In 1801 Escomb parish was still a small rural community covering a larger area than it does today, as it included the areas of Woodside and Witton Park. The rapid expansion of the population as seen bwelow was due mainly to the coming of the railway line through the village, the opening of the coalmine in Escomb by H.Stobart and partners in the 1830s and the opening of the Ironworks in 1846 in Witton Park by Bolckow and Vaughan.

The Revd Henry Atkinson became the first resident vicar for many centuries when a vicarage was built on top of the hill in 1848. Bishop Maltby purchased the land and £300 for the house was granted from the Maltby Fund. In 1861, in his 4 yearly survey report to the Bishop, the vicar  pleaded that the Saxon church was far too small for the needs of the growing population. A new church, St. John’s seating 250, was built opposite the vicarage in 1863 at a cost of £1,100. A cemetery of 2 acres was enlarged to 3 acres in 1892. In 1869 Witton Park became a separate district, later parish, and St. Paul’s church (1877) was built from public subscriptions.

Escomb chapelry income in 1853 was £90 and was increased by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners and other sources to £204. In 1858 income of the living was £220 rising to £300 by 1879. As the population decreased the income shrank. In 1902 it was worth £275 p.a.

Population Records

Date	Population	Comment	Date	Population	Comment
1801	162		1881	903	Escomb figures only as Witton Park was now a separate parish
1811	190
1821	232	56 families in 52 houses	1881-1911		Figures for Escomb remain fairly static
1831	282		1911	1,325	305 houses but 40 were empty. The iron works had closed in 1884.
1841	510	Increase in workers for railway and coal mine opened in 1830s
1851	1,293	Witton Park ironworks had opened in ‘46;	1938	1,101
1861	3,755	this is the last census which included Witton Park with Escomb	1813 to 1880  1,606 births
1871	c1,000	now excluded Witton park. Figures for Escomb given to the Bishop by Revd Lord

 Occupation Records for the first half of 19^th Century

Date	No. of working men	Gentleman	Pitman	Labourer	Farmer	Other	Total No of different occupations
1813 -20	30	13+%	1033%	517%	620%	8	9
1821-40	97	11%	4446%	2020%	1010%	22	20
1841-60	338	30.9%	9929%	4212%	103%	184Including 30 ironworkers	51 *
*21 of these 51 occupations related to the ironworks or other industrial activity. A number of other occupations related to housing expansion eg. masons, joiners, decorators. Another layer of jobs related to servicing the community eg. shoemakers, tailors, shopkeepers, millers, innkeepers (9). There were 3 policemen and 1 theatrical performer.