Rookhope St John

Parish Notes Durham

Rookhope St John the Evangelist

[Population 1911: 585]

The Parish
Church
Townships
Topography
History

Its Records
The Parish Chest
Non-Parochial Records
Monumental Inscriptions
Indexes

Church

The Church is a spacious edifice, erected about thirty years ago, and consists of a nave and chancel. It stands north-west and south-east, and is entered by a porch on the north-east side, opposite to which is a plain baptismal font. The pews are of plain fir, and all open, with the exception of the family pew of Mr. Featherstone, over which is a mural tablet of white marble, erected to the memory of Mrs. Featherston, who is interred in St. John's churchyard, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. [Whellan's History, Topography and Directory of Durham (and Newcastle) (1856), page 325.]

Brass plates on the north wall of the nave read:

THIS TABLET IS ERECTED BY THE
PARISHIONERS TO THE MEMORY OF
JEAN ANN DIXON,
CHURCH-CLEANER FOR NEARLY 29 YEARS.
20. FEB. 1911.

IN LOVING MEMORY OF
ETHEL
ONLY CHILD OF
GEORGE & ISABELLA CRUDDAS.
DIED SEPTEMBER 17^TH 1924 AGED 32 YEARS.
HAVING FAITHFULLY AND DEVOTEDLY SERVED
THIS CHURCH AND SUNDAY SCHOOL.
THIS TABLET IS ERECTED BY HER MOTHER

Small brass plate on a simple wooden cross on a table near the entrance reads:

IN MEMORY OF
ETHEL H.J. HOGARTH

Small brass plate on a simple wooden lectern reads:

PRESENTED
IN LOVING MEMORY OF
WILLIAM R. PEART
DIED 1ST APRIL
1984

Plate behind reredos reads:

ERECTED BY THE WOMENS HELP SOCIETY
IN MEMORY OF
REV. H.W. FORBES, M.A. VICAR 1915-19

The main lectern, a brass eagle, was:

PRESENTED
IN LOVING AND AFFECTIONATE REMEMBRANCE
OF JOSEPH RODDAM OF WOLFE CLEUGH FARM
WHO DIED ON MARCH 6TH 1903:
BY HIS WIDOW & FAMILY
CHRISTMAS 1904

The stained eastern window is dedicated:

TO THE GLORY OF GOD
AND IN LOVING MEMORY OF MARY JANE
WESTGARTH, DIED MARCH 9^TH
A.D.1905 THESE THREE CHANCEL WINDOWS
ARE DEDICATED BY HER HUSBAND
JOHN WESTGARTH. A.D.1905.

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Townships

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Topography

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History

Wooden notice of vicars of Rookhope near the entrance.

Augustus Davies                 1866-1872
Clement Francis Cobb            1872-1873
Richard Waters                  1873-1877
John Wagstaff                   1877-1883
James Johnson                   1883-1885
James Philip Shepherd           1885-1891
William Robert Hartley          1892-1902
Joseph Barker                   1902-1912
George R. Christie              1912-1915
Henry Warren Forbes             1915-1919
Arthur White Officer            1919-1972

Priests-in-Charge

John Kenneth Young              1972-1973
Andrew J. Bealing               1973-1985

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The Parish Chest

The registers of Rookhope have not been deposited with the County Record Office. Registers at the church are for baptisms, which commence in 1858, (banns and) marriages, which commence in 1842, and burials, which commence in 1855.

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Non-Parochial Records

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Monumental Inscriptions

White marble monument on the north wall of the nave opposite the entrance reads:

IN REMEMBRANCE OF
ANN,
FOURTH DAUGHTER OF THOMAS AND ELIZBETH SMITH,
WHO WAS BORN AT LINTZGARTH IN THIS DALE,
AUGUST 16, 1807;
MARRIED AT STANHOPE CHURCH TO HER RELATIVE,
JACOB RALPH FEATHERSTON, OF WHITESTONES, WEARDALE,
AND HIGH HOUSE ROOKHOPE,
APRIL 13, 1825;
DIED AT WEST STREET, GATESHEAD
APRIL 8, 1834.
HER REMAINS LIE INTERRED IN ST JOHNS CHURCHYARD,
NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, IN THE FAMILY BURIAL PLACE
OF HER FATHER IN LAW, THOMAS FEATHERSTONE, OF COTFIELD HOUSE,
AND BESIDE HER SON, THOMAS, WHO DIED
MAY 14, 1833, AGED 2 YEARS, 3 MONTHS AND 14 DAYS.

SHE WAS OF A PREPOSESSING APPEARANCE,
AND OF AN AMIABLE AND MEEK DISPOSITION;
A KIND FRIEND, A TENDER MOTHER, AN AFFECTIONATE WIFE,
AND A SINCERE CHRISTIAN.
A SORROWING HUSBAND WHO DEVOTEDLY LOVED HER
HAS ERECTED THIS TABLET.

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