Thornley, Durham

Last updated

See also Thornley in Weardale.
Thornley
Village green at Thornley - geograph.org.uk - 409487.jpg
Thornley village green.
Durham UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Thornley
Location within County Durham
Population2,457 (2011) [1]
OS grid reference NZ3615539561
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town Durham
Postcode district DH6
Police Durham
Fire County Durham and Darlington
Ambulance North East
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
County Durham
54°45′00″N1°25′52″W / 54.750°N 1.431°W / 54.750; -1.431 Coordinates: 54°45′00″N1°25′52″W / 54.750°N 1.431°W / 54.750; -1.431

Thornley is a village in County Durham, in England. It is situated about 5 miles (9 km) to the east of Durham and 5 miles (7 km) west of Peterlee. Thornley is part of the Sedgefield parliamentary constituency of which Tony Blair was the Member of Parliament from 1983 until 2007.

Contents

Governance

An electoral ward in the same name exists. This ward stretches south to Trimdon Foundry with a population taken at the 2011 Census of 7,085. [2]

History of Thornley

Mining

As with most villages in the area, it grew rapidly with the development of coal-mining in the region. The first shaft was sunk in 1835 and the first coals were delivered via a new mineral railway line to Hartlepool shortly thereafter. The village thus played a major role in the development of Hartlepool as a port. Thornley miners played a key role in the formation of the Durham Miners' Association, the first meeting of which was held in the grounds of the village's Half-Way House public house in 1869. The colliery closed in 1970 with the loss of over 900 jobs and there is now little evidence to be seen of its once extensive plant and machinery.

Rebuilding

Easington Rural District Council's policy in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s was to actively discourage development and employment in the ex-colliery villages of East Durham in favour of the new town of Peterlee. One of the oldest surviving buildings in the village, the Half-Way House was extensively refurbished and extended in the late 1970s and renamed The Crossways Hotel. The building was demolished in early 2008 and planning permission has been given for the building of housing on the site. Permission has also been given for the demolition of another old building, Gore Hall Farm, for the same purpose.

Only recently has new house building been sanctioned by the council in the so-called 'bottom end' of the village. In the meantime, two estates of 20th century council housing have recently been demolished due to the decline in the village's population since the closure of the colliery, Thornlaw North and Coopers Close. The latter was built as recently as 1968 at the expense of a children's recreation ground, several mature trees and many local garden allotments which were also not replaced. The demolition of the Thornlaw North estate has allowed the council to sell the land to a large housebuilding company, Persimmon plc, to build 'executive' housing. A small amount of affordable housing will be built. This project is now (December 2007) well advanced. The council believes that one consequence of the reduction in population is that existing services will be threatened. [3] Plans for the Cooper's Close site have yet to be revealed.

St Bartholomew's Church in the heart of the village, which dates from 1843, was demolished in September 2007. Houses are to be built on the site and many gravestones in the churchyard have already been moved. However, its stained glass windows have been preserved and are currently held in storage for possible future display. The village once had two cinemas, The Hippodrome, built in 1912 and The Ritz, built in 1938: both have been demolished.

Lt John Scott Youll, a former electrician at Thornley Colliery, was awarded the Victoria Cross during his service with the Northumberland Fusiliers in Italy in World War One. The village's war memorial had a special monument added to it in his honour in 2005.

Sport

A greyhound racing and whippet racing track known as the Thornley Greyhound Stadium and earlier the Halfway House running grounds (because of the Halfway House Inn situated next door) existed on the junction of Dunelem Road and the A181. [4] The racing was independent (not affiliated to the sports governing body the National Greyhound Racing Club) and was known as a flapping track, which was the nickname given to independent tracks. [5] The stadium was active in 1936 and was still in place in 1967 but had been demolished by 1976. [6]

Related Research Articles

Seaham Human settlement in England

Seaham is a seaside town in County Durham, England. Located on the Durham Coast, Seaham is situated 6 miles south of Sunderland and 13 miles (21 km) east of Durham. The town grew from the late 19th century onwards as a result of investments in its harbour and coal mines. The town is twinned with the German town of Gerlingen.

Peterlee Human settlement in England

Peterlee is a town in County Durham, England, founded as a new town in 1948 under the terms of the New Towns Act 1946. It is located between Sunderland, Hartlepool and Durham.

Newton Aycliffe Human settlement in England

Newton Aycliffe is a town in County Durham, England. Founded in 1947 under the New Towns Act of 1946, the town sits about five miles to the north of Darlington and ten miles to the south of the Durham. It is the oldest new town in the north of England, and together with the bordering Aycliffe Village and the north part of School Aycliffe, forms the civil parish of Great Aycliffe. The population of the town at the time of the 2011 census was 26,633.

Spennymoor Human settlement in England

Spennymoor is a town and civil parish in County Durham, England. It stands above the Wear Valley about 7 mi (11 km) south of Durham. The town was founded over 160 years ago. The Town Council area, which includes the villages of Kirk Merrington, Middlestone Moor, Byers Green and Tudhoe.

