Murton is a village 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, east of the city of
Durham and south of
Sunderland
Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...
. It had a population of 4,534,
which rose to 7,676 at the 2011 Census.
It was originally a rural agricultural hamlet called Morton, but the discovery of coal beneath its fields in the 19th century transformed it into an industrial community. 'Morton became known as Murton Colliery or Murton-in-the-Whins
following the sinking of the pit in 1838 by South Hetton Coal Company,
and the village was a productive
coal mining
Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to Electricity generation, generate electr ...
community for more than a century. The pit employed more than 1000 men at its peak and featured in a ''
Picture Post
''Picture Post'' was a photojournalistic magazine published in the United Kingdom from 1938 to 1957. It is considered a pioneering example of photojournalism and was an immediate success, selling 1,000,000 copies a week after only two months. ...
'' article showing the 'vesting' of the mine at nationalisation in 1947.
The village also had the South East Durham Cooperative Bakery and a Northern Bus Company garage as added sources of jobs. In 1955 a by-product works for coal was established for the production mainly of
coke. The
mine and other employment opportunities closed in the 1990s along with many other
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 ...
mines and now the old spoil heaps are covered by a retail outlet development
Dalton Park, bringing much-needed new employment.
History
The discovery of coal beneath the fields of East
Durham during the 19th century transformed the tiny hamlet of Morton into the thriving township of Murton.
Decades later, however, the decision to close Murton's successful colliery almost, but not quite, succeeded in turning the close-knit community into a ghost town. Millions of pounds in
Government
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...
and private investment is now being pumped into Murton, changing the face of the former
pit village almost daily.
Fewer than 100 people lived in the village of Murton before 1830 but following the sinking of the mine in 1838 the population had grown to 1,387 by 1851.
Miner
A miner is a person who extracts ore, coal, chalk, clay, or other minerals from the earth through mining. There are two senses in which the term is used. In its narrowest sense, a miner is someone who works at the rock face (mining), face; cutt ...
s flocked to Murton from across
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 ...
and
Northumberland
Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...
in the early years, with people later uprooting from
Devon
Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...
,
Cornwall
Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...
and
Ireland
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
too. Many of the road and place names reflected the original roots of these pitmen, such as the
Cornwall
Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...
estate, and dozens of different
accents could be heard in the streets.
Work on the colliery – one of the pioneering mines of the East Durham coalfield — began on 19 February 1838 but it was five years before the first coals were drawn. Problems with pockets of shifting sand and the depth of the magnesian limestone overlying the coal delayed the work, making the project hugely expensive. Late shifts were even introduced for the first time, so that excavation could be carried out around the clock to finish the three-shafted pit as quickly as possible.
Just five years after the colliery opened, however, there was an explosion on 15 August 1848, near the Polka East shaft, which killed 16 miners. The tragedy left villagers shaken, but the village itself continued to flourish. Indeed, by 1856 Murton was almost unrecognisable from the
hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...
it had once been. Scores of terraced houses had been built to house the miners and the village now boasted three pubs and a new school, plus gas and coke works. As prospective miners continued to flood in so the number of tradesmen grew, with Murton Colliery Co-operative Society helping to serve the village by 1890.
As the village flourished, so too did the colliery. It was modernised after
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
and jn 1922 a Koepe friction winding engine was installed in the West Pit. New pithead baths followed in 1939, described as being "of especially pleasant design”, and ''Murtons swimming pool was opened in 1961.
But despite high productivity and a loyal workforce the decision was taken to close the pit in 1991. Campaigners fought against the plans but failed to stop them. The Koepe winding engine was transferred to the
Bowes Railway
The Bowes Railway, built by George Stephenson in 1826, is the world's only operational preserved standard gauge cable railway system. It was built to transport coal from pits in Durham to boats on the River Tyne. The site is a scheduled mon ...
following the controversial closure and in 1994 the colliery's winding tower was demolished. Murton's once-thriving pit community was now no more.
Timeline
Old village streets and their nicknames
Governance
An
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 t ...
of the same name exists. It includes
Dalton-le-Dale and surrounding areas and had a total population at the 2011 Census of 7,975.
Economy
This is a chart of the trend of regional gross value added of County Durham at current basic price
published(pp. 240–253) by the ''Office for National Statistics'', with figures in millions of Pounds Sterling.
Climate
Like the rest of the United Kingdom, Murton has a
temperate
In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (approximately 23.5° to 66.5° N/S of the Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ran ...
climate. At
the average annual rainfall is lower than the national average of .
[UK 1971-2000 averages](_blank)
, Met Office
The Met Office, until November 2000 officially the Meteorological Office, is the United Kingdom's national weather and climate service. It is an executive agency and trading fund of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and ...
. Retrieved on 20 August 2007. Equally there are only around 121.3 days
where more than of rain falls compared with a national average of 154.4 days.
The area sees on average 1374.6 hours of sunshine per year,
compared with a national average of 1125.0 hours.
There is
frost
Frost is a thin layer of ice on a solid surface, which forms from water vapor that deposits onto a freezing surface. Frost forms when the air contains more water vapor than it can normally hold at a specific temperature. The process is simila ...
on 52 days
compared with a national average of 55.6 days.
Average daily maximum and minimum temperatures are
compared with a national averages of respectively.
The table below gives the average temperature and rainfall figures taken between 1971 and 2000 at the Met Office weather station in Durham:
Notable residents
*
Mary Ann Cotton (1832–1873), convicted murderer executed for poisoning her stepson, grew up in Murton.
See also
*
Seaham
Seaham ( ) is a seaside town in County Durham (district), County Durham, England. Located on the Durham Coast, Seaham is situated south of Sunderland and east of Durham, England, Durham. The town grew from the late 19th century onwards as ...
*
Durham Miners' Gala
*
Sunderland, Tyne and Wear
Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...
*
Dawdon
*
Easington
References
External links
Old photos of Murton Colliery, in a slide show form YouTube (slideshow video featuring the pits of old County Durham - including Murton)
News stories about Murton Sunderland Echo
The ''Sunderland Echo'' is a daily newspaper serving the City of Sunderland, Sunderland, South Tyneside and Easington (district), East Durham areas of North East England. The newspaper was founded by Samuel Storey (Liberal politician), Samuel ...
A thousand old photos of Seaham and Murton east-durham.co.uk
{{authority control
Villages in County Durham
Civil parishes in County Durham