, 1769 (a).
Pt?ESTON TOWNSHIP.
A
349
I I
Thomas, bom 1804 ; died 1807.
Thomas, born agih September,
1819.
John Fenwick of London and of Wimble- = Mary, daughter of Nicholas Fenwick of
don; born 1812 ; an Elder Brother of North Shields, married 27th December,
the Trinity House.
1838.
II!
Anne, born 24th June, 1802 ; married 2nd June,
1832, Joseph Lacy.
Sarah, born 2nd March, 1804 ; married, 1838,
Joseph Pollard of Newcastle.
Elizabeth, born 24lh .April, 1806; married 30th
September, 1826, John C. Stephenson.
I II I I
Jane, bom 7th .April, 1810 ; married 5th April, 1851, Joseph Philipson.
Emma, baptised 2nd May, I.S17 ; buried 1822.
Clara, baptised 2nd May, 1S17 ; married, 28th .\pril, 1842, Thomas
Wallis.
Alice, baptised 4th April, 1823 ; married 26th .August, 1845, S. J. Dale.
Ellen, bom 20th February, 1826.
John Fenwick of Dockwray Square, North Shields, afterwards of Preston, a younger son = Mary Sm.ith, married 29th Janu
of John Fenwick of Tj-nemouth by Sarah Atkins, his wife ; died 3rd June, :822, aged
89 (f) ; will dated 2nd May, 1816 ; proved at Durham, 8th July, 1822.
ary, 1 765 (fl) ; died
March, 1830, aged 87 (c).
3ISI
John, bap- Cuthbert Smith Fenwick of Dockwray = Susanna, daughter of William
tised 1768 Square, North Shields, afterwards of Mitcalfe, married
(n) ; died Newcastle, died 2nd September, 1853, 1803; died 31st
1769(a). aged 84 (0- aged 61 (0-
I I
2 1st .April,
July, 1839,
(«);
John, baptised 1775
buried 1779 (a).
Thomas, baptised 1777 (a) ;
buried 1779 (a).
I I I I .
John I-enwick, baptised 25th March, 1804 («). Henry 1' en-
William Mitcalfe Fenwick, baptised l6th wick, mar-
November, 180S ; died unmarried, aged 32, ried S.
4th February, 1840 (c). Hilton.
Richard Fenwick, baptised 3rd April, 181 1
(a) ; died 1st November, 1828 (a) (c).
I I I
Margiiret, baptised l6th November, 1805 ; married
Collingwood Jackson.
Mary, baptised 1808 ; died in infancy (c).
Susanna, baptised I2th April, 1814 ; marned 34th
November, 1S47. John LiddcU of Benwcll.
Marian, married Thomas Harrison of Liverpool.
I
Richard Fenwick of Dockwray Square, North Shields, baptised 20th =
September, 1779 (a) ; buried 22nd May, 1867, aged 88 (a).
: Amelia, daughter of Samuel Hurry, married 9th
December, 1826 (a) ; died 30th September, 1887.
I
John Richard Fenwick of London, solicitor, = M. L. C.
born l6th October, 1827 ; Inpiised 25th | Durant.
June, 1S29 ; died 14th November, 1873. -i,
George Fenwick, = Jane, daughter of Michael Mary, bom
bapt. 25th March, | Robson of West Chirton, 22nd F'eb.,
1829 (a); died -i, married 22nd July, 1856 1832.
20lh-July, 1892. (a).
Jane Hop- :
per, mar-
ried 25th
July, I Si 5
(a) ; 2nd
wife.
John F'enwick of Dockwray = Maiy .Anne Eagleston,
Square, North Shields,
afterwards of Preston,
baptised I7tli May, 1780
(a); died I7lh July,
1851, aged 74 (c).
native of .America, married
161I1 July, 1S09, at Lunes-
burg, Nova Scotia ; died
nth January, 1S12, aged
21 (a) (c) ; first wife.
John Fenwick of Preston = Anne Emma, dau. of
solicitor, born I7lh
Nov., 1809 ; died 31st
March, 1899.
Henry Mitcalfe, mar
ried 1840, died 24th
June, 1890.
Charles Morris, died
in infancy, 9th
.April, 1813 (a)
III ,. .,
John Mowbray Fenwick.
Henry Eagleston Fenwick.
George Townsend Fenwick.
II
Charles Morris 1-enwick.
Herbert Fenwick.
Jane, baptised 3rd .March, 1 767 (a); married
loth .April, 1794, James Lyon (.a).
Sarah, baptised 2nd .May, 1771 (a); married
Henry Shadforth, then of Spiul-house,
Tynemouth.
Mary, hiptised 27th July, 1773 (a); buried
29th July, 1779 (")•
.Mary, baptised 21st .August, 17S2 (a) ; married
1st July, 1S09, F^manuel Walmslcy (aV
Eliza, baptised 27th July, 17S5 (a); married
29th September, 1 80S, Thomas T.iylor of
Whitehill-point.
III.
Emma Theodosia.
Catherine .Anne.
Helen Marion.
(a) Tynemoulk Rtgisltr. (b) .Monumental Inscription. Tynemouth Priory,
(c) .Monumental Inscription, Christ Church, Tynemouth.
The name of Chirton Barracks was at one time given to a block of
houses in South Preston taken on lease by the government in 1811-1813 to
35^ TVNEMOUTH BOROUGH.
provide extra accommodation for troops. The block includes South Preston
lodge and the adjoining houses and is now owned by the representatives
of Mr. Charles J. Spence.
Spence of South Preston.
I. Robert .Spence, son of Robert .Spence by Sarah his wife, born at Whaiteniill house, Yorkshire,
February loth, 17S4 ; lieutenant R.N., and afterwards of North Shields, banker and draper; married
Auyiist 29th, 1810, Mary, daughter of Robert Foster of Hebbletliwaite hall, Yorkshire (who died
October 6th, 1846), and had, besides fourteen daughters, four sons, namely : (i) Robert Spence (II.);
(2) John Foster Spence, born November 8th, 181S ; resided at Chirton cottage; alderman and four
times mayor of Tynemouth ; married, September 28th, 1843, Elizabeth, daughter df Thomas Corder of
Wedford hall, Chelmsford, by whom he had issue four sons and two daughters ; died July 2nd, 1901 ;
(3) Jose])h Spence, born 1S19 ; twice mayor of Tynemouth; married, in 1845, Caroline, (laughter of
Joseph Shewell of Colchester, by whom he left issue, and died December 17th, 18S9 ; (4) Thomas Spence,
born 1821, died March 24th, 1839, unmarried. Mr. Spence died August 17th, 1845.
II. Robert Spence of North Shields and of Newcastle, banker, born December 12th, 1817 ;
married, June 2nd, 1842, Sarah, daughter of Thomas Hagen, by whom he had issue four sons and
one daughter, Sarah, wife of Francis Thompson. He died in 1890, le.aving an only surviving son,
Charles James Spence.
III. Charles James Spence, of South Preston and of Newcastle, banker, born November 20th,
1S48 ; married, firstly, Alice Clibborn, by whom he had issue three sons, namely, Robert Spence and
Philip Spence, who survived him, and Gilbert Spence, who died s.p., and a daughter, Sarah. He
married, secondly, Alice M. G. Weiss, and died October 8th, 1905.'
MUNICIPAL HISTORY OF THE BOROUGH.
The North Shields Improvement Act of 1828 invested that town with
a semi -municipal character. The old township limits were abandoned
for boundaries more nearly corresponding with the urban area ; and the
functions of the vestry and the court-leet, so far as they related to the
administration of the town, were transferred to a newly-constituted body
of Improvement Commissioners."
T/ic I\u'li(uiicntai\ Boroiig/i. Earl Grey's scheme of parliamentary
reform included the creation of several new boroughs, of which Tynemouth
was one. Commissioners appointed to report upon the subject recom-
mended, in October, 1831, that the new electoral district should comprise
the townships of North Shields, Tynemouth, Chirton, Preston and Culler-
coats. They stated in their report :
The condition of the town of North Shields is certainly prosperous; it is progressively increasing in
importance, and the port was described as the second in this kingdom for tonnage registered as
belonging to the port. The manufactories in this town are merely of those articles which are required
by the shipbuilder. Much building is in progress, and many improvements have been both commenced
' Ex inf. Mr. Percy Corder and Mr. H. A. Adamson. A biographical notice of Mr. C. J. Spence is
given in Arch. Acl. 3rd series, vol. ii.
■ See above, pp. 314-315.
MUNICIPAL HISTORY OF THE BOROUGH. 35 1
and agreed upon : new roads are to be made through the parish towards the west and north-west, and a
railroad is to connect this town and Newcastle, which will pass througli the township of Chirton.
The town is chiefly extending itself on the west and north-west into Chirton and Preston townships,
and in the direction of the town of Tyneinouth. There is little doubt but that in a few years the village
of Chirton will be nearly united to the town of North Shields in a continuous street, and that a great
portion of the township of Preston will be occupied by that town. Already several buildings of a
superior class have been erected in that township in its immediate neighbourhood, and the whole of a
small part of that of Tynemouth, which juts out in the form of a peninsula on the south-west adjoining
both Preslon and Chirton, is cither covered with new buildings or marked out as their future site.
The report continues :
CuUercoats township appears to contain some good houses, and, in consec|uence of its small extent,
these can contribute to the constituency without the inconvenience commonly attended on the annexation
of an entire township. I5y the .addition of these three townships the two towns of North Shields and
Tynemouth will be distant, respectively, .about a mile from the nearest point of the new boundary ; which
seems to give sufficient scope for the prob.able increase of the fonner. The latter is a small sea-bathing
place, the increase or decrease of which must always greatly depend on the e,\tent of the growth of its
more important neighbour. The population of Chirton township has increased 506. that of I'reston 144,
and that of CuUercoats 47, within the last ten years.'
The Reform Act of 1832 constituted Tyneinouth a parliamentary
borough, of which the boundaries were defined in accordance with the
commissioners' report.'^
Members of P.xri.iament for the Borough since 1832.
George Frederick Young ... 1832 to 1837 Richard Hodgson 1861 to 1865
Sir Charles Edward Grey, knight 1838 to 1841 George Otto Trevelyan 1865 to 1S68
Henry Mitcalfe 1841101847 Thomas Eustace Smith 1868101885
Ralph William Grey 1847 to 1852 Richard Sims Uonkin 1885 to 1900
Hugh Taylor 1852 Frederick Leverton Harris ... 1900101906
Willi,am Schaw Lindsay ... 1854101859 Herbert Craig 1906
Hugh Taylor 1859101861
The Poor Law Union. In 1836, Tynemouth was made the centre of a
union formed under the provisions of the Poor Law Amendment Act of
1836. The Tvnemouth Union included the eight townships of Tynemouth
parish, the eight townships of Earsdon chapelry, and eight others, namely,
Cowpen, Bebside, East Hartford, West Hartford, Cramlington, Horton,
Long Benton, and Wallsend. Five other poor-law townships have since
been added, namely, Camperdown, Walker, Willington, Willington Quay,
and Weetslade. A guardians' hall was erected on land purchased in
Howard and Saville Streets, North Shields. The offices of the Union have
since been transferred to the buildings of the North Shields Club in North-
umberland Square.
' Parliamentary Representation, Boundar>' Reports and Plans, vol. iv. pp. 177-178.
-■ 2 Will. IV. cap. 45, sect. 4 ; 2 and 3 Will. IV. cap. 64, Schedule O (26).
352
TYNEMOUTH BOROUGH.
Municipal Incorporation. A petition for the incorporation of the
borough was presented in 1841. Though the Privy Council upon that
occasion refused its assent, the application was renewed, and, after enquiry,
a charter of incorporation was granted by an order in council dated August
6th, 1849, and confirmed by Act of Parliament in the following year.^ The
municipal and parliamentary boundaries were made co-extensive ; a council
was constituted consisting of a mayor, six aldermen and eighteen coun-
cillors ; and the borough was divided into the Tynemonth, North Shields,
and Percy wards, with six councillors for each ward. The new council took
over the town hall in Saville Street, which had been erected by the Im-
provement Commissioners in 1845, from designs by Mr. John Dobson. On
March 26th, 1850, a separate commission of the police was granted to the
borough. In 1904, Tynemouth was made a county borough, and the council
was increased from twenty-four to thirty-six members, namely, nine alder-
men and twenty-seven councillors. The borough was at the same time
re-divided into nine wards, namely, (i) Percy, (2) Linskill, (3) Dockwray,
(4) Central, (5) Rudyerd, (6) Trinity, (7) Milbourn, (8) Preston, and (9)
CoUingwood wards.^
List of Mayors of Tynemouth.
1S49
1851.
1852.
1853.
1854.
1855.
1856.
1857.
1858
i860.
1861.
1862.
1S63.
1864.
1865.
1866.
1867-
1869.
1870.
1871-
1873-
-9.
50. William Linskill.
Alexander liartlenian.
Solomon Mease.
Matthew Poppclwell.
John Walker Mayson.
William Linskill.
William Walker.
Robert Pow.
Edward Potter.
Solomon Mease.
John Foster Spence.
John Fawcus.
Joseph Spence.
George Jobling.
Joseph Green.
John Hedley.
. Edward Shotton.
Joseph Spence.
George Bell.
. Charles Alexander Adanison.
Robert Watson Surtees.
1S74. Henry Edward Pyle Adanison.
1875. William .■\ubone Potter.
1876. Joseph Green.
1877. Edward Shotton.
1878-9. Charles Tully.
1880. Joseph Baker.
1881. John Spence.
1882-3. John Hedley.
1884. Robert Morrison Tate.
1885-6. Joseph Elliott.
1887. George Dodds.
i88S-g. Ralph Collins.
1890. Augustus Whitehorn.
lSgi-3. John Foster Spence.
1894-5. George Armstrong.
1896. Thomas Thompson Bolton.
1897-8. Richard Irvin.
1899. Jonathan Eskdale.
1900-1. Jacob Daglish.
1902. James Dunsmure Gillespie.
1903-6. John Philip Spencer.
13 and 14 Vict. cap. 42
" 4 Edw. VH. cap. cvii.
MUNICIPAL HISTORY OF THE BOROUGH.
353
The Port of North Shields. A decision of the Lords of the Treasury
in 1833 empowered the custom-house officers at North Shields to clear,
without reference to Newcastle, coastwise vessels loading below Hebburn
Point. The long struggle between Newcastle and Shields was brought to
a close in 1848, when, on March 30th, Shields harbour was constituted an
independent customs port under the title of the port of Shields, the boundary
of the ports of Shields and Newcastle being defined by a straight line
drawn from the east end of Whitehill Point sands to the east end of Jarrow
quay. The custom house was fixed at North Shields. In 1850 the port was
Shields Harbour.
given a local marine board under the provisions of the Mercantile Marine
Act. The harbour was again divided in 1865 ; North Shields and South
Shields were then created separate ports, bounded by the mid-channel of
the river, and marine boards were given to each of the two boroughs.
Blyth was included in the port of North Shields until the year 1897, when
it was constituted a separate customs port.
The River Tyne Coinmission. Down to the year 1850 the conser-
vancy of the river remained in the hands of the corporation of Newcastle ;
but by the River Tyne Improvement Act, which passed into law on July
Vol. \111.
45
354 TYNEMOUTH BOROUGH.
15th, 1850, the corporation was deprived of its charge, and the management
of the river was vested in a commission of fourteen, to which Tynemouth
contributed three members.' The establishment of the commission in-
augurated an era of river improvement. In 1854, the commissioners began
the construction of piers at the entrance of the river. Dredgiug operations
commenced in 1861 and have since been carried on without intermission.
Tynemouth bar was removed, as were the sands at Dortwick and Whitehill
Point, and the narrow passage past the Low Lights was widened and
deepened. The formation of the Northumberland docks at Hayhole, near
Flatworth, begun in 1852 and completed on October 22nd, 1857, gave the
river for the first time a public dock.' Similar works were projected at the
Low Lights. The necessary powers were obtained in 1861,' and the
foundation stone was laid three vears later, but financial and other objections
led to the abandonment of the scheme. In its place the Albert Edward
dock was formed at Coble dene and opened in 1884. It has an enclosed
water space of twenty-four acres as compared with an area of fifty-five
acres included within the Northumberland docks.
Ferry-boat Service. The North and South Shields Ferry Company
was formed in 1829 to provide for better communication between the two
harbour towns ; ^ and in the following year steamboats commenced running
between the New Quay on the north side of the river and Dean Street,
near the market-place, in South Shields. A rival undertaking, known as
the Tyne Direct Ferry Companv, was started in 1848, but was immediately
acquired by the Shields Ferry Company.' Both services were continued
under its management, and in 1856 a third ferry was opened, running
between Whitehill Point and Penny Pie Stairs on the opposite shore. In
1863 the three ferries were transferred to the Tyne Commissioners under
the Tyne Improvement Act of 1861.° The steamers of the Tyne General
Ferry Companv, formed in i860, run in the summer months between the
Tynemouth and South Shields piers. Those of the Shields Steam Shipping
Company, created in 1866 for the carriage of goods from the Tyne to
London, used to start from Shepherd's Quay in North Shields, but the
' 13 and 14 \'ict. cap. Ixiii.
"Powers were conferred on the commissioners to construct this dock by statute 15 and 16 \'ict.
cap. c.\.
' 24 and 25 Vict. cap. .\ci. * 10 Geo. IV. cap. xcviii. ' 11 and 12 \'ict. cap. xlv.
" 25 and 26 Vict. cap. Ixxvi.
MUNICIPAL HISTORY OF THE nOROl'GH. 355
enterprise proved unsuccessful, and the company was wound up in 1875.
Proposals for the erection of a high-level bridge between North and South
Shields have more than once been made, but have never been put into
execution. The Tyne Commissioners were authorised in 1902 to construct
new landing stages, and in other ways to improve the ferry-boat service ; '
and in the same year a company was incorporated under the name of the
North and South Shields Electric Railway Company, and powers given to
it to carry an electric railway through a tunnel under the Tyne, from
Bedford Street to Mile End Road.^
Railways. In December, 1830, a committee was appointed to take
steps for the establishment of railway communication between Newcastle
and North Shields, and this resulted in the formation of the Newcastle and
North Shields Railway Company in 1835/ A railway from the Manors
in Newcastle to a station in Nile Street, North Shields, was formally
opened on June 19th, 1839, and extended in 1847 to Oxford Street in
Tynemouth village." The Newcastle and North Shields Company had
amalgamated in 1845 with the Newcastle and Berwick Railway Company,'
and in 1854 the line was included within the North Eastern Railway
svstem.' A new railway, from Blyth to Percy Main on the Newcastle and
North Shields line, was opened in 1847. It continued in private hands
until the incorporation of the Blyth and Tyne Railway Company in 1852.'
In 1 86 1, the same company opened a branch from the Dairy House, near
Seaton Delaval, along the old Whitley waggonway, to a point near the
Master Mariners' Asylum on the Tynemouth road." In 1865, a connexion
was made with Tynemouth. The North Eastern Railway Company acquired
this branch in August, 1874, and in 18S2 made the present line from Tyne-
mouth, through Cullercoats ami Whitley, to Monkseaton.
Education. A school board was constituted in 1871, and assumed
control of the Jubilee School in Albion Road. Five council schools have
been founded since that date. Under the Education Act ot 1902 the
board was superseded by a committee of the town council, to which ten
denominational schools wore transferred on September 30th, 1903. 1 he
following list gives particulars as to the public elementary schools at
present existing within the borough.
' 2 Edw. \I I. cap. xNxiii. " 2 Edw. VII. cap. clxxviii. ' 6 and 7 Will. \\. cap. Ixxvi.
• 8 and 9 Vict. cap. xlvii. ' S and 9 Vict. cap. clxiii. ' 17 and iS \i. 1 .:.,,. ccxi.
' 15 and 16 Vict. cap. cxxii. ' 17 and iS Vict. cap. Ixxix.
356
TYNEMOUTH BOROUGH.
Name.
Foundation.
Denomination.
Jubilee
i8og
British
Kettlewell's
... 1825 ...
11
St. Ciithbcrt's ...
IS40
Roman Catholic
Howard Street ...
... 1843 ...
Scotch Church ...
Trinity
1845
Church of England
St. Joseph's
1857
Roman Catholic
Priory
1868
Church of England
Percy (St. John's)
1869
n
St. Peter's
1870-71 ...
j»
Christ Church ...
... 1872 ...
»
Preston
... IS72 ..
i»
Western
1872
Council
Chirton ...
1873
)i
Eastern
1875
„
Percy Main
1894
i»
Queen Victoria ...
1897 ••
„
Accommodation.
1,104
269
595
469
332
216
449
394
288
845
72
1,429
374
1,100
756
804
Public Institutions. The Subscription Library, formed in 1S07, came
to an end in 1835, its place being taken bv the Tynemouth Literary and
Philosophical Society. In 1S69 it was resolved to adopt the Free Libraries
Act. A free library was formed in the building of the Tradesmen's and
Mechanics' Institute in Howard Street (established in 1833), and the
Literary and Philosophical Society was merged in it. The library lias a
museum attached to it.'
Amongst the charitable institutions in the town are the Master
Mariners' Asylum on the Tynemouth road, erected in 1837 for the purpose
of supporting infirm and decayed master mariners of the port ; the Sailors'
Home, built on the New Quay in 1856 by Algernon, fourth duke of North-
umberland, and endowed by public subscription ; the Wellesley Training
Ship, started in 1868 with a view to training homeless and destitute boys for
a seafaring life ; and the Victoria Jubilee Infirmary for the reception of
accident cases.
A native of North Shields, William Wouldhave, has a claim to be
considered the inventor of the lifeboat. His more successful rival of the
opposite borough, Henry Greathead, whose model was accepted in 1789,
built the first lifeboat used at North Shields. Lifeboat stations were made
at the Low Lights, the Spanish battery, and Cullercoats. In 1840 the
management of the North and South Shields boats was consolidated in the
Tyne Lifeboat Institution. The National Lifeboat Institution has charge of
' The thirty-second report of the Public Library Committee contains a useful bibliography of local
books, and a historical sketch of Shields and Tynemouth literature by the late Mr. C. J. Spence.
MUNICIPAL HISTORY OF THE BOROt'GH.
357
the boats placed at Cullercoats, Tynemouth haven, and the Black Middens.
In consequence of the wreck of the ' Stanley ' on the Black Middens in
1864, the Tynemouth Volunteer Life Brigade was formed through the
exertions of the late Mr. John Forster Spence, as a means of supplying
the coast-guard with disciplined assistance in the working of their life-
saving appliances. The institution so formed was the first of its kind in
the kingdom.
The Wei.leslev Tkai.sinc. Shii'.
Christ Chlrch.
During the disturbed times of the Civil War, the parishioners of Tyne-
mouth were prevented from attending their parish church in the castle,
which began to Ml into ruin. An entry in the parish vestry book states
that on July 29th, 1645, it was agreed that a cessment should be laid on
the whole parish 'for prosecuting of the busines concerneing a place for
358 TYNEMOUTH BOROUGH.
preaching and house and maintenance for our minister to be given to him
by reason of his greatt distress at this time.' A malting kiln at Chirton was
subsequently rented of Ralph Gardner at £S a year, and services were held
in it.' Naturallv a more suitable edifice was desired. The Commonwealth
commissioners for church livings reported (June ist, 1652) 'that the parish
church of Tynemouth is quite ruined ; that the town of North Shields being
a populous place of itself, it is fit that a parish church be built there, and
the town[ships] of Tynemouth, Preston, East and Middle Chirton, Whitley
and Morton annexed to it.' " In conformity with this recommendation the
parishioners addressed the following petition two years later to the earl
of Northumberland :
To the right honorable the earle of Northumberland. The humble pelicon of the parrishioners of
Tinmouth in the countic of Northumberland, July, 1654.
Humbly sheweth that the petitioners to there great grifes have for theis 12 or 13 yeares past bin
deprived of hearing God's holy word in their usuall church, it being within the castle, which is garrisoned
soe that mania tymes they have bin forced to heare the same in the open feilds. That your petitioners,
not haveing anie hopes of the use of their church againe and well knowing your honor's piety and zeale
to soe good a work, are emboldened to become most humble suitors, beseeching your honor to be pleased
to graunt unto them a proporcion of ground to build them a church on, also for a burling place, and they
humbly conceive if it be with your honor's pleasure that a corner of a close there called Brocke close by
the highway wilbe most convenient for that purpose.
[Endorsed.] His lordship is pleased a parcell of ground be sett out where it may be most con-
venient. Aug. 5th, 1654.'
The earl thereupon gave them a piece of land in the demesne called
Brock close, at the south end of the road leading from Preston, abutting
on the highway from Tynemouth to Newcastle.
At the quarter sessions held at Morpeth, April 2ist, 1658, a petition
of the parishioners of Tynemouth was presented, showing ' the great want
of a church there, whereby not only the parishioners but many others,
both the masters of shipps, straingers, and other travellers and passengers,
resorting thither, cannot have any publique and convenient place for the
service and worshipp of God, the former church being made use of for
the garison of Tynmouth castle, soe that some thousands of people ar left
destitute of the word and meanes of salvation, to the great dishonour of
God and encouragement of many loose and ignorant people in prophaneing
of the sabboth and liveing in a luid life and conversation.' ' It was ordered
that an assessment of two shillings in the pound should be levied throughout
the county for building a church.
' Tynemouth Vestry Books. ' Arch. Ael. ist series, vol. iii'. p. 9.
" Duke of Northumberland's MSS. ' Tynemouth Vestry Books.
MUNICIPAL HISTORY OF THE BOROIT.H. 359
The building was immediately commenced. In April, 1663, it was
arranged to treat with Robert Trollop for carrying on and finishing the new
church, and raising a roof of English tiles, ceiling the inside and plastering
the walls on the inside.' The church was consecrated on Julv 5th, 1668. ■
The bishop of Durham, being at Newcastle on his visitation, went to Tynemouth, and with the
assistance of Dr. Basire, archdeacon of Northumberland, and half a dozen more of the clergy, consecrated
a new church erected there upon a piece of ground given by the earl of Northumberland. Mr. Clarke,
the earl's officer, delivered up possession of the edifice and land in the name of his master to the bishop,
who dedicated it Christ Church, and at the offering gave ;£; towards the better beautifying and adorning
the church. Dr. Dockwray held the first ser\'ice. Dr. Basire and Wrench, a prebendary of Durham,
the second. Mr. Davenport, the bishop's chaplain, preached the consecration sermon.'
This church was a cruciform building, measuring 71^ feet from east
to west, and the same from north to south, the limbs of the cross being
twenty-four feet in breadth.^ Doors in the north, south and west walls
gave access to two long passages running through the middle of the
building and crossing one another at right angles. The font, clerk's desk,
reading desk, parson's pew and pulpit were all in the south-west quarter
of the church. The communion table was apparently portable, and when
in use was placed in the centre of the building. Large pews, allotted to
the principal parishioners and their servants, were erected in all parts of
the church, even at the east end, where were the pews of the duke of
Somerset, Sir Ralph Delaval, and the officers of Tynemouth castle.'
Not long after its construction the church was found to be too small,
and during the eighteenth century various structural changes were made
in order to provide additional accommodation. In 1786 money obtained
by the sale of pews by public auction" was applied to building a steeple
and purchasing six bells. The first set of bells was lost at sea on its passage
from London, but a second set was presented to the church by James Storey
of Storey's hall, Low Lights. Four other bells have since been added.'
' Tynemouth Vestry Books.
- July 5th, 1668. The new church was consecrated by the Right Reverend father in God, John,
Lord Bishop of Durham, and named Christ's Church. Ibid.
' Cal. State Papers Domestic, 1667- 1668, p. 427 ; cp. ibid. p. 476. The service used upon this occasion
is printed in the Correspondence of Bishop Cosiii, Surt. Soc. No. 55, pp. 175-190.
' Brand, Newcastle, vol. ii. p. 119, quoting Dr. Ellison's MSS.
' Plan in Mr. H. A. Adamson's possession.
' Down to 1859 the pews in this church were regarded as personal property, .and were transferred
from vendor to purchaser like shares in a company. The market value of a pew in 1764 ranged from
£6 to ^71 los., according to its position. 'To be sold at Mr. KcHs, the sign of the Beehive in North
Shields, to the highest bidders, the scats or pews, separately as they are numbered, in the newly erected
addition to the parish church of Tynemouth.' Newcastle Courant, October 6th, 1764.
" On the church bells see Proc. Soc. Antiq. Newcastle, 2nd series, vol. iii. pp. 21-22.
360 TYNEMOUTH BOROUGH.
In 1792 the church was practically rebuilt. The roof, which had
decayed, was taken down ; the walls were heightened ; some of the galleries
were removed ; the pulpit and reading desk were placed in a more con-
venient situation (a 'three-decker' of the usual type being brought into the
church), and an organ was purchased and placed in the west gallery.' The
present chancel and organ-chamber were erected in 1869, when the church
was reseated.
The affairs of the parish were conducted by the minister, the four
churchwardens and the select vestry or four-and-twenty. Until 1840, and
for at least two centuries before that date, it was customary to elect two
churchwardens for ' the country ' and two for Shields. The four-and-
twenty, together with the minister, imposed church rates, elected the
churchwardens and examined their accounts, and took an important part in
local administration.
Christ Church remained the only Church of England place of worship
in the parish until 1836, when the chapel of ease of Holy Trinity was built
in Coach Lane at the west end of North Shields (consecrated October 21st,
1836). A few years later the chapel of ease of Holy Saviour was built
at Tynemouth, at the intersection of the Manor Road and the North Road
(consecrated August nth, 1841). Messrs. Green of Newcastle were
architects for both structures. The old parish remained undivided until
i860, since which year the following seven ecclesiastical districts or parishes
have been carved out of it :
1S60. Percy, Tynemouth (St. John).
i860. Low Town, Tynemouth (St. Peter).
i860. Cullercoats, Tynemouth (St. Paul's,
Whitley).
1861. The Priory, Tynemouth (Holy Saviour).
1861. Western Town, Tynemouth (Holy Trinity).
1880. St. George's, Cullercoats.
1885. St. Augustine's (Washington Terrace).
The sacramental plate of Christ Church includes a large silver flagon
given by John Spearman of Durham in 1703 ; three silver patens, the gifts
respectively of William Raper, keeper of the stores of Tynemouth castle
(1728), of Mrs. Naters of Tynemouth (1818), and of William Mitcalfe of
Tynemouth house (1825) ; and a double set of silver communion plate,
given by the members of the family of the late Canon Brutton."
' The organ is traditionally stated to have been bought by the churchwardens from the proprietors
of Vauxhall Gardens, and is perhaps to be identified with the organ built for Westmmster Abbey m 1660,
and removed thence to Yau.xhall Gardens seventy years later. The common supposition that Father
Smith built the Westminster organ is open to doubt. See Musical Times, vol. xlvi. pp. 518-519.
= A full account of the church plate is given in Proc. Soc. Antiq. Newcastle, 2nd series, vol. iii.
pp. 19-21.
MUNICIPAL HISTORY OF THE BOROUGH. 36 1
The ordination of the vicarage is dated 1250, the endowment being
then fixed at £2(1^ 13s. 4d.' In Pope Innocent's taxation of 1264, how-
ever, the vicarage was assessed at ^10 only," and in that of Pope Nicholas,
taken in 1292, at £(d is. 2d.' In 1295 the vicarage was estimated to be
worth ;^30.' In 1535 it was returned as worth ;^24 19s. 4d. After the
suppression of the religious houses a pension of ;^30 to the vicar was
charged upon the rectory, but of this sum £^, 13s. 4d. was due to the
curate of Earsdon. The vicar's stipend was temporarily increased under the
Commonwealth to £^1 . Archdeacon Sharpe, about the year 1725, valued
the vicarage at ^- 100. In 1825 the actual receipt was ;^ 280 ; and at the
present date the gross income is about /416 and the net income ;^353.
Monumental Inscriptions, Christ Church.
In memory of Charles Charleton, M.D., member of the Royal College of Physicians. Edinburgh,
second son of the late Reverend Charles Charleton, A.M., vicar of this parish, who died on the 26th
day of December, 1827, tenninaliny a short but eminently useful life at the age of 23 years.
Sacred to the reverend memory of John CoUingwood of Chirton house in this parish, esq., who died
January 7th, 1841, aged 90 years. Also of Sarah, wife of the above, who died July, 1824.
In memory of William Conyers and Mary, the daughter and son of Nicholas Conyers of Scarbrough,
gentleman. Also of Ann, daughter of the above-named Nicholas Conyers, who dyed the 14th of March,
1733, aged 66 years. Arms : a niautuh demised by a bend : crest : a bulPs head erased.
Sacred to the memory of Anne, wife of Henry Coward of Preston, near North Shields, who departed
this life, May, 1834, aged 74 years. Also the above Henry Coward, esq., who departed this life July 7th,
1836, aged 73 years. Also .Margaret Antonia Linskill, eldest daughter of the above, died May 2nd,
1843, aged 55 years.
The burial place of John Cruddas of North Shields, common brewer. EleanorCruddas,wife of the above,
died March 4th, 1S30, aged 85 years. The above John Cruddas died November 25th, 1831, aged Si years.
In hope of a blessed resurrection, here lies deposited ye remains of Mr. John Dale, master and
mariner, late of Robin Hood's Bay. He departed this life, December the 26th, 1744, aged 49 years.
Here lyeth interred the body of Stephen Dockwray, M.A., late vicar of this church, sone and suc-
cesour of the Reverend Thomas Dockwray, D.D., who was chaplaine to and slaine with the Right
Honourable the earl of Sandwich in that great engagement with ye Dutch, May 28th, 1672. The said
Stephen depaited this life September 20th, 1681, and Thomas, his son, Aprill ye 13th, 1676.'
In memory of Richard Dockwray of North Shields, mariner, who departed this life November 2nd,
1802, aged 58 years. Elizabeth Dockwray, wife of the above, died J.inuary 22nd, 1835. aged 98 years.
Anne Dockwray, daughter of the above, died November 21st, 1848, aged 74 years.
The buriall place of Christopher Erington, senior. Here lieth ye body of 7 of his children, vizt,
2 Margarets, 2 Johns, 2 Barbaras, and Christopher. Also here lieth ye body of Christopher Erington of
North Shields, marriner ; he departed the 14th of August, 1722. aged 36. Elizabeth, his daughter,
ye wife of George Howett, departed this life the 29th day of October, 1732. aged 21 years. Arms:
ErringiON, impaling a chevron between three stags' heads erased: crest : <i boars head erased.
' See above, p. 125, note. " Hodgson, Northumberland, pt. ii. vol. iii. p. 424-
' Taxatio Ecclesiastica, Record Com. p. 316; Hodgson, Northumberland, pt. iii. vol. i. P- 349. To
this entry the note is added : ' Memorandum de dubio ta.xationis vicariae de 1 ynemue, ct est dubium de
pane et cerevisia ct prebendis receptis per manus prioris et convcntus ejusdem loci in specialibus
prenotatis et per eosdem dimissis.'
' See above, p. 1 26.
' This incription was discovered under the floor of the south transept in i S69,and was again covered over.
Vol. VI II. '♦^
362 TYNEMOUTH ROROUGH.
In memory of Peregrine Henzell, esq., of Whitley, who died the iQtli of July, 1824, aged 78 years.
Here lyeth interred the body of Edward Hodgson of North Shields, cordwainer, one of the first
founders of this church, who was buryed the 3rd of November, anno 1690. And Anne Hodgson, his
wife, buryed the 7th day of March, 1689. Here lyeth also the body of Mr. William Richardson, who
departed this life the 6th day of July, 1710, aged about 59 years.
Hie jacet Radulphus Milbourn de East Chirton armiger qui obiit vicesimo secundo die Mali 1689 et
aetatis suae 43. Uxorem du.xit Winifrcdam unicam filiam et prolem Thomae Richardson de Clements
Inn in parochia St. Clements Danes in comitatu Midlesex generosi. Reliquit unicam filiam Winifrid
nominatam superstitcm hoc anno salutis MDCXCIII. Posuit hoc monumentum maestissima conjux
supradicta Winifrida Milbourn. Obiit 1720.
Sacred to the memory of John Stephenson, esq., of North Shields, who departed this life September
i6th, 1752, aged 66 years. And also his son, John Stephenson, esq., who died July 12th, 1801, aged 74
years. Here also lies interred Elizabeth Stephenson, wife of the above and mother of the late John
Stephenson, who died May 9th, 1746, aged 45 years.
Here lieth the body of Mary Stephenson, relict of John Stephenson, jun., esq., who studied to excel
in every Christian virtue. How far she succeeded, those, who knew her, best can tell. She died
October i8th, 1803, aged 75 years.
Ann, wife of Joseph Straker, died August 30th, 1S54, aged 74 years. Henry, their son, was lost
overboard from the ' Richard and Ann,' April 21st, 1S27, aged 17 years. Joseph Straker, J. P., departed
this life October 13th, 1867, aged 83 years.
Sacred to the memory of Thomas Wright, esq., of Whitley park in this parish, who died the i8th of
March, 1840.
\'ICARS OF TVNEMOUTH.
1083. Elwald or Alwald, 'qui et canonicus Dunelmensis ecclesiae fuerat' (.Symeon of Durham, Hisl.
Regum, Rolls Series, vol. ii. p. 260), attested a charter of Bishop St. Carileph, April 27th, 1085.
II.... Osbern, ' vicarius de Tinemuth,' afterwards chaplain of Horton {Vita Oswiin, Surt. Soc. No. 8,
cap. xviii.).
1200 (circa). Stephen, attested grant of Milo de Whittonstall to the hospital of St. Mary at the
Westgate, Newcastle (Hist, of Northumberl.ind, vol. vi. p. 185).
1250. Peter (St. Alban's Register, fol. 128).
12.... Henry Gategang (Tyncmoutlt Cliartulary, fol. 116), [rector of Embleton circa 1245-1270].
1 291. William de Dunham [Coram Rege Rolls, No. 128 ; Rot. Pat. 19 Edw. I. m. 9), died September
25th, 1295 (St. Alban's Register, fol. 129 b).
1308 (circa). John de Barneburgh, presented April 24th (St. Alban's Register, fol. 213); also vicar of
Norton (Reg. Pat. Dun. vol. ii. p. 844), and vicar of Lesbury in 1306 (ibid. vol. i. p. 529).
1311. John de Howick, admitted March 30th, 131 1 (York Register, Greenfield, pars i. fol. 199).
1325. John de Howarth, was vicar March 19th, 1324/5, when he conveyed lands in Backworth, Murton
and Whitley ; resigned or dead before August 5th, 1325 (Tynemouth Cliartulary, fols. 86, 87).
1344. Roger de Selby, was cited to appear at Durham to show by what title he held the vicarage
{Durham Register, Bury, fol. 10).
1350. John de Weteley, admitted November 22nd, 1350 (Durham Register, Hatfield, fol. i) ; living
Deceinber 5th, 1363 (Water/ord Charters, No. l5).
1380. Alan Whitheved (Cat, Pat. Rolls, 1377-1381, p. 623); living September 12th, 1392 (ibid. 1391-1396,
P- 154)-
1466. William Merrynian (Arch. Acl. ist series, vol. iii. p. 80).
1492. John Hebborne, LL.B., had papal licence to hold plurality of benefices, June loth, 1492 (Durham
Register, Fox, fol. 36 b) ; received monition from the bishop of Durham to reside, November
4th, 1499 (ibid. fol. 28); presented for non-residence in 1501 (Ecclesiastical Proceedings,
Bishop Barnes, Surt. Soc. No. 22, p. xx).
1526 (circa). Edward Felde, S.T.P., on December 2nd, 1531, was presented to the rectory of Whalton,
which he resigned in 1533 (Durham Register, Tunstall, fol. 8 b).
MUNICIPAL HISTORY OF THE BOROUGH. 363
1533- William Hobson, M.A., upon resignation of Felde, instituted July 10th (Durham Register,
Tunstall, fol. 13). On December loth, 1536, Thomas, prior, and the convent of Tynemoulh
granted the next advowson and presentation of Tynemouth to Thomas Grey, Thomas
Lawson, William Selby and John Selby, if the church should fall vacant by resignation or
otherwise during the natural life of Oliver Selby, clerk (ibid.).
1540. Oliver Selby, after the death of Hobson, admitted September 15th (Durham Register, Tunstall,
fol. 29) ; also chaplain of IJranxlon (g).
1578. John Knightley, after the dealh of Selby, admitted June 26th, 1578 (/) (Durham Register, Uames,
fol. 3 b).
1588. Gilbert Spence, after the death of Knightley, admitted September 2nd, 15S8 (/) ; of St. Edmund
Hall, Oxen. ; matriculated April 3rd, 1584, aged 32 (c).
1607. William Robinson, after the death of Spence,' admitted December 3rd, 1607 (/) ; of St. John's
College, Camb. ; I5.A. 1615 ; iM.A. 1618 ; incorporated with Oxford 1621 (c) ; buried
February 13th, 1622/3 (")•
1623. John Heslop, after the death of Robinson, instituted August Sih (b) (Durham Register, Neile and
Cosin, fol. 56); of St. Edmund Hall, Oxon. ; matriculated October I3lh, 1620, aged 19;
K.A., 1620 (c) ; buried August 2nd, 1637 (a).
1637. James Hume, after the dealh of Heslop, instituted January 1 ith, 1637/8 (b) ; sequestered (Walker,
Sufferings, vol. ii. p. 272).
1651 Dersley. In 1651 the four and twenty, taking into consideration the great pains taken by
Mr. Dersley, then minister, for their souls' comfort, in ministering the Gospel, ' for the futher
doth engage ourselfes to allow him a yearly stipend dureinge pleasur ; doth lay on the lands
six shillings 8d. per farme, and so the colleryes, mills, tylhes, personal! estates, and panns,
and all other profits whatever within our parish and ye tow n of Sheeles, what every one shall
subscribe towards his stipend, beginging from his deputation, and if any doe refuse to
subscribe, then the twenty-four hath power to sese the said partie accordinge to there profit,
and if refractery then a warrant to be procured from a justice for the use of Mr. Uoarsly,
he contynuing his paines amongst us' (e).
1652. Francis Gibson, of Queen's College, Oxon., matriculated June 4th, 1641, aged 17 ; B.A. 1645 ;
served in the earl of Dover's regiment in the Civil War(f) ; appointed by the Commissioners
for Propagating the Gospel, February 5th, 1652. 'For his support and maintenance it is
ordered that ye crown rents out of Tynemouth vicarege being per annum ^30, out of the
corn tithes and petty tithes of Walesend per annum .^31, the remainder of Newcastle tithes
being per annum ^16, out of By well Andrew and Slaley per annum ;^20, be vested and
settled upon the said Mr. Gibson' (e).
1659. Alexander Gordon, chosen to be minister, April 4th, 1659 (c) ; was ejected in 1662 after the .Act
of Uniformity (Calamy, Continuation, p. 6S5) and went into Scotland, where he became
minister to the marquis of Argyle at Inverary, and, living to a great age, died in 1714
(Wodrow, History of the Sufferings of the Church of Scotland, vol. i. p. 318).
' ' Maye yt please your lordship to knowe that after ye deathe of Gilbert Spence, late vic.irc of
Tyneniooth, 1 presumed to wryte a letter to your lordship in the behalfe off one Wylliam Robinson,
that your lordship woulde be pleased to bestowe your gift thcroff to him. The man hatlic for dyvers
yeares by paste taught some ofi my brethcrcn, and I knowinge his carryadge to be honest and his
suffycyencye suche as he ys able to serve that cure better then heretofore yt hathe beene, beinge a
batchalour otT arte and a preacher, makes me the more desierous to have him placed there.
Synce which tyme I understand your honour halhe bestowed your gifte therof otV one Lawson,
whose insuftycencye and yll condycion hathe so longe beene knowen to my lorde of Durham that he wyll
nott admytt ofl" him. My humble suite to your lordship ys that your honour would be plc.iscd to
bestowe your gift theroff oif him whome 1 formerly recomended by my letter to your lordship and graunt
your honours presentment to this Robinson, who hathe alredye my gift thereoff so farr as ys in me,
1 beinge joynt purchaser off ye rectory off Tynemoothe and advowsonne iherolV frome my coosen Peter
Delavale, otf whome your lordship purchased ye other moyetie.'
Letter fiom Sir Ralph Delaval to Henry, ninth earl of Northumberland, dated August I2th, 1607.
Duke of Northumberland's MSS.
564
TYNEMOUTH BOROUGH.
1662. Henry Ashbumham, admitted October 29th, 1662 (/) {Durham Ri-gish-r, Neile and Cosin,
fol. loi b) ; curate at St. Andrew's, Newcastle, 1667 ; buried in St. John's church in that
town. May 28th, 1669 (Brand, vol. i. p. 193).
1668. Thomas Dockwray, D.D., vicar of Newburn, 1652-1667, and of Whitburn, 1667-1672, also chaplain
to the earl of Sandwich, and fell in action against the Dutch, May 28lh, 1672.'
1673. Stephen Dockwray, M.A., son of the above, instituted February loth, 1672/3 (b) ; of Sidney-Sussex
College, Cambridge ; died September 20th, 1681 (/j); buried in the chancel of Christ Church (/i).
1682. Thomas Dockwray, M.A. brother of the above, instituted February 22nd, 1681/2 (i), or March
13th, 1681/2 (f) ; of St. John's College, Camb. ; matriculated .-Xpril 14th, 1673, aged 16 (<f) ;
also perpetual curate of Wallsend (g) ; buried February 24th, 1724/5 (")•
1736. Charles Ward (c), of Lincoln College, 0.\on. ; matriculated June 2Sth, 1733, aged 18 ; I5.A. 1737 ;
M.A. 1740 (c) ; vicar of Whittingham, 1763- 1773 ; also vicar of Chatton and of Longhorsley ;
died July nth, 1785, aged 77 ; buried at Tynemouth priory.
1749. Emanuel Potter, instituted May 6th, 1749 ,b) ; inducted June Sth (i) ; of Queen's College, 0.\on. ;
matriculated July 5th. 1733, aged 18 (c) ; nominated perpetual curate of Wallsend, 1760 (g) ;
died November i8th, 1789; buried at Cramlington.
17S9. Charles Charleton, instituted November 27th, 1789 (6), of Lincoln College, O.xon. ; matriculated
December 5th, 1780, aged 19 ; B..A. 17S4 ; M.A. 1787 (c); died August i8th, 1824, aged 65 ;
buried at Christ Church (/;).
1825. George Di.xon, M.A., after the death of Charlton, inducted February 26th, 1825 (t) (/) of Catherine
Hall, Cambridge ; afterwards vicar of Helmsley in Yorkshire.
1830. Christopher Reed, on the cession of Dixon, instituted July igth, 1S30 (/), of Exeter College,
Oxon. ; matriculated May 9th, 1815, aged 17; B.A. 1828; M.A. 1829 (c) ; died July 21st,
1868; buried at Christ Church (h).
1868. Thomas Brutton, inducted December 8th, 1868 (e), of Pembroke College, Oxon. ; matriculated
January 23rd, 1845, aged 17; B.A. 1S4S ; M.A. 1S51; honorary canon of Newcastle-upon-
Tyne, 1885 ; rural dean, 1885 (c) ; died January i6th, 1903 ; buried at Christ Church (/;)■
1899. Thomas Emerson Crawhall of Trinity College, Cambridge, on the cession of Brutton ; B.A. 1889;
M.A. 1900 ; rector of Newton Hall, 1898 ; honorary canon of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 1906.
(a) Tynemouth Registers. (e) Vestry Minute Books.
(6) Liber Institutionum, P.R.O. (/) Bishop's Certificate, P.R.O.
(c) Fosttr, Alumni Oxonienses. (g) Kandull, State of the CJiurchts.
(d) Admissions to St. John College, Cambridge. (/») Monumental Inscriptions, Christ Church.
Tynemouth Registers. — Selected Entries. =
1635, June 16. John Hall and Luce Delavale, married.
1636, Nov. 27. Humphray Coward and Anne Read, married.
1639/40, Jan. 7. Gilbert Errington and Jaine Read, married.
1651/2, Jan. I. Mr. Ralph Fenwick and Jaine Milbron, wedow, married.
1662, June 24. Ralph Killingworth and Mabell Halton, married.
' Mr. Humphrey Bell (minister of Ponteland) had this expression: 'What comfort should I now
have had, had I conform'd against my conscience, as (says he) I doubt Mr. Dockwray did?' ; meaning
Mr. Thomas Dockwray, afterwards Dr. Dockwray, who was by the duke of York preferr'd to be chaplain
to the earl of Sandwich, who (as I have been inform'd) was burnt in the ship in which the earl was burnt.
Calamy, Ejected Ministers, vol. ii. p. 514.
Archdeacon Basire noted. May 4th, 1669, that Dr. Dockwray did not wear a surplice when he
preached, and omitted the service after the sermon. In 167 1 he was pronounced contumacious and as
having no institution, induction, or licence for Christ Church, and as neglecting procurations. Hunter
MSS. No. 137.
" The registers, edited by the Rev. R. H. Couchman, are in course of publication. Further extracts
from them are given by Mr. H. A. Adamson in Arch. Acl. 2nd series, vol. xix. pp. 197-216.
MUNICIPAL HISTORY OF THE ROROUGH.
365
1663, Oct. 15. Henn- Ashburnham, vicar of Tynemouth, and Mrs. Mary Lambe, married in Walsend
church.
John Kellet and Jane Carnabie, married.
Mr. Ralph Kellio and Anne Stanton, married.
Mr. Peter Lorrence and Jane Chester, married.
Mr. Robert White, minister, and Mrs. Mary Atkinson, both of Bowdon, in ye county
palatine of Durham, married.
Mr. Thomas Howard and Mrs. Frances Ogle, married.
Mr. William Whitehead and Mrs. Hannah Pattison, married.
Mr. William Collingwood and .Mrs. Margaret Clarke, married.
Mr. Thomas Arey and Mrs. Dorothy Sisterson, married.
Mr. Jacob Wilkinson and Mrs. Barbara Smith, married.
.Mr. Robert Durham and Mrs. Mary Murton, married.
Mr. Richard Bates and Mrs. Margarett Clarke, married.
Mr. Ralph Clarke and Mrs. Elizabeth Browne, married.
John Roddam of Litle Houghton, esq., and Maddam Winnifrid Milboume, junior, of
Chirton, married.
Mr. Joseph Bonner, vicar of Bowlum, and Mrs. Isabell Hickeringill, married.
Francis Brownhill and Mrs. Susannah Roddam, married.
Mr. Robert Loadsman and Margaret Stor)' of Shields, married.
Mr. John Severan, Capt. Leiuet", and Mrs. Margaret Bates, married.
Mr. .Michael Johnson and .Mrs. Mary Depommas.
Mr. Robert Bugncl and .Mrs. Anne Storo, married.
Mr. Benjamin Kellio and Martha Vasy, married.
Mr. Robert Clark and Mrs. Dorothy Vanholt of Newcastle, married.
tirey Cooper, esq., and Mrs. Margaret Grey, married.
Mr. George Ward of Whitby and Mrs. Mary Errington, married.
1753/4, Mar. 24. Mr. Henry Ogle of Liverpool, and Mrs. Jane Ogle of Newcastle.
1672, May
7-
1675, June
27-
1675, Aug.
3'-
1678, Dec.
16.
1 680/ 1, Feb.
'3-
1684, April
6.
1684, July
8.
1686/7, Feb.
10.
1686/7, Feb.
II.
1694, June
10.
1694, Dec.
19.
1697, April
6.
1698, July
4-
1702, April
28
1710/1, Feb.
4
171 1, Dec.
-5
17 12, March
31-
1723, Sept.
5-
1730, Sept.
29.
1 731/2, Jan.
27-
1752, July
25-
1753, Oct.
-)
1753/4, Jd-n.
31-
Charities.'
16.... Robert Spearm.in gave a cottage and close for the schoolmaster; also ten shillings a year
out of a house in Tynemouth for washing surplices.'
1650. George Milboume of Chirton bequeathed ten shillings yearly to the poor of the parish. The
yearly sum often shillings is a charge on the Collingwood property at Chirton, and is distributed by the
churchwardens among the poor of the township of Chirton.
1654. Gawen Forster bequeathed the sum of ten shillings yearly to the poor of the parish, a bene-
faction now lost.
167 1. George Milboume of Chirton bequeathed four pounds a year to the native poor of the
parish, to be distributed on the day of his burial. This bequest does not appear to have taken eHect.
1675. William Collinson of Tynemouth gave ten shillings yearly to the poor of the parish, to be dis-
tributed at Easter. This has also ceased to be paid.
1678. Sir Mark Milbank of Halnaby, bart., gave half of the tithes of corn and grain in Tynemouth
township to the vicar and poor of the said parish, namely, two pounds per annum to the vicar, and the
remainder to the poor ; the latter portion to be distributed by the vicar and churchwardens on the
first Sunday after Lady-day and the first Sunday after Michaelmas.
1703. John Spearman of Durham bequeathed to the vicar and churchwardens of Tynemouth
' ^20 towards a stocke for the parish, the yearly interest to be applied for the teaching of one or more
poore boy or boys of the parish by birth the catechism and principles of the protestant religion of the
' Lists of Tynemouth charities are given in the Charity Commissioners' Tucniy-ihird Report (1830),
pp. 438-443, and in Parlinmcntary Papers, 1895, No. 147.
' Ralph Spearman's MSS.
366
TYNEMOUTH BOROUGH.
established church, and in reading, writing, and arithmetick and navigation, to fitt them for the sea or
manuall trades, recommending the towns of East Chirton, I'rcston and Tynemouth, where my paternal
estate is, to have the preference, and excepting North Shields.' '
1703. Eleanor Wilson of North Shields bequeathed ^25 tn the poor of tlie parish, the interest to be
distributed by the churchwardens every Christmas Day.
1730. William Raper, storekeeper at Tynemouth castle and Clifford's fort, bequeathed the
interest of ^30 to the poor of the parish. This sum is charged on a house in the Low Street, North
Shields, and is distributed half-yearly, on February 2nd and August 2nd.
176S. Anthony Pearson of North Shields bequeathed to the vicar and churchwardens the interest
of ^50, to be distributed yearly on Christmas Eve to six poor widows of seamen.' The bequest appears
never to have taken effect.
1785. James Storey of the Low Lights agreed, in return for permission to erect a pew in the parish
church, that the sum of thirty shillings should be paid yearly by him and his heirs to the curate of the
parish, towards the education of four poor children. This agreement terminated in 1792, when the
church was re-seated.
17SS. Margaret Richardson of West Ham, Middlesex, bequeathed to the Four-and-twenty of the
parish the sum of .^466 13s. 4d., invested in East India annuities, on trust to distribute the interest
among the poor of the township of North Shields only. The dividends on the stock are distributed half-
yearly, for the benefit of the poor, by the two acting churchwardens for the townships of Tynemouth and
North Shields.
1790. Winifred Lawson of Chirton bequeathed the interest of /'loo to the poor of the parish.
181 1. George Crawford of King's Langley bequeathed the interest of /700, invested in three per
cent, consols, to trustees, for the poor of the village of Tynemouth only. The dividends are distributed
about Easter by the vicar and churchwardens.
1824. Thomas Kettlewell of North Shields bequeathed four annuities of two guineas each to the
Bible Society for Tynemouth parish, the preacher for the time being at Howard Street Methodist chapel,
the North Shields and Tynemouth Dispensary, and the Indigent Sick Society of the parish of Tyne-
mouth. He directed his trustees to support, out of the proceeds of his estate, one or more schoolmasters
for instructing children in a charity-school built on land in George Street, North Shields, on land given
by the testator for that purpose in 1819. The trustees were to employ the remainder of the annual
revenue in providing books, etc., in clothing the children, and in other beneficial purposes. Orphans
and fatherless children were to have the preference for admission. In the appointment of a school-
master, a lame person was to be preferred.
1S27. Charles Charlcton, M.D., of North Shields devised his house in Dockwray Square and other
property, subject to his wife's life-interest, to trustees for the purpose of establishing a fever-house to be
joined to the Tynemouth Dispensary. The bequest was contested and failed to take eflTect.
1859. Robert Pow of North Shields devised ;£2,70O on trust, as to two-thirds, for the North Shields
Town Mission Society, and, as to one-third, for the Missions to Seamen Society. The fund is managed
in accordance with a scheme drawn up by the Charity Commissioners in 1879.
1872. Joseph Elder Heward of St. George's Place, Hyde Park, devised the residue of his estate,
amounting to ^4,200, to the mayor, aldermen, and burgesses of the borough of Tynemouth ; the income
to be applied by them for clothing, educating, and bringing up poor and deserving orphan children of
sailors belonging to the borough. This sum is administered by a committee of the borough council.
1874. J. Aynsley bequeathed /50 to be invested for the benefit of the poor at Monkseaton.
1884. Edward Shotton devised the interest on £ioo to the Indigent Sick Society, and like sums
to the North Shields and Tynemouth Dispensary, and to the Tyne Sailors' Home.
' Surtees, Durham, vol. i. p. 96. ' This sum was laid out with other moneys for the school, viz.,
Spearman's gift, three boys from Preston, two from Chirton, one from Tynemouth. My father and aunt
Walker always named boys. It was lost after my speaking to old Collingwood. He said our family
naming was not of right but from respect to benefactors.' Ralph Spearman's MSS.
■ Mr. H. A. Adamson's collections.
MUNICIPAL HISTORY OF THE BOROUGH. 367
Miscellanea.
1505. John Hebborne, vicar; William Bell, chaplain. The parishioners say that the vicar docs
not reside in his benefice as he is bound to do, and they say that matins and vespers are not said at
fitting and usual hours. They also say that the glass windows in the choir are broken, and it is
enjoined on the impropriators that they be sufficiently repaired and mended before the feast of the
Purification next. Ecclesiastical Proceedings, .Surt. .Soc. No. 22, p. xx.
1535, May 8th. Charge of adultery with Sir Phihp Dacre, knt., brought against Dorothy Clapam
of the parish of Tynemouth. She appeared and purged herself by oath ; was inhibited from consorting
with Sir Philip Dacre in future. Ecclesiastical Depositions, Surt. Soc. No. 21, p. 50.
'535- Tynemouth vicarage worth yearly £24 19s. 4d. clear. Valor EccUsiasticus, Record Com-
mission, vol. V. p. 327.
1601, October 13th. Their communion book is torn and not sufficient. Visitation Books, Durham
Episcopal Registry.
1603/4, February 6th. Office against Simon Ward and Nicholas Hunter that they refused to pay
their wine silver ; against John Scott and Barbara his wife for not receiving the holy communion at
Easier last. Ibid.
1605, June 8th. Office against Ann, wife of Simon Ward, for scolding in the church in the time of
divine service on the Sabbath day, so as the minister could not read the service. lOid.
1607/8, February 4th. They want the table of the commandments, a register book in parchment, a
chest or locker with three locks. Hid.
