Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for MITFORD

MITFORD, a village, a township, and a parish, in Morpeth district, Northumberland. The village stands at the confluence of the rivers Font and Wansbeck, near the Wansbeck Valley railway, 2½ miles W by S of Morpeth; was originally called Midford; was once a markettown; and has a post office under Morpeth.-The township includes the village, and extends into the country. Pop., 210. Houses, 35.—The parish contains also the townships of Molesden, Spittal-Hill, Edington, Benridge, Newton-Underwood, Newton-Park, Throphill, Nunriding, Pigdon, and High and Low Highlaws. Acres, 9,595. Real property, £7,252. Pop., 646. Houses, 118. The property is divided among a few. The manor belonged, before the Norman conquest, to the Mitfords; passed by marriage, soon after the Conquest, to Sir Richard Bertram; was ravaged by the Flemish Rutars, in consequence of Roger Bertram having joined the barons against King John; was forfeited in 1264, in consequence of another Bertram having rebelled against Henry III.; passed to the Earls of Pembroke and Athole, and to the Percys; went back to the Mitfords in the time of Charles II.; belongs now to Admiral Mitford; and is associated with William Mitford, author of the "History of Greece, ''and with Mary Russell Mitford, author of "Our Village." A castle was built here in 1150-70, by W. Bertram; and is still represented by a ruined massive keep, with two posterns, and two waggonheaded vaults. The old manor house was built in 1637, out of materials of the castle; and is still represented by a turreted porch and some offices. The present mansion, the seat of Admiral Mitford, is a modern edifice after designs by Dobson. Spittal-Hill House is the seat of the Bullock family; and occupies the site of an hospital, founded by Sir William Bertram. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Durham. Value, £100.* Patron, the Bishop of Durham. The church stands embosomed in trees; is cruciform, 109 feet long, with Norman nave, a good Norman door, and an early English chancel; has a picturesque W turret; and contains an effigies of a Bertram.


(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a village, a township, and a parish"   (ADL Feature Type: "populated places")
Administrative units: Mitford AP/CP       Morpeth RegD/PLU       Northumberland AncC
Place names: MIDFORD     |     MITFORD
Place: Mitford

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