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Dove's mansion house

Curtain

Must be east

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Garden Waste Ground & premises with the apptees therein after particularly ment (that was to say) of & in All that Malting Brewhouse Stable Barn & Garden with the waste ground thereunto adjoining situate standg lying & being in Colourcoats aforesaid and then in the possession tenure and occupation of them the said Margt Simpson John Headon & Patience his wife & Margaret Shipley or one of them all which said premises adjoin upon or near to the Mansion House in Colourcoats aforesaid which said Mansion House and all other the premises therein before parly mentioned were late the Estate of the sd Zephaniah Haddock And recity that the sa Margaret Simpson & John Headon and Patience his wife and Margaret Shipley had agreed to make a partition and division of the premises It is witnessed & the before ment" premises were conveyed.

1 As to the middle part or share the whole into 3 parts equally to be divided of the said Malting and Waste Ground on the South side thereof as the same was set off and divided together with the Brewhouse and that part of the Courtain or waste ground on the North side of the said Mansion House extending from the East side of the back door cheek to the East side of the North Curtain Gate with all the rights etc To the use & behoof of the sa Margaret Simpson her heirs & assigns for ever.

2 And as to All that East part or share of the Malting & Waste ground on the South side thereof as the same was set off & divided with the Barn and one full moiety of the West end of the Curtain behind the Mansion from the West side of the Back door Check to the West side of the Courtain gate with all the rights etc. To the use & behoof of the sd John Headon & Patience his wife their heirs & assigns for ever.

3 And as to the West part or share of the said Malts and Waste ground on the South side thereof as the same was set off & divided with Stable & a Moiety of the West end of the said Curtain behind the said Mansion House from the West side of the said back door Cheek to the West side of the Curtain Gate with all the rights etc. to the use and behoof of the said Margaret Shipley her heirs & asss for ever.

And as to the said Garden with the passage through the said Mansion House & Curtain behind the same & a passage of 8 feet wide from West to East on the front or South side of the said Malting it was agreed to be kept open & used for the benefit of all the parties And it was agreed that in case the sd Margaret Shipley should chuse to build in the Curtain behind the said Mansion House where the old House then stood it should be lawful for her to build to the height of one story with such a good and sufficient Wall that the said John Headon might build such conveniences thereon as he shoa think proper & that they should be at an equal expense in covering the said building.

The Deed was executed by

& was attested by

Chris. Barker

Thos Richardson

John Headon
Patience Headon
Margaret Simpson &
Margarett Shipley

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BLANCHLAND.

295

XVIII.-BLANCHLAND.

BY THE REV. ANTHONY JOHNSON, VICAR OF HEALEY.

[Read on the 30th August, 1893.]

BLANCHLAND, like Slaley (which some of our members visited on Friday, the 16th of June, 1893), originally, and until the year 1724, formed part of the ancient and extensive parish of Bywell St. Andrew. On a fine summer's day few excursions can be pleasanter than a drive through Minsteracres park, then turning westward along the valley of the Derwent, or from Slaley over the Bolbeck common-high, wide, wild, and lonely-until you drop with a rapid descent and pleasant surprise into the lovely valley of the winding Derwent, and suddenly discover the charming little village of Blanchland spread out before you, like an oasis in the desert, with its rich and fertile meadows, and its massive square-towered church and many other remnants of monastic buildings, grey with age, a sight to delight the eye either of an antiquary or an ordinary visitor. In the village itself we see to-day in the bright, clean cottages every sign of comfort and prosperity, and we perceive that Blanchland is rightly named 'The Happy Village.' A hundred years ago it must have presented a very different appearance, for Hutchinson, who visited the place about A.D. 1776, gives but a doleful account of what he saw. By a disagreeable road,' he says, in a desolate country, we travelled to Blanchland, seated in a narrow deep vale, on the river Derwent; a few strips of meadow ground lay along the margin of the stream, and some cultivated lands skirt the feet of the hills, whose summits are covered with heath. This is a very different situation from others I have seen, chosen by the Religious for the foundation of their houses; the country around is barren and mountainous; the narrow vale in which the abbey is placed, seems in no-wise suited to the maintenance of its former inhabitants-poverty for ages past has reigned over the face of the adjacent country. The scites of religious houses are generally in well-sheltered and warm situations, where the retirements are surrounded with rich lands.

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This place looks truly like the realm of mortification. . . . The west1 end and tower of the church and the south2 aile of the cross remain; the latter neatly fitted up for parochial duty. . . . The towers on each hand converted into ale-houses; the buildings which are standing are now inhabited by poor people, who are perhaps employed in the leadworks; the distress and ragged appearance of the whole conventual buildings, being most deplorable; no one relique of church pomp remaining. To compensate for the disagreeable review of cells of poverty, we walked in the levels adjoining the church, when it happened to be the time of divine service; the psalm of the congregation, at our distance, had a degree of solemn harmony, which inspired serious though pleasing reflections; sentiments and ideas succeeded, which dignify the mind of man, and give him competition with angels."

The abbey of Blanchland was founded in A.D. 1165 by Walter de Bolbeck, and dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, for twelve Premonstratensian canons, with liberty to add to their number. Bolbeck was the barony of John de Bolbeck in the reign of Henry III. In the first year of king Edward I. it was held by sir Hugh de Bolbeck, who, as Camden informs us, fetched his descent by his mother from the noble barons of Mon-Fitchet. Sir Hugh died without male issue, and it came to his four daughters, namely, Margery, who married Nicholas Corbet, and afterwards Ralph, son of William, lord Greystock; Alice, who married Walter de Huntercomb, baron of Wooler; Philippa, who married Roger de Lancaster; and Maud, who married Hugh, baron of Delaval. Alice and Maud having no issue, the whole barony was divided between Nicholas Corbet and Roger de Lancaster. We find a mediety of it in the possession of Robert de Harle of Kirk Harle, heir of Roger de Lancaster, 24 king Edward III., in which he was succeeded by sir Ralph de Hastings, his nephew, by his sister Margaret; the other mediety belonging to William, lord Greystock, by Margaret's second marriage. The barony was in the crown in the twelfth year of queen Elizabeth, A.D. 1569, when a survey was

The east end and north transept were what he would see. He had evidently lost his bearings. 2 What he thought to be the south aisle was really the chancel and part of the nave; the towers on either hand' being the present inn and the old gate tower. 3 Hutchinson, Northd. vol. i. pp. 118, 119.

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