1638. Assessment for the parish : £. s. d.
Cessment of 4s. per farm, 55 farms ... 11 o o
Salt pans, 30 at 4s. 600
Taverns, 4 at 4s. ... ... o 16 o
Cobles, 10 at 2s 100
Wherries, 20 at 2s. 200
Alehouses, 100 at 2s. ... ... ... ... ... 10 o o
Of every mill 040
Deduct for the outshire farm, for each one-third part of their cess, being 18 farms, for a whole cess 24s.
More the outshire to pay. More Flatworth to pay. Tynemouth Vestry Books.
1645. It is ordered that the burialls shalbe in the place appointed for burying, paying the minister
his dues, and, if any other ground be broken att Spittle, to pay to John Cramlington for every buriall out
of the ordinary place 6d., viz., the church yard. Ibid.
1658, June 28th. ' I doe ingage to give teen pounds towards ye building a church for ye parish of
Tynemouth.' (Signed) W. Collinson. Ibid.
1658, December 8th. ' Whereas Mr. Frederick Simpson, preacher of Gods word, was invited from
London and presented by Ralph Gardner, esq., to be minister of the parish of Tynmouth in the county
of Northumberland, where he did for severall Lord's days preach wholsom orthodox devinitie, but for
want of a laudable voyce through the indisposition of his body they are deseirous to chose another ;
wee the twenty four of the said parish doe, in the behalf of ourselves and the rest of the parishioners,
and in consideration of his charges in his jurneys and the said devine's pains, order and allow him the
meanes or stipend which belonges to ye said parish from the tyme our laite minister, Mr. Gibson, left it,
and until such tyme as we have chosen another ; also wee giving him all harty thanks for his said great
paines.' Ibid.
1658/9, January 3rd. To the Commissioners for Propagating the Gospel. 'Wee the churchwardens
of the parish of Tynmouth do humbly present the bearer Mr. John Page, minister, to be examined
by you whether he is fitt to receive a call by this parish to be their minister, he having spent some tyme
and paines, and is genarly liked by the said parish.' Upon examination in the history of the Bible and
other things relating to the ministerial functions, the said Page was found ' ver)- wake and ignorant and
altogether unfitt to preach or exercise in the work of ye ministry.' Ibid.
1658/9, January 8th. Received for the distressed protestants in Poland and twenty familyes banished
out of Bohemia the sum of £2 14s. 3d. ; paid to the high sheriff^, Mr. Edward Fenwick, for there use. Ibid.
368 TYNEMOUTH BOROUGH.
1662, October 24th. 'Whereas in these late times ye bookes, vestments, furniture and ornaments
belonging to our church have either been plundered, purloyned, imbezeled or made away, so that none
of them of any consequence are remaining to be found for ye performance of devine offices there ; '
a rate was imposed for providing the articles required. Tyncmoiith Vestry Books.
1667/8, March. It was ordered that each farmer and copyholder in the inshire should pay 5s. the
farm, and the Shields to raise as much as the county amounted unto, for the building of a pulpit and
glasing the windows. IbiJ.
1674. The names of the Four-and-twcnty. For the country, .Sir Ralph Delavale, Captain Thos.
Love, Ralph Rccd, esq., Thos. Otway, Mich. Spearman, John Butler, Henry Archbold, \Vm. Reay,
Ro. Rotherforth, Robt. Dove, Edw. Spearman, Thos. Hall and Jas. Robinson. For the Shields,
Wm. CoUinson, esq., Jeremiah Low, Abraham Readhead, Edw. Toll, Edw. Hodson, Jas. Killerby,
Jo. Hunter, Jo. Howlet, Jo. Clarke, Robt. Story, Geo. Bradley. Ibid.
16S2, Easter Tuesday. Received of Gabriel Coulson, clerke, one silver bowle (or chalice) and silver
cover, two flaggons, two plates, one table-cloath and one napkin, all of them belonging to the communion
table, together with a large pewtaer bason belonging to the same. Ibid.
1684, December 18th. Ordered this day and year abovesaid by the vicar and gentlemen of the
four and twenty, that a cess of is. 6d. per farme in the inshire, and I2d. per farme in Tinmouth, and ye
collyer)'es mills demaines and free lands in Tinmouth aforesaid at los. per pound, according to a schedule
drawen by ye four and twenty, and the rectory of Tinemouth ^1 10s., for the repaireing of the chancell, and
2id. in ye pound in North Shields, be laid on and forthwith collected for the repairing of the church. Ibid.
1725 (circa). Tynemouth vicarage. According to Dr. Ellison's paper the value is ^So, but according to
my account taken in the visitation, ^100. The vicar hath neither glebe, tithe, nor Easter offerings, but the
Crown pays him a pension of ^30 per annum (of which he is to pay his curate at Earsdon £4 13s. 4d.),
and 40s. per annum was left by deed by Sir Mark Milbank out of his part of the tithes of Tynemouth town.
The duke of Somerset pays him /^lo per annum, but that is gratuitous and may be withdrawn at pleasure.
Books, Foxe's Martyrs, three volumes, belonging to the parish. Archdeacon Sliarpc's Visitation.
1736 {circa). Vicarage of Tynemouth in sequestracion. Resident families, 800; 200 dissenters;
two meeting houses, one Presbyterian, one Quaker ; value of living about ;f 200 ; a public school ;
Nathaniel Tavenor and W. Donkin, masters ; catechism with Williams ; sacrament once a month ;
100 come, 300 come at Easter and Whitsunday. Bishop Chandler's Visitation.
Churchwarden's accounts. 1759, to putting three women in the stocks, 4s. 6d. ;' 1776, to cleaning
the Dogger letch and conveying the rubbish in the church way, 14s. 4d. Churchwardens' Books.
1775 {circa). Tynemouth vicarage. Clear yearly value, ;^4i i8s. o|d. ; yearly tenths, £2 9s. 1 i|d. ;
bishop's procuration money, 14s. ;. archdeacon's procuration, 12s. ; real value, £()o. Randall, State of
the Churches.
1792, July 28th. 'The boundaries of the parish of Tynemouth were perambulated on Wednesday
last by the vicar, the principal gentlemen and churchwardens, agreeable to the instructions of the bishop
of Durham.' Newcastle Chronicle.
1795, April 9th. At a vestry meeting held to consider the most effectual means of raising men for
the navy, agreeable to an Act of Parliament passed March 5th, 1795, it was agreed that the overseers
and churchwardens should be allowed to offer a bounty of thirty guineas for every recruit to be raised
for the township of Tynemouth. ]'estry Books.
1823, December loth. Mr. Joel \'entermann was appointed town cryer or bellman ; he was to be
provided with a blue coat, red cape, and three-cocked hat trimmed with lace. Ibid.
1827, April 29th. Tynemouth vicarage. Certain payments, Crown, ^28; Sir Ralph Milbank's
legacy, £■2; other moneys, ^4; claimable fees, ^180; actual receipt, .£290. Duty, two services on
Sunday, and sermon in the morning for the vicar, but the lecturer preaches in the afternoon, which is
his whole duty. Archdeacon Singleton's Visitation."
' The old stocks were in use as late as 1820. They stood at the foot of Preston Road until 18S1,
when they were removed to the churchyard. A photograph of them is reproduced in Proc. Soc. Antiq.
Newcastle, 2nd series, vol. x. p. 298.
- Further extracts from the Tynemouth Vestry Books are given by Mr. H. A. .Adamson in Arch. Ael,
2nd series, vol. xi.x. pp. 93-104.
municipal history of the borough. 369
The Rectory of Tynemouth.
Tynemouth rectory was valued in Pope Innocent's Valor of 1264 at
£j2, 6s. 8d,' and in Pope Nicholas's taxation of 1291 at £71 12s. lod."
This represents its net value. A more detailed account sets it out as
follows :
c 5. <i.
'lithe of grain of Tyneinouth, ^8 13s. 4d.; of Whitley, £6 ; of Monkseafon, £Z 13s. 41!.; of
Earsdon, ^8 ; of Preston, £1 6s. 8d.; of the three Chirtons, £c) : of Milneton and Shields,
5s.; of the two Backworths, £2 ; of Seghill, £7 6s. 8d.; of Holywell, £■, 13s. 4d.; of
Newsham, ^2 13s. 4d.; of Seaton Delaval, ^12; of Hartley, /12. Total' 87 1 1 8
Tithe from the mills, ^3 6s. 8d.; tithe of wool and lambs, ^3 gs.; tithe of geese and pigs,
5s. 6d.; tithe of hay and flax, £2 ; tithe of wax, £2 ; from baptisms and churchings, £1 ;
from mortuaries, ^3 los.; from annual offerings ;^6 JOS.; from sundries, ^2. Total ... 24 i 2
Sum total ... ... ... Ill 12 10
Deductions. For alms, ^30. For pittances to the monks, /lo.'
The tithe of corn, fleeces, and lambs was estimated in 1340 at
£-]b i2s. lod." In 1538 the total yield was ^79 7s. 8d., namely:
C s. d.
Tithe of grain of Tynemouth, £ft; of Whitley, £2 10s.; of Monkscaton and Hartley, ;^I2 ;
of Earsdon, ^4; of Preston, ^2 los.; of East Chirton, £2 los.; of Middle Chirton,
£2 13s. 4d.; of Backworth, £^ ; of Seghill, /4 ; of Holywell, £^ 6s. Sd.; of Xewsham, £\ ;
of Seaton Delaval, ^10 5s.; ofMurton, ^2; of Burradon, ^i 6s. 8d. Total 59 1 8
Tithe of wool and lambs, £^ 6s. 8d.; tithe of flax and hemp, 19s. 4d.; tithe of fish, ;£$ ;' small
tithes, ^8 ; altarage or Easter offerings, ^2.* Total... 20 6 o
Sum total 79 7 8t
''■' Easter offerings were, for a hen, gd.; for smoke, id. ; for sacrament wine, 2d. from each house; for
each person over sixteen years of age, 2d. Duke of Northumberland's MSS.
\ Gibson, Tynemouth, vol. i. pp. 230-231.
' Hodgson, Northumberland, pt. ii. vol. iii. p. 424.
- Taxatio Ecclcsiastica, Record Com., p. 316 ; Hodgson, Northumberland, pt. iii. vol. i. p. 349.
' Excepting the tithe corn of Murton and Burradon, which formed part of the vicar's endowment.
' St. Alban's Register, fol. 108 b, and Tynemouth Chartulary, fol. 56; printed by Brand, XeucastU,
vol. ii. p. 593.
' Hodgson, Northumberland, pt. iii. vol. iii. p. xxxvi.
° A suit between the prior and convent of Tynemouth of the one part and certain of the parishioners
of Tynemouth of the other part was heard in 1366 in the consistory court of Durham. The claim of the
prior and convent w.is there recognised to the tenth fish, great or tniall. caught in salt water or fresh, in
ship or boat, by the parishioners of Tynemouth, and landed by them at North Shields or sold at New-
castle market ; as well as to the tenth penny of the market price of all fish caught by the paiishioncrs of
Tynemouth and sold by them elsewhere, without any drawback for salting or other charges. The
notarial instrument is printed from the register of the prior and convent of Durham [Ke^istrum
Tertnim, fol. loS) in Hodgson, Northumberland, pt. iii. vol. ii. p. 112. Special regulations had to be
made for tithing fish caught in vessels owneil by men of North Shields and South Shields in partnership,
as the two towns lay in separate parishes, and Jarrow monastery had a share in the tithes. These were
as follows :
' Modus decimandi hominum de South Sheels navigantium in batellis de la North Sheels. Memo-
randum quod die martis proxima post festum Sancti Dunstani episcopi A.D. 1313 comparuit personaliter
Vol. VI 11. 47
370
TYNEMOUTH BOROUGH.
The corn tithes of Cowpen in the chapelry of Horton, and of Elwick
and Owton in the parish of Hart in Durham, were also reckoned to be
parcels of the rectory, and brought up its annual value to ^96, Upon the
suppression of Tynemouth priory, the rectory came into the possession of
the Crown. Separate leases were made of the corn tithes of East Chirton,
Burradon, Seaton Delaval, Cowpen, Elwick and Owton, as well as of the
tithe of fish for Hartley and Blyth, and the tithe of hay was farmed to the
tenants in the various townships of the parish. The residue of the rectory
was leased on March 9th, 1538/9, to Sir Thomas Hilton,' and continued,
during the sixteenth century, to form part of the maintenance of the
captain of Tynemouth castle. The tithe-barns within the castle were kept
in good repair, and thither the tenants within the parish carted their tithe
corn by custom, 'without any consideration saving bread and drink.' ^
On February 9th, 1588/9, the rectory and the advowson of the vicarage
were granted by the Crown to Edmund Downing and Charles Dodding, as
trustees for sale, to be held in common socage, rendering yearly £s '5^-
for the rectory and ^^30 as the stipend of the vicar of Tynemouth.'
Downing and Dodding sold the same on June 28th following, for £ 1,050,
to Ralph Delaval and Peter Delaval of Tynemouth,' who subsequently
in ccclesia beati Johannis de Novocastro Robertus Gray piscator de North Sheds coram procuratore
prions et conventus de Tinemouth, etc. Idem Robertus fatebatur decimam ciijuscumque generis piscium
in mari captorum cujushbet navis et battelh super terram dictorum religiosorum apud North .Slieils
apphcantium, praefatis religiosis, scilicet priori et conventui predictis et ecclesie sue de Tinemouth, fore
et esse debitam et efficaciter pcrtinere ; ita videlicet quod si aliqui sint piscatores de .South Sheils, de
parochia ecclesie de Jarrow, in hujusmodi navi sive battello, qui lucri et damni sunt consortes piscatorum
de North Sheils, pro decima duntaxat portiones eorum contingenti procurator dictorum religiosorum
virorum procuratori magistri ecclesie de Jarrow predicta de pecunia numerata juridicaliter respondcbit,
cum fuerit competcnter requisitus ex parte magistri antedicti.' Uuke of Northumberland's MSS.
In 1538 a salmon fishery in the Tyne was farmed by the fishermen of North Shields, subject to the
customary p.ayment of one salmon out of every twenty to the bailiff of the town. Gibson, Tynemouth,
vol. i. p. 223. This was subsequently commuted for a charge of ten shillings on each coble. Duke of
Northumberland's MSS. Crown leases of the bailiwick of North Shields also included the tithe of the
great fish called Shetland lings and the tithe of small fish caught in cobles.
' Ibid. p. 217.
"In a letter written in 1595 to the ninth carl of Northumberland, Peter Delaval describes the
manner in which the tithe corn was collected : 'Your lordship's collectors of the tythes, when ihcy were
brought into the castle, being entreated by the tennants to allowe them sum one rigg and sum tow rigs
of corne, being lozen corne for sedc to the quantatie of .\ or xx threves, as it pleased the collectors to
yeeld them more or lesse, which (for the better furnishing ther grounds with good sede, for the avoyding
your lordship's expence in hiring laborers to Carrie the tythe stooks together on hcapes, for the ease of
the tennants' cattle in taking ther tithes npp together uppon one rigg or tow rigs rather then to go to
everie wikered stook, and for expedicion in leading in corne of all hands) they, your lordship's collectors,
yeeldcd thcrunto, allwayes provided that they might choose ther tyth together of one rigg or more
throughout all the rest of ther crops after the same quantitie of x or xx threves allowed them for sede,
being of like bignes of sheif that ther sede-corne was of Duke of Northumberland's MSS. Lozen corn
perhaps refers to corn that has been cut but not bound. Compare Promptoritun Parvulorum : Mosyn or
unbyndyn, solve'
' Patent Rolls, 30 Eliz. pt. 15. ' Harlcian Charters, Brit. Mas. 79, F. 17.
MUNICIPAL HISTORY OF THE BOROUGH. 37 1
conveyed one moiety to their kinsman, Robert Delaval of Seaton Delaval.'
The other moiety was made over on June 23rd, 1602, to Henry, ninth
earl of Northumberland, in part payment of Peter Delaval's debts. The
fee-farm rent of _^ 5 15s., reserved to the Crown upon the sale of the
rectory, was sold under Act of Parliament in 1650, and is now payable
to the Company of Merchant Venturers of Bristol, for the maintenance
of a hospital and almshouse in that city.
The representatives of the Percy and Delaval families continued each
to hold a moiety of the advowson, and made alternate presentations to the
living, until the year 1838, when Hugh, third duke of Northumberland,
purchased the Delaval moiety from Sir Jacob Astley, bart. The duke of
Northumberland is the principal tithe-owner in the parish, having, besides
the moiety acquired in 1602, the second moiety of the tithes of corn in
the townships of Seghill, Burradon, Backworth, Earsdon, Whitley, and
Preston. These tithes were purchased on October 15th, 18 18, from Sir
Ralph Noel, alias Milbanke, bart., heir and representative of Mark Milbanke
of Newcastle, to whom Sir Ralph Delaval of Seaton Delaval, bart., had
made conveyance on October 19th, 1676. Sir Mark Milbanke of Halnaby,
bart., devised his moiety of the tithes of corn and grain in Tynemouth
township in 1678 to the vicar and the poor of the parish. The moieties of
the corn tithes in North Shields, Chirton, Monkseaton, and Murton, are in
the hands of various owners ; and those of Holywell, Hartley, Seaton
Delaval, and Newsham have been merged in the freeholds. In 1838, the
tithe payments were commuted for fixed rent-charges.^
Non-Established Churches.
George Fox, the founder of the Society of Friends, visited Newcastle
in 1653, and the influence of his teaching was felt at North Shields, since
meetings for worship were shortlv afterwards held by his followers in Isabel
Larkin's house in that town.' Four years later Fox was again at Newcastle,
and thence travelled through the county, having meetings and visiting
friends, ' and a very good meeting,' he says in his journal, ' we had at
' This moiely was confirmed to Sir Robert Delaval by letters patent dated February i6th, 1608/9, in
consideration of ^600 paid by him to Thomas, earl of Suftblk.
' Duke of Northumberland's MSS.
' Compare Steel, Early Friends in the North, London, 1905.
1"
372
tynemouth borough.
Lieutenant Dove's, where many were turned to the Lord and His teaching.''
/Vs early as 1661 a graveyard for the use of Friends was provided at
Cullercoats.- On June 6th of that year, at a meeting at Robert Linton's
at Laygate, South Shields, John Dove and William Dove of Whitley,
yeomen, Mary Dove of the same place, spinster, George Linton and
Lawrence Haslam, both of North Shields, and others, were apprehended by
Major Graham, deputy-governor of Tynemouth castle, and were by him
cast into ' nastv holes ' in that fortress, where they lay a full month.'
Similarly in January, 1681, Richard Pindar of North Shields, was presented
at quarter sessions for having a meeting of quakers there.^ In 1698 notice
was given to the justices of the peace that a newly-erected brick building at
the west end of North Shields was desired to be licensed for a place of
public worship by the people called quakers.^ This meeting house stood
at the Bull Ring, and near to it, in Coach Lane, opposite to the spot where
Trinity church now stands, a piece of copyhold land was, before the year
1729, purchased from Robert Lawson of Chirton and converted into a
quaker burial place.* In 1800 a new meeting house was built in Stephenson
Street, and enlarged in 1849 for the better accommodation of the monthly
meeting. In 181 1 the society purchased a piece of ground on the opposite
side of the street for a burial ground. This, together with the old graveyard
near the Bull Ring, was closed by order in council under the Burial Acts of
1 853- 1 854, and Friends now bury in the public cemetery, in a portion of
ground allotted to them by the Town Council.'
After the passing of the Act of Uniformity, forty ministers in North-
umberland resigned the livings to which they had been appointed during the
Commonwealth. Among them were Alexander Gordon, who was ejected
from the parish church of Tynemouth and retired to Scotland ; William
Henderson, who, ejected from the parochial chapel of Earsdon, became
chaplain to Sir Ralph Delaval, to whom he dedicated his ' Discourse against
' Fox, Journal, p. 281. The original manuscript of the journal was in the possession of the late
Mr. Charles James Spence of South Preston lodge, North Shields, who would have contributed to this
volume, had not illness prevented, a historical account of the Society of Friends at Cullercoats and
North Shields.
■ See above, p. 281. ' Besse, Collection of the Sufferings of the People called Quakers, vol. i. pp. i74-i75-
' Sessions Order Books, vol. i. ^ Sessions Papers, 1697, Christmas, No. 14. ' Tynemouth Court Rolls.
'An Account of Charitable Trusts within the compass of the Durham Quarterly Meeting. Some
extracts from the register of burials and from the cash books of the society may be found in a paper by
Mr. Mabcrly Phillips on 'Forgotten Burying Grounds of the Society of Friends,' Arch. Acl. 2nd series,
vol. xvi.
MUNICIPAL HISTORY OF THE BOROUGH. 373
Conformity ; ' and the learned John Lomax, ejected from the church of
Wooler, who thereupon settled in North Shields, where he maintained
himself as an apothecary and physician. These three men may be regarded
as the fathers of Protestant Nonconformity in the parish of Tynemouth.
Lomax,' who, though never imprisoned, 'suffered much on account of
his nonconformity,' and ' was often obliged to flee from his family and
wander about the country in the most inclement weather,' on November
1 8th, 1672, took out one of the unconstitutional licences, granted by
Charles II. to those of tender conscience, as an 'Independent teacher' and
preached and taught in the house of Mrs. Isabel Green in North Shields,
which was licensed for the purpose. May 13th, 1672.- He was presented
at quarter sessions, January iith, 1681/2, for keeping a conventicle and
preaching publicly contrary to the statutes in that case provided.^
A small stone structure, afterwards a bake-house, in Thorntree Lane,
now called Magnesia Bank, was, so far as is known, the first building set
apart as a chapel. Traces of texts of scripture which had been painted
on the walls were visible as late as 1880. A larger chapel, near the
lower end of the town, was erected in the early years of the eighteenth
century, but the church was weakened and ultimately exhausted by a
secession which took place in 1759 during the ministry of the Rev. Joseph
Wilkinson. The following is a list of ministers : John Lomax, died May
25th, 1693; John Turnbull, 1693-1723 ; James Richardson; Joseph-Wil-
kinson; Isaac Robinson, died August 23rd, 1782, etc* The register of
births and baptisms, 1756- 181 2, is deposited at Somerset House.
The members of Mr. Wilkinson's congregation who seceded in 1759
assembled in a room at Wooden Bridge under the ministry of the Rev.
James Rae. They afterwards built the High Meeting, and subsequently
in 18 II a chapel in Howard Street. By the trust deed the minister must
be a licenciate of the Church of Scotland ; hence the building is called the
'For an account of John Lomax by Mr. Maberly Phillips, see Arch. Ael. 3rd series, vol. ii.
Cf. Memoir of Ambrose Barnes, Surt. Soc. No. 50; and Calamy, Continuation of the Account of Ejected
Ministers, pp. 670-672.
-For list of licences granted for Northumberland and Durham see Arch. Ad. 2nd series, voL
xiii. p. 63.
3 Sessions Order Books, vol. i. Fifty other persons were presented for nonconformity in that year by
the churchwardens of Tynemouth. Kcv. John Hodgson's Collections, from a volume of entries of present-
ments at Archdeacon Turner's visitation, formerly in the possession of Mr. John Bell.
'The register of burials of Tynemouth parish contains the following entries: 1730, April 20th.
Mr. William Cowden, dissenting teacher, Shields, bur. 1733. Sept. 24. Mr W orth.ngton, dissenlins
teacher, of North Shields, bur.
374 TYNEMOUTH BOROUGH.
Scotch church. A schoolhouse adjoining the chapel was built in 1843.
The register of births and baptisms from 1783 to 1837 is deposited at
Somerset House. The following is a list of the ministers : James Rae,'
1759-1803; Walter Knox'' (previously assistant minister), 1803-1817;
John Cochrane, 1817-1823; Charles Thomson, 1823-1840; Charles F.
Buchan, D.D., 1840-1843 ; George J. C. Duncan, 1844-185 1 ; William
Reive, 1852-1854 ; Colin A. Mackenzie, 1854-1864; John Stewart,^ 1866-
1872 ; and the Rev. David Tasker, the present minister.
St. Andrew's chapel, in Camden Street, was erected in 1818 by
members of the vScotch Church who were dissatisfied with the theological
opinions of the Rev. John Cochrane. The trust deed provides that the
minister may be either a Presbyterian, as was the first minister, the Rev.
John Wilson, or an Independent, as have been all of his successors. The
following is a list of ministers: John Wilson, D.D., 1818-1820; W. H.
Stowell, D.D. (successively of Rotherham and Cheshunt colleges), 1820-
1834; Archibald Jack, 1834-1867 ; J. Christien, 1868-1871 ; J. W. Ellis,
1872-1878 ; James Webb, 1878-1887 ; E. R. Palmer, M.A., 1888-1892 ;
J. E. Brown, B.A., Ph.D., 1892- 1895; W. H. Girling, 1896- 1898; and
the present minister, the Rev. H. S. Savage. The register of births and
baptisms, 1817-1837, is deposited at Somerset House.
A General Associate or Anti-Burgher church was formed on May ist,
1781, by a few residents in North and South Shields who had hitherto been
members of the Blackett Street church in Newcastle. A house in Milburn
Place, a theatre in the market-place, and chapels at the foot of Church Way
and in an entry oft Green Street were successively used as meeting-houses
by the congregation. In 18 12 the society removed to a chapel on the
Ropery Banks w^iich had been vacated by the Scotch Church, and in 1821
another move was made to a building in Norfolk Street, previously tenanted
by a congregation of the old Northumbrian Classes, the present place of
worship in Northumberland Square being built in 1858. The Anti-Burghers
and other small bodies coalesced to form the United Presbyterian Church,
and this in its turn united with the English Presbyterians in 1876 to form
the Presbyterian Church of England, of which the chapel in Northumberland
' Died June 20th, 1803, aged 78. Monumental Inscription, Tynemouth priory.
-■ Died January 13th, 1817, aged 49. Ibid.
' Cf. The History of the English Presbyterian Church in North Shieltis, by Revs. Charles Thomson
and Jolin Stewart.
MUNICIPAL HISTORY OF THE BOROUGH. 375
Square is a local representative. The following is a list of the ministers :
George More, 1781-1785; Alexander Armstrong, 1788-1810; Thomas
Gilmour, 1813-1841 ; Thomas Bowman, 1842- 1845 ; Henry Erskine Fraser,
M.A., 1845-1856; William Salmond, B.A., D.D., 1858-1875 ; James Aitken,
M.A., 1877-1881 ; William T. Bankhead, 1882-1890; David Christie, M.A.,
1890-1897; Andrew Gillison, iM.A., 1897-1899 ; and William Colville,
M.A., the present minister.
John Wesley, in one of his memorable missionarv tours, visited
North Shields, and on June 24th, 1759, preached to an assembly the
greater part of whom 'seemed to hear as for their lives.' He visited the
place again on June 25th, 1761, and May 15th, 1764, on the latter
occasion preaching ' to a very large yet serious congregation. How is
the scene changed since my brother Charles preached here, when the
people were ready to swallow him up ! Oh, what has God wrought on
this land within four or five and twenty years ! ' He returned to the
place in his subsequent tours in 1766, 1780, and 1788. The society,
formed as a result of these efforts, in 1808 built a chapel in Howard
Street which seated about 1,200 persons, and in which they assembled
until 1889, when they removed to a new structure in Tynemouth Road,
built and presented by Mr. Joseph Robinson of North Shields. The
congregation also possess a lecture hall and schools. A register of births
and baptisms, from 1800 to 1837, is deposited at Somerset House.
The Wesleyan Methodists also had a chapel in Percy Street, Tyne-
mouth, which, about 1870, was converted into a schoolhouse and replaced
by a larger chapel in Front Street. The .society also possesses chapels
at the Bull Ring, North Shields, at Chirton and at Whitley.
A disruption in the Society of Methodists in 1797, headed by the Rev.
Alexander Kilham, led to the formation of the reformed society known as
the Methodist New Connexion. This new body obtained the use of a
chapel, erected in Milburn Place in 1786, originally used by the Methodists.
Another congregation of Methodists of the New Connexion, formed in
1808, assembled in a building in Boll Street, at the foot of Church Street,
now used as a Roman Catholic school, until 1S36, when Salem chapel was
built in Linskill Street.
The reformed society, known as Primitive Methodists,' formed a con-
' C/. The Origin and History of the Primitive Methodists, by the Rev. H. B. Kendall, B.A.
376 TYNEMOUTH BOROUGH,
gregation in 1822 which assembled in a building in Union Street until 1861,
when a new chapel was erected in Saville Street West. From this church
missions have spread over all the mining and populous districts of the
county. One of the early offshoots was the Fisherman's chapel of
Cullercoats, rebuilt in 1868, and now used as a school and lecture hall,
having been superseded as a chapel by a building erected in 1899. The
register of births and baptisms of the Primitive Methodists from 1823 to
1837 is deposited at Somerset House.
The United Free Methodists, comprising the Wesleyan Association,
the Protestant Methodists, and the Arminian Methodists, together founded
a church in North Shields in 1850, when they assembled in the Temperance
Hall, Norfolk Street, until 1857, when they erected a chapel in Howard
Street. Various oifshoots have been made. A mission, begun in New
Row chapel, led to the building of Dene Street chapel in 1871. Other
missions, begun at Walker Place and Blagdon's Quay, are represented by
the Hudson Street chapel.
A Roman Catholic mission was begun on July 15th, 1784, by the Rev.
James Johnson of Pontop, in the county of Durham, who said mass once a
month in a hired room in Milburn Place. On October 5th, 1793,
two hundred and ninety-five French refugees landed at North Shields. Two
of the priests who accompanied them hired a room in Norfolk Street
wherein to officiate. One of the two, the Rev. M. Dubuisson, remained
until 1809, when he returned to France. For the needs of the Roman
Catholics of a regiment stationed at Tynemouth castle, a building in Union
Street was obtained in 1809 and served from Ushaw, the priest coming over
every week. After the above-named regiment was moved on from Tyne-
mouth, the congregation used successively rooms in Camden Street, West
Percy Street, and Bedford Street, served by the greatly respected Rev.
James Worswick of Newcastle, who said mass every third Tuesday.
Largely through his influence and exertions a chapel in Bedford Street,
dedicated to St. Cuthbert, was erected in 182 1, to which a school was
added in 1840.'
The following is a list of the incumbents : Thomas Gillow, 1 821-1857 ;
John William Bewick, afterwards bishop of Hexham and Newcastle, 1857-
1869; William Gillow, 1869-1873; Robert J. Franklin, 1873-1878; John
' C/. History of St. Cuthbert' s Church, North Shields, 1902, by Rev. J. Stark-
MUNICIPAL HISTORY OF THE BOROUGH. 377
Nolan, 1878-1884 ; Denis Ryan, 1884; James Stark, 1 884-1 903 ; M. J.
Haggarty, 1903. The register of baptisms, 1821-1840, is deposited at
Somerset House.
A mission was begun at Tynemouth in 1870, in a room in Front Street,
near the spot where the present chapel was erected in 1890. It was served
by the Rev. J. W. Bewick (1870- 1882), who was succeeded in 1882 by
the present incumbent, the Rev. G. E. Howe.
A Baptist church was founded in 1798 by the Rev. Robert Imeary,
with the support of the Tuthill Stairs Baptist chapel in Newcastle, meeting
first in a room in Walker Place. The old Assembly Room in Stephenson
Street was purchased in 1799 '^"^ ^^'•^^ ^^^ed as a chapel until the present
chapel in Howard Street was erected in 1846.' A mission in Milburn Place
was begun in 1882. The register of births from 1799 to 1837 is deposited
at Somerset House. The following is a list of ministers : Robert Imeary,*
1798-18 14; James Williamson, 18 16- 1838; J. D. Carrick, 1 839-1 866 ; J. F.
C. Williams, 1866- 1869 ; S. Pipe, 1869- 1874 ; W. C. H. Anson, 1874- 1877 ;
Robert Herries, 1880-1892 ; Charles Stanley, 1892.
A congregation of Independents existed in 1835, when the Bethel
chapel was built on Ropery Banks. The register of births and baptisms
from 1835 to 1837 is deposited at Somerset House. The Stephenson Street
Congregational or Independent chapel was founded in 1870 by a body of
persons of strong temperance views, who had been gathered together, two
years before, by the Rev. John Broadbent, a Wesleyan Methodist preacher.
A large Independent or Congregational chapel was erected in Front
Street, Tynemouth, in 1868, from designs by Mr. Thomas Oliver. The
adjoining lecture room and Sunday schools were built in 1886. The church
in 1875 began a mission at Low Lights which was removed successively
to Pottery Yard in 1876, and to Northumberland Street in 1902. The
following have been ministers of this congregation: Alfred Norris, 1869-
1885 ; M. S. Shaw, M.A., LL.B., 1887-1891, and the present minister, the
Rev. Samuel Pearson.
A Lutheran church for the Scandinavian sailors who frequent the port
of North Shields stands in the Borough Road.
' Douglas, North of England Baptist Churches, pp. 238-239, 242.
= The Rev. Robert Imeary, Baptist minister of the gospel in Norlh Shields, died April 4th, 1814;
aged 45.
Vol. VIII. '♦^
378 TYNEMOUTH BOROUGH.
The Jews, formerly more numerous than they are at present, had a
synagogue on the Bank-head for many years, together with a small burial
ground in Billy Mill Lane, now in a dilapidated condition, although one
or two headstones may yet be found. When Preston cemetery was opened
in 1857, a parcel of ground was set apart for burials of this faith.
The Sea Fisheries.
Fishing ranks foremost among the industries of the Northumbrian coast,
the principal port being at North Shields. That town owes its origin to the
commercial enterprise of the priors of Tyneniouth in the thirteenth century.
It was founded as a fishing community, and at the present day it is the chief
fish market in the county. Other religious houses were equally enterprising.
The monks of Fame and Holy Island invested in fishing boats and engaged
crews ; and so they were able to carry on a small trade as well as provide
for their own wants. Cobles were in use both for net and line fishing, their
average price in the fourteenth century being £2 ;^ 5s. 6d. was paid for a
'great line' and 3s. 4d. for a 'small line' of 400 fathoms in length; a herring
net cost what was then the large sum of eighteen shillings. The fish
caught were very much the same as those of the present day, but lampreys
and mullet were more common, smelts and sprats were to be found in
abundance at the mouths of the rivers, garpike were taken plentifully near
Budle, and many fish were eaten which until recently were considered
worthless, as congers, common and sand eels, coal-fish, and skate ; but the
modern demand is so great that most of these are again finding a place in
the markets. Mussels, cockles, clams and whelks were constantly eaten ;
high prices were paid for porpoises and dolphins, and seals were taken on
the Fames.'
Fishing was bv no means confined to the inshore. A fleet sailed yearly
into the North Sea and penetrated as far north as Iceland, fishing also off"
the Shetlands and the north coast of Scotland.'' Cod and ling were the
' It appears from a letter written by Sir John Delaval in 1626 that 'four-men cobles' were the
largest type of fishing boat then employed off the coast. Each man worked an oar. Cal. State Papers
Domestic, 1625-1626, p. 411.
■ See Durham Account Rolls, Surt. Soc. Nos. gg, 100, 103, and the extracts from the account rolls of
Holy Island and Fame priories, given in Raine, North Durham. For early regulations touching the seal
fisheries of the Fames, see North Durham, appendix, No. dccxv.
"In 1528 North Shields sent out six 'crayers' to the Iceland fleet; Letters and Papers, Henry
\'l 1 1. vol. iv. p. 2223.
MUNICIPAL HISTORY OF THE BOROUGH. 379
principal catches and were salted and sold at Newcastle, then, and until the
introduction of railways, the chief fish market in the district. Similarly,
herrings were caught off the coast of Norway. On the east coast the
native fishermen had to compete with the Dutch in the si.xteenth, seven-
teenth, and eighteenth centuries' and the French during the greater part
of the nineteenth.
The fish were sold on the beach or on the quay, or were conveyed
to Newcastle by road or boat. Large quantities of salmon were brought
from Berwick on horseback to Shields, where they were cured, pickled, and
sent up to London in kits or tubs.- Lobsters and turbot were kept alive in
' bullies ' or cavities in the rocks, pending the arrival of welled smacks to
take them to London ; and the rings by which the smacks were moored are
still to be seen at Beadnell and at other harbours along the coast. Tyne-
mouth appears to have supplied the London market even in monastic times.'
The boats used for the herring fishery until recent years were undecked
vessels of the Scottish or yawl type, ranging from thirty-four to thirty-seven
feet in length and costing about ^100 or ^120, e.vclusive of nets. Each
herring boat was owned by one fisherman or by two at the most, and its
crew consisted of four men and a boy or, in some cases, five men. The
owner received one half of the profits. Half-shares men, who each got two
shillings in the pound, were hired during the herring season to make up the
crew, some being labouring men from the neighbouring country districts and
from Ireland, and others fishermen from Lowestoft and Yarmouth. At
some points on the coast, as at Alnmouth and Cullercoats, large cobles
similar to the salmon cobles of the present day were used. These were
generally owned by two men, who sometimes engaged a third hand for one-
sixth share. A boat carried from twenty to thirty nets. The market price
of a net was ;^3, but it was usually home manufactured, the women spinning
the hempen yarn, while every child over twelve years old was e.xpected to
work daily during the winter months a yard's width of netting the full depth
of the net. The mesh was thirty-one to the yard. Hemp had this ad-
vantage over the cotton now in use, that it was more durable and did
less damage to the fish ; at the same time the broad mesh allowed the
escape of the smaller herring which are now so numerous. Bladders were
used instead of buoys for keeping the nets afloat.
' Dendy, Merchant Adventurers, vol. i. (Surt. Soc. No. 93) p. 167.
= Defoe, ToHr //iroH^A Gri.M< BnViii", first edilion, vol. iii.p. 193. ' Gibson, r)n«»iy«//.' v,,1 ; 1. :ii.
380 TYNEMOUTH BOROUGH.
Herrings were also caught with the jigger, as is still done from the quay
at Calais. The jigger consisted of a heavy sinker through which some five
or six stout wires furnished with large hooks were passed. It was attached
to a line and moved up and down in the water, impaling the fish with which
it came into contact. It is still sometimes used when the nets have been
launched. A modification of this apparatus, weighing about six pounds, has
recently come into use for catching codling at North Sunderland. There
the hooks are attached directly to the lead sinker, which is fish-shaped.
Fishing was chiefly inshore, Goswick bay and the neighbourhood of the
Longstone being favourite grounds. Attempts were made at various times
by local fishermen to extend the field of their operations, and between 1840
and 1850 fishermen from Berwick were in the habit of going to the Moray
Firth, where they were engaged to fish for so many weeks at a price
averaging ten shillings a cran. At the present day they fish off the Irish
coasts or from North Shields during May and June, before the regular
Northumbrian season commences, and off Yarmouth during October and
November after its close. At Berwick, where most of the catches are
made from twenty to forty miles out, the fishing is altogether in deep sea.
Large decked boats costing ^600 or _£ 700 each, with keels from forty-
five to sixty feet in length and drawing six to eight feet of water, have now
superseded the old herring coble and are manned by local fishermen,
half-shares men being rarely employed. A boat's crew numbers six or
seven men, for whom cabin accommodation is provided. Largely as a
result of the increase of the size of the vessel the total number of local
boats engaged in herring fishing has diminished ; for example, in half a century
(1855-1905) the number of native herring boats at Berwick and Spittal
has fallen from sixty-four to nine, and at North Sunderland from fifty-two
to eight. At North Shields steam trawlers and liners are converted into
drifters during the herring season. Each boat carries from forty to seventy
nets, each net fifty to fifty-five yards long and eighteen-score meshes (six-
teen yards) deep. These are of cotton and are machine-made. Their top
line, which is the light one, is fitted with corks, and at each end of the
net is a bow or buoy line, which allows the net to sink two or three
fathoms. The bow or buoy is made of sheepskin or canvas. A messenger
or foot rope runs along the entire fleet of nets, the whole forming a wall
into which the herring fix themselves.
MUNICIPAL HISTORY OF THE BOROUGH. 381
Large numbers of stranger vessels come to the harbours on the coast
during the herring season. Over 150 herring boats yearly, from the Firth
of Forth, Berwickshire and Cornwall, make North Sunderland a base for
their fishing between the end of June and the middle of September. Steam
drifters and sailing boats from Lowestoft and Yarmouth similarly visit
North Shields. At Berwick, a maximum was reached in 1866, when 200
herring boats came there from other ports as compared with a muster of
fifty-one in 1904. In fact, the fishing has suffered a decrease at all points
on the coast except at North Sunderland and North Shields. The de-
velopment of North Sunderland is largely due to the extension of its
harbour in 1866- 1869 by Lord Crewe's trustees,^ the formation of a light
railway to Chathill, opened in 1898, and the growth of the curing industry.
A new harbour at Craster is now (1906) in course of formation.
The old trade of curing and smoking ungutted herring as ' reds,' which
used to be carried on at Tweedmouth^ and elsewhere, has almost dis-
appeared. Kippers were first smoked about the year 1S60, and are now,
together with bloaters and Findon haddocks, extensively prepared. Cured
herrings have obtained a high position in continental markets in some
measure because of the exertions of the Scottish Fisheries Board, instituted
in 1808 as the Board of British White Herring Fishery, whose jurisdiction
with regard to the white herring cure extends along the Northumbrian
coast. Herring are gutted and packed under the supervision of its officers,
and the barrels branded as a guarantee of quality, the charge for branding
being fourpence per barrel. In 1769, it was stated that herring were not
taken on this coast in sufficient quantities for export, but to-day 12,000
to 16,000 barrels are exported yearly from North Sunderland to Stettin,
Konigsberg, Dantzig, and other Baltic ports, as well as great quantities of
kippers and fresh and sprinkled herring to London and other inland markets.
Cured herring are also exported to the Continent from Berwick.
Line fishing is carried on by means of cobles, a type of boat character-
istic of the coast between the Humber and the Tweed. The forward part
of a coble is keeled and draws two to three feet of water, but it gradually
becomes flat-bottomed towards the after-end, where it draws practically
nothing, so that it is admirably adapted for beaching. It responds well to
' A harbour was first made at Seahouses shortly before 1791. Before that time the only haven
was a narrow channel through the rocks.
■ Fuller, History of Bfruick-iipon-Tuad, p. 425.
382 TYNEMOUTH BOROUGH.
the oars and is a fast sailer, beinsj noted for the closeness with which it
can be brought to tlie wind. Its rig is lug, or lug and foresail, with
sometimes a niizzen ; the rudder acts as a keel and serves to stiffen the
boat. Water-tight compartments or ' air-boxes ' are often fitted into the
bow and stern of the coble at the northern fishing villages, and are valuable
in keeping the boat afloat in a rough sea. It is manned by three or four
men, each with lines. The crew share equally in the profits, each finding
his proportion of the gear. Seven small lines are carried per boat, and
every line is made up of three and a half pieces,' the piece being seventy-
five fathoms in length. There are about five hundred hooks to a line,
but they vary in number, forty-two to forty-seven inches apart, with a three
feet seven inches snood.
North Shields, Tweedmouth and Sunderland used to be noted for coble-
building. To-day a few are still built at Shields, but most at Hartlepool
and Amble. They are usually reckoned to cost £\ per foot of the ram
or keel plank. Larger cobles were at one time extensively used at the
southern stations for herring fishing, but have now given place to the
Scottish type of herring boat. Small keeled boats called mules, costing
about ;^45, capable of carrying twenty nets and intended to be worked
by four men, were introduced about 1860-1870, and used both for ordinary
and for herring fishing, but never became popular.
Fi-men (five-men) boats were employed in the deep-sea white fishing, and
landed at Newcastle, and latterly at Shields, their catches from the Dogger
bank and other distant grounds. They were from fifty to seventy feet long in
the keel, and had a square overhanging stern and about eighteen feet
of beam. Their rig was similar to that of the large cobles, namely, jib,
main, and mizzen sails ; and they carried two cobles from which the lines
were worked.
Mussels and, to some e.xtent, limpets are used for baiting the lines, as
being adapted to the hard ground on which modern fishing is carried on.
Nereids and arenicola (the lug worm) are also in use, though not to such
an extent as formerly, for the catching of flat fish on smooth bottoms.
Sand eels were extensively employed for bait, but have been replaced
by herrings. Mussel bait was obtained at the mouths of the Tweed, Aln,
Coquet, and Blyth, and on Fenham and Warnham flats. Before the Tyne
' At Newbiggin and one or two other places eight lines of four pieces each are carried.
MUNICIPAL HISTORY OF THE BOROUGH. 383
was deepened, mussels were to be got on the Mussel Scalp near the Black
Middens. Their cultivation has been attempted in Budle bay, where beds
were laid down in 1890, by the late Mr. A. H. Browne of Callaly castle.
In 1 896- 1 897 one hundred, and in 1897- 1898 nearly two hundred tons of
mussels were sold from these beds, but since then they have not done so
well.' Northumberland has never been noted for mussel bait, and it is
mainly procured from the Tees, Boston, Morecambe bay, Newhaven, Port
Glasgow, from different places in Ireland, and from Harlingen.
Among the possessions of the monks at Holy Island in 1394- 1395
was a dredge for gathering oysters at Fenham, and Wallis (1769) men-
tions the Fenham oysters 'on a bank belonging to the Kight Hon. the
earl of Tankerville.' Oysters are still kept upon the scarp by the earl of
Tankerville.
On November 7th, 1S77, trawling with steam tugs was commenced at
North Shields. These tugs were provided with beam trawls of about
fifty-four feet beam. About five of them still continue trawling from
Shields, but use the otter trawls introduced in October, 1895. Every
trawler is provided with two otter trawls, which cost about ;^50 each.
Screw trawlers commenced to fish in 1879 and their use is now fairly
general at North Shields, where many of them are built. They are made
of iron or steel, are 100 to 120 feet long, have a twenty-feet beam and are
eleven feet deep; and cost about ^'1,000 per twenty feet of keel. They
steam at the rate of nine or ten knots. A second type of steamer used at
North Shields for purposes of fishing is the liner. Boats of this class have
usually a wooden hull ; they are built principally at Blyth and at Scottish
shipbuilding ports, and cost about ;^'3,ooo. They are eighty to a hundred
feet long, are nineteen feet in beam and have a depth of eight feet. They
carry a fleet of twenty to forty lines, each line costing £2. These great
lines (which were also used by the fi-men boats in past years) consist of si.x
pieces of seventy-five fathoms each, with hooks at four fathoms' intervals, on
six-feet snoods. The crews of trawlers and liners number eight or ten, and
comprise a skipper, mate, engineer, firemen, fishermen and deck hands.
Fishing is done bv the trawlers on the North-east bank, Berwick bank,
Souter bank, and on the Dogger bank, as well as on the Great Fisher
bank, off the Shetlands and Faroe Islands, and on other distant grounds ;
by the liners on local grounds and off the north and west coasts of Scotland.
See Reports, Northumberland Sea Fisheries Committee, 1898-1901.
384
TYNEMOUTH BOROUGH.
There has been remarkable progress in the white fishing at North
Shields since the introduction of trawlers, as is shown by the following
figures based on the harbour master's returns. The total yield for the year
ending March 25th, 1876, before trawling had commenced, was only 372
tons. In 1880 it had risen to 2,430, and in 1885 to 4,328, where it tempor-
arily remained stationary, being 4,272 in 1890. The introduction of the
otter trawl in 1895 sent it up to 8,832 ; in 1900 it had risen to 10,430, and, in
1905, 12,485 tons of white fish were landed at North Shields.'
North Shields Fish Ouav.
At the smaller fishing stations, w^here the fishing is entirely inshore,
there has been an opposite tendency. During the eighteenth and the
greater part of the nineteenth centuries white fish were cheap and plentiful.
'The haddock,' Wallis wrote in 1769, 'is taken in such abundance as to
' The figures for herring landed at North Shields during the same period show far less variation.
They are: 1876, 3,000 tons; 1880, 5,548 tons; 1885, 8,119 tons; 1890, 7,674 tons; 1895, 5,857 tons;
1900, 2,574 tons ; 1905, 6,633 tons.
MUNICIPAL HISTORY OF THE ROROUGH. 385
furnish all tables and to reward the toil of the hardy fishermen.' An
increased impetus was given to trade in the second quarter of the nine-
teenth century by the development of the railwav system. The Report of
the Fisheries Commissioners for 1866 stated: 'It is clear that at all these
fishing villages (CuUercoats, Newbiggin, North Sunderland, and Holy Island)
there has within the last twenty years been a constant increase in the
number of fishermen, the size of their boats and the quantity of nets and
other gear.' But a scarcity of fish in shallow water was then beginning to
be noticed. The same report announces : ' It is only within the last seven
years that [sailing] trawlers have made their appearance ; they come from
Scarborough and Hartlepool in considerable numbers, and trawl over a
range of smooth ground off CuUercoats and Newbiggin, about five or si.x
miles in breadth, and separated from the shore by four to si.x miles of rough
ground on which they cannot use their trawls. They do not go so far north
as North Sunderland and Holy Island, but the fishermen of these places
join with those farther south in complaining against them and attributing to
them a decrease of all classes of lisli, but especially haddocks, on the ground
that they disturb the spawning ground of these and other fish.' The
introduction of steam trawling at North Shields and corresponding rise of
that port hastened the decline of the inshore fisheries.
Consequent upon this decline, there is a falling off in the number of
fishermen at the smaller stations, and the younger men are going into trades.
Many of the CuUercoats fishermen find work for a portion of the year as
labourers on the Tyne, those of Newbiggin get occupation in the neighbour-
ing coal pits, and the fishermen of Boulmer, Craster and Ncwton-by-the-Sea
obtain work in quarries. The fishing industry was a marked feature at
Alnmouth down to the middle of the nineteenth century, but now it has
almost left the town.
Cobles are also employed for crab and lobster fishing. A coble worked
by two men used to carry twenty-four 'trunks,' which were iron rings or
hoops, each supporting a piece of net and a line which crossed the hoop,
to which the bait was attached. The trunk was lowered from the coble
and hauled up frequently, the pressure of the water preventing the escape
of the crabs and lobsters which had been attracted by the bait. In this
way, it is stated, about the year 1805,' as many as lifty-two to seventy-five
' Report on Crab and Lobster Fisheries of England and Wales, 1S75.
Vol. VIII. 49
386
TYNEMOUTH BOROUGH.
lobsters were cauglit in a night. Pots or creels are now used instead of
trunks, and were employed at Berwick for taking lobsters as early as 1799.'
The crab pots consist of a wooden base and a wicker frame-work covered
with net, in which the openings or eyes are directly or obliquely opposite
to one another. Fish is used for bait. The old habit of lishing with separate
pots, placed not nearer each other usually than eighteen fathoms, was given
up about 1870 for fleets of pots only ten fathoms apart. One hundred to
two hundred pots per boat are now quite common, especially in the northern
part of the district. The fishing used to commence about February or
March and ended in May or June. At Craster a manorial custom, in
operation up to about 1870, confined it to March, April and May.
Autumn crab-fishing then became general but not with good results.
Hard ground is most extensive in the northern half of the county,
and there crabs are more numerous, but lobsters are equally numerous
in the southern half of the district. Wallis in 1769 said that the lobster
'is taken in such plenty that the annual export usually amounts from ;^i,200
to ;£ 1,500 of those that are taken between Newbiggin and Newton-by-the-
Sea, exclusive of such as are taken at Holy Island, which annually amounts
to a considerable sum.' This district may have become contracted on its
southern margin by the deposition of mud at the mouths of the Tyne and
the Blyth. This branch of the inshore fisheries is becoming more important
as the line fishing has declined. Serious efforts are being made to preserve
and encourage it, and experiment will determine upon the comparative
merits of restriction and of cultivation.^
For the taking of salmon and sea trout, the stell nets formerly
employed at the mouths of rivers have been replaced by stake nets, which
are now in use, in accordance with the Scottish system, in Goswick bay.
Elsewhere along the coast drift nets are in vogue, and this kind of fishing
has, since about 1870, taken the place at Cullercoats of the herring fishery,
which has become extinct there. The salmon net has a mesh of six and
a half inches, is 150 yards long (but when in use 100 yards), and fifty, sixty,
or seventy meshes deep. The trout net has a mesh of three and three-
quarter to five inches, is 120 yards long and is fifty to seventy meshes deep ;
' Fuller, History of Berwick-upon-Tweed, p. 426.
- The catches of crabs and lobsters along the coast (excluding North Shields) were, in 1895,
crabs, 872,133, lobsters, 40,621 ; in 1900, crabs, 1,452,975, lobsters, 29,807 ; in 1904, crabs, 1,294,745,
lobsters, 53,577-
MUNICIPAL HISTORY OF THE HOROLGH. 387
corks buoy up its top side and leads weigh down the bottom rope. A boat
carries three nets, and these are launched like herring nets, the last net
being turned round so as to form a loop or hook. The close season for the
Tweed is September 15th to February ist, for the Coquet district (Howick
burn to Newbiggin point) September 15th to March 25th, and for the
Tyne district (Newbiggin point to Souter point), September 1st to
February ist. Licences, costing ^5 per boat, are obtained from the Coquet
and Tyne Sahnon Conservancies, which have the regulation of the drift
net fishing within their respective districts. The fishing is very variable in
its results.' During the salmon season numerous porpoises or ' dunters,'
and, occasionally, other cetacea visit the coast.
Mackerel appear off the coast every year about July, August and
September in very varying numbers. They are caught in trout and salmon
nets as well as bv the spinner.
The turbot has almost completely disappeared from this coast. It
used to be caught in brat-nets, 240 yards long with meshes of seven inches
from knot to knot and seven meshes deep. The upper edge of the net was
buoyed with small corks and the lower edge was weighted with small stones
at intervals of nine meshes. Eight nets went to the fleet." Large catches
used to be made in places where herring were spawning.
The Northumberland Sea Fisheries Committee was formed under the
provisions of the Sea Fisheries Regulation Act, 1888, by an order of the
Board of Trade dated March 20th, 1890. The general powers given to the
committee under the above Act are : (i) to make by-laws for the regulation
of the sea fisheries ; (2) to make by-laws imposing penalties for breach of
by-laws; (3) to appoint fishery officers and to give them authority to
stop and search any vessel or vehicle used within the district in fishing or in
conveying either fish or any substance the deposit or discharge of which is
prohibited or regulated by any by-law ; to search and e.xamine all in-
struments used in carrying or catching fish ; to seize any fish or instrument
liable to be forfeited in pursuance of any such by-laws ; to enter suspected
places. The Act also provides for the expenses of the committee being paid
by the County Council.
' See Mr. lierrington's Report to the Board of Trade. 1S90, and Mr. .Aaron Watson's Papers on
Fishery Questions, 1890,
■ At Craster ten nets were emijloyed.
388
TYNEMOUTH BOROUGH.
Fishing Boats, Northumberland, 1905.
Stations.
Steam
Trawlers.
Steam
Liners.
Line, Crab, etc.
Herring.
Native.
Strange.
Cobles.
Mules.
Sail. Steam.
Sail.
Steam.
Berwick
15
8 -
40
3
Spittal
—
—
—
8
I _ , _
Holy Island
—
—
I
'3
4 —
—
—
Seahouses ...
—
—
15
I
9
—
80
5
Be.idnell
—
—
14
—
9
—
20
Ne\vton-by-the-Sea
—
—
10
—
3
—
—
—
Craster
—
—
12
—
9
—
20
—
Boulmer
—
—
9
—
I
—
—
—
Alninoulh
—
—
4
—
—
—
—
—
Amble
—
—
2
—
—
—
—
—
Hauxley
—
—
7
—
—
—
—
—
Cresswell
—
—
6
—
—
—
—
—
Newbiggin-by-the-Sea
—
—
13
—
II
—
—
—
Blyth
—
—
6*
—
I
—
—
—
Seaton Sluice
—
—
4*
—
—
—
—
St. Mary's Island
—
—
2*
—
—
—
— .
—
Cullercoats
—
—
35t
—
—
—
—
North Shields
72
27
6
—
—
—
78
44
■■• Salmon fishing in summer only.
+ Salmon fishing in summer, but including fifteen cobles employed at line fishing, etc.
The herring boats from other ports fishing from the northern stations come from Cockenzie,
Cellardyke, Isle of Man, St. Ives, Eyemouth.
The herring boats fishing from North Shields come from (sailers) Eyemouth, Buckhaven,
Kirkcaldy, Lowestoft, Cellardyke ; (steam drifters) Yarmouth, Lowestoft, Hull.
.A. list of fishermen in Northumberland (exclusive of Berwick), taken by Sir John Delaval on
August 2Sth, 1636, shows what changes have occurred in the distribution of the fishing population
in the course of three centuries. The number of fishermen residing at each fisliing station was then
as follows; Spittal, 40; Holy Island, 27; IJamburgh, 10; Shoreston and North Sunderland, 7;
Beadnell. 14; Embleton and Newton-by-the-Sea, 10; Craster, 8; Boulmer, 12; Alnmouth, 19;
Warkworth, 8; Hauxley, 9; Cresswell, 12; Newbiggin-by-the-Sea, 16; Blyth, 12; Hartley, iS ;
North .Shields and Tynemouth, 62. Harbours then only existed at Holy Island and at Blyth.
Stati Papers, Domestic, Charles I. vol. xxxiv. 42, i. A certificate returned to the archbishop of York
in April, 1547, gives the number of fishermen in the county as 192, 'whereof many be .Scots.' Brand,
NiifcaslU, vol. ii. p. 325, note. In the census of 1901 the number of persons in Northumberland returned
as engaged in fishing was given as 1,212.
The committee have passed the following by-laws for the regulation
of the fisheries of the district : (i) by-law prohibiting trawling within the
district (April, 1891) ; (2) by-laws making the size limit for lobsters nine
inches instead of eight inches as specified by the Act of 1877, and protecting
the berried lobster during the months April to July inclusive (1899), and,
secondly, prohibiting the removal of protected shell fish from the district.'
' The following is a list of the Acts under which powers are given to the committee and under
which its by-laws are made and enforced :
1S77. Fisheries (Oyster, Crab, and Lobster) .\ct, 1S77. By this Act regulations were made
(i) as to the prohibition of taking or selling oysters between certain dates; (2) as to prohibition of
WHITLEY TOWNSHIP. 389
Marine investigation has been pursued by the Berwickshire Naturalists'
Club, the Tyneside Field Club, and the Newcastle Natural History Society.
Since its formation the Northumberland Sea Fisheries Committee has caused
enquiries to be made on subjects connected with the regulation of the
fisheries.' Mr. John Dent, county alderman, the present chairman of the
committee, commenced a series of trawling experiments in 1892, and in 1897
built a marine laboratory at CuUercoats, of which Mr. Meek is director.
WHITLEY TOWNSHIP.
Whitley township stretches along the sea coast northwards from the
Marden burn to the southern bank of Brier dene, and marches with Monk-
seaton township on the west. It includes an area of 658 acres, of which five
acres are inland water and 117 acres are foreshore," and in 1901 had a
population of 6,753.'
