Stanwick St. John (St. John the Baptist)
STANWICK ST. JOHN (St. John the Baptist), a parish, in the union of Richmond, wapentake of Gilling-West, N. riding of York, 8½ miles (W. by S.) from Darlington; containing, with the townships of Aldborough, Caldwell, and East Layton, 907 inhabitants, of whom 37 are in the township of Stanwick. This parish, which extends nearly to the river Tees, comprises by computation 5800 acres of arable, meadow, and pasture land, interspersed with tracts of woodland and plantations. The surface is beautifully diversified, the soil generally fertile, and game of every kind is found in abundance. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £6. 13. 4.; net income, £58. 16.; patron, John Wharton, Esq. The church is a very ancient structure, covered with ivy, and contains some interesting monuments, among which are finely-executed marble statues of Sir Hugh and Lady Smithson, and, near the pulpit, a beautiful monument erected in 1838 to the memory of three daughters of the second Duke of Northumberland. A chapel was lately built at Caldwell, by the Countess of Bridgewater, by whom it was endowed. In the parish is an intrenchment inclosing an area of nearly 1000 acres, ascribed to the ancient Britons, to the Romans, and to the Scots; nothing of its history is distinctly known.
Transcribed from A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858.