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In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Brancepeth like this:
BRANCEPETH, a township in Durham district, and a parish in Durham and Auckland districts, Durham. The township lies on the river Wear and on the Durham and Bishop-Auckland railway, 4 miles SW of Durham; and has a station on the railway, and a post office under Durham. Acres, 4,515. Real property, £7,180; of which £3,597 are in mines. ...
Pop., 1,496. Houses, 266. The parish contains also the townships of Stockley, Willington, Brandon and Byshottles, Tudhoe, HedleyHope, Hemlington-Row, and Crook and Billy Row. Acres, 22,525. Real property, with Cornsay township, £75,151; of which £42,784 are in mines. Pop., 15,712. Houses, 2,893. The property is not much divided. Brancepeth Castle was erected, in the reign of Stephen, by the family of Bulmer; passed to the Nevills and the Russells; and belongs now, in right of his wife, to Viscount Boyne. It was rebuilt in 1821; but retains much of its prior appearance; and is a massive and splendid edifice. A suite of rich armour, said to have been taken from David Bruce of Scotland at Nevill's Cross, is in the entrance hall; and a fine collection of antiquities and paintings is in the rooms. The grounds and the adjacent country are picturesque. Coal beds and sulphur springs occur; and coal and stone are worked. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Durham. Value, £811.* Patron, R. E. D. Shafto, Esq. The church is ancient and cruciform; has an early English tower and later English chancel and clerestory; and contains ancient stall-work and chancel-screen, an ancient carved chest, and a fine canopied font. The rectories of Willington and Crook, and the vicarage of Tudhoe, are separate benefices. There are three dissenting chapels, a R. Catholic Gothic one, and charities £42.
Brancepeth is now part of COUNTY DURHAM Unitary Authority. Click here for graphs and data of how COUNTY DURHAM has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Brancepeth itself, go to Statistics.
How to reference this page:
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Brancepeth in County Durham | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/2745
Date accessed: 23rd January 2026
Click here for more detailed advice on finding places within A Vision of Britain through Time, and maybe some references to other places called "Brancepeth".