Whitley and Monkseaton formed, at the commencement of the twelfth
century, part of GrafFard's lordship, of which the seat was at Seghill. The
three manors were made over by Henry I., before the year 11 16, to Richard,
abbot of St. Alban's, and to the monks of Tvnemouth.^ Whitlev was either
already held by a single owner in sub-infeudation, or an enfeolTment was
made by the prior and convent in the course of the same century. The
name of Ralph de Whitley occurs among the witnesses to certain charters of
taking or selling edible ciabs less than four and a half inches across the back ; (3) as to prohibition
of taking or selling lobsters under eight inches in length.
The Sea Fisheries Regulation Act, 1S8S, as aljove.
Sea Fisheries Regulation .•\ct, 1891, which empowers committees to make by-laws.
Sea Fish (Shell Fish) Regulation Act, 1S94, which gave powers to local commiiiees to make
by-laws for the regulation and development uf fisheries for all kinds of shell fish, also to slock or
restock any public fishery for shell fish, and for that purpose to incur such e.xpenses as may be
sanctioned by the Board of Trade.
Board of Agriculture and Fisheries Act, 1903, by which the superintendence of ihc fisheries
was transferred from the Board of Trade to the Board of Agriculture, which was in future to be
called the Board af Agriculture and Fisheries.
' Papers have been published by Dr. (Jregg Wilson on the crab and lobster fishing of the
district, by Mr. William King on mussel culture, by .Mr. C. Williams on the hatcheries :it Uunbar,
by Alderman J. Dent on trawling experiments, and, since 1S96, annual reports on scientific investi-
gations by Mr. A. Meek.
' The tithe commutation map of 1S42 specifies the area as follows : arable, 253 acres ; meadow and
pasture, 186 acres, 2 roods; Whitley links, 44 acres; limestone quarry, 10 acres, 2 roods, 4 perches;
buildings and waste ground, 8 acres 3 roods.
' Census returns are : 1801,251; 1811,375; 1821,554; 1831,632; 1841,749; 1851,43": 1S61 419;
1S71, 731; 1S81, 1,350; 1891, 2,444; 1901. 'J.753- Up to iSSi inclusive these returns include the
hamlets of Hotspur I'lace and Whitley Row on Sliire Moor.
' See above, p. 55 (12).
3gO TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
the reigns of Richard I. and John. His son or grandson was sued by the
prior of Tynemouth in 1225 for the customs and services due from his
free tenement in Whitley.
Several of the services were identical with those given in the custumal
of 1295, ^s prevailing in the other townships. The owner of Whitley
did one boon-ere with his own plough and with all the ploughs of his vill.
He found four harrows for the boon-harrow. In the autumn he did three
auth-reps with eight men, and all the inhabitants of the vill, except the
house wives, joined on the fourth day in the great boon-work. He carted
four loads of corn from North Seaton, and the tithe produce of Hertness
to Tynemouth together with his peers at his own maintenance, or paid
Hertness-pennies in commutation for that service. He gave merchet for his
daughters, sued at the prior's court, and paid aids together with his peers.
He also gave thirteen pence yearly for cornage and paid an annual rent of
twenty shillings.
Besides these there were services connected with the priory mills. The
lord of Whitley and his men did suit to the mills and gave multure at the
thirteenth bushel. He was bound to build, roof and repair the si.\th part
of the two mills of Tynemouth ; be contributed one-sixth to the purchase
and carting of millstones for the same, carted timber to the mills and
found two men to fell it at his own charges.
The most distinctive service due from the holding was that to which
allusion is made in later custumals as ' Conveys.' This involved the enter-
tainment of the prior and his household by the lord of Whitley in his own
house every 23rd and 24th of December, and finding his guests in food
and drink, lights, hay and oats for the horses, and in all other necessaries.
Ralph de Whitley pleaded a demurrer. The prior and convent had
sued him for services due from a free tenement, but the services enumerated
were base. Villein services could not be chargeable upon freehold land ;
and the judges of the King's Bench, to whom drengage and its paradoxical
incidents were novelties, accepted the logical argument of the defendant.
The claim was dismissed, but was brought up again in the course of the
following term, with slight modifications, and the addition of a penny half-
penny to the sum claimed for cornage. Ralph de Whitley again pleaded
that he held no land in villeinage but admitted the claim to twenty shillings.
Prior Germanus refused to be led into a discussion on land tenure, basing
WHITLEY TOWNSHIP. 39 I
his claim on the fact that the defendant, his father and grandfather, had
done the whole of the services mentioned, from the days of Prior Acharius
down to the preceding Christmas.' The judges of the King's Bench made
over the conduct of the case to the justices itinerant, but at Easter, 1227,
before the next Northumbrian assize, Ralph de Whitley came into the Court
of King's Bench, and acknowledged that he was bound bv all the
services mentioned in the prior's claim.'
A petition presented to the king by John de Whitley between the
years 1280 and 1282 states that the petitioner held a carucate of arable,
eight acres of meadow, and si.xty acres of pasture in demesne, while 234
acres of arable were cultivated by bonds. His father, Henry de Whitley,
having died while he was still a minor. Prior Adam de Tewing had
claimed the wardship and marriage of the heir in right of his church.
His lands remained in the prior's hands until he came of age and then
he was not permitted to have seisin of the same until he had paid a fine
of fourteen marks, amounting to two years' proceeds of the manor. The
prior had moreover hindered the petitioner from distraining on the bonds
of his demesne, had cited him to appear in court for so doing, and had
mulcted him of one hundred shillings, besides robbing him of four hundred
cartloads of marie, for which he could find no remedy.'
' Prior de Tinemue petit versus Riuiulfuni de Witele quod facial ei consuetudines et recta servicia
que ei inde facere debet de libero tenemento suo quod de eo tciiel in Wyteleia, ul in arreragiis et aliis, unde
idem prior dicit quod idem Radulfus tenet de eo el ecclesia sua de Tinemue villam de Wytel', ct debet ei
has consuetudines subscriptas, scilicet quolibet anno, quinto et sexto die Nalalis Domini, debet idem prior
cum tola familia sua de Tinemue quam secum assumere voluerit venire ad domum ipsius Kadulli in
Wytel', et debet idem Radulfus invenire ei per illos duos dies ad totam familiam suam rationabilitcr ad
manducandum et bibendum et candelam et fcnum et avenam ad equos suos et onmia alia necessaria, et
preterea arare per unum diem cum omnibus carucis ville sue, et cum sua propria, ct eodem die debet
ipse Radulfus interesse in propria persona ad cibum ipsius prioris semel in die. Et debet invenire iiij
hercuras per unum diem usque ad nonam ad cibum ipsius Radulti, et, cum opus fuerit, debet reparare
sextam partem duorum molendinorum de Tinemue et sextam partem molendinorum illorum facere et
cooperire, et sextam partem molarum emere et cariare ad molendina ilia, el maeremium cariare ad eadem
molendina et invenire duos homines ad secandum illud maeremium ad cibum Radulti propriuni ; et in
autumpno facere Ires precarias per tres dies, quolibet die cum oclo hominibus ad cibum prioris, et
iiij"" die debent omnes homines ville ejusdem venire ad precaria preter hospitissas doniorum ad cibum
prioris. Et debet cariare iiij carettas bladi de Nor-Setan usque Tinemue ad cibum propriuni. El ipse
et homines sui debent sequi molendina ipsius prioris et ibi molere per xiij tolfatum. Et debet cariare
simul cum paribus suis decimas de Hertenes usque Tinemue ad cibum proprium vel dcnarios dare pro
cariagio. Et debet merchetum de filiabus suis. Et debet sequi curiam ipsius prioris et dare auxUia
cum paribus suis quando pares sui dant auxilium. Et de cornayio quolibet anno xiiji/., et preterea
de annuo ledditu xxs. Curui Ri-gis Rolls, Nos. SS, 94. .Maitland, br.iclon's Nolfbwk, vol. iii. p. 53.
■Patent Rolls, 11 Henry III. m. 23. Ciiiia Regis Rolls, No. 97. In 1226 the sheriff of Northum-
berland accounted for one mark from Ralph de Witele ' pro falso clameo ;' Hodyson, .YorMumi^WjnJ,
pt. iii. vol. iii. p. 145.
' A nostre seignour le roy et son conseyl se pleynt Johan de Wytele ke la ou memes cesty Johan
tent del priour de Thvnemowe un mies une carue de lerre en demeyne, e xx'J et xiiij acres de terre
en service ke les bondes memes cely Johan de ly icnent, e viij acres de pre, e Ix acres de pasture
392 TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
The storv has already been told of how, on October 29tli, 1290,
John de Whitley with two of his companions broke into the house of
Walter fitz Nicholas in Whitley, and carried ofl" certain goods which he
found there ; of his trial for breach of the peace in the prior's court, and of
the subsequent delays of justice, resulting in a hearing of the case before
Edward I. and his council at Norham, and the forfeiture of the prior's
franchise.' John de Whitley was doubtless effecting a distraint, and the
action of the prior and convent in treating this as a case of burglary may
be considered either as a wilful misrepresentation of facts or as a just
protection of the lesser tenants in a dependent manor.
od les apurlenaunces en Wytele, par ceiteyn service annuel, le quel service ne dune niie garde ne
mariayge ; la seysit le priour Adam, predecessour cesty priour, les avaunt diz tenemenz en sa mayn apres
la niort Henry de Wytelee, pere ly avaunt dit Jnhan ky lieyr il est, cum chef seignour du fee,
apropriaunt garde des avaunt diz tenemenz e mariayge del avaunt dit lieyr a ly a sa eglyse de
Thynemowe, ou nulc garde ne mariayge apent, ne unkes predecessour ky il eut seysi ne fu de garde des
avaunt diz tenemenz, ne de mariayge de ancestre ke il unkes ust. Morust Adam. Willam, un son
successur, ceo tort continua. Morust Willam ; apres ky mort, Symun, ke ore est, les avaunt diz
tenemenz entra cum en sa garde, e les avaunt diz tenemenz tint en sa inayn tant ke le avaunt dit Johan
fu passe le ayge de xxij aunz. E puys ke kant le avaunt dit Johan aveit son ayge prove, il ne poeyt le
entrc aver en sa terre, eynz ke il eut paie xiiij mars de argent al avaunt dit priour ke ore est pur relef, ke
est la value de sa terre de deus aunz. E tut ust il ewe la garde des avaunt diz tenemenz du dreyt, sicum
ele fu tortenuse, si deveyt il aver ewe sa terre sanz relef e sanz fyn, ou riens doner du son ; e ceo par la
graunt chartre nostre seignour le roy, ke ceo ad graunte e comunie de son seale.
Wstre ceo se pleynt memes cely Johan, ke la ou il destreynt ses vyleyns purlur ferme ke est arere, e
pur autres services ke du ly sunt de eus, cum de ses vyleyns en park, lur avers cum ben ly list a fere,
cum de ses chatels demeyn ; la vent memes cesty priour e delivre les avers hors de sa propre faude,
niaugre son par sa seignourie ; e pur la poverte I'evaunt dit Johan, issi ke il ne poet ses vyleyns pur ly
justicer, ne sa ferme de eus lever, ne prendre ne autres services kc du ly sunt de eus cum de ses vyleyns,
e pur ceo ke il volt ses vileyns justicer, si ly ad destreynt I'evaunt dit priour devenir a sa curt, ou il nul
conseil ne poeit aver ne trover encuntre le priour, nies ilokes fu surpris par defaute de conseil, e fu mis
en la merci, e fu leve de ly pur sa seul amerciement cent souz, pur queus cent souz il fist meclief de x
liverez de chateus. E estre ceo, la ou il aveyt graunte a un moygne de la meson, daunz Johan de
Ludeburn, cent charettes de marie a prende de la demeyne terre memes celuy Johan in Wytelee, a
carier sur la terre I'evaunt dit priour en Thynemowe pur son par, la prist memes cely moygne cccc
carettes de niarle hors de la terre le avaunt dit Johan, estre ceo ke il le aveyt done, encuntre son gre e
sa volunte. E son scrjaunt, ke vout aver desturbe le avaunt dit moygne de plus prendre de marie ke
graunte ly, fust pris par coniaundement le seneschal le avaunt dit priour e mys en cept, de quel trepas le
avaunt dit priour fu aresone ke il feyst les amendes, e riens ne vout fere, ne uncore ore ne fest. E de
ceus torts prie le avaunt dit Johan remedie pur Ueu.
Cestes grevaunces me sunt Htes plus apertement, par la reson de la fraunchise de retur de bref ke il
unt ; ke la ou jeo le avaunt dit Johan par la sute et le conseil de mes amys avey purchacc un bref de
mort d'ancestre vers Willam, priour de la avaunt dite meson de Thynemowe, predecessour le priour
ke ore est, devaunt sire Johan de \'aus e ses cumpaignouns justices dreyn erranz en le cunte de
Norhumbreland ; la vynt le priour e demaunda retur par le graunte ke il aveyt de nostre seignour le
roy de cele fraunchise, c le aveyt. E par agarde de justices dona jur avaunt dit Johan a sure son bref;
e au jour kant il vint ne trova nul bref, purceo ke par le avaunt dit Willam priour fu besile. E purceo
ne osa il unkes puys bref purchacer ne son dreyt sure tant cum il fu dedeinz ayge, pur dute de
autiele malice. E prie pur Deu ke remedie de ceo seit fest.
[Endorsed : ] A nostre seyngur le roy pur le roy mustre Johan de Whyteleye ke le priur de
Tynemuth ad fete grant deseritons au roy, ausi bien en ewe cum en tere, cum de wrek de mere e de
vyles, a I'aniutainue D. mars e plus en sun tens, e mut deseritesuns ad fet al gent du pays par sa
fraunchyse ke il ad de vos auncestres et de vus, sicum il dit. Ancient Petitions, P.R.O. No. 7,286.
In 1292 John de Whitley sued Simon, prior of Tynemouth, because the prior refused to give an
account of the profits of the manor of Whitley during tlie time tliat he had the wardship of the same.
De Banco Rolls, No. 93.
' See above, pp. 216-218.
WHITLEY TOWNSHIP.
393
John de Whitley was one of the twelve jurors in the court of the
liberty. His goods were assessed in 1296 at £1 15s. 6d., on which he
paid 6s. lo^d. as subsidy. The other tenants in the township are grouped
in the subsidy roll of that year with certain of the tenants of East Chirton.
Est Chirton et Wvtf.lev Subsidy Roll, 1296.
C s. A. s. d.
Summa bonorum Rogeri Gray 2 13 3 uncle regi 4 10
„ Willelmi Brun ... ... ...134 „ 2 lA
„ Willelmi de Hrerden o 17 ij „ i 6|
„ Radulphi Averay 0193 „ 19
„ Nicholai de Wytteley 474 „ 7 iii
„ Agnetis relicte o 15 8i „ i 5]
„ Gilberti de Wytteley 1 4 10 „ 23
„ Alienore relicte o 19 10 „ i 9J
Summa hujus ville, £13 os. Sd.; unde domino regi, ^i 3s. Sid.'
Prior Walden had his revenge on his troublesome vassal in 1297.
William Wallace, at the head of a Scottish army, was marching down
the Tvne valley and laving the countrv waste. John de Whitlev hastened
to collect all his muniments and household stuff, which he deposited in
a house close to the priory gates. The castle was strong enough to resist
the invaders, provided no cover was left for the enemy near its walls.
Consequently, on November 23rd, Prior Walden set fire to the house in
which John de Whitley's effects were stored, without troubling to remove
its contents. ■
Among the deeds then destroyed was a bond from Henry de
Newenham, whose name recurs in 13 10 when John de Whitley conveyed
to him the manor of Whitley. The abbot of St. Alban's and the prior of
Tynemouth put in their claim and prevented the transfer from taking
effect.' There were also burnt in the fire two charters of enfeoffment
of the manor. A detailed statement of the custom called 'Conveys,' drawn
up about this time, was perhaps necessitated by their loss.
The mode of doing the service called the Conveyes at Whitley. All the meii of Tynemouth prior>-,
all the horses and dogs of the priory, all who have their quarters in the prior)-, all the prior's senjints at
Preston manor, and the serjeant, 'messor' and carter of Monkseaton manor, and all the servants
employed in barges who are called ' kelers," and four threshers, and a man and woman fanner, shall
come once a year at Christmaslide on Holy Innocents' Day to a place in Whitley on this side of
the vill. And there the lord of that vill shall meet them, and shall receive them fittingly and
' Lay Subsidy Roll, i;». - Coiam Rege Rolls, No. 202. ' Feet of Fines, 4 Edw. II. No. 12.
* ' The keelmen are those who manage the lighters which they cill keels, by which the co.ils are
taken from the steathes or wharfs, and carryed on board the ships at She.als to load them for London.'
Defoe, Tour through Gretit Britain, 1727, vol. iii. p. 192.
Vol. VIII. 50
394
TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
honourably ; and he shall llnil them in all necessaries on that day and on the next, for two days and two
nights, so that they be fittingly entertained and fed. All the serving men aforesaid shall be served with
two courses, of suitable iiuantily and quality, and with cheese at mid-day ; and the free men of the
household similarly with two courses and with cheese at supper. The squires and those of their degree
shall be served on flesh-days with fowl as the second course at supper, namely, one fowl between two of
them ; and those of lesser degree shall be served « ith half a fowl and fresh boiled meat as the second course
at supper. .\nd all the ploughmen and those of like degree shall be served with common meats
and with cheese at supper, always provided that all, whether free men or ploughmen, have good beer
and fitting, and that they have every two of them one bed, sufificient and suitable to their stations. Each
of the horses shall have good forage (except the prior's horses, which used to be served with hay, or with
pease in place of hay, and were taken in and lodged in Whitley manor). Each of the horses shall have
half a bowl of good oats. Whatever is left over from the jirovisions shall be carted to the prior's granarj-
by the keeper of the granary.'
The case of Walter litz Nicholas was not the only instance in which
the lords of the manor of Whitley were charged with breach of the peace.
On July 7th, 1305, John de Whitley headed an attack on William Baret
of Burradon, kept him in prison at Whitley for two days, and despoiled
him of robes, furs, gold and silver, and other property to the amount of
^100. Whitley's defence on this occasion was that he had arrested Baret
as a constable and keeper of the king's peace for having assaulted one
Robert Otvvay at Whitley and beaten him almost to death." On October
1st, 1 318, Gilbert, son of John de Whitley, with other companions, broke
into the house of Ranulph le taillour at Tynemouth, drove the said Ranulph
to take refuge in the priory, and blockaded him there. The same Gilbert
de Whitley, on September 20th, 1324, seized on Roger Brown of
Tynemouth, put him into the stocks on the king's highway and prevented
his friends from bringing him food and drink, so that he nearly died from
starvation and e.xposure.^
Agnes, the widow of John de Whitley, on March 29th, 1321, granted
to John de Houworth, vicar of Tynemouth, a toft and a plot of land in
Whitley, containing one acre, besides common of pasture appurtenant to
the same. This and other properties were transferred by Houworth in
1325 to Thomas de Raynton, seneschal of the liberty, who reconveyed
the same to the prior and convent.^
' Tynemouth Chartuliiry, fol. 68, printed by Brand, Neifcastle, vol. ii. p. 595.
' Coram Rege Rolls, No. 183. ' Ibid. No. 258.
^ The deeds are set out in the Tynemouth Chartxdary. (l) Grant from Agnes, widow of John
de Whitley, to John de Houworth. Dated at Whitley, March 29th, 1321. Hiis testibus, domino Roberto
de la Val, domino Adam de Benton, domino Wiilelmo de Swynburn, militibus, Roberto de Rihill,
Simone de Welteden, Roberto de ?laukewell, Alano de Castro, et aliis ; fol. 84. (2) Confirmation
by Gilbert, son of John de Whitley ; dated at Tynemouth, March 30th, 1321. Hiis testibus, domino
Johanne de Fenwyk, domino Roberto de Fawedon, militibus, Roberto de Rihill, Thonia de Hidewyn,
WHITLEY TOWNSHIP. 395
Gilbert de Whitley received royal licence on April 9th, 1345, to
crenellate his manor house at Whitley.' The tower recurs in the list of
castles and fortalices drawn up in 14 15,- but probably soon fell into disuse,
as there is no mention of it in the survey of 1538, and no tradition survives
as to its site. Gilbert de Whitley was an e.xpert military architect, holding
the office, in 1356, of master and supervisor of the king's work in the
castle of Newcastle.'
A survey taken in 1377 repeats the custumal of 1225 with little
alteration. The sum of 3s. 4d. was paid yearly as abbot-scot ; an annual
payment of five marks was due by statute merchant ; * and a few of
the services had been commuted for money payments, notably the conveys.
Two pounds was paid for this, and no more ' because of the poverty
of the tenants.' The surveyor notes that four, si.x, or eight marks had
previously been paid. The sum due for Hertness-pennies, which was
not stated in the earlier custumal, is here given as a shilling. Two shillings
was paid in lieu of timber for Flatworth mill, and five pence for repairing
the mill pond.'^
Rali'h de Whitlev (a).
I
Ralph de Whitley (a).
•I I
Eustace de Whitley, died Henry de Whitley (a), did homage to the abbot of St. .Mban's, 1264
s./i. (a). (St. Ailians Register, fol. 62).
I
John de Whitley (a), a minor at his father's death ; died before 1321 {b). = Agnes (K).
Gilbert de Whitley {K).
John de Whitley, buried at St. Albans (c).
Agnes, married William Parker, buried at St. Albans (c).
(a) Assize Roil, 21 Edw. I. (/)) Tynemoulh Chariiilary, fol. 84. (<r) .Amundesham, Annales, vol. i. p. 442.
John de Whitley, the ne.xt in succession to the manor, left his home
for St. Albans, and, dying there, was buried in the abbey church. He
Roberto de Seton Wodehorn, Roberto de Byker, et aliis ; fol. 84 b. (3) Quitclaim from the same,
attested by the witnesses to the first deed ; dated at Tynemouth, Rlarch 31st, 1321 ; fol. 85. (4) Grant
of the above land inter alia by John de Hotnvorth, vicar of Tynemouth, to Thomas de Raynton ; dated
at Tynemouth, March 19th, 1324/5. Hiis testibus, Henrico Faukus, johanne de Uacworth, Alano de
Castro, Galfrido de Morelon, Johanne de Seton, Roberto Sauvaye, ct aliis ; fol. 86. (5) Grant of the
premises by Thomas de Raynton to the prior and convent of Tynemouth ; dated .-Xujjust 1st, 1325 ; fol.
87. See Gibson, Tynemouth, \fo\. i. p. 138.
' Cal. Patent Rolls, 1343-1345, p. 446. " Bates, Border IloUs, p. 16.
' Arch. All. 2nd series, vol. iv. p. 50. ' ' Per statutam niercatoriam.'
* Tynemoulh Chartulary, fols. 51 b and 58 b.
396 TYNEMOUTH PARISH".
left a daughter, Agnes, who was married to William Parker, squire to
Abbot de la Mare.' A certain Percival Symeon had also an interest in the
manor through Johanna his wife. She enfeoffed John Roland, clerk, Alan
Whvtheved, clerk, Adam Fenrother, clerk, William de Chevyngton, and
William de Titlyngton, of the third part of one messuage, 330 acres of
arable, eight acres of meadow, and eighteen acres of pasture in Tynemouth
and Whitley, to hold in trust for herself and her husband during her
lifetime, and then in trust for William Parker and William Fymer
and William Parker's heirs. In 1382 the said Percival Symeon and
Johanna his wife surrendered their interest in these lands to Parker and
Fymer in consideration of a hundred marks." In 1403 John Olyver of
Rypton and Johanna his wife sold to Thomas Thornburgh, William
Parker, and William Assh, for ;^ioo, the manor of Whitley, a messuage
and two acres in Horsley by Felton, and a messuage in Newcastle.'
Through the agency of William de Whethamstede, cellarer of Tyne-
mouth priory, the manor of Whitley was acquired from Thornburgh, Parker,
and Assh, for the monastery in the year 1404.^ The services due from it
were then found to be worth £<^ 6s. g^d. per annum. They are extended,
but furnish no new details beyond the fact that the timber for the prior's
mills was felled in Wylam wood, from which four loads had to be carted
to Newburn or two to Flatworth mill.^
In 1538, Whitley township was cultivated by five customary tenants,
each holding a tenement, with forty acres of arable, two acres of meadow,
and pasture for twelve cattle and for thirty sheep in the common pasture.
A money rent of £\ 13s. 4d. was paid for each tenement, as well as a
corn rent of four quarters of barley and two quarters of oats ; and 4d. for
pannage. The tenants farmed the tithe of hay, for which each paid 6d.
A cottage or herd house, with five butts of arable land, called Lady's lands,
was in the tenure of all the tenants, at 8s. rent, and a garden was farmed
at IS. 4d.' The last two holdings may be respectively identified with
the cottage and three roods acquired by the prior and convent in 1325,
and with the hall garth of the former lords of Whitley. A dovecote on the
' Amundesham, AiiiuiUs Muiuistirii Saiicti Atbani, Rolls Series, vol. i. p. 442.
■Feet 0/ Fines, 5 Richard II. No. 11. ' Ibid. 5 Henry IV, No. 1.
' See above, pages 100, 101 (note), and 117.
' Gibson, Tynemouth, vol. ii. appendix, No. cxxxi.
* Ibid. vol. i. p. 221 ; .Ministers' Accounts, 38 Henry \11I. and i Edward I. No. 5.
WHITLEY TOWNSHIP.
397
north side of the village has given its name to Dovecot close, and is
described as already decayed in a lease of 1634.' The survey shows that
there were 200 acres under arable cultivation, and ten acres of meadow land,
and consequently the common or waste land within the township amounted
to more than 300 acres. The carucate of arable land, held by the lords
of Whitley in demesne, had evidently been allowed to go out of cultivation.
A survey taken in 1608 gives the same particulars with regard to the
holdings, with the substitution of forty-four for forty acres of arable. Each
tenant is further stated to have pasture for two horses in the common fields.*
Enclosure took place before 1674, when surrenders were taken of closes
held in severalty. The lands allotted to the copyholders in virtue of their
holdings were not contiguous, but each proprietor received three or four
closes in different parts of the township. Forty-four acres lying ne.xt to the
sea, known as Whitley links, remain unenclosed to the present day. Here
the copyholders had eatage, four stints being allowed to each copyhold
farm.^ Thompson's survey of the manor, taken in 1757, gives the following
names :
Henry Hudson, esq., loo acres 2 roods ; Thomas Rutherford, 88 acres i rood ; John Hall,
82 acres i rood ; Ralph Clarke, 98 acres 3 roods ; Sarah Dove, 57 acres 3 roods ; Joseph Sayburne,
16 acres 2 roods ; Mrs. Archbold, 24 acres 2 roods ; a freehold called Lady-lands, I rood 30 poles ;
common by the seashore, 44 acres ; town, streets, lanes, etc., S acres 3 roods.'
Coal mining was actively carried on in Whitley between the years
1673 and 17 15 by John Dove, Henry Hudson, and their partners. Hudson,
who had served under Sir Arthur Heslerig in the parliamentarian army,
deserves to be remembered for his story of how Cromwell at Dunbar 'rid
all the night before through the several regiments by torchlight upon a
little Scots nag, biting his lip till the blood had run down his chin without
his perceiving it, his thoughts being busily employed to be ready for the
action now at hand.'= Hudson settled at Whitley, and there gave hospitable
entertainment to persecuted dissenters in Charles H.'s reign. He worked
coal in Whitlev, Preston, and IMonkseaton, had salt-pans and lead-mines in
each of tlie three northern counties, and commenced a profitable business
in 1684 by taking a lease of the Whitley limestone quarries. There is an
outcrop of Magnesian Limestone in the field called Maudlin pits, on the
■ Duke of Northumberland's MSS. = Land Revenue Office, ^^iscdl. Books, vol. 2:3, fol. }is.
'' Duke of Noilhumberland's MSS. ' /'"•'•
> Life 0/ Ambrose Bunus, Surt. Soc. No. 50, pp. iio-iii.
398
TVNEMOUTH PARISH.
north side of Marden burn and immediately to the west of the Tynemonth
road. The stone is good for quarrying, and in 1754 it was calculated that
the enterprise brought in ^'208 yearly clear of the lord's rent. 'There
is,' it was then stated, 'an engine for throwing out water, and four extra-
ordinary large lime-kilns constantly employed, besides great quantity of
stone carried from the pits to be burnt at other places.' '
HUDSON OF NEWBIGGEN IN NEWBURN. AND OF WHITLEY.
buried in :
the Sidgate
burial ground,
NewcastleC/S).
Hf.nKV Hl'HSON of Newhiggen in Xewburn, one of Cromwell's Ironsides, =
look a lease of Billy mill and Tynemoulh mills in 1679, and of Whilley
and Monkseaton quarries in 1684 (^) ; buried 22nd January, 1 704, in the
Sidgate burial ground (6') ; will dated 22nd November, 1700 («) (Ji).
,. to whom her hus-
gave his mansion
; Jane ..
band
house atNewbiggen for her
life (rt).
Enoch Hudson of Brunton in Gosforth, to
whom his father gave Newbiggen after his
widow's death, a messuage in Newcastle, a
colliery at Monkseaton, and various lands,
salt pans, etc., in the counties of Northum-
berland, Durham, and Cumberland (a) ;
died 1 2th September, 171 5 ; buried in the
Sidg-ate burial ground, aged 56 (_/i) {/) ; by
his will, dated 27th June, 1712, he gave
Scott-house, in the manor of Chester, Co.
Pa!., to his brother Henry, and his coal
mines and other property to be divided
amongst his four daughters («).
Ruth, dau.
of [William]
Hutchinson,
to whom
her husband
gave a house
at Brunton,
held by lease
of Sir Arthur
Heslerigg
I I
Other
issue.
Henry Hudson of Whitley, for whom :
his father provided in his lifetime,
and by his last will gave a ninth part
of the lead mines in Rookhope («) ;
apprenticed, 2nd May, 1679, to
Benezer Uurant ; admitted to the
Newcastle Merchants' Company,
2 1 St June, 1689 (c) ; acquired lands
in Whitley c/zcrt 1690; admitted to
lands in Monkseaton on surrender
of John Rogers, .April, 1690 (^) ;
died 17th June, 1737, aged 73 (d) ;
will dated 1723 (a).
Sarah, dau.
of John
Uove (rt),
died 3rd
Septem-
ber, 1737
aged 59
(,/); will
dated .. .
1737 («)•
Ruth, daughter and co-heir, wife of Reynold Hall of Otterburn ; to whom her
father gave a house in the Cloth Market, Newcastle («)• -i/
Sarah, daughter and co-heir, wife of William Hicks of Whitehaven ; marriage
settiemerit, 12th .•\pril, 1728 (/).
Mary, daughter and co-heir, wife, first of John Dove of Whitley and of Wapping
(c), marriage settlement, 13th January, 1 7 10, and secondly of Rev. R. Gilpin (J~).
Hainiah. daughter and co-heir, wife of Robert Ellison, second son of Nathaniel
Ellison, vicar of Newcastle ; bond of marriage, 19th December, 1726 ; she died,
5lh June, 1772, aged 72 (a), and was buried at St. Nicholas', Newcastle (/).
Henry Hudson =
of Whitley-
hall, married
his first cousin
once removed ;
died 1 5th May,
1789. aged 69 ;
buried at Bath
Abbey (</).
Elizabeth, daughter
of Robert EIHson
by Hannah Hud
son, his wife ; mar.
at Christ Church,
Tynemouth, 22nd
.April, 1776; died
7th October, 1815,
aged 85 (0 id).
(«) Bell Collection, No. 361.
(J>) .Mr. Maberly Pliillips on 'The Quicks Buring
Plas,' Arc/i. Ael. vol. .\iii. pp. 240-242.
(c) Arch. Afl. vol. xvi. pp. 286.2S7.
((/) Monumental Inscription, Tynemouth Priory.
(<) Newcastle Merchant .Adventurers, Dendy, vol. ii.
\f) Avthrose Barnes, Longstaffe, p. 1 10.
\g) Duke of Northumberland's MSS.
Henry Hudson, a younger son of Cromwell's Ironside, purchased lands
in Whitley about the year 1690, from his brother-in-law, Thomas Dove
of Sparrow hall. His son, also named Henry Hudson, built Whitley
hall, some seventy years later, on the south side of the village. Dying in
1789, he left his property to his widow, who bequeathed it in 1815 to
her niece, Hannah Ellison, surviving daughter of Henry Ellison of Otter-
burn and Whitehaven. Whitley hall and land to the south and west of
it was sold by Miss Ellison in 181 7 to the duke of Northumberland. She
died in 1837, having devised the remainder of the Hudson property,
' Duke of Northumberland's MSS.
WHITLEY TOWNSHIP. 399
comprising Whitley Village farm, to her great-nephews and great-nieces,
the grandchildren of William Benson of Whitehaven by Anne Ellison,
his wife. This property was sold by the trustees of Miss Ellison's will in
1855 to Mr. William Davison, a shipowner in North Shields, from whom it
descended to his son, Mr. John Thomas Davison. It is now built over.
The third Henry Hudson had, in 1778, sold eleven acres of land in
Whitley quarry to Edward Hall of Flatworth for the purpose of erecting
a brewery there. Mr. Hall was well known as an agriculturist and as the
breeder of a fat o.x which forms the subject of one of Bewick's engravings.
To the property in Whitley which he had inherited from his nephew,
William Hall of Forth house, Newcastle, he added at various times by
purchase from neighbouring landowners, and, about the year 1789, built
Whitley park to the north-east of the village. He died in 1792, when
Whitley park and grounds were sold to John Haigh, hostman. A few years
later Haigh became bankrupt, and the property was resold in 1800 to
Mr. Thomas Wright of North Shields. Since Mr. Wright's death in 1840
the house has several times changed hands. It is now the property of
the Whitley Park Hotel Company, and the remainder of the estate has
been laid out for building purposes.
Hall of Whitley.
I. John Hall, son of John Hall of Whitley, by Catherine his wife, died May 24th, 1743, aged 47.
By his wife, Ann, who died January 28th, 1734/5, aged 37, he h.ad issue two sons, John H.all (II. \ and
Edward Hall of Whitley (who made his will December 31st, 1790, and died unmarried, June 7lh, 1792,
aged 65) ; and three daughters, Ann, Catherine, and Isabella who married Samuel Hurry of Great
Yarmouth and afterwards of Howdon.
II. John Hall of Whitley, brewer, married Elizabeth, daughter of Willi.im Hicks of Whitehaven
(marriage settlement dated July 5th, 1746) ; was admitted to his father's lands at Whitley, May jlh. 1747;
died at Berwick-on-Tweed, April iglh, 1762, where he was buried. He left issue, together with an only
daughter, Sarah (who married Duncan Campbell, R.N.), a son and heir, William Hall.
III. William Hall of Whitley and of Forth house, Newcastle, w.as admitted to his father's kinds,
June 7th, 1777; by his will, dated February 2nd, 1779, he devised his real estate to his uncle, Edward
Hall, charged with the payment of ^2,000 to his sister's children.'
The remainder of Edward Hall's property came to his niece, Mrs.
Campbell. In consequence of disputes between this lady and her uncle's
executors, the estate was thrown into Chancery and sold pursuant to an
order made in that court on March 31st, 1804, Whitley Lodge farm being
purchased by Zephaniah Shipley, and Whitley Link farm by Cuthbert
' Based on pedigree in Bell Collection at Alnwick Castle, No. 369, and on monumental inscriptions
at Christ church and Tynemouth priory.
400 TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
Steel. These farms arc now owned respectively by the trustees of John
Thomas Davison of North Shields, and bv the representatives of Robert
Potts of Long Rcnton.
Campbf.ij. of Whiti.f.y.
I. Duncin Campbell of Earsdon, an officer in tlie Royal Navy ; married at Earsdon, August 14th,
1769, Sarah, only daughter of John Hall of Wliitley. He died April 21st, 1800, aged 69, and was buried
at Earsdon. By his wife, who died at Knightsbridge, May 24th, 1817, he had, with other issue, Edward
Hall Campbell (II.); Elizabeth, who married February 22nd, 1800, James Justice of Justice hall,
CO. Herwick ; Maria, who married November iSth, 1797, Thomas Churchill Thompson ; Amelia, who
married September 27th, 1800, Sir Wharton Amcotts of Kettlethorp park, co. Lincoln ; Caroline
Augusta, who married at St. Michael le Belfry, York, February loth, 1803, B. Hardy of Hatton Garden,
London ; and a daughter, the wife of the Rev. Thomas Craster, rector of Kettlethorpe.
II. Edward Hall Campbell of Saville Row, Newcastle, and of North Shields, brewer ; married at
Gosforth, August 9th, 1S04, Henrietta, daughter of Cuthbert Reaveley of Newcastle and Kenton, by
whom he left issue; purchased Ivy-house and other property in Whitley in 1824 from John Henzell.
He died at Newcastle, April ist, 1844, aged 67, and was buried at Earsdon. His representatives sold
their property in Whitley in 1854 to the duke of Northumberland.'
William Clarke of Benton and Thomas Taylor of Earsdon succeeded
the Hudsons as lessees of the limestone quarries at Marden, and recom-
menced mining for coal about the year 18 10 by opening Cullercoats main,
besides working the waste heaps of older coal pits on the Whitley links for
ironstone.^ They constructed a waggonway past the Monk House to the
Low Lights, along which lime and coal were carried in large quantities
to be shipped from the lime staiths where the fish quay now is. Edward
Hall's brewery, dismantled in 1808, was turned into a storehouse for the
colliery. In 1848 the colliery was laid in. Mr. Clarke had sold the greater
part of his land in Whitley, now occupied by building sites, in 1809 to
Mr. Henry Trewhitt. A further account of his family is reserved for Long
Benton township.
Nearly all the copyhold land in the township has been enfranchised,
and the duke of Northumberland and the executors of Mr. John Thomas
Davison are the only large landowners. The duke of Northumberland's
property includes land purchased in 1854 from John Henzell's repre-
sentatives, besides the Whitley hall property above mentioned.
' Based on pedigree in Bell Collection, No. 369, and on monumental inscription at Earsdon.
= The Rev. John Hodgson notes in his journal, July 31st, 1821 : 'On the links north of Whitley
there are rubbish heaps of old coal-pits, grown over with grass and whins, excepting where the
openings of the rabbit burrows are. In them massive pieces of ironstone in flatted spheres, and in
masses with parallel faces. They contain mussell shells of different sizes. Also in the same heaps the
schist is very thickly filled with shells of the mytillis kind, differing much in size. Whitley colliery is
again at work, after being drowned with salt water for several months. The Leniington Iron Company
worked ironstone here till the colliery was inundated.' MS. Materials, vol. M, p. 32.
WHITI.EY TOWNSHIP. 4OI
Henzeli, ok Whitlev and Newcastle.
I. Peregrine Henzeli of St. Lawrence Hroadglass-house, and of the Mushroom, near Newcastle ;
married May 8tli, 1735, Anne, daughter of Charles Archbold of Whitley and devisee of John Hall of the
same place. He made his will on February 14th, 1775, and died October loth, 1785, aged 72. By his
wife, who died February 4th, 1785, aged 72, he h.ad issue John Henzeli (II.); Charles Henzeli;
Peregrine Henzeli of lielvedere house, Whitley, who was baptised December igih, 1743, made his will
December 3rd, 1812, and died July rgth, 1824 ; Julian, wife of Thomas Rutherford of Whitley ; .Mary,
wife of Joseph Hume ; Anne, wife of Joseph Naters of Sandiford.
II. John Henzeli of the Glass-houses, baptised August 31st, 1736, died January 14th, 1784,
having had, with other issue, Peregrine Henzeli (III.).
III. Peregrine Henzeli of Tyne-bridge-end, baptised December 2nd, 1770; will dated December
31st, i8r6 ; died .August 22nd, 1817, leaving issue by his wife Jane, daughter of John CapstafT of the
Mushroom.'
Since the year 1866, the other estates in Whitley have been laid out
for building purposes. In 1873, Whitley and Monkseaton were formed
into an urban district with a local board under the Local Government Act
of 1858. By order of the County Council, October 18th, 1894, the district
was divided into the two wards of Whitley and Monkseaton. The local
board has been superseded by a District Council under the Parish Councils
Act of 1894, and the number of wards has been increased to four, namely,
Marden, Monkseaton, Rockcliff, and St. Mary, under an order of the County
Council dated November 5th, 1903.
The ecclesiastical parish of St. Paul's, Cullercoats, was formed out of
Tynemouth parish in i860, a church being erected in 1864 by the duke
of Northumberland. There are also the following Nonconformist places of
worship in Whitley : (i) the United Methodist Free Church in Whitley
Road, built in 1905 to replace an earlier chapel erected in 1877, having a
schoolroom and lecture hall attached ; (2) a Wesleyan Methodist chapel
(Trinity) in Whitley Road, built in 1889; (3) the Presbyterian Church
of England, Park Parade, built in 1899; (4) a Baptist chapel in O.xford
Street, built in 1901 ; (5) a Primitive Methodist chapel in O.xford Street,
built in 1904; and (6) a Congregational church in Park Avenue, built in
1906-1907.
The Prudhoe Memorial Convalescent Home on Whitley links was
erected by public subscription in memory of Algernon, fourth duke of
Northumberland, and opened in 1869. The Northumberland Village
' Based on pedigrees in the Bell Collection, Nos. 373 and 388, wills in the Durham Probate
Registry, and registers and monumental inscriptions of All Saints, Newcastle.
Vol. VIII. 5'
402 TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
Homes for homeless and destitute children was founded by Mr. James
Hall of Tynemouth, and opened in iSSo. In 1871 a national school was
erected in the Whitley road. Two council schools have been recently
established, namely, Whitley and Monkseaton North in 1905, and Whitley
and Monkseaton South in 1906.'
MONKSEATON TOWNSHIP.
Monkseaton township is bounded by Whitley on the east, by Hartley
on the north, bv Earsdon and Murton on the west, bv Preston on the
south, and by Tynemouth on the south-east. It comprises an area of
1,344 acres," and in 1901 had a population of 952.^ Its ancient name was
Seton, and there can be little doubt that the township formerly included
Whitley and extended to the coast. Monkseaton and Whitley were both
included in Graftard's lordship, granted to Tynemouth priory in the early
part of the reign of Henry I. From that time the village acquired the
name of Seton Monachorum, or Monkseaton, as a mark of distinction from
Seaton Delaval and Seaton in the parish of Woodhorn.
Walter le Escot of Welton, son of John de Middleton, held seventy-
four acres of freehold in Monkseaton at the close of the reign of Henry III.
In 1273 he sold the property for ^'20 to the prior and convent, who
in their turn granted forty acres out of the seventy-four to Gilbert de
Wulsington.* A survey taken in 1292 shows that the monastery had then
three carucates of demesne in Monkseaton, each giving a return of £1 7s.,
and that they received a rent from their tenants of £2 6s. lod. and seventy
quarters of barley-malt.^ Three years later the demesne was measured
and found to contain
' Further information as to Wliitley is to be found in Tonilinson, Historical Notes on CuUercoats,
Whitley, and Monkseaton.
'Thompson's survey (1757) gives the extent of the township as 1,053 acres i rood 10 perches.
The tithe commutation map places it at 1,084 acres 2 roods 26 perches, including 808 acres o roods 23
perches of arable land, 243 acres 5 perches of meadow, and 2,i acres i rood 38 perches of buildings,
quarry, waggon-ways, etc.
'The census returns since 1801 are: 1801, 427; 1811, 504; 1S21, 537; 1831, 489; 1841, 581;
1851, 424 ; 1861, 421 ; 1871, 453 ; 1881, 450; 1891, 564 ; 1901, 952. To 18S1 inclusive these returns
include an allotment on Shire Moor.
* Feet of Fines, I Edward I. No. 4 ; Assize Rolls, No. 1,217 . ni. g d.
'' St. Alban's Register, fol. 107 ; Tynemouth Churtulary, fol. 54 b.
MONKSEATON TOWNSHIP.
403
a.
r.
p.
On tlie south of the seashore
... 12
I
0
In Wytheriner
... 5
I
10
In the same furlong
3
->
0
In Short-flat
4
I
10
In Merden-flat
13
I
0
In West Wythermer
-y
-J
10
In Colt-fryth
... 7
2
20
In West Lang-acres
... 30
3
0
In Edereslalawe-flat
21
2
10
In Cotmen-acre
... 5
0
20
In Thorn-flat
... 20
2
0
In Ber-rigges ...
In le Croftes
In North Lang-acres
In Xorth-rigge-flat ...
In the furlong on the north side of
the seashore
In le Over-flat near a bank
In Wytstan-flat
In Sicchor-rygge
In Milne-flat
A new intake in the Kyne-meadowe
a.
r.
p.
9
0
0
16
2
0
'9
I
20
8
0
0
16
2
0
33
I
0
9
0
0
20
0
0
8
0
0
7
0
0
At the same time 573 acres were held by fifteen and a half bonds
and a few cotnien." Their names appear in the tallage-roll of 1294.
[Seton] Monachorum Tallage Roll, 1294.
Gilbertus filius Willelmi
Johannes Hert
Willelmus longus
Johannes filius Johannis
Matilda u.xor Willelmi Hert
I
s.
I
d.
0
[Willelmus] filius Thurby
0
0
Robertus filius Jurdani
0
0
Galfridus filius Roberti
0
0
Robertus filius .■\vicie
0
0
Thomas filius Gilberti
0
0
Walterus Guntrem
... nihil quia pauper
Walterus de Heryngton
0
6
8
Robertus Sis
0
'3
4
Radulfus serviens
0
4
0
Alanus Pleuyn
0
6
8
Summa,
£
5 14s. 2d.'
nih
£
s.
d.
1 quia pauper
0
12
0
0
5
0
0
8
0
0
7
0
0
2
0
0
I
6
0
I
6
o I 6
With this list may be compared that of the persons who paid subsidy
in 1296.
Seton Subsidy Roll, 1296.
Summa bonorum Willelmi filii Rogeri ..
„ Johannis Hert
„ Ade filii Johannis
„ Willelmi filii Thurby
„ Roberti filii Willelmi
„ Waldevi
„ Thome filii Gilberti ..
„ Roberti filii Avicie ..
„ Galfridi filii Roberti ..
„ Thurby
Matildis Hert
£ s.
I 19
I 19
' '3
I 2
I 10 3
I 19 I
I 8 4
I '3 >
I 1 1 10
I 17 8
I I ^ ^
unde regi
5. d.
3 6i^
3 6*
3 oi
2 oA
2 9
3 6J
2 7
3 o
2 io|
3 5
3 oi
Summa hujus ville, ^i8 7s. 2d. ; unde domino regi, £1 13s. 4}d.'
Tynemouth Chartuhiry, fol. 4.
St. Albans Register, fol. 1 10.
> Ibid. fol. 8.
' L<o' SiibsiJy RoU. ij-
404 TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
The custumal of Monkseaton, drawn up about the same time, substitutes
the names of Robert son of Thurby, Thurby son of Jordan, and Adam de
Erdesden, for those of William son of Thurby, Thurby, and Adam son of
John. It also adds those of Ralph son of Walter, William Aid, William
Wyot, and Gilbert son of William, making the number of bonds up to
fifteen. Each bond held thirty-six acres and rendered the same services
as did the bonds of Preston. Robert son of Thurby held an additional
two and a half acres, for which he paid is, 3d. rent. The cotmen held
each a toft and a plot of land for which they did three days' work in
the autumn and paid yearly rent. Their names, holdings, and rents are
as follow :
' Ux' frater,' four and a half acres, 3s. gd. rent ; William ' X'icarii,' half an acre, is. rent ; Walter
de Herynton, four acres, is. 4d. rent ; Robert Chis, four acres, is. rent ; Robert faber, two and a half
acres, 4d. rent ; the miller's wife, three acres, 3s. gd. rent ; William Guntrem, four acres, is. 6d. rent ;
Emma, the miller's wife, half an acre, is. 7d. rent ; Matilda Chepman, three acres, 6|d. rent ; Alice
daughter of Andrew, half an acre, is. 7d. rent.
There were three freeholds. Ralph the serjeant held twenty-nine
acres and paid 8s. id. rent ; Alan Pleuyn and Roger his brother held
fifteen acres and paid 2s. 6d. rent ; William, son of Ralph the serjeant,
held Thurby Bercar's land, namely ten acres, and paid 2S. 6d. rent.
Their services were : money in rent ; half a ' tawe ' of malt and half a tawe
of conveis-ates ; 3d. for milne-silver ; 3d. for Hertness-pennies ; 3d. for
abbot-scot ; boon-ere and boon-harrow ; two authreps and the prior's great
boon-work ; in-lade and Neusum-lade ; herding of cattle taken by way of
distraint.' Freemen and bonds alike rendered yearly half a quarter of
scat-malt, half a quarter of scat-ates, and half a quarter of conveis-ates.
The whole township paid three shillings for ' lovinge,' which was probably
a commutation for some form of boon-work.^
The surveys and custumals here quoted show that in 1295 there were
880 acres of land in Monkseaton under cultivation. In 1757 the township
was found to contain 1,053 acres i rood 10 perches. This leaves 173
acres of common, waste, roads and buildings.
The Black Death made its ravages felt in Monkseaton. The fifteen
bondage holdings were reduced to ten by throwing some of them into
' William, son of Ralph the serjeant, rendered an additional half-tawe of malt and half-tawe
of conveis-ates, but was immune from Hertness-pennies and abbot-scot, and only paid lid. for
milne-silver.
"' Tyncmoiith Churtulary , fols. 40-41.
MONKSEATON TOWNSHIP.
405
demesne; and of the remaining ten farms, six were lying waste in 1377
and the other four were in the prior's hands. The Httle colony of agri-
culturists had been absolutely swept away, as may be seen from the
surveyor's note :
Rent of ten bondage hoIdinj,'s, ^2 4s. oAd., paid in coin. Of these ten holdings, four render no
labour service and are in the prior's hands ; six have lain waste for want of tenants since the time of the
first pestilence. Rent of free tenants in the town, paid in coin, 2s. lojd. There is one freeman, named
Merley, heir to Robert Teuyng, who holds a cottage and four acres, and half of the tenements and lands
formerly held by Adam P'awconer ; but he has as yet paid no rent. Cottages and lands formerly held
by Adam Fawconer, and now let at the will of the lord, pay £2 lis. id.'
The ten holdings again found ==
tenants. In 1538 there were ten *$(^^°*J^^^/j®^S'
tenants in husbandry, each having '•^s:^^f'~~^'
one tenement, with thirty-six acres
of arable, one rood of meadow,
and pasture for six oxen in the
ox pasture, and for six cattle,
twenty sheep, and three horses in
the common pasture. The rent
for a holding was twenty shil-
lings, besides four quarters of
barley and two quarters of oats ;
and each tenant paid in addition
8d. for the farm of the tithe of
hay and 4d. for pannage. A
meadow called Chamberlain's
meadow, containing nine acres
two roods twenty perches, was
farmed by the whole township for
£1 6s. 8d. John Robinson held
fifteen acres of freehold land for
which he paid three shillings rent.'
No change in the extent of arable land attached to each tenement
had taken place since 1295. On the other hand over five hundred acres
' Tyncmouth Cliartulury, fols. 52 and 51; b.
-Gibson, Tyncmouth, vol. i. p. 222. Thompson's survey, taken in 1757, g'vcs the acreage of
Chamberlain's meadow and Robinson's land, and mentions another demesne close, Shankcy's field,
containing 7 acres 2 roods.
FlKErLACU IN TUL 51111 l.N.V, MONKSE.\TON.
4o6 TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
previously arable or meadow, including the three carucates of demesne,
had been converted into pasture, and equal grazing rights had been attached
to each of the remaining holdings. The common fields remained unen-
closed until the third quarter of the seventeenth century.' The various
farms have, for the most part, retained their original boundaries, and show
the principle on which division was carried out ; the farm buildings being
grouped together in the village, while the lands attached to them run out
from the village to the edge of the township like the spokes of a wheel.
Monkseaton farm, at the north-west corner of the township, was for
long the property of the Mills family, and was sold by their representatives,
Messrs. Tatham and Mitchell, to Mr. James Younger of Burradon, the
present owner. A portion of the Mills property, called South-ridge,
passed to Roger Boulby of North Shields, who married Elizabeth, daughter
of John Mills. Acquired in 1840 by Henry Perronet Briggs of London,
it was resold in 1865 to William Davison of North Shields, and since
1894 has been the property of Mr. John Thomson. The Ship Inn, built
in 1688, was formerly the residence of the Mills family.
Mills of Monkseaton.
I. John Mills of Bishopwearmouth, baptised October 7th, 1632 ; succeeded, on the death of his
brother, Thomas Mills, to lands in Monkseaton ; made his will January 2nd, 1690, and died leaving issue,
II. John Mills of Monkse.iton, who married Mary Smith, and left issue, a son, John Mills (III.),
and two daughters, Elizabeth, wife of Roger Boulby, and Mary, wife of Leonard Huntridge.
III. John Mills of Newcastle, attorney, baptised November 29th, 1688; admitted to his father's
lands in Monkseaton, October 17th, 171 1 ; married Jane, daughter of Mark Browell of Newcastle
(marriage settlement dated February nth, 1712), by whom he had issue a son, John Mills (IV.), and a
daughter, Mary, wife of Robert Robinson of Durham.
IV. John Mills of Lincoln College, Oxford; matriculated October loth, 1744, aged 16; B.A.
1748 ; M.A. 1753 ; perpetual curate of Jarrow, 1751-1775 ; will dated October nth, 1768 ; died s.p. and
was succeeded by his niece, Jane Robinson, who in 1794 married the Rev. Edward Parker of the city
of Durham.^
To the east of Monkseaton farm lies the Red House farm, formerly
owned by a family of the name of Hall. The northern portion was sur-
rendered on August 1 6th, 1687, to John Clarke of North Shields, whose
great-grand-daughter, Anne Clarke, brought it by marriage to Samuel Lacy
of Preston.' Their grandson, Samuel Lacy of Kirkoswald in Cumberland,
' On July 3rd, 1650, Thomas Hall surrendered to George Milbourne of Chirton, five rigs or leazes of
meadow and arable in Monkseaton, namely, one rig lying east and west in the lord's close, another rig
lying east and west in Mazor leazes, two rigs lying together east and west in Deckham dubbs, and
another rig in Deckham dubbs. Tynciiwiilh Court KoUs.
' Based on abstract of title in the possession of Mr. W. H. Ryott.
' See Proc. Sue. Antiq. Newcastle, 2nd series, vol. i.\. pp. 219-222.
MONKSEATON TOWNSHIP.
407
sold it in 1801 to Thomas Wright of Dockwray Square and afterwards of
Whitley park. Mr. Wright's executors resold it in 1855 to Mr. Edward
Stobbs, to whose trustees it still belongs. The southern portion was
surrendered on March 27th, 1704, by William Wall of Newcastle to
Jonathan Hyndmer, whose representatives sold it in 1763 to Anthony
Pearson of North Shields. It passed under his will to William Linskill
of Tynemouth house, and was sold in 1875 by the late Captain Linskill
to Mr. Edward Stobbs, whose family still owns it.
HiNDMER OF MONKSEATON AND NEWCASTLE.
I. William Hindmer of Newcastle, will dated January 24th, 1703 ; by his wife, Mary, who made
her will June 2nd, 171 5, he had a son,
II. Jonathan Hindmer of Newcastle, acquired property in Monkseaton in 1704; by his first wife
he had issue a son, William Hindmer (III.), and a daughter, Mary, wife of John Cook of Newcastle.
He married, secondly, Barbara, daughter of William Peareth of Newcastle, and widow of Abraham
Dixen of Newcastle ; she was buried May llth, 1727. By his will, dated May 7th, 1705, he left his
farmhold in Monkseaton and his lands in Westinorland to his son William.
III. William Hindmer of North Shields, merchant; married Sarah, daughter of John .Stor)- of
North .Shields (marriage settlement dated January nth, 1720), by whom he had issue a son, Jonathan
Hindmer (IV.), and a daughter, Elizabeth, wife of Thoinas Thompson of Newcastle, merchant. By his
will, February 28th, 1723/4, he devised his real estate at Kirkby Stephen, his houses in Newcastle, and his
copyhold lands in Northumberland to his son Jonathan.
IV. Jonathan Hindmer of Newcastle, merchant, made his will October 29th, 1748, whereby he
gave all his property to his sister, Mrs. Thompson, whom he made sole executrix.'
Monkseaton North-west farm bounds the Red House farm on the east.
It was surrendered on April 22nd, 1690, by John Rogers of Newcastle,
to Henry Hudson of Whitley, whose representatives sold it in 1853 to
the duke of Northumberland. At the north-east corner of the township
is Monkseaton Village farm, which was surrendered on October 14th,
1680, by Elizabeth Collyer of Newcastle, to Robert Cay of the same place,
baker and brewer.- Coal was worked upon this property at the commence-
ment of the eighteenth century. It was sold in 1885 by the e.xecutors of
Rev. Edward Cay Adams of Hawkchurch, in the county of Dorset, to the
late Mr. T. A. Potts of Newcastle, who laid it out for building purposes.
To the south of it is another building estate, formerly called Bygate farm,
owned in 1740 by Christopher Spanton of Monkseaton, and sold by his
representatives to Alexander Crighton of North Shields in 1795.
South and west of Bygate farm is Monkseaton South - west farm,
' Based on deeds in Mr. Richard Welford's possession and on .abstract of title in the Bell
Collection, No. 352.
2 For a pedigree of Cay see vol. ii. of this work, pp. 29S-300.
^o8 TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
which was surrendered by William Hills, on December 7th, 171 1, to John
Robinson of Whitley. Robinson's representatives sold it in 1779 to
William Clark of Dockwray Square, and it was resold by his heirs in
18 1 3 to Ralph Crawford of Hartley South farm.' From Ralph Crawford
the farm descended to his son-in-law, Mr. John Moor of Morpeth High
House, whose representatives sold it in 1885 to the duke of Northumber-
land. His Grace is also owner of the Rake close, in the south-west of
the township. This was purchased in 1822, along with the Backworth
estate, from Mr. Ralph William Grey, to whose ancestor, Ralph Grey of
Backworth, it had been surrendered on April 2nd, 1662, by Thomas Hall.
Seaton Ville farm, northward from the Rake House farm, represents
a holding surrendered by Robert Fyfe on April 26th, 1654, to James
Barker of Monkseaton. Robert Barker of Monkseaton, tanner, grandson
of the latter, surrendered his property on April 27th, 1706, to George
Johnson of Monkseaton." It was purchased in 1792 from the represen-
tatives of the Johnson family by Henry Mitcalfe of Murton House, and
since that time has followed the same course of descent as the Murton
House property.
Between Seaton Ville and Monkseaton farms is the Burnt House
farm, formerly the property of the Reay family. John Reay, who died
without issue in 171 5, devised it to his nephew, Charles Archbold of
Monkseaton. A moiety was sold in 1762 by the trustees of Reay
Archbold, son of Charles Archbold, to Nathaniel Tavernor, a block and
mast maker in North Shields, and remained in the possession of his
descendants until 1902, when it came into the hands of Mr. Alexander
Fairweather. The other moiety was sold by the Archbold family in
18 15 to John Crawford of the Steam Mill, North Shields, and has des-
cended from him to the present owner, Mr. Shallett John Crawford.
