Durham AYCLIFFE PARISH

AYCLIFFE PARISH.

page 213

AYCLIFFE (GREAT) is a considerable village in the township and parish to which it gives name, pleasantly situated on the great north road, and on the west hank of the Skerne; 5 miles N. of Darlington. About 100 of the inhabitants are employed in weaving linen for the Darlington manufacturers; and on the east side of the village a paper mill and a corn mill are put in motion by the streams of the Skerne, which frequently overflow their low banks, and inundate the adjoining meadows. The parish, which in old records is variously written, Aclif, Aicliffe, Accliffe, and Aykley, contains four townships, of which the following forms an enumeration, with the returns of the number of inhabitants in 1801, 1811, and 1821, and the estimated annual value of the lands, messuages, and buildings, according to an assessment for the county rate made in 1823:-

page 214

Great Aycliffe together with School Aycliffe, in the adjoining parish of Heighington, as has been seen at page 82, formed part of the ancient possessions of the Diocese of Durham, which Bishop Aldune resigned to the Earls of Northumberland; but Bishop Flambard received a confirmatory  grant of "Aycliffe from the crown, specifying that it was one of the places the people of Northumberland had injuriously claimed against St. Cuthbert and the See." In 1379, 1388, and 1484, the convent of Durham were licensed by Bishops Hatfield, Fordham, and Dudley, to acquire lands in this parish, in consequence of which the Dean and Chapter are now proprietors of nearly all the land in Great Aycliffe, which they let on 21 years leases, renewable every seven years. The Church is an ancient edifice, dedicated to St. Andrew. It is a peculiar, belonging to the Dean and Chapter, being granted to the convent of Durham, by Bishop Carilepho, together with the tithes belonging to it, consequently they are the patrons of the benefice, which was formerly a rectory, but is now a vicarage, valued in the King's books at £20, and by Hutchinson at £120. The Rev. Patrick George, one of the minor Canons of Durham Cathedral, is the present Vicar. There was anciently a Guild in this church, dedicated to St. Mary, the Virgin, and endowed with a house, two cottages, “and nine acres of land in Acley," from which “George 'l'owers, the last incumbent, had a pension of £2 13s. 4d. per annum, which he received in 1553.* The village enjoys the benefit of a Free School, which is supported by voluntary contributions, and a yearly donation of £10 from the Diocesan Society. :
BRAFFERTON is a village and township, 4½ miles N. of Darlington.
A Methodist chapel was built here about 14 years ago, and in 1823, a school-room was erected by subscription, and endowed with £12 a year by the Diocesan Society. The manor of Ketton, in this township was granted to the Convent of Durham, by Bishop Carilepho, and is now held under a lease of the Dean and Chapter, by the Rev. Sir Charles Hardinge. The families of Chauncellor, Brafferton, Bateman, Horton, Foster, Eure, and Danby had formerly possessions in this township.
NUNSTENTON, a hamlet in Woodham township; 3 miles W. of Sedgefield.
PRESTON LE SKERNE, a village and township; 6 miles N. by E. of Darlington, where the De la Poles, Earls of Suffolk, had formerly lands with free warren.
RICKNALL GRANGE, a hamlet in Woodham township; 6~ miles N. of Darlington.
TRAVELLERS REST, a hamlet on the great north road, in the townships of Great Aycliffe and "'Woodham ; G miles N. of Darlington.
WOODHAM, a village and township; B miles N. of Darlington, was anciently called Wuddell-turn, and was resigned by Bishop Aldune to the Earls of Northumberland; but subsequently restored to the See; and granted to the Convent of Durham.
* WilIlis’s History of Abbeys.                                    

page 215