Pittington, County Durham: People and Places of 1879

Enjoy a glimpse of history about Pittington in County Durham, North East England, UK.

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The Post Office Directory of Durham and Northumberland

by Kelly and Company

Published in 1879

PITTINGTON is a township and parish, pleasantly situated in a vale of the river Wear, 4 miles north-east from Durham, in the Northern division of the county, south-west division of the ward of Easington, union and county court district of Durham, rural deanery of Easington, diocese of Durham, and officialty of the Dean and Chapter. The church of St. Lawrence is a fine building, principally in the Norman style, but some of the later portions are Early English : it contains some beautiful Norman arches : it has chancel, nave, aisles and low western tower containing 3 bells ; the register dates from the year 1571. The living is a discharged vicarage, yearly value £620, in the gift of the Dean and Chapter of Durham, and held by the Rev. James Barmby, b.d. of Magdalen College, Oxford. The Wesleyans and Primitive Methodists have chapels here. The Ecclesiastical Commissioners are lords of the manor and the principal landowners. The soil is light and loamy and in some parts clay ; subsoil, limestone. The chief crops are wheat, barley, oats and grass. The area of the township is 2,552 acres, chiefly consisting of valuable collieries, belonging to the Marquis of Londonderry and the Earl of Durham. Rateable value, £14,199 ; the population in 1871 was 2,106.

LITTLETOWN is a colliery village in the township and parish of Pittington. The Wesleyans have a chapel here : there is also a public library and reading room.

HETTON-ON-THE-HILL is a small hamlet in the parish of Pittington, and formerly belonged to Easington parish : it consists of two farms and a few cottages, chiefly the property of Mrs. Baker, of Elemore Hall, which is adjacent to this hamlet, beautifully situated in a valley, surrounded by hills covered with plantations.

Parish Clerk, John Harrison.

Post Office, Pittington.—Alfred Harrison, sub-postmaster. Letters are received, through Durham, at 9 a.m. & are dispatched at 1 p.m. Coxhoe is the nearest money order office

Schools:—

Littletown Colliery, Miss Jane Aitcheson, mistress

National, Pittington, Joseph Bowman Taylor, master ; Miss Mary Wake, mistress

Baker Mrs. Elemore hall

Barmby Rev. James, b.d. [vicarage]

Boyd Edward F.

Anderson Joseph, farmer, Hetton-le-hill

Anderson Teasdale, millr. Hallgarth mill

Barrass Timothy, blacksmith

Blanch Ralph, farmer

Bland William, Blacksmiths' Arms

Brown Dorothy (Mrs.), shopkeeper

Brown Thomas, butcher

Clark Matthew Thos. farmer, Hallgarth

Cleasby Robert Henry, farmer, Broomside farm

Cleasby Ralph, farmer

Crawford Thomas, sen. colliery viewer, Littletown colliery

Dawson Richard, Horse Shoes

Durham Earl of, coal owner (Thomas Crawford, manager ; Thomas Crawford, jun. resident viewer), Littletown & Sherburn Hill collieries

Haddick John, Duke of Wellington

Jackson John, shoe maker

Johnson Geo. colliery viewer, Littletown

Maitland James, Wheatsheaf

Moon Joseph, farmer

North Hetton Coal Co. (Thos. Wood, manager)

Park James, Moon's Hotel

Public Library & Reading Room (Thomas Hepburn & John Robson, librarians), Littletown

Punshon William, wheelwright

Robson Elizabeth (Mrs.), shopkeeper

Robson William, farmer, Hill side

Thomas Elijah, Travellers' Rest

Tindale Michael, butcher & farmer

Westgarth Thomas, farmer

Westgarth William Thomas, butcher