' A pedigree of Clark is given above on p. 273. For the Crawford pedigree see pp. 333-334-
- George Johnson of Monkseaton appears to have been a brother of John Johnson of Bebside, for
whom see above, p. 347. He was buried on March 12th, 170S/9, leaving issue three sons and three
daughters, namely, (i) William Johnson, who was apprenticed on September 29th, 17 10, to John
Johnson, hostman ; was admitted free of the Hostmen's Company, June 19th, 1718; made his will on
June loth, 1749; and was buried May 5th, 1751 ; (2) John Johnson, who was apprenticed May 6th,
1715, to Ralph Snowdon, hostman ; was admitted to the Hostmen's Company, May 6th, 1723, and died
October l8th, 1723 ; (3) George Johnson, who was apprenticed to John Johnson, hostman, July 8th,
1725 ; was admitted to the Hostmen's Company, November 29th, 1732 ; and was buried May 28th, 1734;
(4) Ann, the wife of Nathaniel Green of Preston ; (5) Mary, the wife of Ward ; (6) Elizabeth, the
wife of William Hedley of Newcastle. From notices given in Dandy, Hpstmni's Books : a deed in
Mr. Welford's collections, and Earsdon Parish Registers.
MURTON TOWNSHIP. 409
MURTON TOWNSHIP.
Miirton township forms an intrusion into the bleak and level district of
the Shire Moor. Previously to the enclosure o£ 1788, the moor surrounded
this township on the north, west, and south-west. On the north-east
and east it is bordered by Monkseaton, and on the south-east by Preston.
Thompson's survey of the manor, taken in 1757, gives it an acreage of
450 acres 3 roods. Subsequent additions, on the side of Shire Moor,
have increased its size to 680 acres. In 1901 the population was 869.'
Murton first occurs in the list of townships of which the prior and
convent of Tynemouth received confirmation in 1189.' It consisted of a
few freeholds. Nicholas de Morton, Robert de Chirton, and Roger Tod
appeared to make acknowledgment for their holdings to the abbot of St.
Alban's in 1264,^ and again in 1291.'* The survey of 1292 states that the
rental of Murton was £2 12s. 6d., and that the prior and convent had a
carucate of arable demesne at a place called Moor-houses, worth 6s. Sd.
clear.' A terrier prepared in 1295 specifies the following parcels of
demesne :
In Kylne-flat, 5 acres 3 roods 10 perches; in the same, 8 acres i rood 20 perches : in Wyth-flat,
21 acres 2 roods ; in the Brokes, 2 acres 3 roods ; in G.ilu-flat, 7 acres 2 roods ; in the same, 3 roods ; m
the same, 24 acres ; in Mus-welle, 9 acres 2 roods ; in the same, 2 roods."
The subsidy roll of 1296 gives the names of five tenants :
Morton Subsidy Roll, 1296.
Summa bonorum Nicholai de Morton ...
„ Rogeri de eadem
,, Galfridi de eadem
„ Radulphi de eadem ...
„ Johannis de eadem
Summa hujus ville, ^lo iis. 2d. ;
' Population returns are: iSoi, 496; 1811, 615 ; 1821, 556; 1S31, 45' : '841, 43S ; "Sj'. 499;
1861, 543 ; 1871, 515 ; 1881, 446 ; 1891, 630 ; 1901, 869.
■ See above, page 67, note 3.
' Nicholaus de Morton fecit homagium pro tenemento suo quod tenet in eadem villa de Morton, et
dedit nomine recognicionis iijs. Item die sancti Vincentii in camera prions de Tynemulh lecit
fidelitatem Rogerus Tod, et pro confirmatione xxx et unius acrarum terre quas tenet m villa de Morton
dedit xs. Item die et loco supradictis fecit Robertus de Chinon fidelitatem, et pro confirm-icione x
acrarum terre quas tenet in villa de Morton dedit iijs. St. Albans RtgisUr, fol. 62 : and compare
ibid. fol. 129. Radulphus [prior] dedit Rogero filio Roberti Tod de Castello triginta et unam acras,
cum duabus partibus tofti et crofti in Est Morton, pro xvs. et vji/. annuis.
' IbUI. fol. 153 b. ' Tynemouth Charlulary, fol. 55 b. ' Ibid. fol. 5.
' Lay Subsidy Roll, ij*.
Vol. VIII. 5"
i s. d.
s. d.
3 2 0
unde regi
5 7i
3 7 0
»»
6 I
I 14 0
i»
3 '
1 4 2
))
2 2i
I 4 0
It
2 2I
unde domino regi.
19s.
2id.^
1821
556; 1S31,
45'
: 1841
. 43S;
4IO TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
No cornage was paid by Murton, and, so far as can be ascertained,
no services were required from the tenants except rents of assize and
suit of court. There were within the township the two hamlets of East
and West Murton. Property in each of them was acquired by the prior
and convent.' Thus, in 1339, Richard de Dalton of Newcastle, and
Matilda his wife, granted to Tynemouth priory a messuage and sixty acres
of land in Murton, receiving back the messuage and forty acres on lease
for their joint lives at twenty shillings yearly rent.* Prior Dunham, at an
earlier date, had granted three acres in Murton to the sacristan of Tyne-
mouth, for the maintenance of one poor person and the provision of
lights for the high altar.^ In 1377 rents of assize and rents of land let
out at will brought in £$ 4s. 6|d. yearly.*
There is no mention of demesne in the minister's accounts of 1538,
but two hundred acres of land in the township were arable or meadow
in the hands of customary tenants, and the rest was common pasture. Each
tenant held forty-two acres of arable, eight acres of meadow, and pasture
for twelve cattle, thirty sheep, and three horses in the common pasture.
The rent due from each holding was £1 2S., and four quarters of oats, as
well as lod. for tithe hay and 4d. for pannage. Six shillings was paid for
a cottage.^ In 1580 George Dennand, one of the four tenants, was paying
3s. for three acres and three roods called Lady-land, which is perhaps to be
identified with Prior Dunham's gift." A small freehold of four acres was
' See above, pp. 1 15-1 16.
■ Hec identuia testatur quod nos, prior at conventus de Tynemuth, concessimus et present! carta
dimisiinus Kicardo de Dalton et Matildae uxori ejus unum niesuagiuni et quadraginta acras terrae cum
pertinenciis in Moreton, habenda et tenenda ad terminuiii vitae ipsorum Ricardi et iMatildis, tenenda de
nobis et successoribus nostris annuatim solvendis, etc. Hiis testibus, Roberto de Surese, tunc ballivo
libertatis de Tynemuth, Johanne de Bacvvorth, Willelmo Faukes, Alano de Castro, Willelmo de
Hereford, Johanne de Whitele, et aliis. Data apud Tenemuth, quintodecimo die Maii, a.d. 1339.
Tynemouth Cluirltihiry, fol. 102 b. Omnibus, etc., Ricardus prior de Tynemuth et ejusdem loci
conventus, salutem. Noveritis quod, consideratis niunificentiis nobis per Ricardum de Dalton de Novo
Castro exhibitis et expressis, reniisimus eidem Ricardo et Matildae uxori suae ad terniinum vitae
utriusque tres solidos et quatuor denarios annuatim, etc. Datum apud Tynemuth, sextodecimo die
Julii, A.D. 1339. I bill. fol. 103.
^ Memorandum quod dominus Radulphus de Dunham, prior de Tynemuth, dedit et concessit cum
consensu ejusdem loci conventus domino J. de Sutherax, tunc sacristae de Tynemuth, et ejus successor!
qui pro tempore fuerit, imperpetuum unam dimidiam acram terrae in campo de Moreton, pro qua dabit
sacrista qui pro tempore fuerit singulis annis tres denarios die cenae, ad inveniendum unum pauperem
ad mandatum prioris; item pro duabus acris et diniidia cum pastura quas idem J., licencia ejusdem
Radulphi prioris, emit de Nicholao de Moreton, inveniet sacrista qui pro tempore fuerit duos cereos ad
majus altare, scilicet unum ante ymaginem beatae virginis, et alium ante ymaginem sancti Oswini, cum
aliis cereis in omnibus pnncipalibus festis ardentibus, et in anniversario domini Johannis abbatis, et
domini Radulphi de Dunham, prioris de Tynemuth. Ibid. fol. 73 b.
* Ibid. fols. 52 and 59 b. ' Ministers' Accounts in Gibson, Tynemouth, vol. i. p. 222.
' Duke of Northumberland's MSS.
Holding,
1707.
Acreage,
'757-
a. r.
1 farm
109 2
* T)
no 2
1 ,.
103 2
h -.
47 3
i ,.
26 2
J ,.
32 0
MURTON TOWNSHIP. 4II
termed Caere's close, from the name of its former owner, and was devised
by Cuthbert Alder, by will dated May 23rd, 1736, to the minister and
churchwardens of Long Benton, for the benefit of the poor of Weetslade
township.' A comparison of two surveys taken in 1707 and 1757 shows
the size of the various holdings after enclosure had taken place.-
Name of Tenant, Name of Tenant,
■707. 1757.
Thomas Andrew, gent. ... Heirs of William Johnson
Heirsof George Rutter ... Abraham Stout
John Douglas, esq. ... ^ ^.. ,, , „„ .
I 1, n r.- ■ t ^"' Matthew White, bart
Isabell Dmnmg ... j '
John Hutchinson John Hutchinson
Winifred Milbourne ... ... Edw. Collingwood and Hilton Lawson
Robert Barker Robert Barker
Murton North farm was acquired in 1741 from Robert Andrew of
Gateshead by William Johnson of Monkseaton and Newcastle, hostman.
It descended through his sister, Ann Green, wife of Nathaniel Green of
Preston, to her son, Nathaniel Green of London, whose nieces and devisees,
Mary Tattersall and Elizabeth Ward, sold it in 1825 to Matthew Wilson of
Blyth. Matthew Wilson's representatives sold it in 1856 to Miss Jane
Davison of North Shields, and it is now owned by her devisees and by Mr.
John Bowman of South Shields. Murton Steads farm, lying to the east of
this property, was sold by John Hutchinson in 1 770, and now belongs to
the representatives of Mr. Shallett Hewson, who purchased it in 1856.
Murton House farm was sold in 1765 by William Stout of Durham,
grandson of Abraham Stout of the same place, to Henry Mitcalfe of North
Shields.' It descended to Mr. Mitcalfe's grand-daughter, Ann Bird
Mitcalfe, wife of Levi Ames of Clifton, who sold it in 1833 to Mr. Robert
Hansell. His trustees sold it in 1872 to Mr. Joseph Love of Durham, to
whose representatives it now belongs. The quarter of a farm owned in
1764 by Collingwood and Lawson is still in the possession o{ the
Collingwood family.
Murton farm represents a holding owned in the seventeenth century by
the yeoman family of Dinning or Dennand. It was surrendered by Margaret
Dinning in January, 1679, to Robert Lawson of Ulgham,^ whose son, George
' £.1 inf. Mr. W. W. Tomlinson. - Duke of Northumberland's MSS.
' For a note on the pedigree of this branch of the Mitcalfe family, see above, p. 268.
' For Lawson of Ulgham and Glostcr Hill see Hodgson, S\<iiliiimhi:rl,init, pt. ii. vol. ii. pp. 175,
177, and vol. v. of this work, pp. 263-264.
412 TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
Lawson of Gloster Hill, conveyed it on October 20th, 1702, to John
Douglas of Newcastle. In September, 171 8, it passed from John Douglas
to John Johnson of Newcastle and Bebside. Mr. Johnson devised it to
his son-in-law, Matthew White of Blagdon, whose descendant, Sir Matthew
White Ridley, bart., sold the farm in 1774 to John Hedley of Newcastle.
Mr. Hedley's representatives resold it in 1803 to Robert Gothard of Long
Benton, from whom it was purchased in 1824 by Thomas Dryden of Seaton
Sluice. Mr. Dryden also bought land in Murton, sold in 1823 by John
Barker of North Shields, and his property is now owned by his repre-
sentatives.
The colliery villages of New York and Philadelphia date from the
war of American independence. Philadelphia formed, for a time, a
separate constabulary, but is now included in Murton township. Ninety-
four acres were allotted to Murton upon the division of Shire Moor in
1788, and seventy-five acres have been subsequently added under orders
of the Local Government Board.
Shire Moor.
From Murton and Earsdon westward, a great tract of desolate country
stretches right across Long Benton township in the direction of North
Gosforth. The western portion is called Killingworth moor ; the eastern
portion bears the alternative names of Billy moor, Billy Mill moor, Tyne-
mouthshire moor, and Shire moor. It stands at a uniform height of
between 200 and 250 feet above the sea. No trees grow on its ex-
posed and level surface. The shallow loughs which studded it have been
drained, and turnpike roads and colliery lines have been carried through
it in every direction. The tall chimneys of colliery engines, huge pit-
heaps, and rows of miners' cottages form its only distinctive features.
Possibly this was the Tine-mor, where, in 917, Ragnal, the Danish king
of Northumbria, suffered defeat at the hands of Constantine mac Aedh,
king of the Scots.' Some tradition of a fight here between the Scots and
' ' Bellum Tinemore factum est in xviij anno, a.d. 921, inter Constantinuni et Reynall, et Scotti
habuerunt victoriam.' Pictish Chronicle in Chronicles of the I'icts and Scots, Scottish Record Publications,
p. 9. .A. fuller account is given in the A limits of Ulster, Irish Record Publications, vol. i. p. 437. It is
there stated that, in the year 917, Ragnall, king of the Dubhgall, met the men of Alba on the banks of
the Tyne, in North Saxonland. The men of Alba gained a victory over three battalions, and made a
great slaughter of tlie (Jenliles, including their earls, t^ttir and Graggaba. Ragnall, however, .afterwards
attacked the rear of the army of the men of Alba, and made a slaughter of them, but no king or
'mormaer' of them perished. Night interrupted the battle. The fragmentary Book of Leinsler says
that Ragnall himself perished {IVurs of the Gaedliill K'ith tlic Gciilt, Rolls Series, pp. 35, 235), but he did
not in fact meet his death until 920. Annals of Ulster, vol. i. p. 441. This battle is usually identified
t "'J'"^.
Ec3
1^
MURTON TOWNSHIP. 4I3
English survives in the legend of Hungus mac Ferlon, the great king of
the Picts, who gathered his host against Athelstan, king of the Saxons,
and camped at the mouth of the river Tyne. In the battle that ensued, St.
Andrew intervened on behalf of the Picts. His interposition rendered the
flight of the Saxons less discreditable but not less disastrous, and Athelstan's
headless trunk was found among the countless numbers of the slain.'
A survey made in 1722 estimates the size of Billy Mill moor at
1,305 acres 38 perches. Thompson's survey of 1757 gives it at 1,253
acres.'^ The boundaries are given in a verdict made in the manor court
about the close of the seventeenth centurv :
The Bounders of the Moore.
Wee finde that the bounders of the said moore beginneth at the west nooke of West Chirton dicke
towards the north, and so north-west by a letch to certaine march stones at the north-e.ist end of Rawes
moore ; from thence west and bv north to another march stone ahnost at the head of the said letch ;
from thence north west and by north up another letch to a place in Willington new close called
Greenchestere ;' from thence west and by north to the north-west end of the said close ; from thence to
the west end of Paddocke poole, and so nor'-west to the Haggar stones being three great stones lying
togealher in a whinbush; and so north-west to a stand with a hole in it, wherein, as it should seem,
hath stood a crosse ; ' and from thence directly to Backworth dicke on the south side of Backworth
with the battle of Corbridge, for which the Historia dc S. Ciithbcrto is sole authority, but it seems
impossible to reconcile the accounts of the two battles, for at Corbridge ' paganus rex vicit,
Constantinum fugavit, Elfredum, sancti Cuthberti fidelem, et omnes meliores .Anglos interfecit preter
Ealdredum et fratrem ejus Uhtred.' Symcon of Durham, Rolls Series, vol. i. p. 209. .A full account of
the history of these years will be given under Corbridge, and it is here sufficient to note that the
narratives quoted furnish some slight evidence of the importance of Tynemouth as a stronghold of the
Danish kings, for which see also above, pp. 40-41.
' Legend of St. .Andrew in .Skene, Chronicles of the Picts and Scots, p. 183. The account might be
dismissed as wholly legendary were it not for the reference to w-ar in 740 between Angus and Eadbert,
king of Northumbria ; Bede, Hist. Eccl. ed. Plummer, vol. i. p. 362.
" Duke of Northumberland's .MSS.
''1724, August 27th, David Richardson, herd of a place called Greene Chester, belonging to
Willington in the parish of Wallsend, buried in the churchyard of Earsdon.' Earsdon Registers.
In an eighteenth-century plan of Willington farm two fields called West Green Chester and East Green
Chester are shown lying on the borders of Shire Moor, north of .Milbank Square. Il'<i/sii;i Papers,
North of England Institute of .Mining and Mechanical Engineers. Though actual traces of earthworks
have vanished, the names of Green Chcsters and Black Chesiers suggest a continuation in a south-
easterly direction of 'a series of small camps, each eighty or a hundred yards square, that run in
a line northwards out of Cramlington grounds, through Plessey and .Shotton, into the east part of
the township of Stannington,' to which allusion is m.ide by the Rev. John Hodgson, SorthumherlanJ,
pt. ii. vol. ii. p. 306, note ; compare also pt. ii. vol. iii. p. 440. Their origin must await further
investigation. For other instances of the name of Green Chesters see Prof. Soc. Antiq. Sewcastle,
2nd series, vol. vii. p. 16.
' The stone, known as the Holy Stone, still remains in its original position, a few yards north of the
railway, westwards from Backworth station. The socket measures only 6A by ji inches, and, from
being carried light through the stone, suggests joiner's work. The place is commemorated in an old
song of the pitmen of Long Benton :
"The Holy Stone's a holy place ; the trees are thick and la' ;
But they are nought to the Moor Yate for footy .again the w.V."
Possibly the origin of the name Kodestane moor i,(or which see above, p.ige 316, note ii is to be
found in this rood-stoiu: The reference is certainly not to the Monk's stone as Brand supposed;
Newcastle, vol. ii. p. 90.
414 TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
eastward downe the said dike till it come to the marches belweene Backworth and Earsdon west feild
dicke on the outside thereof, till it come to the marches bctweene Earsdon and Morton, and so south-
east along Morton west fcild dicke to the Rakehead, and so south as far as Preston west fcild dicke
goeth to the marches betweene Preston and East Chirton to the north dicke of East Chirton close called
liilly miine close to the turne of the said dicke south to the gate that cometh from East Chirton to
Billimilne moore; and so south and by west to the dike of Middle Chirton, and from thence west and by
south along to the said dike of Middle Chirton to the bourne and dike between West Chirton and
Middle Chirton, and so along West Chirton dike on the north side thereof westwards to the north
nooke of West Chirton dike, deviding West Chirton and Willington, to the west nooke thereof where it
beginns.'
Every year, on St. Mark's Day, the bailiff of Tynemouthshire and
several of the copyholders rode the boundary. Robert Saburn of Balk-
well deposed in 1737 to having seen horse races run forty years before,
on the day that the boundary was ridden." The bailiff's duties in con-
nection with the moor are given as follow :
The manor bayliff rides the boundery on St. Mark Day annually, and generally expends five or six
pounds with the copyholders, repairs the Tynemouth bounder hedges and pinfold on the moor, which
amounts one year with another to about fifteen pounds, and is at an uncertain expence annually in
herding the moor, impounding the cattle belonging to ye Long Benton township for trespassing on ye
comnien, and drives the moor once or twice a year, and he employs on that occasion ten or fifteen
persbns to assist him, and has disbursed between thirty, forty, and fifty shillings in doeing that
business, which necessarily detains him and his assistance from one or two in the morning till four or
five o'clock next day.''
The customs regulating the right of common on the moor are
described in an agreement drawn up on May ist, 1707. The sole right
of herbage and of eating and depasturing on Billy Mill moor was there
stated to belong to the tenants of the seven copyhold townships within
the manor of Tynemouth ; the tenants of Tynemouth and North Shields,
where freehold tenure prevailed, being e.xcluded. There were fifty-three
farms in the seven townships. Every farm had eight stints allotted to it,
and paid two shillings to the herd, who had a house upon the moor.
The agreement contains the usual prohibition of carting or leading flags
and turves.^
In 1788 the tenants of Tynemouthshire came to terms with the lord
of the manor for the enclosure of the common. The Act of Parliament
authorising division, provides for the setting out of highways and bridle-
paths over the common, of a breadth not less than forty feet, in the one
case, and not exceeding twenty-one feet in the other. One sixteenth part
of the residue was to be allotted to the duke of Northumberland as lord
' Duke of Northumberland's MSS. ' IhiJ. ' Ibid. ' Ibid.
MURTON TOWNSHIP. 415
of the manor, in lieu of his right to the soil, and the remainder to all
persons having right of common or stints. Allotments to the lord of
the manor were to be of freehold tenure, and allotments in right of stints
appurtenant to copyhold farms were to be of copyhold tenure. The duke
of Northumberland, as lord of the manor, was to have full power to work
mines and quarries within the moor, and to lay waggon-ways for leading
coals from the pits. If anyone sustained damage by the mines being
wrought, compensation was to be made to him by all the owners of
allotments.'
Commissioners were appointed for setting out, dividing, and allotting
the commons. They allowed claims for 4483 stints upon the moor, the
number being made as follows :
Duke of Northumberland, 54 stints (plus j'^tli of the whole) ; Ralph William Grfey, esq., 101^; John
Lawson, esq., iS ; John Noble, 4; Henry Metcalfe, 8; John Hedley, esq., 8; PZdward Collingwood,
esq., 10; Nathaniel Green, 8; John Barker, I'J ; Thomas Barker, S; Henry Cramlinyton, 4; Thomas
Fenwick, esq., 165; Elizabeth Barker, 16; William Ainsley, 4; Robert Robinson, 4; Edward Hall,
esq., 22f^ ; Ralph Milbank, esq., 32 ; Richard Ellison, esq., 2:- ; Samuel Lacey, esq., 34 ; Mr. Robert
Yelloley, 8 ; Henry Hudson, esq., 225 ; John Archbold, 4 ; Nathaniel Tavenor, 4 ; Christopher Spanton,
2 ; Henry Boult Cay, esq., 8 ; Jane Mills, 14 ; Thomas -Sikes and others, 8 ; Messrs. Clarke, 8 ; Thomas
Rutherford, 8 ; Rev. Wilfrid Huddlestone, 2|; ; Joseph and Ralph Saburn, I ; Juliet Rutherford, I ;
Peregrine Henzell, I ; Rachel \'eonian and Mary Waters, 5?, ; Ralph Spearman, 2. Total, 448^
stints.
The award is dated October 19th, 1790. A reference to the plan
accompanying it (Plate XVII.) shows that the number of acres allotted
to each tenant bears only an approximate relation to the number of
stints in respect to which allotment was made, other considerations being
introduced to insure an eqtiable division. As a claim to a certain number
of stints expressed the rights of common appurtenant to a farm in one ot
the seven copyhold townships of the manor, the land awarded in virtue
of each respective claim was assigned to that township within which the
particular farm lay. Thus an allotment made to a farm in Monkseaton
came to be included in Monkseaton township, and if a copyholder held
a whole farm in one township and half a farm in another, his allotment
was equivalently divided between the two townships. The sixteenth part
of the moor assigned to the duke of Northumberland, as lord of the
manor, was, under the provisions of a subsequent Act," reckoned as falling
within Chirton township.
' 28 George III. cap. xlvii. -' 46 George III. cap. xlvi.
41 6 TYNEMOUTH PARISH.
This arrangement resulted in a large number of detached portions of
various townships being scattered over the moor. It continued in force
until December 20th, 1881, when, under an order of the Local Govern-
ment Board, portions of Monkseaton and Whitley were transferred to the
contiguous townships. Other changes were made under the Divided
Parishes Act of 1882, and under another order of the Local Government
Board, made on March 24th, i88g, the colliery village known as the
Allotment, built early in the nineteenth century upon land assigned to
Preston, was transferred from that township to Chirton. Detached frag-
ments of Chirton and Murton still exist, as well as insignificant portions
of Tynemouth, Cullercoats, and North Shields. Part of Murton township
lying within the municipal borough of Tynemouth has, for nominal pur-
poses, become a separate civil parish. The principal proprietors of lands
in Shire Moor are the duke of Northumberland (Shire Moor farm), the
Backworth colliery owners (Allotment farm), Mr. John Liddell's heirs
(Prospect Hill farm), and Mr. Charles Taylor of London (Murton Grange
farm).
APPENDIX I.
4'7
APPENDIX I.
REFERENCES TO GEOLOGICAL LITERATURE.
Author.
Title.
Autborily.
Dale.
I. — Thomson (Dr.) ...
A Geognostical Sketch of the Counties of
Annals of Philosophy, Nov.
I8l4
North Durham and part of Cumberland.
P- 337.
2.— Winch (N. J.) ...
Geology of Northumberland and Durham.
Trans. Gcol. Soc. vol. iv. p. i
(pub. 1817).
1S14
3.— Sedg\vick (Prof.
On the Geological Relations and Internal
Proc. Geul. Soc. vol. i. p. 2.
1826
Adam)
Structure of the Magnesian Limestone.
Trans. Geol. Soc. 2nd series,
vol. iii. pp. 37-124.
4.— Trevelyan (Sir
On a Whin Dyke in Cowpen Colliery, near
Proc. Geol. Soc. vol. i. p. 23.
1827
W. C.)
Blyth, Northumberland.
1834.
Trans. Geol. Soc. 2nd series,
vol. ii. p. 405. 1828.
5.- Wood (Nicholas)
On the Geology of a part of Northumber-
Nat. Hist. Trans. North-
1831
land and Cumberland.
umberland and Durham,
vol. i. p. 305.
6.— Howse (R.)
Catalogue of the Fossils of the Permian
Trans. Tyncside Nat. Field
1848
Systeiii of the Counties of Northuinber-
Club, vol. 1. p. 2ig.
land and Durham.
7.— Hancock (A.)
Notice of the Occurrence of Fossil Fish in
Trans. Tyncside Nat. Field
1848
the rocks (marl slate) in the great slip
Club, vol. i. pt. li. p. 275.
dyke at Cullercoats Haven.
8.-King(Wm.)
Monograph of Permian Fossils.
Pal. Soc.
1850
9.— Sorby (H. C.) ...
On the Oscillation of the Currents drifting
Proc. Yorks. Polyl. Soc. vol.
1852
the Sandstone Beds of the South-
iii. p. 232.
east of Northumberland
10. — How*e (R.)
Notes on the Permian System of North-
Ann. and itag. Nat. Hist.
1857
umberland and Durham, being a sup-
vol. xi.\. 2nd series, pp.
plement to the Catalogue of Fossils.
33, 304 and 463.
11.— „
Notes on the Permian System of North-
Trans. Tyncside Nat. Field
1857
umberland and Durham.
Club, vol. iii. p. 235.
12.— Hancock (A.)
Remarks on certain Vermiform Fossils
Trans. Tyncside Nat. Field
1S58
found in the Mountain Limestone Dis-
Club, vol. iv. p. 17.
tricts of the North of England.
Plates III.-VIII.
13.— Hurst (T. G.) ...
On some Peculiarities of the Low Main
Trans. North <>/ England
i860
Seam.
Inst. Mining Engineers,
vol. viii. p. 23.
14.— Geinitz (Dr. H. B.)
The Dyasor Permian Formation in England.
Leipsig. 1 86 1.
1S61
15. — Binney and Kirkby
Translation of above.
Trans, hfanchcsler Gcol. Soc.
vol. iv. p. 121.
1863
16. — Howse (R.) and
Synopsis of the Geology of Durham and
Trans. Tyncside Nat. Field
1S63
Kirkby (J. W.)
part of Northumberland.
Club, Aug. 1S63.
17.— Bainbridge (W.) ...
On the Fault in connection with the Vol-
British Association Report
1S64
canic Rocks at the foot of Crossfell,
(Notes and Abstracts\
and with the Tynedale Fault called
1863, pt. ii. p. 64.
' The Ninety Fathom Dyke.'
Vol. viii.
4l8 APPENDIX I.
Appendix I.— References to Geological Literature {continued).
Author.
iS.— Howse (R.)
19.— Kirkby (J. W.) and
Atthey (T.)
20. — Howse (R.)
21.— Kirkby (J. W.) ...
22.— Atthey (T.)
23. — Owen (Prof.)
24. — Hancock (A.) and
Atthey (T.)
25.— Atthey (T.)
Title.
26.-
27--
28.
-Barkas (T. P.) ...
-Barkas (T. P.) ...
29.—
)» J)
-Hancock (A.) and
Atthey (T.)
31. — Hancock (A.) and
Atthey (T.)
.Synopsis of Organic Remains found in the
Northumberland Coal Measures.
On some Fish Remains from the Durham
and Northumberland Coal Measures.
On the Glaciation of the counties of Dur-
ham and Northumberland.
On the Fossils of the Marl Slate and
Lower Magnesian Limestone.
Remarks on Report of Prof. Owen's Paper
on Fish Remains found in Northumber-
land Coal Fields.
On Dental Characters of genera and
species, chiefly of Fishes, from the
Low Main Seam and Shales of Coal,
Northumberland.
Notes on various Species of Ctenodus ob-
tained from Shales of the Northumber-
land Coal Field.
On the Occurrence of Palatal Teeth of a
Fish belonging to the genus Climaxodus
(McCoy) in the Low Main Shale of
Newsham.
On the Fauna of the Low Main Seam,
Northumberland.
Results of Fossil Gathering from the Shale
over the Low Main Coal.
Fossil Reptiles and Fish from the North-
umberland Coal Measures.
On Climaxodus or Pa;cilodus ; a Palatal
Tooth from the Low Main Coal Shale,
Northumberland.
Notes on Remains of Reptiles and Fishes
from the Shales of the Northumberland
Coalfield.
On a new Labyrinthodont Amphibian from
the Northumberland Coalfield, and on
the Occurrence in the same locality of
Anthracosaurus Russelli.
Authority.
Iiidustyial Resources of the
Tyne, Wear and Tees,
2nd edition.
Trans. Tyneside Nat. Field
Club, vol. vi. p. 231.
Plate VI.
Trans. North of England
Inst. Mining Engineers,
vol. xiii. p. 169.
Nat. Hist. Trans. North-
umberland and Durham,
vol. i. p. 184.
Geol. Mag. vol. iv. p. 378.
Gcol. Mag. vol. iv. p. 323.
Dale.
1864
1864
1865
1867
1867
Nat. Hist. Trans. North- 1868
umberland and Durham,
vol. iii. p. 54.
Nat. Hist. Trans. North- j 1868
umberland and Durham,
vol. iii. p. 306.
Geol. Mag. vol. v. p. 580.
Naturalist's Notebook, vol.
ii. p. 334.
Science Gossip, No. 45, p.
204.
Geol. Mag. vol. v. p. 495.
Nat. Hist. Trans. North-
umberland and Durham,
vol. iii. p. 65 ; also
Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist.
vol. i. pp. 266 and 346.
Plates XIV. XV. and
XVI.
Nat. Hist. Trans. North-
umberland and Durham,
vol. iii. p. 310.
Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist.
vol. iv. series iv. pp.
182 and 270.
1868
1868
1 868
1868
1868
1868
1869
I
APPENDIX I.
Appendix I.— References to Geological Literature (continued).
419
Author.
Title.
Aotborilr.
Date.
32.-
—Hancock (A.) and
On the generic identity of Climaxodus and
Nat. Hist. Trans. North-
1869
Atthey (T.)
Janassa, two fossil fishes related to the
Rays.
umberland and Durham,
vol. iii. p. 330. Plate IX.
33--
-Barkas (T. P.) ...
On the Discovery of a Molar of a large
Reptile in the Northumberland Coal
Measures.
Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist.
vol. iii. p. 419.
1869
34--
>» i»
Notes on various Species of Ctenodus found
in the Low Main Coal Shale, Newsham
Colliery.
Geol. Mag. vol. vi. p. 314.
1869
35--
)) 1)
Letters on unusual forms of Ctenoptychius
and Climaxodus ovatus and Diplodus
Geol. Mag. vol. vi. pp. 42,
43-
1869
36.-
— ., ..
Letter on Teeth of Clima.\odus from the
Coal Measures.
Geol. Mag. vol. vi. p. 381.
1869
37--
-Brady (G.S.) ...
Description of an Entomostracan inhabiting
a Coal Mine.
Nat. Hist. Trans. North-
umberland and Durham,
vol. iii. p. 203. Plate VI.
1869
38--
—Hancock (A.) and
Note on Undescribed Fossil Fish found in Nat. Hist. Trans. North-
1870
Atthey (T.)
Newsham Coal Shale, near Newcastle- umberland and Durham,
on-Tyne. vol. iv. p. 199.
39--
-Cohn (Prof. J.) ...
Ueber den Steinkohlenpilze Archagaricon.
48 Jahrcsb. Schles. Ges.
Vatcrl. Kultur, p. 62.
1871
40.-
—Hancock (A.) and
On Occurrence of Loxomma Allmanni in
Nat. Hist. Trans. North-
187I
Atthey (T.)
Northumberland Coalfields.
umberland and Durham,
1 vol. iv. p. 201.
41-
—Hancock (A.) and
Description of a considerable portion of a : Nat. Hist. Trans. North-
1871
Atthey (T.)
Mandibular Ramus of .A^nthracosaurus
Russelli ; with Notes on Lo.xomma and
Archichthys.
umberland and Durham,
vol. iv. p. 38 5. Plate
XII.
42.-
—Hancock (A.) and
Description ofaLabyrinlhodont Amphibian,
Nat. Hist. Trans. North-
1871
Atthey (T.)
a new generic form, obtained in the
umberland and Durham,
Coalshale at Newsham, near Newcastle. vol. iv. p. 208. Plate 1\'.
43--
—Hancock (A.) and
A few Remarks on Dipterus and Ctenodus,
Nat. Hist. Trans. North-
1871
Atthey (T.)
and on their Relationship to Ceratodus
Forsteri from Newsham.
umberland and Durham,
vol. iv. p. 397. Plates
XIII and XIV.
44.-
-Barkas (T. P.) ...
Teeth of Climaxodus from the Coal
Measures.
Geol. Mag. vol. vi. pp. 42
and 38 1.
1869
45.-
—Hancock (A.) and
On some curious Fossil Fungi from Black
Nat. Hist. Trans. North-
1869
t J*
Atthey (T.)
Shale of the Northumberland Coal umberland and Durham,
Measures. vol. iii. p. 32'- P'ates
VII. and VI n.
46.-
—Hancock (A.) and
Descriptive Notes on a nearly entire Nat. Hist. Trans. North-
1S7I
Atthey (T.)
specimen of Pleurodus Rankinii, on two
new species of Platysomus and a new
Amphicentrum, with Remarks on a few-
other Fish-remains found in the Coal
Measures at Newsham.
umberland and Durham,
vol. iv. p. 40S. Plates
XV. and XVI.
420 " APPENDIX I.
Appendix I.— References to Geological Literature {continued).
Author.
Title.
Authority.
Date.
47.— Atthey (T.)
Chmaxodus Hnguiformis.
Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist.
vol. ii. series iv. p. 321.
1868
48.— Barkas (T. P.) ...
Illustrated Guide to the Fish Amphibian,
Reptilian and Supposed Mammalian
Remains of the Northumberland Car-
boniferous Strata.
1873
49.— Allport (S.)
On the micro-structure and composition of
British Carboniferous Dolerites.
Q.y.G.S. vol. XXX. p. 529.
1874
50.— Toplcy (W.)
On the Correspondence between some
Q.J.G.S. vol. XXX. p. 186,
1874
Areas of Apparent Upheaval and the
and Brit. Assoc. 1873,
Thickening of Subjacent Beds.
p. 91.
51.— Lindley (J.) and
Illustrations of Fossil Plants.
^uh.iori'hcNorthof England
1877
Hut'ton (W.), ed.
Institute of Mining and
by Lebour(G.A.)
Mechanical Engineers.
52.— Atthey (T.) and
On Anthracosaurus Russelli (Huxley). | Nat. Hist. Trans. North-
1877
Dinning
timberland and Durham,
vol. V. p. 307. Plates
VI. VII. VIII. and IX.
53.— Embleton (D.) and
On the .Skull and other Bones of Loxomma
Nat. Hist. Trans. North-
1877
Atthey (T.)
Allmanni (Huxley) from the Low Main
umberland and Durham,
Coal Shale, Newsham, Northumberland.
vol. V. p. 196. Plates
I.-IV.
54. — Simpson (J. B.) ...
The Coal Seams of the Northumberland
and Durham Coalfield.
Pub. Newcastle.
1877
55.— Atthey (T.) and
On Pteroplax Cornuta.
Nat. Hist. Trans. North-
1880
Dinning
umberland and Durham,
vol. vii. p. 176. Plates
XV. and XVI.
56.— Atthey (T.)
Notes on the Vertebral Column and other
Nat. Hist. Trans. North-
1882
Remains of Loxomma Allmanni (Hux-
umberland and Durham,
ley) at New^sham.
vol. viii. p. 46. Plate VI.
57.-TealI (J. J. H.) ...
Petrographical Notes on some of the
Proc. Geol. Association, vol.
1886
Igneous Rocks of Northumberland.
ix. p. S7S-
58.— Howse (Richard)...
Catalogue of the Local Fossils in the
Nat. Hist. Trans. North-
1888
Museum of the Natural History Society,
umberland and Durham,
Newcastle.
vol. X. p. 227.
59.— Howse (R.)
Catalogue of the Hutton Collection of
Nat. Hist. Trans. North-
1887
Fossil Plants in Newcastle Museum.
umberland and Durham,
vol X. p. 19.
60.- Teall (J. J. H.) ...
On the Amygdules of the Tyncmouth
Dyke.
Geol. Mag. vol. vi. p. 481.
1S89
61.— Lebour (G. A.) ...
Outlines of the Geology of Northumberland
and Durham.
Pub. Newcastle,3rd edition.
1889
62.— Tate (Robert M.)
On the Erosion and Destruction of the
A'((/. Hist. Trans. North-
1894
Coast Line from the Low Lights and
umberland and Durham,
Tynemouth and CuUercoats during the
vol. xi. pt. ii. p. 187.
last Fifty Years.
APPENDIX II. 421
APPENDIX II.
Early Deeds relating to Property in Tynemouth.
A. Harbottle's land ; deeds in the possession of the duke of Northumberland :
(i) Grant from VVilliani, son of Gilbert of Tyncmue, to William, son of Robert of Chirton, of a
toft with buildings and curtilage, in Tynemouth, lying between the house of Germanus de coquina
on the east, and the house of William de Hyndeleye on the west, paying yearly a rent of 4s. Testibus,
Thoma de Clyvedon, tunc scncscallo de TynenV, Ada de Pykering, Philippo de Merston, Roberto
berciatore, Roberto filio Baldwyni, Petro de Bacwrth, Rogero Boyd, Willelmo filio Alani, Alano de
Herttelawe, at aliis. [Circa 1276.]
(2) Grant from John, son of John de Hundemanby, and Nigasia, his wife, to John de Ridesdale,
their son-in-law, of all their lands, tenements and buildings, which they have as dowry in Tinemuye,
paying 8s. during the life of Nigasia. Hiis testibus, Willelmo de Heselrig, John le oefener, Ada le
sergaunt, Roberto filio Baldwin!, Philippo de Binham, et aliis. [Thirteenth century.]
(3) Grant from John Dunne of Redesdal and Dyonisia, his wife, to Robert, son of William, son
of Gilbert of Tynemouth, in free marriage with their daughter, Constance, of four acres of arable land
in Tynemouth, of which one rood lay beneath .Stanilawe, between the land of Margery de Wulsington
and the land formerly of William de Hyndeley, three roods lay beneath Stanilawe, between the land
formerly of Roger, son of Michael, and the land of Margery de Wulsington, one rood lay at the
'hevedeslandes,' between the land of John de Redingge and the land of Margery de Wulsington, one
rood lay on the north side of Kencwaldes-den, between the land of Robert de bracina and the land
of Philip de Merston, one-acre lay on the north side of Tunstalles-dike, between the land of the foresaid
Robert, son of William, and the land of Margery de Wulsington, half an acre lay at Tudehope, between
the land formerly of William de Hyndeley and the land of Margery de Wulsington, half an acre lay
over'le bourne,' between the land of Philip de Merston and the land of the foresaid Margery, and
half an acre lay near the road 'del Pul,' between the land of the chamberlain of Tynemouth and the
land of the foresaid Philip ; to hold subject to the rent and service due to the lord of Wulsington as lord
of the fee. Hiis testibus, Willelmo de Wulsington, Willelmo Russel de Discington, Nicholao Faucus,
Nicholao de Morton, Rogero de eadem, Roberto de Chirton, Roberto de bracina, Willelmo de Wylum,
Alano de Boldum, clerico, et multis aliis. Seal, a jUur-de-lys (?) ornament. [Thirteenth centur)-.]
(4) Grant from Alice of Tynemouth, widow, to Robert, son of William of Tynemouth, of half an acre
of arable land in Tynemouth, of which one rood lay between the land of Philip de Merston on the south
and the land of Thomas de Burton on the north, and abutted on the road leading to Wyttelye on the
west ; and one rood lay near Stanilawe, between the land formerly of William de Hindely on the north
and the land of John Dunne on the south, and abutted on the land of Peter de Backworth ; to hold to
the said Robert and to the joint heirs of him and of Constance, his wife, paying yearly at Whitsuntide
one halfpenny to the chief lord. Hiis testibus, Johanne de Dudden, tunc senescallo doniini prions,
Rogero Gray, tunc serviente, Petro de Backeword, Willelmo de Seyton, Philippo de Merston, Alano
de Hertelawe, Willelmo de Chirton, et aliis multis. 1302.
(5) Grant from Matilda Brown, formerly wife of Robert Turnur of Tynemouth, to Richard, son of
Geoffrey of the same place, and to Alice, his wife, of half a toft, with buildings, etc., in the Cross street
in Tynemouth ; which half-toft came to the grantor by hereditary right on the death of her mother,
Cecily Brown, and lay between the tenement of John, son of Roger, clerk, on the south, and the
tenement of William Broun on the north. Hiis testibus, Henrico de Harden, tunc senescallo domini
prioris de Tynemuth, Roberto filio Willelmi, Willelmo de Seton, Willelmo Faymian, Roberto Sauvage,
Sampsone de Seton, et multis aliis. July 2nd, 1319. Seal attached.
(6) Quit-claim from Robert de Bewick to John de Horton of his right to the tofts in T>-nemouth
which he had of the gift of Roger le tailler. August 25th, 1320.
(7) Deed of entail whereby William de Heppiscotes granted to Gilbert de Tynemouth all his lands
and tenements in Tynemuth and Preston of which he had been enfeoffed by the said Gilbert, to hold
for life, with reversion to Agnes, sister of the said Gilbert, and to the heirs of her body ; with reversion,
in case of failure of issue, to Gilbert, son of Peter Webster, and to the heirs of his body ; with ultimate
422 APPENDIX II.
reversion to the heirs of Gilbert de Tynemouth. Hiis testibus, Johanne de ^lurton, Willehiio de kylne,
Roberto Gubbe, Willelmo Bacon, Johanne Clerk, Johanne de Preston, Roberto Maymond, Johanne de
Thornton, et ahis. Dated at Tynemouth, April i6th, 1363. Seal attached. Printed above, p. 258, note 4.
(8) Grant from William de Heppiscotes to Nicholas Wright of Tynemouth and Margaret his wife,
of an acre of land in Tynemouth given to the grantor by Christiana Porter. Hiis testibus, Roberto de
Tewing, Willelmo de Chevington, Roberto de Bynham, Roberto Maymund, Roberto Gubbe, Willelmo
Bacoun, et aliis. Dated at Tynemuth, September 31st, 1363. Seal, oti a shield tirmorial a lion rampant.
(9) Grant from Gilbert, son and heir of William Robynsone of Tynemouth, chaplain, to William
de la Vale, knight, of all his lands within the liberty of Tynemouth which descended to him on the
death of his father. Hiis testibus, Alano Whitchevede, perpetuo vicario ecclesie parochialis de Tyne-
muth, Thoma Ruft, Waltero Cok, Roberto de Bynham, Willelmo del kilne, Willelmo Watsone, Adam
Smythe, Roberto Gubbe de Tynemouth, et aliis. Dated at Tynemouth, March 12th, 1375/6.
(10) Lease from Gilbert de Tynemouth, chaplain, to his sister, Agnes, relict of William de Episcotys,
of one part of his tenement in Tynemouth (described in detail), to hold for life, at a nominal rent during
the first thirteen years, and thereafter paying ten shillings yearly. Hiis testibus, Alano Whitcheved,
perpetuo vicario de Tenemuth, Roberto de Fenrother, Willelmo de Chevington, Willelmo . . . . , Roberto
de Bynham, et aliis. Dated at Tinemuth, June 2nd, 13S1. Printed above, p. 258, note 2.
(ii) Lease from Gilbert Wilkynesson, chaplain, to Walter Dun, for twenty-five years, of all his
lands and tenements within the liberty of Tynemouth, at the yearly rent of /lo. Hiis testibus, Willelmo
Tychington, Willelmo Chevyngton, Willelmo \'escy, Adam Smyth, et Roberto Bynnham, et aliis. Dated
at Tynemuth, May 22nd, 1383. Seal: two martlets in chief: signvm iohannis Enrolled on
the court roll of the manor, July 12th, 141 5.
(12) Grant from Agnes de Heppescottes, formerly wife of William de Heppescottes, and widow
of Robert Bullok, to Gilbert de Tynmouth, chaplain, and to William Vescy, of all her lands and
tenements which she had as dower in Morpath and Heppescottes, together with her rents within the
liberty of Tynmouth, to hold for her life. Hiis testiljus, Willelmo de Bysschopdall, tunc majore ville
Novi Castri super Tynam, Ricardo Scott, Laurentio de Acton, Thoma de Gryndon, et Willelmo Joneson,
tunc ballivis ejusdem ville, et aliis. Dated at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, May 19th, 1391. Seal : the letter I
between two palm branches ; over it viv.
(13) Grant from William Dune to Gilbert de Tynmouth, chaplain, of all his lands and tenements
within the town and liberty of Tynmouth, which he had by feoffment of the said Gilbert. Dated at
Tynemouth, August ist, 1391. Hiis testibus, Johanne le Ornford, tunc senescallo, Willelmo Vesci,
Johanne Wilkinson, Roberto de Bynham, et Ricardo del brewheus, et multis aliis. Seal : three martlets.
Enrolled on the court roll of the manor, July 12th, 1415.
(14) Grant from Gilbert de Tynmouth, clerk, to Walter Dune, of a yearly rent-charge of 13s. 4d.
issuing out of his lands within the town and liberty of Tynmouth. Dated at Tynemouth, August 26th,
1391. Seal: three martlets.
B. Radcliffe's lands; Greenwich Hospital deeds, P.R.O. :
(i) Grant from Simon Wattarius to William Grey of the Sheles of one acre in Tynemouth, on the
Scowel-braddes, between the land of Robert Baldewyn on the west and the land of the said Simon
on the east, and abutting on the land of Peter del horcheherd and Adam de coquina on the south, and
on the land of Robert Baldewyn on the north, to hold at the rent of one penny to the prior. Hiis testi-
bus, Nicholao Vigr", tunc senescallo, Rogero Gray, tunc serviente, Philippo de Merstona, Willelmo de
Chirtun, Alano de Hertelaw, Johanne de Wittelyt, Radulpho serviente de Seyton, Roberto de Chirton,
et aliis. [Circa 1295.]
(2) Grant from Robert de Slykeburn to William Gubbe of Tynemouth of the moiety of one acre
in Tynemouth, lying at Todupp, between the land of the said William on the south and the land of
Robert, son of William, son of Gilbert, on the north, and abutting on the land of the said Robert, son
of William, on the west. Hiis testibus, [Henrico de Harden], tunc senescallo domini prioris de Tynem',
Gilberto Daudre, Roberto filio [Willelmi], [Willelmo] Fayrm[an], Philippo filio Alani de Hertlawe,
johanne le coylour, et multis aliis. Dated at Tynemouth, November 28th, 1320. Seal imperfect.
(3) Grant from John de Grey to John, son of John de Bydik of Scheles, of all his lands and tene-
ments in Tynemouth, Scheles, Milnetone, Prestone, Setone, .Middel Chirtone, and Est Chirtone, and five
APPENDIX II. 423
shillings yearly rent out of the land which Simon Stocard held in Est Backwerth. Hiis testibus, Thoma
de Rayntone, tunc senescallo libertatis de Tynemuth, Johanne de Bakwerth, Henrico Faukes, Galfrido
de Mortone, Ricardo de Daltone, Johanne de Setone, Roberto Savage, et multis aliis. Dated at Tyne-
mouth, March 12th, 1325/6.
(4) Quit-claim by Symon Nogge of Newcastle-upon-Tyne to John, his son and heir, of his right to a
tenement in the Middilrawe in Tynemouth, between the tenement of Richard lirunson on the west,
and the tenement of John, son of Ralph the taylor, on the east. Hiis testibus, Roberto Soreys, tunc
senescallo libertatis de Tynemouth, Roberto de Tewyng, Roberto Savage, Johanne Curtays, Willelmo
filio Robeni, Rogero Dabber, et multis aliis. Dated at Tynemouth, September 2nd, 1333. Seal, a shield.
(5) Quit-claim by John, son of Symon Nogge, to John de Tewyng, of his right to the tenement above-
mentioned. Witnesses as before, with the addition of Richard, son of Geoffrey. Dated at Tynemouth,
November 6th, 1333. Same seal as No. 4.
(6) Grant by Roger, son of William Malkeyn of Tynemouth, to John de Tewyng, of half an acre
in Tynemouth, namely, one selion between the land of John de Horton and the land formerly of Philip
de Merston, and two selions lying at the head of the said selion towards the cast, near the pasture of
the prior of Tynemouth. Hiis testibus, Roberto Soreys, tunc senescallo libertatis de Tynemuth,
Roberto de Tewyng, Ricardo filio Galfridi, Willelmo filio Roberti, .Stephano Scot, Johanne Curtays, et
multis aliis. Dated at Tynemouth, August 8th, 1340.
(7) Grant by John the clerk, son of Ralph the taylor, to John de Tewyng, of two acres, of which half
an acre lay in Tynemouth in the culture called Chaund-landis, between the land of John Curtays and the
land of John de Bedik ; half an acre lay in Est Chyrton between the land of William Chaumpeneys and
the land of Thomas Breuster ; and one acre lay in Preston between the land of John de Bedyk and the
land of John, son of Adam de Preston. Hiis testibus, Roberto Soreys, tunc senescallo libertatis de
Tynemuth, Roberto de Tewyng, Rogero filio Ranulphi, Ricardo filio Galfridi, Willelmo filio Roberti,
Johanne de Wylum, et multis aliis. Dated at Tynemouth, July 31st, 1341.
(8) Grant by John, son of Ralph the taylor, of Tynemouth, to John de Tewyng, of half an acre in
Tynemouth on the west side of Spitil-den, lying in two selions, between the land of Robert de Tewyng
on the east and the bondage land of the prior of Tynemouth, which Simon Grene of Preston formerly
held, on the west. Hiis testibus, Roberto Soreys, tunc senescallo libertatis de Tynemuth, Roberto de
Tewyng, Johanne de Wyteley, Ricardo filio Galfridi, Willelmo filio Roberti, Stephano Scot, Rogero filio
Ranulphi, et multis aliis. Dated at Tynemouth, September 30th, 1343.
(9) Lease by Agnes, daughter of Sibill of Tynemouth, to William Gubbe, of half an acre in T>'ne-
mouth, near the water-mill, between the land of William, son of Robert, on the west, and the land formerly
of Philip de Merston on the east. Hiis testibus, Roberto Soreys, tunc senescallo libertatis de Tynemuth,
Johanne de Wyteley, Ricardo filio Galfridi, Willelmo filio Roberti, Thoma Robil, Stephano Scot, et multis
aliis. November nth, 1344.
(10) Grant by Joan, daughter of Richard Brounson, to John Tew7ng and Alice his wife, of all her
arable lands in Tynemouth, of which one rood and a half lay at Seton-cross,* and one rood upon
Boterlawe, and one acre on the north side of the water-mill belonging to the prior of Tynemouth, and
half an acre on the west side of St. Leonard's hospital. Hiis testibus, Willelmo de Hepescotis, tunc
senescallo libertatis de Tynemuth, Roberto de Tewyng, Johanne clerico, Roberto Gubbe, Stephano
Gubbe, Johanne Stiford, et aliis. Dated at Tynemouth, May 5th, 1351. Seal, flower and leaves.
(11) Grant by William, son and heir of William Mason, to John de Horsseley of the Sheles, of three
messuages, one acre of land, and three roods in Tynemouth. Hiis testibus, Roberto de Fenrothre,
Willelmo de Chevyngton, Willelmo del kylne, Roberto de Bynham, Waltero Coke, Willelmo Watisson,
Johanne filio Willelmi, ct aliis. Dated at Tynemouth, February 28th, 1375/6. Seal, a bird.
* Seton-cross, which is probably to be identified with the Monk's stone, recurs in a deed dating
circa 1312, whereby Nicholas, son of Ralph, granted to William Hyndcley half an acre in Tynemouth,
lying between the land of the said William and the land of William Cuhcrd, 'ex parte boriali crucis de
Seton.' Hiis testibus, Thoma de Fischeburn, tunc senescallo, Ada de Pykering, Nicholao de Bacwrht,
Nicholao de la Hay, Johanne aurifabro, Johanne filio Suayn, et multis aliis. Arch. Ad. ist series, vol.
ii. p. 410.
424 APPENDIX 11.
(12) Quit-claim of all right to the said premises, by John de Thornton to John de Horsley. Date
and witnesses as above. Seal, St. Andrew's cross with unequal arms.
(13) Quit-claim by John de Ualton to John de Horsseley of his right to the premises. February
27th, 1375/6. Same seal as to No. 10.
(14) Grant by John, son of Roger of Tyncmouth, to Agnes, widow of William de Heppiscotes, of all
those lands and tenements in Tynemouth and Bakworth which came to him on the death of Alice, his
mother. Hiis testibus, Alano Whithevede, perpetuo vicario ecclesie parochialis de Thynemuth, Roberto
de Fenrother, Willelmo Vessi, Willelmo de Chevynton, Roberto de Bynham, Willelmo del kylne, Adamo
Smythe, Willelmo Watsone, et aliis. Dated at Tynemouth, April 9th, 1381.
(15) Grant by Agnes, widow of William Hepscottes, to John Horsly of the Shelyz, of one tenement
and eii'ht acres in Tynemouth, purchased by the said Agnes from John de Tynemouth, butcher, of
Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Hiis testibus, Willelmo Wattison, Johanne Wilkynson, Adam Smyth, Roberto
Bynhame, et Roberto Hakford de Tynemuth, et aliis. Dated at Tynemouth, July 9th, 13S6. Satne
seal as (10).
(16) (Jrant by William de Bolton to John de Horsley and Agnes, his wife, of three roods lying in two
selions in Tynemouth, on the south side of the Stavekartway, between the land of the said John on the
north and the land of Alan Whitehed on the south. Hiis testibus, Johanne Brotherwyk, tunc ballivo
libertatis de Tynemouth, Johanne de Merlay, Johanne Wilkynson, Roberto de Bynham, Roberto Wryght,
Roberto de Hacford, Johannne del kylne, et aliis. Dated at Tynemouth, May 20th, 1392. Seal, a
scorpion (?)
(17) Quit-claim by John Horsley, junior, of Tynnemouth Scheles to his mother, Agnes Horsley, of his
ri°ht to the lands and tenements in Tynemouth, Chirton-est, Preston, and Middel Chirton, which had
descended to him from his father, John Horsley. Hiis testibus, Robert Hakford, Ricardo Brewe-house,
Roberto Bynham, Roberto Wryght, Johanne Nele, et aliis. Dated at Tynemouth, March 20th, 1399.
(18) Grant by Agnes, widow of John Horsley of Tynnemouth, to Alice, wife of John Halmonde and
daughter of the said John Horsley, of all her lands and tenements in Tynnemouth, Chirton-est, Preston,
and Middel Chirton. Hiis testibus, Ricardo Brewehouse, Roberto Bynham, Roberto Hakford, Johanne
Wilkynson, Willelmo Jacson, et aliis. Dated at Tynnemouth, April ist, 1400.
(19) Grant by John Horsley, son and heir of John Horsley and of Agnes, his wife, formerly of
Tynemouth-Sheles, to his kinsman, Thomas Horsley of Benwell, of the premises above-mentioned,
which were the lands of his father or of his mother. Hiis testibus, Johanne Bertram, milite, Sampsone
Hardyng, Willelmo Hardyng, Eligio Rothbury, Willelmo Jacson de Tynemouth, et aliis. Dated at
Tynemouth, July 28th, 1421. Seal, an initial T with a crown above it (?).
(20) Quit-claim by John Almonde of Tynnemouth-Sheles, .and Alice his wife, daughter of John
Horseley and of Agnes his wife, to Thomas Horsley of their right to the said premises. Same witnesses
and seal as to No. 19. Dated at Tynemouth, 142 1.
(21) Quit-claim by John de Horsley, son and heir of John de Horsley, to Thomas de Horsley, of his
rifht to the lands and tenements in Tynemouth, Preston, West Chirton, and Est Chirton, lately
belonging to his father. Hiis testibus, Willelmo de Mitford, tunc senesctllo de Tynemouth, Willelmo
Swan, tunc ballivo ibidem, Willelmo Davy, Willelmo Jakson, Johanne Elyson, et aliis. Dated at Tyne-
mouth, October 28th, 1421. Same seal as to No. 19.
(22) Grant by Thomas de Horslee of Benwell to John de Cartyngton of .ill his tenements and lands
in Tynemouth. Hiis testibus, Johanne de Woddryngton, chivaler, vicecomite Northumbriae, Roberto
Ogle, chivaler, Johanne Bertram, chivaler, Johanne Middelton, chivaler, Rogero Woddryngton, artnigero,
et multis aliis. Dated at Tynemouth, September 6th, 1426. Same seal as to No. 19.
(23) Quit-claim by Thomas Horslee of Benwell to John de Cartyngton of his right to the said
premises. Hiis testibus, Rogero Woddryngton, Johanne Middelton, armigeris, Willelmo Chessman,
Willelmo Cartyngton, Willelmo Bedenhall, et multis aliis. Dated at Tynemouth, September 14th,
1426. Same seal as to No. 19 ; also official seal of the mayor of Newcastle.
(24) Quit-cl.aim by John Horslee of Richemond, goldsmith, son and heir of John Horslee, late of
Tynemouth, to John de Cartyngton, of his right to the said premises. Hiis testibus, Johanne Wod-
dryngton, chivaler, Johanne Middelton, chivaler, Rogero Woddryngton, Alexander Heron, Johanne
Fenwyk, armigeris, et multis aliis. Dated at Tynemouth, September 15th, 1426. Seal broken.
