HISTORY OF CLIFFE
Geographical and Historical information from the year 1890.
(The following text is as it was said, in the year 1890).
Cliffe township, containing about 700 acres, situated in the wapentake of
West Gilling, is the property of Colonel Wilson. Rateable value £960, and
population 72.
The village, which is small, stands on the south bank of the river Tees,
and derives its name from the cliffs which here margin the river. Hard by
is the old Roman road, Watling Street, and on the opposite side of the
river, on the spot where Piercebridge now stands, was a Roman station,
part of the western vallum of which remained till 1822, when it was
demolished by the then occupant, James O'Callaghan, Esq., M.P., and the
stones, except for a few that retained fragments of inscriptions, were
used in the erection of farm buildings. Horsley and Hodgson identify this
station with the Magis of the Itinerary, and from its position we may
assume that its purpose was the protection of the ford by which the road
from York to the Great Wall here crossed the river.
Previous to the present day bridge, erected in 1797, there was a so called
"Priest's Bridge" which was destroyed in the great flood of 1771, and
remained down until 1798. Previous to this, a Roman Bridge having five
arches and presumably of wood from evidence of timber framing which was
visible up to the time of the great flood of 1771.
Cliffe Hall, the seat of Colonel Wilson, is a neat mansion, rebuilt in
1859 by the present owners father.
Cliffe estate was for several centuries the property of the Withams, who
resided at the Hall. It came into their possession by the marriage of
George Witham, Esq., with Margaret, daughter and co-heir of John Wawton,
of Cliffe. She died in 1479, and is buried at Manfield.
From records dated 1823, the estate was quoted as having a population of
53.
And a Catholic chapel ministered by the Rev. William Hogarth.
The Hall and estate were sold by the representative of the family in 1825, to John Wilson, Esq., grandfather of the present Colonel John Gerald Wilson, J.P. and D.L. In the park is a tumulus; and in 1844, within half a mile of the fortress, a monumental slab was found where the road turns off to Cliffe Hall. The inscription has been rendered as; This stone was erected by Aurelia Fadilla to the memory of her husband, aged 22, Centurion of the Second Thracians,, from Germany Superior.
[Description(s) from Bulmers History and Directory of North Yorkshire
(1890).
To be continued.
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