The parish of Stanhope came into being partly as a result of Weardale being a hunting-park of the medieval Bishops of Durham. The first Rector began his incumbency in 1200 and many later Rectors went on to episcopal and other 'higher' church office. Among these were Cuthbert Tunstall, later Bishop of London in the turbulent Reformation period; Isaac Basire, chaplain to Charles I; Henry Philpotts, the notable Bishop of Exeter in the 19th century; and Joseph Butler, later Bishop of Bristol, who wrote his famous 'Analogy of Religion' during his time in Stanhope. At one time it was also known as 'the richest living' in the North, due to tithes exacted from local lead miners. |
