Allensford

Allensford
Allensford  Allensford shown within County Durham
OS grid reference	NZ07708
Shire county	County Durham
Region	North East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Police	Durham
Fire	County Durham and Darlington
Ambulance	North East
EU Parliament	North East England
List of places UK England County Durham

Coordinates: 54°50′48″N 1°52′53″W / 54.846561°N 1.8814900°W

Waterfall on the Wharnley Burn near Allensford just before it meets the River Derwent

Allensford is a small country park and hamlet in County Durham, in England. It is situated a short distance to the west of Consett, and to the east of Castleside on the River Derwent.

First recorded as Aleynforth in Bishop Hatfield's survey of c. 1382. ^{[1] [2]} The placename is sometimes listed as Allansford, "At Allansford...is a bridge over the Derwent into Northumberland, surrounded by some of the most beautiful scenery on that stream; there are a few cottages on each side of the river".^[3]

It is uncertain when a bridge replaced the ford, however a bridge was in existence in the late 17th century when the structure was in a "very ruinous and in greate decay” according to the Northumberland Quarter Sessions for 1687-1697. ^[4]

Allensford Mill farmhouse was originally called the Belsay Castle Inn, named after the estate of the Middleton family of Belsay Castle.^[5] Part of the inn was built in the late 17th century and may have been a bastle. Later additions continued throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. The inn was licensed until 1869. The upper room in the outbuilding served as a nonconformist chapel.^[6]

Denis Hayford, (c.1635–1733), a pioneer of the steel industry, acquired the lease of Allensford furnace and forge in 1692 which was upstream from his established business in Shotley Bridge. The lease seems to have lapsed in 1713. The site of the furnace is marked on Ordnance Survey maps. ^[7]

It has a dedicated campsite. The adjacent woodland forms the Allensford Woods Local Nature Reserve, covering 17.5 hectares (43 acres).^[8][9]

References

1. Greenwell, William (1857). Bishop Hatfield's survey, a record of the possessions of the see of Durham, made by order of Thomas de Hatfield, bishop of Durham. Durham: Surtees Society. p. 124.
2. Watts, Victor (2002). A dictionary of County Durham place-names. Nottingham: English Place-Name Society. p. 1. ISBN 0904889653.
3. Lewis, Samuel (1848). A Topographical Dictionary of England. pp. 466–470. Retrieved 31 May 2013.
4. "Northumberland Quarter Sessions". The National Archives. p. QSO/2, f3v. Retrieved 15 June 2013.
5. "Papers of the Middleton family of Belsay". The National Archives. p. ZMI/B2/V/8. Retrieved 15 June 2013.
6. "Listed Building Report: Allensford Mill Farmhouse and adjacent outbuildings". English Heritage. Retrieved 15 June 2013.
7. "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography". Retrieved 30 May 2013.
8. "Allensford Woods". Local Nature Reserves. Natural England. Retrieved 4 August 2013.
9. "Map of Allensford Woods". Local Nature Reserves. Natural England. Retrieved 4 August 2013.

External links

• Tommy Craggs local chainsaw carver, creates nature trail