STOCKTON WARD 



HURWORTH 



John Farmer, by will proved at Durham, 3 January 

 1 879, bequeathed j^ioo, the income to be divided 

 among the widows and orphans of fishermen. The 

 legacy, less duty, was invested in £10 North Eastern 

 Railway 4 per cent, stocic, producing £z 1 6/. yearly. 



The same testator bequeathed four sums of ;^ioo 

 each for investment at a rate of interest not less than 

 5 per cent., such interest to be applied in aid of the 

 funds connected with the lifeboats at Scaton, Hartle- 

 pool and West Hartlepool, and at Rcdcar in the North 

 Riding of the county of Yorlc. The sum of ^^360, 

 being the amount of the legacies, less duty, was paid 

 by the executors to the Royal Lifeboat Institution, in 

 respect of which a remittance of [^\ 10/. is remitted 

 yearly to each of the four branches for the benefit of 

 their lifeboat establishments. 



James Groves, by a codicil to his will proved at 

 Durham in 1882, bequeathed j^i5o, the income to 

 be distributed at Christmas among all the fishermen 

 who might at the time be natives of and residents in 

 Hartlepool, and not less than fifty years of age. The 

 charity came into operation on the death of the 

 testator's widow in 1 900, but owing to an insufficiency 

 of assets a sum of j^iaj 3/. 9a'. only was paid, which 

 was invested in ;£i38 8/. id. consols, producing 

 Li 9/. yearly. 



The sums of stock are held by the official trustees. 



The Seamen's Pension Fund, founded by Sir 

 Christopher Furness by deed 3 July I 895, is endowed 

 with j^i 3,000 5 per cent. War Stock in the name of 

 Viscount Furness and j^l 1,000 4 per cent. Funding 

 Stock in the names of Walter Furness and John 

 Thomas Furness, bringing in an income of ^^ 1,090 

 a year. Pensions of [^\o a year are payable to 



seamen resident in Hartlepool or West Hartlepool, ot 

 the age of filty years and upwards, who have served 

 as seamen for twenty-five years at least, and who at 

 some time during such period have served in vessels 

 trading or registered as belonging to those ports. 



Church Estate. — -The endowments known as the 

 Church property have from time immemorial been 

 leased for the benefit of the church of St. Hilda, the 

 earliest lease extant being dated 2; September 1706. 

 The trust property consists of a dwelling-house and 

 three houses in the High Street, a house and shop 

 on Church Bank, two houses in St. Mary Street, 

 and three cottages known as Fisher Row, and 

 j^6 1 3/. \\d. consols, the whole producing yearly 

 j^l28 or thereabouts, which is applied to the repair 

 of the fabric of the church. 



The Independent chapel, schoolroom and trust 

 property at Brougham Street are comprised in an 

 indenture of lease of 25 January 1844, declaration 

 of trust 15 February 1 844 and indenture of 

 conveyance 13 November 1S85. Trustees were 

 appointed by order of Charity Commissioners of 

 16 February 1923. 



St. John's Presbyterian Church of England trust 

 property is comprised in an indenture dated 6 Novem- 

 ber 1880. 



Matthew Henry Horsley, by his will proved 

 27 May 1925, gave j^l,ooo to the trustees of the 

 Northgate Wesleyan Chapel, the income to be 

 applied towards the maintenance of the Horsley 

 Memorial Institute at Hartlepool. The bequest was 

 invested in ^^ 1,684 o/. <^d. India 3 per cent, stock, 

 now with the official trustees, producing ^^50 \os. \d. 

 yearly. 



HURWORTH 



Hurdewurda (xii cent.). 



The parish of Hurworth lies on the north bank of 

 the winding Tees, and comprises the townships of 

 Hurworth on the west and Neasham on the east, 

 the former having an area of 2,438 acres and the 

 latter of 1,636, making 4,074 acres in all, of which 

 74 acres are inland water. It is bounded by 

 Darlington on the west, where the Skerne forms part 

 of the boundary, Haughton le Skerne on the north, 

 Dinsdale on the east, and Yorkshire on the south. 

 The surface is mostly over 100 ft. above the ordnance 

 datum, but there is a considerable expanse of lower 

 land in the centre, between the vill.iges of Hurworth 

 and Neasham, and through it Cree Beck and another 

 stream flow south to the Tees. This river makes 

 several sharp turns through the lower lands, though 

 its banks usually rise steeply from the river on one 

 side or the other, and are in many places clad with 

 trees. The village of Hurworth is pleasantly situated 

 on one of these steeper banks. It has the Grange on 

 higher ground to the west, Pilmore and Rockliffe in 

 the river bend to the south ; the Moor is in the 

 north. To the east the Tees turns sharply to the 

 south and north again, and then passes Nevvbus 



Grange and the site of Neasham Priory. Further 

 to the east it passes below the village of Neasham, 

 behind which the surface rises to 1 80 ft. above the 

 ordnance datum. The river again bends south, passing 

 the Hall and then east towards the Sockburn penin- 

 sula. In the north end of the township are houses 

 called Low Maidendale and Hunger Hill.' 



The old north road from Yorkshire over Croft 

 Bridge towards Darlington passes through the west end 

 of the township. The bridge wa» built on the site of 

 an older one '•• in 1673, and h.is seven arches, of which 

 two are within Durham. ■^ A village called Hurworth 

 Place sprang up by the bridge about the time of the 

 making of the railway in 1829.' From the bridge 

 a road goes eastward through both the villages on to 

 Dinsdale, with a branch south-east to Sockburn. 

 The main line of the London & North Eastern 

 railw.iy runs north through the west side of the 

 parish ; it crosses the Tecs about half a mile below 

 Croft by a bridge made in 1840, and has a station 

 called Croft Spa close to the public bridge ; the 

 old railway from Darlington to the same place runs 

 alongside to the west. At the east end of Hurworth 

 village there is another bridge across the Tees, and 



' A close called Hunger Hill was held 

 by James Lawson in 1631 (Uur. Rcc. 

 d. 3, hie 186, no. 31). 



^ii This was in 1531 called * the most 

 direct and sure way * to the north (Surtces, 

 Hiit.anJ AntipofCo. Pulat. o/"/)ur.iii,4.o8). 



' Fordyce, Hiir. anJ Antip of Co. 

 Palat. of Dur. i, 503. The blue boundary 

 •tone is on the pier of the third arch from 

 the Durham side and is inscribed dun. 



CONTRIBVAT NORTH RIO. COM. IBOR. ET 



285 



COM. DL'NEL. STATU APUD SESS, VTHQC GIN. 



PAC. AN. DO. 1673 (Longstaflfc, Hist, of 

 Darlington, 41). 



' Fordyce, op. cit. It is often regarded 

 ai part of Crotc. 



