BELLINGHAM, a parish in the north-western division
of TINDALE ward, county of NORTHUMBERLAND,
comprising the market-town of Bellingham, and the
townships of East Charlton, West Charlton, Leemailing,
the Nook, and Tarretburn, and containing 1396
inhabitants, of which number, 404 are in the town of
Bellingham, 30 miles (W. N. W.) from Newcastle upon
Tyne, and 298 (N.N.W.) from London. This place,
from the remains of several camps apparently of Roman
origin, is supposed to have been occupied by that people;
but little of its early history is recorded, though the
neighbourhood abounds with circular intrenchments,
and the remains of British fortifications. The lords de>
Bellingham are said to have had a castle, or baronial
seat, here, erected on an eminence still called Hall Field.
In the reigns of Richard II. and Henry IV., the manor;
and castle were in the possession of Richard de Bellingham;
the estate afterwards became the property of the
Earl of Derwentwater, upon whose attainder it was
given to the Governors of Greenwich Hospital. The
town is pleasantly situated on the northern bank of the
North Tyne, between that river and a stream called
Hareshaw-burn, over which, near the eastern extremity
of the town, a good stone bridge was erected in 1826.
The rocks, on each side of the burn, rise precipitously
to the height of one hundred feet, and the water at
Hareshaw-linn has a perpendicular fall of thirty feet-
In the parish there are from seven to eight thousand
acres of moor-land, abounding with grouse and other
game. A book club was established in the town in
1809. The market is on Saturday: a fair is held on
the first Saturday after September 15th, and there are
statute fairs on the Saturdays before May 12th and
November 12th. This parish was formerly part of the
extensive parish of Simonburn, which was divided into
six distinct parishes by act of parliament obtained in
1811". The living is a rectory not in charge, in the
archdeaconry of Northumberland, and diocese of Durham,
and in the patronage of the Governors of Greenwich
Hospital. The church, dedicated to St. Cuthbert,
is a small ancient structure, with a finely groined roof
of stone; the chancel contains many mural tablets and
monuments: the churchyard, occupying an elevated situation,
forms a beautiful terrace overlooking the-river.
There is a place of worship for Seceders from the Scottish
church, besides a Roman Catholic chapel. A
school was endowed here with £200, by Mrs. Reed of
Troughead, with which sum, and a legacy of £40 left
by Mr. John Charlton, in 1732, the third part of a farm
was purchased, which would have now produced £50
per annum, but the Reeds of Chipchase having purchased
the whole estate, sold it without any reserve, and
the trustees having lost their deeds, the school has been
deprived of the endowment.