High Friarside is a village in

County Durham County Durham, officially simply Durham, is a ceremonial county in North East England.UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne an ...

, England classified as a

suburban area A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

. It is situated a short distance to the west of

Burnopfield Burnopfield is a village in County Durham, in England. It is situated north of Stanley, County Durham, Stanley and Annfield Plain, close to the River Derwent, North East England, River Derwent and is above sea level. There are around 4,553 inhab ...

. The placename is variously recorded as Frevejohanside, Frerejonside, and Freresyde meaning "Friar (John’s) hill". There are also localities called Low Friarside and Middle Friarside. From High Friarside to Low Friarside - geograph

From High Friarside to Low Friarside - geograph

At Low Friarside there are the ruins of a chapel. The date of the foundation of the chapel (sometimes referred to as a

chantry A chantry is an ecclesiastical term that may have either of two related meanings: # a chantry service, a set of Christian liturgical celebrations for the dead (made up of the Requiem Mass and the Office of the Dead), or # a chantry chapel, a b ...

or house, and possibly connected to a hospital) is unknown. However, it was in existence in 1312 when Bishop Kellawe collated John Eryum to 'the house, chapel, or chantry of Friarside (Frerejohanside) near Derwent.' In Bishop Hatfield's Survey (1383), the warden of the chantry of Friarside held a messuage and 22 acres of land in

Wolsingham Wolsingham is a market town in Weardale, County Durham (district), County Durham, England. It is situated by the River Wear, between Crook, County Durham, Crook and Stanhope, County Durham, Stanhope. History Wolsingham sits at the confluence ...

. In 1439 Bishop Neville appropriated it with all its revenues to the chantry of Farnacres after that site had suffered floods and a decrease in finances. A list of masters of the chantry/chapel include, John Eryum, 1312; Richard de Egglescliffe, 1376 (?) William Thorp, 1376;

Oswald Oswald may refer to: People *Oswald (given name), including a list of people with the name * Oswald (surname), including a list of people with the name Fictional characters *Oswald the Reeve, who tells a tale in Geoffrey Chaucer's ''The Canterbu ...

, bishop of Whithorn, d. 1417; Robert Frend, 1418; William Cross, 1422; and, John Gare, 1423. The hospital seems to have been demolished in 1450 . However, the chapel survived and with the closure of the chantries in England 1548 it was recorded that Friarside still had one bell perhaps indicating continued usage. At Middle Friarside there is moat with multiple embankments and ditches. There was a coal mine, South Garesfield Colliery, also known as Friarside Colliery and North Lintz Colliery that operated 1865-1960 (located to the west of Low Friarside.

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Villages in County Durham

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Further reading