HOUGHTON-le-SPRING, a parish in the northern
division of EASINGTON ward, county palatine of DURHAM,
comprising the market-town of Houghton le Spring,
the chape] ries of Painshaw and West Rainton, and the
townships of South Bidick, Bourn-Moor, Cocken, Great
Eppleton, Little Eppleton, East and Middle Herrington,
West Herrington, Hetton le Hole, Moorhouse, MJoorsley,
Morton-Grange, Newbottle, Offerton, East Ratntpn
and Warden-Law, and containing 12,550 inhabitants
of which number. 2905 are in the market-town of
Houghton le Spring, 6 miles (N.E.) from Durham,
and 266 (N.N.W.);from London. This, place, which,
according to some antiquaries, takes the adjunct to its
name -from a family who resided here after the Norman
Conquest, and according to others, from the chalybeate
springs in the parish, is pleasantly situated at the head
of a rich and fertile, vale, which expands towards the
west, and is sheltered by a range of hills to the north
and east. The town has been rapidly improving within
the last twenty years, and contains several large and
handsome houses. A mechanics institution was established
in 1825. The trade of this place arises chiefly
from its numerous mines, producing the finer sorts of
coal, which command the highest prices in the London
market: these, are conveyed from the mines by railroads
to the river Wear, which flows within four miles
of the town, and forms the northern boundary of the
parish, and thence by keels or barges to Sunderland.
The adjoining district, which is rich in mineral produce,
contains extensive quarries of limestone and freestone,
in which many of the inhabitants of the surrounding
villages find employment. The market, established in
1825,. is on Friday, but, from its proximity to those of
Durham and Sunderland, it is not well attended. A fair,
or wake, on the festival of the saint to whom the church
is dedicated, commences on the Sunday after New Michaelmas
day, and continues for three or four days,
during which, races and other amusements take place
in the town and the several villages in the parish. The
county magistrates hold a petty session for the division
every alternate Thursday, at the White Lion Inn, and
the seneschal, or deputy of the Bishop of Durham,
the lord of the manor, holds a halmote court for petty
cases of assault, and suits for the recovery of debts
under 40s.
The living is a rectory, in the archdeaconry and diocese
of Durham, rated in the king's books at £ J.24, and
in the patronage of the Bishop of Durham. The church,
dedicated to St. Michael, is a spacious cruciform structure,
in the early and decorated styles of English architecture,
with a tower rising from the intersection; the interior
contains several ancient monuments, among which
is one to the memory of the Rev, Bernard Gilpin, many
years rector of the parish, who, during the reigns of
Mary and Elizabeth, was styled the Apostle of the North,
and was equally distinguished for his great learning and
benevolence. Thexe are places of worship for Baptists
Independents, and Wesleyan Methodists,. The free grammar
school was founded in 1574, bythe Rev. Bernard
Gilpin, and John Heath, of Kepyer, Esq., who jointly enr
dowed it with lands and tenements; the endowment
has been augmented by subsequent benefactions, but there
are at present no scholars on the foundation. Hugh
Broughton, an eminent Hebrew scholar, and Dr. George
Carleton, Bishop of Chichester, and biographer of. Gilpm,
received the rudiments of their education in this school,
under the superintendence of the founder, who also erected
an almshouse for the maintenance of the poor scholars
and for three aged men or women. This hospital, which
was rebuilt and endowed by George Lilburne, Esq., and
the Rev.. George Davenport, rector of the parish, consists
of a centre and two wings. The Blue-coat school for
girls was founded by Sir George Wheeler, Knt., who be-
queathed £600 for that purpose, which has been since
invested in land; the building was enlarged for an additional
number of girls in 1803; there are at present
forty instructed, twelve of whom are also clothed. On
the south side of the town is a field, called -Kirk Ley,
where some religious establishment formerly existed, of
which there are no distinct records. Several coins,
carved stones, and other vestiges of antiquity, have
been discovered here; and a few years since a large oak,
more than sixty feet in length, and a cart load of nuts,
were dug up at Warden-Law hill; and several human
skeletons and bones, together with the horns of deer,
were found near thetowriship of Newbottle. Dr. Samuel
Ward, an eminent divine, and master of Sydney Sussex
College, Cambridge,who died in 1643, was born in this
parish.