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An Account of Lesbury Parish, Northumberland. By 

 the late Geoege Tate, F.G.S., &c. 



[In the revision of this article, I have supplied some omissions, 

 several of them from the author's rough notes ; others by consult- 

 ing some of the original writers. My own additions are placed in 

 brackets. Mr. Tate has not given references ; but a few of these 

 are now affixed from his notes. In general, however, he depends 

 on the documentary volumes in Hodgson's " History of Northum- 

 berland," which are a sort of quarry to all future topographers ; 

 on some of the publications of the Surtees' Society ; or on his own 

 " History of Alnwick," to which the author intended this, and the 

 history of some other neighbouring parishes, to be a subsidiary 

 work. The Township of Alnmouth, in Lesbury parish, is reserved 

 for separate treatment, when there is opportunity. J. H.] 



Three miles east-south-east from Alnwick, the village of 

 Lesbury gives its name to the parish, and lies snugly shel- 

 tered in the lower portion of the vale of the Aln, which is 

 here about three miles wide, with gently sloping banks, 

 reaching in some parts 350 feet above the sea level. The 

 river, in pursuing its winding course to the sea, cuts the 

 parish into two nearly equal parts, — one on the south being 

 in the east division of Coquetdale. and the other on the 

 north, in the south division of Bamburgh Ward. 



The parish is bounded on the north by Longhoughton 

 parish, on the west by Alnwick and Shilbottle, on the south 

 by Warkworth, and on the east by the German Ocean. Its 

 form is an irregular square, about 3 miles long and broad. 

 The area is 4337 acres, 2 roods, and 17 perches, the most of 

 which is highly productive arable land, in a good state of 

 cultivation. Blessed with a climate mild and genial, the 

 fruits of the earth come to maturity in the lower parts of 

 the vale, at an earlier period than in most parts of the 

 county. 



Prehistoric Remains. These are not numerous, but one 

 group is of interest. In the year 1850, an ancient burial 

 place was discovered in Hawkhill farm, on the top of Shell 

 Law, which is 182 feet above the sea, and commands a view 

 of Alnmouth Bay, and up the vale of the Aln, with Cheviot 

 hills in the back-ground. There were six cist-vaens, or 

 stone coffins, formed of rude sandstone slabs set on edge, 

 and covered with a larger slab. They were of different sizes, 



