Willington is a village and former

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

, now in the parish of Greater Willington, 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 ...

and the ceremonial county of Durham, England. Willington stands in the foothills of the

Pennines The Pennines (), also known as the Pennine Chain or Pennine Hills, are a range of highland, uplands mainly located in Northern England. Commonly described as the "Vertebral column, backbone of England" because of its length and position, the ra ...

and near the

River Wear The River Wear (, ) in Northern England rises in the Pennines and flows eastwards, mostly through County Durham, to the North Sea in the City of Sunderland. At long, it is one of the region's longest rivers. The Wear wends in a steep valley t ...

close to Crook,

Bishop Auckland Bishop Auckland ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish at the confluence of the River Wear and the River Gaunless in County Durham, England. It is northwest of Darlington and southwest of Durham, England, Durham. M ...

and Durham. Like many communities in the area Willington's economy was largely based on coal mining. The closure of the

colliery Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extra ...

in 1967 therefore affected the local economy.

Governance

Willington is in the

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 Willington and Hunwick. The population of this ward at the 2011 Census was 9,147. Willington was formerly a

township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

and

chapelry A chapelry was a subdivision of an ecclesiastical parish in England and parts of Lowland Scotland up to the mid 19th century. Status A chapelry had a similar status to a Township (England), township, but was so named as it had a chapel of ease ...

in the parish of Brancepeth, from 1866 Willington was a civil parish in its own right, on 1 April 1937 the parish was abolished to form Crook and Willington, part also went to Bishop Auckland. In 1931 that parish had a population of 6644.

Leisure facilities'

There are large areas of parkland with play areas in the town. A leisure centre existed in the village, Spectrum Leisure Centre (a registered charity), but this closed following bankruptcy proceedings in 2024. The centre had a large sports hall, gyms and a bar/refreshment area and hosted events, notably those of Empire Electric Palace Theatre (Crook).

Education

Parkside Academy is a coeducational secondary school.

Football team

Willington has its own football club, Willington A.F.C., who currently play in the 11th tier of English football. Founded in 1906, the club won the Northern League in 1913–14, 1925–26 and 1929–1930, but have struggled more in recent years, having been relegated to the Wearside League where they continued to struggle. Willington A.F.C. have reached the final of the

FA Amateur Cup The FA Amateur Cup was an English football competition for amateur clubs. It commenced in 1893 and ended in 1974 when the Football Association abolished official amateur status. History Following the legalisation of professionalism within footb ...

twice. In 1939, they lost 3–0 to

at Roker Park,

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 ...

. In 1950 Willington beat Bishop Auckland 4–0 at

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in the London Borou ...

Notable figures

George Burdon McKean was born in the village in 1888, moving to Canada in 1902. He returned to England in WW1 as a private soldier in the Canadian Expeditionary Force. His first gallantry award was as an NCO, in 1917, when he won the Military Medal. A year later, as a commissioned officer, he was involved in a trench raid for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross. He was also one of a small number of soldiers to be awarded both the Military Medal & the Military Cross – having served as a both a junior rank and an officer. His Victoria Cross award was celebrated with the unveiling of a memorial stone in the main street of the village, near to the library.

References

{{authority control Towns in County Durham Former civil parishes in County Durham