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I haven't run across any Dixon ancestors from Dipton, but will keep my eyes open for it.  We have a few in Snows Green, Medomsley, Ebchester, all just really close to Shotley.  Thank you!

Thank you!!!  So strange that there are no Dixons receiving anything.  Doesn't appear that he has a living wife or children, as he gives the largest sum of money to his niece Marge Taylor, Cuthbert Taylor, and James Hutchison.  Also Ellinor Usher(?) gets his household items as well as some other Ushers.  Maybe a married daughter and grandchildren?  Can't figure it out, but thanks!  I will try to post higher-quality copies in pieces when I get a free moment!
 

‘First I give & Bequeath unto my Neace Margaret Taylor
the sume of foure pounds It(e)m I give & bequeath to
James Hutchison the sume of foure pounds It(e)m I give
& bequeath to Cuthbert Taylor the sume of foure
pounds ^& one ?^ & my standing Bedd It(e)m I give & bequeath to
Elinor usher my Cawell(?) & Cubbert that Richard Taylor
hath contracted for & if he doe p(er)forme & fetch the Cubbert
away according to construct then I give the said Three & Thirty
shillings to the said Elinor usher w(i)th one Great Chare It(e)m I
give & bequeath unto Rob:(ert) Snowbald the sume of Twenty
Shillings It(e)m I give & bequeath to my Coz:(in) John usher  the
sume of Twenty Shillings It(e)m I give & bequeath to the s(ai)d
Elinor usher over & above the Cubbert Cawell & Chare the
sume of Twenty Shillings It(e)m I give & bequeath to Isable
Thompson the wife of John Thompson the sume of Twenty
Shillings more to Elizebeth usher Twenty Shillings & for
the rest of my p(er)sonall Estate Moveable & Immoveable
I give & bequeath unto my Cozen John usher of Browhaugh(?)
the son of Thomas usher whom I make my sole
Exe(cuto)r of this my last Will & Testament revokeing all
former Wills acts or Deeds In Witness whereof I have
hereunto Sett my hand & Seale the day & yeare first
above written

Sealed & Delivered
in the p(re)sence of

Thos: Gibson
Paul Erringson



The date the will was written was 1681.
The date of probate will be later than tis after he had died. Not given in this piece.

The image pixalates a little when zooming in to try an make out exactly what letters the scribe has used.
it's always better to post a higher file size image, even if you have to do it in two or three bits.

I am normally decent at it, but this document has really sloppy cursive!  Any help would be very much appreciated.  No need to do the first few sentences with all the typical religious verbiage, unless there is something important in there that I missed.  Looking for typical clues as to names of Dixon ancestors, married names, places they lived, etc. THANK YOU!

To user pb3: that is wonderful you photographed and transcribed all the headstones at St. John's Church Shotley. Did you also do St. Andrews Shotley?  Do you have the transcriptions somewhere online? Such as findagrave.com?  Also, have you been in communication with Chris Nicholds? She is a caretaker for St. Andrews Shotley and is trying to get a better inventory of the stones there, including some that she found underground.  My Dixon ancestors were buried at St. Andrews, perhaps a few at St. John's. My 6th great grandfather Wm. Dixon (1720-1769) has a tombstone to the left of the front door of St. Andrews.

Lynne

           I recently photographed and transcribed the headstones at St. John's Church at the Snods; these may or may not prove useful - here's hoping.
                                       PatB.

In Loving Memory of
JOHN  COULSON,
who died November 11TH 1938,
aged 69 years.
[Incised headstone with lichen cover and staining.]

In Loving Memory of
MARY  JANE  COULSON
died 19TH June 1952 aged 74 years.
Also THOMAS  WILLIAM
her dear Husband
died 2ND Jan. 1961
aged 88 years.
[Small, white marble headstone with lead lettering, some of which is missing.]

In Loving Memory of
JOHN  COULSON
died December[?] 20TH 1897
aged 54 years.
Also ISABELLA his Wife
died February 2ND 1926[?]
aged 85[?] years.
Also MARY  HANNAH
their Daughter
died April 16TH 19..[?]
aged 33 years.
“Peace Perfect Peace”
[White marble, lead lettered headstone with the face in the form of a scroll. Thickly covered in foliose lichen and with heavy algal staining.]

