Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for HAWTHORN

HAWTHORN, a township-chapelry in Easington parish, Durham; on the coast, 1½ mile NE of Easington, and 3 SSW of Seaham railway station. Post-town, Easington-Lane, under Fence-Houses. Acres, 1,552; of which 86 are water. Real property, £1,367. Pop., 227. Houses, 40. The manor belongs to R. L. Pemberton, Esq. The coast is rocky, bold, and dangerous. Hawthorn Dene, traversed by a rivulet to the sea, is a picturesque glen, with winding walks; and contracts into a ravine, over-hung by beetling cliffs. A small bay, called Hawthorn Hythe, has fine features; and is sheltered by a reef or natural pier, called the Skaw. The rocks of the coast are broken, rugged, and pierced with caverns. Fifty ships, with all their crews, were lost on 25 Nov. 1824, on the Skaw; and fires used to be kindled on Beacon hill, on the S side, to warn mariners off. Mr. Pemberton's seat, a grey castellated mansion, is on a hill beside the Dene; and Sailor's Hall, built by Admiral Milbanke, and now partly a ruin, is a little below, almost on the edge of the precipice. Coal is worked. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Durham. Value, £150.* Patron, R. L. Pemberton, Esq.


(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a township-chapelry"   (ADL Feature Type: "countries, 4th order divisions")
Administrative units: Easington AP/CP       Hawthorn Tn/CP       County Durham AncC
Place: Hawthorn

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