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Heathery Cleugh

"Heathery Cleugh was formed a chapelry in 1825, in Forest Quarter, and in 1866 it was constituted a separate parish, forming the north-western boundary of the old parish of Stanhope, and adjoins the parish of Alston in Cumberland. It is bounded on the north by a portion of the county of Northumberland, on the west by Cumberland, on the south by Forest and Frith in Teesdale, on the east by St. John's Chapel, and on the north-west by Rookhope. This parish comprises the villages of Cowshill, Burtree Ford, and Wearhead, and the hamlets of Killhope, Lane Head, Burnhope, and Wellhope, with a population in 1891 of 1139.

"There is really no village of Heathery Cleugh, though there are a few cottages near the church. Cowshill is a village about half a mile from the church, and three miles west-north-west from St. John's Chapel, and is a posting-station for the coach which runs from Stanhope, the nearest railway station. Burtree Ford is another village adjoining Cowshill. Wearhead Village stands on the north bank of the Wear, at the confluence of the Killhope and Burnhope Water. It is two miles from St. John's Chapel, and is entered by an iron bridge erected in 1892. Here are chapels belonging to the Wesleyans and Primitives, several shops, and a post office. Lane Head is a hamlet half a mile west from the church, containing a Primitive and a Wesleyan chapel. The inhabitants of this district, which is wild and little cultivated, are principally engaged in the mines, making a livelihood by having a few acres of fell land upon which they graze a cow or a few sheep."

[From History, Topography and Directory of Durham, Whellan , London, 1894]

Church History

"The Church is a very plain building of stone, on the south, and a little way from the turnpike road. It was first built as a chapel-of-ease in 1823. In 1883 extensive alterations were effected at a cost of £600, and in 1888 it was lined throughout with fire brick, the expense of both being defrayed by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. The church will seat 400. The burial-ground is not used, as a cemetery has been opened in the parish. The vicarage adjoins the churchyard on the south."

[From History, Topography and Directory of Durham, Whellan , London, 1894]

Church Records

The Parish Registers for the period 1824-1907 are deposited at Durham County Record Office, County Hall, Durham, DH1 5UL (EP/Hea).

Marriage indexes for 1828-1837 (5 kbytes) from the George Bell Collection of Durham and Northumberland Indexes.

The Marriages (1828-1837) are included in the Joiner Marriage Index.

Index to the Burials 1824-1837.

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