APPENDIX II. A2C
(25) Grant by Thomas Horslee to John do Cartington of all liis lands and lenemenls in Tynemouth,
Chirton-est, Preston, and Middcl Chirlon. Same witnesses and seal as to No. 22. Dated at Tynemoulh,
December 6th, 1426.
(26) Quit-claim by Thomas Horslee of 15en«ell to John de Cartyngton of his right to the said
premises. Same witnesses and seal as to No. 23. Dated at Tynemouth, December 12th, 1426.
(27) Quit-claim by John Horslee of Richmond, son and heir of John Horslee late of Tynemouth, to
John de Cartyngton, of his right to the said premises. Hiis testibus, Johanne Woddryngton, chivaler,
vicecomite Northumbriae, Roberto Ogle, chivaler, Johanne Middelton, chivaler, Rogero Woddryngton,
Johanne Middelton, armigeris, et multis aliis. Dated at Tynemouth, December 15th, 1426. Seal broken.
(28) Quit-claim by John Horslee, son and heir of Thomas Horslee of Benwell, to John de Cartyng-
ton, of his right to the said premises. Hiis testibus, Rogero Woddryngton, Johanne Middelton, Johanne
Fenvvyk, Willelmo Cartyngton, Willelmo licdenhall, et multis aliis. Dated at Tynemouth, December
20th, 1426. Seal, an initial I ; also the official seal of the mayor of Newcastle.
(29) Lease by John Cartyngton to Robert Smyth of one tenement in Tynemouth, between the tene-
ment of the prior of Tynemouth, and the tenement in which William Davy formerly dwelt, at a yearly
rent of 2s. 8d. Hiis testibus, Roberto Whelpyngton, tunc senescallo dicte ville, Henrico Crey, ballivo
ejusdem, Willelmo Hardyng, Willelmo Bedford, Thoma Browster, et aliis. May 25th, 1434.
(30) Grant Ijy John Cartyngton to the sacristan of the church of St. Oswin of Tynemouth, of a yearly
rent of 6d. out of a tenement at the east end of the Middel rawe in Tynemouth, for the maintenance of
lights before the altar of the said church. Hiis testibus, Henrico Gray, ballivo libertatis de Tyne-
mouth, Henrico Lancastre, constabulario castri de Tynemouth, Johanne Robynson, Willelmo Peresson,
Willelmo White, et aliis. Dated at Tynemouth, December i6th, 144;. Printed above, p. 259, note 2.
The following table shows the relationship of the principal persons concerned in these deeds :
William, son of Gilbert of = John Dun of Redes- = Dyonisia, daughier of John de Hundmanby,
Tynemouth.
dcil
by Nigasia, his wife.
Robert, son of William of Tynemouth, livhig 1302-1320. = Constance.
William Robinson of Tynemouth, living 1333-1344. = ,
Gilbert Wilkinson of Tynemouth, chaplain Agnes, married first, William de Heppiscotes, seneschal of Tyne-
in the Greystoke chantry in St. Oswin's moiuhshire in 1351 ; secondly, Robert liullok, who died before
church; living 1363-1391 ; entailed his May 19th, 1391 ; [and thirdly, t)cfore May 20th, 1392, John Morsley
property in 1363. of ShieldsJ.
John Horsley of Shields, living 1 376. 1392. = Agnes [widow of William de Heppiscotes], living a widow, April 1st, 1400.
John Horsley of Shields conveyed his lands in 142 1 to his kinsman, ^= Alice, wife of John Almondc of Shield.?,
Thomas Horsley of Benwell. I living 1400-1421.
John Horsley of Richmond, goldsmith, living 1426,
Vol. VIII. S4
426
INDEX.
INDEX.
Abbot-scot. Sef Cornage.
Abbot's welcome, service called the, 112, 226.
Abetot, Urso de, witness, 55 n.
Acone, Fulk, tenant of Tynemouth C'S39)i 262, 263,
265.
Acorne, Robert, juror of Tynemouth (1293), 218.
Acton, Lawrence de, witness (1 391), 422.
Adam, sheriff of Northumberland {circa 1 140), 60 n ;
bastard child of Edward II., buried at Tynemouth,
84.
Adams, Rev. Edward Cay, of Hawkchurch, 407.
■ Adamson, Charles Alexander, mayor of Tynemouth
(1871-1872), 352; Henry Edward Pyle, mayor of
Tynemouth (1874), 352.
Adington, Robert de, witness, 64-65 n.
Adrian IV., Pope. See Popes.
Adshead, .'Varon, of Bedlington, 334.
Aelius Rufus, altar at Tynemouth dedicated by, 37.
Agnew, Sir Andrew, of Lochnow, bart., governor of
Tynemouth castle (1750), 204.
Ainewyk, John de, witness (1332), 254.
Ainsley, William, claim on Shire iVIoor (1790), 415.
Airey, John, owns salt pans at North Shields (1707),
310; Thomas, marriage (16S7), 365; Ursula
(Toll) (1687), 269.
Aitken, Rev. James, M.A., Presbyterian minister (1877-
1881), 375-
Akarius. See Tynemouth, priors of.
Akome, Luke, of Tynemouth, bequest (1563), 127.
Alberic. See Northumberlanil, carls of.
Albini, Nigel de, witness, 49 n, 55 n ; Richard de, see
St. Alban's, abbots of.
Alcok, Geoffrey, land in Tynemouth, 255 ; William,
land in Tynemouth, 255.
Alcuin, sub-prior of Tynemouth, 61.
Aid, William, Monkscaton custumal {circa 1296), 404.
Alder, Culhbert, will (1736), 411.
Aldred, comes, attests forged charter, 44 n.
Alduin, re-founds Jarrow monastery (1079'), 44.
Alebrandini, Alebrando, creditor of Henry III., 75.
Alexander I., king of Scotland, charter to Tynemouth,
51 ; brother of Malcolm, at founding of new church
at Ilurham (IO93), 120 n.
Allen, Mary (Delaval), 171.
Allgood, Robert, lessee of Flalworth (1708), 341 n.
Allison, Barbara, property at Chirton, 322.
Allotment (Shire Moor), 28, 416.
Allport, S., geological work, 420.
Almoude, John, quit-claim (1421), 424.
Ahi, Malcolm III. of Scotland killed near the, 51.
AInmouth, representatives of, 261 n ; fishing at, 379,
388.
Alnwick, escape of John de Vesci to, 78.
Aluric, sheriff of Northumberland, writs addressed to
{circa II06-II16), 55.
Alwald, or Elwald, vicar of Tynemouth (1083), 362.
Alwinton, payment out of tithes of, 312 n.
Amble, in Tynemouthshire, 208 ; granted to Tyne-
mouth ]>riory, 48, 68 n ; grant of tithes of, 49 n,
62 n ; appropriated to St. Alban's, 118; men of,
mulcted by sheriff, 69; court held at, 113, 221 ;
township fined at Tynemouth assizes, 219; cus-
tomary tenure at, 22S ; recognition of copyhold
tenure at, 239; payment of hall-corn at, 231, 236;
fishing at, 3S8 ; coble-building at, 3S2.
Amble, Hugh de, grant to Tynemouth priory (1392),
117; Robert de, chaplain of Greystoke chantry,
85 n ; grant to Tynemouth priory (1391), 116.
Amcotts, Sir Wharton, of Kettlethorp park, 400.
Ames, Levi, of Clifton, 268, 41 1.
Amundesham, John of, cited, loi n, 102 n, 1 18 n, 396 n.
Anderson, Dorothy (Mitcalfe), 267 ; Eleanor (Spear-
man), 347 ; Henry (l), juror of Tynemouth (1562),
240; Henry (2), partner in keel (1596), 327;
Robert (i), copyholder (1609), 238; Robert (2),
lieutenant of volunteers (1667), 200 n.
Andreu, Gilbert. See Audre.
Andrew, St., legend of, 413.
Andrew, Gilbert, bailiff, juror of Tynemouth (1293),
21S ; Robert (l), tenant of East Chirton (1606),
321 ; Robert (2), of Gateshead, sells farm in
Murton (1741), 411 ; Thomas, tenant of Murton
(1707), 411.
Anglian remains, cross fragments at Tynemouth,
I3'-I35 ; fibula from Whitehill point, 316.
Angus, Robert de Umframvyll, earl of. See Umfraville.
Anick, heir of, swears fealty to Abbot Norton (1264), 113.
Annesley, Frances (Linskill), 272.
Anson, Rev. W. C. H., Baptist minister (1874-1877),
377.
A])pleton (Yorkshire), property of St. Alban's abbey
at, 52 n.
Archbold, Anne (Henzell), 401 ; Charles, of Monk-
seaton (1715)1 40S ; Henry, juror of Tynemouth
(1686), 241; one of the 'twenty-four' (1674),
368; John, claim on Shire Moor (1790), 415;
Mrs., tenant of Whitley (1757), 397 ; Reay,
trustees of (1762), 40S.
Archer, John, of North Shields, will (1562), 259 n.
Arenis, Milo de, witness (1147), 60 n.
Arey, Thomas. See Airey.
Argyll, Archibald, first duke of, ])roperty at Chirton,
'death (1703), 322-
Arkill. workman, miraculously saved by St. Oswin, 57.
Arkless, John George, of Blyth, 333.
Arlington, Henry Bennet, Lord, 270.
Armorer, Nicholas, scheme for seizing Newcastle and
Tynemouth (1652), 194; William, ensign of volun-
teers (1667), 200 n.
Armstrong, Rev. Alexander, Presbyterian minister,
(1788-1810), 375 ; George, mayor of Tynemouth,
(1894-1895), 352.
Arms: Clarke, 129, 130; Conyers, 361 ; Delaval, 172 ;
Errington, 362; Lacy, 130; Rhodes, 102 ; St.
Alban's, 145 ; Tynemouth priory, 122 ; \'illiers, 201 ;
in Percy chapel, 104, 144, 145.
INDEX.
427
Ascham, Anthony, English ambassador in Madrid, 198.
Ashburnham, Henrj', vicar of Tynemouth (1662), 305 n,
364 ; marriage, 365.
Ashfield, Licut-Col., takes Tynemouth castle (1648),
192.
Asshe, William, purchases Whitley manor (1403), 396 ;
grants it to Tj'nemouth priory (1404), 1 17.
Astley, Sir Jacob (l), fortification of Newcastle (1638),
181 ; Sir Jacob(2), 30 ; sells Tynemouth advowson
(■838), 371.
Atcheson, Robert, of Middle Chirton (1597), 173.
Athelstan, king, 413.
Athyr, John, of Newcastle, mill-wright (1599), 329.
Atkins, Sarah (Fenwick) (1722), 348.
Atkinson, John, land in Tynemouth (1714), 268 ; Mar-
garet (Spearman) (1620). 346 ; Mary (l) (White),
marriage (1678), 365 ; Mary (2) (Mitcalfe) (1772),
267 ; Nicholas, master mariner (1603), 328 ; Rev.
William (1S33), 273.
Atthey, T., geological works, 418.
Auckland, Thomas de, vicar of Whalton, grant to Tyne-
mouth priory { 1337), 115.
Auco, Hugh de, witness (1138), 59 "•
Audre (or^Andreu), Gilbert (1290), 216, 220 See also
Daudre.
Avenel, Robert de, witness, 58 n.
Averay, Ralph, East Chirton and Whitley subsidy roll
(1296), 393; William, Preston tallage roll (1294),
342 ; subsidy roll (1296), 343.
Auth-repe, meaning of, 224.
Aynsley. J., bequest (1S74), 366.
Aydon castle, 265 n,
Ayr, Gilbert, Middle Chirton tallage roll (1294), 330;
Preston tallage roll (1294), 342 ; John, free tenant
of Middle Chirton (1295), 330.
B.
Backworth, in Tynemouthshire, 208 ; granted to Tyne-
mouth priory, 48, 62 n, 6" n ; manor of, 221 ; lands
in, acquired by Tynemouth priory, 1 15, 1 16, 117;
deed relating to, 424 ; Conveys at, 225 ; rights of
pasturage at, 241 ; suit to Elatworth mill, 339 n ;
tithes of, 369, 371; plundering of, 90; size of
holdings, 22S ; rent of farmholds, 229 ; recognition
of copyhold tenure at, 239 ; enclosure of, 244 n ;
Otway property at, 346 ; coal mining at, 27-28, 29,
3°-
Backworth, East, lands in, acquired by Tynemouth
priory, 1 15, 116 ; rent-charge out of, 423.
Backworth, West, lands in, acquired by Tynemouth
priory, 115, 116 ; quarries at, 91.
Backworth, Hugh de, juror of Tynemouth (1293), 218 ;
John de. It's; witness (I3i9-I339')i 248 n, 395 n,
410 n, 423 ; Nicholas de, witness, 423 n ; Peter de,
tenant and juror of Tynemouth (1292-1302), 218,
249 n, 252, 421.
Bacon, William, tenant of Tynemouth (1336), 256;
witness (1363), 258 n, 422.
Bailiff, Robert, of East Chirton, yeoman (1596), 232 ;
William, tenant of East Chirton (1606), 321.
Bainbridge, W., geological work, 417.
Baker, Augustine, transcripts cited, 47 n, 63 n,
102 n, 113 n ; Joseph, mayor of Tynemouth (1880),
352.
Baking and brewing, at Tjmemouth, 252 ; at North
Shields, 2S7-288, 289 ; legalised, 290, 292 ; sup-
pressed, 299, 301, 305.
Baldwin, archbishop of Canterbury, witness, 68 n.
Baldwin, goldsmith, 66 ; Gilbert, land in Tynemouth,
255 ; Robert, land in Tynemouth (ciica 1295), 422.
Balkwcll. See Chirton (Middle).
Balliol, Guy de, benefactor of Tynemouth priory, 49-
50 ; Edward, king of Scotland, 212 ; John (1). gift
to Tynemouth priory, 121 ; John (2), hostile to
Tynemouth and Durham, 75 ; John (3), king of
Scotland, 80.
Baltic, trade with the, 312, 3S1.
Bamburgh, siege of, by William II. (IO95), 53 ; David
of Scotland at(li3H), 59; charter of Earl Henry
dated at, 60 n ; fishing at, 388.
Bamburgh, John de, sub-prior of Tynemouth, prior of
Wallingford and Belvoir, 102-103; gift to T)-ne-
mouth library (1438-1450), 119; commentary on
Geoffrey de Vinsauf, 120 ; life of Prior Whethamstede,
103.
Banester, John, lessee of Tynemouth lordship (1546),
230, 233.
Bankhead, Rev. William T.. Presbjterian minister
(1882-1890), 375-
Barbitonsor, William, baker, 252.
Baret, William, of Burradon (1305), 394.
Barkas, T. P., geological works, 41S-420.
Barker, Christopher (i), juror of Tynemouth (i;6:),
240 ; Christopher (2), juror of Tynemouth (1686),
241; Elizabeth (1790), 415; Henry, juror of
Tynemouth (16S6), 241 ; James, of .Monkseaton
(1654), 40S ; Robert, of Monkseaton. 40S ; tenant
of .Murton (1707 and 1757), 411; John (179°).
412, 415 ; Thomas Bell, of Westoe, 333 ; Thomas
(I) (1662), 241 ; Thomas (2) (1790)1 4'5 I William,
tenant of East Chirton (1294), 319.
Barnard Castle, William de Montague, custodian of
(1315-1316) 87 n ; millstones wrought at, 328.
Barneburgh, John de, Wear of Tynemouth (crrtu 1308),
126, 362.
Barnes, lessee of Seaton Delaval collier)', 30.
Bartleman, Alexander, mayor of Tynemouth (1S51),
352.
Barton, Thomas. See Tynemouth, priors of.
Bartrara, Robert, juror of Tynemouth (1562), 240.
Basirc, Isaac, archdeacon of Northumberland (166S).
359, 364 n.
Bateman. Robert, tenant of Preston (1294). 342. 343-
Bates, Margaret, marriage (I7'2)' 3*^5 '■ Richard,
marriage (1694), 365.
Beadnell, lishing at, 379. 388.
Bebside, in Tynemouthshire, 2oS ; granted to Tyne-
mouth prior)-, 48, 67 n ; manor of, 221 ; rouit held
at (1264), 113; lands in, acquired by Tynemouth
priory (1307) 115; coal mines and s;ilt pans at.
leased by" Peter Uelaval, 170: included m T)-ne-
mouth Union, 351.
Bebside, Robert de, grant to Tynemouth prior)-. 115 ;
William de, land in Tynemouth, 256.
Beckmann, Sir Martin, 'drawings of Clifford's fort,
276 n.
Bedenhall. William, witness (1426), 424, 425.
Bedford, William de, prior of Tynemouth ;ind of
Worcester (1224), 122; William, witness (1434)-
425.
Bedlington, road from Tynemouth to, 317.
Belford, family of Clark of, 273.
Bell, Agnes, wife of Nicholas of Newcastle, inouest on,
219^ Christopher, 262; ElizaU-th (.11 (Mitcalfe),
26S ; Elizabeth (2) (.Pot'cr, S|K-arnian). 347 ; George,
mayor of Tynemouth US70). 35^ : t'ilbert, son of
Galfrid, West Chirton tallage roll (1294). 337;
428
INDEX.
Humphrey, minister of Ponleland, quoted, 36411;
Jane (Fenwick), 348; John, 373 n; Margaret,
327 ; Matthew, 20 ; Milot, MiJille Chirion tallage
roll (1294), 330, 331 ; Roger, tenant of Preston
(1296), 343; William (i), Kast Chirton subsidy
roll (1296), 320; William (2), chaplain of Tyne-
mouth (150;), 367.
Bellasis, Richard, of Henknowl, loS ; agent fo
Crown on dissolution of monastery, 157, 160 n, 233.
Belsay. Ste Bilesho.
Belsowe, Thomas de, seneschal of Tynemouth (1316),
87 n.
Belvoir, John de Bamburgh, prior of, 102 ; prior of,
enquiry at Tynemouth, 106.
Benebalcrag, 35.
Benson, William, of Whitehaven, 399.
Bensted, John, prior of Hertford (14S3). and of Tyne-
mouth (1503), and abbot of Whitby (1 505), 123.
Benton, wayleave over moor, 83 n ; trespass on Shire
Moor, 414 ; Ralph Clarke, vicar of, I2g, 130 ; pay-
ments out of, 339 n ; included in Tynemouth Union,
351 ; jiitmen's song, 413 n.
Benton, Adam de, officer of Tynemouth priory (1306),
216 n, 339 n ; witness (1321), 394 n ; property in
Middle Chirton, 331.
Benwell, conveyed to Tynemouth priory (1458) 49,
102 ; included in Tynemouthshire, 208 ; annuity
charged on, 107 n ; Prior Blakeney retires to, no,
123 ; oppression of customary tenants at, 231 ;
recognition of copyhold tenure at, 239; entries on
Tynemouth court rolls relating to, 240.
Bergoma, Antonio de, emplo3'ed on Tynemouth fortifi-
cations (1545), 157.
Beikhamstead, John de. Sfe St. Alban's, abbots of.
Bernard, William, prior of Tynemouth (1279), 123.
Bertram, Sir John, witness (1421), 424; Robert (l),
sheriff of Northumberland, witness {circa 1 140),
60 n ; Robert (2), justice (1283), 211 n.
Berwick, F.dward I. at (1292), 80; house property in,
acquired by Tynemouth priory (1335), 90, 115;
Margaret of Anjou lands at (1462), 104; Sir
Krancis Leeke, governor of, 158; Sir Richard Lee's
fortifications at, 161 ; establishment of garrison at
(1649), 193 ; George Fenwick, governor of, 194 ;
garrison of, capture royalist party at Morpeth, 195 ;
rumoured plot at (1665), 199 ; Tynemouth garrison
reinforced from (1667), 200 ; declares for William
III., 203 ; sea fisheries at, 379, 380, 381, 3S3, 3S6,
388.
Bewick, in Tynemouthshire, 208; granted to Tynemouth
priory, 48-49, 54, 55, 62 n, 67 n, 69 n ; lands in,
acquired by Tynemouth priory, 115 ; restored to St.
Alban's and Tynemouth, 62 n ; church confirmed
to St. .'Mban's, 64, 68 n ; claimed by earl of Dunbar,
74; manor of, 221; court held at, 113; gallows
at, 211 ; market at, 75 ; forest of, 76 n ; plundered,
90 ; lease of, no. SW also Morel, Archil.
Bewick, John William (1857-1869), Roinan Catholic
bishop of He-xham and Newcastle, 376, 377 ;
Robert de (I), payment to (^circa 1260), 76 n ; Robert
de (2), quit-claim (1320), 421.
Bickerstaffe, Philip, of Chirton (1688), 203, 322.
Bigod, Hugh, witness to charters, 58 n.
Bilesho Qjiiay Belsay), granted to Tynemouth priory,
68 n.
Billington, Ralph, of Birtley, marriage, 347.
Billy Moor. Sff Shire Moor.
Billy Mill, Tynemouth dyke at, 13 ; cist found at, 316 ;
description of, 328-329 ; lease of, 398.
Billy Mill lane, 306 n, 316, 317 ; Jewish cemetery in,
378-
Binham, co. Norfolk, patronage of, 70 ; Ralph Gubiun,
Richard de Parco, and William Dixwell, priors of.
Sec Tynemouth, priors of.
Binham, Geoffrey de, warden of I.ady-chapcl at Tyne-
mouth (1338), 91 ; Philip de, witness (thirteenth
century), 421 ; Robert de, witness (1363-1400),
258 n, 422-424.
Bird, Anne (Mitcalfc), 268.
Bishopdale, William de, mayor of Newcastle (1391)1
422.
Bitleston, Thomas, juror of Tynemouth (1562), 240.
Black Chesters in Chirton, 316, 413 n.
Black Middens, 298 n.
Blackburn, John, marriage, 272.
Blackett, Sir William, property at Chirton (1699),
322.
Black Piince, the, 92.
Blake, Sir Francis, bart., 29.
Blakeney, Robert. See Tynemouth, priors of.
Blakeston, John (1664), 305 n ; Col. Nathaniel, 283 n ;
Sir William, lieutenant of volunteer troop (1667),
200 n.
Blaydon, 2S1, 328.
Blencuwe, Bridget (Reay), monument, 130.
Blithman, Cuthbert, juror of Tynemouth (1562), 240.
Blunt, Capt. Robert, in command at Tynemouth
castle (1649), 194.
BIyth, fishing at, 3S2, 3S8 ; tithe of fish, 370 ; boat-
building at, 3S3 ; shipment of salt at, 22 ; shipment
of coal at, 33 ; prohibition of trade with, 184 ;
Scottish artillery landed at, 1S6 ; transference of
salt pans to, 21, 284 ; Seaton Sluice and Cullercoals
under charge of, 282 ; creation of port, 353 ; family
of Clark of, 273.
BIylh and Tyne railway. See Railways.
Boalh, Thomas, steward of Tynemouth (16S5), 215 n.
Bolam, lords of, benefactors of Tynemouth priory, 48-
49-
Bolam, Walter de, prior of Tynemouth, 123.
Bolam, church of, granted to Tynenioulh priory, 49,
68 n ; claimed by Archbishop of York (1254), 73 n ;
Joseph Bonner, vicar of, 365.
Boldon, Alan de, clerk, tenant of Preston (1296),
344. 421 •
Bolt, Roger, tenant of Tynemouth (1264), 249 n.
Bolton, leper hosjiilal at, 123.
liolioii, Thomas Thompson, mayor of Tynemouth
(1S96), 352 ; William de, grant by (1392). 424.
Bond, derivation of the teini, 222 n.
Bonett, holder of jiension from Tynemouth, 118 n.
Bonner, Joseph, vicar of Bolam (1702), 365.
Boon-ere, meaning of, 224.
Boon-harrow, meaning of, 224.
Bostock, Hugh, 100 ; John of Whethamstede. See St.
Alban's, abbots of.
Boston, Nicholas {see Tynemouth, priors of) ; John,
of Bury, account of John of Tynemouth 127 n.
Bothal, tithes of, granted to Tynemouth priory, 50, 62 n.
Bothwell, James, earl of, |)risoner at Tynemouth (1563),
162.
Boulby, Roger, of North Shields, property in Monk-
seaton, 406.
Boulmer, fishing at, 385, 388.
Boutflower, William, of .Appeiley, trustee for Chirton
estate (1702), 322.
Bowe, John, freehold in Tynemouth (l6o8), 263.
Bovver, Joshua, 32.
INDEX.
429
Bowes, Elizabeth, widow, of North Shields, 296 ;
Henry, copj-holder (1609), 23S ; John, freehold in
Tynemniith (1649), 265, 272 ; Sir Robert, survey
cited, 159 n ; Stephen, sued (1659), 241.
Bowmaker, Thomas, tenant of Tynemouth, 233.
Bowman, John, of South Shields, owns land at Mur-
ton, 411 ; Rev. Thomas, Presbyterian minister
(1842-1845), 375.
Bowser, farmer of ' hall-corn ' at Tynemouth, 235.
Boyd, Roger, witness (circa 127O), 421.
Boyfelde, Hugh, master of ordnance (1545). 158.
Boyt, Roger, tenant of Preston (1296), 344; Tunnok,
Tynemouth subsidy roll (1296), 252.
Bradford, Thomas, of Bradford, commissioner (1596),
232.
Bradley, George, one of the ' twenty-four ' (1674), 36S.
Brady, G. S., geological work, 419.
Brandon, Hugh de, grant to Tynemouth priorj' (13S0
and 13S2), 116.
Branxton, Oliver Selby, chaplain of, 363.
Breadalbane, John, second earl of, marriage, 202.
Brende, John, overseer of fortifications at Tynemouth
castle (I545)> '58.
Brerden, WilHam de, East Chirton and Whitley
subsidy roll (1296), 393.
Brereton, Sir William, account of Tynemouth church
(1635). 128 ; of salt pans at Shields, 300 n.
Breuster, Thomas, land in East Chirton (1341), 423.
Bridgman. Sir Orlando, 121.
Bridock, I'homas, inquest on, 219.
Brierdean burn. I, 3.S9 ; pits at, 24 ; pasture, 327.
Briggs, Henry Perronet, of Monkseaton (1S40). 406.
Briton, Hugh, witness to charter (1 1 38), 59 n.
Brinkburn, prior and convent of, owned coal mines at
Hartley, 22.
Bristol, Merchant A'enturers of, 371.
Broadbent, Rev. John, Congregationalist minister
(1868), 377.
Brodrick (Brotherwyk), John, bailiff of Tynemouth
(1392), 424; Susannah (Mitcalfe), 267.
Browell, Jane (Mills), 406.
Brown, Alexander, of Callaly, 383 ; Alice (Spearman),
346; Cecily, land in Tynemouth, 421 ; Elizabeth,
marriage (1697), 36; ; Rev. J. C, minister of St.
.Andrew's chapel (1892-1895), 374; .Mary (Clark),
273 ; Matilda (Turner), grant from (1319), 42 1 ;
Roger, of Tynemouth (1324), 394; Sir \'alentine,
garrisons Tynemouth castle, 163 ; William (l), land
in Tynemouth (1319), 421 ; William (2), juror of
Tynemouth (1562), 240; William (3), millwright
(1599). 329 ; William (4), his fire-engine (1760), 24.
Brownhill, Francis, marriage (1711), 365.
Browster, Thomas, witness (1434), 425.
Bruce, Robert 1., benefactor of Tynemouth ]>riory, 50 ;
witness to charters, 59 n.
Bruce, Robert, king of Scotland, inroads into Nor-
thumberland, 85.
Bruerne, Robert de, baker, 252.
Brun, Roger, Tynemouth subsidy roll (1296), 252 ;
William, East Chirton and Whitley subsidy roll
(1296), 393-
Brunson, Joan, grant from (1351), 423 ; Rich.ard, land
in Tynemouth (1333), 423.
Brutton, Thomas, vicar of Tynemouth (186S), 364.
Buchan, Rev. Ch.arles E., Presbyterian minister (1840-
1843), 374-
Buddie, John, colliery owner, 22, 27, 28.
Budle bay, garpike in. 378 ; mussel cultivation in, 3S3.
Bugnel, Robert, marriage (1730), 365.
Bull-ring, North Shields, 306 and n ; coaches start
from, 314 ; (Quakers' meeting house, 372 ; dock al,
3ip.
Bullein, William, physician .and author. 160.
Bullok, Robert, 422.
Bulmer, Thomas de, chaplain to Lord of Grcv'lokc at
Tynemouth, 85 n ; Sir William, 107.
Burdon .Main, 26.
Burdon, Hugh, claims West Chirton (1293), 33;;
Robert, tenant of East Chirton (1294), 319 ; Roger,
337 ; Thomas, lessee of Coble IJcne ( 1733), 341 n ;
— , lessee of Seaton Delaval colliery, 30.
Burfield, Jane (Spearman), 347.
Burleigh, Lord. Stt Cecil.
Burlington House, Roman stones from Tynemouth at,
36-37.
Burneloft, Henry de, grants to Tynemouth priory
(1345 and 134S), 115.
Burnvill, I), de, witness 10 charter, 60 n.
Burradon firestone, 9 ; colliery, 28, 30, 32 ; Burradon
and Coxlodgc Coal Company, 32 ; tithes of, 124,
125 n, 369, 370. 37t.
Burrell, John, of Witton Gilbert, buys land al Preston
(1808), 345-
Burton, I homas de, land in Tynemouth (1302), 421.
Burward, .\dam, Tynemouth subsidy roll (1206), 252.
Burwood, wood of, confirmed to Tynemouth priory,
62 n.
Buth, Roger del, grant to Tynemouth priory ( 1 382), 1 16.
Butler, of Chirton, pedigree, 324 ; John, of Chirton,
346; one of the 'twenty-four' (1674), 368; John,
ste Lanesborough, earl of.
Bydik, John de, of Shields, land in Tjniemouth, 422,
423-
Byker, Robert de, witness (1321), 395 n.
Byscth, Manasser, sewer to Henry II., witness to
charters, 62 n.
Bywell St. Peter's, church of, granted to Tynemouth
priory, 49; appropriated to St. Alban's, ilS; sur-
rendered to Durh.im (I174I. 63.
Bywell St. .Andrew, tithes of, 363.
C.
Caldewell, Robert, tenant in West Chirton (1294),
337; (1296), 33,8.
Callander, James Livingstone, earl of, le.ider of Scottish
army (1644), 186.
Callerton, Black, tithes of, granted to Tj-nemouth
priory, 49 n, 50, 62 n.
Cambo, chapel of, confirmed to St. .Mban's (I174), 64.
Cambou, Sir Waller de, officer of Tynemouth priory
(130b), 216 n.
Camden, William, cited, 120, 120 n, 16S, 284-2S5.
Campbell, of Whitley, pedigree, 400: Dun. m RR
399-
Camperdown, 351.
Canterbury, Baldwin, archbishop of, witness to charter
(llSg), 68 n ; ll[ubcrlj, archbishop of, witness to
charier (1 1981, 68 n ; council of (i 1S9I. 69 n.
Capstaflf, Jane (Henzell), 401.
CardonncI, Mansfeldt, 322 n.
Cardonnel-L.awson of Chirton and Cramlington. pedi-
gree, 323 ; Adam, 322 n, 326 ; James Hilton de,
sells Chirton property (1865"), 323.
Carey, Mary (Delaval), 171 ; RoK-rt, carl of Mon-
mouth and captain of Tynemouth castle (1633),
167. 179, 180, 204 ; Thomas, reversion of capt.aincy
of Tynemouth, iSo.
43°
INDEX.
Carlbury, co. Durham, granted to Tynemomh jjiiory,
50, 68 n ; court held at (1264), 113 ; cornage rout
at, IlS n.
Carliol, Thomas de, seeks protection at Tynemouth. 77,
212.
Carlisle, defended against Scots (1315), 86.
Carlisle, Archiwald, bishop of, witness to charier, 60 n.
Carlisle, earl of, lieutenant-general of the North (1667),
199 ; defence of Tyne, 200.
Carnaby, Jane (Kellet), marriage (1672), 365 ;
Thomas, royalist (1655), T95.
Cnrr, Kdward, lesidenl in North Shields (1664), 305 n ;
John, works coal at Whitley and Monkseaton
(1676), 20, 281 ; Messrs., work Seghill colliery, 29 ;
]iurchase Burradon colliery (1848), 30 ; owners of
Cowpen colliery, 31 ; S. S., account of monumental
stones at Tynemouth, 147 n ; William (i), mayor
of Newcastle, 341 n ; William (2), land at Fiat-
worth (1671), 341 n.
Carrick, Rev. J. D., Baptist minister (1839-1866),
, 377-
Carruth, John, cornet (1646), 189: freehold in Tyne-
mouth (1649), 265, 269.
Carter, Robert, of Earsdon, grant to (1319), 24S n ;
grant by (1324). 24S n.
Cartington, John, land in Tynemouth, etc. (1426),
259, 424, 425 ; William, witness (1426), 424, 425.
Cartwright, Thomas, land in Tynemouthshire (1633-
1640), 240.
Car^'ille, John, solicitor to earl of Northumberland
(1606), 121, 174 n.
Cary, I.ady .Mary (Stafford), secures appointment of
Gardiner to priorate of Tynemouth (1528), 107 ;
annuity, 107, 109.
Castell, Thomas, sub-prior of Tynemouth (1539), III.
Castle-ward, payable in West Chirton, 214.
Castro, Alan de, witness (1319-1339), 88 n, 248 n, 394 n,
395 n, 4io,n.
Cavendish, William. See Newcastle, marquis of.
Cay, pedigree, 407 n ; Henry Boult, claim on Shire
Moor (1790), 415; Robert, of Newcastle, farm at
Monkseaton (1680), 407.
Cecil, Sir Robert, holds ancient grants of Tynemouth
(circa 1600), 120; Sir William, Lord Burleigh,
obtains captaincy of Tynemouth for Sir Henry Percy
(1561). 160 ; letter to, from Sir Henry Percy (1566),
127.
Cella, John de. &<• St. Alban's, abbots of.
Census returns: Chirton, 315 n; Cullercoats, 28on;
North Shields, 315 n; Monkseaton, 402 n ; Murton,
409 n ; Preston, 342 n ; Tynemouth, 247 n ; Whit-
ley, 389 n.
Chaitour, Christopher, servant to bishop of Durham
(1539). Ill-
Champeneys, William, East Chirton tallage roll (1294),
319 ; subsidy roll (1296), 320.
Chandler, Bishop, visitation of Tynemouth (circa 1736),
368.
Charities : parochial charities, 365-366 ; general charit-
able institutions, 356 ; lifeboat institutions, 356-
357,401-402; charity schools, 312, 356,366 ; Master
Mariners' Asylum, 248 n, 356 ; Shields dispensary,
311, 366.
Charles I. at Newcastle, 189-190; visits Tynemouth,
180, i8g.
Charleton, Rev. Charles (l), vicar of Tynemouth
('789), 361, 364; Charles (2), M.D., monument in
Christ church (1827), 361 ; bequest, 366.
Charlton, William, of Newcastle, 270.
Chastelon, Robert de, merchant of Normandy (1333),
254-
Chatton, Charles Ward, vicar of, 364.
Cha)-ler, Sarah, owns salt pan at North Shields
(1707). 310.
Chepman, Matilda, cottager, of Monkseaton, 404.
Cheseman, William, grant to Tynemouth priory (1392),
117 ; witness (1426), 424.
Chester, Jane (Lorrence), marriage (1675), 365 ;
Ranulph, earl of, 60.
Chester-le-Street, projierty in, 398.
Chevage. See Head-pennies.
Chevale, Robert, grant to Tynemouth priory (1307),
115.
Chevyngton, William de, grant to Tynemouth priory
(1380 and 1382), 116; witness (1363-1383), 258 n,
422-424 ; trustee, 396.
Chiffinch, Barbara (\'illiers, countess of Jersey)* 202.
Chille, well called, at Gateshead, 210.
Chirton TOWNSHII", 315-341 ; account of East Chirton,
319-329; Middle Chirton, 329-334 ; West Chirton,
334-341 ; in Tynemouthshire, 208, 230; granted to
Tynemouth priory, 48, 55, 62 n, 67 n, 318; lands
in acquired by Tynemouth priory, 115-117;
plundering of, 90 ; deeds relating to property in,
254 n, 422-425; size of holdings, 228; rent of
farmholds in, 229 ; recognition of copyhold tenure
at, 239 ; tithes of, 369, 370 ; parochial services at,
35S ; charities, 365, 366 ; medieval coal mines in,
17; grant of royalties, 19; the Blaw Pit at, 241 ;
later history of mining in, 22, 26 ; included in
Tynemouth Borough, 247, 350-353 ; portions of
Shire Moor added to, 415, 416; census returns,
315 n. See also Flalworth anJ West Chirton.
Chirton barracks, 349.
Chirton hall, 322-323.
Chirton Hill, coal outcrop at, 8.
Chirton, Robert de, juror of Tynemouth (1295), 215 n ;
tenant of East Chirton, 319, 320; of Preston, 342-
343 ; of Murton, 409 ; witness, 421-422 ; William de,
juror of Tynemouth (1295), 215 n ; fined, 220 ;
land in Tynemouth, 257, 421 ; Preston tallage roll,
342 ; witness, 421-422.
Chis, Robert, cottager of Monkseaton, 404.
Cholmley, royalist (1655), 195.
Choppington, family of Clark of, 273.
Chopwell woods, 327.
Christ church, Tynemouth. See Tynemouth parish
church.
Christie, Rev. David, M.A., Presbyterian minister
(1890-1897), 375.
Christien, Rev. J., minister of St. Andrew's chapel
(1S68-1871), 374-
Cisseson, John, grant to Tynemouth priory (1360), 116.
Clapam, Dorothy, charge against (1535), 367.
Clarendon, Edward Hyde, earl of, 194, 198.
Clark, of Blyth, Choppington, North Shields and
Belford, pedigree, 273; Robert, sued (1655), 241 ;
William, of Dockwray Square, buys Monkseaton
farm (1779), 408.
Clarke, Ann (Lacy), monument in Tynemouth church,
130,406; Edward (Stewart), 274; James Stewart
(Stewart), 274 ; John (i), agent of earl of North-
umberland, land at Chirton (1672), 322, 359; one
of the 'twenty-four' (1674), 36S ; John (2), of
North Shields, property in Alonkseaton (1687),
406; Margaret (i) (Collingwood), marriage (16S4),
365 ; Margaret (2) (Bates), marriage (1694),
365 ; Messrs., claim on Shire Moor (1790), 415 I
INDEX.
431
Ralph, tenant of Whitley (1757), 397 ; Rev. Ralph,
vicar of Long Benton, and family, monumental
inscription, 129; marriage (1697), 365 ; Robert, of
North Shields, master mariner, and family, monu-
mental inscription, 129; marriage (1752), 365;
William, lessee of Whitley colliery (1810), 26, 400;
of Earsdon colliery (1823), 28; of West Holywell
collier)' (1828), 29 ; of East Holywell colliery (1839),
30-3I-
Clavering, royalist (1656), 196.
Clere, Henry, claims land in West Chirton {circa 1280),
337-
Clerk, John (l), of Shields, land in Tynemouth (1336),
257 ; John (2), witness (1360), 257 n ; (1363), 258 n,
422.
Cleveland, alum industr}' at, 19.
Clibborn, Alice (Spence), 350.
Cliffe, Thomas, of North Shields, shipwright (1646),
301 ■
Clifford, Lady, taken prisoner (fiVirn 131 5), 86; Henry,
Lord, inspection of Tynemouth (1627), 179 ; Robert
de, marches against Edward II. at Newcastle
(1312), 84; Thomas, Lord, fort at Shields named
after, 200 ; Sir Thomas, loan to Tynemouth priory
(1538), no.
Clifford's fort, 200, 276 ; watch-house near, 312.
Clousden Hill, Killingworth, Permian rocks at, 2 ;
Clousden Hill seam, 4, 7 ; fossil plants at, 9.
Clutterbuck, John, 321.
Cl)Teden, Thomas de, seneschal of Tynemouth (1276),
215 n, 421.
Coal : descriptions of coal-measures in Tynemouth
parish and Earsdon chapelry, 6-1 1 ; collieries and
the coal trade, 17-34; character of the district, 17 ;
use of wagonways, 20-21, 27-2S ; invention of the
atmospheric engine, 21 ; system of supports and
shallow workings, 19-20, 25 ; reduction of export
duties, 29-30; total annual sale of (1538), 114;
export at North Shields (1267), 286 ; Nonh Shields
colliery, 266 ; Cullercoats collier)-, 282-283 ; Flat-
worth colliery, 341 ; Percy Main colliery, 341 ;
Whitley colliery, 282, 283, 397, 400 ; Monkseaton
colliery, 407.
Coast-erosion at Tynemouth, 16, 72 n, 97, 420.
Coatswonh, Michael, owns salt pans at North Shields
(1707) 310.
Cobbet, Major, leads attack on Tynemouth castle
(1648), 192.
Coble Dene, landing place at, 298 n, 317 ; salt pans at,
341 ; dock (.\lbert Edward), 341, 354.
Cochrane, Rev. John, Presbyterian minister (1817-
1823), 374.
Cock, Ralph, 327 n ; Samuel, of Newcastle, boothman
(1647), 346 ; Walter, witness (1376"), 422.
Cocklaw, murder of Lord Francis Russell at, 167.
Cohn, Prof. J., geological work, 419.
Coke, Robert, land in Tynemouth, 125 n.
Cokeman, William, claims land in West Chirton. 337.
Cokesho, Richard de, officer of Tynemouth priory
(1306), 216 n.
Coldingham, Richard de, witness to documents, 64-
66 n.
Coles, William, steward of Tynemouth (1707), 215 n.
CoUingwood, of Dissington, descent, 325, 326 n; of
Lilburn, descent, 326 ; Barbara (Oiway), 346 ;
Cuthbert, Lord, 325, 326 n ; Edward (i), of Byker
and Dissington, 325 , Edward (2), of Byker, grav-
ing dock at North Shields (1752), 310 ; recorder of
Newcastle, 324, 325, 326 n ; tenant of .\lurlon, 411 ;
Edward (3), of Chirton, 325 ; claim on Shire Moor
('79°). 415 ; Edward Stanhofie, 325 ; John, of Chir-
ton, 326 ; monument in Christ church (1841), 361 ;
Roljert, lease of Bewick (1536), no; Sarah, monu-
ment in Christ church C1824), 361 ; William (l),
of North Shields (1G61), 304, 305 n ; William (2),
marriage (1684), 365.
Collins, Ralph, mayor of Tynemouth (1888-1889), 352 ;
William, grantee from the Crown, 19, 264, 299, 328,
341.
Collinson, Ilenr)', of Aydon castle, 26S ; Captain
William, freehold in Tynemouth (1649), 265 ; buys
land at Tynemouth and Aydon castle, 265 n ; hci'rs
own salt pans at North Shields, 310 ; bequest, 365 ;
subscription to church, 367; one of the 'iwenty-
four' (1674), 368.
Collyer, Elizabeth, of Newcastle, surrenders Monk-
seaton village farm (1680), 407.
Colville, Sir Thomas, champion for Prior de la Mare,
94 ; Rev. William, .M.A., Presbyterian minister
(1899), 375-
Communication : between North Shields and New-
castle, 303, 314 ; between North Shields and South
Shields, 314 and n.
Coneveis-pennies and Coneveis-silver. See Conveys.
ConisclifFe church granted to Tynemouth prior)-, 50,
68 n ; confirmed to St. Alban's (11 74), 64 ; claimed
by bishop of Durham (125S), 73 n ; by William de
Greystoke (1256), 74; advowson conceded to St.
Alban's (1315), 85 ; pension from, payable to St.
Alban's, 65; cornage rent at, Ii8n; Adam, vicar
of(ll74), 65.
Constantinc mac Aedh, king of the Scots, 412.
Conveys, meaning and origin of, 224-225 ; at Whitley,
390. 393-594. 395-
Conway, royalist general (1640), 181.
Conyers, Ann, monument in Christ church, 361 ; Mar-
garet (Reed), 321 ; Mar)-, monument in Christ
church, 361 ; Nicholas, of Scarborough, 361 ; Wil-
liam, monument in Christ church, 361.
Cook, John, of Newcastle, 407.
Cookson, Christopher, steward of Tynemouth (1831),
215 n.
Cooper, Grey, marriage (1753), 365.
Copyhold tenure in "Tynemouihshire, developraent of,
228, 236-238 ; legal recognition of, 238-239 ; sute-
ment of customs, 241-242 ; in North Shields,
293-297.
Coquet, mussel bait in the, 382 ; salmon conservancy,
3S7.
Coquet Island, granted to Tynemouth prior)-, 48 ;
foundation of cell at, 56 ; appropriated 10 St.
Alban's, 118 ; St. Ilenrj- of, 56, 146.
Corbridge, battle of (923), 413 n ; tithes of, granted
to Tynemouth priory, 49, 63n, 68 n; David I. at
(1 138), 58 ; skirmish at (.1644), iSj.
Corder, Elizabeth (Spence), 350 ; Percy, cited, 350 n.
Cornage rents, granted to prior and convent of Tyne-
mouth (1205), 69 ; their amount, 213-214 ; not paid
by Tynemouth township, 222 ; not p;iid by Murton
township, 410 ; paid to abbot of St. .-Mban's (abbot-
scot), iiS n, 224.
Cometh, Mark, juror of T)-nemouih (1562), 240;
.Mark, of Tynemouth (l6Sb), 241.
Corrody, example of, 70 n.
Cosyn, John, alderman of Newcastle (1647), 191.
Coulson, Gabriel, parish clerk and schoolmaster of
North Shields (1655), 3'2 n, 36S.
Council of the North, proieedings before, 228, 295-J97
43:
INDEX.
Council of Trade, proceeilings before, 301-303.
Coveniry, bishop of, arbiiralor between Tynemoulh
priory and Newcastle (1512), 2gi.
Coward, Anne, monument in Christ church (1S34"),
361 ; Henry, of Preston. 272 ; monument in Christ
church (1836), 361 ; Humphrey, marriage (1636),
364 ; Margaret Antonia Linskill, monument in
Christ church (1843), 361 ; Thomas, tenant of
East Chirton (1606), 321.
Cowden, William, dissenting teacher (died 1730),
373 n-
Cowell, Richard, of Long Benton, buys North Balkwell
farm (iSoj"), 333.
Cowpen, geological faults at, 8 ; in Tynemouthshire,
208 ; granted to Tynemouth priory, 48, 68 n ; lands
in, acquired by Tynemouth priory, I15-117 ; town-
ship fined at Tynemouth assizes (1293), 2ig ; survey
of (1323), 227 ; customary tenure at, 226 n ; entries
on Tynemouth court rolls relating to, 240, 241 ;
tiihes of, 370 ; Toll property at, 269 ; coal seams
at, 7; coal mines leased by Peter Delaval, 170;
colliery, 31, 32 ; railway communication with the
Tyne, 33 ; included in Tynemouth Union, 351.
Cowpen, John de, juror of Tynemouth (1295"), 215 n ;
William de, concerned in burglary (1290), 216;
death, 218, 220 ; William de, prior's carter (1336),
257.
Craig, Herbert, M.P. for Tynemouth (1906), 351.
Cramfield, engineer (1625), 178.
Cramlington, coal seams at, 7 ; fossil plants at, 9 ;
ancient earthworks in, 413 ; wagonway, 29, 30,
341 n ; family of Lawson of, no, 322-323 ; included
in Tynemouth Union, 351.
Cramlington, George (circa 1550), 171 ; Henry, claim
on Shire Moor (1790), 415 ; John, sexton of
Tynemouth (1645), 367.
Craster, fee farm rent from, 49; harbour at, 381 ;
fishing at, 385, 386, 387 n, 388.
Craster, John, of Craster, 202 ; Rev. Thomas, rector of
Kettlethorpe, 400.
Crawford, of Seaton Delavaf, Hartley and Balkwell,
pedigree, 333 ; George, of King's Langley, be-
quest (181 1), 366; John (i), of North Shields,
buys Monkseaton property (1S15), 408; John (2),
of Cambois, land in Chirton, 333 ; Ralph, of Hart-
ley, buys Balkwell farm (1805), 333 ; Monkseaton
South-west farm (1S13), 408 ; Shallett John, owner
of Monkseaton properly, 408.
Crawhall, Thomas Emerson, vicar of Tjnemouth
(1899), 364.
Creppynge, Simon de, collector of subsidy (1276),
2l3n.
Cressingham, H. de, justice itinerant (1293), 218.
Cresswell, fishing at, 388.
Cresswell, Cresswell, steward of Tynemouth (1S32),
215 n.
Cressy, Hugh de, witness to charter, 62 n.
Crewe, trustees of Lord, 381.
Crighton, Alexander, of North Shields, buys Monk-
seaton property (1795), 407.
Crook, Walter, land in Tynemouth, 256.
Cromwell, Oliver, petition to, for market at Shields
(■''54)1 3°3 ; at Dunbar, 397 ; Thomas, annuity from
Tynemouth priory, 107 ; secures appointment of
Robert Blakeney as prior, 109.
Cruddas, Eleanor, monumental inscription (1830)1361 ;
John, of North Shields, brewer, monumental in-
scription (1831), 361.
Cuherd, William, land in Tynemouth, 423 n.
Cullercoats township, 2.S0-2S4 ; fossil fish at, 3, 5-6,
417 ; Red Sandstone at, 4, 8 ; Ninety-fathom Dyke
at, 5, 8, 417 ; coal outcrop at, 8 ; creation of township,
283 ; annexed to port of Newcastle, 282 ; includeil
in Tynemouth borough, 247, 350-351; salt trade
at, 20-21. 2S2-284 ; colliery, 282-283; fishing in-
dustry at, 284, 3S5, 386, 388 ; pier at, 20, 281 ;
marine laboratory at, 389 ; lifeboat station at, 356,
357 ; fishermen's chapel .at, 376 ; St. George's
church, 360; Quakers' burial ground, 281, 372;
census returns, 280. SVg ti/so Marden.
Curset, Colonel, account of Scottish attack on the
Tyne (1644), 1,85.
Curtays. John, witness (1333 and 1340), 423.
Custumal (1295); East Chirton, 319-320; Middle
Chirton, 330 ; West Chirton, 338 ; Monkseaton,
404 ; Preston, 223, 343-344. See also Tynemouth
and Whitley.
Cuthbert, St., at Tynemouth, 38-39 ; dedication of
church at Tynemouth by, 40 ; legend of his hair, 42 n.
Cutler, Richard, of Harsdon, yeoman (1596), 233 ;
Robert, of Earsdon, will (1570), 228 n ; Thomas,
228 r» ; William, of Newcastle, cooper (1596), 234.
D.
Dabber, Geoffrey, land in Tynemouth, 256; Roger,
witness (1333), 423; William, Tynemouth subsidy
roll (1296), 252.
Dacre, of Gilsland, family of, 254 n ; Dorothy (Lacy),
monumental inscription, 130; Sir Philip, knight
(1535). 367 I -'''■ Thomas, Lord Dacre of Gilsland,
212 ; tenant of Tynemouth (1539), 262.
D.agger letch. North Shields, 262. 28;, 306, 368.
Daglish, Jacob, mayor of Tynemoulh (1900-1901), 352 ;
John, of Wideopen, murdered (1596), 172 n.
Dale, Isabella (I'enwick), 348 ; John (i), master
mariner, monumental inscription (1744), 361 ; John
(2), 267 ; Shallett, of Newcastle, 267 ; S. J., 349.
Dalton, county Durham, tithes of, granted to Tyne-
mouth priory, 62 n.
Dalton, John de, grant to Tynemouth priory (1391),
116, 117 ; quit-claim (1376), 424 ; Matilda, wife of
Richard tie, 410 ; Richard de, of Newcastle, grant
to Tynemouth priory (1339J, 115, 410; witness
(1326), 423.
Danby, earl of, secures Tynemouth for William of
Orange (16S8), 203.
Danish invasions, 40-41 ; Tynemouth a Danish base,
154 ; Danish influence in Tynemouth, 222, 248.
Danun (Deanham), granted to Tynemoulh priory,
68 n.
Darnelon, William, of North Shields (1596), 235.
Daudre, Gilbert, witness (1320), 88 n, 422. See also
Audre.
Davenport, chaplain to bishop of Durham (1668), 359.
David 1., king of Scotland, invades Northumberland,
(1136), 58 ; second invasion (1 138), 58 ; defeated at
battle of the Standard (1 1 38), 59 ; charters, 59 n.
David H., king of Scotland, capture at Neville's Cross,
94-
Davison, Sir Alexander, of Newcastle, property in
North Shields (1631), 298 n ; Jane, of North
Shields, buys land at Murlon (1856), 411; John
Thomas, 348, 399, 400 ; Thomas, 270 ; William, of
North Shields, buys Preston farm (1S72), 34S ;
Whitley property (1855), 399 ; Monkseaton properly
(1865), 406.
Davy, William (1413), 258 n ; witness (1421), 424.
INDEX.
433
Dawson, Barbara, monumental inscription, 129;
Richard, tenant of Tynemoulh, 231 n ; Thomas,
monumental inscription, 129.
Deanham. SW Danun.
Deckham, Thomas (1609), officer of earl of Northum-
berland, 167, 233, 234, 235 ; copyholder, 238.
Defte. See Deste.
Defoe, Daniel, 'Tour through Great Britain' cited,
307 n, 379 n, 393 n.
De la Beche, Eliza (Mitcalfe), 268.
De la Mare, Thomas. See St. Alban's, abbots of.
Delaval of Tynemoulh, pedigree, 171 ; family of, sell
manor of Benwel! to Tynemoulh priory, 102.
Delaval, Barbara, subscription to Tynemoulh garrison
(1643), i84n ; Edward Hussey (1814), 25 ; Hubert,
benefactor of Tynemoulh priory, 48, 50, 55 (lo) ;
Sir John, knight (l), hosiile 10 Tynemoulh priory,
107 ; Sir John, knight (2), leases Whitley tithes
(1539), no; surveys Tynemoulh castle (1571),
164; John (3), of Tynemoulh, petition to earl of
Northumberland, 172 n; sells Arnold's close (1618),
281 ; Sir John (4), of Dissington, knight, list of
Northumberland fishermen (1626), 378 n, 38S ; Sir
John (5), third baronet (1725), works Hartley coal
mines, 23 ; John Hussey, Lord, e.\ploits coal trade
at Hartley, 23, 25 ; Joshua, of Rivergreen, report
on Tynemoulh castle (1596), 169; convicted of
murder, 172 n ; Luce (Hall), marriage (1635), 364;
Peter, character of, 170; works Preston coal mines
(1590), 18 ; purchase and sale of Tynemoulh rec-
tory, 363 n, 370 ; freehold in Tynemoulh, 262, 263,
281 ; captain of Tynemoulh castle (1596), 169, 173 ;
dismissal, 174; letters from, 173, 174 n, 370 n ; law-
suits, 231-235, 294-296 ; purchase of Arnold's close
(1606), 281 ; seal, 172 ; Ralph (i), of North Shields,
at Tynemoulh casile (1596), 169. 173 ; purchases
moiety of Tynemoulh rectory, 370 ; hall-corn dis-
pute, 322, 235 ; champions claims of copyholders in
North Shields, 294-297 : inventory taken by, 328 ;
owner of Arnold's close (1606), 281 ; Sir Ralph (2),
knight, works coal at Hartley, 22 ; letter on pre-
sentation to Tynemoulh vicarage (1607), 363" !
Sir Ralph (3), first baronet, develops coal trade at
Hartley, 22-23 ; defence of the Tyne (1667) 199;
pew in Christ church, 359 ; one of the ' twenty-
four' (1674), 368; sells tithes (1676), 371;
theological treatise dedicated to, 372 ; Robert (i),
plunders Tynemoulh property (circa 1325), 90;
Sir Robert (2), knight, defends Tynemoulh
castle, 87; agreement wilh prior (1326), 31S ;
witness (1321), 394 n ; Robert (3), of Sealon
Delaval, deputy captain of Tynemoulh castle (1585),
167 ; on commission (1596), 232 ; buys half Tyne-
moulh rectory, 371 ; Robert (4), of Cowpen, officer
of the earl of Northumberland (1609), 23S ;
Robert (5), captain of volunteers (1667). 200 n;
Thomas, directs trade at Harilcy, 23-24 ; Walter,
plunders Tynemoulh property (circa 1325), 90;
William (i) (before 1158), reputed benefactor of
Tynemoulh priory, 49 ; Sir W'illiani (2), grant to
(1376), 422; witness (1360), 257 n ; William (3),
murdered at Hexham (161S), 172 n ; William (4),
town clerk of Newcastle (1661), 19S ; — , royalist
(1655), '95-
De la Zouche, family of, 92.
Denand, Edward, yeoman (1 596), 234; George, juror
of Tynemoulh (1562), 240; tenant of Murlon
(15S0), 410; Robert, juror of Tynemoulh (1562),
240. See also Dinning.
Vol. \'III.
Dene, Hugh, freeholder of East Chirton (1294), 319.
Dent, John, trawling experiments, 389.
Denton, West, conveyed lo Tynemoulh priory (1381),
49, 98, 116 ; included in Tynemouihshire, 208.
Denton, James, of North Shields (1664), 305 n.
Depommas, Mary (Johnson), marriage (1723), 365.
Derlyng, — , West Chirton tenant (1294), 338.
Dersley, — , vicar of Tynemoulh (1651), 363.
Despenser, Hugh (the younger), charge against, 84.
Deste, John, grant to Tynemoulh priory (1337), II5.
255. 257-
De Witt, attempt to raid colliers (1653), 194.
Dialect of Tyne-mouthshire, 222 n.
Dickson, James, 327.
Digby, John, captain of volunteers (1667), 200 n.
Dinning, geological work, 420 ; Isabel, tenant of
Murton (1707), 411 ; Margaret, surrenders Murton
farm (1679), 411; Robert, juror of Tynemoulh
(1686), 241. See also Denand.
Dissington, South, manor and tithes of, granted to
Tynemoulh priory, 48-50, 62 n, 67 n ; included in
Tynemouihshire, 208 ; recognition of copyhold
tenure at, 239 ; multure charged on tenants of,
318, 339 n ; CoUingwood family of, 325.
Dissington, William de, renders homage (1264), 113.
Dixon, Rev. George, M.A., vicar of Tynemoulh (1825),
364-
Dixwell, William. See Tynemoulh, pnors of.
Dobson, A., of North Shields (1607), 296; John,
architect (1850), 129, 352.
Docks, Northumberland, 341, 354; Albert Edward,
34'. 354 ; .^raving docks, 310. 314.
Dockwray, of Tynemoulh, pedigree. 269 ; Josias, of
North Shields (1724), 269; Richard, of North
Shields, and family, monumental inscription (1802),
361 ; Stephen, vicar of Tynemoulh (1673), 364 ;
monumental inscription, 361 ; Thomas, vicar of
Tynemoulh (1668), 354, 361, 364 ; Thomas, vicar of
Tynemoulh (16S2), 364 ; Thomas, vicar of Stam-
fordham, 271.
Dodding, Charles, trustee for sale of TjTiemoulh
rectory (1589), 370.
Dodds, George, mayor of Tynemoulh (1887), 352.
Doewaye. See Dove.
Dogger Letch. See Dagger Letch.
Donemuth, identified wilh Jarrow, 39.
Donkin Rigg, lands .at. held by Tynemoulh priory, 49.
Donkin, Armorer, of the Low Lights, monumental
inscription, 129; Elizabeth, monumental inscrip-
tion, 129; Richard Sims, M.P. for Tynemoulh
(1885-1900), 351 ; W., schoolmaster at Tjmemoulh,
(circa 1736), 368-
Dorset, Thomas Sackville, earl of, petitioned by tenants
of Shields (1607"), 297.
Dorlwick sands. 306, 334. 354; salt pans at, 29S. 34I.
Douglas, John, tenant of Alurion (I707). 4". 4'2;
Sir William, prisoner at Tjmemouth (I346)' 94-
Doune, James, tenant of Tynemoulh. 263.
Dove, family of, 281 n ; Eleanoi (IIuddleston),:S2 ; John
(I), miller (1539"). 2'''. 2S0 ; John (2), of Whitley,
lenant of Tynemoulh (1649), 265 ; quaker. 2S1, 372 ;
works coal mines (1673), 20. 2S1, 397 : John (3), of
the Low Lights, will (1704). 266 n; John (4), of
Wapping, marriage, 398 ; sells Sparrow Hall
(1706), 282; Mary, imprisoned (1661), 372;
Robert (l), tenant of rynemouth (1539), 262, 26; ;
miller, 261, 2S0 ; Robert (2). tenant of Tynemoulh
(I594'», 234, 235, 262, 263, 296; Rolicrt (3), free-
hold in tynemoulh (1649), 265 ; family of, 271 ;
55
434
INDEX.
Robert (4), of Tynemoulli, one of the ' twenly-four '
(1674)1 368 ; Roben (;), of the Low Lights, will
(1704). 271 ; Sarah (Hudson), 39S ; Sarah (2),
tenant of Whitley (1757), 397 ; Thomas (l), juror
of Tynemouth (1562), 240; Thomas (2), of Whit-
ley, purchases Arnold's Close (162 1), 281 ; lease
(1644), 281 n ; Thomas (3), of Whitley, builds
Sparrow Hall (16S2), 282 ; William, ini]irisoned
(:66i), 2S1, 372.
Dowe. Sfif Dove.
Downing, Kdmund, trustee for sale of Tynemouth
rectory (15S9) 370.
Dowson, Mary (Mitcalfe), 267.
Drengafje in Tynemouthshire, 225.
DiifTield, Robert de, rector of Ponteland and vicar of
Neuburn (c;;r« 1267). 2S6 n.
Drnry, Henry, West Chirton tenant (1294) 338;
Theodosia (Mitcalfe), 267.
Dryden, Thomas, of Seaton Sluice, buys Murton farm
(1824), 412.
Drymouth, William, tenant of East Chirton (1294),
320 ; Middle Chirton tallage roll (1294) 330.
Dubuisson, Rev. M., French refugee (1793) 376.
Duchnian, Herman, tenant of North Shields (1446),
290.
Dudden, John de, seneschal of Tynemouth (1302),
215 n; witness (1302), 421.
Duddo, in parish of Slanninglon, royalist ])lot at (1665),
195-
Dudley, John, duke of Northumberland. See North-
umberland.
Dunbar, George Hume', earl of, governor of Tynemouth
castle (1606), 177; enquiry by, 297 I Patrick, earl
of, claims .advowson of Eglingham (1225), 73 n ;
claims manors of Bewick and Eglingham, 74 ; death
(1248), 74.
Duncan, Rev. George J. C, Presbyterian minister
(1844-1S51), 374.
Dunfermline, body of Malcolm III. transferred to, ;i ;
abbot of, witness to charter, 59 n.
Dunfermline, earl of, attends Charles I. to Tynemouth
(1646), iSg.
Dunham, Ralph de, see lynemouth, priors of; William
de, vicar of Tynemouth (1291), 362.
Dunne, Constance, daughter of John, 421 ; Dyonisia,
wife of John, 421 ; John, of Redesdale, grant from
(ihirieenlh century), 421 ; pedigree, 425 ; Thomas,
tenant of Tynemouth (1539), 262 ; Walter, lease
(1383), 422 ; giant to (1391), 422 ; William, grant
from (1 39 1), 422.
Durant, M. L. C. (Fenwick), 349.
Durham priory, foundation of (1033), 4; ; deprived of
Tynemouth (1085), 46 ; Turgot, prior of, asserts
claims to Tynemouth (1093), 50-51 ; claims renewed
(1121), 57-5S ; settlement of claims by Prior
Germanus (1174), 63-66.
Durham, bishops of: F.gelwin (1057-1071) assists at
the discovery of the body of St. Oswin, 41-42 ;
Watcher (1071-1080), confirms Tynemouth to the
monks of Jarrow, 44 ; William de St. Carileph
(1080-1096), transfers the monks of Jarrow to
Durham, 45 ; quarrels with Robert de Mowbray, 46 ;
founds church of Durham, 120 n ; writ addressed to,
53n; Ranulf Flainbard (1099-112S), present at
translation of St. Oswin, 56, 57 ; writs addressed to,
55; Hugh Pudsey (1153-1195); renounces claim
to Tynemouth (I174), 63 and n; witness to royal
charters, 62 n, 68 n ; Nicholas de Farnham (1241-
1249), composition with T)iiemoulh (1247), 73 ;
oppressive conduct, 74 ; Walter de Kirkham (1249-
1260), restores churches to St. Alban's, 74 ; con-
tests rights of St. Alban's and Tynemouth, 74 ;
Anthony Bek (12S4-13H) pleads before Edward I.
at Tynemouth (1301), 83 ; presentations to Tyne-
mouth vicarage, 126 ; Richard de Hury (i 333-1 345)
confirms grant of land to Tynemouth priory, 117 n ;
Cuthbert Tunstall (1530-1559), complaint to j)rivy
council (155.S), 127; Tobias Matthew (1595-1606),
accoimt of defenceless state of Tyne (1599), 170;
Richard Neile (1617-1628), recommends fortificalion
of Tynemouth, 178 ; letter, 179 ; John Cosin (1660-
1672), petition to, 202 n ; consecrates Christ church,
Tynemouth (l66,S), 359.
Dinham, Dean and Chapter of, ferry rights at North
Shields (1717), 314 n.
Durham, Robert, marriage (1694), 365.
Du.xfield, Mary (Crawford), 333.
Dymon, widow, complaint (1597), 173.
Eachwick, family of Spearman of, 346-347.
Eadbert, king of Nortlnimbria, 413 n.
Eagleston, Mary Anne (F'enwick), 349.
Ealdred, king of Northumbria, 413U.
Earsdon chapelry, geology of, 2-16; collieiies and the
coal trade in, 1 7-34.
Earsdon chapel, endowment of, 124-12;, 361 ; Thomas
Castell, curate of, iii.
Earsdon township, in Tynemouthshire, 20S ; granted
to Tynemouth priory, 48, 55, 62 n, 67 n ; lands in,
acquired liy Tynemouth priory, 115 ; medieval road
through, 317 ; number of holdings in, 228 ; rent of
farmholds in, 229 ; testamentary disposition of farm
in, 228 n ; recognition of copyhold tenure in, 239 ;
enclosure of, 244 ; tithes of, 369, 371 ; coal mining
in, 17, 28, 30-31.
Earthworks, ancient, at T5'nemouth, 155 ; at Chirton,
316 ; at Cramlingtt)n, 413 n.
Hddowes, James, of South Shields, 348.
Eden, William, Crown grantee, 19, 239, 332.
Edgar, son of Gospattic, charter, 120.
Edlingham, chinch of, granted to Tynemouth prioiy*,
49 ; surrendered to Durham (1 174), 63.
Education at North Shields, 312 and n, 355-356, 365 ;
at Whitley, 402.
Edward, son of Malcolm HI. of Scotland, 52.
Edward L, visits to Tynemouth, 80, 83, 84 ; seizes
liberty of Tynemouth (1291), 80, 218 ; surrenders
claims to Tynemouth advowson, 81 ; licence to
crenellate Tynemouth castle (1296), 83, 150, 156;
restores franchise (1299), 83, 221 ; grant of market
at Tynemouth (1304), 83, 253; at Holywell (1304),
317 ; piivate chapel at Tynemoutli, 147.
Edward II. at Tynemouth (1312), 84; intervenes
between prior of Tj-nemoulh and warden of Noilh-
umberland, 89; puts John de Haustede in charge
of Tynemouth castle, 156.
Edward III., petition of prior of Tj'uemouth to, 91 ;
visit to Tynemouth (1335), 92 ; praise of Abbot de
la Mare, 92.
Edward IV., charter to Tynemouth priory, 104, 221,
290.
Edwards, H. S., of Corbridge, owner of dock at North
Shields (1883), 310 n.
Edwin, king of Northumbria, traditional founder of a
chapel at Tynemouth, 39.
EgeUvin. See Durham, bishops of.
INDEX.
435
Egfrid, king of Norihumbria, founder of Jarrow monas-
tery, 39.
Eglingham, in Tjrnemouthshire, 208 ; manor granted to
Tjnemouth priory, 48, 54, 55, 58 n, 63 n, 67 n, 69 n ;
manor claimed by earl of Dunbar, 74 ; lands in,
acquired by Tynemouth priory, 116; township
fined at Tynemouth assizes, 219; church of, granted
to Tynemouth priory, 49, 63 n, 65, 68 n ; advowson
claimed by earl of Dunbar, 73 n ; church appropri-
ated by St. Alban's, 74 ; accounts for, 76 n.
Eglinton, earl of, 1S5.
Elder, Thomas, steward of Tynemouth (1725), 215 n.
Elfinton, land in, 249 n.
Elfred, tenant of St. Cuthbert, 413 n.
Elizabeth, Queen, letter concerning Tynemouth castle
(1560), 161 ; condemnation of Sir Henry Percy, 164.
EUenborough, Lord, cited, 237.
Ellerington, William de, plunders Tynemouth pro-
perty (circa 1 325), 90.
Ellington, lands in, held by Tynemouth prior)-, 49, 115 ;
plundered, 90.
Elliott, Joseph, mayor of Tynemouth (1885-1886), 352 ;
Sergeant, arbitrator between Tynemouth priory and
Newcastle (1512), 291.
Ellis, Rev. J. W., minister of St. Andrew's chapel
(1S72-1S78), 374.
Ellison, Anne (Benson), 399 ; Elizabeth (Hudson),
398; Hannah (i) (Dockwray), 270; Hannah (2),
property in Whitley (1815), 398 ; Henry, of Otter-
burn and Whitehaven, 398; John, witness (1421),
424 ; Nathaniel, vicar of Newcastle (1705), 102,
368, 39S ; Richard, claim on Shire Moor (1790),
415 ; Robert, 398.
Elswick, in Tynemouthshire, 208 ; granted to Tyne-
mouth priory, 49, 68 n ; grant of tithes of, 50, 62 n ;
grant of fishery at, 60 n ; lands in, acquired by
Tynemouth priory, 115, H7; Henry Scot receives
lands in, 82 ; Edward III. at, 92 ; manor of, 221 ;
court held at, 113 ; assizes for Tynemouthshire held
at, 210; deaths in coal pits at, 219; suit to Flat-
worth mill, 339 n ; oppression of tenants at, 231 ;
entries on Tynemouth court rolls relating to, 240,
241- ,
Elwald. See Alwald.
Elwick, tithes of, held by Tynemouth prior)', 50, 370 ;
house at, acquired by Tynemouth priory, I15;
John de Thoresby, rector of (1340), 115.
Ely, Geoffrey, bishop of, witness to charter, 62 n.
Embleton, fishing at, 388.
Embleton, D., geological work, 420.
Enclosures, in Tynemouth parish, 244 n ; in .Monk-
seaton, 406 ; in Preston, 345 ; in Tynemouth, 264-
266 ; in Whitley, 397 ; enclosure of Shire Moor,
414-415-
Englan(Vs Grievance^ quoted, 301-303.
Erdesden, Adam de, Monkseaton custumal (1296), 404.
Errington, of Woolsington, family of, 119; Anthony,
juror of Tynemouth ( 1 562), 240 ; copyholder ( 1 609),
238 ; Christopher, of North Shields, and family,
monumental inscription (1722), 361 ; Elizabeth
(Howett), monumental inscription (1732), 361 ;
George, tenant of Tynemouthshire (1594), 234;
Gilbert (l), of Woolsington, autograph, 119; con-
nection with Tynemouth monastery, 160 n ; Gilbert
(2), of West Denton, marriage, 321, 364; Lancelot,
ensign of volunteers (1667), 200 n ; Mary, marriage
(1753), 36;; Thomas, juror of Tynemouth (1562),
240 ; W., ensign of volunteers {1667), 200 n.
Escot, Walter le, properly in .Monkseaton (1273), 402.
Eskdalc, Jonathan, m.ayor of Tynemouth (1899), 352.
Espec, Walter (ii2i>, 57.
Essenden, Ralph de. justice of the prior of Tynemoulh's
court (12S3), 211 n.
Essex, Henry de, constable, witness to charter, 62 n.
Ethelred, king of Norihumbria, 40.
Eudo, sej^-er to William II., wiini-ss, 53 n.
Eugenius, chancellor of Earl Henry fitz David, witness,
59n, 60 n.
Eure, Ralph, Lord (1597), 299 n ; Henry, atucks
Tynemouth priory, 108.
Euthymius, St., relic of, 114.
Eversdon, Hugh de. See St. Alban's, abbots of.
Evesham, battle of, 77.
Evreux, bishop of (1121), 57.
Faccale, Thomas, freeman of Middle Chirton (1295),
330-
Fader, Robert, tenant of fisher)' (1328), 340 n.
Fairfax, Thomas, Lord, 191 ; petition to {1648), 193.
Fairman, Roger, tenant of 'I'ynemouth ( 1 264), 249 n ;
William, witness (1319) 421 (1320), 422.
Fairweather, .\lexander, acquires Monkseaton property
(1902), 408.
Fall, Mary, wife of William, monumental inscription,
ISO-
Farewell, Mr., receiver of ' hall-corn,' 233.
Fanns, discussion of their origin, 242-246 ; in Tyne-
mouth township, 266.
Fame, seal fisheries, 378.
Fameakers, John de, justice for Tynemouthshire
(1283). 211 n.
F'arnham, .Nicholas de. See Durham, bishops of.
Fauconberg, Thomas, Lord (1662), 198.
Fauconer, Adam, witness (1360), 257 n ; land in
.Monkseaton, 405.
Faucus. See Faukes.
Faukes, Henry de. of Backworth, grant to Tynemouth
prior)' (1320), 91, 315, 328 ; witness. 248 n, 393 n,
423 ; Nicholas, of Backworth. juror of 'Tynemouth
(1293), 21S; grant to Tynemouth prior)', 316 n;
witness, 421 ; William, witness (1339). 410 n.
Fawcus, John, mayor of Tynemouth (1S62), 352.
Fawedon, Sir Robert de, witness (1321), 394 n.
Fearon. Thomas, of South Shields, salt manufacturer
(1677). -'S3'
Featherstonhaugh, John, of Swnhope, commissioner
(1596), 232.
Feldc. Edward, S.T.P., vicar of Tynemouth {cvca
1526), 362.
Felton, John de, grant to Tynemouth priorv (1326). 115.
F'enham, ownership disputed by Newcastle and Tyne-
mouth (1357), 97 ; tenants of. amerced at T)'nc-
niouth manor court. 240.
Fenham flats, shell-fish in the, 3S2. 3S3.
Fenn, Edward, Crown grantee, 19, 264, 299. 328, 341.
Fenrother, Adam de, rector of Stokesley and m.ister of
St. F'dmund's hospital. Gateshe.ad. grant to T)'ne-
mouth priory (1 38 1), 49. 116 ; trustee. 396 ; Robert
de, grant to Tynemouth priory ( 13S0). 1 16 ; witness,
25S'n, 422-424.
Fenwick, of Preston and North Shields, pedigree, J48 ;
.■\nne (Clark), 273 ; Cuthbert Smith, 267 ; Edward,
high sheriff (1^59). J^? ; Eleanor (Clark"), 273 ;
Elizalieth, sued U^jl)- 24' : '-'<''• George, of
Brinkburn. in command of Tynemouth castle
(164S), 193; governor of Berwick (i'-: -^ 'v
436
INDEX.
Henry, r;iptain of Tynemoiith raslle (1634'), 182 an J
n ; Sir John de (i), sheriff (i 319, 1335), SS n, 89 n ;
witness (1321"), 394 n ; John (2), witness (1426), 424,
425 ; Sir John (3), of Wallington, captain of Tyne-
nioiilh castle (161G), l5on, 178; John (4), of
Milhurn Place, buys land at Preston (1814), 348;
John (5), of Dockvvray Square, buys land at Preston
(1818), 34S ; John (6), of Preston, marriage, 267 ;
Margaret (Mills, SjJearman), 346 ; Mary (Kenwick),
349; Ralph, marriage (1652), 364; Richard (l),
bailiff (1610), 240 ; Richard (2), buys land at
Preston (1S44), 345 ; Robert, servant to William,
173; Thomas (l), marriage (1695), 347; Thomas
(2), bu3's Preston farm (1817), 348 ; Thomas (3), of
Earsdon, claim on Shire Moor (1790), 415 ;
William, of the Sheele Milnes, fight in Tynemoiith
castle (1597), 173 ; of Wallington, 173.
Ferguson, Joseph, of Carlisle, 273.
Fernham, Frances (Salkeld). 333 ; Sir Francis, 333.
Ferrers, Edward, grant of mills to (1610), 263.
Ferries on the Tyne, 241, 354-355.
Fesefoul, John, of Wylam, prior's serf, 255.
Fielding, Mary, property at Preston, 347.
F'ishburn, Thomas de, seneschal of Tynemouth (circa
1312), 215 n, 216 n, 423 n.
Fisheries : account of sea fisheries, 378-389 ; herring
fishery, 379-381 ; fishing cobles, 381-3S2 ; trawling,
3S3-3''*5 ; crab and lobster fishing, 385-3S6 ; salmon
and sea-irout, 386-387 ; Northumberland Sea Fish-
eries Committee, 387-389 ; list of fishermen in
Northumberland (1626), 388 ; number of fishing
boats (1905), 3S8 ; fishing industry at North
Shields, 285, 286-2SS, 290, 292-293 ; fish market at
North Shields, 314 ; grant of fisheries in the Tyne,
59, 60 n ; salmon fishery at the Low Lights, 298
and n ; tithe of fish, 369 and n.
Fitz Audelm, William, sewer to Henry II., witness to
charters, 62 n.
Fitz Harding, John, Viscount, 202.
Fitz Walter, Robert. 70.
Flambard, Ranulph. Ste Durham, bishops of.
Flane, John, free tenant of Cowpen (1323), 226.
Flatford. Sre Flatworth.
Flatford, Ouestric de, 337.
Flatworth, historical account of, 334-341 ; in Tyne-
mouthshire, 208 ; granted to Tynemouth priory,
4S. 62, 335 ; manor of, 221, 318, 339 ; suit to mill at,
-22, 339. 395t 396 ; leased to Sir Thomas Hilton,
156, 340 ; acquired by the earl of Northuniberl.and,
19. 341 ; coal worked at, 22, 25.
Flaundres, Michael de, takes sanctuary, 220.
Flemings, royal writ in favour of (1325), 261.
Foliot, Robert, witness to charter (1138), 59 n.
Forests. See Bewick, Burwood.
Forster, CoUlngwood, steward of Tynemouth (1761),
215 n; Doroihy (Mitcalfe), 267; Gawen, sued
(1652), 241 ; bequest (1654), 365 ; Sir John (i),
charged to arrest Sir Henry Percy, 163 ; report on
Tynemouth castle, 164 ; attacked by Scots at
Cocklaw, 167 ; John {2), lieutenant of volunteers
(1667), 200 n; Richard, letters from Newcastle
(1667), 199, 200.
Foster, Mary (Spence), 350.
Fourstones, justices of assize met at, 210.
Fowke, Mary (Lockey, \'illiers), 202, 207 ; William,
owner of Tynemouth lighthouse (1802), 207.
Fox, George, the quaker, 371.
Francklyn, Major-General John Henry, C.B., 267.
Frank. Elizabeth (Fenwick), 348.
Franklin, Rev. Robert J.. Roman Catholic priest
(1873-1878), 376; Wiiliani, chancellor of Durham,
107.
Fraser, Rev. Henry Krskine, M.A., Presbyterian
minister (1.S45-1856), 375.
Freeman, Patrick, of Cambois, 334 ; Thomas, of
Benton, 334.
Fundclyng, Robert, sentenced at Tynemouth (1293),
219.
Fyfe, Robert, surrenders Monkseaton properly (i(>54),
408.
Fymer, Willi.im, property in Whitley (138:), 396.
Gaclut, William, forfeits lands in Tynemouth, 253.
Gaddon, Richard, tenant of North Shields (1446),
290 n.
Gaidum, Hugh (circa 1260), 76 n.
Galew.ay, Agnes (1382), 116; Robert, of Newcastle
(1382), n6.
Gait, Robert, Shields subsidy roll (1296), 288.
Gardiner, Thomas, see Tynemouth, priors of; William,
of London, 107.
Gardner, Devereux, writing-master, 332 ; Katharine
(1664), 305 n ; Ralph, of Chirton, account of, 332
and n ; works Flatworth colliery, 19, 24I ; quarry
at Billy Mill, 329 ; schedule of losses, 185 n, 193 ;
refusal to p.ay ' hall-corn,' 236 ; struggle against
Newcastle's monopoly, 301-304; parochial concerns,
358, 367.
Gategang, Henry, \'icar of Tynemouth (thirteenth
century), 362.
Gateshead, property in, held by Tynemouth ]>riory,
. +9- . . . . ,
Gaveston, Piers, flight with Edward II. from Newcastle,
and death, 84.
Geinitz, Dr. H. B., geological work, 417.
Geoffrey, prior of Tynemouth (12th century), 122.
Geology of Tynemouth parish and Earsdon chapelry,
2-16 ; appendix of geological literature, 417-420 ;
Permian rocks, 2-6; coal-measures, 6-1 1 ; dykes,
II-15 ; glacial deposits, 15-16.
Germanus (l), prior of T3'nemouth (l I48) ami al^bot of
Selby (1153), 122 ; (2), prior of Durham, releases
claims to Tynemouth (1174), ^4 \ (3)i -'''' Tyne-
mouth, priors of.
Gervase, abbot of Westminster, 119.
Gibson, Francis, vicar of Tynemouth (1652), 363, 367 ;
William Sidney, esq., monument in T^'uemoutli
church, 129; History of Tynemouth cweA passim.
Gilbert, constable to Earl Henry fitz David, 60 n. See
also Tynemouth, priors of.
Gillespie, James Dunsmure, mayor of Tynemouth
(1902), 352.
Gilling in Richmondshire. See Ingetlingum.
Gillison, Rev. Andrew, M.A., Presbyterian minister
(1897-1899), 375.
Gillow, Rev. Thomas, Roman Catholic priest (1821-
1857), 376 ; Rev. William, Roman Catholic priest
(1869-1873), 376.
Gilmour, Rev. Thomas, Presbyterian minister (1813-
1841), 375-
Gilpin, Rev. R., marriage, 398.
Girling, Rev. W. H., minister of St. .Andrew's chapel
(1S96-1898), 374- .
Glanvill, Ralph de, witness to charter, 62 n.
Glede, William, gaoler, 220.
INDEX.
437
Glenham, Sir Thomas, governor of Carlisle (1644),
187.
Gloucester, Adam de, witness, 66 n ; Richard, duke of,
see Richard III.; Thomas, duke of, patron of
Tynemoutli priorj- (1390), gS, gg ; William de Clare,
earl of (l 1 77), I20n.
Goble, James Methold, 267.
Gobyclif, Patrick, order of arrest, 220.
Gobyon, Hugh, sheriff (i2g3), 220.
Godric. St., cures effected by, 43 n.
Goldsmith, family in Tynemouth, 254.
Goodyeare, Captain lienry, in Tynemouth garrison
(1648), 192 n.
Gordon, Lord Adam, governor of Tynemouth castle
(■778), 204; Alexander, vicar of Tynemouth
(l65g), 363 ; ejected, 372.
Goreham, Henry de, donor to Tynemouth conventual
librar}-, iig.
Gospatric I. See Northumberland, earls of.
Gospatric \\. grants Edliiigham church to Tynemouth
priory, 49 ; witness to charters, 59 n, 60 n.
Goswick bay, fishing in, 3S0, 386.
Gothard, Robert, of Long Benton, buys Murton farm
(1803), 412.
Gourley, Walter de, plunders Tynemouth property,
90.
Gowland, Mary (Stephenson), 268 n.
Graffard, grant of his lordship to Tynemouth priory,
54i 55) 3^9i 4°^ \ charter of enfeoffment, 225.
Graggaba, Danish earl, 412 n.
Graham, Major, deputy governor of Tynemouth castle
(1661), 372.
Grandisson, family of, 92.
Gray, George, of Newcastle, freeholder in Tynemouth,
172, 265 n ; Henry, bailiff of Tynemouth (I445),
25g n, 425; John, officer of Tynemouth priory
(1306), 216 n; grant from (1326), 422; Robert,
Shields subsidy roll (1296), 2S8 ; Roger, land in
Tynemouth, 256 ; Shields subsidy roll (1296), 28S ;
tenant of Middle Chirton, 329, 330 ; East Chirton
and Whitley subsidy roll (1296), 393 ; witness, 421-
422 ; William, juror of Tynemouth (1295), 215 n ;
tenant of East Chirton (1294), 319; of Preston,
342 ; grant to, 422.
Greathed, Henr)', model of first lifeboat (1789), 356.
Greaves, Joseph Edward (Elmsall), 323.
Green, Isabel, of North Shields (1672), 373 ; Joseph,
mayor of Tj'nemouth (1865 and 1S76), 352 ; Messrs.,
of Newcastle, architects, 360; Nathaniel (l), of
Preston, 40S n, 411 ; Nathaniel (2), of London,
property in Murlon, 411; claim on Shire Moor
(1790), 415; Simon, land in Tynemouth, 423;
Spurgeon, 268.
Green Chesters in WilUngton, 316, 413 n.
Greteville, John de, of Newcastle, witness (1332), 254.
Grey, Charles, Earl, parliamentary reform, 350 ; Sir
Charles, ^LP. for Tynemouth (1S3S-1S41), 351 ;
Elizabeth Mary (LinskiU), 272 ; Elizabeth (Craw-
ford), 333; John (i), lieutenant of volunteers
(1667), 20on; John (2), of Hartley, 334 ; Margaret,
marriage (1753) 365 ; .Mary (Dockwray), 270 ;
Ralph, of Backworth (1649), lands in Preston, 34; ;
in Monkseaton, 40S ; Ralph William (l), of Back-
worth, claim on Shire Moor (1790), 415 ; Ralph
William (2), of Backworth, sale of lands (1821), 27,
34S, 40S ; Ralph William (3), of Chipchase. M.P.
for Tynemouth (1847), 351 ; Richard, first master
of Trinity House (153S), 274 ; Sir Thomas, of
VVark, author oi Scalachronka, 126.
Greystoke, John do, grants wayleave to Tynemouth
priory (1296-1297), 83 n ; Ralph filz William,
lord of, agreement with abbot of St. Alban's over
Coniscliffe (1 31 3), 85 ; founds chantry in Tj-ne-
mouth priory (131 5), 147.
Grey I-'riars, London, church of. Prior Boston buried
at, 106.
Grieve, Richard, steward of Tynemouth (1760), 215 n.
Grif, Peter, of Whitsand, owner of vessel (1332), 254 n.
Grimm, drawing by {circa 1780), 143.
Gros, John, of Berwick, grant to Tynemouth priory
(1335). 115-
Gryndon, Thomas de, witness (1391), 422.
Gub, Robert, witness (1351-1376), 257 n, 25S n, 422-
423; Stephen, witness (1351), 423; William, of
Tynemouth, grants to (1320), 422 ; (1344), 423.
Gubiun, Hugh, prior of Tynemouth (circa 1 200), 122 ;
Ralph, see Tynemouth, priors of.
* Guedesho,' granted to Tynemouth priory, 62 n.
Guillims, Captain, captain of Tynemouth castle (1664),
198.
Gumer, officer of Robert de Mowbray, 46.
Guntrem, Walter, Monkseaton tallage roll (1294), 403 ;
William, Monkseaton custumal (1296), 404.
Gut, William, inquest on, 219.
H.
Haddock, Zephaniah, buys Sparrow hall (1706). 2S2.
Hadrian, erection of wall, 280.
Hadston, barony of, 334-336.
Hagen, Sarah (Spence), 350.
Haggarty, Rev. M. J., Roman Catholic priest (1903), 377.
Haggatt, Bartholomew, commissioner on tenures at
Tynemouth (1608), 2g7.
Haggerston, Thomas, captain of volunteers (1667), 200 n.
Haigh, John, hostman, buys Whitley park (1792), 399;
Rev. William, vicar of Wooler, family of, monu-
mental inscription, 1 30.
Hakford, Robert, witness (1386, etc.), 424.
llalfdene, reduces Northumberland (875), 40.
Halidon Hill, battle of (1333), 92.
Ilaliwarcsfolch {i.e., St. Culhbert's patrimony), 64.
Hall, of Whitley, pedigree, 399 ; family of, property in
Monkseaton, 406 ; Lady Appolonia, royalist agent
(1636), 196; Edward (l), 327; Edward (;), of
Whitley, monumental inscription, 130; buys land
in Whitley, 399 ; claim on Shire Moor (1 790), 415 ;
Elizabeth (Stephenson), 268 n ; James, of Tyne-
mouth, charily (1880'), 402 ; John (l). tenant of
Tynemouth (1596), 235 ; John (2). marriage (.1635),
364 ; John (3). marriage, 347 ; John (4), tenant of
Whitley (1757), 397 ; Reynold, of Ottcrbum, 39.S ;
Robert, tenant of Tynemouth (1596), 234; Sanrh
(Campbell), 400; Thomas (I), tenant of Tvncmouth
(1539), :62, 265 ; Thomas (2'), sued (I(ij2\ 241 ;
Monkseaton projwrty (1650), 4060,408; Thomas
(3), juror of Tynemouth (16S6), 241 ; one of the
'twenty-four" (1674), 36S ; William, of Forth
house, Newcastle, 399.
Hall-corn, account of, 229, 231-236, 331.
Hallsey. Robert, bailiff (1597'). 328.
Halton, John de, sheriff, letter to prior of Tynemouth
(1:65"). 77; collector of subsidy (IJ/O). 213 n;
.Mabel (^Killingworth), marriage (1662), 364.
Haliwhistle, church of, granted to Tynemouth priory
(13.S4), 49. 98, lOI n, 116.
Halywcll, Walter de, of Newcastle (1293). 2'9;
William de, sells land (.1407), 254 n.
438
INDEX.
Hambleton, Ambrose, of Tynemouth, 268.
Hameldon, William do, 219.
Hamilton, William, curate of Tynemouth (1605), 176.
Hancock, Albany, jjeolofjical works, 417, 418, 419.
Hancock museum, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 2, 6, g.
Hansard, Gilbert (l), tenant of bishop of Durham
(1166), 335; pedigree, 335; enfeoffed of West
Chirton, 336; Gilbert (2), suit as to homage (1202),
336; Sir Gilbert (3), sells West Chirton (1256),
76 n, 336 ; John, tenant of West Chirton (circa
1240'), 335 n ; sued (1225), 336.
Hansell, Robert, buys Murton house (1S33), 411.
Hanswell, John, marriage (1611), 172.
Harbottle, family of, lands in Tynemouth, 258 and n ;
John, sells freehold (1519), 263 n ; Sir Ralph,
freeholder in Tynemouth, 263 ; Sir Wigiott, free-
holder in Tynemouth, 262 ; William, of Newcastle,
marriage, 270.
Harden, Henry de, seneschal of Tynemouth (1319-
1320), 215 n; clerk to prior, 220; witness, 248 n,
421, 422.
Hardewey, William, Middle Chirton tallage roll (1294),
330-
Hardrada, Harold, king of Norway, enters the Tyne
(1066), 43.
Hardy, B., marriage (1803), 400.
Hardyng, Sampson, grant to Tynemouth priory
(1391), 116 ; witness (1421), 424 ; William, witness
(1420,424,425.
Harehope, granted to Tynemouth priory, 48.
Harker, Thomas, of North Shields (1607), 296.
Harley, Edward, Lord, account of salt pans at Shields
(1725), 300 n.
Harris, Benjamin, grant of land in North Shields to
(1600), 29S n ; Frederick Leverton, M.P. for Tyne-
mouth (1900-1906), 351.
Harrison, Thomas, of Liverpool, 349.
Hartburn, church of, granted to Tynemouth priory, 49,
68 n ; confirmed to St. Alban's (1 174), 64 ; claimed
by bishop of Durham (1252), 73 n ; restored to St.
Alban's (ciVrrt 1252), 74; papal provision to, 75 ;
accounts for, 76 n.
Hartburn, Robert, vicar of (1 174), 64.
Hartford, West, in Tynemouthshire, 208 ; granted to
Tynemouth priory, 6S n ; lands in, acquired by
Tynemouth priory, I15; township fined at Tyne-
mouth assizes (1293), 219; leased to Thomas
I.awson (1536), no; included in Tynemouth
Union, 351.
Hartlepool, captured by the Scots (1644), 186, 189;
petition of garrison of (164S), 193 ; coble-building
at, 382 ; fishing at, 385.
Hartley, geological features, 2, 7, 8-9, II-I2; coal-
mining at, 22-25, 31-32 ; accident at the Hester pit,
32 ; collier)* engines used at, 24 ; lands in, held by
Tynemouth ])riory, 49 ; priory lands in, granted in
fee farm, 239; family of Crawford of, 333-334;
ownership of tithes, 369, 371; tithe of fish, 370;
fishing at, 388.
Hartley Pans. Set Seaton Sluice.
Haslam, Lawrence, of North Shields, imprisonment
(1661), 372.
Haukewell, Robert de, witness (1321) 394 n.
Haustede, John de, custodian of Tynemouth castle
(1318), 87, 156.
Hauxley, in Tynemouthshire, 208 ; granted to Tyne-
mouth priory, 48, 68 n ; charges on rent, lOI, I05 ;
township fined at Tynemouth assizes (1293), 219 ;
l)ayment of hall-corn at, 231 ; recognition of copy-
hold tenure at, 239 ; fishing at, 388.
Haverfield, F., note on Rom.in armour by, 278-280.
Hawthorn, Peter de, Shields subsidy roll (1296), 2S8.
Hay, Nicholas del, Tynemouth subsidy roll (1296),
252, 255; tenant of Preston (1296), 344; witness,
423 n.
Hay Hole (Northumberland Dock), 33, 341, 354.
Hebburn Point, 353.
Head-pennies, meaning of, 224, 339 and n.
Heatheringlon, Edward, 27.
Hebborne, John, vicar of Tynemouth (1492), 362 ;
complaint against (1505), 367.
Hedley, John (i), of Newcastle, 333 ; buys Murton
farm (1774), 412 ; claim on Shire Moor (1790),
415 ; John (2), mayor of Tynemouth (1866, 1882-
1SS3), 352 ; William, of Newcastle, 408 n.
Hedley wood, 281, 328.
Hedwin-streams, 292.
Helme, Robert, officer of the earl of Northumberland
(1605), 237, 32S ; freehold in Tynemouth (1608),
263 ; account of tenure in North Shields, 293 ;
deposition (1596), 233; Henry, of North Shields
(1607), 296.
Hendele. See Hyndeley.
Henderson, Williaivi, curate of Earsdon, 372.
Henley, Walter de, manuscript of, 119.
Henry, prior of Tynemouth (twelfth century), 122.
Henry, St., of Coquet Island, 56 ; buried in Tynemouth
priory (II 27), 146.
Henrj^ L, list of charters to Tynemouth priory, 54-55 ;
grant of GrafTard's lands, 48, 54, 389; confirmation
of tithes, 49 n ; grant of free warren, 209 ; accords
free election of priors of Tynemouth, 57-58, 8r.
Henry IL. charters to Tynemouth priory, 61-62, 209,
212 n, 335.
Henr}' 111., demands on Tynemouth, 75 ; charter, 213.
Henry VL, grant to Prior I,angton (1446), 289-290.
Henry VHI., grant of Tynemouth priory to Sir Thomas
Hilton(i53S), 156; charter to Trinity House(i536),
274-275-
Henry, earl of Northumberland. See Northumberland.
llenzell, of Whitle3'and Newcastle, pedigree, 401 ; John,
sells property in Whitley (1S24), 400; Peregrine,
of Whitley, monumental inscription (1824), 362 ;
claim on Shire Moor (1790), 415.
Heppescotes, William de, seneschal of Tynemouth
(135O. 21511 425; witness, 257 n, 423; grants
from, 421-422 ; Agnes, wife of WilHam de, 25S, 425 ;
grants to (1381), 422, 424 ; grants from, 422, 424.
Heppscot, deed relating to properly in, 422.
Herebald, abbot of Tynemouth (745), 39.
Hereford, bishop of, exactions from Tynemouth, 75, 76 ;
Richard de, juror of Tynemouth (1293), 218;
William de, witness (1339), 4I0n.
Hering, William, witness (1332), 254.
Heron, .Alexander, witness (1426), 424 ; Gilbert, agree-
ment (1299) 339 n ; Jordan (l), tenant of bishop of
Durham (1 166), 335 ; marries heiress of Hadston
barony, 336 ; Jordan (2), 336 ; Mary, widow of
William, 339 n ; Ralph, 336 ; William (l), grants
West Chirton to Tynemouth priory (1256), 48, 76,
336, 339 n ; William (2), king's justice (1290), 216.
Iferries, Rev. Robert, Baptist minister (1880-1892),
377-
Herrington, Walter de, Monkseaton tallage roll (1294),
403 ; cottager, 404.
Hert, John, Monkseaton tallage roll (1294 and 1296),
403 ; Matilda, Monkseaton tallage roll (1294 and
1296), 403.
Herterpol, Galfrid de, officer of Tynemouth priory
(1306), 216 n.
INDEX.
439
Hertford, John Bensted, prior of, 123; William Oixwell,
prior of, "106, 123 ; Algernon, e;irl of, seventh duke
of Somerset, governor of Tynemouth castle (17 15),
204 ; Edward, earl of, makes Tynemoulh a naval
base (1544), 157 ; John de, see St. Alban's, abbots
of.
Hertlaw, Alan de, juror of Tynemouth (1295) 215 n,
218, 249 n; witness, 421-422; Philip de, witness
(1320), 422 ; Robert de, property in Tynemouth,
255. 256-
Hertness church, sacked by the Danes (800), 40 ; tithes
of demesne of, granted to Tynemouth priory, 50,
62 n, 63 n ; service of carting tithes from, 224, 390.
Hertness-pennies, 224, 390.
Hesilden, Walter de, holds land in East Chirton (1377),
320.
Hesihige, Sir Arthur, governor of Newcastle and
Tynemouth (1647), 191-192, 397 ; tried as regicide,
197 ; William de (Heslerig), seneschal of Tyne-
mouth (1291), 215 n, 217 ; witness, 421.
Heslop, John, vicar of Tynemouth (1623), 363 ; mar-
riage, 171.
Heton, Sir Alan de, of Lowick, property in Tyne-
mouth (13S8), 262 n ; Sir Henry de, 262 n ; Mar-
garet (Middleton), 262 n.
Ilevvard, Joseph Elder, bequest (1872), 366.
Hewson, Shallett, owns land in Murton, 411.
Hexham, franchise of, 68, 208 ; letter from canon of,
76 ; destruction of priory by Scots (1296), S3.
Heyworth, William. See St. Alban's, abbots of.
Hickeringill, Isabell (Bonner), marriage (1702), 365.
Hicks, Elizabeth (Hall), 399 ; William, of Whitehaven,
398.
Hidewyn, Thomas de, witness (1324), 248 n ; (1321),
394 n.
Hild, St., her monastery at South Shields, 38-39.
Hills, John, juror of Tynemouth (1562), 240 ; William,
surrenders Monkseaton south-west farm (171 1),
408.
Hilton, Agnes (Bullein), 160; Anne (Cardonnel), 323 ;
Sir Thomas, of Hilton, hostility to Tynemoulh
priory, 115 ; leases Tynemouth priory and de-
mesnes to (1539), 156, 230, 261, 340, 370;
resigns stewardship of Tynemouth manor (1546),
158 ; appointed captain of Tynemouth castle (1 549),
159, 204; re-appointed to stewardship (1549),
159, 215 n ; letter to, 127; death of (1559), 159;
Thomas (2), of Hilton, commissioner (1596), 232 ;
William, of BiJdick, 160.
Hindmer, of Monkseaton and Newcastle, pedigree,
407 ; Jonathan, acquires Monkseaton property,
(1704), 407.
Hinguar, Danish leader (875), 41 n.
Hirlawe, Gilbert de, fJock master of Newminsler abbe)-.
78 n.
Hoby, Ralph, plunderer of Tynemouth property, 90 n.
Hobson, William, vicar of Tynemouth (1533), 363.
Hodgson, Anne, monimiental inscription (1689), 362 ;
Edward, of North Shields, one of the ' twenty-
four, ' 368; monumental inscription (1690), 362;
Richard (l), of Cowpen, 334 ; Richard (2), .\I.P.
for Tynemouth (1861-1865), 351.
Hodshon, William, of Whitley, 234.
Holderness, John (Ramsay), earl of, 298.
Holdsworth, Richard, vicar of Newcastle (1595). 327 n.
Holme, Bridget (Morton), 274 n.
Holy Island, Bothwell captured at, 162 ; petition of
garrison of (1648), 193 ; fishing at, 37S, 383, 385,
386, 388.
Holy-stone (Shire Moor), 413 n.
Holywell, lands in, held by Tynemouth prinrj'. 49;
Edward I. stops at, 317 ; road from, li) Slickley,
318 ; tithes of, 369, 371 ; collieries at, 29, 30, 31.
Hopper, Jane (Fenwick), 349.
Horlyne, Roger, sentenced at Tynemoulh (1293), 219.
Horner, Alice (Spearman), 346.
Hornsee, Robert, of North Shields (1407), 254 n.
Horsley, near Felton. pro|)eny in, 396.
Horsley, Agnes, widow of John, 424 ; Alice (jMmonde),
424; John (i), of Shields, land in Tynemouth, 259;
grants to (1376), 423-424 ; pedigree, 4:; ; John (2).
son of John de, 256 ; quit-tlaim, 424 ; John (3), of
Richmond, goldsmith, 259, 424-425 ; John (4),
son of Thomas, quii-claim, 425 ; Thomas (l),
owner of manuscript from Tynemoulh library, II9 ;
Thomas (2), of Bcnwell, 259, 424-42;.
Horion, castle held by William de Valence, 75 n ;
Edward I. at, 80, 317 ; chapel confirmed to Si.
Alban's monastery (1174), 631; not subject to
pension, 64 ; agreement respecting tynodaha and
churchyard of, 66 n; included in Tynemouth L'nion,
351 ; Osbem, chaplain of, 362.
Horton, John de (l), grant to Tynemoulh priory, 115 ;
officer of priory (1306), 2l6n ; John (2), son of
John de, tenant of Tynemouth, 256, 423 ; grant to
(1320), 421 ; grant of right of way (1331). 259n ;
William de, prior of Wymondham and of Tjme-
moulh {circa 1265), 123.
Hostmen's Company, Newcastle, privileges of, 300-302,
304, 308, 312.
Howard, of Carlisle, family of, 254 n ; colonel, cap-
lures royalisu at Moriwth (1655), 195 ; Frances
(Villiers), 202 ; Frederick, fifth earl of Cariisle, sells
lands in "Tynemoulh (1796), 266 ; Lord, freehold in
Tynemouth (1649) ; 26; ; Thomas, marriage (1 68 1),
36; ; William, Lord, freehold in Tynemouth (1608),
262.
Howarth, John de, vicar of Tynemouth (1325), 126,
362 ; grant of land to (1321), 394.
IIowdon-on-Tyne, I ; Howdon pit (1804), 25 ; »-agon-
way 10, 29 ; staithes at, 30 ; landing place al, 298 n;
Howdon bum, 315 ; Howdon pns, 298 n.
Howe, Rev. G. E., Roman Catholic priest (1882), 377-
Howick, John de, vicar of Tynemouth (131 1), 126, 362.
Howlet, John, one of the ' iwentv-four' (1674), 368.
Howse, Richard, geological works, 417, 418, 420.
Hubba, Danish leader (875), 41 n.
Hucheson, William, tenant of Tynemoulh (1539), 26J,
265.
Huddleston, Rev. Cunven, 282 ; Wilfnd, of Hullon
John, 282 n ; Rev. Wilfrid, claim on Shire Moor
(1790), 415.
Hudson, of Newbiggin in Xewburn and of Whitley,
pedigree, 398 ; ' Enoch, of Brunton, 2S2 ; Henry
(l), 397 ; works coal at Whitley and Culler-
coats, 20, 281 ; Henrj- (2), buys land in Whitley
(1690), 398; at Monkseaton (1690), 407: Henry
(3), tenant of Whitley. 397 ; builds Whitley hall.
39S ; sells land in Whitley (1778), 399 ; trustee for
North Shields poorhouse. 31 1; claim on Shire
Moor, 415 ; Mary (Dove). 2S;; Richard, of Tyne-
mouth (1675), 128 n.
Hull, merchants of, 254.
Humble, Thomas, fined (1610). 240.
Hume, James, vicar of Tynemouth (1637), 363 ; Joseph,
401.
Humford mill on the Blyth. 317.
Humframvill. See Umfraville.
440
INDEX.
Hundemanby,)John de, grant from (ihirtecnlh century),
421 ; Nigasia de, 421.
Hiingus mac Fcrlon, king of the Picts, 413.
Hunsdon, Robert Carey, Lord (158S), 164, 167.
Hunter, John, one of the 'twenty-four' (1674), 368;
Nicholas, charge against (1603), 367.
Huntingdon, Henry, earl of, instructed to defend
Tynemouth castle (15.SS), 168 ; lord lieutenant, 232.
Hiintridge, Leonard, 406.
Hurry, Amelia (Fenwick), 349 ; Samuel, of Great
Yarmouth and Howdon, 399.
Hurst, T. G., geological work, 417.
Hutchinson, Anne (Clark), 273 ; Edward, 348 ; John,
tenant of Murton (1707 and 1757), 411 ; Ruth
(Hudson), 39S.
Hutton, Michael, of Newcastle, cooper (1596), 235 ;
W., geological work, 420.
Hyndeley, WiUiam de, tenant of Tynemouth (1264),
249 n, 42 1 ; grant to, 423 n.
Hyndmarsh, Anthony,juror of Tynemouth (1686), 241.
I.
Iceland fisheries, 378.
Igtham Mote, county Kent, Selby of, 176 n.
Inieary, Rev. Robert, Baptist minister (1798-1814), 377.
Inchiquin, \Villiam, third earl of, 202.
Ingeilingum (Gilling), scene of St. Oswin's death, 42 n.
In-lade, sen'ice called, 222 n.
Innocent III., Pope. Si( Popes.
Inshire, application of the term, i, 240.
Ireland, Rev. Mr. (1783), 312 n ; John of, rebel {liiC),
86-87.
Ipswich, settlers from, at North Shields, 310.
Irvin, Richard, mayor of Tynemouth (1897-1898), 352.
Isabella, Queen, at Tynemouth (1312), 84.
J.
Jack, Rev. .Archibald, minister of St. .Andrew's chapel
(1834-1867), 374.
Jackson, Collingwood, 349 ; Edward, of Gateshead,
267 ; Sarah (Fenwick), 348 ; William, witness
(1400), 424.
James IV. of Scotland, 106.
Jarrow monastery, identified with ' Donemuth,' 39 ;
sack of (794), 40 ; re-settled by Bishop Walcher
(1074), 44; monks removed from, to Durham
(1085), 45 ; tithe fish of, 369.
Jersey, Edward \'illiers, earl of, 202.
Jesmond, grant of lands in, to Tynemouth, 120.
Jobling and partners, lessees of Hartley collieries, 31.
Jubling, Emily (Mitcalfe), 268; George, mayor of
Tynemouth (1S64), 352.
Johanna, princess of Wales, 100.
John, King, charter to Tynemouth prior}\ 69 and n ;
charter to Newcastle, 287.
John, St., of Beverley, 39.
Johnson, .Ann (Green), 411 ; George, of Monkseaton,
acquires Seaton Ville farm (170&), 408; family,
40S n ; Humphrey, brewer (1627), 299 ; Rev. James,
Roman Catholic priest (1784), 376; John (i), of
Bebside, high sheriff (17 15). 347. 408 n ; acquires
Murton farm (1718), 412; John (2), of Wood-
horn, and family, monumental inscription, 130;
Michael, marriage (1723), 36; ; Robert, tenant of
Tynemouth (1539), 262, 265 ; William (r), bailiff
of Newcastle (1391), 422 ; William (2), of Monk-
seaton and Newcastle, buj's farm in Murton (1741)
411.
Jones, Rev. David Thomas, chaplain at Blyth, 334.
Jouyn, Robert, merchant of Normandy (1333), 254.
Junius Dubitatus, owner of Roman shield found in the
Tyne, 279.
Justice, James, of Justice hall, 400.
K.
Keith, Lord, prisoner at Tynemouth, 163.
Kelleseye, Robert de, grant to Tynemouth priory
(1337), 115-
Kellet, John, marriage (1672), 365.
Kellio, Benjamin, marriage (1731), 365 ; Ralph, mar-
riage (1675), 365.
Kelly, .Magnus Morion, 323.
Kenneslawe, William de, grant to Tynemouth prior)'
(1307), 115, 257.
Kenton, coal mines in, 327.
Ker, Sir .Andrew, of (iessford, prisoner at Tynemouth,
163 ; Mr., of North Shields (1764), 359 n.
Kerrich, John (i), of Harleston, 271 ; John (2), of
Geldestone hall, 271.
Kettlewell, Thomas, founds charity school at North
Shields (iSig), 312, 336, 366.
Kidd, Mary (Cardonnel-Lawson), 323.
Kilham, Rev. .Alexander, Primitive Methodist minister
.. (1797), 375-
Killerby, James, one of the ' twenty-four ' (1674), 368.
Killingworth, moor, 316, 412 ; geological features, see
Clousden Hill.
Killingworth, Luke, heirs own salt pans at North
Shields (1707), 310 ; Ralph, marriage (1662), 364.
King, Allan, deputy at Tynemouth (1584), 165 ;
William, geological work, 6, 417.
Kirkby, J. W., geological works, 2, 3, 417, 41S.
Kirkham, Walter de. See Durham, bishops of.
Kitchin, Phillis (Reed), 321.
Klein, Edward, 268.
Knight, Colonel, under General Monk (1660), 197.
Knightley, John, vicar of Tynemouth (157S), 363.
Knox, Rev. Walter, Presbyterian minister (1803-1817),
374-
L.
Lacy, Joseph, 349 ; Richard, of Newcastle, monumental
inscription, 130; Robert de, sheriff of Northumber-
land {circa 1 105), 54 n ; Samuel (l), of Great
A'armouth, and family, monumental inscription,
130; property at Preston, 347 ; at Monkseaton, 406 ;
Samuel (2), of Kirkoswald, sells Preston farm
(1805), 348; .Monkseaton property (1800,407;
claim on Shire Moor (1790), 415.
Lade-bund, meaning of, 224.
Laing, family of, owners of dock at North Shields, 310 n.
Lamb, Joseph, lessee of collieries (1799-183S), 27, 29,
30 ; Mary (Ashburnham), marriage (1663), 365.
Lambert, Anne (Crawford), 334 ; Major-General, at
Newcastle (1659), 196 ; Robert, takes sanctuary at
Tynemouth (1523), 212 ; and By.as, Messrs., 32.
Lancaster, John of Gaunt, duke of, supports cause of
Tynemouth priory, gS ; subscribes towards repair of
Tynemouth castle (1390), 99, 15c, 156; Henry,
constable of Tynemouth (1445), 259 n, 425 ; Thomas,
earl of, 84.
Langley, Prior de la Mare visits Edward 11 1, at, 93, 95 n.
Lanesborough, John \'. D. Butler, earl of, 273.
Lanfranc, archbishop of Canterbury, 46.
Langdale, Sir Marmaduke, defeats Scots (1644), 185 ;
secures Tynemouth castle for the Royalists (164S),
191 ; plans for securing Newcastle and Tynemouth
(1652), 194.
INDEX.
441
Langthong, Adam, murdered, 219.
Langton, John. See Tynemouth, priors of.
Larkin, Isabel, Quaker meetings in the house of, 371.
Lawrence, Peter, marriage (1675), 365 ; Ralph, in
charge of Tynemouth castle, 160.
Laws, Cuthbert Umfreville, steward of Tynemouth
(1870), 215 n.
Lawson, Sir George (i), takes surrender of Tynemouth
priory (1539), ill; George (2), of Glosler Hill,
sells Murton farm (1702), A12 ; Hilton, of Chirton,
will (1748), 322 ; marriage, 324, 325 ; tenant of
Murton (1757), 411 ; Jane (Dockwray), 269; John
(i), of Barton, 322 n ; John (2), of Chirton, 322 n,
415 ; Robert (i), of Ulgham, acquires Murton farm
(1679), 411 ; Robert (2), of Cramlington, buys
Chirton, 322 ; sells land for Quakers' burial ground,
372 ; Thomas, of Cramlington, lease of West
Hartford from Tj-nemouth priory, no; Rev.
Wilfrid, vicar of Warkworth, 322 n ; Winifred,
322 n ; bequest (1790), 366.
Laycock, Joseph, lessee of Seghill colliery, 32.
Leadbitter, Edward, steward of Tynemouth (1882),
215 n.
Lebour, Professor G. A., geological works, 4, lo, 420.
Lee, Arthur, juror of Tynemouth (1562), 240 ; Edward,
of Monkwearmouth, 172 ; Dr. Peter, candidate for
Tynemouth priorate, 107 ; Sir Richard, fortification
of Tynemouth castle (1545), 157 ; report on Tyne-
mouth fortifications, 161 ; inspection of Tynemouth
church, 127.
Leeke, Sir Francis, captain of Tynemouth castle (1546),
127, 158, 204; steward of Tynemouth manor, 158,
215 n.
Leker, Nicholas, inquest on, 219.
Leland's Collectanea cited, 35, 106 n, 119, 154 "•
Lemington ironworks, 27.
Len, Stephen de, workman, 76.
Leowric, Tynemouth fisherman, captured by earl of
Chester, 60.
Lesbur)', John de Barneburgh, vicar of, 362.
Leslie. See Leven, earl of.
Leven, Alexander Leslie, earl of, occupies Newcastle
(1640), 181 ; campaign of 1644, 185 ; besieges New-
castle, 186 ; Tynemouth surrenders to, 187 ; holds
earl of Northumberland's demesnes at Tynemouth,
193-
Leving, Captain, rebel (1662), 198.
Libert, John de, of Saxton, grant to Tynemouth priory
(1345). 115-
Liddell, John (i), of Dockwray Square, and family,
monumental inscription, 130; heir of, property in
Shire Moor, 416 ; John (2), of Benwell, 349.
Lighthouses at Tynemouth and North Shields, 201,
205-207, 274-27S.
Ligulph, sheriff of Northumberland, writs addressed to
{circa II06-II16), 55.
Lilburn, in Tyneniouthshire, 208 and n ; granted to
Tynemouth priory, 48, 54, 55 (13), 67 n, 69 n ;
restored to the priory after forfeiture (l 176), 62 n ;
chapel of, confirmed to St. Alban's (1174), 64;
agreement respecting synodalia, 66 n. See also
Morel, Archil.
Lilburn, Captain (1655), 195 ; Lieut.-Colonel Henry,
deputy captain of Tynemouth castle (164S), 192.
Lindisfarne, sack of (793). 4°-
Lindley, J., geological work, 420.
Lindsay, William Schaw, M.P. for Tynemouth (1854-
1859)- 331- , , ,
Lingones, fourth cohort of the, 36-37.
Vol. VIII.
Linskill of Tynemouth lodge, pedigree, 272 ; William
(i), inherits property in Tj-nemouth, 269, 274; in
ilonkseaton, 407 ; William (2), mayor of Tyne-
mouth (1849-1850, and 1855), 352 ; sells .Vlonk-
seaton property (1875), 407.
Linton, George, quaker (1661), 372; Robert, quaker
(1661), 372.
Litel, Matilda, messuage in Tynemouth (1336), 256.
Loadsman, Robert, fishery at North Shields (1729-
1730), 298 n ; marriage (171 Oi 36;-
Lomax, John, nonconformist preacher, 373 ; monu-
mental inscription (1693), 130.
Long, Henry, Preston tallage roll (1294), 342 ; subsidy
roll (1296), 343.
Longchamp, William de, mtness to charter, 68 n.
Longhorsley, Charles Ward, vicar of, 364.
Long Houghton, sur\ey of (1567), 2440; family of
Clark of, 273.
Lothian, William (Ker), carl of, at Tynemouth (1646),
189.
Love, Elizabeth (Dockwray), 269 ; Joseph, of Durham,
buys Murton house (1872), 411 ; Captain Thomas,
deputy-governor of T>Tiemouth (1662), 198, ao3 ;
one of the 'twenty-four' (1674), 368.
Low Lights (North Shields), early building at, 286 ;
medieval pier at, 285 ; salmon fisher)-, 298, 324 ;
staiths, 308, 309 ; coal and lime shipped at, 27, 313,
400; factories, 271, 310, 313; proposed dock,
354; lifeboat station at, 356. See also Clifford's
fort, Lighthouses, and Pow-bum.
Lowe, Jeremiah, juror of Tynemouth (1686), 24I,
305 n ; one of the 'twenty-four' (1674), 368.
Lowes, John, and family, monumental inscription, 130.
Lucy, family of, arms in chapel in Tj-nemouth prior)",
104, 145 ; Richard de, witness to charters, 62 n.
Ludeburn, John de, monk of T)'nemouih, 392 n.
Ludgate, Ann, widow, of North Shields, 296.
Lyberd. See Libert.
Lynn, merchants of, 254.
Lyon, James, 349.
M.
Macdonell, Colonel, 202.
