In a message dated 02/01/2010 09:42:45 GMT Standard Time, r.strong@sheffield.ac.uk writes: Thanks Mary and Michael for that help. I was a bit too focussed on Eglingham and not looking far enough away. There are "parish maps" readily available for all counties of England, including both Northumberland and Co Durham. They show that some parishes were much larger than others, and sometimes they give other useful information such as the date of commencement of their earliest known registers. For instance, in Northumberland what has been called the "Great Parish" of Simonburn, pre-1818, extended from the lower N Tyne valley right up to the Scottish Border, whereas others, such as Newcastle St Nicholas, occupied a very small area of land (though in that case still with a large population to go with it!). More relevant to this query, however, some parishes were "long and thin", meaning that in one direction their neighbouring parish was "just down the road", whereas in another one could travel for many miles and still be within the same parish. Also, the village which contained the parish church and after which the parish was named, might be in one corner of such a long, thin parish, and not centrally situated. Eglingham parish extends for a long way NE of Eglingham itself and covers a fairly large area. Anyone not familiar with Northumberland parishes would be well advised to get a parish map. Geoff Nicholson

Hi Geoff. Are these "parish maps" available on line, if so, what is the web-address. If not, where does one get them. Thanks & Happy New Year to you & all the list. Regards, Malcolm Campbell, London,Ontario,Canada > Anyone not familiar with Northumberland parishes would be well advised > to get a parish map. > >