Sutton-in-Ashfield Human settlement in England

Sutton-in-Ashfield is a market town in the Ashfield district of Nottinghamshire, England, with an estimated population of 48,527 in 2019 it is the largest town in the district of Ashfield. It is situated four miles west of Mansfield, two miles from the Derbyshire border and twelve miles north of Nottingham.

Sacriston Human settlement in England

Sacriston is a village and civil parish in County Durham, England, situated 3 miles (4.8 km) north of the city of Durham.

Blackhall Colliery Human settlement in England

Blackhall Colliery is a village on the North Sea coast of County Durham, in England. It is situated on the A1086 between Horden and Hartlepool. To the south of the Blackhall Colliery's Catholic church is Blackhall Rocks.

Chilton, County Durham Human settlement in England

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. The bypass on the A167 opened on 20 June 2005, cutting down the traffic through Chilton by up to 80%.

Pelton Fell Human settlement in England

Pelton Fell is a village in County Durham, England. It is situated a short distance to the north-west of Chester-le-Street. It is the site of a former coal mine and a closed railway station primarily used to service both Pelton Fell and Pelton, a village at the opposite end of Station Lane, although very few traces of either remain today, except in some of the street names.

Horden Human settlement in England

Horden is a village and electoral ward in County Durham, England. It is situated on the North Sea coast, to the east of Peterlee, approximately 12 miles south of Sunderland. Horden was a mining village until the closure of the Horden Colliery in 1987. Main features include the Welfare and Memorial Parks and St Mary's church. It is connected to the villages of Blackhall Colliery and Blackhall Rocks to its south by a spectacular rail viaduct which spans Castle Eden Dene near Denemouth. Horden Dene provides Horden's northern boundary with Easington Colliery.

Shotton Colliery Human settlement in England

Shotton Colliery is a village in County Durham, England, situated west of Peterlee.

Monk Hesleden is a village in County Durham, England. The population of the parish at the 2011 Census was 5,722. It is situated a short distance to the south of High Hesleden, to the north-west of Hartlepool.

Eastville, Bristol Human settlement in England

Eastville is the name of both a council ward in the city of Bristol in the United Kingdom and a suburb of the city that lies within that ward. The Eastville ward covers the areas of Eastville, Crofts End, Stapleton and part of Fishponds. Notable places within the ward include Bristol Metropolitan College and Colston's School, and the Bristol and Bath Railway Path also passes through the ward.

Kibblesworth Human settlement in England

Kibblesworth is a village 2 miles (3.2 km) west of Birtley, Tyne and Wear, England. Kibblesworth was a mainly rural community until the development of the pit and brickworks and the resulting increase in population. Now, after the closure of the pit, few of the residents work in the village. Historically in County Durham, it was transferred into the newly created county of Tyne and Wear in 1974.

Denaby Main Village in South Yorkshire, England

Denaby Main is a village situated between Mexborough and Conisbrough in the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster in South Yorkshire, England. The village falls within the Doncaster MBC ward of Conisbrough and Denaby. It was built by the Denaby Main Colliery Company to house its workers and their families, and originally given the name Denaby Main Colliery Village, to distinguish it from the village of Denaby, about ⅔ mile away on the road to Hooton Roberts and Kilnhurst; from that time, the old village became known as Old Denaby. In due course the "Colliery Village" part of the name was lost, leaving the village to be known as Denaby Main.

Marley Hill

Marley Hill is a former colliery village about six miles to the south west of Gateshead, near the border between Tyne and Wear and County Durham. It has been part of the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead since 1974. Prior to this it was part of Whickham Urban District. It lies within the Whickham South & Sunniside electoral ward of the Blaydon parliamentary constituency.

Horden railway station Railway station in County Durham

Horden is a railway station on the Durham Coast Line, located in the village of Horden, County Durham. The station opened on 29 June 2020, following a £10.55 million investment. It is the second station to have been located in the village, it having replaced an earlier station, located approximately 200 yards (180 m) further south, which closed in May 1964.

Coundon Greyhound Stadium was a greyhound racing stadium situated off the B6287, in Coundon, County Durham.

Shotton Bridge railway station

Shotton Bridge railway station was a railway station built by the North Eastern Railway (NER) on the route of the Hartlepool Dock & Railway (HD&R) as part of a programme of works to modernise that line and link it with the Durham & Sunderland Railway (D&SR) so as to create a railway through-route between West Hartlepool and Sunderland. On opening, the station served the relatively new village of Shotton Colliery, which grew around the nearby Shotton Grange Colliery, as well as Old Shotton on the Stockton to Sunderland turnpike road, further to the east.

References

  1. ↑ "Parish population 2011" . Retrieved 21 July 2015.
  2. ↑ "Ward population 2011" . Retrieved 21 July 2015.
  3. ↑ Regeneration In Thornley and Wheatley Hill Archived 2008-01-23 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ↑ "OS Plan 1958-1960". old-maps.co.uk.
  5. ↑ Barnes, Julia (1988). Daily Mirror Greyhound Fact File, page 419. Ringpress Books. ISBN   0-948955-15-5.
  6. ↑ "Thornley Greyhound Stadium". Greyhound Racing Times.
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.