Heighington, Durham

Description
Heighington, a township and a parish in Darlington union, Durham. The township lies 1 1/2 mile W of the Stockton and Darlington railway, 2 1/4 miles E of a Roman road, and 6 NNE of Darlington, and has a station on the railway and a post, money order, and telegraph office (E.S.O.) under Ay-clifie. Acreage, 2209; population of the township, 638; of the ecclesiastical parish, 992. The parish contains also the townships of Walworth, Eedworth, and School Aycliffe. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Durham; gross value, £345 with residence. Patrons, the Dean and Chapter of Durham. The church, built between 1140 and 1170, has a Norman chancel-arch and some Norman windows in its tower, and contains a richly-carved pulpit of the reign of Henry VII., being a pre-Eeformation erection with the inscription in Latin, " Pray for the souls of Alexander Fletcher and Agnes his wife." There is a magnificent peal of six bells, three of which were the gift of the Neville family, by whom the church was built. The parish contains the beautiful castle of Walworth, built by Sir John Hansard in the reign of Henry II., he having married a daughter and coheiress of the Earl of Westmorland. There is a Wesleyan chapel.