Silksworth is a suburb of the City of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear. The area can be distinguished into two parts, old Silksworth, the original village and township which has existed since the early middle ages, and New Silksworth, the industrial age colliery village which expanded north west of the original settlement. The former colliery being situated to the north west of the village near to the Gilley Law. The population of the ward was 10,931 at the 2011 census. [1]
The area of Silksworth has been subject to human activity since the Bronze Age, with archaeological sites of ancient barrows having been discovered on the surrounding hills. [2] The name of the place itself is thought to be of Anglo-Saxon origin and means ‘the worþ (enclosure) of Sigelac (a man's name)'. [3] The first reference to the location appeared in the Middle Ages and is first referenced in a list of appendages of South Bishopwearmouth in King Athelstan’s gift to the See of Durham in 930 AD. [4] The area became a township of Bishopwearmouth, of which neighbouring Farringdon was a hamlet of. [5]
New Silksworth emerged as a coal mining village in the 19th century. In 1871, according to the Census there were approx 800 people living in the Silksworth and Tunstall areas, the local area was mainly farmland and where most people worked on the land. However about 350 were men and their families who were constructing the new colliery. To exploit the rich coal reserves in the area the Silksworth Colliery shaft was sunk in 1869 funded by the Londonderry Coal company. Ten years later in 1879 the local population had risen to 4707 for the Silksworth and Tunstall areas. The increase in population was mainly due to the migration of people to the area seeking work at the new Silksworth colliery. According to the census returns the miners came from Ireland, Scotland, Cornwall and even from the United States and Germany. The miners and their families had moved to the colliery areas seeking employment and also colliery housing was provided for the miners by the mine owner Lord Londonderry. The miner's life was not an easy one, working conditions underground were very dangerous and the work very arduous. When Silksworth Colliery eventually closed in 1971 it was a massive blow to the local community as many of the local people and businesses relied on the colliery for their livelihood. Just about all remnants of the former Silksworth colliery have now gone and the former mine site has since been converted into Silksworth Sports Complex. Facilities at the sports complex include:
Notable buildings:
Doxford House formerly Silksworth House.
Doxford House is a derelict 18th century manor house adjacent Doxford Park in the Silksworth area of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, England. It is a Grade II* listed building
The manor house formerly known as Silksworth House, was constructed in 1775–1780 by William Johnson who on his death in 1792 left the property in his will to his friend Hendry Hopper. In 1831 Priscilla Hopper then heiress to the estate married William Beckwith of Thurcroft. He was High Sheriff of Durham in 1857. The Beckwiths moved to Shropshire in about 1890 and the house was let out. [6]
In 1902, Charles David Doxford of (William Doxford & Sons Ship Builders) brother of Theodore Doxford, took out a 99-year lease on the 24-acre (97,000 m2) estate. On his death in 1935, his daughter, Aline Doxford bought out the lease. On her death in 1968, she bequeathed the house and estate to Sunderland Corporation who gave the house its present name Doxord House and turned the gardens of house into Doxford Park.
In 1989 the house became a student's hall of residence for Sunderland University and from about 2000 to 2006 was occupied by the Lazarus Foundation, a drug rehabilitation charity. Plans to turn the house into apartments were proposed in 2008 but the conversion of the house into apartments was never carried out.
The latest proposal for re development of Doxford House is to restore the property back into a private family residence with work ongoing in 2014.
The Miners Hall, Blind Lane, Silksworth The Miners Hall is located in Blind Lane, Silksworth. The hall is a prominent building in Blind Lane and was built in 1893. The hall was a spacious building constructed of brick and stone. The building was used as a meeting place for the miners and their families, it was also used for social events, wedding receptions, engagement parties etc. The Silksworth Colliery Brass Band also practiced and performed in the hall. The Miners hall front facade and roof was recently refurbished. The hall is now currently used as a builder's storage facility.
St Matthews Church, C of E Church, Silksworth
St Matthew's Church opened in 1872 three years after Silksworth Colliery opened in 1869, the Church played a large part in the formation of the new mining community of Silksworth with the input of miners and their families. The churchyard contains the Commonwealth war graves of 12 British servicemen of World War I and 4 of World War II. [7]
St Leonard's RC Church, Silksworth.
