Allensford
| Allensford | |
|---|---|
  Allensford Location within County Durham | |
| OS grid reference | NZ 07708 50201 |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Police | Durham |
| Fire | County Durham and Darlington |
| Ambulance | North East |
Allensford is a small country park and hamlet in County Durham, in England. It is on the River Derwent, about 2 miles SW of Consett, and 1 mile north of Castleside.
Allensford was first recorded as Aleynforth in Bishop Hatfield's survey of c. 1382.[1][2] The placename is sometimes listed as Allansford; "At Allansford...is a bridge over the Derwent into Northumberland, surrounded by some of the most beautiful scenery on that stream; there are a few cottages on each side of the river".[3]
It is uncertain when a bridge replaced the ford. However, a bridge was in existence in the late 17th century when the structure was in a "very ruinous and in greate decay” according to the Northumberland Quarter Sessions for 1687–1697.[4]
Allensford Mill farmhouse was originally called the Belsay Castle Inn, named after the estate of the Middleton family of Belsay Castle.[5] Part of the inn was built in the late 17th century and may have been a bastle. Later additions continued throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. The inn was licensed until 1869. The upper room in the outbuilding served as a nonconformist chapel.[6]
Denis Hayford (c.1635–1733), a pioneer of the steel industry, acquired the lease of Allensford furnace and forge in 1692; this was upstream from his established business in Shotley Bridge. The lease seems to have lapsed in 1713. The site of the furnace is marked on Ordnance Survey maps.[7]
It has a dedicated campsite. The adjacent woodland forms the Allensford Woods Local Nature Reserve, covering 17.5 hectares (43 acres).[8][9]
References
[edit]- ^ Greenwell, William (1857). Bishop Hatfield's survey, a record of the possessions of the see of Durham, made by order of Thomas de Hatfield, bishop of Durham. Durham: Surtees Society. p. 124.
- ^ Watts, Victor (2002). A dictionary of County Durham place-names. Nottingham: English Place-Name Society. p. 1. ISBN 0904889653.
- ^ Lewis, Samuel (1848). A Topographical Dictionary of England. pp. 466–470. Retrieved 31 May 2013.
- ^ "Northumberland Quarter Sessions". The National Archives. p. QSO/2, f3v. Retrieved 15 June 2013.
- ^ "Papers of the Middleton family of Belsay". The National Archives. p. ZMI/B2/V/8. Retrieved 15 June 2013.
- ^ Historic England. "Allensford Mill Farmhouse and adjacent outbuildings (1045297)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 15 June 2013.
- ^ "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography". Retrieved 30 May 2013.
- ^ "Allensford Woods". Local Nature Reserves. Natural England. Retrieved 4 August 2013.
- ^ "Map of Allensford Woods". Local Nature Reserves. Natural England. Retrieved 4 August 2013.
External links
[edit]
 | This County Durham location article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |