BACKWORTH

Identity: confirmed — The registry record is identified as the Backworth manor in Earsdon, Northumberland. Northumberland Archives describes Backworth as part of the Tynemouth Lordship, with Tynemouth Priory creating a manorial demesne and hall there in the thirteenth century; it was one of the priory's ten manors. The associated historical evidence distinguishes East and West Backworth in the same Earsdon locality.
Representative point: 55.03449, -1.51696
Basis: supported_manorial_centre — Backworth Hall occupies the established Backworth manorial/estate centre. The present hall was built in 1778-80 on the site of a 1675 hall, while the medieval manor had a documented manorial hall at Backworth. The hall site is at OS Grid Reference NZ 43005 57204.
Point confidence: medium
Boundary status: representative_point_only
Boundary period:
Boundary confidence: none
Boundary basis: The sources establish Backworth's historical locality and township context but do not provide a sufficiently documented perimeter for the medieval or later manor itself. The published boundaries of Backworth township—Shire Moor to the south, Seaton Burn to the north, Long Benton and Burradon to the west, and Holywell and Earsdon to the east—cannot safely be substituted for the manorial boundary.
Sources:
- Northumberland Archives, Manor History File: Backworth: https://northumberlandarchives.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Manor-History-File-BACKWORTH.pdf — Identifies Backworth as part of the Tynemouth Lordship; records the 1189 charter, the 1241 quitclaim, creation of a monastic demesne and manorial hall, and its status as one of Tynemouth Priory's ten manors.
- Backworth village (East Backworth), Tyne and Wear Historic Environment Record HER 746: https://www.twsitelines.info/SMR/746 — Locates the historic Backworth settlement at OS Grid Reference NZ430000572200 and records its medieval relationship with Tynemouth Priory, the two Backworth settlements, tenants and surrounding agricultural land.
- Backworth Hall (Miners' Welfare Hall), Tyne and Wear Historic Environment Record HER 5167: https://www.twsitelines.info/SMR/5167 — Locates Backworth Hall at OS Grid Reference NZ430050572040 and records that the 1778-80 hall replaced a seventeenth-century house on the same site.
- Backworth Miners Welfare Hall, Historic England List Entry 1354995: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1354995?section=official-list-entry — Confirms the historic Backworth Hall site, formerly listed as Backworth Hall, at National Grid Reference NZ 30062 72044; describes the 1778 hall built for Ralph William Grey.
- History of Backworth, GB Historical GIS / Vision of Britain: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/8695 — Identifies Backworth as a township in Earsdon parish, historically in Northumberland, and records that its manor belonged to Tynemouth Priory.
Warnings / uncertainty:
- The exact medieval manor-house location is not independently documented; Backworth Hall is used as a supported manorial/estate centre rather than asserted to be the unchanged medieval hall site.
- No historically documented manor polygon was found. The returned point should not be expanded into a boundary polygon without further archival map or estate-plan research.
- East and West Backworth were distinct medieval settlements, so the modern settlement extent should not be treated as the manor boundary.