Wingate 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. Wingate is a former

pit village A pit village, colliery village or mining village is a settlement built by colliery owners to house their workers. The villages were built on the coalfields of Great Britain during the Industrial Revolution where new coal mines were developed in ...

with a mixture of 19th-century, post-war, and more recent housing developments. It was originally inhabited by around 30 farmers before 1839 when coal was discovered. It is located in the East of County Durham, three miles south west of

Peterlee Peterlee is a town in County Durham, England. It lies between Sunderland to the north, Hartlepool to the south, the Durham Coast to the east and Durham to the west. It gained town status in 1948 under the New Towns Act 1946. The act also create ...

, and seven miles north west of

Hartlepool Hartlepool () is a seaside and port town in County Durham, England. It is the largest settlement and administrative centre of the Borough of Hartlepool. With an estimated population of 90,123, it is the second-largest settlement in County ...

. As with most villages in the area, it grew rapidly with the development of coal-mining in the region. The name Wingate is said to derive from the

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...

words ''windig'' (windy) and ''geat'' (road) meaning windy road. Like many County Durham villages, residents are known to speak the

pitmatic __NOTOC__ Pitmatic (originally: "Pitmatical", colloquially known as "Yakka") is a group of traditional Northern English dialects spoken in rural areas of the Northumberland and Durham Coalfield in England. The separating dialectal development ...

dialect although new housing developments has seen a sharp increase in the village's population.

History

There is no evidence of settlement at Wingate until the 16th century. However, mining made its presence felt in the 19th century and Wingate became a large settlement and regional centre for the area. The village is located approximately two miles east of the original settlement, which is now called

Old Wingate Old Wingate is a small village in County Durham, in England. It is situated a short distance to the west of Wingate, County Durham, Wingate. Most of the village was deserted in the Middle Ages. Villages in County Durham Wheatley Hill {{Durha ...

. Coal was discovered in 1839 when two shafts were sunk; coal was drawn in December 1839. In 1906, an explosion in the mine killed 26 pit workers in Wingate, and in 2006 a march took place to commemorate the miners. On 7 January 1971, the

Avro Vulcan The Avro Vulcan (later Hawker Siddeley Vulcan from July 1963) is a jet-powered, tailless, delta-wing, high-altitude, strategic bomber, which was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF) from 1956 until 1984. Aircraft manufacturer A.V. Roe and ...

bomber XM610 crashed near to the school after suffering an engine fire due to metal fatigue in the number 1 engine. The pilot remained in the burning aircraft before he ejected to direct the aircraft to crash into the sea; however. the aircraft later spiralled down into the village and crashed, leaving a large crater. There were no fatalities in the accident. The pilot was awarded a medal for steering the bomber away from Wingate Junior School. Wingate is also the birthplace of

Ted Harrison Edward Hardy Harrison LL.D. (August 28, 1926 – January 16, 2015) was an English-Canadian artist who created many paintings of the Yukon. Early life and education Ted Harrison was born in Wingate, County Durham, England, in 1926. He star ...

, a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

artist notable for his paintings of the

Yukon Yukon (; ; formerly called Yukon Territory and also referred to as the Yukon) is the smallest and westernmost of Canada's three territories. It also is the second-least populated province or territory in Canada, with a population of 43,964 as ...

Governance

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to t ...

in the same name exists. This ward stretches north east to

and has a total population, taken at the 2011 census, of 10,302.

Transport

Car travel

The village has ready access to road links for

commuters Commuting is periodically recurring travel between one's place of residence and place of work or study, where the traveler, referred to as a commuter, leaves the boundary of their home community. By extension, it can sometimes be any regul ...

, with the A181 leading westward to

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county *Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in No ...

and then north and south via the A1. Heading east towards the east Durham coast will lead you to the north and south bound A19, with links to

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

and

Teesside Teesside () is a built-up area around the River Tees in the north of England, split between County Durham and North Yorkshire. The name was initially used as a county borough in the North Riding of Yorkshire. Historically a hub for heavy manu ...

. The main road through the village is the B1280.

Public transport

Public transport is provided by

Arriva North East Arriva North East operates both local and regional bus services in County Durham, Cumbria, Northumberland, North Yorkshire and Tyne and Wear, England. It is a subsidiary of Arriva UK Bus, which operates bus and coach services across the United K ...

services 57, 57A, 58 and X21, and

Go North East Go North East operates both local and regional bus services in County Durham, Cumbria, Northumberland, North Yorkshire and Tyne and Wear, England. It was previously known as the Northern General Transport Company and Go-Ahead Northern. The compa ...

services 55, 202 and 239. Buses serve a range of destinations including:

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

Stockton-on-Tees Stockton-on-Tees, often simply referred to as Stockton, is a market town in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees in County Durham, England. It is on the northern banks of the River Tees, part of the Teesside built-up area. The town had an estimated ...

and

. Wingate was previously served by two railway stations at

Wingate Wingate may refer to: Places New Zealand * Wingate, New Zealand, a suburb of Lower Hutt United Kingdom * Wingate, County Durham * Wingate Quarry, a Site of Special Scientific Interest in County Durham * Old Wingate, County Durham * Wingates ...

and on the Great North of England, Clarence & Hartlepool Junction Railway and the North Eastern Railway Casle Eden Branch respectively. Both stations are long closed and the majority of the former right of way has been reclaimed and turned into walkways, notably parts of the Hart to Haswell Walkway. One of the level crossing gates survives next to the Railway Crossings pub on Front Street.

References