STOCKTON WARD 



LOW DI.NSDALE 



LOW DINSDALE 



Ditneshal, Ditleshal (xii cent.) ; Ditteneshale 

 (xiii cent.). 



Dinjdale, called Low or Nether Dinsdale to dis- 

 tinguish it from Over Dinsdale on the Yorkshire side 

 of the Tees, lies on the left bank of this river, which 

 here flows mainly from south to north before turning 

 eastward again. The land is mostly from looft. to 

 1 70 ft. above sea-level, hut at the south and north 

 contact with the Tees the surface descends very steeply 

 to the river, and here the banks arc clad with trees. 

 Between these overhanging banks there is an open and 

 more level area in the bend of the river, on which 

 stand the church, the old manor-house' and farm 

 adjoining it to the south, and a cottage or two, the 

 situation being retired and beautiful. The parish area, 

 a narrow strip of country 3 J miles long, measuring 

 1,174 3cres, extends some distance north of the river, 

 wedged between Middleton St. George on the east and 

 Haughton le Skerneand Hurworth on the west. On 

 the south it is bounded by Sockburn, and at this end 

 there is a large plantation on the western side. 



The road from Hurworth and Neasham leads east- 

 ward to the manor-house and church and then crosses 

 the Tees hy a bridge ; there are two fords about a 

 mile north and south of it respectively. 



In 1537 possession of the manor-house of Dinsdale 

 was in dispute between the daughters and heirs of 

 Katherine Place and their step-brother Roland. The 

 heiresses put in one Richard Barwick to occupy the 

 house, but one October day fourteen ' rjottous and 

 raysruled persons ' by the procurement of Roland 

 attacked the house, drove out Richard Barwick by 

 force of arms, so using him that ' he stode in feare 

 and jeopardie of his lyffe,' and remained in pos- 

 session.'" The present manor-house occupies the 

 ancient site. ' It stands within a square inclosure 

 surrounded on all sides by double moats of early date. 

 In it is a hiding-place to which access is obtained from 

 above.'- In the last decade of the 19th century exca- 

 vations were made near to the building, 'when the 

 foundations and lower story of a large gate-house, a 

 little to the north-east of the house, were uncovered. 

 In it was a square newel stairway and chambers 

 which had been vaulted. The whole was shortly 

 after covered up again as the excavations were incon- 

 veniently near the house. No plans were made.'' 



The northern or inland end of the parish is crossed 

 by the Darlington and Stockton branch of the North 

 Eastern railway. This end also contains part of the 

 village known as Fighting Cocks,'' formed of cottages 

 standing on the road from Middleton St. George to 

 Darlington. There is a VVesIeyan chapel here. Low 

 and High Stodhoe are farms north of the railway line. 



On the bank of the Tees, near the Middleton 

 boundary, is a sulphurous spring or spa well, discovered 



in 1789 in an attempt to find coal. It became famous 

 and is much visited in the summer.' The Spa Races 

 were held near it on 17 and 1 8 March I 842.' About 

 2 miles up the stream are other spa wells.' 



The soil is mixed ; wheat and barley, beans, turnips 

 and potatoes are grown. The agricultural land is thus 

 occupied: arable 381 acres, permanent grass 565, 

 woods and plantations 28." About 1850 the corre- 

 sponding figures ivere 643, 265 and 40 acres.' The 

 river runs over a bed of red sand which was sometimes 

 used for building purposes.'" Below the church there 

 was a salmon fishery. The dam at Fishlocks, higher 

 up, was considered very injurious to the salmon. A 

 description of the boundary between Dinsdale and 

 Middleton St. George in 1594 gives some indication 

 of a change from tillage to pasture. The bounds 

 began at Countesworth and ran along the line of the 

 High Street towards Sadberge field side. On the west 

 or Dinsdale side of the road ' the ox-close lieth, as also 

 a parcel of ground lying towards Morton field betwixt 

 the ox-close and Sadberge field containing 40 acres, 

 and was about fifty-four years ago (i.e. I 540) in tillage 

 and about that time laid to pasture, with IVIiddleton 

 Moor adjoining to it on the east side of the said 

 highway, the tithes whereof belong to Dinsdale.' " 

 At Fighting Cocks there are iron works and wire is 

 made ; some reservoirs of the Tees \'alley Water 

 Board are formed there. 



The history of the parish has been uneventful. 

 The Protestation of 1 641 was signed here.'- John of 

 Darlington, a Dominican theologian who became 

 Archbishop of Dublin, is said to have been born in 

 Dinsdale. He died in I 284, having been archbishop 

 since 1 27 1." Francis Place, an amateur engr.iver 

 and painter of some note, was a younger son of 

 Roland Place of Dinsdale, and was probably born 

 in this parish in 1 647. He was articled to an attorney 

 in London, but being driven away by the Great Plague 

 of 1665, he renounced the law for art. He settled 

 at York, and was a friend of Ralph Thoresby and 

 other notable men of the time ; some of his engravings 

 were fi-r Thoresby's Ducatus LeoiHensis and Drake's 

 Eboracum. There is a collection of his works in the 

 British Museum. He died in 172S and was buried 

 in St. Olave's, York, being described as 'of Dinsdale' 

 on his tomb.'* 



The manor of DINSDJLE was co- 

 MJNORS extensive with the parish." It was held 

 of the lords of Barnard Castle by knight 

 service, forming with Coatham and Stodhoe one 

 knight's fee.''' The lords of Low Dinsdale occasion- 

 ally used the local surname, but more usually called 

 themselves Surtees (Super Tdsam). 



William son of Siward, who in I 166 held ' Gose- 

 ford ' (Gosforth, Northumberland) and Over Middle- 



' The fosse, &c., are noticed in y.C.H. 

 Dur. i, 357. 



'» Star Chanib. Proc. Hen. VIII, vol. v, 

 lol. 22. 



' Ptoc. Soc. Antiq. Newctstli, ix, 61. 



^ Ibid. 



* In 1823 Elisha Cocks was the owner 

 of Fighting Cocks Farm (Surtees, Hiii. 

 and Anrij. 0/ Dur. iii, 239 n.). 



* Surtees quotes Dr. Peacock's obser- 

 vations on the * New Sulphur Baths near 

 Dinsdale.' In 1S28 was published a 

 second edition of T. D. Walker's Analysii 

 of the Platers of Dinidale and Croft. 



* Fordyce, ///if. of co. Palai. of Dur. i, 



^ Surtees, op. cit. iii, 242. 



^ Statistics from Bd. of Agric. (190$). 



217 



"> Ibid. 

 230 n., citing 



' Lewis, Topog. Diet. 



" Surtees, op. cit. i 

 ' Liber Causar.' 



>» Hill. MSS. C,m. Ref. V, App. 125. 



" Fordyce, op. cit. i, 507 ; Diet. Nat. 

 Biog. 



" Dia. Nai. Biog. 



" Surtees, op. cit. iii, 230 n. 



" Cat. Inj.f.m. (Edw. II), T, 412. 



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