Search for a place
Search for a place
In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Hawthorn like this:
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.
Hawthorn is now part of COUNTY DURHAM Unitary Authority. Click here for graphs and data of how COUNTY DURHAM has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Hawthorn itself, go to Statistics.
How to reference this page:
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Hawthorn in County Durham | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/6139
Date accessed: 08th April 2026
Click here for more detailed advice on finding places within A Vision of Britain through Time, and maybe some references to other places called "Hawthorn".
