BOTHALL, a parish in the eastern division of MORPETH
ward, county of NORTHUMBERLAND, 3 miles (B.)
from Morpeth, comprising the townships of Ashington
with Sheepwash, Bothall - Deme ne, Longhurst, Old
Moor, and Pegsworth, and containing 658 inhabitants.
The living is a rectory, with that of Sheepwash and
the perpetual curacy of Hebburn annexed, in the archdeaconry
of Northumberland, and diocese of Durham,
rated in the king's books at £25, and in the patronage
of the Duke of Portland. The church, dedicated to
St. Andrew, contains a fine alabaster tomb, representing
some member of the family of Ogle, and his lady, in
a recumbent position, and at the head four ecclesiastics
in niches decorated with tabernacle work. The
ancient parochial church stood at Sheepwash, where
the parsonage-house now is. Between the village and
the river Wansbeck, which bounds the parish on the
south, are the ruins of an oratory, dedicated to the
Virgin Mary. A school-room, with a house for the
master, was built in 1817, by the Duke of Portland, who
allows the master £10 per annum, in addition to the
interest of £ 80 left by the Rev. Mr. Stafford, in 1716.
There is also a school at Causey Park, built and endowed
with £15 a year, by one of the Ogle family, in 1740.
Coal abounds within the parish. Bothall was made a
barony by Richard I., and was some time in the possession
of the family of Bertram, but passed by marriage
to Sir Robert Ogle, who bequeathed his paternal
estate to his son Robert, and the barony of Bothall to
his youngest son John; but the former, with a force of
two hundred men, obtained possession of Bothall, from
which, however, he was ejected by the parliament:
having subsequently distinguished himself in the cause
of the house of York, he was created baron of Bothall,
and first Lord Ogle, of Ogle. The barony is now the
property of the Duke of Portland, who holds a court
leet and baron for it. The castle, which was situated
near the precipice of a rock, at the foot of which flows
the river Wansbeck, is in ruins, a large tower gateway,
and fragments of the outer walls, being the only parts
that remain.