IHS.
In Affectionate Remembrance of
JOSEPH  COULSON,
of Western View, Shotley Bridge,
who died November 28TH, 1894,
aged 73 years.
Blessed are the Dead which die in the Lord.
Also of ELIZABETH
Wife of the above,
who died on August 4TH 1907,
and was interred at ST John’s
Cinderford, Gloucestershire.
[White marble, lead lettered headstone with carved cruciform top, standing on substantial, moss-covered base. Face is dirty and discoloured and some of lettering is missing.]

In Loving Memory of
my dear Husband
ROBERT  BELL
born 12TH Jan. 1888
died 25TH Jan. 1963.
Also EMILY his beloved Wife
born 27TH Aug. 1893
died 27TH Dec. 1969.
[Black granite headstone and base with integral flower vase; incised, gold painted lettering.]

In Memory of
our dear Father and Mother
of Eddis Bridge Farm
GEORGE  SAMUEL  BELL
died 5TH September 1965
aged 89 years.
SARAH  PARKIN  BELL
died 26TH April 1979
aged 103 years.
[Sandstone headstone and base with some lichen growth and staining; incised, black painted lettering.]

In Loving Memory of
a dear Husband & Dad
JOHN  DRUMMOND
BELL
died 24TH October 1981
(aged 63).
Also
MARJORIE  BELL
beloved Wife & Mother
died 9TH November 2001
(aged 82).
At Peace.
[Sandstone headstone and plinth with integral flower vase, on sandstone base; incised, black painted lettering.]

Sacred
to
the Memory of
THOMAS  BELL, Son of ROBERT & MARGt BELL
who departed this life March 26th
1858 aged 26 years.
ANN  BELL died Dec. 6th 1836 aged 3 years.
JOHN  BELL died Sept 11th 1843 aged 9 years.
[Large, sandstone headstone, shallowly incised; small amount of lichen cover.]

Thank you for your very thorough reply!  I am VERY INTERESTED in how one might get a hold of the "rent rolls" and "surveys" you mention in your reply.  I am pretty sure that quite a few of my earliest ancestors rented farms.

I have an update: I went to the Family History center near me so I could see the online Bishop's Transcripts for St. Peter's Bywell, to look at the records mentioned in the index.  All the records from  Bywell (for the marriage, and all the baptisms), describe John Dixon as being "of Newlands."  That hamlet is NOT in the parish of Bywell.  Rather, it is in Shotley parish, and is. 4 miles east of Shotleyfield, which is where John's son William (my 5th great grandfather) lived most of his life.  Interestingly, Newlands is also immediately north of Panshields Farm, which is mentioned in several of the earliest records for other Dixon's in the Shotley church registers, which date back to the just before 1700.  It appears that my earliest-known Dixon ancestors mostly lived in this Newlands/Panshields/Shotleyfield locale.  This also makes a little more sense of the fact that the later records (1829 and later) of the descendants of John Dixon and his son William all of a sudden show up living in the locale "Snows Green" for most of the records at that time.  Just south of Panshields farm is a very old bridge that takes one across the River Dewent into County Durham, and Snow's green is not far down the road.  I hadn't noticed the road and bridge before, and assumed that all travelers had to travel SW from there to cross the river at the city of Shotley Bridge.  Instead, they could quickly get from the Panshields area to Snows Green, which is of the parish Medomsley.  I have read more than once that back then people got around more than we often assume they did.  Still, it certainly would be more likely that a good many of them rarely ventured too far from home.  The map you shared is nice. I've seen other maps showing Panshields Farm (which still exists) as well as Newlands, etc.  Also, the current Google maps shows them, and Panshields Farm is marked.

Given that Shotley chapel is so small (and also fell into ruin in the mid 1700's due to mine subsidence and had to be rebuilt), I can imagine why especially marriages might take place in the much larger and nicer Bywell church, and also, Shotley parish was formed out of Bywell.  I might find some additional, later records out of Medomsley church. and perhaps even out of Wittonstall, which is a chapel that was built later on but is immediately north of Newlands.  Untill I discovered the Newlands records yesterday, I wasn't sure if those were siblings of my direct ancestors living there in Panshields, but now I am somewhat confident they were uncles, siblings, close cousins living there just down the road.  For example, there is a William Dixon "of Panshields" who was married at Shotley chapel in 1705, the same year that my ancestor John Dixon "of Newlands" married Isabel Philipson at Bywell.  William and John were probably brothers.  Before this new "of Newlands" mention, I wasn't sure if this William Dixon was a close relative or not.
Thanks again!