CONSETT, a small town in the township of Conside-Cum-Knitsley and parochial chapelry of Medomsley and formed into an ecclesiastical parish in 1862, from the parishes of Ebchester and Lanchester; it is 12 miles north-west from Durham and 14 south-west from Newcastle, in the North Western division of the county, west division of Chester ward, Lanchester union, head of the petty sessional division of Consett, Consett county court district, rural deanery of Ryton and archdeaconry and diocese of Durham. Consett and Blackhill station, quarter of a mile north, and Knitsley station, 1 ½ miles south-west, are on the Consett branch of the North Eastern railway. Consett adopted the Local Government Act, 1858, in 1865, and is governed by a Local Board of 12 members. Christ Church, erected in 1866, is a noble edifice of stone, in the Norman style, consisting of chancel, nave of four bays, north aisle and a western tower, with pinnacles, containing 6 bells: there are sittings for about 700 persons. The register dates from the year 1866.

The living is a vicarage, yearly value £300, with residence in the gift of the Crown and the Bishop of Durham alter nately, and held since 1864 by the Rev. Frederick Steggall There are Wesleyan, Baptist and Primitive Methodis chapels and Salvation Army barracks. There are collierie in this township. The Consett ironworks, established in 1841, situated in this township, are very extensive; some idea may be formed of the extent by the following statistics:-about 6,000 hands of all sorts are employed, about 3,000 in coal mining and 3,000 in the manufacture of coke, pig iron, steel and iron plates &c.: about 1,000,000 tons of coal are raised, and 500,000 tons of coke are made yearly: there are 7 large blast furnaces capable of turning out 700 tons each of pig iron per week: the company are engaged in mining in the north of Spain, whence they procure their hematite ore: about 2,300 tons of stee plates are made per week, and 500 tons of iron plates the bulk of which is consumed in ship building, boiler making and bridge building. The New Town Hall, situated at the corner of Front street and Middle street, is a large stone building, erected in 1884, from the designs of Mr. W. Lister Newcombe, of Newcastle-on-Tyne, at a cost of £5,000; the ground floor is occupied by shops, offices and the reading room, library and billiard room of the Consett Recreation Society; above is a large hall, which will hold 1,000 persons. The Theatre Royal is situated in Trafalgar street, and will hold 700 persons. The Infirmary, a building of stone, erected in 1876, is supported by the Consett Iron Co. and none but employes of the company are admitted; it will hold 50 patients. Consett Hall is the residence of William Jenkins esq. J.P. The Ecclesiastical Commissioners are the lords of the manor. The Earl of Coventry, the Consett Iron Co. Limited and William Robert Taylor esq. are chief landowners. The soil is clay. The chief crops are potatoes, barley, oats and pasture. The area of the township is 3,119 acres; rateable value, £31,150; the population in 1881 was, of the township 6,746, and of the parish 7,708.

The Petty Sessions are held in the Police Station, a stone building, erected in 1877, at a cost of £4,000, every alternate Monday at 11 a.m. The following places are included in the Petty Sessional division:-Consett, Ivestone, Castleside, Medomsley, Burnopfield, Annfieldplain, Oxhill, Burnhope, Eshe, Ushaw College, Lanchester, Blackhill, Ebchester, Dipton, Tantobie, South Moor, Tanfield Lea, Cornsay Colliery, Satley, Crookhall, Leadgate, Shotley Bridge, Westwood, Hilltop, Stanley, Craghead, Shield Row, Quebec, Headley Hill.

Schools

British (mixed & infants), Medomsley road, built in 1840, for 620 children; average attendance, 420 boys & girls & 180 infants.

National (mixed & infants), built in 1875, for 650 children; average attendance, 270 boys & girls & 200 infants.

Wesleyan (mixed & infants), built in 1879, for 380 children; average attendance, 138 boys & girls & 92 infants.

St. Patrick’s, Catholic (mixed & infants), built in 1868, for 750 children; average attendance, 300 boys &; girls & 230 infants; conducted by Sisters of Charity.