A HISTORY OF DURHAM 



when it contributed 3 marks to an aid in 1199.'' 

 The value of the benefice was taxed at £^0 a year 

 in 1291,"* but by 1318 this had been reduced 

 to j^20 15/." In 1535 the annual value was 

 ^29, out of which 3^. was paid to the arch- 

 deacon ; -" the receipts included 5/. from Middieton 

 St. George.-' 



In 1386 a chamber on the west of the rectory 

 house near the churchyard gate was confirmed to 

 John de EgglesclifFe, chaplain, for life." 



The proceedings at the court of the rectorial manor 

 are among the parish records.^*^ 



There was no endowed chantry at the parish church, 

 but chapels existed at Aislaby and Newsham. William 

 de Aislaby in 131 3 gave 3 oxgangs of land in alms 

 for a priest in St. Thomas the Martyr's chapel at 

 Aislaby," and in 1342 John de Aislaby presented 

 to the chantry then vacant.-* The advowson of the 

 chapel of Newsham was among the possessions of John 

 de Baliiol in 1294,-' and several presentations to it are 

 recorded.'-'' The advowson is mentioned in 1397.-' 

 In the 15th century Bishop Langley sequestered the 



chapel of St. James until the chaplain had paid the 

 arrears of a pension of 3/. due to the rector of Eggles- 

 clifFe.-*" The later history of these chapels is unknown, 

 but three messuages and 3 oxgangs of land in Aislaby 

 belonging to St. Thomas the Martyr's chapel there 

 were leased by the Crown in 1597 to Christopher 

 Sherwood and were sold by the Crown in 1605 to 

 Sir Henry Lindley and John Starkey.-' One acre of 

 land called Lampland was given to the church of 

 EgglesclifFe for the maintenance of a lamp.'" 



The charity of William Hall, 

 CHARITIES founded by deed, 1660, consists of a 

 rent-charge of £6 yearly issuing out 

 of land at Yarm in Yorkshire. The annuity is dis- 

 tributed equally among five poor widows. 



Ann French, by her will proved at Durham in 

 1836, bequeathed ^^loo, the income to be divided at 

 Christmas among the poor. The legacy is represented 

 by £io() 2s. lod. consols with the official trustees. 

 The annual dividends, amounting to £z 14;. ^d., are 

 distributed to the poor in sums of 5/. 



For the National School see article on schools. '' 



ELTON 



Eligtune (c. I 180) Elleton (c. 1200). 



The compact parish of Elton, consisting of a single 

 township, lies to the west of Stockton ; it has Long 

 Newton to the south and west, Redmarshall and 

 Norton to the North. The southern boundary is 

 formed by Coatham Beck, flowing east to the Tees ; 

 beside it is the lowest land in the parish, about 50 ft. 

 above sea level, but the surficc gradually rises towards 

 the north-west till l 70 feet is attained at the junction 

 with Redmarshall. The area is 1,444 *cres. 



The principal road is that going west from Stockton 

 to D.irlington. On it are situated the few houses of the 

 village with the church and inn. The hall and Spring 

 House lie to the south, V'iewley Hill to the west, 

 Sandy Leas nearer the centre, and Elton Moor in the 

 north. There are several plantations. 



The soil is clay. The parish contained 345 acres of 

 arable, 906 of permanent grass, and 1 44 of woods and 

 plantations.' Wheat and oats are grown. Stone 

 quarries were formerly worked. 



The history of Elton has been without much 

 notable incident. In the story of St. Godric, a leprous 

 woman from ' Hailtune ' near Darlington is said to 

 have been cured at his intercession ; Norman the 

 priest of the vill took her to the hospital at ' Badela ' 

 and afterwards showed her, cured, to his parishioners.- 



To the Northern Rising of 1 569 the parish con- 

 tributed four men, of whom one was executed.' 



The Protestation of 1 641 was signed here.'' 



Bishop Aldhun (990-1018) gave 

 MANOR ELTON among other lands with his 

 daughter Ecgfrida to Uchtred son of the 

 Earl of Northumbria. It was restored by her to the 

 bishopric when she became a nun.''' After the Conquest 

 Elton is found among the possessions of the Brus 

 family, apparently held of Hartness.'' On the for- 

 feiture of Robert de Brus in i 306 the overlordship 

 must have been granted to Robert de Clifford as an 

 appurtenance of the manor of Hart (q.v.).' Elton is 

 subsequently said to be held of the Clifford family.** 



About 1 1 84 Robert de Brus confirmed Elton to 

 William son of Silvester de Humez, stating that his 

 father had granted it to Peter Werenge, ancestor of 

 the said Silvester ; it was to be held by the service of 

 a fourth part of a knight's fee."" The wardship was 

 given to Peter de Humez till William should become 

 a knight ; if he should die without issue the land was 

 to go to Robert de Humez and Peter de Humez.' 

 William de Humez was in possession of the advowson 

 in the time of Bishop Philip de Poitou (i 1 97-1 208).'" 

 His heir is not known. Sir Henry de Ewe from 

 Elton is included in the list of the bishop's knights 



" Fife R. of Dur. (Soc. Antiq. New- 

 castle-on-Tvnc), loi. 



'« Pope Aid. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 7,1 i. 



19 Ibid. 330. 



»o rahr Eccl. (Rec. Com.), v, 318. 



=' Ibid. 317. 



'- Dur. Rec. cl. 3, R. 32, m. 8 d. 



"a Inform, from Rev. A. T. Dingle, 

 rector. 



" Reg. Palat. Dunelm. (Rolls Ser.), ii, 

 1238-40. 



" Ibid, iii, 513. " Ibid, ii, 798-9. 



»« Ca/. Pat. 1 31 3-17, p. 479! '3'7- 

 21, pp. 326, 377, 379 ; 1324-7. P- ■4- 



'' Inq. p.m. of Thomaa Earl of War- 

 wick, 21 Ric. II, no. 137, m. 9. 



" Surtces, op. cit. iii, 208, citing Reg. 

 Langley, 83. 



" Aug. Off. Partic. for Leases, file 36, 

 no. 14 ; Pat. 3 Jas. I, pt. x. In I 597 the 

 surveyor reported that no rent had hereto- 

 fore been paid, but he had seen an ancient 

 deed showing that the tenements had been 

 held by the chaplains of Aislaby for two 

 hundred years. 



'" Aug. Off. Partic. for Leases, file 34, 

 no. 59 ; Dur. Rec. cl. 3, R. 94, m. 38 d. 



31 y.C.H. Dur. i, 406. 



' Statistics from Bd. of Agric. (1905). 



» Fiia S. Godrki (Surt. Soc), 455. The 

 identification of the place does not seem 

 to be certain. 



232 



3 Sharp, Mem. of Rehelliony 251. 



' Hhi. MSS. Com. Rep. v, App. 12;. 



^Simeon of Dur. (Rolls Ser.), i, 215, 



2'7- 



''Cotton Chart, xviii, 50; Guiiboro^ 

 Chartul. (Surt. Soc), ii, 1339 \ Cal. Inj, 

 p.m. (Edw. Ill), viii, 381. 



^ Cal. Pat. I 301-7, p. 436. 



'Ibid. 1345-48, p. 214; Dur. Rec. 

 cl. 3, no. 3, fol. 12, 36. 



'■a Pipe R. 1 1 Hen. II (Pipe R. Soc), 49. 



9 Cotton Chart, xviii, 50. Peter's name 

 occurs in the Liber Vitae of Durham Priory 

 (Surt. Soc), 16. 



'» Boldon Bk. (Surt. Soc), App. xvi. 

 See under advowson. 



