Ushaw Moor | |
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Location within County Durham | |
Population | 3,941 (2011 census) |
OS grid reference | NZ22894261 |
Unitary authority | |
Ceremonial county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | Durham |
Postcode district | DH7 |
Dialling code | 0191 |
Police | Durham |
Fire | County Durham and Darlington |
Ambulance | North East |
UK Parliament | |
Ushaw Moor is an old pit village in County Durham, in England, on the north side of the River Deerness. It is situated to the west of Durham, a short distance to the south of Bearpark. Ushaw Moor falls within the Deerness electoral ward in the City of Durham constituency, whose MP since 2019 has been Mary Foy.
It most likely seems that the name 'Ushaw' comes from Scandinavian origin which, when translated, means 'wolves' wood'. With the addition of Moor we get 'the moor near the wood of wolves'.
Parish registers suggests that the settlement dates to a least the sixteenth century. The village existed in a largely agricultural state, with a windmill being its one feature up till the nineteenth century.
In 1804 Bishop William Gibson ordered the building of St. Cuthbert's College, later named Ushaw College, which opened in 1808. A chapel was added in 1847, followed by a library and exhibition hall. This closed in 2011 as a seminary and opened in 2014 as a visitor attraction and is known as Ushaw Historic House, Chapels & Gardens.
In 1858 a drift mine was established at Ushaw Moor Colliery selling coal on the landsale system. This was purchased in 1879 by Henry Chaytor of Witton Castle. During his tenure there was a large strike, following the deliberate sacking of an elected union leader in 1881. The strike was ended when a number of policemen were brought into the village to evict the strikers and their families; such treatment was not uncommon in those times. Mr Chaytor, sick of the years of industrial unrest, sold Ushaw Moor colliery to Pease & Partners in 1883. From this time, the workmen and community had an easier life, the new owners helping rather than opposing them. However, Ushaw Moor colliery closed in 1960, as part of the collapse of the Durham coal fields.
In the last thirty years it has grown and become the centre of the Deerness Valley, becoming unusually prosperous where most pit villages have struggled. Good links with Durham and Newcastle and good local schools and amenities has meant it is very popular with first time buyers.
Ushaw Moor is approximately 2 miles west of Durham and 20 miles south of Newcastle upon Tyne.
The Deerness Valley Railway Path, an eight-mile stretch of scenic woodland pathway converted from the former tracks of the Deerness Valley Railway, runs through Ushaw Moor. [1]
Ushaw Moor is the location of Silver Tree Primary School and St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School. Durham Academy is the main secondary school for the village.
Ushaw College, until its closure in 2011, [2] was a Roman Catholic seminary and one of the constituent colleges of the University of Durham. The college is currently being used by Durham University Business School whilst its own site is redeveloped. Ushaw College also hosts the annual Ushaw Jazz Festival. [3]
Ushaw Moor is served by three churches:
Ushaw Moor Cricket Club was established in 1881 and has 2 senior teams and 4 junior teams. [4]
Tanfield is a former mining village in County Durham, England, near Stanley, and the location of Tanfield Railway, the Causey Arch and Tanfield School.
Ushaw College, is a former Catholic seminary near the village of Ushaw Moor, County Durham, England, which is now a heritage and cultural tourist attraction. The college is known for its Georgian and Victorian Gothic architecture and listed nineteenth-century chapels. The college now hosts a programme of art exhibitions, music and theatre events, alongside tearooms and a café.
Croxdale is a village in the civil parish of Croxdale and Hett, situated about 3 miles (4.8 km) south of Durham City, in County Durham, England and on the A167 road, formerly part of the Great North Road. It is on the route of the East Coast Main Line and at one time had a station. The railway crosses over Croxdale Viaduct, built in 1872, just north of the village. The Weardale Way long distance footpath passes through the nearby Croxdale Hall estate.
Bearpark is a village and civil parish in County Durham in England. It is situated two and a half miles west of Durham, and a short distance to the north of Ushaw Moor. The name may be a corruption of the French term Beau Repaire – meaning "beautiful retreat". Half a mile to the north of the present village lies the ruins of Beaurepaire Priory, built in 1258 by the Prior of Durham, Bertram de Middleton, as a retirement residence. The building was extended in the subsequent three centuries, becoming a retreat for the Durham monks in a similar way to the nearby Finchale Priory. The manor was largely destroyed by the Scots in 1640 and 1644 during the British Civil War. In 1872, Theodore Fry was involved in founding the Bearpark Coal and Coke Company, which established a coal mine in Bearpark until 1984, when the mine was closed.
