Alston Moor is the most eastern town in the county; it is seated on a hill, at the bottom of which runs the river Tyne, with a stone bridge over it. The town consists of a number of small houses, built chiefly of stone, and covered with slate. The environs of the town abound in lead-mines, which render it very populous, several hundreds of miners being employed. The market is on Saturday; and according to the returns of 1821, it contains 203 inhabited houses, and 1069 inhabitants.

The manor of Alston Moor is now held under the commissioners and governors of Greenwich Hospital, being forfeited, in the year 1715, by the attainder of James Earl of Derwentwater, who was lord of the manor.

The town of Alston Moor contains 889 houses, and 5599 inhabitants. The surrounding country is bleak and desolate, and the vegetable productions very scanty, compared with those of other parts. The interior of the earth, however, is richly impregnated with lead ore; the numerous mines of which give employment to most of the inhabitants. The parish of Alston Moor is very extensive. The cultivated grounds are chiefly appropriated to hay and pasturing cows. On Gildersdale Fell, is a cavity called Tutman’s Hole, which some adventurous persons have penetrated to the length of almost a mile without reaching the end.

A few miles to the south-east of Alston Moor is a range of mountains, of which Crossfell is the highest part, which being encompassed with desolate and barren heights, retains the snow upon its summit nearly three quarters of a year. This hill frequently gives birth to that singular phenomenon called the Helm wind, which rushes from an immense cloud, which gathers round the summit of this mountain, covering it like a helmet. The following description of this phenomenon is given by Mr. Ritson, in his history of Cumberland: he observes, that "these heights are supposed to effect the weather in a manner similar to what the inhabitants of the Malabar and Coromandel coasts experience; and what are called in this country shedding winds, generally blow on the contrary winds of Crossfell from opposite quarters to the Helm winds; and the storms which rake the country on one side of the mountain seldom affects the other. Upon the summits of this lofty ridge of mountains there frequently hangs a vast volume of clouds, in a sullen and drowsy state, having little movement. This heavy collection of vapours often extends the length of several miles, and reaches half way down to the base of the fells; the neighbouring mountains are generally at the same time clear of mist, and show no signs of rain. This Helm or cloud exhibits an awful and solemn appearance; the upper parts being tinged with a gleaming white by the sun’s rays, while the lower parts spread a gloom over the mountains, like the shadows of night.

"When this mighty assemblage of vapour first begins to gather upon the hills, there is to be observed, hanging about it, a black strip of a cloud, which is continually flying off, and is apparently fed from the white part, or real helm. This strip is called the Helm-bar, as during its appearance the winds are thought to be resisted by it; for on its dispersion, they rage vehemently upon the valleys beneath. The direction of the helm-bar is parallel to that of the main cloud, or collection of vapour, which is tinged with white by the sun’s rays: it appears in continual agitation, as if struggling with contrary blasts; while the helm at the same time is perfectly motionless. When the bar is dispersed, the winds that issue from the helm are sometimes extremely violent, but their degree of force seems generally to be in proportion to the real current of the winds which blow at a distance from the mountains, and which are frequently in a contrary direction.— At the base of the mountain the blasts are much less violent than in the middle region; and yet the hurricane is sometimes impetuous even there, bearing every thing before it; though at the distance of a few miles there is a dead calm, and a sunny sky."

