Eggleston, County Durham: People and Places of 1879

Enjoy a glimpse of history about Eggleston in County Durham, England, UK.

The Post Office Directory of Durham and Northumberland

by Kelly and Company

Published in 1879

EGGLESTONE is a township, village and ecclesiastical parish, formed in 1859, from the parish of Middleton-in-Teesdale, situated 4 miles south-east from Middleton and 6 north-by-west from Barnard Castle, and is intersected by a small stream which rises in the neighbouring hills, in the Southern division of the county, south-west division of Darlington ward, Teesdale union, Barnard Castle county court district, rural deanery of Darlington, archdeaconry and diocese of Durham. The church of the Holy Trinity was built in the year 1869, and is a handsome stone building in the Early English style, consisting of chancel, nave, transepts, with bell turret and vestry : it contains an organ. The register dates from the year 1795. The living is a vicarage, yearly value £120, in the gift of the Crown and held by the Rev. William Augustus Beaufort, M.A. of T.C.D. Here is an ancient chapel of ease, not now used. There are two schools, supported by Timothy Hutchinson, esq. the Duke of Cleveland, and the London Lead Company. Here are chapels for Wesleyans, Primitive Methodists and Baptists. The Egglestone Union Sunday school has been in existence nearly forty years : there are about 180 scholars on the books, and upwards of 30 teachers, who are members of various religious denominations, and the average attendance is about 130 : there is an excellent library, comprising upwards of 600 volumes. The mechanics' institute, established in the year 1845, has upwards of 50 members, and about 1,500 volumes, and a collection of maps and mathematical instruments, which are lent out to the members ; about a dozen of the leading periodicals are taken, and one volume and one periodical allowed to each member, with the privilege of exchanging weekly: the average number issued weekly is rather over 40, and at intervals the services of popular lecturers have been secured, through the liberality of T. Hutchinson, esq. the resident proprietor, to whom the school building belongs, and the Lead Company, who are liberal supporters : the terms of membership are 6d. per quarter. The lead mills, or smelting works, of the London Lead Company are about a mile to the north of the village : sixty years ago there were three small smelting works, and the Lead Company were occupiers of one of them ; but about 1818 they secured from Mr. D. Crawford, of Newcastle-on-Tyne, the old mill and ground adjacent, which they enlarged and remodelled, so as to adapt it to their extensive operations : amongst other improvements, the condensing of noxious vapours has been effectually carried out, by increasing the height of the chimney, and the application of water for washing the ore down into settling pits, by which an advance has been made from about 1 1/2 to 10 per cent. on the lead smelted, and recently the Rozan process has been introduced. This company date their existence back to the time of William and Mary, or about 170 years, when they received their charter as an incorporated company, and originally were composed of members of the Society of Friends, who were induced to em-

85 ELDON. [DIRECTORY.] [DURHAM.]

bark in the speculation through the representations of a lady who, while travelling in the district, saw the destitution of the labouring class through want of employment, partly on account of want of capital, but principally through the scarcity of fuel for carrying on smelting operations, and the latter difficulty the company met by using coal instead of wood : the first century but little was done in the Teesdale district, but during the last fifty years the mineral resources have been extensively developed : the royalties belong to the Duke of Cleveland and T. Hutchinson, esq. In close proximity to the smelting mill is a saw-mill, driven by a turbine, the water supply for which has previously done duty at two of the principal mines, and subsequently supplies a water wheel in connection with smelting works here. The mine timber is prepared and furnishes back freight for those who bring ore to the mills. Egglestone Hall is the seat of Timothy Hutchinson, esq. the lord of the manor, and principal landowner. The soil is clayey and loam ; subsoil, gravel. The chief crops are pasture, and barley and oats. The area of the township is 7,919 acres ; rateable value, £3,043 ; and the population in 1871 of the township and ecclesiastical parish was 756.

Parish Clerk, John Dixon.

POST OFFICE.—William Robert Walker, receiver. Letters arrive from Darlington at 8.55 a.m. ; dispatched at 4.20 p.m. The nearest money order office is at Romaldkirk Schools, James Cordiner, master

Atkins Joseph Beaufort Rev. William Augustus, M.A. [vicar], Vicarage Benson Miss Dixon Miss Helmer Joseph Hutchinson Timothy, Egglestone hall Raine Joshua

COMMERCIAL. Adamson John, carpenter Addison Joseph, farmer Addison Thomas, farmer Allinson Joseph, farmer Allinson Oliver, farmer Atkins Joseph, M.D. surgeon Bates John, Moor Cock inn, & flagstone merchant Bell Joshua, shopkeeper Brown Jonathan, farmer Brown Thomas, farmer Coates Brothers, shoe makers Coates William Walton, shoe maker Dalkin George, smelter Dalkin John, farmer, Folly house Dixon John, joiner Forester Thomas, farmer Forster John & Ada (Miss), farmers Foster Isaac, farmer Foster Jonathan, mason Hetherington John, mason Kidd Jonathan, refining foreman to London Lead Company Lamb Nicholson, farmer Little Joseph Dickinson, smelting agent London Lead Co.'s Smelting Works Longstaff Joseph, farmer Lowe John, farmer Mason George, shopkeeper Monkhouse Joshua Coke, agent for Timothy Hutchinson Nicholson Thomas, farmer Nodding John, shoe maker Nodding Thomas, tailor Oliver Robert, miller & farmer Pinkney William, manager of saw mills of London Lead Company Raine James, shoe maker Raine John, shoe maker Raine John, smelter Raine John, shopkeeper Raine Matthew, assay master to the London Lead Company Raine Matthew, farmer Robinson Edward, farmer Robinson Joseph, shopkeeper & butcher Robinson Thomas, farmer Robinson William, farmer Robinson William, smelter Stevenson John, head gamekeeper to T. Hutchinson, esq Thompson John, farmer Walker John, blacksmith Wall Henry, farmer Wall John, Three Tuns Wall Robert, farmer Walton John, foreman of smelting furnaces to London Lead Company Walton Thomas, butcher Walton Thomas, shopkeeper