Jump to content

Harraton

Edit links
Coordinates: 54°52′52″N 1°32′02″W / 54.881°N 1.534°W / 54.881; -1.534
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Crouch, Swale (talk | contribs) at 10:04, 23 January 2022 (former CP). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Harraton
St George's church and churchyard, Harraton
Harraton is located in Tyne and Wear
Harraton
Harraton
Location within Tyne and Wear
Population2,878 
OS grid referenceNZ29475479
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townWASHINGTON
Postcode districtNE38
Dialling code0191
PoliceNorthumbria
FireTyne and Wear
AmbulanceNorth East
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Tyne and Wear
54°52′52″N 1°32′02″W / 54.881°N 1.534°W / 54.881; -1.534

Harraton is a former civil parish, now in the unparished area of Washington, in the Sunderland district, in the county of Tyne and Wear, England. Harraton is near the River Wear and is geographically, 3 miles north-east of Chester-le-Street, 2 miles southwest of Washington town centre and 9 miles south-southwest of Sunderland. When nearby Washington (historically a village) was founded as a new town under the New Towns Act in 1964. Harraton alongside the neighboring villages of Chaters-Hough, Fatfield, Cox Green and Picktree became suburbs of Washington forming the southern suburbs of the town. Certain developments also took place for over spill for the nearby towns of Chester Le Street and Houghton-le-Spring (also in the City of Sunderland metropolitan borough).[1][2][3]

History

Harraton and the aforementioned villages formed at onetime part of the chapelry of Birtley. Harraton was a township in the Chester-le-Street parish, a sub-district and registration district,[4][5]

John Wilson's 187-1872 Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales describes Harraton thus:

"The manor belongs to the Earl of Durham; and has his seat, Lambton Castle, on an eminence adjacent to the Wear. There is a chapel-school of the Established church, and chapels for Wesleyans and Primitive Methodists. The sub-district contains Washington parish, and six townships and a chapelry of Chester-le-Street parish.[5]"

The Anglican parish church of St George's Fatfield is in Harraton, and the ecclesiastical parish of Fatfield also includes Mount Pleasant, Picktree, and Rickleton.[6][7] The church was built in 1879 on land given by the Earl of Durham. The church was massively reordered in the 1980s and inside is warm, light and contemporary, reflecting the informal and lively style of worship that takes place.[8]

Harraton Colliery Chapel was built in 1873 financed by the Earl of Durham and is of brick construction seating 150, the building is still standing. It was used by the Primitive Methodists. This particular branch of Methodism had as its aim the recovery, as they saw it of the principles and practice of the early Methodists which had been lost or at least played down. The chapel was the chosen place of worship for believers of the working classes, where as the Anglican Church was seen as the domain of the "bosses". The Chapel functioned as a place of worship until 1932 when it closed.[9]

There was a primary school, Harraton Primary School, which closed in 2004.[10]

Mining

Coal was extensively worked; but the majority of the coal pits are exhausted.[5]

Row Pit, Harraton Colliery was the scene of a fatal explosion on Monday, 30 June 1817. Some miners were sent to work in an area of the colliery which was not free from firedamp and the men were expressly ordered to use safety lamps. One man, John Moody, ignored this instruction and was observed using a candle.[11] The overman ordered Moody to extinguish the candle, which he did. Shortly afterwards Moody was again found using a candle and reprimanded. He extinguished the candle and lit his lamp. The overman had just left him when the explosion occurred.[12] 38 of the 41 men underground were killed, including a grandfather, his two sons and seven grandsons.[12]

Two days later eight workmen descended Nova Scotia Pit, part of the same colliery. When they did not return another party went down but were forced back by chokedamp. Late on the following day six bodies were recovered and there was "little hope of recovery for the other two".[12] All eight were recorded as being buried on 5 July.[13]

The pit closed in May 1965,[14] with many of the miners migrating to the modern pits in Nottinghamshire. The poet Jock Purdon wrote Farewell to Cotia about the pit's closure and the "exodus" to Nottinghamshire.

References

Citations

  1. ^ "Washington history". England's North East. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  2. ^ "New Towns | Co-Curate". co-curate.ncl.ac.uk. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  3. ^ "History - Washington History Society - Washington History Society, Washington". www.washingtonhistorysociety.co.uk. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  4. ^ "Genuki: Birtley, Northumberland". www.genuki.org.uk. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  5. ^ a b c Great Britain Historical GIS Project 2014.
  6. ^ St George's Church 2015.
  7. ^ "A Church Near You (Map showing church and parish)". Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  8. ^ "Images of St George's Church, Washington, Fatfield".
  9. ^ Lake 2011.
  10. ^ Harraton Primary School nd.
  11. ^ Richardson 1844.
  12. ^ a b c Thomson 1817.
  13. ^ Durham Mining Museum 2012, "In Memoriam" section.
  14. ^ Northern Mine Research Society – Durham Coal

Bibliography

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Harraton&oldid=1067413533"