Last week we found that several scattered pit terraces developed in Gilesgate Moor during the 1800s along with a little village called New Durham. The settlements grew between Sunderland and Sherburn Road while the area outside remained agricultural.

In medieval times all land stretching from Kepier near Gilesgate to Ramside was agricultural and belonged to Kepier's medieval hospital, owned by the monks of Durham.

When Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries, the land was seized and passed in succession to Sir William Paget and a Scot called John Cockburn, Lord of Ormiston.

In 1555 Cockburn's land along with Old Durham (near Shincliffe) was sold to the Heath family and from 1568 a Londoner called John Heath occupied the land. It was unusual for a southerner acquiring northern land to actually move north, but Heath died at Kepier in 1590 and is buried in St Giles church, Gilesgate, where his effigy can be seen.

In subsequent years Heath's land was divided amongst his family. Apart from Old Durham the land had formed a single entity, but the divisions undertaken by the Heaths traced their origins back to two medieval manors called Caldecotes and Clifton. They were mentioned in the 1100s and were probably Anglo-Saxon settlements. Caldecoates' land encompassed much of Gilesgate Moor, while Clifton seems to have covered the Carrville area.

The name Caldecotes refers to a derelict habitation of some kind, possibly of Roman or Saxon origin. A Roman road passed through this area and of course a Roman farm once existed just to the south at Old Durham.

Clifton roughly corresponded to those parts of Heath's land called Low Grange. The steep slopes of the Wear or neighbouring limestone escarpment at Pittington probably formed the cliffs in question.

By the 1600s Heath's territories in Gilesgate Moor consisted of five divisions centred on the farms of Old Durham, Kepier, High Grange, Low Grange and Ramside.

Ramside is now the site of a hotel and will be covered in a forthcoming 'Durham Memories'. Kepier Farm stands on the Durham riverside near the Sands. It incorporates the gatehouse of Kepier's medieval hospital and stands near rapids. In earlier times a Roman road is thought to have crossed the river at this point. The Heaths built their manor house next door that became a pub by the 1820s.

A mile east of Kepier is Low Grange. It has a less idyllic setting than Kepier farm and is just north of Belmont motorway interchange across the A690 from Ramside.

High Grange stood on Gilesgate Moor half way between Low Grange and Kepier and included a medieval tithe barn. The farm and barn was demolished around 1960 and High Grange housing estate stands in its place.

In 1629, the Heaths sold Kepier and High Grange to Ralph Cole of Gateshead, a Newcastle merchant. Cole sold them to Sir Christopher Musgrave of Carlisle in 1674. Part of Musgrave's land (High Grange) was subsequently sold to the Carr family of Cocken Hall near Finchale.

A street called Kepier Crescent and a lane called Kepier Lane now divide High Grange housing estate from a council estate near Gilesgate Comprehensive School. They lie along the old boundary between the lands of Carr and Musgrave. Musgrave Gardens, built in the 1920s were just within Musgrave's land.

The duff heap (now Mackintosh Court) where Kepier Colliery was established in 1822 stood close to Musgrave Gardens. Mr Dixon and Mr Thwaites owned the pit and opened another called Florence Pit in 1872. It stood further north near the river. Disused by the 1890s, a map of that time shows the colliery site stuck almost in the middle of a military rifle range.

The rifle range was one of two built in the area in the late nineteenth century. The other stood to the south near Old Durham Colliery. Concrete blocks that supported the rifle targets can still be seen alongside the river near the Florence Pit site. The range extended 900 yards west to Kepier Hospital and all of these features were built on Musgrave land.

Carr's land extended eastward from Kepier Lane as far as the north side of Carrville High Street. This village of Victorian origin is very likely named after the family, but Carr can also refer to boggy land.

In later years the Carrs of Cocken and High Grange were called Standish-Standish. Around 1812, William Carr of Cocken inherited some Cheshire lands and a title through his great grandmother. He became William Standish-Standish of Duxbury Hall but resided at Cocken where he died in 1856.

He was buried in a cliff face in Houghton cut near Houghton-le-Spring because the churchyards were too full of bodies from the Sunderland cholera epidemic. Some local people claim Standish-Standish committed suicide by riding his horse off this cliff and his ghost is said to haunt the site.

When the Musgraves acquired Heath's Kepier land Old Durham and Low Grange remained Heath property. The Heaths held this land until 1642 when Elizabeth Heath, the last of the line married John Tempest, a Durham MP. In 1819, their descendant, Frances Anne Tempest married the third Marquis of Londonderry and Low Grange and Old Durham became Marquis of Londonderry land.

The Marquis, whose statue can be seen in Durham market place, became an important coal owner in the area and members of his family were commemorated in the names of several sites in Gilesgate Moor. Ernest and Adolphus Place, both off Rennys Lane near Dragonville are named from his sons. Ernest was also remembered in the name of the Lord Ernest Pit at Old Durham, while pits at Pittington and Broomside were respectively named after Ernest's sisters Alexandrina and Adelaide.

Published: 22/10/2004

If you have any memories of Durham City, Chester-le-Street, Derwentside or the Durham coast, including old photos or stories of people and places you would like to share with readers of The Northern Echo, write to David Simpson, Durham Memories, The Northern Echo, Priestgate, Darlington, DL1 1NF or email David.Simpson@nne.co.uk. All photos will be returned.