Thorney Close is a suburb 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 ...

Tyne and Wear Tyne and Wear () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England. It borders Northumberland to the north and County Durham to the south, and the largest settlement is the city of Newcastle upon Tyne. The county is ...

in England. It is located on the northern edge of the A690 (Durham Road), and borders with Grindon to the north and

Herrington Herrington is an area in the south of Sunderland, in Tyne and Wear, England, Historic counties of England, historically in County Durham. ''The Herringtons'' are split into ''East & Middle'' and ''West'' and ''New'' villages. East and Middle He ...

to the south, and the A19 to the west. Originally emerging as a Tudor era manor estate and orchard, Thorney Close was purchased by Sunderland authorities in the late 1940s and transformed into one of first its post-war housing states.

History

Middle Ages and Tudor Period

The specific origins of the Thorney Close estate and its name remain unclear. During the Middle Ages, the land was speculated to either be part of the neighbouring Farringdon Hall estate, or is speculated by historians to be part of the former "Clowcroft" estate of which the precise location remains unknown. However, by the Tudor era the name ''"Thornye Close''" appears in historical record, having been owned by three times Mayor of

Newcastle Upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

Richard Hodgson and willed to his son Robert. This coincides with reports of the former manor, "Thorney Close Hall" being built in the Tudor Period around 1546, of which was part of the township of Silksworth under the parish of Bishopwearmouth.

The Modern Estate

In 1947, land around the manor was acquired by the Sunderland corporation who began to transform the area into a post-war social housing estate. By 1948 the first 77 homes had been built, ushering in the demolition of the historic manor which following the death of its last owner Violet Bulkley, had been made redundant. By 1971 the population had risen to just under 14,000. According to the 2001 Census, the population was 9,938, with 36.7% living in council houses. In the 2011 Census the population was 11,125, as reported as part of th
Sandhill ward
The estate has three shopping arcades, a community centre, one working men's club, a recently built residential home for the elderly, three

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

churches, and two

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

s, and a

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

which was rebuilt in 2003. The former secondary school site is host to the new school, community centre, the local branch library, which was moved from Grindon and a walk in health centre. Most of the streets in Thorney Close begin with the letter "T". ''Such as, Telford Road, Twickenham Road, Torquay Road, Thorney Close Road, Taunton Square and Tadcaster Road.''

Deprivation

According to the ''Office of National Statistics Census 2021", Thorney Close ranks joint 2nd with Plains Farm for deprivation within Sunderland at 68.9%, falling from 74.7% in 2011. Hendon and docks ranked 1st at 69% of households being deprived.

In Popular Culture

The estate was the feature location of a short-horror story "The Curse of Thorney Close" which embedded themes of poverty, crime and desperation into a tale of witchcraft in the area.Sunderland's First Horror Story: The Curse of Thorney Close
/ref>

References

City of Sunderland suburbs Sunderland {{TyneandWear-geo-stub