Durham is a cathedral city and civil parish in the county of Durham, England. It is the county town and contains the headquarters of Durham County Council, the unitary authority which governs the district of County Durham. The built-up area had a population of 50,510 at the 2021 Census.
Easington, also known as Easington Village, is a village and civil parish in eastern County Durham, England. It is located at the junction of the A182 and B1283, leading north-west to Hetton-le-Hole and south east to Horden.
Consett is a town in the County Durham district, in the ceremonial county of Durham, England, about 14 miles (23 km) south-west of Newcastle upon Tyne. It had a population of 27,394 in 2001 and an estimate of 25,812 in 2019.
Stanley is a town and civil parish in the ceremonial county and district of County Durham, England. Centred on a hilltop between Chester-le-Street and Consett, Stanley lies south-west of Gateshead.
Penshaw, formerly known as Painshaw or Pensher is a village in the metropolitan district of the Sunderland, in Tyne and Wear, England. Historically, Penshaw was located in County Durham.
Easington Colliery is a village in County Durham, England, known for a history of coal mining. It is situated to the north of Horden, a short distance to the east of Easington. It had a population of 4,959 in 2001, and 5,022 at the 2011 Census.
Hunwick is a semi-rural village in County Durham, England. There are actually two villages that are often referred to collectively as Hunwick, Hunwick and New Hunwick although it is generally accepted that the two villages are now as one. In the 2001 census Hunwick had a population of 952. This had grown to 1248 by the 2011 census.
Langton is a village and civil parish in County Durham, in England. It is situated to the west of Darlington, near Headlam and Ingleton. The population of the civil parish taken at the 2011 Census was less than 100.
Roddymoor is a village in County Durham, in England. In the 2001 census Roddymoor had a population of 500.
Stanley Crook is a village in County Durham, in England. It is situated to the north of Crook and Billy Row. The area is rural, surrounded by open farm land and woodland. There are several farms and many small holdings. It is a small former mining village which used to have two collieries. During the 1970s, the village was classified as category D, which meant the council wished to demolish the whole village. However, this did not happen, only 3 streets were demolished. In the 2001 census Stanley Crook had a population of 405.
North West Durham was a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament.
Crook and Willington was an urban district in County Durham, England from 1937 to 1974. It was created by a merger of the previous Crook and Willington urban districts, along with part of the disbanded Auckland Rural District. It later formed part of the Wear Valley district. Today the population of this area is approximately 21,500.The area Includes Crook, Willington, Sunnybrow, Helmington Row, Billy Row and Roddymoor
Sir Thomas Boaz Allen is an English operatic baritone. He is widely admired in the opera world for his voice, the versatility of his repertoire, and his acting—leading many to regard him as one of the best lyric baritones of the late 20th century. From 2012 to 2022 he served as Chancellor of Durham University.
Middle Rainton was a small village between West Rainton and East Rainton on the boundary of County Durham and the City of Sunderland, north east England. It was subject to a schedule D notice and hence ceased to exist in the 1970s. The site of Middle Rainton is now a Nature Reserve open to the Public. It lies on the A690 road, about 3 miles (5 km) east of the A1(M). The land on which Middle Rainton was built was originally owned by R Heaviside. John Buddle bought the land in 1820 to build houses for the miners working in the local pits. Wm Fordyce “History and Antiquities of the County Palatine of Durham” Vol 2 notes that the village is “principally occupied by persons engaged in the collieries”. (1) A point reinforced by the Census Returns 1851 to 1891, which show that the vast majority of the males of working age being engaged as miners or other tasks associated with the mine Prior to 1815 Buddle on behalf of Londonderry had been closing Pits in the area but new mining technology had emerged which allowed for the exploitation of deeper coal seams. Between 1816 and 1824, 6 Pits were opened in the immediate area – Adventure (1816), Resolution(1816), Plain(1817), Hazard(1818), Meadows(1824), Alexandrina (1824). (2) In 1851 the Census notes there were 189 Dwellings with 449 males and 393 females a total population of 842. This appears to have been the time of peak occupancy. By 1871 only 155 dwellings were recorded as occupied with 15 as unoccupied and a total population of 726. By 1911 there were 102 dwellings, 277 males, 272 females a total of 549. The 1911 census reports that the Village had its own Police Station – with a resident policeman. The following streets are