Benton, Long (St. Bartholomew)

BENTON, LONG (St. Bartholomew), a parish, in the union of Tynemouth, E. division of Castle ward, S. division of Northumberland, 3½ miles (N. E. by N.) from Newcastle-upon-Tyne; containing 8711 inhabitants, of whom 2451 are in the township of Long Benton. This parish is bounded on the south by the river Tyne, and intersected from east to west by the North Shields and Newcastle railway, and turnpike-road; it extends eight miles and a half from north to south, and at the widest point is about three in breadth. The whole comprises, with the townships of Weetsleet, Killingworth, Little Benton, and Walker, 8869a. 2r. 7p. The township of Long Benton, occupying about the middle of the parish, consists of 3301a. 35p., of which 85 acres are common or waste. On the banks of the river are various large manufactories, and staiths for shipping coal; and the district contains many extensive collieries, which are now nearly exhausted as respects coal for domestic purposes, though much remains applicable to steam-furnaces: in Weetsleet and Walker townships are some freestone-quarries. The village of Long Benton, consisting for the most part of one long street, is built upon a rock, in a pleasant and healthy situation. The living, a discharged vicarage valued in the king's books at £3. 1. 3., is in the gift of Balliol College, Oxford, in whose favour an impropriation was made, on the grant of Sir Philip Somervyle, in 1342. The corn and hay tithes have been commuted for about £1500, of which £687. 11. are derived from the township of Long Benton, and the vicarial tithes for £120, of which £52 are for the township; the glebe consists of about 80 acres. The church, which stands in a spacious burial-ground, a short distance north of the village, was rebuilt, with the exception of the chancel, in 1791. At Walker is a separate incumbency. There are several places of worship for dissenters. The Roman wall of Severus passed through the parish before its immediate termination at Wallsend: on the line of this wall was an ancient chapel, and another chapel is traditionally spoken of as having stood near Low Weetsleet; both have long since disappeared. Among the eminent persons connected with the place, may be named the celebrated Dr. Charles Hutton, and George Stephenson, the railway engineer, the former of whom, when a boy, worked in the pits at Long Benton colliery, and the latter was a brakesman at Killingworth colliery.