Whitworth

WHITWORTH, a parochial chapelry, partly in the union of Auckland, and partly in that of Durham, S. E. division of Darlington ward, S. division of the county of Durham; containing, with the township of Tudhoe, 617 inhabitants, of whom 290 are in Whitworth township, 4 miles (N. E. by N.) from Bishop-Auckland. According to the Boldon book, this manor was held by Thomas de Acley, by the service of a quarter of a knight's fee; it was afterwards possessed by the Whytworths and the Nevills, and subsequently by the Shafto family. The chapelry comprises about 3250 acres: the village is pleasantly situated about three-quarters of a mile south of the river Wear. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the Dean and Chapter of Durham, the appropriators; net income, £243. The incumbent's tithes have been commuted for £179, and the glebe consists of 24 acres. The chapel was originally subject to the vicarage of Merrington: in the cemetery, among other ancient memorials, are a monument of a knight in armour, and the effigies of two females.