Little Usworth village

HER Number:
362

District:
Sunderland

Site Name:
Little Usworth village

Place:
Usworth

Map Sheet:
NZ35NW

Class:
Domestic

Site Type: Broad:
Settlement

Site Type: Specific:
Deserted Settlement

General Period:
Medieval

Specific Period:
C12

Form of Evidence:
Documentary Evidence

Description:
The earliest reference to Little Usworth is in Boldon Buke, 1183 (a survey of land belonging to the Bishop of Durham, Hugh du Puiset) when it was held by William for 10s., carting wine with 8 oxen, and going in the great chase with 2 greyhounds. At the time of Hatfield's Survey in the 14th century Alice de Moderby held the vill for 10s and foreign service. From the 15th century the estate was held by the family of Lawson, and in 1844 it belonged (379 acres - 3 roods - 15 perches) to Sir W. Lawson Bt., and was let to a single tenant. Though a separate township, it never seems to have developed into a proper settlement, and in 1857 it consisted of the "Old Hall", two possible farms, a sandstone quarry and a spa well. Today its position is marked by Manor House Farm, an 18th-19th century double pile house and barn, in Manor Road, Concord.

Easting:
310

Northing:
579

Grid Reference:
NZ310579

Lats/Lons:

Sources:
<< HER 362 >> W. Greenwell, ed. 1852, Boldon Buke, Surtees Society, 25, p. 44 W. Greenwell, ed. 1856, Bishop Hatfield's Survey, Surtees Society, 32, pp. 102, 263 W. Hutchinson, 1787, History of...Durham, Vol. II, pp. 492-3 R. Surtees, 1820, History of...Durham, Vol. II, pp. 46-48 W. Fordyce, 1857, History of...Durham, Vol. II, pp. 742-3 Tithe Awards, 1844, Great Usworth, Little Usworth etc. -Durham Records Office - B.K. Roberts & D. Austin, 1975, A Preliminary Check-List of Rural Clusters in County Durham, p. 38