Thornley, Durham
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Weardale Weardale is a dale, or valley, on the east side of the Pennines in County Durham, England. Large parts of Weardale fall within the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) – the second-largest AONB in England and Wales. The u ...
.'' Thornley is a village and civil parish in
County Durham County Durham, officially simply Durham, is a ceremonial county in North East England.UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne an ...
, England, about 5 miles (9 km) to the east of Durham and 5 miles (7 km) west of
Peterlee Peterlee is a town in County Durham, England. It is located south of Sunderland, north of Hartlepool, west of the Durham Coast and east of Durham. It gained town status in 1948 under the New Towns Act 1946 ( 9 & 10 Geo. 6. c. 68). The act als ...
. The community grew around a coal mine established in 1835, which remained open until 1970.


Governance

The first tier of local government is Thornley Parish Council. Most functions are carried out by
Durham County Council Durham County Council is the Local government in England, local authority for the non-metropolitan county of County Durham (district), County Durham in North East England. The council is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority, bein ...
, a
unitary authority A unitary authority is a type of local government, local authority in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Unitary authorities are responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are ...
. Thornley is part of Trimdon and Thornley electoral division, which elects three members of the county council. Thornley is part of the Sedgefield parliamentary constituency of which
Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He was Leader ...
was the Member of Parliament from 1983 until 2007.


History


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 Hartlepool ( ) is a seaside resort, seaside and port town in County Durham, England. It is governed by a unitary authority borough Borough of Hartlepool, named after the town. The borough is part of the devolved Tees Valley area with an estimat ...
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 Durham Miners' Association (DMA) was a trade union in the United Kingdom. History The union was founded in 1869 and its membership quickly rose to 4,000, but within a year had fallen back to 2,000. In December 1870, William Crawford beca ...
, 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 New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz (South Korean band), The Boyz * New (album), ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** New (Paul McCartney song), "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * New (EP), ''New'' (EP), ...
of
Peterlee Peterlee is a town in County Durham, England. It is located south of Sunderland, north of Hartlepool, west of the Durham Coast and east of Durham. It gained town status in 1948 under the New Towns Act 1946 ( 9 & 10 Geo. 6. c. 68). The act als ...
. 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 Public housing in the United Kingdom, also known as 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 social housing. D ...
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 Demolition (also known as razing and wrecking) is the science and engineering in safely and efficiently tearing down buildings and other artificial structures. Demolition contrasts with deconstruction (building), deconstruction, which inv ...
of the Thornlaw North estate has allowed the council to sell the land to a large housebuilding company,
Persimmon plc Persimmon plc is a British housebuilding company, headquartered in York, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. History Persimmon was founded by Duncan Davidson in 1972. The company is ...
, to build 'executive' housing. A small amount of
affordable housing Affordable housing is housing which is deemed affordable to those with a household income at or below the median, as rated by the national government or a local government by a recognized housing affordability index. Most of the literature on ...
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. 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 The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...
during his service with the
Northumberland Fusiliers The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers was an infantry regiment of the British Army. Raised in 1674 as one of three 'English' units in the Dutch Anglo-Scots Brigade, it accompanied William III to England in the November 1688 Glorious Revolution and ...
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 Greyhound racing is an organized, competitive sport in which greyhounds are raced around an oval track. The sport originates from Hare coursing, coursing. Track racing uses an artificial lure (usually a form of windsock) that travels ahead of th ...
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. The racing was independent (not affiliated to the sports governing body the
National Greyhound Racing Club The National Greyhound Racing Club was an organisation that governed Greyhound racing in the United Kingdom Greyhound racing is a sport in the United Kingdom. The industry uses a parimutuel betting tote system with on-course and off-course be ...
) and was known as a flapping track, which was the nickname given to independent tracks. The stadium was active in 1936 and was still in place in 1967 but had been demolished by 1976.


Gallery

Image:Pitwheelthornley.jpg, This memorial pit wheel was put in place in 1990. The tree-lined area to the rear covers the site of the actual colliery. The road is the former High Street. Photograph taken in May 2006 Image:Thornley_Pit_Wheel_Sign.jpg, The inscribed stone at the base of the Pit Wheel, photographed in May 2006 Image:HighStThornley.jpg, The former High Street, Thornley, photographed in 2006. The War Memorial and Colliery Inn are visible in the distance. The colliery was off the picture to the right. Photograph taken in May 2006 Image:Hartlepool_St_2005.JPG, Hartlepool St Thornley, in 2005. This was once the main shopping street of the village Image:Coopers_Close.JPG, Looking up towards St Bartholomew's Church and the remains of the Coopers Close Estate, Thornley, 2005. The housing at the right of the picture was demolished in 2007 File:St Bartholomew's Church (Thornley, Durham).JPG, St Bartholomew's Church, Thornley. This photograph was taken in 2005 after the church's closure but prior to the removal of its stained glass windows. The church was demolished in September 2007 Image:John_Scott_Youll_VC_Memorial_2005.jpg, The Thornley War Memorial in 2005, with the John Scott Youll VC Memorial in the foreground and St Bartholomew's Church to the rear Image:Thornley War Memorial.JPG, The Thornley War Memorial in 2005, prior to the addition of the John Scott Youll VC monument. The colliery was directly opposite to the Memorial. Hartlepool Street ran down to the right and High Street up to the left.


References


External links


Thornley Parish Council


at wheatleyhill.com
Thornley Colliery
at oldthornley.com

at Durham Mining Museum
Thornley – a short history
– Durham Miner project, Durham County Council, archived in 2007
Northern Echo article on Thornley history
5 May 2013 {{authority control Civil parishes in County Durham Villages in County Durham