West Allen, Northumberland Genealogy

England Northumberland

Parish History
West Allen is an Ecclesiastical Parish in the county of Northumberland, created in 1826 from chapelry in Allendale Ecclesiastical Parish and includes: High West Allen and Low West Allen.

Allen High West alias for Carrshield. The ancient parish of Allendale, Northumberland originally served the village of Carrshields.

ALLENDALE, a market-town and parish, in the union of Hexham, S. division of Tindale ward and of Northumberland, 7 miles (S.) from Haydon-Bridge, 9¾ miles (S. W. by W.) from Hexham, and 286 (N. N. W.) from London; comprising the grieveships of Allendale town, Broadside, Catton, High and Low Forest, Keenly Park, and West Allen High and Low; and containing 5729 inhabitants. The Town, which includes 1217 persons, is irregularly built on an acclivity gradually rising from the eastern bank of the river Allen, over which a bridge was erected in 1825. The market is on Friday: fairs are held on the Friday before the 11th of May, on the 22nd of August, and the first Friday after the festival of St. Luke, for horses, cattle, and sheep; and a cattle show, which has been established within the last few years, is annually held. In the market-place are the ruins of a cross. The Parish derives its name from the river Allen, a small but rapid stream which rises in the hamlet of Allenheads, in East Allen, and Coalcleugh, in West Allen, and falls into the river Tyne about three miles to the west of Haydon-Bridge, where is a station of the Newcastle and Carlisle railway. The inhabitants are chiefly employed in the lead-mines, which are on a large scale, producing upwards of 3500 tons of lead annually. There are several works for grinding and washing the ore, and two extensive smelting-houses, one having an horizontal chimney 2½ miles long, with a terminus upwards of 780 feet above the ground-floor of the mill, and the other a chimney 1½ mile in length, and 700 feet above the ground-floor; in one of these smelting-houses twenty-one tons pass through the furnace weekly, and a considerable quantity of silver is separated. Limestone is extensively quarried, and there are also numerous quarries of stone of good quality for building. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £130; patron, T. W. Beaumont, Esq. The church is of stone, rebuilt in 1807. Within the parish also are four chapels, in the gift of the incumbent of Allendale, viz. St. Peter's, rebuilt in 1825, a perpetual curacy, of which the net income is £120; the chapel at Nine-Banks, partially rebuilt about 1816, a perpetual curacy, with an income of £124; the chapel at the Carr Shield, or West Allen High chapel, built in 1822, also a perpetual curacy, of which the income is £109; and that of Allenheads, described under its proper head. There are places of worship for the Society of Friends and Wesleyans. A free school for the children of parishioners is endowed with two tenements, bequeathed by William Hutchinson in 1692, producing a rental of £24; and with other premises and thirty-two acres of land, in Broadside, purchased with a legacy of Christopher Wilkinson in 1700, and yielding £38 per annum. Various other schools are connected with the different places of worship in the parish; and some small sums, the principal of which is an annuity of £10 from Shield's charity, are distributed annually among the poor. There are several chalybeate springs; and at a place called Old Town, about three miles to the north-west, are vestiges of an ancient intrenchment, of a square form, supposed to be Roman.

From: 'Alfrick - Allerston', A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 34-37. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=50750 Date accessed: 15 March 2011.

In 1764 a chapel to Allendale church was built at Ninebanks. Three years later in 1767 the chapelry was created a parish. Carr Shields formed part of this new parish. In 1822 a chapelry of Ninebanks was built at Carr Shields for the use of the leadmining families that populated the area. Mrs. Diana Beaumont, the lady of the manor, provided the funding for the building.



When the new chapel was opened in 1822 the existing chapel building was converted into a schoolhouse. In November 1877 a Board School was established in the village. This school closed in July 1968 with only five pupils.

There is a strong history of religious non-conformity in the Allendale valley. There were no Methodist chapels at Carr Shields but there were several in West Allen township. There were Wesleyan Chapels at Limestone Brea (built in 1824); Hesleywell (built in 1827); High House (built in 1829); Shield Ridge (built in 1854) and Mohope (built in 1858). There were also Primitive Methodist chapels at Corryhill (built 1844) and Whitley Shield (built 1857). Allen Low West alias for Ninebanks Refer to Ninebanks parish

Civil Registration
Birth, marriages and deaths were kept by the government, from July 1837 to the present day. The civil registration article tells more about these records. There are several Internet sites with name lists or indexes. A popular site is FreeBMD.

Parish Records
Durham University Library Archives and Special Collections Carr Shield Reference number: DDR/EA/PBT/2/49 Date: 1842-1852 Parish Register transcripts are available to search free online at FamilySearch Historical Records. The Ninebanks transcripts are Reference number: DDR/EA/PBT/2/195 Date: 1841-1857

The dates of the post-1760 transcripts have been noted in detail and sometimes only cover years. For most parishes in the collection there are gaps in the sequence of transcripts. It is advisable to consult the original parish registers for these years and events.

Carrshield, Christ Church: Records of baptisms 1823-1978, marriages 1900-1904 and burials 1823-1982 (at Chapel House) are available at Northumberland Collections Service. Bishops' Transcripts for the periods 1823-1837 and 1839-1841 are deposited at the Borthwick Institute University of York The International Genealogical Index (I.G.I.) includes baptisms 1823-1875 for Carrshield, but it is not included in Boyd's Marriage Index. A transcript of monumental inscriptions (microfiche TN73) is published by Northumberland and Durham Family History Society and these records are also available in book form at Newcastle Central Library, Local Studies Department.

The International Genealogical Index (I.G.I.) also includes baptisms 1823-1841 for "West Allen", which appears to relate to Carr Shield using the alias contained in the Durham Diocesan Registry.

Non Conformist Records

 * Allendale Society of Friends: Records of births/baptisms 1838-1878, marriages 1837-1956 and deaths 1838-1908 are available at Northumberland Collections Service and Tyne and Wear Archives Service.
 * Allendale, Alston, Edmondbyers And Haltwhistle Society of Friends: Bishops' Transcripts for for the period 1871-1892 are online at Record Search.

A transcript of monumental inscriptions at Allendale and Allendale Society of Friends (microfiche TN71) is published by Northumberland and Durham Family History Society and these records are also available in book form at Newcastle Central Library, Local Studies Department.

The following Methodist records are available at Northumberland Collections Service:


 * Allendale Primitive Methodist Circuit - Baptisms 1847-1881
 * Allendale Wesleyan Methodist Circuit - Baptisms 1883-1941
 * Allendale, Dawson Place - Marriages 1909-1967
 * Allenheads, Bethel - Baptisms 1834-1927
 * Allenheads, Dirt Pot/Dove Pool - Marriages 1913-1946
 * High House - Baptisms 1842-1964
 * Mohope - Baptisms 1864-1933

Transcripts of monumental inscriptions at Keenley Methodist (microfiche TN73) and Ninebanks, West Allen High House and West Allen Limestone Brae (microfiche TN96) are published by Northumberland and Durham Family History Society and these records are also available in book form at Newcastle Central Library, Local Studies Department.

Early Primitive Methodist chapels in this area belonged to Hexham P.M. Circuit or to Westgate (Co. Durham) P.M. Circuit. Records for Hexham Circuit 1824-1837 are included on the IGI (listed as Bull Bank or Bethania Chapel). Records for Westgate 1824-1837 can be seen at Durham Record Office and are included on the IGI. Early Wesleyan Methodist chapels in this area belonged to Alston W.M. Circuit. Records for 1810-1951 can be seen at Cumbria Record Office in Carlisle.

FamilySearch Historical Records includes England, Durham Diocese, Marriage Bonds and Allegations (FamilySearch Historical Records)

Poor Law Unions
Hexham Poor Law Union, Northumberland

Probate records
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. Go to Northumberland Probate Records to find the name of the court having primary jurisdiction. Scroll down in the article to the section Court Jurisdictions by Parish.

Maps and Gazetteers
Maps are a visual look at the locations in England. Gazetteers contain brief summaries about a place.


 * England Jurisdictions 1851
 * Vision of Britain

Web sites
Contributor: add any relevant sites that aren't mentioned above.