Birtley, Northumberland

History, Topography, and Directory of Northumberland: Comprising a General Survey of the County, and a History of the Town and County of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, with Separate Historical, Statistical, and Descriptive Sketches of the Boroughs of Gateshead and Berwick-upon-Tweed, and All the Towns … Wards, and Manors. To which is Subjoined a List of the Seats of the Nobility and Gentry

by William Whellan & Co

Published 1855

Pages 794 and 795:

“BIRTLEY parochial chapelry was separated from the parish of Chollerton, in 1765, and received an independent jurisdiction. It includes the townships of Broomhope with Buteland, and anciently formed part of the barony of Prudhoe. It comprises an area of 6,720 acres, and the rateable value is £ 3,703 15s. Population in 1801, 490; in 1811, 505; in 1821, 480; in 1831, 447; in 1841, 472; and in 1851, 428 souls .

The north – east part of this chapelry is mountainous and sterile, but on the banks of the North Tyne, the soil is tolerably fertile. Both coal and lime are found here. It is principally the property of the Duke of Northumberland, Dunn, Esq., Mr. Davison, and Captain Haggartson. The Duke of Northumberland is lord of the manor.

THE VILLAGE of Birtley is irregularly built, and consists principally of thatched houses. It is situated eleven miles north by west of Hexham, and five and a half miles N.N.W, of Chollerton.

THE CHAPEL is a neat stone edifice, but very limited in its dimensions. The living, a perpetual curacy, in the archdeaconry of Northumberland and deanery of Bellingham, is rated in the parliamentary returns at £140; gross income, £100. Patron, the Duke of Northumberland; incumbent, the Rev. W. H. Wilson. The petty tithes are commuted for £128, payable to the vicar of Chollerton, the corn tithes amounting to about £ 80 per annum, are payable to R. W. Gray , Esq., owner of the Chipchase estate, and the chapel register commences in 1728.

THE NATIONAL SCHOOL, erected by subscription, in 1834, at a cost of £ 130, is a good stone building, situated in the centre of the village. In 1837, £5 per annum was granted to this school, by the trustees of Betton’s Charity, and in 1850, the Duke of Northumberland endowed it with the sum of £7 a year. For these two grants a number of poor children are educated without payment.

There is also a day-school here, which was established in 1814, and to which the Duke of Northumberland pays £3 per annum for the free education of five poor children of Birtley chapelry. It is conducted by Mr. Thomas Stokoe.

There is also another school which is respectably attended, and is under the superintendence of Miss Isabella Robson .

BIRTLEY HALL, the property of the Duke of Northumberland, and the
residence of Mrs. Frances Crowther, is a neat stone edifice, erected upon a portion of the site occupied by the Old Hall, part of whose ruins still remain.”