Melkridge, Whitchester & Cowburn
MELKRIDGE township is on the road from Haltwhistle to Hexham, 2 miles east from Haltwhistle.The Mission church of St. John the Baptist is a building of stone, erected in 1905; at a cost of about £1,000, and will seat 120 persons; divine service is held at 10.30 a.m. and 6.30 p.m. by the vicar of Haltwhistle. The Wesleyan chapel, a building of stone, was erected in 1888 at a cost of £300, and will seat 100 persons: at Cawburn is a Primitive Methodist chapel, erected in 1874, at cost of £312; it is a building of stone, and has 130 sittings. In the township is a Reading Room. There is a colliery here, worked by the Blackett and South Tyne Collieries Limited, and producing good steam, gas and household coal. Sir Hugh D. Blackett bart. of Matfen Hall, who is lord of the manor, Mrs. E. J. Gibson, of Whitchester, and Ernest A. Webster esq. J.P. of Unthank Hall, are the principal landowners.
In and about the Cawfields farm, in the township of Melkridge, and chiefly in that portion which lies north of the wall, various Roman remains been found between the years 1848 and 1883 these include a mural tablet of the 2nd legion of the time of Hadrian, A.D, 117, and another of the 20th legion, and four tablets found in mile castles; an altar to Apollo, dedicated by a soldier from Upper Germany; a centurial atone of Valerius Maximns; an inscribed circulal: mile-stone 4,D. 223-6, 3 feet 9 inches high, found on a paved causeway and marking a distance of 18 Roman miles from Patriana (Cambeck Fort), a station between this and Cilurnum (Chesters) ; and two centurial tablets. The area is 4,422 acres of land and 29 of water; rateable value £5,136; the population in 1901 was 485
Council Schools.
Correspondent, W: H. Batey, 4 Crossfield terrace, Haltwhistle
Melkridge (mixed junior), rebuilt in 1908, for 50 boys & girls; average attendance, 29;
Miss Caroline A. Saint, mistress
Cowburn (mixed.), for 60 boys & girls; average attendance, 27; Miss Mary A. Aitken, mistress
PRIVATE RESIDENTS.
Carrick Joseph, Melkridge house Corbett Vincent
Gibson Mrs. E. J. Whitchester Bichardson Robert, High town
COMMERCIAL.
Appleby Edward, gardener to Joseph Carrick esk
.Armstrong John, farmer, Longsike
Armstrong John, cowkeeper.Edges green
Baxter David, farmer, High Close-a-Burn
Bell Robert & John Philip, farmers, Vicar's allotments
Bell Nicholas Wm. farmer. Edges green
Blackett & South Tyne Collieries Lim. Vincent Corbett, manager
Burdon Richard. farmer, Cowburn rigg
Bushby Andrew, gardener to Mrs, Gibson, Whitchester
E Bush by Jacob, farmer, Common house
Carr Thomas, farmer, Scughey rigg
Dixon John, shopkeeper
Dixon Robert farmer .Carsgate & Lea burn
Hepple John, farmer, Sook hill
Hepple Thomas, farmer, Well house
Heslop Ann (Mrs.), farmer, Carsgate
Heslop John ( exors. of) farmers, Cawburn, Shield
Johnson Jacob Walton, farmer. Low house
Liddell Robert, farmer & landowner
Lowes William,farmer,Hall Peat moss
Murray Thomas & Son, farmers, Edges green
O'Hanlon Jas.Three Horse Shoes
P.H Reading Rooms (Arth. Willock, sec)
Skeldon Hugh, farmer, Close-a-Burn
Snowball William & Son, farmers, Low Close-a-Burn
Spraggon Benjamin & Sons, farmers, Wealside
Stobart Thomas, farmer, Shields-on- the-Wall
Teasdale Thomas.farmer,Melkridge farm
Tweddle Arthur, farmer, Woodhall
Varty Thomas, joiner
WHITCHESTER. 1 mile west from Melkridge, on the north bank of the South Tyne river, was a Roman military post of great .strength, defended on three sides by steep and rugged glens". It is the property and residence of' Mrs. Gibson.
HIGH TOWN is a hamlet, 2 miles east from Haltwhistle.
Letters through Haltwhistle, which is also the nearest money order & telegraph office
Wall Letter Box cleared at 9.15 a.m. & 6 p.m. ; no collection Sundays
HIGH and LOW RAMSHAW, HIGH and LOW TODDLEWOOD and LIMESTONES are hamlets of this township.
Letters through Haltwhistle, which is also the nearest money order & telegraph office, arrive at 9 a.m
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