Byers Green - 1910

Byers Green, a considerable village and township, which, together with the township and village of Newfield, the hamlet of Todd Hills and part of the township of Binchester, constitutes the ecclesiastical parish of Byers green; it is 3 miles north-by-east from Bishop Auckland, in the Bishop Auckland division of the county, ward of Darlington, petty sessional division, union and county court district of Bishop Auckland, rural deanery and archdeaconry of Auckland and diocese of Durham. Byers Green was formerly much isolated from the surrounding neighbourhood in consequence of the absence of a bridge over the Wear, which forms the boundary of the township for a considerable distance: this has now been remedied by the errection of the Queen Victoria Jubilee Bridge, opened for traffic by the Lord Bishop of Durham, 3 December 1887. In June, 1878, a branch of the North Eastern Railway to Spennymoor and Ferry Hill was opened for passenger traffic, which, in 1885, was extended to Bishop Auckland, passing a mile from the southern end of the village, with a station at Old Park. The Church of St. Peter, consecrated July 10th. , 1845, is a plain building of stone, in Early English style, consisting of chancel, nave, vestry, porch and western bellcote containing one bell: all principal windows are stained, and there is some good painting and carving: the church was restored during the period 1873-90, at a cost of five hundred pounds, and affords 300 sittings. The register dates from the year 1845. The living is a rectory, net yearly value three hundred and sixteen pounds, including 8 acres of glebe, with residence in the gift of the Bishop of Durham, and held since 1902 by the Reverend Francis Edwin Loxley M.A. of Queen’s College, Oxford. There are Wesleyan Methodist and primitive methodist Chapels and a Parish Council hall. Near the centre of the village is the house in which Thomas wright, a famous mathematician of the last century, resided: it was built by him, and the “Gentleman’s Magazine” for March, 1793, contains a full description of the mansion. In various places near Byers green the remains of old paved roads have from time to time been discovered, at a certain depth below the present surface of the ground. The population of the village is about 2,000, mostly employed in mining and agriculture. The minerals are the property of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, who are also considerable landowners in the township. The mines are leased to Messrs. Bolckow, & Vaughan & Co. The area of Byers green township is 1,052 acres of land and 18 of water; rateable value six thousand two hundred and twenty six pounds, the population in 1901 was 2,333 in the township and 3,405 in the ecclesiastical parish. Sexton, Joseph Craddock Post, M.O. & T. Office - James H. Bertram, sub-postmaster. Letters arrive from Spennymoor at 7 .50 a.m. & 6 p.m.; dispatched at 7 .50 a.m. & 4 .50, 5 .50 & 8 .10 p.m.; no delivery on Sundays Newfield, a village and township, in the parish of Byers Green, 3 miles north-by-west of Bishop Auckland, is inhabited almost entirely by miners. St Andrew’s Church here is an iron structure, erected in 1901, with sittings for 200 people, and is served by the clergy of Byers Green. In 1901 a new churchyard was formed on land given by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. The Primitive Methodist Chapel here was erected in 1868. There is also a United methodist Chapel. The Parochial hall and Institute, built in 1907 at a cost of nine hundred pounds, on a site given by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, contains billiard, games and reading rooms. It is also used as a Sunday School. Here is a Small pox Hospital belonging to the Auckland, Shildon & Willington Joint Hospital Board. There are a very large number of coke ovens, also a manufactory for fire bricks. The principal landowners are the Ecclesiastical Commissioners and Messrs. Bolckow, Vaughan & Co.; the latter are also the lesees of the mines. Near the centre of the village is the old manor house, now divided into two residences. Two railway bridges connect the village with the opposite bank of the Wear, and give access to the railway stations at Willington and Hunwick; the eastern bridge is in a dilapidated condition, and has been closed to the public, but there is now a foot bridge here. The area is 195 acres of land and 9 of water; rateable value, two thousand eight hundred and eighty eight pounds; the population in 1901 was 1,043. Parish Clerk, James Wilson Sexton, William Robinson Post & M.O. Office, Newfield - Miss Mary Pearson, sub-postmistress. Letters arrive from Willington, co. Durham, at 7 .50a.m. & 4 .20 p.m.; dispatched at 9 .25 a,m, & 5 .25 p.m.; no Sunday delivery. The nearest Telegraph Office is at Byers Green. Wall Letter Boxes - Byers Green, cleared at 4 .30 & 8 p.m.; Todd Hills cleared at 9 a.m. & 5.15 p.m.; no collections on Sundays. Church of England Schools Byers Green (mixed & infants), built in 1843, rebuilt in 1854 & enlarged in 1891, 1892 & 1897, will now hold 506 children, average attendance, 441; Thomas Orton, master; Mrs. M. Chisholm, mistress. Newfield (mixed), built in 1842, & enlarged in 1879 & 1889, for 332 children; average attendance, 286; Mathew H. Watkin, master Railway Station, Byers Green, William Gawthorpe, Station Master Binchester, a township containing a few scattered farm houses, mostly in the parish of Byers green, but partly also in that of Auckland St. Andrew, and situated 1 mile north of Bishop Auckland, is chiefly remarkable for the remains of the famous Roman City , or station, Vinovium, situated on a lofty eminence overlooking the Wear, and extensively explored in 1878-79 through the public spirit and munificence of John Proud esq. Of Bishop Auckland. Portions of the ramparts, about 8 feet 6 inches in thickness, were laid bare, and exhibited perfect courses of massive chamfered facing stones, built upon a substratum of loose water-worn stones collected from the bed of the Wear: at one point a finely built culvert was met with piercing the rampart, and the main street of the city, traversing it from north to south, together with the fronts of the buildings lining its western side, were also uncovered. Among the antiquities brought to light in the course of the excavation was a very curious vase, found at the bottom of a well, another containing coins and an engraved gem; altogether about 127 coins were dug out, ranging from Claudius A.D. 41-54 to Gratian A.D. 375-383. On the eastern side of the main street were discovered the remains of the public baths, some of the fittings were remarkably perfect. In a more central part of the station is a very perfect hypocaust, the tiles of which, and a brick bear the stamped lettering “N CON”; some pottery, bearing the workmen’s names, querns, mortaria, human and other bones, fibulae and iron implements were also exhumed. The whole collection of antiquities has been presented to the University of Durham. The site of the Roman Station and the surrounding land is the property of the Bishop of Durham and the Ecclesiastical Commissioners are large landowners in this township. The latest discovery was made in 1891, when workmen employed by Messrs. Bolckow, & Vaughan to lay waterpipes from the main of the Weardale & Shildon Water Company to Binchester hall through the meadow to the south of the roamn station came upon a very large and perfect Roman altar witha singular inscription. The altar was for about two years after its discovery in the garden of John Edward Newby esq., at Binchester Hall. It is now , temporarily, in the Museum of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, at the Black Gate in that city. The township contains also the romantic wood of Bellburn, abounding in spots of lovely scenery. The area of Binchester township is 582 acres of land and 14 of water; rateable value, one thousand one hundred and sixty five pounds; the population in 1901 was 54.

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