ALSTON is a small market and union, town and parish, on the road from Penrith to Newcastle, and is the head of a county court district, with a terminal station on a branch from Haltwhistle of the North Eastern railway, and is 29 miles by road east-south-east from Carlisle and 35 ¼ by rail, 19 north-east from Penrith, 20 south-east from Brampton by road and 25 by rail, 43 from Newcastle by road and 50 by rail, 13 from Haltwhistle, 23 ½ by road from Hexham and 29 ½ by rail, and 281 from London. In the Mid division of the county, Leath ward, and petty sessional division, rural deanery of Hexham, archdeaconry of Northumberland, and diocese of Newcastle. The town is lighted with gas from works erected in 1843, the property of a Joint Stock Co. and is supplied with excellent water from a spring on the Broad Pothill, distant 1 ½ miles south of the town; the water is conveyed in pipes to a tank at the head of the town, and from thence to several stand pillars. The town is somewhat irregularly built, situated in a mountainous district between the rivers-South Tyne and Nent; rising from 900 feet to 1,043 feet above the level of the sea, and surrounded by mountains rising to 2,901 feet. The church of St. Augustine, originally built in 1154, was rebuilt on the same site in 1768, and in 1869—70 was again rebuilt at a cost of £4,500: it is now an edifice of stone in the Early English style, consisting of chancel, nave of three bays, south aisle, and a south-west tower with spire containing one bell, cast in 1714 and re-cast in 1845, and said to have been formerly hung at Dilston Hall until 1844; in the tower there are also the remains of a large clock, once belonging to the Radcliffes, of Dilston, and an inscription removed here from the market cross: the stained east window is a memorial to the late Rev. Hugh. Salvin, sometime vicar of Alston, d. 28 September, 1852, and was erected by his widow at a cost of £270; in the nave is a memorial window to the Rev. Edward Lawson Bowman B.A. vicar, 1875—89, d. 24 January, 1890, and there are others to Mary Anne Harrocks, and to Robert and Ellen Hodgson: in the church are also monuments to the Rev. Hugh Salvin, mentioned above, to bis twin brother Jeffery Salvin, Captain 4th Foot, d. 29 November, 1850; to the Rev. Thomas Lancaster, vicar, d. q December, 1789, and Ruth, his widow, d. 6 March, 1807, and there are others to the Bridgewood, Hodgson and Wilson families: the church plate includes a fluted cup or porringer, dated 1726—7, a pewter flagon and paten, dated 1744, and a modern set presented by Mrs. and Misses Hodgson, of Salkeld Hall, in, memory of the late Robert Hodgson esq.: in 1874 a sum of £207 was expended on the church, in carving and other decorative work, and in 1878 a new organ was erected at a cost of £670; the tower and spire were completed in 1886 at a cost of £1,170, of which sum £700 was contributed by Miss Hodgson, of Salkeld Hall. The register of baptisms dates from the year 1700, and of marriages and burials from 1701. The living is a vicarage, net yearly value £259, with residence, in the gift of the Lords of the Admiralty; it is invariably bestowed on a chaplain of the Royal Navy, and held since 1889 by the Rev. William Alan Rutherford D.D. of Trinity College, Dublin. Divine service is also conducted every Sunday afternoon at the National School, Leadgate. The Wesleyan chapel was first built in 1797, and enlarged in 1825: in 1867—8 it was taken down, and a new chapel erected on the same site, from designs by Mr. R. F. N. Haswell, architect, at a cost of upwards of £2,000, inclusive of £250 for an organ: it has sittings for 600 persons, and there is also a large school-room and two vestries on the ground floor. At Brownside is a Wesleyan, chapel, built in 1848, with 100 sittings; and another at Nest, built in 1844, and seating 100. The Congregational chapel, erected in 1804, was renovated in 1884, and has sittings for 350 persons: a Sunday school was built in 1879 at a cost of £400. The Primitive Methodist chapel, erected in 1843 was rebuilt in 1852, and renovated in 1888, and will seat 350 persons. There is another Primitive Methodist chapel at Blaygill. The Friends’ meeting-house, built in 1732, and restored in 1759, will seat 200 persons. A cemetery of 4 acres was formed in 1860 at a cost of £985, and is under the control of a burial board of 7 members. The Town Hall, erected in 1857, a cost of £3,000, is a handsome building of stone in the Gothic style, and contains a large hall, holding 400 persons, news and reading-room, board-room, a room occupied by the Literary Institute, and savings-bank offices, with a dwelling house forming a distinct but attached building. The Market cross, which stands in the centre of the Market place, is a square-covered building open on all sides, and in the centre is a stone column rising to the roof, and bearing an inscription, and on the apex of the roof is a small iron cross. This building, a reproduction of the former cross built in 1765 by the Right Hon. Sir William Stephenson bart. a native of Crosslands, and Lord Mayor of London in 1764, was erected in 1883 by subscriptions, at a cost of £160; H. P. Stephenson esq. of Croydon, contributing £50, and the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, £50. A stone, formerly on the old Cross, and recording its erection, is now in the church tower. The Literary Institute, formerly called the Mechanics’ Institute, and established in 1847, comprises a news room well supplied with daily papers and periodicals, and a, library of about 1,200 volumes; there were in 1896, 100 members, and visitors are admitted on a small daily payment. The Union club, established in 1889, occupies premises in the Market place, comprising news room and smoking and billiard rooms; the members number about 200. The Liberal club, formed in 1890, has a large reading room, and numbers 100 members. The Alston District Women’s Liberal Association occupy the same premises, and has 150 members. There are branches here of the London and Midland Bank Limited, and the Carlisle and Cumberland Bank, and there is also a savings bank, established in 1825. The deposits in 1896 amounted to over £15,000, chiefly the property of working men. There is a county police station, with residence for one constable, together with a lock-up for prisoners, and a room for magisterial and petty sessional business. Near the Town, Hall is a monument erected by the inhabitants of Alston as a token of respect to the memory of Jacob Walton, of “Greerends, who died March 2nd, 1863. The Agricultural Society was formed in 1838, and has now (1896) 165 members; a show is held annually in October. There are two Friendly Societies: a Lodge of Oddfellows and a Mechanics’ Club. A weekly market is held on Saturdays; and fairs on the third Saturday in March for cattle, Saturday before April 23rd for horses, cattle and sheep, the last Thursday in May for horses, cattle, sheep and pigs, the Saturday on or before the 27th of September for horses and cattle, Saturday on or before October 18th for sheep, and the first Thursday in November for horses, cattle and sheep. The district abounds in lead mines, but only a few are now being worked. Silver is invariably found in the ore, in proportions varying from 12 to so high as 60 ounces to 20 cwt. of lead. The proportion of metal to ore is 20 cwts. of the former to 27 of the ore. Copper is also found here. Blende, commonly called “black Jack,” a native sulphide of zinc, is also found, and converted into zinc metal. Umber is found in large quantities, and prepared for use for the manufacture of paint and color. Coal (called Crow coal) is found on Alston Moor and Cross Fell; it is used principally for lime burning, but has very little flame, burning slowly and with an intense heat, and contains a large proportion of iron pyrites. There are limestone quarries and lime works, and near Ayleburn is a small colliery. The town has stone-breaking works, works for preparing umber, a knit hosiery factory, two corn mills and a saw mill.