St. Leonard's Roman Catholic Church opened in 1873, four years after Silksworth Colliery opened in 1869, the funding for the building of the church and rectory being provided by Priscilla Maria Beckwith of Silksworth House.
Located behind Blind Lane was the Ebenezer Chapel 1883 (now the Independent Methodist Church)
The Temperance Hall 1912, located at the top of Tunstall Terrace which is now the Calvary Christian Fellowship
Sunderland is a port city in Northern England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre, within the Metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear, the Historic County of Durham, and the North East Combined Authority area. The city is 10 miles (16 km) from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on the River Wear's mouth to the North Sea, the river also flows through Durham city roughly 12 miles (19 km) south-west of the city's centre.
Beamish Museum is the first regional open-air museum, in England, located at Beamish, near the town of Stanley, in County Durham, England. Beamish pioneered the concept of a living museum. By displaying duplicates or replaceable items, it was also an early example of the now commonplace practice of museums allowing visitors to touch objects.
Following is a list of dates in the history of Sunderland, the ancient city in North East England. Facts and figures, important dates in Sunderland's history.
Hetton-le-Hole is a town situated in the City of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, England. It is in the historic county of Durham. A182 runs through the town, between Houghton-le-Spring and Easington Lane, off the A690 and close to the A1(M).
Elsecar is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley in South Yorkshire, England. It is near the villages of Jump and Wentworth and 1.5 miles (2.4 km) south of the town of Hoyland, 6 miles (9.7 km) south of Barnsley and 8 miles (13 km) north-east of Sheffield. Elsecar falls within the Barnsley MBC Ward of Hoyland Milton. Like many villages in the area, it was for many years a colliery village until the widespread pit closures during the 1980s.
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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.
Doxford Park is a suburb of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, located to the south-west of the city centre. Once part of the historical township of Silksworth in the Middle Ages, Doxford Park consisted of agrarian land and a manor before being constructed into a modern housing estate in the 1960s. Surrounded by the A19, the suburb now houses one of the city's largest business districts, the Doxford International Business Park.
Monkwearmouth is an area of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear in North East England. Monkwearmouth is located at the north side of the mouth of the River Wear. It was one of the three original settlements on the banks of the River Wear along with Bishopwearmouth and Sunderland, the area now known as the East End. It includes the area around St. Peter's Church, founded in 674 as part of Monkwearmouth-Jarrow Abbey, and was once the main centre of Wearside shipbuilding and coalmining in the town. It is now host to a campus of the University of Sunderland and the National Glass Centre. It is served by the three Church of England churches of the Parish of Monkwearmouth. The first nineteenth-century Catholic church built in Monkwearmouth was St Benet's Church which remains active today.
Farringdon is a suburb of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, England. Originally a Monastic grange and manor estate for hundreds of years, Farringdon was rebuilt as a post-war council housing estate in the 1950s. It is approximately 3 mi (4.8 km) south of the city centre along the A690, close to Thorney Close, Silksworth, East Herrington, Gilley Law and Doxford Park. Electorally, the area comes under the St. Chad's ward of the City.
Herrington is an area in the south of Sunderland, lying within historic County Durham in North East England.
Farringdon Community Academy is a co-educational secondary school with academy status, located in the suburb of Farringdon in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, England.
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Tunstall is a suburb of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, England which is mostly a privately purchased estate. It is located to the west of Ryhope, and east of Silksworth. The area was built around a large hill, known as Tunstall Hill. Since 1966 pilgrims have erected crucifixes on the hill every Good Friday.
Doxford House is an 18th-century mansion in the Silksworth area of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, England. It is a Grade II* listed building.
Bishopwearmouth Cemetery is a cemetery in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, England. It lies between Hylton Road and Chester Road.
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Hendon Burn is a stream flowing through Sunderland, Tyne and Wear. serving as a drainage basin for most of the city's southern half, its route proceeds from Doxford Park through the Farringdon Country Park area and into Gilley Law, Silksworth, Barnes, Ashbrooke and Backhouse Park before reaching the sea at Hendon.
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