Medieval Cornhill
The Norman Conquest of 1066 had little immediate effect. Northumberland was taken over by the new rulers in the early-12th century, but Cornhill remained firmly under the control of the church of Durham. The present form of Cornhill village, with two rows of houses fronting Main Street and the church on a natural hillock between them, probably dates from around 1100-1150. In 1183, Cornhill was worth £12 in rents or renders to Durham. The village was surrounded by thee large open fields (Low Field, East Field and South Field), divided into strips and farmed communally, and similar arrangements were probably found at Tillmouth and Heaton. By c.1300 Cornhill had perhaps 40-50 houses and 200-250 people. There followed dramatic population decline caused by famine and disease, made worse locally by Scottish wars which began in the 1290s.
The chapel of St. Helen probably originated at or soon after the creation of the planned village. A modest glebe holding supported the curate. The glebe lessees had to provide him with a house, and a plot of land was reserved by Durham for a grange (outlying farm) or stackyard. Stone foundations from 13th-15th centuries excavated in 2006 may represent this building. The church was rebuilt in 1751 and again in 1842, although the walls show clear evidence of reused medieval stonework.
Three centuries of sporadic warfare and raiding between England and Scotland inevitably involved Cornhill, although it is difficult to separate its impact from those of famine and plague, which may have reduced the population by 40-60%. Sales of corn declined by 80% 1308-29, but recovered to half the previous level by 1338. At the least, crops and livestock will have been taken or destroyed, and local people killed, taken prisoner or forced to flee. Subsequent periods of warfare around 1385, the 1420s, 1513 and 1544, and on-going raiding for livestock meant that recovery was slow, although the fertility of the land will have ensured continuity of occupation.
Cornhill “Castle” by the Tweed overlooked Lennel, the parent settlement of Coldstream. No trace remains apart from a significant ditch. In reality it was probably little more than a fortified tower of the 12-13th century, covering an area of about 0.25 acres. It disappears from the record after the 1540s, when its garrison was involved in cross-border raids as part of the so-called “Rough Wooing”. Its was replaced by another tower, now part of Cornhill House, next to the road to a ford across the Tweed. This tower probably dates from the 15th century. Tillmouth had a tower by the confluence of the Tweed and Till, destroyed by the Scots in 1513 and never repaired. There are scanty remains of Heaton Castle on a bluff next to the Till.
Ownership of Cornhill became divided in the 14th century, when the Denum and Grey families came to the fore. The latter were replaced by the Swinhoes after 1400. The Denum lands passed to the Herons of Ford and thence to the Carrs. In 1670 the two owners of Cornhill were John Forster and William Armorer, neither resident. After 1700 their holdings passed to the Collingwood and Blake families, respectively. In 1852, H.J. Collingwood of Lilburn was the sole proprietor. The Blakes gradually took possession of the whole of Tillmouth, while Heaton passed from the medieval Heaton family to the Greys, and thence to the Earls of Tankerville.
The Union of the Crowns in 1603 finally brought peace to the Border, although it took many years to suppress raiding. Durham lost its secular powers in 1559. A Border muster of 1579 records 22 tenants at Cornhill, and 11 each at Tillmouth and Heaton, similar proportions to those in the 19th century. In 1584, the total number of armed men was 65, which probably includes some labourers. In 1636, parts of Tillmouth and Cornhill had around 44 houses, indicating a population of up to 200, with 1,600 acres of land, two-thirds of it arable. Melkington was a separate hamlet. By 1673 the population had grown to around 270-300.
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Early Cornhill