Charities:-The Fairhill Estate, including Graham’s gift, comprises about 107 acres of land, producing £118 yearly, and is now (1897) distributed as follows:-To the poor of Alston, £42 14s. 2d.; to Alston school, £41 12s. 10d.; to the poor of Garrigill, £14 3s. 7d.; the master of Garrigill school, £12 16s. 3d.; and the surplus, £7 3s. 2d. for the expenses of management; under a scheme of the Charity Commissioners, framed December, 1881, the portion now received by the master will, when he ceases to become master, be applied in maintaining exhibitions of not less than £15 nor more than £25, tenable for 4 years, at any place of higher education approved of by the governors of the endowment appointed under the scheme. Shield’s gift of £2 yearly, left in 1617 by John Shield, cook, of London, is due from the Cooks’ Company and is distributed in money, one third being assigned to the poor of Garrigill. Robert Wilkinson, by will dated 24th February, 1685, gave £100 to Garigill; this sum invester in land produces £5 yearly, of which £3 is for education, 10s. for a sermon, 10s. for the poor, and £1 for the trustees. Ald. John Stephenson, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, by will dated 29 May, 1759, left £4 for 16 poor widows; 8 in Alston, and 8 in Garrigill. Charles Langhorne esq. of Craig Nook, by will dated 20 June, 1802, devised certain property, afterwards sold and invested in reduced stock; the interest, amounting to about £23 per annum, is distributed in money. The Frances Hodgson Memorial Fund, founded by deed in 1865, consists of £400 in Consols, producing £12 a year, which is distributed in kind and money by the trustees. Samuel King of Glasgow, by will dated 6 November, 1872, left the sum of £2,000 to the magistrates for the town of Alston, to be applied by them towards charitable objects, whether educational or otherwise; this money, which is invested in the per cent, stock is at present (1896) unapplied. Charles Attwood, in 1886, bequeathed an annuity of £25 to the incumbent of the parish of Alston, for the benefit of poor people in physical need, those of Garrigill to receive £5 yearly.

