Ryton, Durham

Description
Ryton, a village, a township, and a parish in Durham. The village stands on the river Tyne, adjacent to the Newcastle and Carlisle railway, 7 1/2 miles W of Newcastle, and 8 from Gateshead. It was burnt by the Scots in 1297, is now a picturesque place, and has a station on the railway, a post, money order, and telegraph office (R.S.O.), and a stone cross erected in 1795. The township comprises 1196 acres of land and 75 of water; population, 3393; of the ecclesiastical parish, 2874. The Ecclesiastical Commissioners are lords of the manor. The parish contains also the townships of Ryton Woodside, Crawcrook, and Stella, and is governed by an urban district council of nine members. A house at the W end of the village includes fine Norman arches and mouldings, brought hither in 1862 by Archdeacon Thorp from St Nicholas Church in Durham. There are several collieries. The living is a rectory, with Hedgefield annexed, in the diocese of Durham; net value, £590 with residence. Patron, the Bishop of Durham. The church is an ancient building chiefly in the Early English style, was well restored in 1886, and has a tower and spire 108 feet high. The parsonage is a fine old Tudor edifice. A tumulus 20 feet high is in the churchyard to the N of the church. There are Congregational and Wesleyan chapels, and a cemetery of 5 acres. Archbishop Seeker was rector.