Sockburn

"The population in 1801 was 34; in 1811, 37; in 1821, 43; in 1831, 50; in 1841, 42; in 1851, 43; in 1861, 59; in 1871, 35; in 1881, 44, in 18191, 44 souls."

[From History, Topography and Directory of Durham, Whellan , London, 1894]

The 1851 Census Index (booklet 47) published by the Cleveland Family History Society may be of value to researchers interested in this parish.

"The Old Parish Church Of Sockburn, a few ruins of which now only remain, consisted of a chancel, nave, north and south porches. The north porch contained the tombs of the Conyers, several monumental brasses (since removed) of that family, besides a blue marble slab, sculptured with a crossflory, a sword, and a shield bearing the family arms. This fine old English church was dismantled in Bishop Maltby's time, and the present nondescript building erected in the hamlet of Girsby in its place. The building dates from the early part of the fourteenth century. The Saxon sculptured stones, now at the east end of the chancel, have been ascribed to the eighth and ninth centuries.. Some are the remains of shafts and heads of crosses, which no doubt stood at the heads of graves. One of these is a very remarkable piece of work, and appears to be a representation of Daniel in the Lion's Den, a not uncommon subject in early Christian work. The recumbent effigy of one of the ancient lords of Sockburn has been removed to Sockburn Hall. The figure is completely clad in chain armour and surcoat, the legs are crossed, and the feet rest upon a lion in conflict, apparently with a dragon or other mythical beast, and allusive perhaps to the legend; the long pointed shield displays no device. This knightly effigy, which is in an excellent state of preservation, is commonly believed to be that of Sir John Conyers, who died in 1395, but is no doubt considerably older. It has been sculptured with rare skill and delicacy of execution, and is one of the finest examples of mediaeval art in the north of England."

[From History, Topography and Directory of Durham, Whellan , London, 1894]

The Parish Registers for the period 1580-1982 are deposited at Durham County Record Office, County Hall, Durham, DH1 5UL (EP/Soc).

Marriage indexes for 1580-1837 (11 kbytes) from the George Bell Collection of Durham and Northumberland Indexes.

The Marriages (1593-1837) are included in the Joiner Marriage Index.

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• Ask for a calculation of the distance from Sockburn to another place.

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference NZ349072 (Lat/Lon: 54.459113, -1.463242), Sockburn which are provided by:

• OpenStreetMap
• Google Maps
• StreetMap (Current Ordnance Survey maps)
• Bing (was Multimap)
• Old Maps Online
• National Library of Scotland (Old Ordnance Survey maps)
• Vision of Britain (Click "Historical units & statistics" for administrative areas.)
• English Jurisdictions in 1851 (Unfortunately the LDS have removed the facility to enable us to specify a starting location, you will need to search yourself on their map.)
• Magic (Geographic information) (Click + on map if it doesn't show)
• GeoHack (Links to on-line maps and location specific services.)

• All places within the same township/parish shown on an Openstreetmap map.
• Nearby townships/parishes shown on an Openstreetmap map.
• Nearby places shown on an Openstreetmap map.