Ponteland, Northumberland

Description
Ponteland, a village, a township, and a parish in Northumberland. The village stands on the river Pont, 7 miles W of Dudley railway station, and 7 1/2 NW of Newcastle. It was formerly called Pont Island, had anciently a castle of the D'Alphels, was the place where Alexander of Scotland made peace in 1244 with the English, and has a post, money order, and telegraph office under Newcastle-upon-Tyne and an ancient manor-house of the Erringtons, now a hotel, and including some remains of the ancient castle. The township comprises 1898 acres; population, 405. The workhouse of Castle Ward union is here. The parish contains also the townships of Kirkley, Higham Dykes, Milburn, Milburn Grange, High Callerton, Little Callerton, Darras Hall, Coldcoats, and Berwick Hill. The manor belonged formerly to the Bertrams, the Erringtons, the Silvertops, and others. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Newcastle-on-Tyne; net value, £301 with residence. Patron, Merton College, Oxford. The church is ancient, has a fine Norman W door and a singularly large chancel, the latter restored in 1861, and contains a beautiful piscina and monuments of the Ogles, the Goftons, and others. There are a Wesleyan chapel and an endowed school, rebuilt in 1873 and enlarged in 1889.