Cambois, Northumberland: People and Places of 1879

 Enjoy a glimpse of history about Cambois in Northumberland, North East England, UK.


The Post Office Directory of Durham and Northumberland

by Kelly and Company

Published in 1879



CAMBOIS is a township and ecclesiastical district formed in 1863 from the parish of Bedlington, including WEST and EAST SLEEKBURN, NORTH BLYTH and HIGH PANNS, in the Northern division of the county, Morpeth union, county court district of Morpeth, eastern division of Newcastle-on-Tyne rural deanery, Northumberland archdeaconry and Durham diocese. Cambois is 4 miles north-east from Bedlington, 2 north from Blyth and 9 west from Morpeth: it is very pleasantly situated on the coast, and at the mouth of the river Wansbeck, over which there is a ferry. The church of St. Peter, situated at West Sleekburn, was erected in 1865, and is a brick and stone building, consisting of apse chancel, which contains two stained windows, and nave. The register dates from the year 1865. The living is a vicarage, yearly value £300, in the gift of the Dean and Chapter of Durham and held by the Rev. John Harrison Usher, M.A. of University College, Durham. The Primitive Methodists and Free Methodists have each a chapel here. A handsome school was erected in 1869, and is supported by the Cowpen, North Seaton and Cambois Coal Co. Another school for 300 children was erected in 1872: the average attendance is 450. A Mechanics' Institute was opened by Sir George Grey, M.P. in September, 1872. The 'Ridley Arms' is a good and well-conducted inn, at the south end of the colliery. Cambois House, the residence of Mr. Thomas Moore, commands a fine view of the German Ocean. The sands here are very fine and safe. Cambois is occasionally visited by small vessels with cargoes of draining tiles and other articles for agricultural purposes; the return cargoes of these vessels are principally confined to coal from the North Seaton colliery, in the parish of Woodhorn, and shipped from the quay. Here is an extensive colliery, worked by the Cowpen, North Seaton and Cambois Coal Co. which provides employment for nearly 900 men and boys. Cambois pit is considered to be the most perfect model of a pit in the north of England, and is certainly the largest; it can lift and ship in one day nearly 2,000 tons of coal: in connection with the same colliery are some large brick works, where thousands of bricks are made from material found in the pit. This parish is now intersected by tramways, conveying coals to the Blyth docks and to the Blyth and Tyne railway. Two of the old corn granaries, to which the farmers of Northumberland, in years gone by, used to bring their corn on horseback for exportation or sea carriage, are still to be seen, one on the north bank of the Wansbeck and the other on the south, and have been converted into dwellings for the miners. Sir Matthew White Ridley, bart. M.P. who is lord of the manor, the Earl of Ravensworth and the Viscount Barrington, M.P. are the principal landowners. The area of the ecclesiastical parish is 3,000 acres; population in 1871 was 2,716, and has since increased to 3,900.

Sexton, John Tait.

Letters for Cambois are received through Blyth, which is the nearest money order office Colliery Schools, Mr. Bolton, master; Mrs. Bolton, mistress

NORTH BLYTH is a small fishing village in the above township, situated on a small peninsula at the mouth of the river Blyth, which is crossed by a ferry: it is from here that, by the erection of immense staiths, the chief export of coal from the Cambois colliery takes place. On the opposite bank is the town of Blyth.

HIGH PANNS is a hamlet, about half a mile from the sea, where centuries ago pans were in use for the manufacture of salt.

East and West Sleekburn form a township, 2½ miles north-east from Blyth, 6 east-by-south from Morpeth, situated on the brook of Sleekburn, from which it derives its name: this has within the last few years become a considerable and populous village, chiefly occupied by miners. Here is an extensive colliery, worked by the Bedlington Colliery Co. Here is a station on the Blyth and Tyne section of the North Eastern railway. The Wesleyans and Primitive Methodists have each a chapel here.

Letters through Morpeth. Bedlington is the nearest money order office. Blyth & North Tyne Railway, West Sleekburn, Joseph Walker, station master

West Sleekburn Colliery School, A. Straughan, master

Cambois.

Moore Thomas, Cambois house

Cambois District Industrial Provident Society (Robert Palmer, manager), Cambois colliery

Cowpen & North Seaton Coal Co. (George Baker Forster, managing director; Thomas Moore, manager & viewer), Cambois colliery

Freeman Patrick, farmer, Cambois farm

Hudson Wm. grocer & draper, Cambois ellry

Mechanics' Institute & Reading Room (John Sheldon, sec. & librarn)

Swann Robert & John, butchers & farmers

Watson Wm. Seven Stars, Nth. Blyth

Whaley John William, Ridley Arms ### Sleekburn (East & West).

Douglas George, East Sleekburn

Usher Rev. John Harrison, M.A. Vicarage, West Sleekburn

Wilson James, East Sleekburn

Coxon Mark, farmer, East Sleekburn

Bedlington Colliery Co. West Sleekburn colliery




DIRECTORY.] NORTHUMBERLAND. CARHAM. 583

Gray George, farmer, Sleekburn grange, East Sleekburn

Gray John, farmer, Mount Pleasant, East Sleekburn

Mavin John, Foresters' Arms, West Sleekburn

Pattison Edward, farmer, The Grange, West Sleekburn

Huthard John, shopkeeper, We. Sleekburn

Ritson Anthony, Havelock inn, East Sleekburn

Swan Wm. farmer, West Sleekburn


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