Prior to the formation of the parish of Burnmoor, the inhabitants, if they desired to attend a service of the Church of England, needed to travel three miles to the churches at Penshaw, Houghton-le-Spring, Chester-le-Street or Lumley; and consequently few of the people of Burnmoor ever attended service at any of those places. Taking into account the long distance to church and also the large population gathered together in the district, it was determined to form a new parish. An order was issued by the Queen in Council on 28th December, 1865, forming the parish of Burnmoor, which comprised the townships of Biddick and Burnmoor taken from the parish of Penshaw and township of Lambton from the parish of Lumley.
The fourteenth report of The Charity Commissioners for England and Wales, with an appendix. 1866.
Presented to both Houses of Parliament by Command of Her Majesty.
No. 1845
For constituting the District of Burnmoor out of the Parish of Penshaw, sometime part of the Parish of Houghton-le-Spring, in the County and Diocese of Durham
Gazetted 2nd January, 1866
At the Court at Osborne House, Isle of Wight, the 28th day of December, 1865.
Present: The Queen’s Most Excellent Majesty in Council
Whereas the Ecclesiastical Commissioners for England have, in pursuance of the Act of the third and fourth years of Her Majesty, chapter one hundred and thirteen ; of the Act of the sixth and seventh years of Her Majesty, chapter thirty-seven ; and of the Act of the twenty-third and twenty-fourth years of Her Majesty, chapter one hundred and twenty-four ; duly prepared and laid before Her Majesty in Council a scheme, bearing date the seventh day of December, in the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the words following j that is to say:
"We, the Ecclesiastical Commissioners for England, in pursuance of the Act of the third and fourth years of Your Majesty, chapter one hundred and thirteen ; of the Act of the sixth and seventh years of Tour Majesty, chapter thirty-seven; and of the Act of the twenty-third and twenty-fourth years of Your Majesty, chapter one hundred and twenty-four; have prepared, and now humbly lay before Your Majesty in Council, the following scheme for constituting a separate district, for spiritual purposes, out of the parish of Penshaw, sometime part of the parish of Houghton-le-Spring, in the county of Durham and in the diocese of Durham.
"Whereas it has been made to appeal1 to us that it would promote the interests of religion that the particular portion of the said parish of Penshaw which is herein-after mentioned and described (such portion not at present containing within its limits any consecrated church or chapel in use for the purposes of Divine worship) should be constituted a separate district in the manner herein-after set forth.
"And whereas certain hereditaments and premises situate within the said parish of Houghton-le-Spring have become vested in us under the provisions of and for the purposes of the herein-mentioned Acts.
"Now, therefore, with the consent of the Right Reverend Charles, Bishop of the said diocese of Durham (in testimony whereof he has signed and sealed this scheme), we humbly recommend and propose, that all that portion of the said parish of Penshaw which is described in the schedule hereunder written, and which is delineated and set forth on the map or plan hereunto annexed, shall, upon and from the day of the date of the publication in the London Gazette of any Order of Your Majesty in Council ratifying this scheme, become and be constituted a separate district, for spiritual purposes, and that the same shall be named ' The District of Burnmoor.'
"And we further recommend and propose, that there shall be paid by us, in each and every year, to the minister for the time being of the district so recommended to be constituted, when duly licensed according to the provisions of the herein secondly mentioned Act, the sum of one hundred and fifty pounds, and that so soon as a church shall have been erected within such district, and shall have been approved by us and consecrated as the church of such district, and for the use and service of the minister and inhabitants thereof, and such district shall have thereupon become, according to the provisions of the said last-mentioned Act, a new parish for ecclesiastical purposes, there shall be paid by us, in each and every year, to the perpetual curate for the time being of such new parish, the further sum of fifty pounds, making in the whole the sum of two hundred pounds, and that the said sums of one hundred and fifty pounds or two hundred pounds, as the case may be, shall be paid by equal half-yearly payments on the first day of May and the first day of November in each and every year, and that the first such payment, or a proportionate part thereof, shall be made on the first day of May or of November next after the day of the date of the licence of such minister or of the consecration of such church as aforesaid, as the case may be; and that in case a vacancy in the ministry or perpetual curacy of such district or new parish shall happen on any other day than the first day of May, or the first day of November, the amount then next thereafter payable shall be duly apportioned between and paid to the minister or the perpetual curate making the vacancy, or his personal representative or representatives, and the minister or the perpetual curate succeeding to such district or new parish ; provided always, that if it shall appear to us to be expedient at any future time, that instead of the annual sum then in course of payment by us to the minister or perpetual curate of the said district or new parish, or instead of any part of such annual sum, any land, tithe, or other hereditament should be conveyed or secured to such minister or perpetual curate and his successors, nothing herein or in any other scheme contained shall prevent us from recommending and proposing such a substitution.
"And we further recommend and propose, that nothing herein contained shall prevent us from recommending and proposing any other measures relating to the matters aforesaid, or any of them, in accordance with the provisions of the said Acts, or of either of them, or of any other Act of Parliament,
"The Schedule to which the foregoing scheme has reference.
"The District of Burnmoor, being :—
"All that portion of the parish of Penshaw, sometime part of the parish of Houghton-le-Spring, in the county of Durham and in the diocese of Durham, which is comprised within and is coextensive with the limits of the contiguous townships of South Biddick and of Burnmoor, otherwise called Bourn Moor."
And whereas a draft of the said scheme has, in accordance with the provisions of the said secondly mentioned Act, been transmitted to the incumbent and to the patron of the rectory of the said parish of Penshaw, out of which it is intended that the district therein recommended to be constituted shall be taken, and such incumbent and patron have respectively signified their assent thereto.
And whereas the said scheme has been approved by Her Majesty in Council: now, therefore, Her Majesty, by and with the advice of Her said Council, is pleased hereby to ratify the said scheme, and to order and direct that the same, and every part thereof, shall be effectual in law immediately from and after the time when this Order shall have been duly published in the London Gazette, pursuant to the said Acts; and Her Majesty, by and with the like advice, is pleased hereby to direct that this Order be forthwith registered by the Registrar of the said diocese of Durham.
Arthur Helps.