WHICKHAM, a parish in the western division of
CHESTER ward, county palatine of DURHAM, comprising
the townships of Fellside,Lowside, Swalwell, and Whickham,
and containing 3713 inhabitants, of which number,
788 are in the township of Whickham.S miles(W.S,W.)
from Gateshead. The living is a rectory, in the archdeaconry
and diocese of Durham, rated in the king's
books at £20. 8. 11., and in the patronage of the
Bishop of Durham. The church, dedicated to St. Mary,
and the village, which is a genteel place, are pleasantly
situated on an eminence. There are extensive coal
mines in the parish; also a bed of calcined earth, produced
by the English having set fire to their camp, when
pressed by the Scottish army under Leslie, which communicated
with a seam of coal that burnt with great
fury for some years. A charity school was erected,
about 1711, by Robert Thomlinson, D.D., then rector
of the parish; it is supported by various bequests subsequently
made by him and others, and from the rental
of certain galleries and pews constructed in the church
at the founder's expense; the building was enlarged in
1825, by Archdeacon Bouyer. Ten pounds per annum,
and a house and school-room, are also allowed by the
Earl of Strathmore to a schoolmaster at Fellside, See
SWALWELL.