named at various times : Front Street West Row, Back Row, Lewis Street, Cross Street ,Chapel Row ,Slate Row, and in 1871 only, Pipewell Gate. Of these only Front street, was paved (3) The census at various times notes a variety of shops and 4 pubs Fox and Hounds, Rose and Crown, Hope and Anchor and Foresters Arms. The Village boasted a Salvation Army Hall and before that a Primitive Methodist Chapel. The 1851 census records that on Sunday 30 March 1851, 157 people attended the morning service, 150 the afternoon and 200 the evening service at the Methodist Chapel . In 1843 the Black American female Evangelist Zilpha Elaw claimed she preached to a large crowd at Middle Rainton in September 1843 one might assume that either this was an outdoor meeting or was held in the Chapel. (11) By 1896 The nearest Pit - the Meadows – was proving to be unprofitable and was closed (2) and this probably explains the drop in the population of the village. From the end of the 19th Century there are reports condemning the state of the houses and the sewage arrangements. In 1899 the Local Medical Officer of Health stated “The sanitary condition of the village of Middle Rainton is reported to be getting worse, Houses are becoming uninhabitable and falling into ruins, and the tenants are so poor that it does not pay the owners to keep them in repair. Four houses reported on by the sanitary inspector are in a very bad state, and it is recommended that they should either be immediately repaired or closed. The open channels at the Freehold, though repaired, are not satisfactory, for “ at the lower “ ends there are frequent accumulations which choke “ up the sinks and cause overflows near the houses “ there.” The scavenging is not satisfactorily performed, and some of the ashpits are reported to be never quite emptied”. (4) While one year later he stated “There is said to be no improvement in the sanitary condition of Middle Rainton, and a large number of the houses are unoccupied and the out-offices in a dilapidated state. The report states that steps are being taken by the R.D.C. to have the insanitary dwellings either closed or repaired. At the Freehold the open channels have been repaired and more attention given to the cleansing of them, “although covered sewers and sinks to each house “ would be beneficial as regards the health of the “ village.” The scavenging of the district is stated not to have been altogether satisfactory, and the cartmen’s attention frequently had to be called to their neglect of duty.” (5) In 1904 it was reported “The report again refers to the condition of Middle Rainton, where more houses are vacant and going to ruin, and where most of the insanitary conditions are due to the bad habits of the low-class population living there” (6) Again in 1907 “In the report of the Inspector of Nuisances it is mentioned that ………….At Middle Rainton 36 notices were served upon the owners of property, and, as a result, some of the houses were voluntarily closed and others have been repaired”(7) By 1946 it is clear that the Village is not considered worth saving “The remaining houses in Middle Rainton, however, all drain into a sewer which eventually discharges into a ditch next, the Meadows Colliery. There are a few water-closets installed in these houses and owing to the ditch becoming silted-up, and a restricted flow in dry weather, this method of sewerage disposal has been a source of complaint from time to time. The houses concerned are old and the majority substandard, in fact they might reasonably have been dealt with under the Slum Clearance scheme which eliminated the remainder of this small village, and the installation of an elaborate sewerage system would hardly appear to be justified at the present time” (8) By the 1950s the population was down to 113 with 31 dwellings and John Harvey, an ex-resident, notes that houses were cleared about five at a time and the residents moved to other settlements. Many seem to have moved to the new council estate in East Rainton but others moved to West Rainton and the new town at Peterlee.(3)
Bishopwearmouth is a former village and parish which now constitutes the west side of Sunderland City Centre, in the county of Tyne and Wear, England, merging with the settlement as it expanded outwards in the 18th and 19th centuries. It is home to the Sunderland Minster church, which has stood at the heart of the settlement since the early Middle Ages. Until 1974 it was in County Durham.
Woodstone Village is a hamlet in the civil parish of Little Lumley, in the County Durham district, in the ceremonial county of Durham, England. It neighbours the larger villages of Fencehouses and Burnmoor. The local towns are Chester-le-Street and Houghton-le-Spring.
Tanfield School is a coeducational secondary school in Stanley, County Durham, England, by the border to Tanfield Lea. The school is part of the Eden Learning Trust and is a specialist science and engineering college. However the school ultimately lacks academic rigour with students described as “boisterous“.
