Urpeth Grange Estate near Ouston - geograph

Urpeth (Urpeth Grange) is a village in

County Durham County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly �About North East E ...

, England. It is situated a short distance from Ouston and Beamish, near the border with

Tyne and Wear Tyne and Wear () is a metropolitan county in North East England, situated around the mouths of the rivers Tyne and Wear. It was created in 1974, by the Local Government Act 1972, along with five metropolitan boroughs of Gateshead, Newcastl ...

. The parish population taken at the 2011 census was 3,630. Urpeth started its life as a coal mining area with multiple seams of coal being mined from various locations around the current housing estate. Urpeth Colliery was owned by the Birtley Iron Company and during its heyday employed 300 men and boys. The on site coke ovens produced up to 470 tons of coke each day. Geographically Urpeth is situated to the west of Ouston and is surrounded by fields and rolling hills. Standing in Urpeth's only play park, one cannot see Ouston as there is a hill which blocks the view. This hill was formed from the coal spoils from both the Ouston and Urpeth collieries. The hill provides local children with an area for sledging during winter and dog walkers throughout the year. There are currently two main businesses run within Urpeth which is the "Spar" Newsagents and The Cherry Tree pub. Urpeth was once host to a controversial landfill site to the south west of its main location. The site was used for the disposal of low level

radioactive waste Radioactive waste is a type of hazardous waste that contains radioactive material. Radioactive waste is a result of many activities, including nuclear medicine, nuclear research, nuclear power generation, rare-earth mining, and nuclear weapons r ...

along with three other sites at

Kibblesworth Kibblesworth is a village 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, fe ...

Ryton Ryton may refer to: Places in England * Ryton, Gloucestershire, a location *Ryton, North Yorkshire *Ryton, Shropshire *Ryton, Tyne and Wear *Ryton, Warwickshire (in Bulkington) *Ryton-on-Dunsmore, Warwickshire *Great Ryton, Shropshire People ...

and

Cowpen Bewley Cowpen Bewley is a village within the borough of Stockton-on-Tees and ceremonial county of County Durham, England. Cowpen Bewley is situated to the east of Billingham Billingham is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Stockton-o ...

. However, since the late 1990s the site was closed and a methane burner sits on the site.

References

Villages in County Durham {{Durham-geo-stub