STANLEY, an ecclesiastical district formed May 22, 1872, from the civil parish of Brancepeth, is 6 ½ miles north-west from Bishop Auckland, 11 south-west from Durham, and 3 north from Crook station, in the Mid division of the county, north-west division of Darlington ward, Durham petty sessional division, Auckland union, Bishop Auckland county court district, rural deanery and archdeaconry of Auckland and diocese of Durham. The church of St. Thomas is a building of stone in the Early English style, consisting of chancel, nave of three bays, south aisle, south porch, and a western tower containing 1 bell: the stained east window was erected in 1879 by T. Douglas esq. J.P. as a memorial to his mother: there are 400 sittings. The register dates from the year 1877. The living is a vicarage, yearly value £250, with residence, in the gift of the Bishop of Durham, and held since 1872 by the Rev. Joseph Roscamp L.Th. of Durham University. Viscount Barrington is lord of the manor and principal landowner. The soil is light; subsoil, clay. The chief crops are wheat, oats and potatoes. The area is 2,250; the population in 1881 was 3,865.

Mount Pleasant, Billy Hill, Woolley, and portions of Sunnyside and Billy Bow, are places in this district.

Board School, Sunnyside (mixed), built in 1878 for 320 children; average attendance, 240.

British School (mixed), erected in 1874 for 150 children; average attendance, full.