Hartley in 1839
Hartley is in Earsdon parish and in Castle ward, 10 miles north-east of Newcastle. Seaton Sluice is in the township of Hartley, about a mile to the north of the town. The area of Earsdon parish is 11,060 acres : the population in 1831 was 6,460 : that of Hartley township, one of eight townships into which the parish is divided, was 1,850. Sir Ralph Delaval, in the time of Charles II, constructed a haven at the mouth of the Seaton Burn, which flows into the sea in this township ; and in order to prevent the harbour being filled up with mud and sand, he formed a sluice, with flood-gates to scour the haven. This haven was improved by the late Lord Delaval, who made a new entrance by a cut through the solid rock. This improvement has rendered the harbour accessible at all times and in every state of wind : it is capable of holding twelve or fifteen vessels of 300 tons, which can ride in safety, and enter or leave the harbour fully laden. The principal trade of the place is in the coals dug from the collieries of the parish, in which nearly 500 men are employed. There is a drawbridge over the new entrance to the harbour. There are in the township three glass-houses for the manufacture of bottle, some malt-kilns, and a brewery. There are Presbyterian and Methodist meeting houses. Nearly opposite Hartley town is a small island, called St. Mary or Bates’s Island, on which formerly stood a chapel and a hermitage. There were in the township, in 1831, three day-schools, with 154 children, and one Sunday-school, with 180 children.
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