Benfieldside, a township and an ecclesiastical district formed in 1847 from Lanchester parish, Durham, and comprising the two small towns of Blackhill and Shotley Bridge. The township lies on the river Derwent and on a branch of the N.E.R., 4 miles N of Cold Rowley, and has a railway station. It is a watering-place, with coal mines in the neighbourhood, and its post town is Medomsley. Acreage, 1619; population, 6269; of the ecclesiastical district, 2683. The church is at Shotley Bridge.