Burnopfield is a village in County Durham, in England. It is situated north of Stanley and Annfield Plain, close to the River Derwent and is 564 feet above sea level. There are around 4,553 inhabitants in Burnopfield. It is located 7 miles from Newcastle upon Tyne and 15 miles from Durham.
Cornsay Colliery is a village in County Durham, England. It is situated a few miles to the west of Durham, close to Cornsay, Quebec and Esh Winning.
Esh is a village and civil parish situated around five miles north-west of Durham in County Durham, England. The central area of the village contains a stone cross, which probably replaced a former market cross. This is locally known as St Cuthberts Cross and bears the inscription I. H. S., and the date 1687. Esh is a rural village, nestled between a number of working farms; it has two primary schools, a pub and two churches, St Michael and All Angels and St. Michael's.
Langley Moor is an old pit village in County Durham, England. It is located approximately 2 miles south-west of Durham City. Langley Moor is within the civil parish of Brandon and Byshottles which is itself within the City of Durham constituency, as of 2019 represented by Mary Foy MP.
Waterhouses is a village in County Durham, in England. It is situated to the west of Durham, near Esh Winning, on the northern Bank of the River Deerness.
Wideopen, also occasionally spelled Wide Open, is a village in the North Tyneside metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, England, around 5 miles (8.0 km) north of Newcastle.
Wath upon Dearne is a town south of the River Dearne in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, 5 miles (8 km) north of Rotherham and almost midway between Barnsley and Doncaster. It had a population of 11,816 at the 2011 census. It is twinned with Saint-Jean-de-Bournay in France.
Pegswood is a mining village and civil parish in Northumberland, England, and the site of the former Pegswood Colliery. Pegswood is two miles (3 km) east of Morpeth and three miles (5 km) west of Ashington, with a population of around 3,280. Pegswood is on a small hill above the valley in which Morpeth is situated, close to the River Wansbeck and to the small stream Brocks Burn.
Longbenton is a district of North Tyneside, England. It is largely occupied by an extensive estate originally built as municipal housing by Newcastle City Council in the 1930s and extended in the 1950s. It is served by the Tyne and Wear Metro stations Longbenton Metro station and Four Lane Ends Metro Station. Nearby places are Killingworth, Forest Hall, Four Lane Ends, West Moor, Heaton and South Gosforth, in Newcastle upon Tyne. The Longbenton and Killingworth Urban Area had a population of 34,878 in 2001. This figure increased to 37,070 in 2011.
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. Following the closure of the pit in 1974, few of the residents now work in the village. Historically in County Durham, it was transferred into the newly created county of Tyne and Wear in 1974.
Eglingham is a village in Northumberland, England, situated about 7 miles (11 km) north-west of Alnwick and 10 miles (16 km) from Wooler. It lies in the sheltered valley of the Eglingham Burn, a tributary of the River Aln, about 100 metres (330 ft) above sea level, in a rural conservation area set amongst rolling countryside, within 5 miles (8 km) of the Cheviot Hills. The village is surrounded by mainly arable farmland, moorland and woodland, including an arboretum and some commercial forestry.
The Deerness Valley Railway was an 8-mile long single track branch railway line that ran along the valley of the River Deerness in County Durham, England. Built by the North Eastern Railway, it ran from Deerness Valley Junction, on the Durham to Bishop Auckland line, to the coal mines along the valley via two intermediate stations, Waterhouses, and Ushaw Moor.
Crook Hall, sited near Lanchester, County Durham, some 8 miles (13 km) north west of the city of Durham, was one of two Roman Catholic seminaries which temporarily replaced the Douai seminary in Douai, France when that college was suppressed soon after the French Revolution. Crook Hall was itself superseded after a few years by Ushaw College.
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.
Harraton is a former civil parish and now a suburb in the unparished area of the town of Washington, in the City of Sunderland metropolitan borough, in Tyne and Wear, England. Harraton is near the River Wear and is 3 miles north-east of Chester-le-Street, 2 miles south-west of Washington town centre and 9 miles south-southwest of Sunderland. When nearby Washington was founded as a new town under the New Towns Act in 1964, Harraton alongside the neighboring villages of Chaters-Hough, Fatfield, Cox Green and Picktree became suburbs of Washington forming the southern suburbs of the town. Certain developments also took place for overspill for the nearby towns of Chester Le Street and Houghton-le-Spring. It is on the main road serving Seahouses and the northern coast. In 1961 the parish had a population of 3,565.
The River Deerness in County Durham, England is a tributary to the River Browney, which is itself a tributary the River Wear. It rises near Tow Law and descends through the Deerness Valley for a distance of 11.6 miles (18.7 km), passing the villages of Waterhouses, Ushaw Moor and Esh Winning. Its confluence with the River Browney is near Langley Moor.
Media related to Ushaw Moor at Wikimedia Commons