Place:Brancepeth, Durham, England

source: Family History Library Catalog

the text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia

Brancepeth is a village and civil parish in County Durham, England. It is situated about 8 km (5.0 mi) from Durham on the A690 road between Durham and Weardale. The population of the civil parish taken at the 2011 UK census was 414.

Brancepeth Castle was until 1570 the fortress of the Neville Earls of Westmorland. The castle was extensively modified and rebuilt in the 19th century by Viscount Boyne (later Baron Brancepeth). It was later a military hospital.

Brancepeth was an ancient parish in the Darlington Ward of County Durham until 1829 and after 1829 in the Durham Ward. It was made a civil parish in the 19th century and became part of the Durham Rural District from 1894 until 1974. Between 1974 and 2009 it became part of the larger City of Durham non-metropolitan district. Since 2009 County Durham has been a unitary authority.

Townships in Parish

• Brandon and Byshottles, a township
• Crook, a chapelry
• Crook and Billy Row, a township
• Hedleyhope, a township
• Helmington Row, a township
• Stockley, a township
• Tudhoe, a chapelry (also considered to be part of Whitworth parish)
• Willington, a township

A nineteenth century description

A Vision of Britain through Time provides the following description of Brancepeth from John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales of 1870-72:

"BRANCEPETH, a township in Durham district, and a parish in Durham and Auckland districts, Durham. The township lies on the river Wear and on the Durham and Bishop-Auckland railway, 4 miles SW of Durham; and has a station on the railway, and a post office under Durham. Acres: 4,515. Real property: £7,180; of which £3,597 are in mines. Population: 1,496. Houses: 266.

"The parish contains also the townships of Stockley, Willington, Brandon and Byshottles, Tudhoe, HedleyHope, Hemlington-Row, and Crook and Billy Row. Acres, 22,525. Real property, with Cornsay township: £75,151; of which £42,784 are in mines. Population: 15,712. Houses: 2,893. The property is not much divided.

"Brancepeth Castle was erected, in the reign of Stephen, by the family of Bulmer; passed to the Nevills and the Russells; and belongs now, in right of his wife, to Viscount Boyne. It was rebuilt in 1821; but retains much of its prior appearance; and is a massive and splendid edifice. A suite of rich armour, said to have been taken from David Bruce of Scotland at Nevill's Cross, is in the entrance hall; and a fine collection of antiquities and paintings is in the rooms. The grounds and the adjacent country are picturesque. Coal beds and sulphur springs occur; and coal and stone are worked. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Durham. Value: £811. Patron: R. E. D. Shafto, Esq. The church is ancient and cruciform; has an early English tower and later English chancel and clerestory; and contains ancient stall-work and chancel-screen, an ancient carved chest, and a fine canopied font. The rectories of Willington and Crook, and the vicarage of Tudhoe, are separate benefices. There are three dissenting chapels, a [Roman] Catholic Gothic one, and charities £42.

Research Tips

• County Durham Archives. Durham County Record Office is located on the Lower Ground Floor of County Hall, the administrative headquarters of Durham County Council, in Durham City.
• Northumberland and Durham FHS covers both Northumberland and the northern part of County Durham. The Family History Society have a research centre in Percy House in central Newcastle upon Tyne (full address on website), open Monday to Friday from 10 am to 4 pm. Browse the website to see what else the society can provide.
• The Cleveland, North Yorkshire & South Durham Family History Society covers the southern part of County Durham as well as the Tees Valley and North Yorkshire on the south side of the River Tees. Their homepage includes a map to show the society's coverage. (Once again, full address and other details on the website)
• Further information from GENUKI
• Ordnance Survey map of Durham 1832 provided by A Vision of Britain through Time. This map includes the boundaries of the various Wards (or "hundreds") in existence at that time.
• Ordnance Survey map of Durham 1900 provided by A Vision of Britain through Time
• Ordnance Survey map of Durham 1944 provided by A Vision of Britain through Time
• English Jurisdictions 1851, a parish finding aid provided by FamilySearch, particularly helpful in large towns and cities.
• Unfortunately, the Victoria County History for Durham is limited in its coverage. It only includes the cathedral city of Durham, including an account of the cathedral itself. Also covers Stockton Ward in the south-east of the county (bordering North Yorkshire) including Hartlepool and Stockton on Tees.