Mackay, Hon. Alexander, governor of Tj-n«mouih
castle (1771), 204.
Mackenzie, Rev. Colin A., Presbjterian minister (1854-
1864), 374.
Macrel. See Makarey.
Madeson, Henr)', heirs hold land in Tynemouth, 262,
263.
Makarey, family of, pedigree, 100 ; John, of Whelham-
stede, see Tynemouth, priors of; .Margaret (Bostock),
100 ; Thom.as, of Whethamstede. 100.
Malcolm IlL, king of Scotland, submits to William the
Conqueror (1072), 43 ; buried at Tj-nemouth (1093),
51-52.
Malcolm IV., king of Scotland, surrenders Nonhum-
berl.ind to Henr)- II. (il57), 61.
Malkeyn. Roger, son of William, grant from (1 340), 423.
Manley, George, 268.
M.ansell, Captain John, 272.
Maperteshall, .Vdam de. See Tj-nemouth, priors of.
Mare, Thomas de la. See T)-nemouth, priors of.
Marden, co,il mine at (13151. '7. 254. 2S0; water-mill
at. .106, 241, 261, 263. 2S0-281, 328; demesne land
at, 251, 262, 2S1 ; well at, 31 1 ; limestone quarries,
set Whitley ; burn, course of, 247, 280 n, 342, 3S9.
See also Cullercoats.
56
442
INDEX.
Mareys, Peier, of Berwick, fined at Tynemouth (1293),
219.
Margaret, wife of Edward I., at Tynemouth (1304),
84. 253-
Margaret of Anjou, lands at Tynemouth (1462), 104.
Margaret, daughter of Henry \'1I., received by prior
of Tynemouth (1503), Io6.
Market at Bewick, 75 ; at Tynemouth, 75, 79, 84,
252-253 ; market cross at Tynemouth, 217 ; at
North Shields, 301-303, 311.
Marley, Sir John, governor of Newcastle, 182, 195, 19S ;
Robert, son of Sir John, 195 ; lieutenant of volun-
teers (1667), 200 n.
Marmion, Manser, witness to charter (1138), 59 n ;
Robert, witness to charter, 62 n.
Marshall, Elizabeth Fairlam (Clark), 273 ; Rowland,
tenant of East Chirton (1606), 321 ; William,
witness to charters, 68 n, 69 n.
Marston Moor, battle of, 186.
Mary, St., Tynemouth church dedicated to, 41, 57 ;
figure on counterseal of Prior Germanus, 121.
Mary, Queen of Scots. See Stuart.
Maryns, John. Sre St. Alban's, abbots of.
Mason, service of carting from, 224.
Mason, William, son of William, grant from (n76),
423.
Matilda, queen of Henry I., grants Bewick and Lil-
burn to Tynemouth priory, 48-49, 54 and n.
Matlyne, John, juror of Tynemouth (1562), 240.
Matthew, Tobias. See Durham, bishops of.
Matthewson, Roger, tenant of fisheiy (1328), 340 n.
Maud, Empress, supported by David of Scotland
(1 136), 58.
Maude, Jacob, lessee of Percy Main colliery (1799),
22 ; of Backworth colliery (1812), 27.
Maudut, Roger, coroner of Tynemouth (before 1293),
2ig.
Ma.ximinus, C. Julius, dedicatory inscription b}', found
at Tynemouth, 37.
Maymond, Robert, witness (1363), 25S n, 422.
Maynard, Mary (Dockwray), 270.
Mayson, John Walker, mayor of Tynemouth (1854),
352-
Mazon, Simon, land in Tynemouth (1336), 255, 256 ;
Walter, land in Tynemouth, 256 ; William, son of
Roger, land in Tynemouth (1336), 256.
Mease, Solomon, mayor of Tynemouth (1852 and
i860), 352.
Melton, Sir John, grant of salt pans at North Shields
(1631), 310 ; land in Tynemouth (1631-1637), 264 ;
Lady, sued (1649), 241.
Merchant \'enturers of Bristol, Company of, owners of
fee-farm rent in Tynemouth, 371.
Merdeffen-pennies, meaning of, 224.
Meredith, Thomas, governor of Tynemouth castle
(1708), 204.
Merley, freeman of Monkseaton (1377), 405 ; John de,
witness (1392), 424.
Merrj-man, William, vicar of Tynemouth (1466), 362.
Mersfen. See Mason.
Merston, Philip de, exemption from merchet, 250 n;
Tynemouth subsidy roll (1296), 252 ; witness, 421,
422 ; land in Tynemouth, 423.
Meryngton, William, grant to Traemouth priory
(1380), 116. ^ ^
Messor, Robert, West Chirton tallage roll (1294), 337.
Metcalfe. See Mitcalfe.
Michellson, Thomas, tenant of Tynemouth (1539),
262, 265.
Middlesex, Lionel, earl of, lord treasurer (1622),
1 78.
.Middleton-in-Teesdale, tithes of, granted to Tyne-
Gilbert de, rebel
John de (i), senes-
mouth priory, 50, 62 n, 68 n.
.\liddleton, .'Xiine (Delaval), 171
(131S), 86, 254 ; executed, 87 ;
chal of Tynemouth (1264), 215 n, 402; John (2),
witness(i426), 425,426 ; Sir John (3), witness (1426),
424, 425; Robert de, chaplain (1319), 248 n ;
Thomas de (l), plunders Tynemouth property {circa
1325), 90 ; Thomas (2), of Silksworth, 262 n, 263 n ;
William de (l), justice itinerant (1280), 211 n;
William de (2), marauder (1 321), 88.
Milbanke, of Halnaby and Thorpe Perrow, descent, 326 ;
Bryan, 327 ; Christobel, 327 ; Edmund (l), tenant
of Tynemouth (1597), 23 1, 234, 235, 326 ; will, 327 ;
Edmund (2), 327 ; Eleanor, 327 ; Grace, 327 ; Joan,
327 ; John, 327 ; Lancelot, 327 ; Mark (l), tenant
of East Chirton (1606), 321 ; high sheriff and
mayor of Newcastle, 326 ; inheritance, 327 ; buys
Middle Chirton, 333 ; acquires part of Tynemouth
tithes (1676), 371 ; Sir Mark (2), of Halnaby, first
baronet, creation (1661), 326 ; bequest (167S), 365,
36S, 371 ; Nicholas, 327 ; Sir Ralph (i), fifth
baronet, petition for wagonway (i757), 266 n ; Sir
Ralph (2) (Noel), sixth baronet, claim on Shire
Moor (1790), 415 ; sale of Balkwell estate (1805),
328 ; sells tithes in Tynemouth parish (1818), 371 ;
Richard (i), 327 ; Richard (2), 327 ; Robert, 327 ;
William, of North Shields, death (1603), 260;
transfer of land to (1600), 298 ; will, 327.
Milbourne, of Chirton, pedigree, 324 ; family of, own
salt pans at Shields, 306, 310; George (l), of
Chirton, works coal in Chirton and Monkseaton,
>9i 325; sued (1649), 24I ; property at Low Lights,
272 ; fishery at North Shields (1637), 298 n ; mort-
gage of property in Chirton (1641), 332 ; land in
Preston (1649), 345 ; bequest, 365 ; land in Monk-
seaton (1650), 406 n ; George (2), of Chirton, be-
quest (167 1), 365 ; Jane (.\Iitford), 324 ; Ralph, of
Chirton, death (1689), 325 ; monument in Christ
church, 362 ; William, of Newcastle, fishery at North
Shields (1637), 298 n ; Winifred (i), rebuilds
Chirton house (1693), 325 ; monument in Christ
church, 362; tenant of Murton (1707), 411;
Winifred (2) (Roddam), heir to Chirton, 325 ;
mani.age (1698), 365.
Milburn, George, of Chirton, herd, 324 n ; Lucy
(Delaval), 171 ; Thomas de, conservator of Tyne
(1293), 220.
Miller, John, of Preston, 'bond' (1295), 223.
Mills, suit to, 222, 228 n ; mill silver, 339 n ; Tyne-
mouth windmill, 219, 247-248, 261, 263. See also
Billy .Mill, Flatworth, Marden.
Mills, of Monkseaton, pedigree, 406 ; Elizabeth (i),
(Otway), 346 ; Elizabeth (2) (Boulby), 406 ; Jane,
claim on Shire Moor (1790), 415 ; John, juror of
Tynemouth (1686), 241 ; high constable (1690),
283 n ; Robert, yeoman (1603), 328; Thomas (i),
juror of Tynemouth (1562), 240; Thomas (2),
soldier, 177.
Milnton, near North Shields, 247-248 ; in Tynemouth-
shire, 208 ; granted to Tynemouth jiriory, 55 (13),
67 n ; lands in, acquired by Tynemouth priorj-,
115, 117, 248; valuation of tithes, 369; deed
relating to, 422.
Milneton,"Hugh de, pays homage to Abbot Norton
(1264), 113, 248; William de, paj's homage to
Abbot Berkhamstead'(i29i), 248.
INDEX.
Mitcalfe, of Tynemouih and Norih Shields, pedigree,
267-268 ; Ann Bird (Ames), sells Murton house
(1833), 41 1 ; Anne Emma (Fenwick), 349; Henry (i),
of Murion house, buys Monkseaton property (1792),
408; Murion house (1765), 411 ; claim on Shire
Moor (1790) 415 ; Henry (2), M.P. for Tynemouih
(1841-1S47), 351 ; John, porter at Tynemouih
castle, 164 ; receiver of hall-corn rent, 335 ; Sus-
anna (Fenwick), 349 ; Thomas, graving dock at
North Shields (1820), 314 ; William, of Tynemouih
house, presents paten to Christ Church (1825), 360.
Mitford castle, surrender of (1321), 88 and n ; David I.
at (1138), 59.
Mitford, Anthony, constable of Tynemouih castle, 216 n,
234; tenant (1539), 262; Christopher, tenant of
Tynemouih (1539), 262; Henry, 262 n ; Jane
(Milbourne and Fenwick), 324 ; second marriage
(1652), 364; Robert, 327; W. de (i), canon of
Hexham, 78 n ; William de (2), seneschal of Tyne-
mouih (1421), 215 n, 424.
Mollineux, Roger, ensign of volunteers (1667), 200 n.
Monk, General, crosses the Tweed (1660), 196; ad-
vance to London, 197.
Monkchester. See Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
Monk's stone, near Tynemouth, description of, 131-133;
possibly a griih cross, 211 ; early reference to, 423 n.
Monkseaton TOWNSHIP, 402-407 ; in Tynemouthshire,
208 ; granted to Tynemouth priory, 48, 54, 5;, 62 n,
67 n, 389, 402 ; lands in, acquired by Tynemouth
priory, 115, 116 ; manor of, 221 ; serf of, buried at
Dunfermline, 51 ; plundering of property at, 90;
Black Death in, 227, 405; freeholds in, 263, 422 ;
suit to F'latworth mill, 339 n ; number and size of
holdings in, 228 ; rent of farmholds in, 229 ; recog-
nition of copyhold tenure at, 239 ; tenants of, pre-
sented at Tynemouth manor court, 241 ; tithes of,
369, 371 ; coal mines, 17, 18, 19, 20, 26-27, 321,
397-398 ; census returns, 402 n ; urban district, 401;
isolated portions of township, 416.
Montacute, family of, 92.
Montague, William de, custodian of Barnard -castle
(1315-1316), 87 n.
Montgomer)', Hugh, Lord, in command of Tynemouih
Castle (1640), 182 ; Major, commander of Scottish
horse (1644), 185.
Montivilliers, merchants of, 254.
Montrose, James, Marquis of, joins royalists (1644), 186.
Moor, John, of Alorpeth High House, 333 ; property
at Monkseaton, 408.
Moor Houses, 315 ; gallows at, 317 ; demesne at, 409.
Moray, F.arl of, besieges Tynemouth (1389), 99.
More, Rev. George, Presbyterian minister (17S1-17S5),
375-
Morel, Archil, lord of Bewick and Lilburn {circa
II05), 54 and n.
Morgan, Robert, grant of land in North Shields lo
(1600), 298 n.
Morkar, cousin of earl Waltheof, 44.
Morpeth, capture and recapture of castle (1644), 186 ;
royalist conspirators at (1655), 195 ; General Monk
at (1660), 197 ; deed relating to, 422.
Morton, Galfrid de, witness (i 321-1326), 395 n,
423; Murton subsidy roll (1296), 409; John de
(l), Murton subsidy roll (I2g6), 409 ; witness (1319
and 1324), 248 n ; John de (2), witness (131)0),
257 n, (1363), 258 n, 422 ; John (3), of Tynemouih,
freehold in Tynemouth (1649), 26;, 274 ; John (4),
of Willington, freehold in Tynemouth (1649), 265,
274; Matilda de, Preston Ullage roll (1294),
443
342 i subsidy roll (1296), 343 ; Nicholas de, juror
of Tynemouih (1293), 218; holding in Murton
(1264 and 1291), 409, 4ion; subsidy roll (1296),
409 ; witness, 421 ; Ralph de, Murton subsidy roll
(1296), 409; Roger de (l), juror of Tynemouih
(1293) 218; Murion subsidy roll (1296), 409;
witness, 421 ; Roger (2), 173; freehold in Tyne-
mouth (1608), 263, 274 n.
Morton-Tynemouth, granted lo Tynemouth priory, 50,
68 n ; cornagc rem at, 118 n.
Morvill, Hugh de, witness lo charters, 59 n, 60 n.
Mould, John, juror of Tynemouth (1562), 240.
Mowbray, Robert de. See Northumberland, earls of.
Moyer, Colonel, prisoner at Tynemouih, ig8.
Moyner, Hugh le, seneschal of Tynemouih (1256),
215 n.
Muggleswick plot, 198 n.
Murray, Rev. George M., 273.
Murton TOWNSHIP, 409-412 ; in Tynemouthshire. 208 ;
granted lo Tynemouih priory, 48, 67 n ; lands in,
acquired by Tynemouth priory, 115, 116,410; tithes
of, 124, 369, 371 ; number and size of holdings in,
228 ; rent of farmholds in, 229 ; recognition of
copyhold tenure at, 239 ; prescntmeni made at
Tynemouih manor court. 241 ; freeholds in, 263,
411 ; outcrop of coal at, 8; colliery, 19; census
returns, 409 n ; isolated portions of township, 416.
Murton, Marj- (Durham), marriage (1694), 365. See
nlso Morton.
Mussel scalp near North Shields, 298 n.
Mykeley, Roger de, inquest on, 219.
N.
Nades, Roger, freeholder of Preston (1296), 343.
Nalers, Joseph, of Sandiford, 401 ; Mrs., of Tynemouth,
presents paten lo Christ church (1818), 360.
Naylor, Kathcrine (Dockwray), 269.
Neile, Richard. See Durham, bishops of.
Nele, John, witness (1399), 424.
Nelle, Roger, order of arrest (1293), 220.
Nennius, cited, 35.
Netherwitton farm case, 243.
Ncubom, Christiana, widow of William de, messuage-
in Tynemouth (1336), 256.
Neusum-lade, meaning of 224, 250 n.
Neville of Rab)', pedigree, 335 ; Ralph de, «-arden of
the .Marches (1346), 95, 156.
Neville's Cross, battle of, 94.
Newbiggen in New burn parish, family of Hudson of, 398.
Newbiggin in Woodhorn, lands in, held by Tjmcmoulh,
])riory, 49, 117; chapel confirmed lo St. Alban's
abbey (1 174), 63 n ; pension from, p.ayable 10 St.
Alban's, 64 ; parliamenlarj- representatives of, 261 n ;
fishing at, 287 n, 385, 3S6, 388.
Newbum, tithes of, granted to Tynemouih priorj-, 49 n,
;o, 62 n, 68 n ; caning to, 396; battle of, iSl ;
Dockwray, vicar of, 269.
Newcastle-upon-Tyne, William I. al (1070, 1072), 43 ;
arrival of monks al (1074). 44 ; siege of, by Wil-
liam H. (lC9j), 52-53 ; monks of Tynemouih freod
from forced labour at, 55 (14) ; charters of David I.
dated al, 59 n ; charters of Earl Henry fiiz D.ivid
dated at, 60 n ; burgesses of, do homage lo .AbKi:
Norton (1264), 113; attack on North Shields by
men of (I26,S), 79, 2S6 ; legal piiveedings «iih
Tynemouih regarding North Shields (I2yl), 79.
2S6-2S8 ; Edward 1. at (1292), 80; attempted
capture of Gavestonal(i3l2), 84 ; defended against
444
INDEX.
Bruce (1315), 86 ; Edward III. at (1335), 92 ; castle
ofi 395 ; claims ownership of Kenham, 97 ; St. Bar-
tholomew's prior)' at, 260 ; property of Tynemoulh
priory in, 49, 62 n, ICO, I15, I16; Scots besiege
Hotspur in (1388), 98; armed feud with prior of
Tynemouth (15 10), 290-291 ; settlement of disputes
by arbitration (1512), 291-292 ; acquires monopoly
of trade in the Tyne (1530), 292-293 ; establishment
of Trinity House at (1536), 274-275 ; petition for
custody of Tynemouth castle (1574), 164-165 ;
defenceless state of, 168, 170; claims right of
searching vessels, 299 n ; offer to repair Tynemoulh
caslle (1625), 178-179 ; action taken against North
Shields brewers, 299 ; ordnance removed from
Tynemouth to (1638), 181 ; occupation by the
Scots (1640), 181-182 ; re-fortified by the marquis
of Newcastle (1641), 1S2 ; Parliament prohibits
trade with (1643), 183-1S4; siege of (1644), 1S6-
187 ; Charles 1. at (1646), 189-190 ; evacuation by
the Scottish troops (1647), 190-191 ; occupation
by the Parliamentarians (1647), 191 ; monopoly
exercised by the Hostmen's Company and Ship-
wrights, 300-301 ; Gardner's attack on privileges
of (1653). 301-303 ; George Fox at (1653), 371 ;
royalist plots for seizure of (1654), 194-195 ;
declares for Monk (1660), 197 ; money voted for
repair of Tynemouth castle (1665), 19S ; sectarian-
ism at, 198-199 ; attempts at suppressing trade
at Shields, 304-305, 308 ; house property in, 327,
396, 398 ; fish market at, 379, 382 ; Newcastle and
North Shields railway, 355 ; Shields separated
from port of (1848), 353 ; Richard Holdsworth, vicar
of (1595), 327 n ; tithes of, 363. See also Tyne.
Newcastle, William Cavendish, marquis of, governor
of Newcastle (1642), 182 ; campaign of 1644, 186.
Newcomen's atmospheric engine, 21.
Newenham, Henry de, manor of Whitley conveyed to
(1310), 393.
Newminster, abbey destroyed by David of Scotland
(1138), 58 ; debt from Tynemouth to, 76.
Newport, Montjoy, earl of, master of ordnance (1638),
181.
Newsham, fossil plants and fish at, 9, 418, 419, 420 ;
geological features, 11, 30; coal workings at, 33;
tithes, 369, 371 ; service of carting from, 224.
Newton by the Sea, fishing at, 385, 386, 388.
New York, hamlet of, 412.
Nicholas I\'., Pope. See Popes.
Nicholson, John, sued (1651), 241.
Nixon, Frances (Crawford), 334.
Noble, John, claim on Shire -Moor (1790), 415.
Noel, Sir Ralph. See .Milbanke.
Nogge, John, quit-claims to and by (1333), 423 ;
Symon, of Newcastle, quit-claim (1333), 423.
Nolan, Rev. John, Roman Catholic priest (1878-1884),
376-377.
Norfolk, Hugh Bigod, earl of, witness to charter (1158),
62 n ; Thomas, fourth duke of, trial before, 160 ;
report on cost of Tynemouth garrison (1560), 161.
Norham, surrenders to David of Scotland (1138), 59 ;
Parliament at (1291), 80, 392.
Norris, Rev. Alfred, Congregationalist minister (1869-
1885), 377.
North, John, of London, 273 ; Roger, ' Life of Lord
Keeper Guildford ' cited, 308.
Northampton, Peace of, 91.
Northbury, William de, justice for Tynemouthshire,
(127S), 211 n.
North Seaton. See Seaton Woodhorn.
North Shields, TOWNSHIP, 284-315 ; in Tynemouth-
shire, 208 and n ; boundaries, 284 ; early growth of,
75, 285-286; shipment of coal at (1268), 18;
attacked by citizens of Newcastle (1268), 79, 286;
suit between Tynemouth and Newcastle regarding
(1290), 79, 2S6-288 ; subsidy roll of 1296, 288;
further growth and development, 289 ; inquisition
into st.ate of (1447), 290; privileges at, conferred
on Tynemoulh priory (1462), 104, 290 ; dispute be-
tween Newcastle and Tynemouth regarding port of,
290, 292 ; lighthouses built at (1539), 274-275 ;
decline of, 293-294 ; attempted establishment of
copyhold tenure at, 294-297 ; office of bailiff of,
298 n ; right of search exercised at, 298 n ; sale of
crown lands in (1635), 240, 297-299 ; suppression
of brewing trade at, 299, 301, 305 ; forts erected at
(1641), 1S2-184, 276 ; capture of forts (1644), 186-
187 ; attempt to obtain market for (1653), 301-303 ;
threatened destruction of quays at (1661), 304-305 ;
description of, in the seventeenth century, 305-307 ;
local government in, 307-30S ; entries on Tyne-
mouth court-rolls relating to, 240-241 ; CHfford's
fort built at (1672), 200, 276 ; decay of salt trade,
309-310; increase of shipping at, 308-309, 310,
312 ; roperies at, 268 ; colliery at, 266 n ; develop-
ment of Lord Howard's lands, 266 ; development of
Dockwray estate, 271; Stephenson and Linskill
properties, 269, 274 ; Walker property in, 271 ;
development of Yeoman and Sibthorpe estate, 326 ;
urban extension and public buildings, 311-314;
establishment of municipal government (182S), 314-
315 ; creation of Tynemouth borough (1838), 247,
350-353 ; town hall, 352 ; Newcastle railway, 355 ;
creation of port of (1848), 353; ferries, 241, 354-
355; public institutions, 356; churches, 360;
tithes, 369, 371 ; nonconformity in, 199, 371-378;
coble-building at, 382 ; herring fishing at, 380-381 ;
white fisheries at, 382-385 ; number of fishing boats
at, 388 ; census returns, 315 n. See alsoTynemoMlh
Borough and Low Lights.
North Sunderland (Seahouses), fish trade at, 380, 381,
3S5, 388.
Northumberland. John Dudley, duke of, receives site
of Tynemouth priory and lands (1551), 159. See
also Percy.
Northumberland, earls of, Tostig (1055-1066), visits
Tj'nemouth, 41 ; his banishment and death, 43 ;
connection with Tynemouth, 154 ; Gospatric (1067-
1072), his deposition, 44 ; Waltheof (1072-1075),
grants church of Tynemouth to the monks of
Jarrow, 44 ; Walcher (1075-1080), see Durham,
bishops of; Alberic (1080-10S2), confirms grant of
Tynemouth to the monks of Jarrow, 45 ; Robert de
Mowbray (1082-1095), extent of his powers as earl,
209 ; sanctions removal of the monks of Jarrow to
Durham, 45 ; probable founder of T)'nemouth castle,
155 ; transfers Tynemouth priory from Durham to
St. Alban's, 46-47, 81 ; his endowments, 47-50, 55,
24S ; buries Malcolm IlL at Tynemouth, 51 ; his
revolt and death, 52-54, 155 ; history of, in Tyne-
mouth library, I20n; Henry (fitz David) (1139-
1152), recognised by treaty (1139). 59; confers
privileges on monks of Tynemoulh, 59, 209 ;
charters of, 59 n, 60 n ; Hugh Pudsey, see Durham,
bishops of. See also Percy.
Northumberland Dock, 33.
Norihumbrian Annals, 40.
Norton, county York, cornage of, Ii8n; county
Durham, John de Barneburgh, vicar of, 362.
INDEX.
445
Norlon, John, of Cliiheroe, officer at Tynemouth castle
(1545), 158; Mark, witness (1603), 327, 328;
Roger de, see St. Albans, abbots of.
Norwich, bishop of, arbitrator between Tynemouth
priory and Newcastle (15 12), 291.
O.
Odard, sheriff of Northumberland, writs of Henry I.
addressed to {circa 1 120), 55 ; at York (1121), 57.
Offa, king of Mercia, founder of St. Alban's monastery,
122 n.
Ogle, Henry Cavendish, earl of, governor of Newcastle
(1667), 200 ; colonel of volunteer regiment, 200 n ;
Frances (Howard), m.irriage (1681), 365 ; Henry,
of Liverpool, marriage (1754). 363 ; Jane (Ogle),
marriage (I754). 365; J"hn (i), of Ogle, 171;
John (2), of Newsham and Bebside, marriage, 171 ;
Katherine, tenant of Tynemouth (1649), 265 ;
Mark, owns salt pans at North Shields (1707), 310;
Oswald, of Shilvington, deposition (1596), 234;
Phillis (Cramlington, Delaval, Ogle), 171 ; Sir
Robert, witness (1426), 424, 435.
Oilli, d'. See Oyley d'.
Oliver, Johanna, of Rypton, 396 ; John, of Rypton,
sells manor of Whitley (1403), 396 ; Thomas,
architect, 377.
Orange, William (i), prince of, sends man-of-war to
the Tyne (1646), 190; William (2), prince of
(William 111.), lands at Torbay (16S8), 203.
Orde, Lancelot, lieutenant of volunteers (1667), 200 n ;
Nathaniel, depiit}- captain of Tynemouth, 177.
Orkney, George Hamilton, first earl of, 202.
Orm, villager of Tynemouth, 248.
Ornford, John le, seneschal of Tynemouth (1392), 215 n,
422.
Osbern, vicar of Tynemouth (twelfth century), 362.
Oseworth, John de, plunders Tynemouth property
{circa 1325), 90.
Osred, king of Northumbria, buried at Tynemouth
(792)^40-
Oswald, St., reputed founder of Tynemouth monastery,
39 ; cross in church of, at Durham, 132, 133.
Oswin, St., discovery of his body at Tynemouth (106;),
41-43, 135; his body granted to monks of Jarrow
(1072), 44-43 ; patron saint of Tynemouth, 57 ;
extinction of fire attributed to, 61 ; last miracle of
(13S4), gS ; shrine made for (mo), 56; work of
13aldwin the goldsmith on shrine, 66 ; description of
shrine, 73 ; shrine removed to Lady-chapel {circa
1346), 95-96 ; donation to shrine by Johanna,
princess of Wales, 100; destruction of shrine (1539),
III ; search for remains of (1774), 146 ; figure on
Tynemouth priory seal, 121 ; psalter of. nS ; Vila
Osu'ini, 118, 119; cited, 41-44, 56-57, 60-61, 67,
119, 212, 222 n, 248, 318.
Oswy, king of Bernicia, murderer of St. Oswin, 41.
Oltir, Danish earl, 412 n.
Otterburn, battle of (13SS), 98.
Otway, of Preston, pedigree, 346; Anne (Dove), 271 ;
Gilbert, tenant of Tj-nemouih (1649), 265 ; John,
tenant of Tynemouth (1539). 262, 265 ; Robert (l),
assault on (1305), 394; Robert (2), of Preston,
freehold in Tynemoinh (1649), 265 ; freehold in
Preston (1649), 345 ; daughter's marriage, 271 ;
Thomas (l), tenant of Tj'nemouth (1595), 232,
234; juror (1562), 240; freehold (1608), 263;
Thomas (2). juror of Tynemouth (1686), 241 ; one
of the ' twenty-four ' (1674), 368.
Overing, John, brewer of North Shields (1672), 305.
Ovingham rectory, purchase of, 121 ; John PIkeworth,
vicar of, 121.
Ovington, tithes of, granted to Tynemouth priory, 49 n,
50, 62 n, 121.
Owen, Prof., geological paper, 418.
Owton, tithes of, held by Tynemouth priory, 50, 370.
Oxenhall, near Darlington, 'hell-pots' at, 120 n.
Oxford, payment made by Tynemouth 10 St. Alban's
hall, 118.
Oxiey, Joseph, invents winding-engine (1763), 24.
Outshirc, application of the terra, I, 240.
Oyley, Richard d', witness, 58 n.
P.
Page, John, candidate for vicarage of Tynemouth
(1659), 367.
Palmer, Rev. E. R., .M.A., minister of St. Andrew's
chapel (1888-1892), 374.
Pape, Gilbert, land in Tynemouth, 256.
Parco, Richard de, prior of Tynemouth (1244), 123.
Parker, Rev. Edward, of Durham, 406 ; William,
marriage, 396; inherits Whitley (I403), 396;
grants Whitley to Tynemouth priory (1404), 117.
Patadoille, William, tenant of Preston (1296), 343.
Pate, .Margaret, tenant of Tynemouth (1539), 262;
Thomas, tenant of Tynemouth (1539), 262. 265
Pattison, Hannah (Whitehead), marriage (1684), 365 ;
John, of North Shields (1607), 296 ; Robert, juror
of Tynemouth (1562), 240; Stephen, of North
Shields (1607), 296.
Paul. See St. .Mban's, abbots of.
Payne. John, receiver of hall-corn rent, 233.
Pearcih, Barbara (Dixon and Hindmer), 407.
Pearson, .Anthony, of North Shields, monumental
inscription, 130; will, 274, 366,407; buys pro-
perly at .Monkseaton (1763), 407 ; Christopher,
leg.acy to (1603), 327 ; Jane (Linskill), 272 ;
Nicholas, juror of Tynemouth (1362), 240 ; Robert,
legacy to (1603), 327 ; Rev. Samuel. Congre-
gationalist minister, 377.
Pedie, Lieutenant John, 270.
Pedigrees : Butler of Newcastle and Chirion, 324 ;
Campbell of Whitley and F..arsdi>n, 40O ; C.irdon-
nel-Lawson of Chirton and Cramlington, 323 ;
Clark of BIyth, North Shields and Belford. 273 ;
Crawford of Seaton Delaval, Hartley and Balkwell,
353-334; Delaval of Tynemouth, 171-172 ; Dock-
wr,ay of Tynemouth, 269-270 ; Fenwick of Preston
and North Shields, 348-349 ; Hall of Whitley. 399 ;
Hansard of Chirton, 33;; llenzell of Newcistie
and Whitley, 401 : Hindmer of Newcastle and
Monkseaton'. 407 : Horslcy of North Shields. 425 ;
Hudson of -Newbiggen and Whitley, 401 ; Linskill
of Tynemouth lodge, 272 ; .Milboume of Chirton,
324 ; .Mills of .Monkseaton. 406 ; .Mitcalfe of
Tynemouth house, 267-268 ; Neville of Raby, 335 ;
Otway of Preston, 346; Reed of Chirton. 321 ;
Spearman of Preston and Eachwick, 346-347 ;
S])cnce of South Preston. 350 ; Toll of North
Shields, 269 ; \"illiers of Tynemouth castle. 202 ;
Whethamsiedc, lOO ; Whitley of Whitley, 395.
Pelham. See Vanlore.
Percy, family of, arms in chapel in Tynemouth priory.
104. 144; .Alan de (1121). 57 ; ' .Mgernon, tenth
e-arl of Northumberland (l6c2-l66S); grant of
Tynemouth castle to, revoked, 179, 190; acquires
town of North Shields (i655\ 240. 299 ; aajuires
446
INDEX.
Tyneniouth lordship (1637), 240, 264, 32S ;
acquires Flatworlh demesnes (1637), 19, 341 ;
acquires lordship of Tynemouthshire (1640), 240;
grants land at Tynemouth for church (1654), 35S ;
purchases mills (1659), 263 n ; captain of Tync-
mouth castle (1661), 197, 204 ; Algernon, fourth
duke of Northumberland (1792-1865). buys land
at Monkseaton (1853), 407 ; builds Sailors' Home
at Tynemoulh (1856), 356; builds church at
Cullercoats (1864), 401 ; Prudhoe Convalescent
Home, Whitley, in memory of (1869), 401 ;
Algernon, sixth duke of Northumberland (1810-
1899), bu)-s Chirton property (1869), 324 ; Monk-
seaton South-west farm (1885), 408 ; Preston farm
(1894), 348 ; Arnold de (1121), 54, 57 ; Elizabeth,
duchess of Somerset, 20 ; builds Cullercoats pier
(1677), 281 ; petition, 282 ; G. de, witness to
charter, 6on ; Henry de (i) (1272-1315), marches
against Edward II. at Newcastle (1312), 84; Sir
Henry (2) (1319-1353), friend of Prior de la Mare,
94 ; Henry (3) (1342-1407), first earl of North-
umberland, subscribes towards repair of Tyne-
moulh castle (1390), 99, 150, 156; Henry (4)
(1444-I489), fourth earl of Northumberland, grant
to Prior Dixwell, 105 ; Sir Henry (5), afterwards
eighth earl of Northumberland (1532- 1585),
steward and captain of Tyneniouth (1561), 160, 204,
215 n ; complaint of scanty remuneration, 161-162 ;
warned of Mary Stuart's return to Scotland, 162 ;
letters to Sir William Cecil, 127, 29S n ; in charge
of Bothwell, 162 ; acquires right of working coal
at Tyneniouth (1569), 18; opposed lo the Rising
of the North, 163 ; receives site of Tj'nemouth
monastery for life (1570), 163 ; concerned in
Ridolphi conspiracy, 163 ; imprisoned, fined,
liberated, 164 ; succeeds as eighth earl, 165 ; lessee
of Tyneniouth (1580), 230, 235 ; maintains light-
house at Tynemouth, 205 ; imprisoned again for
conspiracy (1583), 165 ; ihird imprisonment and
death (1585), 166 ; Henry (6), ninth earl of North-
umberland (l 564-1632), reversion of captaincy of
T3'nemouth castle and stewardship of T3'neniouth-
shire, 163, 204, 215 n; volunteers against Spanish
Armada, 168 ; restored lo captaincy of Tynemoulh
castle (1591), 168; lessee of Tj-nemouthshire
(1596), 230, 235 ; letters to, 293, 294, 295 ; petition
to, from tenants of Shields, 295 ; purchases half
of Tynemoulh rectory (1602), 363 n, 371 ; works
coal at Tynemoulh, 18 ; concerned in Gunpowder
Plot, 175-176; grant to, of Tynemouth copyhold
lands (1624), 263 ; grant of lands in North Shields
(1624), 298 ; grant of coal in Murlon and Shire
Moor (1624), 19; death (1632), 179; Henry (7),
seventh duke of Nonhumberland (born 1846), paper
on Northumbrian farms, 243 ; Hugh, first duke
of Northumberland (died 1786), fishery at North
Shields (1759), 298 n ; Hugh, second duke
of Northumberland (1742-1817), his enclosure
of Shire Moor (1788). 414-415 ; leases Backworth
royally (1812), 27 ; Hugh, third duke of North-
umberland (1785 -1847), purchases Backworlh
(1S21), 27 ; While House farm (1821), 348 ; second
half of advowson of Tyneniouth (1838), 371 ;
tithes in Tynemoulh parish (181S), 371 ; Joscelin,
eleventh earl of Northumberland (1644- 1670),
captain of Tynemouth castle, 197, 204 ; death, 200 ;
petitioned by townsmen of North Shields, 304 ;
Lady Mary, supports Prior de la Mare, 94 ;
Thomas, seienth earl of Northumberland (1529-
1572), site of Tynemouth priory leased to (1557),
159 ; joins in Rising of the North, 163 ; attainted,
163 ; executed (1572), 165 ; Thomas, concerned in
Gunpowder Plot, 175 ; Thomas, brother of ninth
earl, 179.
Percy chapel, Tynemouth, description of, 144-145.
Percy Main, colliery, 22, 25-26, 341.
Percy Square, Tj'nemouth, coast erosion at, 16, 274.
Peresson, Wiiliam, witness (1445), 259 n, 425.
Perkins, Anne (Spearman), 347.
Perrin, James, of Newcastle, 268 n.
Peter, vicar of Tynemoulh (1250), 125 n, 362.
Peterborough, Akarius, abbot of, 122.
Peterson, William, sued (1652), 241.
Philadelphia, hamlet of, 412.
Phillips, Francis, grant of Tyneniouth mills to (1610),
263 ; Jane (Mitcalfe), 268.
Phillipson, Joseph, 349.
Picot, Roger, writ of William II. addressed to (1095),
53; writs of Henry I. addressed to (II05-II08),
53-54 n.
Pickering, Adam de, grant lo Tynemouth priory,
115; coroner of Tyneniouth (before 1293), 219;
witness (c/rcrt 1276), 421, 423 n.
Pikeworth, John, parson of Ovingham, 121.
Pilgrimage of Grace, 109.
Pindar, Richard, of North Shields, holds Quaker
meetings (16S1), 372.
Pipe, Rev. S., Baptist minister (1869-1874), 377.
Plescies, John de, witness (1319 and 1324), 248 n.
Pleuyn, Alan, Monkseaton tallage roll (1294), 403 ;
freehold, 404 ; Roger, freehold {circa 1295), 404.
Plowman, Mary Anne (Mitcalfe), 267.
Plummer, — , lessee of VVest Holywell colliery (1828), 29.
Pointel, William, West Chirton tallage roll (1294),
337 ; (1296), 338.
Pollard, John, of Newcastle, 349.
Ponteland, Humphrey Bell, minister of, 364 n.
Pont I'Eveque, Roger de, archbishop of York, rights
granted to Tynemouth priory by, 69-70.
Poor-law, administration of, 30S and n ; Tyneniouth
Union, 351. Sge also Charities.
Popes: Innocent HI. confirms rights of Tynemouth
priory (1209), 69; Nicholas IV., taxation of bene-
fices (1292), 80, 361, 369; Adrian IV., confers
immunity on churches in gift of St. Alban's, 124.
Poppelwell, Matthew, m.ayor of Tynemoulh (1853),
352-
Pore, Thomas, of Flalworth (1597), 173.
Porter, Christiana, land in Tynemoulh (before 1363),
422.
Portington, Sir Ralph, owner of Tynemoulh C/iarlulaty,
119.
Portland, William, first earl of, 202.
Post, Simon, of Sulhloges, order of arrest (1293), 220.
Poller, Edward, mayor of Tynemoulh (1858-1859),
352; Emanuel, vicar of Tynemoulh (1749), 364;
Willi.am, mayor of Tynemoulh (1S75), 352.
Potts, Robert (i), surrenders lands in Preston (1622),
346 ; Robert (2), of Long Benton, representatives
of, own Whitley Link farm, 400 ; T. A., buys
Monkseaton property (1SS5), 407.
Pow, Robert, of North Shields, mayor of Tyneniouth
(1857), 352 ; bequest (1859), 366.
Pow burn (North Shields), ancient landing place at,
78 n, 285 ; bridge over, 2S4, 306 and n, 314 ; salt
pans at, 306, 310 ; land at, purchased by Reed and
Milbourne, 321, 324; mill on, 248. See also Low
Lights and St. Leonard's hospital.
INDEX.
447
Power, Captain, deputy at Tynemouth castle (1591)1
168 ; deposition, 171, 173.
Powlton, cofferer to earl of Northumberland (1600),
174 n.
Poyen, Robert, tenant of Tynemouth (1264), 249 n.
Prat, Richard, of Tynemouth, fined (1293), 219.
Prehistoric remains in Chirton, 316.
Preston TOWNSHIP, 342-350 ; in Tynemouthshire,
208 ; granted to Tynemouth priory, 48, 55 (13),
67 n, 342 ; manor of, 221, 344, 393 ; hinds in,
acquired by Tynemouth prior}', 1 1 5-1 17 ; tanyards
at, 75, 286 ; services of bonds at, 223, 342 ; services
of free tenants, 226 n, 343-344 ; suit to Flatworth
niill, 339 n ; early deeds relating to, 422, 423, 424 ;
demesne, 251, 260, 342 ; tithes, 369, 371 ; plundering
of, 90 ; number and size of holdings, 228, 342-344 ;
rent of freeholds in, 229, 344 ; recognition of copy-
hold tenure at, 239 ; freeholds in, 253, 258, 263 ;
enclosure of (1649), 244 n, 345 ; collieries, 17, 18-19,
34, 321 ; included in Tj'nemouth borough, 247,
35°-353 ; cemetery, 378 ; census returns, 342 n.
Preston, John de, witness (1363), 258 n, 422 ; land in
Tj-nemouth, 423.
Price, John, lieutenant of volunteers (1667), 203 n.
Prosperini, Bernardo, creditor of Henry III., 75.
Prudhoe, freeholders of, 281 ; woods, 32S.
Prudhoe, Robert de, juror of Tynemouth (1295), 215 n.
Pryor, Richard, tenant of Tynemouth (1649), 265.
Pudsey, Hugh. See Durham, bishops of.
Puissars, Marquis de, 202.
Pull. ^V^ Pow burn.
Pulleine, Mary Winifred (Spencer - Stanhope), 325;
Thomas Babington, of Carlton, 325.
Punder, William, Preston subsidy roll (1296), 343.
Pygun, William, monk of Tynemouth, 70-71.
R.
RadclifFe, of Dilston, family of, own estates in Tyne-
mouth, 259 ; Christopher, murder (1523), 212 ; Sir
Cuthbert. chief steward of Tynemouthshire, 215 n ;
lands in Tynemouth (1539), 262 ; Edward, property
in Tynemouth (1614), 263 n ; Francis, property in
Tynemouth (1614), 263 n ; George, properly in
Tynemouth (1560), 263 n.
Rad-mal, tenure by, 226.
Rae, Rev. James, Presbyterian minister (1759-1803),
373-374-
Ragnal, king of Northumbria, defeated (91 7). 4' 2.
Railways, 355 ; BIyth and Tyne, 29, 33, 34 ; Cram-
lington, 29, 30, 341 n ; Backworth, 27, 28, 341 n ;
Whitley, 27, 313 ; Newcastle and North Shields, 355.
Raine, Jonathan, steward of Tynemouth (1796), 215 n.
Raineford, Charles, governor of Tynemouth castle
(1796), 204.
Rakedul, William, Tynemouth subsidy roll (1296), 252.
Ramrigge, Thomas. See St. Alban's, abbots of.
Ramsey, family of, 298 n ; Edward, of Heathersett,
grant of property in North Shields to (1624), 298,
314 n ; James, sued (1652), 241 ; Robert, grant of
property in North Shields to (1624), 298, 314 n.
Raper, William, presents paten to Christ church (1728),
360; bequest (1730), 366.
Ratcliflfe. See Radcliffe.
Raven-ness, merchants of, 254.
Ravensworth family, 28.
Rawdon, Marmaduke, description of Tynemouth castle
(1664), 198.
Rawe, Ralph, of Tynemouth, maltster (1596), 327 ;
Richard, receiver of hall-corn (1596), 235.
Rawlinge, James, of North Shields (1607), 296.
Ray, Thomas, lessee of Tynemouth (1558), 230;
William, juror of Tynemouth (1562), 240.
Raymes, Anne (Delaval), 171.
Raynlon, Thomas de, grants to Tynemouth Priory
(1325 and 1328), 115, 2480, 395 n ; seneschal of
Tynemouth (1325), 215 n, 249; grants to (1324),
248 n ; (1325), 394 ; witness (13:6), 423.
Rca, Richard, millwright (1599), 329.
Read. See Reed.
Reaveley, Henrietta (Campbell), 400.
Reay, Henry, of Newcastle, and family, monumenlal
inscription, 130 ; John, Monkseaton property (1715),
408 ; William, juror of Tynemouth (16S6), 241 ;
one of the ' twenty-four ' (1674), 368.
Redesdale, franchise of, 63 ; men of, 106.
Rcdewood, near Newburn, acquired by Tynemouth
priory (1386), 116.
Redhead, Abraham, one of the 'twenty-four' (1674),
368 ; William, of Newcastle, 267.
Reding, John de, tenant of Tynemouth (1291), 249 n,
252, 256, 421 ; Maud de (Bacon), 256.
Reed of Chirton, pedigree, 321 ; Anne (Covrard),
marriage (1636), 364 ; Rev. Christopher, vicar of
Tynemouth (1830), 364 ; Dorothy (.\litcalfe), 267 ;
Francis, ensign of volunteers (1667), 200 n ; Jane
(Errington), marriage (1640), 364 ; John, juror of
Tynemouth (1562), 240; Ralph (i), works mines
in Tynemouthshire (1624), 19, 325 ; grant of salt
pans at North Shields (1631), 310 ; acquires farms
in East Chirton, 322 ; mortgages property, 322 ;
death in prison (1646), 332 ; Ralph (2), quarter-
master of volunteers (1667), 200 n; sells property
in Chirton (1672), 322 ; petition, 332 ; one of the
' twenty-four ' (1674), 368.
Reinhard, J., 334.
Reive, Rev. William, Presbyterbn minister (1852-1854),
374-
Remigius, prior of Tj-nemouth (1129), 122.
Resley, Stephen, 327.
Reygar, John de, justice of the prior of Tynemouth's
court (1278), 211 n.
Reymund, prior of St. .Mban's, banished to Tyne-
mouth, 70.
Rhodes, Robert de. See Tj-nemouth, priors of.
Richard I., charter (11S9), 67, 208, 209, 2l8, 22In,
287 ; confirmation of charter (1 198), 68.
Richard H., grants Haltwhistle church to Tynemouth
priory, 49, 98 ; grant in aid of repairs to Tynemouth
castle (1390), 99, 150, 156.
Richard III., appoints NichoLas Boston prior of
Tynemouth (1478), 105 ; grant to Boston, 106,
280.
Richardson, David, shepherd, buried (1724). 413";
Edmund, tenant of Tynemouth (I539)i 262, 265 ;
James, Nonconformist minister, 373 ; John, of the
Low Lights, uanner, 271 ; Margaret, of West Ham,
bequest (17SS), 366 ; T. .\l., sketch of lime staithes
at North Shields, 313 n; William, petty consuble
of Cullercoats (1690), 283 n ; monumenul inscrip-
tion (1710), 362 ; Winifred (.\lilboume). 324.
Riddell, Gervase, sewer to Earl Henry tiu David {circa
1 147), 60 n ; Peter, copyholder (1609), 238 ; Thom.as
(l), witness to charter (1 147), 60 n ; Sir Thomas (2),
of Gateshead, 183 n ; iir Thomas (3), of Fenham,
governor of Tynemouth castle, 183, 376 n ; siege
and surrender (1644), 1S7 ; escape and death, 1S8 ;
Sir Waller Buchanan, baronet, steward of Tj-ne-
mouth (1842), 215 n; Sir William, imprisonment
(1644), 188.
448
INDEX.
Ridesdale, John de, grant to (thirteenth century), 421.
See also Dunne.
Ridley, Anne, of Westwood, deposition concerning
murder of William Delaval (l6i8), 172 n; Sir
Matthew White, baronet (l), sells Murton farm
(1774), 412 ; Sir Matthew White, baronet (2), lease
of Cowpen colliery, 33 ; Richard, buys CuUercoats
salt pans (1726), 284.
Rikelot, William, Preston tallage roll (1294), 342 ;
subsidy roll (1296), 343.
Rishanger, chronicle in Tynemouth library, 119;
cited, S3 n.
Ritson, Nicholas, juror of Tynemouth (1562), 240;
L'trick, colliery owner, 34.
Roads, medieval; Tynemouth to Newcastle, 219, 241,
259 and n, 311 ; Tynemouth to Uedlington (North
Street), 316, 317 ; Tynemouth to Whitley, 249,
421 ; Tynemouth to Low Lights, 259 and n, 42 1.
Robert, prior of Tynemouth (twelfth century), 122.
Robeson, Margaret, widow, of North Shields (1607),
296.
Robil, Thomas, witness (1344), 423.
Robinson, Edward, land in Tynemouth (1570), 263;
George, freehold in Tynemouth (1649), 265 ;
Gerrard, 272 ; Gilbert, son of William, see
Wilkinson ; Isaac, Nonconformist minister (1782),
373 ; Isabella (Liddell), monumental inscription,
130; James (i), freehold in Tynemouth (1608),
263; James (2), one of the 'twenty-four' (1674),
368; John (i), witness (1445), 259 n, 425; John
(2), tenant of Monkseaton (1538), 405 ; John (3),
of Whitley, owns Monkseaton farm (1711), 40S ;
Robert, of Durham, 406 ; claim on Shire Moor
(1790), 415 ; William, vicar of Tynemouth (1607),
363-
Robson, Anne (Crawford), 334 ; Jane (Fenwick), 349.
Rocheford, Thomas (Boleyn), Lord, high steward of
Tynemouth priory {circa 1530), 108, 215 n.
Roddam, John, of Roddam and Little Houghton,
marriage, 324, 365 ; Mary (Collingwood), fishery
at North Shields (1729), 29S n : marriage, 325;
Susannah (Brownhill), marriage (1711), 365;
W'inifred (Lawson), fishery at North Shields (1729),
298 n ; marriage, 325.
Rodestane moor, 315-316, 413 n. See also Shire Moor.
Roger, archbishop of "^'ork, witness to charter (1158),
62 n ; confirms rights of St. Alban's over Tyne-
mouth, 65 n.
Rogers, family of, 283 n ; captain, at siege of Tyne-
mouth (1648), 192 n; Elizabeth, inherits collieries,
etc., 283 n ; John (i), works coal at Whitley (1676),
20, 281 ; at Hartley, 23 ; holds salt pans at Culler-
coats, 2S3 ; surrenders Monkseaton property (1690),
407 ; John (2), leases Hartley coal mines, 23 ; will
(1711), 283n.
Roland, John, trustee (fourteenth century), 396.
Role {ijuery Rothley), granted to Tynemouth priory,
68 n.
Roman stones at Tynemouth, 35-38 ; armour found in
the Tyne, 278-280 ; supposed remains at Black
Chesters, 316 n.
Rookbj'e, receiver of hall corn rent, 233.
Rookhope lead mines, 398.
Rosella, legend of, 39 n.
Roses, Wars of the, 104.
Rossiter, Arabella (Villiers), 202.
Rothbury, tithes of, grantee! to Tynemouth priori', 49,
62 n, 68 n.
Rothburj', Giles, witness (1421), 424.
Rotherford. See Rutherford.
Rothley. See Role.
Roucestre, Robert de, 219.
Rudyerd, family of, property in Chirton, 326 ; Richard,
326-
Ruelendus. See Tynemouth, priors of.
Ruft, Thomas, witness (1376), 422.
Rupert, Prince, intercedes for Sir William Riddell, 188.
Rushworth, Collections c\\.tA, 192 n.
Russell, Lord Francis, 164 ; captain of Tynemouth
castle (1583), 165 ; report on state of castle, 166 ;
death at Cocklaw, 167 ; William (i), juror of
Tynemouth (1293), 218; William (2), of Dissing-
lon, 256; witness (thirteenth century), 421; Sir
William (3) (1631), 264.
Ruthall, Richard, property in Tynemouth (1570), 263 n.
Rutherford, John, juror of Tynemouth (1686). 241 ;
Juliet, claim on Shire Moor (1790), 415 ; Ralph,
lieutenant of volunteers (1667), 200 n ; Robert,
tenant of Tynemouth (1649), 265 ; one of the
'twenty-four' (1674), 36S ; Thomas, tenant of
Whitley (1757), 397 ; marriage, 401 ; claim on
Shire Moor (1790), 415.
Rutland, Henry, earl of, letter to Sir Henry Percy
(1561), 162.
Rutter, George, juror of Tynemouth (1686), 241 ; heirs
of, tenants of Murton (1707), 411.
Ryan, Rev. Denis, Roman Catholic priest (1884), 377.
Ryhill, Robert de, witness (1319 and 1324), 88 n,
248 n, 394 n.
Ryott, William Hall, steward of Tynemouth (1894),
215 n.
Ryton, Richard de, inquest on (1293), 219.
Saburn, Joseph, tenant of Whitley (1757), 397 ; claim
on Shire Moor (1790), 415 ; Ralph, claim on Shire
Moor (1790), 415 ; Richard, plaintiff (1653), 241 ;
Robert, of Balkwell (1737), 414.
Sadberge, wapentake of, possessions of Tynemouth
priory in, 50 ; transferred to Bishop Pudsey (1189),
74-
Sadler, Sir Ralph, charged with custody of Sir Henry
Percy (1571), 164.
Sainebraine, John, tenant of Tynemouth (1539), 262,
265.
St. Alban, altar of, in Tynemouth priory, 147.
St. Alban's abbey, burials at, 395 ; heraldry of, 122 n ;
register, description of, 47 n ; Nicholas Boston,
archdeacon of (1477), 105.
St. Alban's, abbots of, Paul (1077-1093), receives grant
of Tynemouth priory from Robert de Mowbray,
46-47 ; visits Tynemouth, 50-51 ; Richard de Albini
(1097-1 1 19), regulates payments from Tynemouth,
118; grant of Graffard's lands from Henry L,
389; Simon (1167-1188), surrenders Bywell St.
Peter's and Edlingham to Durham (11 74), 63;
patron of art, 66; visits Tynemouth, 67, 112;
John de Cella (1195-1214), banishes monks to
Tynemouth, 70 ; adds to St. Alban's church, 138 ;
William de Trumpington (1214-1235), banishes
Prior Reymund and others to Tynemouth, 70 ; visits
Tynemouth, 70, 112, 141 ; John de Hertford (1235-
1260), payments from Tynemouth during abbacy,
76 n ; Roger de Norton (1263-1290), letter, 77;
visits Tynemouth (1264), 79, 113, 221 ; John
de Berkhamstead (1290-1301), visits Tynemouth
(1291), Son; secures rights of St. Alban's over
INDEX.
■449
Tynemouth (1293), 81 ; takes prior of Tynemouth
pnsoner (1294), 82; John M.iryns (1302-1308)
regulations for Tynemouth, 118; Hugh de Evers.
don (1308-1326), agreement with lord of Greystoke
over ConeschEfe (1315), Sj ; special devotion to the
Virgin, 90; threat of long stay at Tynemouth, 112-
builder of Lady chapel at St. Alban's, 143 ; Richard
de VVallingford (1326.1334), author of work in
lynemouth library, 119; Thomas de la .Mare
(1 349-1 396), election, 96; petition for aid to repair
lynemouth castle, 99; constitution (1352), 118,
396; see also Tynemouth, priors of; William
He)^vorth (1402-1420), waives right of homage at
Tynemouth, 113; John de Whethamstede (1420.
1440 and 1451-1464), register of second abbacy,
71 n; pedigree, 100; visiuition of Tynemouth
(1426), loi ; deposes prior of liinham, 104 ; corres-
pondence, 102, 109; William Wallingford (1476-
1484), register, 104 ; election, 105 ; Thomas
Ramrigge (1492- 1516), compelled to consent to
independence of Prior Stonpvell, 107 ; his chapel
in the abbey, 122.
St Amphibalus, alt,ir of, in Tynemouth priory, 147.
St. Andrews, bishop of, witness to charter, 59 n.
St. Bartholomew, Benedictine nunnery of, .Newcastle,
260.
St. Leonard's hospital, TjTiemouth, account of, 259-260 ;
site of, leased to Sir Thomas Hilton, 156, 261 ;
bridge at, 219, 259; burial place at, 260, 327; early
references to, 219, 223 n, 423.
St. .Martin, .Alfred de, witness to charter, 62 n.
St. Mary's Island, fishing at, 388.
Salmond, Rev. William, Presbyterian minister (1858-
^ 1875), 375- ^ '
Salkeld, Cathenne (Reed, Gardner), 321, 332 n ; John,
of Rock, 321 ; property at .Middle Chirton (1652),
332 ; Sir William, sells Middle Chirton, 333.
Salter, George, grant of salt pans (1610), 341.
Salt pans at Warkworth (circa 1 140), 59 ; free exporta-
tation of salt allowed to Tynemouth priory, 290,
293; total annual sale of salt (1536), 114; salt
trade at Cullercoats, 20-21, 282-284; salt pans at
North Shields, 298-299, 306; at Hartley, 22;
Society of Saltmakers, 300 ; method of manufacture,
300 and n ; decline of salt trade at Shields, 309-310.
Sanctuary, rights of, at Tynemouth, 211. 212; examples
of, 219.
Sanderson, Dorothy, monument in Tynemouth church,
129 ; Henry, suit (1602), 299 n ; Mary (Dockwray),
269.
Sandj-s, Francis, captain of volunteers (1667), 200 n ;
George, ensign of volunteers (1667), 200 n.
Saunders, Anne (Fenwick), 348.
Savage, Rev. H. S., minister of St. Andrew's chapel
(1898), 374 ; Robert (i), of Tynemouth, witness
(1324), 248 n; householder (1336), 253; witness,
395 n, 421. 423 ; Robert (2), mayor of York (l ^84,
1391. 1392). 253, 258 n; Robert (3), of North
Shields, baker (1447), 254 ; Thomas, archbishop
of York, 254; William (i), baker (129S), 252, 253 ;
William (2), mayor of York (1369), 253; William
(3). owner of lands at Tynemouth (I400), 253.
Saj', William, Lord, nominates Boston prior of Tync-
mouth (1478), 105.
Sayburne. See Saburn.
Scala, John Thomas, employed on TjTiemouth fortifi-
cations (1545), 157.
Scarborough, fishing at, 60, 385 ; Edward H. and
Gaveslon retreat to, 84.
Vol. \I1I.
Scorht. See Short.
Scot, Henry, bribed to seize prior of Tj-nemouth (1295),
82 ; John (l), of Sulhloges, order of arrest (1293),
220; John (2), tenant of fishery (1328), J40n;
Nicholas, mayor of .N'ewcastle, attacks -N'onh Shields
ictrca 1267), 79, 286; Richard (i), of Newcastle,
levies pnor's rents at Elswick, 92 ; grants land at
• Elswick to Tynemouth priory (1348), 115; Richard
(2), of Newciistle, witness (1391), 422; Robert,
resident in Tynemouth (1296), 252 ; Roger, tenant
of Preston (1296), 344; Stephen, witness (1340-
1344). 423 ; Walter, of Welton, pays homage to
Abbot Norton (1264), 113; collector of subsidy
(1274), 213 n.
Scott, Barbara, charge against (1603), 367 ; Edward,
receiver of hall-corn, 235 : James, steward of Tyne-
mouth (1756), 215 n; John (l), charge against
(1603), 367 ; John (2), buys Preston farm (1805),
348 ; Joseph, wharfinger of North Shields (1808),
312.
Scottish Fisheries Board, 381.
Scriven, William, Crown grantee (1633), 19, 239, 332.
Scrope, Henry, Lord, captain of Carlisle (1569), 163.'
Seaton Carew, county Durham, tithes of, granted to
Tynemouth priory, 62 n.
Seaton Delaval, plundering of Tynemouth property at,
90 ; chapel of, confirmed to St. .Mbiin's monastery
(1174), 63 n ; agreement respecting churchyard,
66 n ; moor, 318 ; service of carting from (Neusum-
lade), 250 n, 390 ; tithes of, 369, 370, 371 ; colliery,
30 ; family of Crawford of, 333-334.
