Blackhall Rocks is a village on the
North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the ...
coast of
County Durham,
North East England. It is situated on the
A1086 between
Horden and
Hartlepool, and just south of
Blackhall Colliery
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.
Built around the ...
which it adjoins. It is sometimes referred to by locals in the area as "The Rocks".
One of the earliest mentions of Blackhall Rocks is in the mid-19th century, when the beach was photographed. This was a time when the beach was part of a minor holiday
resort, due to the location of a hotel above the cliffs. It was around this time a
railway station
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...
was established here, which was closed in 1960. Adjacent to the station a siding and coal depot supplied coal from Blackhall Colliery 1 mile north to the surrounding area. The hotel remained up until the late 1960s when it was demolished, at a time when it had been used as flats, as a form of temporary housing, by
Easington (district)
Easington was, from 1974 to 2009, a local government district in eastern County Durham, England. It contained the settlements of Easington, Seaham, Peterlee, Murton, Horden, Blackhall, Wingate and Castle Eden. It did not however include E ...
Council, since the 1940s.
Despite the presence of the hotel, it was not until the 1920s and 1930s that Blackhall Rocks really developed as a community and village, something which is itself evident driving down the "coast road" (the
A1086). Most of the houses along this road were built for
middle class
The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. Com ...
commuters, hence the proliferation of
semi-detached
A semi-detached house (often abbreviated to semi) is a single family duplex dwelling house that shares one common wall with the next house. The name distinguishes this style of house from detached houses, with no shared walls, and terraced hou ...
houses and
bungalows. In the late 1930s the local council built a large
council estate
Public housing in the United Kingdom, also known as council estates, council housing, or social housing, provided the majority of rented accommodation until 2011 when the number of households in private rental housing surpassed the number in so ...
to the west of the coast road, around the road to
High Hesleden. Later on in the 1960s and 1970s a series of new council homes were built to the east, between the coast road and the
railway line
Rail terminology is a form of technical terminology. The difference between the American term ''railroad'' and the international term ''railway'' (used by the International Union of Railways and English-speaking countries outside the United Sta ...
.
References
The Battlefield Band composed a song entitled "Blackhall Rocks". It was named after this village.
External links
Villages in County Durham
Populated coastal places in County Durham
Nature reserves of the Durham Wildlife Trust
{{Durham-geo-stub