Winston St Andrew

Parish Notes Durham

Winston St Andrew

[Population 1911: 312]

The Parish
Church
Townships
Topography
History

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Monumental Inscriptions
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Church

The Church, which is dedicated to St. Andrew, is situated on elevated ground to the east of the village, and close to the steep and lofty bank of the Tees. It was almost entirely rebuilt in 1846, including an open timber roof, and an octagonal bell tower and spire at the south-west angle of the building. The interior fittings, consisting of new pulpit, open seats, &c., have been completed by the present rector; and the old baptismal font, with its sculptured dragons, festoons of flowers, &c., has been preserved. The church consists of nave, chancel, and south aisle, and is entered by a porch on the south. It will accomodate about 170 persons. The parish register commences in 1572. The living is a rectory, in the deanery of Darlington, valued in the Liber Regis at £9 18s. 1½d.; gross income, £557. The rector receives the rectorial tithes of Westwick, in the parochial chapelry of Barnard Castle. The Vicar of Gainford is entitled to the great tithes at Primrose Hill or Winston Demesnes; the Rector of Winston holding the vicarial tithes. Patron, the Bishop of Durham; rector, the Rev. W. Webb, M.A. [Whellan's History, Topography and Directory of Durham (and Newcastle) (1856), page 473.]

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Townships

Winston parish contains but one township, which includes the villages of Newsham and Winston, the estates of Barford-on-the-Hill, Heighley (or Heighcliffe) Hall, Osmondcroft, and Westholme, and part of that of Stubb House. It is bounded on the north and east by Gainford parish, on the west by the chapelry of Whorlton, and on the south by the river Tees. The area of the parish is 2,961 acres, and its annual value is £2,679 11s. 1d. It contained, in 1801, 307 inhabitants; in 1811, 284; in 1821, 287; in 1831, 327; in 1841, 293; and in 1851, 301. The manor of Winston anciently formed part of the estate of the Fitz-Meldreds of Raby, and was granted, in 1313, by Ralph, Lord Neville, to Jeoffrey le Scrope, of Masham, chief justice of the King's Bench. It continued in the possession of the Scrope family until the reign of Henry V., when, on the execution for treason of Henry Scrope, it was forfeited to the see of Durham; but being proved to be an entailed estate, Bishop Neville restored it to John, brother of Henry Scrope, and it continued in the family till the demise of Emanuel, Earl of Sunderland, whose estates were inherited by three natural daughters. By marriage with one of these, Winston came into the possession of the bridgewater family, with whom it remained till the death of John, seventh Earl of Bridgewater, when the estates descended to his nephew, Lord Alford, whose family are the present possessors. The principal landowners are Earl Brownlow, Captain Grey, P.H. Stanton, Esq., Miss Elizabeth Moses, John Bourne, Esq., Leadbeater Smith, Esq., Miss Brocket, Lord Rokeby, Rev. W. Webb, and others.

The Village of Winston occupies the ridge of a hill overlooking the Tees, and contains a public-house, and a few tradesmen's shops. The Tees is here crossed by a fine stone bridge, of a single arch, which was long considered by architects the largest in Europe. It is the segment of a circle, measuring 112 feet span, 22 feet broad, and 20 feet between the parapet walls. The material employed is a hard blue ragstone, and the elevation renders the road nearly level with Yorkshire. It was erected in 1763-64, from the designs of Sir Thomas Robinson, Bart., of Rokeby; and when most of the bridges in the north of England were washed away by the great flood of 1771, Winston Bridge remained uninjured. The river scenery in this neighbourhood is very beautiful. [Whellan's History, Topography and Directory of Durham (and Newcastle) (1856), pages 472-73.]

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