Seaton Sluice, formation of harbour at, 23 ; wagoniray
to, 24 ; export of coal from, 31 ; decline of, 33 ;
fishing at, 388.
Seaton Woodhom, lands in, held by Tynemouth priory,
49. 115-
Sedgwick, Professor Adam, geological works, 2, 3, 5,
12,417.
Segedunum. See Wallsend.
Seghill, in Tynemouthshire, 208 ; granted to Tyne-
mouth prior)', 48, 54, 55 (13), 62 n, 67 n ; lands in,
acquired by TjTiemouth priorj', 49, 115, 117; tenure
of, 225 ; lands of TjTiemouth priory in, granted in
fee farm, 239 ; tithes of, 369, 371 ; collierj-, 29.
Segrave, John de, captain of king's forces in Northum-
berland (1304), 214.
Selbj", Adam, collector of subsidj- (1276), 213 n ; Henry
CoUingwood, steward of Tj-nemouih (1775), 215 n ;
John, soldier, 177; .Marj- (Bell, Clark), 373;
Oliver, vicar of Tynemouth (.1540), 363 ; Roger de,
NTcar of Tj-nemouth (1344), 362 ; Sir Walter de,
marauder (1315), 86; surrenders (1321). SS ; house
burned by Scots, 254, 255 ; Sir William, of "Twisell,
sheriff (1605), 176; captain of TjTieinouth castle,
177-
Selfodes, status of, 227, 250.
Septem Signacula, a book at TjTiemouth priory, I20n.
Services. See .■\bbol's welcome, .Xuih-repe, Boon-ere,
Boon-harrow, Hall-corn, Head-pennies, Hertness-
pennies, In-lade, Merdeffen-pennies, Neusum-Iade,
Vevel-pennies.
Seton, John de, witness (1321), 395 n ; (1326), 423;
Ralph de, le serjaunt, juror of "Tjiiemouth (1295),
215 n; witness, 422; Sampson de, witness (1319),
421 ; William de (l), juror of Tynemouth (1295),
215 n; witness, 421; William de (2), granu to
Tjnemoulh priorj- (1380- 1 393), 116-117 ; house in
Tj-nemouth, 258 n,
Selon-Wodehom, Robert de, witness (1321), 395 n.
57
450
INDEX.
Severan, John, marriage (17 12), 365.
Severus's Wall, its eastern termination, 35-36.
Shadforth, Henry, 349 ; Sarah, monumental inscrip-
tion, 130.
Shaftoe, chapel of Hartburn, confirmed to St. Alban's
("74). 64-
Shaftoe, Robert, copyholder (1009), 238.
Sharpe, .\rchdeacon (Thomas), visitation of TjTie-
mouth (1725), 361, 368.
Shavaldore, note on use of the term, 86 n.
Shaw, Rev. M. S., Congreg.itionalist minister (1887-
1891)- 377-
Sheldon, Robert, tenant of Tynemouth (1539), 262;
Thomas, tenant of Tynemouth (1539), 262.
Sheles, Patrick de, order for arrest (1293), 220.
Shephird, Emma (Fesefoul), land in Tynemouth (1336),
255 ; John, land in Tynemouth (before 1336), 255.
Shetland barks, 301 n (cp. 327 n, 378 n).
Shewell, Caroline (Spence), 350.
Shieldfield fort, near Newcastle, 185.
Shields. See North Shields.
Shipley, CoUingwood property at, 325.
Shiple)', Zephaniah, buys Whitley Lodge farm (1S04),
.399-
Shipperdson, Adam, royalist (1656), 196.
Shire, meaning of the term, 207-208. See also Tyne-
mouthshire.
Shire Moor, account of, 412-416; bounder of, 413-
414 ; rights of common on, 222, 414-415 ; enclosure
of, 244 n, 315, 342, 409, 412, 414-416; coal mining
on, 19, 20, 22, 33-34, 321.
Shire rents, 229.
Shoreston, fishing at, 388.
Short, Robert, Preston tallage roll (1294), 342 ; cus-
tumal (1296), 344.
Shotton, Edward, mayor of Tynemouth (1867.1868 and
1877), 352 ; bequest (1884), 366.
Shrewsbury, Francis, earl of, arrangements for garri-
soning Tj'nemouth castle (1545), 157 ; suggests
use of Spanish troops, 158.
Sibthorpe, family of, property in Chirton, 326.
Sigillo, Baldwin de, witness to writ, 58 n.
Sikes, Thomas, claim on Shire .Moor (1790), 415.
Silky's lane in Chirton, 317.
Silvermouth, Adam, Preston tallage roll (1294), 342 ;
Robert, Preston tallage roll (1294), 342, 343.
Simon, see St. Alban's, abbots of; Henry, steward of
Tynemouth (1725), 215 n.
Simpson, Dr., deeds cited, 281 n ; Frederick, candidate
for vicarage of Tynemouth (1658), 367 ; J. B.,
geological work, 420.
Singleton, .\rchdeacon, visitation of Tynemouth (1827),
368; Robert, miller (1597), 328.
Sis, Robert, tenant of East Chirton (1294), 319;
Monkseaton t.allage roll (1294), 403.
Sisterson, Dorothj- (.-^irey), marriage (1687), 365.
Skinner, Thomas, parliamentary draftsman (1653), 302.
Skippon, M.ajor-General (Philip), governor of New-
castle, etc. (1646), 190 ; secures Newcastle and
Tynemouth (1647), 190 ; recalled to London, 191.
Slade, William, incites 'Tynemouth troops to treason
(1650), 194.
Slaley, millstones obtained from, 226 n ; tithes of, 363.
Slauk (iilva marhta), 72 n.
Slikborne, John de, land in Tynemouth (1336), 256;
Robert de, land in Tynemouth, 255, 256 ; grant
from (1320), 422.
Slingsby, Francis, of Scriven, deputy captain of Tjme-
mouth castle, 164; Sir William (i6u), lease of
Hartley coal mines, 22.
Smith, Adam, witness (1376 and 1383), 422 ; (1381),
424 ; Barbara (Wilkinson), marriage (1687), 365 ;
Sir David, buys property in Preston (1809), 348;
Edward, of Gateshead, master mariner (1650), 301 ;
Father, organ builder, 360 n ; John, tenant of
Tynemouth (1596), 234, 235; .Mary (l) (Fenwiek),
348 ; .Mary (2) (Mills), 406 ; Messrs., dock owners,
land in Chirton (1S25), 325 ; Robert, lease (1434),
425 ; Thomas, tenant of Tynemouth (1539), 262;
Thomas Eustace, M.P. for Tynemouth (1868-1885),
351-
Somerset, Algernon, seventh duke of, see Hertford,
earl of ; duchess of, see Percy, Elizabeth.
Somervile, Robert de, grants waj'leave to Tynemouth
priory (1297), S3 n ; William de, witness to charters,
60 n.
Sorby, Dr. H. C, geological work, 8-g, 417.
Soreys, Robert de, seneschal of Tynemouth (1333-
1344). 215 n. 4101. 423-
Soulbye, John, of Blaydon (1599), 328.
South Shields, Roman camp at, 35-36 ; St. Hild's
monastery at, 38-39, 40 ; fort at (1644), 186; salt
trade at, 300 ; creation of port of, 353.
Spanish battery at Tynemouth, 52 n ; erection of
(■S45)i 158; rebuilt (1643), 184; lifeboat station
at, 356.
Spanton, Christopher (i), of Monkseaton (1740), 407 ;
Christopher (2), claim on Shire Moor (1790), 415.
Sparhawk, shoal at mouth of the Tyne, 292 and n.
Sparrow, Henry, West Chirton tallage roll (1294), 337.
Sparrow hall, CuUercoats, 282.
Spearman, of Preston, pedigree, 346 ; of Old Acres,
descent, 326 ; of Thornley, descent, 346 ; Edward,
juror of Tynemouth (16S6), 241 ; one of the
'twenty-four' (1674), 368; John, of Durham, be-
quest to North Shields schools (1703), 312 n, 365 ;
presents fiagon to Christ church, 360 ; Michael,
tenant of Preston (1649), 345 ; one of the 'twenty-
four' (1674), 368; Ralph, of Eachwick, manuscripts
cited, 365 n, 366 n ; claim on Shire -Moor (1790),
415 ; sells land in Preston (180S), 345 ; Robert (l),
of Preston, freehold in Tynemouth (1608), 263,
326 ; charity, 365 ; Robert (2), freehold in Tyne-
mouth (1649), 265, 345 ; Robert (3), of Durham,
sells land in 'Tynemouth and Chirton (1724), 266 n,
326 ; Thomas (i), juror of Tynemouth (1562),
240; Thomas (2), property in Chirton (1620),
326.
Spence, of South Preston, pedigree, 350 ; Charles J.,
350 ; cited, 303 n, 356 n ; Gilbert, vicar of Tyne-
mouth (1588), 363; John, mayor of Tynemouth
(1881), 352 ; John Foster, m.ayor of Tynemouth
(1861 and 1891-1893), 352, 357 ; Joseph, mayor of
Tynemouth (1S63 and 1869), 352 ; Robert, founds
first bank at North Shields (1S19), 312-313.
Spencer, John Philip, mayor of Tynemouth (1903-
1906), 352.
Spittal, fishing at, 380, 388.
Stamfordbridge, death of Tostig at (1066), 43.
Stamfordham, Thomas Dockwray, vicar of, 270.
Stanhope, Richard de, grant to TjTiemouth priory
(1360), 116; Walter Spencer, of Cannon hall,
325-
Stanley, Catherine (Mitcalfe), 26S ; Rev. Charles,
Baptist minister (1892), 377.
Stanley burn, diversion of, 240.
Stanton, Anne (Kellio), marriage (1675), 365.
Steel, Cuthbert, buys Whitley Link farm (1804), 399-
400.
Stella on the Tyne, 328.
INDEX.
451
Stephen, King, charters to Tynemouth priorj-, 58 and n,
209, 214, 287 ; vicar of Tynemouth (circa 1200),
362.
Stephens, Daniel Edward, 267 ; Rev. Thomas, of
Horsley, 278.
Stephenson, of North Shields, family of, 268 n ; George,
experiments on Killingivorth wagonway, 28 ; John,
of North Shields, and familj', monumental in-
scription (1752), 362 ; property in Tynemouth,
268 n ; John C, 349.
Steventon, Robert de, grants land at Earsdon to Tyne-
mouth priory (1345), 115.
Stewart, Edward, of North Shields, 268 ; James, of
North Shields, buys land in Tynemouth, 272 ;
fishery at North Shields (1730), 298 n ; Jessie
Monro (Linskill), 272 ; Rev. John, Presbyterian
minister (1866-1872), 374 ; history of North Shields
Presbyterian church, 374 n.
Stickley in Horton, 317, 318.
Stiford, Agnes, 255 ; John de, land in Tynemouth
(1336). 255 ; witness (135O. 423-
Stiklawe, William de, land in Tynemouth, 257.
Stiward, William, coroner of Tynemouth (before 1293),
215 n, 216, 217, 219, 220.
Stobbard, John, land in TjTiemouth, 257.
Stobbs, Edward, buys Monkseaton property (1855 and
1875), 407.
Stocard, Simon, land in Backworth, 423.
Stockton, captured by the Scots (1644), 186, 189.
Ston)'well, John. See TjTiemouth, priors of.
Storey, James, of Low Lights, 312 n ; presents bells to
Christ church, 359 ; charity (1785), 366.
Storo, Anne (Bugnel), marriage (1730), 365.
Story, Margaret (Leadsman), of Shields, marriage
(1 711), 365; Robert, one of the 'twenty-four'
(1674), 368 ; Sarah (Hindmer), 407.
Stout, Abraham, tenant of Murton (1757), 411 ;
William, of Durham, sells Murton House farm
(1765), 411.
Stowell, Rev. W. H., D.D., minister of St. Andrew's
chapel (:820-:834), 374.
Strabolgy, David de, warden of Northumberland (1322),
Straker, Joseph, and family, monumental inscription
(1867), 362 ; — , colliery owner, 30, 32.
Strangale, Richard, land in Tynemouth, 255.
Strathmore family, 28.
Strother, John, captain of volunteers (1667), 200 n;
William, major and captain of volunteers (1667),
200 n.
Stuart, Marj', return to Scotland (1561), 162 ; projected
escape from Tutbury, 163.
Stutevill, Robert de, witness to charter (1176), 62 n.
Subsidy roll (1296): East Chirton, 320, 593; Middle
Chirton, 331 ; West Chirton, 338 ; Monkseaton,
403; Murton, 409; North Shields, 2S8 ; Preston,
343 ; TjTiemouth, 252 ; Tyncmouthshire (jurors),
215 n ; Whitley, 393 ; collection of subsidy (1276),
2l3n.
SufTolk, Thomas, earl of, interest in advowson of Tyne-
mouth (1609), 371 n.
Sunderland, prohibition of trade with (1643), 184 ;
coble-building at, 3S2.
Surese. See Sorejs.
Surtees, Robert Watson, mayor of Tynemouth (1873),
352-
Survej'S of Tynemouthshiie : A. (1292) — East Chirton,
319; .Middle Chirton, 329; West Chirton, 337;
Flatworth, 337 ; Monkseaton, 402 ; Murton, 409 ;
Tynemouth, 251 ; B. (demesnes, 1 294) — Flatworth,
337 ; Monkseaton, 403 ; Moorhouses, 409 ; Tyne-
mouth,25l ;C.(bondage lands, 1294)— East Chirton,
319; Middle Chirton, 330; West Chirton, 337;
Monkseaton, 403 ; Preston, 342 ; D. (1377)— East
Chirton, 320 ; .Middle Chirton, 331 ; West Chirton,
339; Monkseaton, 405; Murton, 410; North
Shields, 289 ; Preston, 344 ; Tynemouth, 261 ;
Whitley, 395; £.(1538)— East Chirton, 320; .Middle
Chirton, 331 ; Flatworth, 340; Monkseaton, 405;
Murton, 410; North Shields, 293; Prest^jn, 344;
Tynemouth, 261-262; Whitley, 396; F. (1608)—
East Chirton, 320 ; North Shields, 297 ; Preston,
344-345 ; Tj-nemouth, 262-263 ; Whitley, 397.
Sutherax, J. de, sacristan of Tynemouth, 410 n.
Sutton, John, tenant of Tj-nemouth (1649), 265 ;
Robert, lieutenant of volunteers (1667), 200 n.
Suynwynd, Robert, Shields subsidy roll (1296), 288;
William, Shields subsidy roll (1296), 288.
Swan, Rev. Francis, 273 ; William, bailiff of Tyne-
mouth (1421), 424.
Swetopp, Warin de, under-sheriff (1315-1316), 87 n.
Swinburne, Adam de, sheriff, 86 ; Allan, ensign of
volunteers (1667), 200 n ; Anthony, sued (1623),
241 ; Sir John, captain of volunteers (1667), 200 n ;
Sir William de, witness (1 321), 394 n.
Sj-meon, Johanna, property at Whitley, 396 ; Percival,
property at Whitley (1382), 396.
T.
Taca, Robert, officer of Robert de Mowbray, 46.
Tailour, John, tenant of Tynemouth (1539), 262;
Philip, tenant of Tynemouth (1392), 117.
Tallage roll (1294): East Chirton, 319; Middle
Chirton, 330 ; \Vest Chirton, 337 ; Monkseaton,
403 ; Preston, 342.
Tankcr\ille, earl of, i^j-ster beds at Fenham, 3S3.
Tasker, Rev. David, Presbjierian minister, 374.
Tate, Robert Morrison, mayor of Tynemouth (1S84),
352 ; geological work, 420.
Tatham and Mitchell, Messrs., representatives of Mills
of Monkseaton, 406.
Tattersall, Mary, sells land at .Murton (1825), 411.
Taunton, Simon de, prior of Tj-nemoulh (131 1), 123.
Tavenor, Nathaniel (l), scho^^ilmaster at Tynemouth
(circa 1736), 368 ; Nathaniel (2), of North Shields,
buys Monkseaton property (1762), 408; cbim on
Shire Moor (1790), 415.
Taylor, Charles, of London, property in Shire Moor,
416; Henry, Crown grantee (1633), 240, 264;
Hugh, of Earsdon, collier)- owner (1S23-1S39"), 28,
29, 30 ; Hugh, of Chi[Khase, M.P. for Tynemouth
(1852 and 1S59), 351 ; Thomas, of Whitehill point,
349 ; colliery owner (iSio), 26, 27, 400.
Teall, Dr. J. J. 11.. geological works, 12, 13-14, 420.
Tempest, Sir Nicholas, 241, 32S ; lessee of Flatworth
property (1649), 341 ; Richard, will (1671), 341.
Temple, -Mary Clementina, monumental inscription,
129.
Tenures. &/Castle-ward, Conveys, Comage.Drengage,
Rad-mal.
Tewing, .Adam de, see Tynemouth, priors of ; John de,
land in Tynemouth (l3;3->3;'), 255. 559. 4^3 1
Richard de, see Tyneniouih, priors of ; Robert de,
grants lands to Tynemouth prior)- (1343), IIj;
witness (I333-I3<>3). 257 ". 4^2, 4^3 i 1-"»1 '" T>-ne-
mouth, 423 ; in Monkseaton, 405.
Thirlwall castle garrisoned by the Scots (1646), 189.
452
INDEX.
Thirnyn, Ralph, teiianl of Preston (1296), 343.
Thomas, archbishop of York (1093), 50.
Thomson, Rev. Charles, Presbyterian minister (1823-
1840), 374 ; history of North Shields Presbyterian
church, 374 n ; Or., geological works, 5, 417 ; John,
tenant in .Monkseaton, 406; Thomas, juror of
Tynemouth (1562), 240.
Thompson, Elizabeth (Clark), 273 ; Francis, 350 ;
Isaac, survey of Tynemouthshire (1757), 397. 402 n ;
405 n, 409, 413; Thomas, of Newcastle, 407;
Thomas Churchill, 400.
Thoresby, John de, rector of Elwick, grant to Tyne-
mouth priory (1340), 115; Ralph, visit to Tyne-
mouth castle (16S1), 203.
Thornburgh, Thomas, purchases manor of Whitley
(1403), 396 ; grants same to Tynemouth priory
(1404), 117.
Thornton, John de (i), witness (1360), 257 n ; (1363),
258 n, 422; quit-claim (1376), 424; John (2),
cornet of volunteer troop (1667), 200 n.
Thorp Basset (Yorkshire), property of St. Alban's
abbey at, 52 n ; surrendered in exchange for Cones-
cliffe (1 3 1 5), 85 ; cornage rent at, 118 n.
Throckelawe, Alice de, land in Tynemouth, 255 ; John
de, cellarer of Tynemouth priory (1292), 81 ; taken
prisoner to St. Albans, 82 ; author of history of
Edward II., 1 19; Robert de, conservator of the
Tyne (1293), 220.
Thurloe, John, secretary of state (1655), 195.
Thurstan, archbishop of York (1121), 57.
Tillmouth, John, vicar of, 126, 127 n.
Tinemor, battle of (917), 412 and n.
Tithes, grants of, to Tynemouth priory, 49, 50 ; royal
confirmations of, 49 n, 55, 62 n, 68 n ; episcopal
confirmations of, 64, 65 ; conventual leases of, 77,
no; Tynemouth rectorial tithes, valuations of,
369 ; ownership of, 368-370 ; Tynemouth vicarial
tithes, 125 ; corn tithes, mode of collection, 319,
370 n ; tithing of fish, 369 n.
Titlyngton, William de, trustee, 396.
Tod, Roger, holding in Murton (1264 and 1 291), 409.
Toll, pedigree, 269 ; Edward of North Shields, 305 n ;
buys land in T)niemouth (1667), 269 ; one of the
'twenty-four' (1674), 36S ; Elizabeth (Dockwray),
270 ; Susanna (Otway, Snowden), 346.
Tolls : men of Tynemouth exempted from, 58, 287 ;
tolls and customs in port of Tyne granted to Tyne-
mouth priory, 289-290, 292 ; anchorage and ground-
age, 29S n ; toll on fish, 2S7, 296 ; furnage, 287,
292 ; lightage, 205-207, 27;, 277, 278 and n ;
murage, exemption from, 213; tolnetum cervisiae,
251.
Tong, Captain John, 321.
Topley, W., geological work, 420.
Topping, Major John, governor of Tynemouth castle,
194-195 ; declares for Monk (1660), 197 ; monu-
mental inscription to family of, 130.
Tostig. See Northumberland, earls of.
Tounstede, Symon, work in Tynemouth conventual
library, 119.
Tourney, Edward, lieutenant of volunteers (1667),
200 n.
Towlehurst, Jeremiah, governor of Carlisle (1656),
196 n.
Treuelove, Julian, Tynemouth subsidy roll (1296), 252.
Trevelyan, Sir George Otto, of Wallington, buys
Chirton property (1865), 323 ; M.P. for Tynemouth
(1865-1868), 351 ; Sir W. C, geological work, 417.
Trewhitt, Henry, buys land in Whitley (1809), 400.
Trinity Mouse, Deptford Strand, controversy with Sir
Edward Villiers, 206 ; purchases Tynemouth light-
house, 207 ; Trinity 1 louse, Newcastle, charter of
(1536)1 274-275 ; lighthouses belonging to, 275-
278 ; contributes to maintenance of Tynemouth
light, 205, 206 ; monopoly exercised by, 302, 309.
Tripiett, Dr. Thomas, rector of Whitburn (1668), 270.
Trokelowe. See Throcklawe.
Trollop, Robert, builder of Christ church (1663), 359.
Trumpington, William de. See Si. Alban's, abbots of.
Tully, Charles, mayor of Tynemouth (1 878- 1 879), 352.
Tunnacester, identification of, 38.
Tunnocellum, identification of, 38.
Tunstal, county Durham, tithes of, granted to Tyne-
mouth priory, 62 n.
Turchil, monk of Jarrow (1082-10S5), 46.
Turgoi, prior of Durham (1093), 50.
Turnbull, John, Nonconformist minister (1693-1723),
373-
Turner, .Archdeacon, visitation of Tynemouth, 373 n ;
Cuthbert, 269 ; Robert, Tynemouth subsidy roll
(1296), 252 ; land in Tynemouth, 421 ; Roger, land
in Tynemouth, 257 ; grant to Tynemouth priory
(1345), 115 ; William, master of Pembroke college,
Cambridge (156S), cited, 72 n.
Tweed salmon conservancy, 387.
Tweedmouth, fish-curing at, 381 ; coble-building at, 382.
Twyne, Brian, antiquary, 119.
Tychington, William, witness (13S3), 422.
Tyne, mouth of the, 34 ; Roman defences of the, 35-37 I
Roman armour found in, 278-280 ; entered by the
Danes (875), 40; entered by Harold Hardrada
(1066), 43 ; 'in nort de Tj^ne et in suth de Tyne'
(1095), 52, cp. 55 (13); fisheries in, confirmed by
Henry I. to Tynemouth priory, 54, 55 (13) ; fisheries
in, granted by Earl Henry to Tynemouth priory,
59 ; names of fisheries in, 60 n ; breach of regula-
tions for fisheries, 220 ; suit regarding liberties in
the port of (1290), 286-288 ; enquiry into encroach-
ments in (1401), 289 ; weirs in, 289 ; grant of
customs and tolls in, to the prior of Tynemouth
(1446), 289-290 ; freedom of import in, allowed to
Tynemouth priory (1462), 290 ; wharfs and weirs in,
290-291 ; award concerning rights of 'I'ynemouth
and Newcastle in (1512), 291-292 ; lighthouses on
the, 205-207, 274-275 ; right of searching vessels in,
298 n ; conservancy of, granted to Newcastle Cor-
poration (1613), 300; Gardner's proposal for new
conservancy board (1653), 301-303 ; River Com-
mission, 353-354; division of port of (1848), 353 ;
salmon conservancy, 387 ; ferries, 314, 354-355 ',
docks, 341, 354.
Tynedale, franchise of, 68 ; men of, retained by prior of
Tynemouth, 106.
Tynemouth borough, 247-389 ; creation of parlia-
mentary borough, 350-351 ; list of members of
parliament for, 351 ; poor law union, 351 ; creation
of municipal borough, 352 ; list of mayors of, 352 ;
port of North Shields, 353 ; River Tyne Commis-
sion, 353-354; ferry brat service, 354-355; rail-
ways, 355 ; education, 355-356; public institutions,
356-357 ; non-established churches in, 371-378.
See also Chirton, CuUercoats, North Shields,
Preston and Tynemouth.
Tynemouth castle, historical account of, 154-204;
architectural account of, 150-154; not a Roman
fortress, 35-38 ; a Danish stronghold, 40 ; Mow-
bray's castle, its capture (1C95), 52-53 ; traces of
its earthworks, 155 ; fortified by Prior Adam de
INDEX.
453
Tewing (1296), 83, 156; siege of, by Gilbert dc
Middlelon (1317), 86-87, 254 ; custody entrusted to
John de Ilaustede (1318), 87 ; giirriioncd by Prior
Richard dc Tewing (1322-1327), 89, 91 ; acknow-
ledged as a private castle (1346), 95 ; constables
appointed by priors of Tynemouth, 215-216;
reparations by Prior de la Mare (1346-1349), 95 ;
decay of the fortifications (13S0-1384), 97-98;
besieged by the earl of Moray (13S9), gS-gg ; the
gate -house rebuilt (i3go), gg-ioo; description
'of the gate-house, : 50-1 52 ; re-fortified (1545),
157-158; inventory of goods in (i55g), 160 n;
Scottish prisoners at, 162-163 ! Rising of the
North, 163; Ridolplii conspiracy, 163-164; New-
castle petitions for custody of (1574), 164-165 ;
inventory of goods in (1585), 167 ; the Spanish
Armada, 167-168 ; report of Joshua Delaval on
(1596), i6g-i7o; fray at, 173-174; Gunpowder
Plot, 175-176; repairs at (1607), 177; ruined state
of, 178; plans for rebuilding, 178-179; report on
strategical position of, 180; the castle dismantled
(1638), 180-181 ; second Bishop's War and Scot-
tish occupation (1640), 181-182 ; re-fortified by
marquis of Newcastle (1641), 182-184; campaign
of 1644 and capture by Leslie, 183-188 ; Charles 1.
visits, 180, 189; handed over to the parliamentary
forces (1647), 191 ; second Civil War, revolt and
capture (1648), I9i-ig3 ; royalist plot and rising of
1655, Ig4-I96 ; the Restoration, ig6-ig7 ; Mug-
gleswick Plot, ig8 ; description of (1664), igS ; tiie
Dutch Wars, 198-200 ; the Revolution, 203 ; list of
captains and governors of, 204 ; (Juakers im-
prisoned in, 372 ; establishment at, under Sir
Francis Leeke (1546), 158-159; under Sir Henry
Percy (1560), 160-162 ; under Sir William Sclby
(1610), 177 ; under Sir Arthur Ileslerig (1649),
ig3-ig4, ig6 ; under Sir Edward Villiers (1600),
197 ; ordnance at (1545), 158, 159 ; list of ordnance
(1558), 160 n; decay of ordnance at (1571), 164;
inventory of ordnance (1584), 165-166 and 166 n ;
Delaval's report on ordnance (1597), i6g ; repara-
tion by Sir William Selby (1610), 177 ; its decay,
I7g ; cannon removed to Newcastle (1638), 181.
Tynemouth Chartulary cited passim; description of,
86 n, 119.
Tynemouth Chronicle (lost), 120 and n.
Tynemouth, Great Book 0/, 121.
Tynemouth parish church (St. Mary and St. Oswin),
124-131 ; alleged consecration by St. Cuthbert,
40 ; discovery of St. Oswin's body in (1065), 41-42 ;
granted to monks of Jarrow (1074), 44 ; granted to
Durham (1083), 45-46; transferred to St. Alban's
(10S5), 46 ; demolition of pre-Conquest church
(II 10), 56-57 ; confirmed to St. Alban's by Bishop
Pudsey (1174), 63; settlement of parochial rights
(1247), 73, 124; ordination of vicarage (1250),
124-125; valuation of vicarage (I2g2), 125-126:
continued use of church after the dissolution, 127 ;
its decay and ruin, 128 ; monumental inscriptions,
I2g-I3i ; plans for rebuilding (1674"), 201 ; (Christ
church), 357-368; erection of, 357-359; division of
parish, 360 ; account of church ()late, 360 ; valua-
tion of vicarage, 361, 36S ; monumenud inscriptions,
361-362 ; list of vicars, 362-364 ; extracts from
registers, 364-365; charities, 365-366; extracts from
church books, 367.368.
Tynemouth priory, historical account of, 34-123; des-
cription of the site, 34-35 ; Roman remains at, 35-3S ;
the .Vnglian monastery, 38-41 ; discovery of the
body of St. Oswin at (1065), 41-43; atUcheJ to
Jarrow monastery (1074), 44-45 ; attached to
Durham priory (1083), 45-46; made a cell of St.
.Alban's (1085), 46-47 ; table of endowments, 48-50 ;
burial of Malcolm III. at (1092), 51-52; revolt of
Robert dc .Mowbray (1095), 52-54 ; grants made to,
by Henry I., 54-55 ; building of the priory church
(mo), 56-57 ; disputes regarding the patronage "I
(1 121), 57-58 ; charters »( Stephen to. 58 ; charters
of David I. of Scoilaud and Karl Henry to, 59-60;
fire at, 60-61; charters of Henry II. to, 61-62;
settlement touching counterclaims of Durham and
St. Alban's to (1 174). 63-66; extension of choir,
66; Richard I.'s and John's charters to, 67-70;
early descripiiun of, 71-73; disputes with the
bishops of Durham (1247. 1275), 73-74; financial
difficulties of, 74-76; collection of monastic letters
(1258-1269), 76-78; lawsuits with Newcastle and
with the Crown (1290-1293), 79-81 ; fortification of,
(1296), 83 ; visits of Edward I. and of Edward H.
to, 80, 83-84 ; Scotch wars and .Middleton's rebellion
(1313-1323), 85-90; erection of Lady-chapel at
(circa 1326), 91, 256 ; Edward III. at (1335). 9^ ;
priorale of Thomas dc la Mare (1340-1349), 92-96 ;
renew'ed Scottish invasions and reparation itf the
fortifications (1380-1390), 97- 100 ; visitation of
(1426), I0I-I02 ; erection of Percy chapel at (circa
1450), 103-104; landing of Ouecn Margaret at
(1462), 104; privileges granted by Edward IV. to
(1463), 104; quarrels of Prior Boston and Prior
Dixwell (1462-1485), 104-106; last days of, 106-I10;
suppression of (1 539), 1 10- 1 1 1 ; site of, leased in Sir
Thomas Hilton (1539), 156-157 ; site of, leased to
Thomas, seventh earl of Northumberland (1557).
159; leased to Henry, eighth earl (1570). 163; in-
ternal organisation, constitution and officers, III-
112; visitations of, 112-113; revenue of (lemfi.
Henry III.), 75-76; in 1292, 80; in 1526, 114;
table of property acquired in the fifteenth century,
I15-I17; financial regulations, II8; b<xiks in the
conventual librar)-, ii'S-lig; literary pnxluctions,
103, 119-120; muniments, 120-121; conventual
seals, 121-122 and plate vii. ; arms of, 122; list
of priors of, 1 22- 1 23 ; architectural description of.
131-153; pre-Conquest remains, 131-135; the
church, (A) the Norman structure, 135-13**: (^)
the Early English development, 13S-142; (C) the
I.ady-chapel, 142-143 ; (D) the chamber over the
choir, 143 ; (E) the Percy chapel, 144 - 145 ;
sepulchral remains, 146-147 ; conventual buildings,
147-149; the great gnte-housc, 150-152; the cur-
tain, 152-153 ; interments at, Su Oswin (651),
41-43, 146; St. Ilerebald (745). 39! Osred, king
of Northumbria (792), 40 ; Malcolm HI., king
of Scotland (1093), 5'-52 ; St. Henr}' of Coquet
Island (1127), 146 ; Patrick, earl of Dunkir (124S),
74-75 : .Adam, son of King Edward II. (1322), 84 ;
Prior John Whethamsicde (1419). U*-
Tynemouth, priors of, list, 122-123 ; Gcrmanus (II4S),
grant to nuns of St. Bartholomew, 260 ; Ruclendus
(twelfth century), fire in time of, 61, 149; Gilbert
(twelfth centur)-). death, 66 ; Akarius (bcf.^rc 1189),
391 ; election, 66, 81 ; seal, 121 ; builder of choir of
priory church, 138 ; Ralph Gubiun (1208'). resigna-
tion, 70, 249 ; Germanus (1227'). 3pp.nntmenl, 70 ;
seal, 121 ; founds North Shields, 2S5 ; sues teaint,
390'; Ralph de Dunh.im (1252), finds supposed
coffin of Malcolm Caenmore (1257"), 52; offer for
llartburn and Eglingham, 74; letter, 76; gift to
454
INDEX.
library, Ii8 ; seal, 121 ; enjowment of Tynemouth
vicarage (1250), 124 ; agreement with William
Heron (1256), 336 ; leases land at Murton, 409 n ;
grants land at Murton to sacristan, 410 ; Adam de
Maperteshall (1273), complaint against by John
de Whitley, 391 ; William Bernard (1279), John
de Whitley complains against, 392 n ; Simon de
Walden (1280), quo warranto proceedings against
(1290), 79. 208, 210 n, 252, 286-288 ; complaint of
John de Whitley against, 392 ; forfeits franchise
of Tynemouth (1291), 216-218 ; seeks royal pro-
tection against St. Alban's, 80-81 ; seized by abbot
of St. Alban's (1294), 82 ; erects pillory, 211 n, 216 ;
seal, 122; Adam de Tewing (1295), 82 n ; men-
suration of estates, 222 ; Richard de Tewing (1315)1
strong rule, 85-86, 156 ; chartulary and register,
86 n ; letter to, 88 ; secures letters of protection, 89 ;
buys land at Newcastle and Berwick, 90 ; builds
I.ady - chapel, 91; seal used by, 122; remits
tenant's rent, 256 ; agreement with Sir Robert
Delaval (1326), 318 ; lease of fishery (1337), 339 ".
340 n ; agreement for land in Murton (i 339). 41° " J
death (1340), 92 ; Thomas de la Mare (1340),
account of, 92-93 ; secures letters of protection
from Edward III., 93, 156; religious work, 94;
outlay on priory buildings, 95-96, 143, 148-149 ;
moves shrine of St. Uswin, 143 ; made abbot of
St. Alban's (1349), 96 ; Clement de Whethamstede
(1349), appointment, 96; dispute with Newcastle
over Fenham (1357), 97 ; seal used by, 122 ; John
Macrell (AVhethamstede) (l393), builds gate-house
at Tynemouth, 100, 150 ; pedigree, 100 ; verses on,
loi n ; life of, 103 ; effigy in Tynemouth priory,
146 ; Thomas Barton (1419), correspondence with
abbot of St. Alban's, 102 ; Robert de Rhodes (circa
1440), acquires manor of Benwell, 102 ; John
Langton (1450), probable builder of Percy chapel,
103, 144; deposed (1478), 105; commissioned to
visit priory (1480), 105 ; monogram in Percy
chapel, 145 ; grant from Henry VI. (1446), 289-
290 ; Nicholas Boston (1478), almoner of St.
Alban's (1462), 104 ; archdeacon of St. Alban's
(1477), 105 ; appointed prior (147S), 105 ; grant
from Richard 111., 106, 280; resignation (1480),
105 ; reinstatement, grant in jjerpctuity reissued,
death (1495), 106 ; William Dixwell (1480), prior
of Binham, deposed and reinstated, 104 ; prior of
Tynemouth (1480), 105 ; again prior of Binham,
106; prior of Hertford, death, 106 ; John Bensted
(1503). reception of Princess Margaret, 106; John
Stonywell (15 1 2), exempted by W'olsey from juris-
diction of St. Alban's, 107 ; dispute with Newcastle
(1510), 290; Thomas Gardiner (152S), appoint-
ment, 107 ; made prior for life, 107 ; petition for
protection, 107-108 ; charges against, 108-109 ;
hall-corn customs in time of, 234 ; agreement with
tenants, 235; Robert Blakeney (I537), appoint-
ment of, 109 ; grant of corrody, 70 n ; signs deed
of surrender (1539), no, 156 ; receives pension and
lease of Benwell, no; hall-corn customs in time
of, 233 ; books belonging to, 71 n.
Tynemouth rectory, 369-371 ; leased to Sir Thomas
Hilton, 156.
Tynemouth TOWNSHIP, 247-280 ; geological features,
2-4, 8, 12-15; manor and church of, granted to
monks of St. Alban's, 48, 49 ; manor of, 221 ; early
rental of, 248-249 ; fishing industry at, 379, 388 ;
customary freeholds in, 249-251 ; market at, 75, 79,
84, 252-253 ; survey of C1336). 255-257; lands in,
acquired by Tynemouth priory, 11 5. 1 17, 257 ; early
deeds relating to property in, 258-259, 421.425 ;
semi-corporate character of, 261 ; destruction of
village by the Scots (1389), 98, 261 ; survey of
(153H), 261.262 ; survey of (1608), 262-263; '"''d-
ship of, acquired by the earl of Northumberland
(1637), 240, 263.264 ; survey of (1649), 265 ; en.
closure of (1649), 244, 264.266, 311 ; descent of
freehold properties, 266.274 ! census returns, 247 n ;
tithes of, 369, 371 ; Holy Saviour church, 360 ;
non-established churches at, 377- See also Tjnie-
mouth borough.
Tynemouth, John de, author of the Hhloria Aurea,
120, 255.
Tynemouthshire, 207-246; the liberty, 207-221;
creation of liberty of (1198), 68 ; forfeiture of
(1291), 80, 216-218 ; restoration of (1299), 83, 221 ;
geographical extent of, 208 ; historical development,
208-210; special jurisdiction, 210-211 ; sanctuary,
211-212; financial privileges, 211-214; military
and naval obligations, 214-215 ; officers of the
liberty, 215-216; list of seneschals and stewards,
215 n ; assize roll for (1293), 218-220; Abbot
Norton's progress through (1264), 113 ; the manor,
221-246; various manors within the liberty, 221-
222 ; the bond's services, 222-225 '< varieties of
customary freehold, 225-226; transition from bond-
age tenure to tenant right, 227-230 ; leased from the
Crown, 230 ; commutation of labour sers'ices, 230 ;
hall-corn, 231-236 ; custom of husbandry, 236-238 ;
recognition of copyhold tenure, 238-239 ; lordship
of, granted in fee farm (1633), 239-240; extracts
from manor rolls, 240-241 ; jury for (1562), 240 ;
customs of, 241-242 ; rating by farms, 242-246 ;
surveys of, see Sun'eys.
Tyzack, family of, 271 ; Benjamin Cowley, monu-
mental inscription, 131 ; Mary, monumental in-
scription, 131.
U.
Uhtred, member of the Northumbrian royal house, 413 n.
I'fford, Robert de, earl of Suffolk, 95.
Umfraville, Gilbert de, witness to charters, 60 n ; Robert
de (i), witness to charters, 59 n; Robert de (2),
earl of Angus, letter to prior of Tynemouth, 88.
Uphill, .Anthony, of London, property in North Shields
(1624), 298 n.
Upton, J. R., 268.
V.
Val, de la. See Delaval.
Valence, William de, earl of Pembroke, oppressor of
St. .Mban's and Tynemouth (1257-1270), 75.
Vallibus, Hubert de, witness (1158), 62.
Valoniis, Peter de, witness, 55.
Vanholt, Dorothy, marriage (1752), 365.
Vanlore, Catherine, Lady (Pelham), 263 n.
Vasey, iVIartha (Kellio), marriage (1732), 365.
\'aux. Sir John de, itinerant justice, 392 n.
Vauxhall gardens, organ from, 360 n.
Vavasour, Edward, ' prayser ' of fish (1485), 287 n.
Ventermann, Joel, town crier of Tynemouth (1823), 368.
Vere, Robert de, witness to charter, 58 n.
Vescy, John de, escape from Evesham (1265), 77 ;
William de (i), witness to charter (1158), 62 n ;
William (2), grant to Tynemouth priory (1382),
116 ; witness (1 381-1391). 422, 424.
INDEX.
455
Vigerus, Nicholas, attorney for prior of Tyncmouth
(1293), 219 ; seneschal (1295), 215 n, 422.
Vikers, Simon del, grant to Tynemouth priory (1360),
116, 331.
Villiers, of Tynemouth castle, family of, arms, 201 ;
pedigree, 202 ; Sir Edward, governor of Tynemouth
castle (1661-1689), 197-204; builds lighthouse at
Tynemouth, 206 ; Colonel Henry (l), governor of
Tynemouth castle (1702-1707), I02, 203, 204; monu-
mental inscription, 131 ; Henry (2), lieutenant-
governor of Tynemouth (died 1753), 203, 207.
Vinsauf, Geoffrey de, work in Tynemouth library, 119.
W.
Wake, Richard, of Whitburn, 269.
Walcher. Sre Durham, bishops of.
Walden, Simon de. Se^ Tynemouth, priors of.
Waldie, George, coal owner, 22, 27.
Walesende, .Man de, witness to documents, 64-65 n.
Walker township, 351.
Walker, Bryan, of Willington, 327 ; Elizabeth (Ker-
rich), 271; Esther (Ellison), 326; Henry, of
Whitby, buys land in Chirton and Tynemouth
(1724), 266 n, 326; James, of Newcastle, 347;
John (i), ensign of volunteers (1667), 200 n ; John
(2), of the Low Lights, 326 ; John (3), of Dock,
wray Square and Wallsend, coal owner, 27 ; will
(1818), 271 n ; John (4), property at the Low
Lights (1833), 271 n ; Mary (Waters), 326 ; claim
on Shire .Moor (1790), 415 ; Rachel (Yeoman),
326; Susannah, land in Tynemouth (1704), 266 n,
271 ; William, mayor of Tynemouth (1856), 352.
Wall, William, of Newcastle, surrenders Monkseaton
property (1704), 407.
Wallace, William, invades Northumberland (1297), 83.
Wallingford, Richard de, sie St. Alban's, abbots of;
William, ste St. Alban's, abbots of.
Wallis, Roger, messuage in Tynemouth (1336), 257 ;
Thoma^ (i), of Tynemouth, receives corrody from
Tynemouth priory (1538), 70" \ Thomas (2), 349.
Wallsend, Roman stones from, 37 ; in Tynemouth
Union, 351 ; tithes of, 363 ; Thomas Dockwray,
curate of, 269, 270, 364 ; Emanuel Potter, curate
of, 364.
Walmsley, Emanuel, 349.
Walsingham, Francis, Lord, reports death of earl of
Northumberland (1585), 166 ; John de, chaplain
of Greystoke chantry at Tynemouth, 85 n ; Thomas
de, Historia Aiiglicaiia, cited, 98 n, 99 n, lOO n.
Waltham, abbot of, claims satisfaction for attack on
North Shields (1267), 286.
Waltheof. See Northumberland, earls of.
Walton, Thomas de, grants to Tynemouth priory
(1382, etc.), 116, 117, 257.
Warburton's MSS. cited, 36. 2S3 n, 298 n, 309, 323.
Ward, Ann, charge of brawling (1605), 367 ; Charles,
vicar of Tynemouth (1736), 364 ; Elizabeth, sells
land at Murton (1S25), 41 1 ; George, commissioner
on tenures at Tynemouth (160S), 297 ; George, of
Whitby, marriage (1753), 365 ; Simon, charge
against (1603), 367.
Warenner, William, grant to Tynemouth priory
(1382), 116.
Warkworth, lands and tithes in, held by Tynemouth
priory, 49, 62 n, 68 n ; grant of salt pans at, 59 ;
garrisoned by the Scots (1646), 189; the castle
dismantled, 322 ; Wilfrid Lawson, vicar of, 322 n ;
fishing at, 388.
Warnham flats, mussels in the, 382.
Warren, Henry, 323.
Warwick, John Dudley, carl of. See Northumberland.
Waters, Ralph, eighteenth century drawings of Tyne-
mouth priory, 140, 153,
Watson, Aaron, cited, 3S7 n ; Bennel, plaintiff (159;),
232, 234 ; John (i), of Bedlingion, 171 ; John (2), of
Willington Quay, buys West Chirton farm (1805),
333; Thomas, tenant of Tynemouth (1539), 262,
263 ; William, witness (1376-13S6), 422-424.
Watt, James, visits Hartley (1768), 24.
Webb, Rev. James, minister of St. Andrew's chapel
(1878-1887), 374-
Webster, Gilbert, property in Tynemouth (1413)1 258,
421 ; Peter, 25S n, 421.
Weetslade township, 351.
Weiss, Alice M. G. (Spence), 350.
Weldon, Christopher, 262 ; Matthew, land in Tj-ne-
mouth, 263 ; Ralph, tenant of Tynemouth, 233 ;
Simon de, witness (1321). 394n; Simon, land in
Tynemouth, 263 ; William de, juror of Tynemouth
(1295), 215 n.
Welton, in Tynemouthshire, 20S ; granted to Tyne-
mouth priory, 49. 68 n ; Waller Scot of, pays
homage to Abbot Norton (1264), 113; township
fined at Tynemouth assizes (1293), 219.
Wemvss, General David, governor of Tynemouth
castle (1807), 204.
Wesley, Charles, visit to North Shields, 375 ; John,
visits to North Shields (I759-'78S). 375-
West Chirton, historical account of, 334-34' \ '"
Tynemouthshire, 2oS ; granted to Tynemouth
priory (1256). 48, 76 n, 336 ; charge on rent, lOI.
See also Flatworth.
Westgate (Newc-astle), granted to Tynemouth priory,
49 ; entries on Tvnemouih court rolls relating to,
240; hospital of St. Mary at, 362.
Westminster, Gervase, abbot of, 119; abbey organ,
360 n.
Westou, Rlfred, collector of relics, 42.
Westwood, near Hexham, murder at, 172.
Westwyke, John de, donor to Tynemouth library, 119 ;
possessor of manuscript of Bede, 119.
Whalton, church of, granted to Tynemouth priory, 49,
68 n ; claimed by Robert fitz Roger (1269), 73 n ;
Thomas de .\ukland, vicar of (1337), 11;; Edward
Keldc, vicar of (1531). 362 ; John de, chaplain of
Greystoke chantry, 85 n.
Wheldon. See Weldon.
Whelpington. Robert, seneschal of Tynemouth (1426-
1434), 215 n, 425.
Wheteley, John de, vicar of Tynemouth (1350)1 3°* '<
grants to the priory (1360), 116, 257.
Whcthamstede, family of, pedigree, 100 ; Clement de,
see Tynemouth, priors of; John (Bostock) ie, see
St. Alban's, abbots of; John (.\lacrell) de, see
Tynemouth, priors of ; William de, cellarer of
Tvnemouth (1405), 100, 396.
Whitburn, county Durham, Thomas Dockwray, rector
of, 269, 270 ; Thomas Triplett, rector of, 270.
Whitby, John Bensted, abbot of, see Tynemouth, priors
of ; settlers from, at North Shields, 310.
Whitchester, manor of, 321.
White, Matthew (1I, of Blagdon, acquires .Murton
farm, 412 ; Sir .Matthew (2), baronet, tenant of
Murton (1757). 4II ; Robert, minister, marriage
(167S), 36; ; William, witness (1445). 359 "• 435-
Whitehead, George, deputy captain of Tynemouth
castle (1606), 175 ; report on state of castle, 17S ;
4S6
INDEX.
letters from, I2I, 237, 239, 244 n, 264, 294, 295,
297 ; charges against, 296, 299 n ; Hugh, last prior
of Durham, 175 n ; Michael, lieutenant of volun-
teers (1667), 200 n ; William, marriage (16.S4), 365.
VVhitchill point, wagonway to (1818), 27, 28, 341 ;
landing place at, 29S n ; fibula found at, 316 ;
sands at, 353, 354 ; ferry, 354.
Whilehorn,. Augustus, mayor of Tynemouth (1890), 352.
Whitfield, Hannah (Reay), monumental inscription,
130.
Whitheved, Alan, vicar of Tynemouth, 362 ; grants to
the priory (1360-1392), 116-117, 257; witness
(1376, etc.), 258 n, 421, 424 ; trustee, 396.
Whitley TOWNSHIP, 389-402 ; in Tynemouthshire,
208; geological features, 2, 5-6, 7, 10, 16,
lordship granted to Tynemouth priorj', 48, 54i 55
(13), 62 n, 67 n ; tenure of, 225-226, 393-394;
Conveys at, 224-225, 390, 393-394 ; custumals
(1225), 390, (1377), 395, (1404), 396; payment to
Marden mill, 241 ; payment to Flatworth mill,
339 n ; land in, acquired by Tynemouth priory
(1325), 115, 394; licence to crenellate tower at
0345)1 395; manor purchased by Tynemouth
priory (1405), 100, 117, 396; tithes of, no, 369,
371; grant of corrody out of, 70 n ; number and
size of holdings in, 22S ; rent of farmholds in,
229 ; recognition of copyhold tenure at, 239 ;
Whitley hall, 398 ; colliery, 20-21, 26-27, 281, 397,
400; limestone quarries, 26-27, 397-39^1 4°° J
ironstone workings, 400 ; brewery, 399, 400 ;
wagonway to Low Lights, 27, 313, 355, 400; St.
Paul's church, 360 ; urban district, 401 ; detached
portion of, 416 ; census returns, 389 n.
Whitley, pedigree, 395 ; Agnes de (i), grant of land
to vicar of T)'nemouth (1321), 394 ; Agnes de (2)
(Parker), 396 ; Alice de, messuage in Tynemouth
(1336), 256; Gilbert de, messuage in Tynemouth
(13361,257; witness (1360), 257 n ; East Chirton
and Whitley subsidy roll (1296), 393; breaches
of the peace (131S-1324), 394; military architect,
395 ; Henry de, 391 ; John de (i) (Wyiteley),
juror of Tynemouth (1295), 215 n ; concerned
in burglary (1290), 216, 220, 392 ; petition
against prior, 391 ; lo.sses (1297), 393; attack on
\Villiam Baret (1305), 394; witness, 422; John
de (2), witness (1339), 410 n; (1343-1344), 423;
death at St. Alban's, 395 ; Nicholas de. East
Chirton and Whitley subsidy roll (1296), 393 ;
Ralph de (i), witness to charters (twelfth century),
389 ; Ralph de (2), sued (1225), 390 ; Robert de,
property in Tynemouth, 255 ; Thomas de, grants
to Tynemouth priorv (1382, etc.), 116-117.
Whittingham, Charles Ward, vicar of, 364.
Whittonstall, Milo de, grant to St. Mary's, Westgate
{circa 1200), 362.
Widdringlon ch.ipel confirmed to St. Alban's abbey
(1174), 63 n ; pension in, payable to St. Alban's,
64 ; agreement respecting syiiodalia, 66 ; lands at,
acquired by Tynemouth priory (1392), 117.
Widdrington Edward, ensign of volunteers (1667),
200 n ; Gerard de, claims Hauxley, 94 ; Sir Henry,
takes possession of Percy castles, 175-176 ; report
on state of Tynemouth, 178 ; Sir John de, sheriff
of Northumberland (I426), 424. 425 ; Ralph,
ensign of volunteers (1667), 200 n ; Roger (i),
witness (1426), 424, 425 ; Roger (2), captain of
volunteers (16671, 200 n ; William, Lord, governor
of Berwick (1667), 200 ; captain of volunteer troop,
200 n.
Wideopen, murder of John Daglish at, 172.
Wildgose, Sir Robert, 333.
Wilford, Caroline Russell (Cardonnel-Lawson and
AVarren), 323.
Wilkinson, Agnes (Hepescotes), 258, 421-422, 424;
pedigree, 425 ; George (juror of Tynemouth ( 1562),
240; Gilbert, of Tynemouth, chaplain of Grey-
stoke chantry, 85 n, 258 ; grants, 421-422 ; pedigree,
425 ; Jacob, marriage (16S7), 365 ; James, of New-
castle, and family, monumental inscription, 131 ;
John (1413), 258 n ; witness (1391), 422, (1386-
1400), 424 ; Joseph, Nonconformist minister (circa
1759). 373-
U illiam I., invades Northumbria (1070 and 1072),
43-44, 154; consents to transfer of Tynemouth
from Durham to St. Alban's (1085), 46.
William II., charters to Tynemouth priory 52-53, 209 ;
crushes Mowbray's re\'olt, 52-53, 155-
Williams, Rev. J. F. C, Baptist minister (1866-1869),
377 ; William, of North Shields, land in Tyne-
mouth, 268.
Williamson Rev. James, Baptist minister (1816-1838),
377-
Willington, Milbanke property in, 327 ; plan of, 413 ;
included in Tynemouth Union, 351.
Willington Qua}-, 351.
Wills and Inventories: Hilton Lawson of Chirton
(1748), 322 n ; Edmund Milbanke of Tynemouth
(1596), 327; W'illiam Milbanke of North Shields
(1603), 327-328.
W^illoughby, royalist (1655), 195.
Wilson, Eleanor, of North Shields, bequest (1703), 366 ;
Dr. Gregg, paper on crab and lobster fishing, 389 n ;
Rev. John, D.D., minister of St. Andrew's chapel
(1818-1820), 374; Mary (Crawford), 333 ; Matthew,
of Blyth, buys land at Murton (1825), 411 ; Ralph,
sued (1653), 241.
Wilton, "Thomas de, attorney for prior of Tynemouth,
90 n.
Winch, N. J., geological works, 5, II, 12, 417.
Winchester, Richard, bishop of, witness to charter,
62 n.
Windehank, Sir Francis, secretary of state, 181.
Windsor, Robert de Mowbray imprisoned at, 54.
Winnoc the hunter, grants Eglingham to Tynemouth
priory, 48-49, 54.
Winship, Luke, juror of Tynemouth (1686), 241 ;
Thomas, juror of Tynemouth (1562), 240.
Winter, Sir William, mission to Scotland (1560), 162.
W'ircester, Ralph de, grants Flatworth to Tj'uemouth
priory (1158), 48, 62, 335; owns West Chirton
(1 166), 335 ; death, 336.
Witton, chapel of Hartburn, confirmed to St. Alban's,
^+-
Witton, William de, tenant of Tynemouth (1264),
249 n ; land acquired from, 220.
Wolsey, Cardinal (Thomas), 107, 212.
^Volsington, in Tynemouthshire, 208 and n ; granted
to Tynemouth priory, 49, 67 n ; lands in, acquired
by Tynemouth priory (1360), 116.
Wolsington, Gilbert de, pays homage to Abbot Norton
(1264), 113 ; grant of land in Monkseaton, 402 ;
Margery de, land in Tynemouth (thirteenth
century), 42 1 ; William de, witness (thirteenth
century), 421.
Wood, Nicholas, geological works, 5, n, 12-13, 4t7-
Woodburn, Thomas de, plunders Tynemouth property
(circa-) 1325), 90.
Wooden Dolly quay, 305.
INDEX.
457
Woodhorn, church of, granted to Tynemouth priory,
49, 68 n ; confirmed by Bishop Pudsey, 63 n ;
Richard, vicar of (1174), 64; church claimed by
Bishop Philip de Poitiers (1205), 730; appro-
priated by St. Alban's, 118; pension in, payable
to St. Alban's, 64 ; lease of tithes, 156 ; survey of
(1271), 227 n ; lands in, acquired by Tynemouth
priory, 115 : grant of lands in parish of, 159.
Woodman, William, solicitor (1832), 243.
Wooler, tithes of, granted to Tynemouth priory, 50,
62 n, 68 n ; William Haigh, vicar of, 130 ; General
Monk at, 197.
Wooperton, granted to Tynemouth priory, 48.
Worcester, battle of, 194 ; William de Bedford, prior
of, see Tynemouth, priors of.
Worswick, Rev. James, of Newcastle, Roman Catholic
priest {circa 1S21), 376.
Worthington, — , dissenting teacher (died 1733), 373 n.
Wouldhave, William, inventor of lifeboat, 356.
Wrangham, Thomas, buys Arnold's close (1618), 281.
Wrench, — , prebendary of Durham (i658), 359.
Wright, John (l), of North Shields, purchases lands
in Tynemouth (1796), 266; monumental inscrip-
tion, 131 ; John (2), of Wallsend, 273 ; John
Bowes, property in Tynemouth, 266 ; Margaret (i),
wife of Nicholas, 422 ; Margaret (2) (Kelso,
Mitcalfe), 267 ; Nicholas, of Tynemouth, grant to
(1363), 422 ; Robert, witness (1392), 424 ; Stephen,
of Dockwray Square, buys Chirton Hill farm
(1S05), 333 ; monumental inscription, 131 ;
Thomas, of Whitley park, buys Chirton Hill farm
(1S05), 333 ; buys Whitley park (1800), 399 ; buys
land at Monkseaton (iSoi), 407 ; monument;il
inscription, 362 ; William, property in TjTiemouth,
266.
Wycliffe, John, of Offerton, 175 n ; Thomas, 174 n;
William, deputy captain of TjTiemouth, 174; letters,
176, 294 ; charges against, 296, 299 n.
Wydall, Thomas, tenant of Tynemouth (1539), 262,
263.
Wylam, in Tynemouthshire, 208 ; manor and tithes of,
granted to Tynemouth priory, 49, 50, 620, 68 n. 121 ;
manor of, 221 ; court held at, 113; prior's house
at, loi ; murder at, presented at Tynemouth
assizes, 219 ; lands in, acquired by Tynemouth
priory, 116 ; laid waste by Scots (1297). 83 ; plun-
dering of property at, 90 ; oppression of prior's
men at, 92 ; recognition of copyhold tenure at, 239 ;
presentments at Tynemouth manor court, 240 ;
woods, 396.
Wylam, John de, tenant of Chirton (1377), 227, 331 ;
witness (1341), 423 ; Ralph de, 337 ; Roger de,
freeholder of Chirton (1295), 227, 330 ; claims land,
337 ; William, Tynemouth subsidy roll (1296),
252 ; witness, 421.
Wymondham, prior of, author of Vila Orwini, 119;
William de Horton, prior of, see Tynemouth,
priors of.
Wynyarde, David, cooper, 233, 235.
Wyot, Henry, Atiddle Chirton tallage roll (1294),
330; William, Monkseaton custumal (circa 1296),
404.
Yarmouth, merchants of, 254 ; fish trade, 379, 380, 381,
388.
Yelloley, Robert, claim on Shire Moor (1790), 415.
Yeoman, family of. property in Chirton, 326 ; Anne
(Rudyerd,) 326 ; Rachel, claim on Shire Moor
(1790), 415.
Yevel-penies, meaning of, 224.
Young, George Frederick, M.P. for Tynemouth (1832.
1S37), 351-
Younger, James, of Burradon, owner of Ntonkseaton
farm, 406 ; Rowland (1597), 328.
Vol. VIII.
58
London and Newcastle-upon-Tyne:
Andrew Reid Sc Company, Limited, Printing Court Buildings, Akenside Hill.
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