Belford in 1839

Belford is in the northern division of Bamborough ward, on the Edinburgh mail-road, 48 miles from Newcastle, and 322 from London. The entire parish comprehends 9,380 acres (with a population, in 1831, of 2,030 inhabitants), and extends into Islandshire, a part of Durham ; the township of Belford contained, in 1831, a population of 1,354, about one-fourth agricultural. The town stands on a gradual slope about two miles from the sea. It consists of two principal streets ; the houses are in general neat and well built. The church, or chapel, is an irregular building capable of containing 600 or 700 persons ; there are two or three dissenting places of worship. There is a little weaving done ; and several of the townsmen are employed in stone-quarries and coal-pits near the town. There is a market on Tuesday, at which a considerable quantity of corn is sold for exportation, and there are two small cattle-fairs in the year.

The living is a perpetual curacy, of the clear yearly value of £147, with a glebe-house. There were, in 1833, in the township of Belford, five day-schools, with 181 children ; three boarding-schools, with 26 children ; and two Sunday-schools, with from 80 to 140 children. In the other townships of the parish were three day-schools, with 102 children, and one Sunday-school, with 42 children.

Old Towns is a resource of 19th century English historical data, extracted and digitized from articles written between 1833 and 1848 which were originally published in 'The Penny Magazine' by The Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge.