Ferryhill

Last updated

Ferryhill
Town
Ferryhill flying the flag - geograph.org.uk - 460351.jpg
Durham UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Ferryhill
Location within County Durham
Population8,942 (2011 census) [1]
OS grid reference NZ291326
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town FERRYHILL
Postcode district DL17
Dialling code 01740
Police Durham
Fire County Durham and Darlington
Ambulance North East
UK Parliament
Website ferryhill.gov.uk
List of places
UK
England
County Durham
54°41′N1°33′W / 54.69°N 1.55°W / 54.69; -1.55

Ferryhill is a town and civil parish in County Durham, England, [2] with an estimated population in 2018 of 9,362. [3] The town grew in the 1900s around the coal mining industry. The last mine officially closed in 1968. It is located between the towns of Bishop Auckland, Newton Aycliffe, Sedgefield, Shildon, Spennymoor and the cathedral city of Durham.

Contents

Geography

Ferryhill sits on the western edge of the Ferryhill Gap, a natural gateway in limestone escarpment that outcrops on the Eastern Durham Plateau. The main settlement lies along the 'SW-NE' ridge, with later developments made to the south of the ridge.

Ferryhill lies on the medieval Great North Road, which used to be the A1. It was bypassed when the Ferryhill Cut was excavated in 1923. The road is now the A167, which leads to Durham and Newcastle-upon-Tyne to the North, and to Darlington in the south. [4]

Ferryhill Carrs is a Site of Special Scientific Interest and designated Local Nature Reserve at the Eastern edge of the town. [5]

Ferryhill, County Durham Ferryhill County Durham 2019.jpg
Ferryhill, County Durham
The Beacon of Europe Beacon of Europe, Ferryhill - geograph.org.uk - 155875.jpg
The Beacon of Europe

Sections of Ferryhill

Neighbouring settlements

History

Ferryhill Town Hall, a prominent landmark in the town, was completed in 1867. [6]

Facilities

Ferryhill has a weekly Friday market in the town centre marketplace, run by Ferryhill Town Council. [7] There have been many improvements to the town, including the award-winning Mainsforth sports complex, Surtees Doorstep Green, King George V rec corridor improvements at Ferryhill Station, new Town Centre public toilets paid for by funding from Sedgefield Borough Councillors and is now run by Ferryhill Town Council and a youth cafe for the town's young people.

Part of Dean Bank Park has been used to enhance sporting facilities, and the remainder has recently been the subject to consultation by the Town Council. The final plans include a £70,000 play area for which funding has been secured from the lottery, a £50,000 MUGA for which funding is being sought by the Friends of Dean Bank Park but has since been turned down due to it not been a community led group. Also funding has been applied for £50,000 of playbuilder facilities. In addition to this the new park will include a viewing tower, BMX/skatepark, new planting areas to walk and relax as well as a performance arena. [8]

The Town has many community events including an annual summer gala, Christmas market, parading of miners banners, vintage car rally, art and photography exhibitions and many more, all of which are organised jointly by the Town Council and the 2000 Committee. [9]

Governance

An electoral ward of the same name as the town exists. This ward has differences to the parish of Ferryhill, and has a total population taken at the 2011 Census of 8,942. [10]

Church Lane, Ferryhill Ferryhill, Church Lane.jpg
Church Lane, Ferryhill

Newspaper

Ferryhill has a free community newspaper, The Ferryhill and Chilton Chapter Community Newspaper, which is distributed to all households in Ferryhill and the neighbouring community of Chilton. The paper has its own website where the latest issue, and archive issues going back to 2005, can be viewed.

Education

There are four primary schools in Ferryhill: Broom Cottages Primary School, Dean Bank Primary School, Cleves Cross Primary School, and Ferryhill Station Primary School.

Ferryhill has one secondary school, Ferryhill Business and Enterprise College. It is a specialist Business and Enterprise College, which used to be known as Ferryhill Comprehensive School.

Sport

Over £1 million in funding was secured by Ferryhill Town Youth, in partnership with Ferryhill Town Council, to develop a new sports facility for the town.

It includes new changing rooms, a recreation area, and six football pitches in Dean Bank Park and the adjacent former Ferryhill Athletic football ground.

The facilities are to be used by the town's thriving football clubs, Ferryhill Town Youth in particular. The nearby Dean Bank Park is maintained by Ferryhill Town Council, and belongs to the welfare fund for the former Dean and Chapter Colliery of 1968.

The Town Council purchased the former Ferryhill Athletic ground at auction in 2004, which was then provided to improve recreation facilities in the area, after the land could not be sold on.

Notable people

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sedgefield</span> Town and civil parish in County Durham, England

Sedgefield is a market town and civil parish in County Durham, England. It had a population of 5,211 as at the 2011 census. It has the only operating racecourse in County Durham.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">County Durham</span> County of England

County Durham, officially simply Durham (/ˈdʌrəm/), is a ceremonial county in North East England. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne and Wear to the north, the North Sea to the east, North Yorkshire to the south, and Cumbria to the west. The largest settlement is Darlington.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sedgefield (borough)</span> Former local government district in England

Sedgefield District was, from 1974 to 2009, a local government district and, borough in County Durham, in North East England. It had a population of about 87,000. It was named after Sedgefield, but its largest town was Newton Aycliffe. Other places included Shildon, Ferryhill and Spennymoor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Newton Aycliffe</span> Town in County Durham, England

Newton Aycliffe is a town in County Durham, England. Founded in 1947 under the New Towns Act of 1946, the town is 5 miles to the north of Darlington and 10 miles to the south of Durham. It is the oldest new town in the north of England. Together with the bordering Aycliffe Village and the north part of School Aycliffe, it forms the civil parish of Great Aycliffe. The population of the town at the time of the 2021 census was 26,415.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spennymoor</span> Town and civil parish in England

Spennymoor is a town and civil parish in County Durham, England. It is south of the River Wear and is 7 mi (11 km) south of Durham. The civil parish includes the villages of Kirk Merrington, Middlestone Moor, Byers Green and Tudhoe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hesleden</span> English village in County Durham

Hesleden is a village in County Durham, England, south of Peterlee. The name is a combination of Dene and Hesle, which is from "hazel". The combined population of the five communities making up the parish of Monk Hesleden was 5,722 at the 2011 Census.

Chilton is a town in County Durham, England. It is situated a few miles to the east of Bishop Auckland and a short distance to the south of Ferryhill, on the A167.

Mainsforth is a small village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Bishop Middleham, in the County Durham district, in the ceremonial county of Durham, England. It is to the east of Ferryhill. The earliest settlement in Mainsforth may have been on Marble. It has been suggested, without great historical foundation, that this was a Danish settlement. In 1961 the parish had a population of 229.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sedgefield (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom since 1983

Sedgefield is a constituency in County Durham represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Paul Howell of the Conservative Party. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bishop Auckland (UK Parliament constituency)</span> UK Parliament constituency in England since 1885

Bishop Auckland is a constituency in County Durham represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Dehenna Davison, a Conservative.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Durham Challenge Cup</span> Football tournament

The Durham County Challenge Cup is an annual football competition held between the clubs of the Durham County Football Association which was first played in 1884. It is the senior county cup for the historic county of Durham, which includes Durham, Darlington, Gateshead, Hartlepool, South Tyneside, Stockton-on-Tees, and Sunderland. The first winners were Sunderland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ferryhill railway station</span> Former railway station in England

Ferryhill railway station was located in Ferryhill, County Durham, Northeast England. It was located on what became the East Coast Main Line between Darlington and Durham, close to the junctions with several former branches, including the extant freight-only Stillington Line to Norton-on-Tees and Stockton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Howell (MP)</span> British Conservative politician

Paul Howell is a British Conservative Party politician serving as Member of Parliament (MP) for Sedgefield since 2019. Prior to his political career, he was an accountant.

Mainsforth Colliery was situated between Ferryhill and the small hamlet of Mainsforth in County Durham, England, United Kingdom. It was adjacent to the former Ferryhill railway station in the Ferryhill Station area of the town.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">County Durham (district)</span> Unitary authority area in County Durham, England

County Durham is a local government district in the ceremonial county of County Durham, England. It is governed by Durham County Council, a unitary authority. The district has an area of 2,232.6 km2, and contains 135 civil parishes. It forms part of the larger ceremonial county of Durham, together with boroughs of Darlington, Hartlepool, and the part of Stockton-on-Tees north of the River Tees.

The county of Durham has returned 7 MPs to the UK Parliament since 1983. Under the Local Government Act 1972, which came into effect on 1 April 1974, the boundaries of the historic/administrative county were significantly altered with the north-east of the county, comprising more than half the electorate, being transferred to the new metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear. In addition, the borough of Hartlepool was included in the new county of Cleveland. These changes were reflected in the following redistribution of parliamentary seats which did not come into effect until the 1983 general election, resulting in a reduction in the county's representation from 16 to 7 MPs.

References

  1. ↑ UK Census (2011). "Local Area Report – Ferryhill Parish (1170219743)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics . Retrieved 5 October 2018.
  2. ↑ "Ferryhill, County Durham - area information, map, walks and more". Ordnance Survey Get Outside. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  3. ↑ "Ferryhill (County Durham, North East England, United Kingdom) - Population Statistics, Charts, Map, Location, Weather and Web Information". www.citypopulation.de. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  4. ↑ "Ferryhill - News, views, gossip, pictures, video - Chronicle Live". www.chroniclelive.co.uk. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  5. ↑ "Local Nature Reserves". Natural England. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 2 February 2011.
  6. ↑ Nixon, Darrell S. (2018). Ferryhill: A Visual History. p. 93. ISBN   978-1521344613.
  7. ↑ "Ferryhill Weekly Market". www.ferryhill.gov.uk. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  8. ↑ "County Durham Skateparks - Guide to Skateparks in County Durham". The Skateparks Project. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  9. ↑ "Fetes & Fairs". This is Durham. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  10. ↑ UK Census (2011). "Local Area Report – Ferryhill Ward (as of 2011) (1237326533)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics . Retrieved 5 October 2018.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.