BLANCHLAND (HIGH), a chapelry in the parish
of SHOTLEY, eastern division of TINDALE ward, county
of NORTHUMBERLAND, 10 miles (S. by E.) from
Hexham, containing 412 inhabitants. The living is
a perpetual curacy, in the archdeaconry of Northumberland,
and diocese of Durham, endowed with £400
private.benefaction, £600 royal bounty, and £300 parliamentary
grant, and in the patronage of Lord Crewe's
Trustees. The chapel was formed, in 1752, by the trustees
of Bishop Crewe, out of the tower of an abbey of
Premonstratensian canons, founded by Walter de Bolbee,
in 1175, in honour of the Blessed Virgin, the abbot
of which was elevated to the house of peers in the 23rd
of Edward I.: the establishment, at the time of. the
dissolution, consisted of an abbot and fourteen canons,
and the revenue amounted to £44. 9.1. After having
passed through various hands, the estate was purchased
by Bishop Crewe, who bequeathed it for charitable
purposes: besides that part converted into a
chapel, the principal gateway and other portions of the
conventual buildings are still visible. The trustees also
endowed a free school with £50 per annum, allowing
the master to charge a small quarterage in addition.
This township is situated on the north side of the
river Derwent, and is celebrated for its lead mines,
which have been extensively worked for a very long
period: the company of proprietors have a large
smelting-furnace at Shildon.