Phoenix Row incorporating Belts Gill and Softley Dene Farm (formerly Glebe Farm) is a hamlet of about 30 houses in County Durham, in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. It is situated half a mile north of

Low Etherley Low Etherley is a village in County Durham, in England. It is located a few miles to the west of Bishop Auckland. In 1825 the Stockton and Darlington Railway opened a horse-drawn branch line, the Etherley Incline Railway, from West Auckland t ...

and 2.5 miles west of Bishop Auckland.

Etherley Incline Railway

The hamlet is built on part of the site of the former Etherley Incline Railway, opened in 1825. Initial distribution of coal from the

Witton Park Colliery Witton Park Colliery was a coal mine in Witton Park, Witton-le-Wear near Bishop Auckland, County Durham, Northern England. Development Part of the Durham Coalfield, coal stocks were known throughout the area to be close to the surface, allowi ...

was undertaken by horse and cart, but due to the volumes of coal extracted and cost of distribution, a new method of transport was required.

George Stephenson George Stephenson (9 June 1781 – 12 August 1848) was a British civil engineer and mechanical engineer. Renowned as the "Father of Railways", Stephenson was considered by the Victorians a great example of diligent application and thirst f ...

was contracted to build a suitable railway to bring the coal down from the hills, and constructed the Etherley Incline Railway with iron rails held on stone blocks. A stationary

beam engine A beam engine is a type of steam engine where a pivoted overhead beam is used to apply the force from a vertical piston to a vertical connecting rod. This configuration, with the engine directly driving a pump, was first used by Thomas Newcome ...

controlled the descent of wagons that ran from the colliery to the

River Gaunless The Gaunless is a tributary river of the Wear in County Durham, England. Its name is old norse, meaning useless.A Potted History of West Auckland - Martin Connolly The Gaunless Viaduct, built in 1825, was the tallest viaduct on the South Du ...

. Horses then pulled the wagons to the foot of the Brusselton Incline, which descendend into . From here, the

Stockton and Darlington Railway The Stockton and Darlington Railway (S&DR) was a railway company that operated in north-east England from 1825 to 1863. The world's first public railway to use steam locomotives, its first line connected coal mining, collieries near Shildo ...

transported it to Newport on the

River Tees The River Tees (), in Northern England, rises on the eastern slope of Cross Fell in the North Pennines and flows eastwards for to reach the North Sea between Hartlepool and Redcar near Middlesbrough. The modern day history of the river has bee ...

. The Etherley Incline closed in 1843, and today it is designated by

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

as an

ancient monument In British law, an ancient monument is an early historical structure or monument (e.g. an archaeological site) worthy of preservation and study due to archaeological or heritage interest. The '' Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act ...

, and as such is protected.

History

Phoenix Row was built in the 1840s, originally of local sandstone, Stobart brick and red pantiles to house families of miners and farmworkers. Nearby

Witton Park Ironworks Witton Park Colliery was a coal mine in Witton Park, Witton-le-Wear near Bishop Auckland, County Durham, Northern England. Development Part of the Durham Coalfield, coal stocks were known throughout the area to be close to the surface, allowing ...

also provided some employment until its closure. The people of Phoenix Row built their own

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related Christian denomination, denominations of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John W ...

chapel (now a private house) and they had a cricket team which played at the New Inn Fields. Phoenix Row's bracing climate was credited in the local press for breeding tall, strong sportsmen - "sturdy six-footers". At one time the majority of the houses in the hamlet were occupied by members of just three families - Watsons, Grays and Stubbs - and their in-laws. In the 1960s Phoenix Row was threatened with the dreaded Category "D" notice, a death sentence for many post-industrial County Durham mining communities. However the determined villagers fought the Category "D" notice tooth and nail. Showing remarkable community spirit, they united under the banner of P.R.I.D.E. (the Phoenix Row Improvement & Development Effort) and succeeded in getting the Category D threat lifted, modernising their homes and saving their village for future generations.

References

Villages in County Durham {{Durham-geo-stub