Monk Hesleden, Durham Genealogy

England Durham

Parish History
Monk Hesleden is an ancient and extensive parish including  Hulam, Hutton Henry, Monk Hesleden, and Sheraton. In 1883 the ecclesiastical district of St. John's was formed from the parish, and includes Castle Eden. The Church, dedicated to St. Mary, is Norman.The tower wasbuilt in 1750, and contains two bells of pre-Reformation times, supposed to have been founded about the close of the fifteenth century. The vicarage near the church was built in 1860 and disclosed the foundations of what was believed to have been an old monastery with several valuable archaelogical finds.

St Mary Monk Hesleden can be dated as far back as the 13th century, though by the time it was photographed in the 19th century, it had been greatly altered, giving the impression, externally at least, of a much later structure, almost Georgian in style. For a long time, St. Marys' was the only local church, until the construction of St. James at Castle Eden, in the 1760s.

St. John's Church, situated at Castle Eden Colliery,was built in 1882 to serve the needs of the large mining village community.

HESLETON, MONK (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Easington, S. division of Easington ward, N. division of the county of Durham; containing, with the townships of Hulam, Hutton-Henry, and Sheraton, 935 inhabitants, of whom 490 are in the township of Monk-Hesleton, 2½ miles (E. by S.) from Castle-Eden. This parish, called also Hesleden, from its deep dene covered with hesles, is bounded on the east by the German Ocean; and the road from Stockton to Sunderland passes on the west. The township comprises about 2400 acres, of which 2000 are in equal portions of arable and pasture, and 400 wood on the slopes of the denes; the soil is of a clayey quality, and the land in its slope to the sea is much exposed to cold blasts. On the coast are some very romantic rocks, called "Black halls," scooped into deep caverns, and broken into isolated masses of rude and grotesque appearance. Limestone abounds, in some places of a quality suitable for building; and a pure magnesian limestone is quarried, and conveyed to the Tyne for chemical purposes. Coal is worked at Castle-Eden colliery, immediately adjoining the western boundary of the township, from which colliery the coal in Hesleton, which is of a superior description, will be worked. The Hartlepool railway passes for two miles through the township. The small village of High Hesleton is situated about half a mile to the north. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £7. 12. 6., and in the patronage of the Dean and Chapter of Durham, with a net income of £179. The great tithes of the township of Monk-Hesleton have been commuted for £165, and the small for £52: the vicar has a glebe of 5 acres. The church is modern.

From: 'Herringfleet - Heston', A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 491-497. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51027 Date accessed: 21 March 2011.

Civil Registration
Birth, marriages and deaths were kept by the government, from July 1837 to the present day. The civil registration article tells more about these records. There are several Internet sites with name lists or indexes. A popular site is FreeBMD.

Church records
To find the names of the neighbouring parishes, use England Jurisdictions 1851. In this site, search for the name of the parish, click on the location "pin", click Options and click List contiguous parishes.

Durham University Library Archives and Special Collections DDR/EA/PBT/2/181 1769-1840 Parish Register transcripts are available to search free online at FamilySearch Historical Records.

The dates of the post-1760 transcripts have been noted in detail and sometimes only cover years. For most parishes in the collection there are gaps in the sequence of transcripts. It is advisable to consult the original parish registers for these years and events.

The Parish Registers for the period 1578-1948 are deposited at Durham County Record Office, County Hall, Durham, DH1 5UL (EP/MH).

FamilySearch Historical Records includes England Durham Marriage Bonds and Allegations (FamilySearch Collection)

Census records
Contributor: Include an overview if there is any unique information, such as the census for X year was destroyed. Add a link to online sites for indexes and/or images. Also add a link to the Family History Library Catalog showing the film numbers in their collection.

Poor Law Unions
Easington Poor Law Union,Durham

Probate records
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. Go to Durham Probate Records to find the name of the court having primary jurisdiction. Scroll down in the article to the section Court Jurisdictions by Parish.

Maps and Gazetteers
Maps are a visual look at the locations in England. Gazetteers contain brief summaries about a place.


 * England Jurisdictions 1851
 * Vision of Britain

Web sites
Contributor: add any relevant sites that aren’t mentioned above.