CRAIKE, a parish in the south-western division
of STOCKTON ward, county palatine of DURHAM, though
locally in the wapentake of BULMER, North riding of the
county of York, 3 miles (E. by N.) from Easingwould,
containing 538 inhabitants. The living is a rectory, in
the peculiar jurisdiction of the Dean and Chapter of
Durham, rated in the king's books at £10, and in the
patronage of the Bishop of Durham. The church is
dedicated to St. Cuthbert. There is a place of worship
for Wesleyan Methodists. A school is supported by charitable
donations amounting to about £4. 10. per annum.
Egfrid, King of Northumberland, in 685, gave this place,
with land extending three miles round it, to St. Cuthbert,
the founder of a monastery here, every vestige of which
has for ages been removed. There are remains of a
rastle of remote and uncertain date, converted into a
farm-house.