About 200 yards from the railway station, on the north side of the river Nent, and about 100 yards from the “Force,” or cascade, from which it takes its name, is the mouth of the stupendous adit called “Nent Force level,” commenced 10 June, 1776, and completed in 1842, at a cost of £81,000: it is 4 ½ miles in length, and was projected by Mr. John Smeaton, and executed by order of the Commissioners of Greenwich Hospital. The level is in two sections: the first level was cut on the dead line as far as Nentsbury, a distance of 3 miles from the mouth, and subsequently a ventilating shaft was sunk to the Tyne bottom shale, and connected with the first section. The second section is about 1 ½ miles in length, and extends from the shaft at Nentsbury to the shaft at Wellgill; it is not driven on the dead line, but rises rapidly, gaining in one mile 32 feet. The first section is navigable, and can be explored. Nent Force is a romantic cascade of some height, and a few hundred yards below it the Nent joins the South Tyre. The district possesses many natural curiosities; large caverns are frequently met with in the lead mines and being formed of variegated spar in numberless forma of crystallization, present in some instances a very beautiful and even splendid appearance. The Roman road, called the “Maiden Wav,” crossed the west side of this parish, where its remains are very distinct in several places. An inscribed altar has been found here; at Hall Hill are remains of a Roman camp, in which silver denarii have been met with, and in 1839 two bronze vessels; at Garrigill is a field called “Chesters.” Upon “Hall Hill,” a little below Tyne bridge, and opposite the confluence of the Nent and South Tyne, are the foundations of an ancient fortress, once surrounded by a moat. Tutman’s Hole is a large cavern in Gildersdale forest, of unknown length, but is said to have been explored for more than a mile from its mouth. Small trout abound in the rivers, and grouse upon the moor, where also grow clustered bramble-like cranberries, commonly called “crowberries.”

Randal Holme, the ancient Manor house of Kirkhaugh, and once fortified, is now a farm residence; near the roof is the date 1711, with the initials W. R. A. On the front are the arms of the Richardsons, of Hunwick, “on a chief 3 lions’ heads erased,” with the motto, “Virtute acquiritur honos,” the initials W. R. R. and the date 1746.

The Lords of the Admiralty are the lords of the manor (with the exception of Tyne Head, which belongs to Lt.-Col. Alfred Molyneux Cranmer Byng, of Quenden Hall, Newport, Essex). The lords of the manor lease the mines conditionally on receiving a royalty of 1/18. The soil is a mixture of clay, moss and sand The high lands and wastes afford but a scanty pasturage, being covered chiefly with heath and bent. The chief crops are grass. The area is 36,720 acres of land, a great portion of which is moorland and sheepwalks, and 248 of water; rateable value, £13,984; the population in 1891 was 3,384 in the civil and 2,371 in the ecclesiastical parish.

Mines.

The mines on Alston moor belong to the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, and are leased by the Vieille Montagne Zinc Co.: for name of mines see Trades Section Manager, John James Constant Fernau Agents, Walton Holmes & Joseph Thompson.

VOLUNTEERS

1st Cumberland Vol. Batt, the Border Regiment, 1 company, Hen. Major Thos. W, Dickinson, commanding; Stewart Carson, lieut.; Sergt. Nicholas Blezard, drill instructor.

ALSTON UNION

The Board of Guardians meet fortnightly, on Saturdays, at the Town hall, at 1 p.m. The union comprises the township of Alston & chapelries of Garragill & Nenthead. The area of the whole union is 36,968 acres; rateable value in 1896 £13,984; the population in 1891 was 3,384.

PLACES OF WORSHIP, with times of Services

St. Augustine’s Church, Rev. Wm. A. Rutherford D.D. vicar; Rev. James Carnegie Mullin, curate; 10.30 a.m. & 6.30 p.m.

Congregational, Rev. William Farrier; 10.30 a.m. & 6 p.m.; Wed. 8 p.m.

Primitive Methodist, Rev. Thomas Wood Blaygill; 2 & 6 p.m.; every other Fri. 7 p.m.

Wesleyan, Rev. Edward Crump & Rev. Joseph Britton; 10.30 a.m. & 6 p.m.; Fri. 7 p.m.

Low Brownside; 2 & 6 p.m.; Thur. 7 p.m. Nest; 2 & 6 p.m.; Tue. 7 p.m.

Friends’ Meeting House, services occasionally.

SCHOOLS

Endowed Grammar, rebuilt in 1828 & endowed with about £45 per annum, derived from the Fairhill estate & Graham’s gift. The school will hold 80 boys; average attendance, 30.

A School Board of 5 members was formed October 11, 1892. Robert Elliot, chairman & treasurer; Thomas Wm. Dickinson, clerk to the board; Nathaniel Walton, Town hall, attendance officer.

National, Church of England (girls), built by subscription in 1844, for 150 children; average attendance, 48.

National, Church of England (infants), built in 1851, at the expense of the Rev. Hugh Salvin, vicar, & holding 100 children; average attendance, 54.

National, Church of England, Leadgate (mixed), rebuilt in 1850, for 100 children; average attendance, 22.

Undenominational (mixed), built in 1811 & rebuilt in 1884; it will hold 150 children; average attendance, 98.