Enjoy a glimpse of history about Houghton-le-Spring in North East England, UK.
The Post Office Directory of Durham and Northumberland
by Kelly and Company
Published in 1879
HOUGHTON-LE-SPRING is a union town, township and parish, and polling place for the Northern division of the county, 262 miles from London, 6 north-east from Durham, 14 south-east from Newcastle, and $6\frac{1}{2}$ south-west from Sunderland, in the north division of Easington ward, Durham county court district, Easington rural deanery, Durham archdeaconry and diocese: it is situated on the road from Durham to Sunderland; is managed by the Board of Health, and is under the jurisdiction of the county magistrates, who hold petty sessions every alternate Tuesday at the Police station in William street. The North Eastern railway passes about 2 miles west, at Fence Houses, where there is a station: various lines of railways intersect this parish for the conveyance of coals to Sunderland and Seaham Harbour. The church of St. Michael is a large stone cruciform building in the Early English style; it has a chancel, nave, aisles, transept, tower with 6 bells, clock, porch, and organ, and several handsome stained windows. The register dates from the year 1563. The living is a rectory, yearly value £1,600, with residence, in the gift of the Bishop of Durham, and held by the Hon. and Rev. John Grey, M.A. of Trinity College, Cambridge. St. Michael’s Catholic church, in the Durham road, is a Gothic stone building, erected in 1837, having chancel, nave, gallery and organ: on the north side of the high altar is a beautifully decorated altar of the “Blessed Virgin:” the church will seat 500 persons, with a spacious school beneath: a handsome presbytery is attached. The Royal Kepier Grammar school, in the churchyard, was founded by the Rev. Bernard Gilpin, rector of Houghton, and John Heath, of Kepier, in 1574; it has an endowment of about £180 yearly, derived from lands and tithes; there are about 70 scholars, mostly boarders; there are only 6 foundation scholarships, and one exhibition of £30 to either of the universities of Oxford, Cambridge or Durham. The National schools for both sexes are in Newbottle lane, and adjoining the rectory: the Catholic, in Durham road; the Wesleyans, in Sunderland street; and the United Presbyterian, in Hopper street. There are Sunday schools attached to the various places of worship. There are chapels for Wesleyans in William street, erected at a cost of £900; for Baptists, in Sunderland street; for Primitive Methodists, in Sunderland street; and for United Free Church Methodists, in Nesham street. There is a handsome Presbyterian chapel in Church street, erected at a cost of £3,400. The Davenport and Lilburne’s Almshouses were founded by George Lilburne, of Offerton, 1666, and enlarged by the Rev. George Davenport, rector of Houghton: there are other charities of upwards of £70 a year. The Town Hall, erected in 1872, is a substantial building: the size of the large hall is 70 feet by 27 feet, and there are about 20 shops. The Mechanics’ Institute, on the Quay, was erected in 1851, on ground given by T. W. U. Robinson, esq. and built by subscription, at a cost of £500: it is a handsome stone structure, with a square tower over the entrance, contains a good library, and is well supplied with the leading journals. There is a large brewery. The greater portion of the inhabitants are employed in the mines, which abound in this district. There are two good commercial hotels, the ‘Golden Lion,’ and the ‘White Lion.’ The celebrated Bernard Gilpin, usually styled the Apostle of the North, was many years rector of this parish, where he died in 1583, in the 66th year of his age. The acreage of the township is 1,475; rateable value, £10,283; the population of the town in 1801 was 996, in 1861 it was 3,824; of the township 4,741; and in 1871 was 5,276. The area of the entire parish is 15,569 acres; and the population in 1871 was 27,135.
Parish Clerk, James Davis.
Warden Law is a small township in the parish of Houghton-le-Spring, 2 miles east therefrom, in Seaham Harbour county court district. The township is held by copy of court roll, in the bishopric manor of Houghton. Warden Law is the name of a lofty hill, whose summit commands extensive views of the surrounding country and the German ocean. The land is chiefly the property of George Gregson, esq. and Miss Railton. The acreage is 518; rateable value, £1,053; the population in 1871 was 77.
Morton Grange is a township in the parish of Houghton-le-Spring, situate 2 miles west from that place. At Fence Houses, in this township, is a station of the North Eastern railway. The Earl of Durham is lord of the manor and the principal landowner. The soil is clay; subsoil, clay. The crops are wheat, oats and turnips. The acreage is 462; rateable value, £5,574; and the population in 1871 was 226.
Post, Money Order & Telegraph Office, Savings Bank & Annuity & Insurance Office, Fence Houses.—George William Honey, postmaster. Letters arrive from all parts of the south at 6.40 a.m. & 5 p.m.; dispatched at 7.7 a.m. & 10 p.m. Arrive from the north at 5.48 a.m. & 5 p.m. & 6.20 p.m.; dispatched at 3.36 & 10 p.m
Post, Money Order & Telegraph Office & Savings Bank, Quay.—Robert Wilkinson, sub-postmaster. Letters arrive from all parts through Fence Houses at 6.55 a.m. & 5.10 p.m.; first despatch, 2.46 p.m.; second despatch, 8.45 p.m.; sundays, 4.45 p.m. only
HOUGHTON-LE-SPRING UNION. Board day, monday, fortnightly
The union comprises the townships of Silksworth, East and Middle Herrington, West Herrington, Offerton, Penshaw, Newbottle, Morton Grange, Houghton-le-Spring, Warden Law, Great and Little Eppleton, Hetton-le-Hole, East and West Rainton, Moorsley and Moorhouse; area, 16,202 acres; gross estimated rental, £134,746; rateable value, £125,346; population in 1871, 26,172
Clerk, John R. Legge, Sunderland street
Assistant Overseer, James Young
Collector, Joseph Coulson
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