A HISTORY OF DURHAM 



APPENDIX 



ECCLESIASTICAL DIVISIONS OF THE COUNTT 



As part of the province of Bernicia, the district which was later to become the county of 

 Durham came under the influence of Celtic Christianity and was included in the see of Lindisfarne, 

 which, co-extensive with the province, was established by Oswald under St. Aidan in 635.^ The 

 work of Archbishop Theodore hardly affected the district,- but after the Danish ravages of the latter 

 part of the ninth century the seat of the great northern see was transferred from Lindisfarne to 

 Chester le Street.' Again, in 995, according to Symeon of Durham,^ in fear of a Danish raid the 

 seat of the see was finally transferred to the newly-founded city of Durham, the self-chosen 

 resting-place of St. Cuthbert's body. 



From this date until the taxation of Pope Nicholas of 1291 there is nothing to mark the pro- 

 gress of the ecclesiastical organization of the county. The names and limits of the deaneries were 

 fixed by 1291, and although those of the diocese included in the county are not given under a 

 heading as within the archdeaconry of Durham, a footnote to the effect that the church of Easington 

 was appropriated to the archdeacon of Durham proves that the archdeaconry was then in existence.' 



There were five deaneries in the county, including altogether fifty-seven parishes, viz. : — 



The Deanery of Durham, including the thirty-five parishes of Billingham, Boldon, Brancepeth, 

 Castle Eden, Dalton le Dale, Durham St. Oswald, Durham St. Nicholas, Easington, Ed- 

 mondbyers, Elwick Hall, Gateshead, Greatham, Hart, Hartlepool (chapel of), Hesleden, 

 Hilton, Houghton, Jarrow, Kelloe, Merrington, Bishop Middleham, Pittington, Ryton, 

 Seaham, Sedgefield, Stanhope, Stranton, Trimdon, Monkwearmouth, Bishopwearmouth, 

 Washington, Whickham, Whitburn, Whitworth, Wolsingham. 



The Deanery of Auckland," including the parish of Auckland. 



The Deanery of Lanchester, including the parish of Lanchester. 



The Deanery of Chester le Street, including the parish of Chester le Street. 



The Deanery of Darlington, including the twenty parishes of Aycliffe, Cockfield, Coniscliffe, 

 Darlington, Dinsdale, Egglescliffe, Elton, Gainford, Haughton, Heighington, Hurworth, 

 ' Long Newton, Middleton in Teesdale, Middleton St. George, Norton, Redmarshall, Sockburn, 

 Staindrop, Stainton le Street, Winston.' 



On account of the system of arrangement of the Valor of 1535 as regards Durham, it is some- 

 what difficult to gather clearly what the ecclesiastical divisions of the county were at that date. 

 The parishes belonging in 1 291 to the deanery of Durham are not grouped under the deanery, 

 which is nowhere mentioned, while under the archdeaconry of Durham only the two churches 

 Easington and Houghton, appropriated to the archdeacon, are given. The constitution of the 

 three deaneries of Chester le Street, Auckland, and Darlington had considerably changed since 1 29 1. 

 Several parishes belonging to the deanery of Durham had been added to each, in several cases the 

 rectory being attached to one deanery, the vicarage to another. 



' See ante, p. 2. ' Stubbs, Const. Hist, i, 246. 



' See ante, pp. 5-6. * Symeon of Durham, Opera (Rolls Ser.), i, 78-83. 



' The archdeaconry of Northumberland, including that part of the diocese without the county of Durham, 

 is given {Pope Nick. Tax. (Rec. Com.) 316-17), and in all probability both archdeaconries date from the 

 general foundation of territorial archdeaconries after the Conquest (See Stubbs, Const. Hist, i, 255, «). At any 

 rate, the archdeaconry of Durham existed before 131 1 ; See Reg. Palat. Dunelm. (Rolls Ser.), i, 12. 



* The heading under the taxation of 129 1 is ' Porciones de Aukland,' and the last entry in the group is 

 ' Vicar Ecclesie de Aucland,' to which a note is added, ' ' Q ' dicitur Decanu' Aukelan' ' ; Pope Nich. Tax. 

 (Rec. Com.), 315. Again, in the 'Nova Taxatio ' made in 13 17-18, under a similar heading, 'Porciones de 

 Aukland,' comes 'Decanatus de Aukland tax. etc' (ibid. p. 329-330), clearly proving the existence of the 

 deanery. The same evidence applies to the existence of the deaneries of Lanchester and Chester le Street. 

 The three deaneries were undoubtedly in existence before 1 3 1 1 , and are constantly referred to in Kellawe's 

 Register ; See Reg. Palat. Dunelm. (Rolls Ser.), i, 3, 21, 107, &c. 



' Pope Nich. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 315. 



76 



