Ushaw Moor is an old

pit village A pit village, colliery village or mining village is a settlement built by colliery owners to house their workers. The villages were built on the coalfields of Great Britain during the Industrial Revolution where new coal mines were developed 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 ...

, in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, on the north side of the River Deerness. It is situated to the west of

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city in north east England **County Durham, a ceremonial county which includes Durham *Durham, North Carolina, a city in North Carolina, United States Durham may also refer to: Places ...

, a short distance to the south of

Bearpark Bearpark is a village and civil parish in County Durham in England. It is situated two and a half miles west of Durham, and a short distance to the north of Ushaw Moor. The name may be a corruption of the French term ''Beau Repaire'' – ...

. Ushaw Moor falls within the Deerness electoral ward in the City of Durham constituency, whose MP since 2019 has been Mary Foy.

Etymology

It most likely seems that the name 'Ushaw' comes from

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

n origin which, when translated, means 'wolves' wood'. With the addition of Moor we get 'the moor near the wood of wolves'.

History

Parish registers suggests that the settlement dates to a least the sixteenth century. The village existed in a largely agricultural state, with a

windmill A windmill is a machine operated by the force of wind acting on vanes or sails to mill grain (gristmills), pump water, generate electricity, or drive other machinery. Windmills were used throughout the high medieval and early modern period ...

being its one feature up till the nineteenth century.

In 1804 Bishop William Gibson ordered the building of St. Cuthbert's College, later named

Ushaw College Ushaw College (formally St Cuthbert's College, Ushaw) is a former Roman Catholic Church, Roman Catholic seminary, which until 2011 was also a Colleges of Durham University#Types of College, licensed hall of residence of Durham University near th ...

, which opened in 1808. A chapel was added in 1847, followed by a library and exhibition hall. This closed in 2011 as a seminary and opened in 2014 as a visitor attraction and is known as Ushaw Historic House, Chapels & Gardens. In 1858 a

drift mine Drift mining is either the mining of an ore deposit by Underground mining (hard rock), underground methods, or the working of coal seams accessed by adits driven into the surface outcrop of the coal bed. A drift mine is an underground mine in whic ...

was established at Ushaw Moor Colliery selling

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

on the landsale system. This was purchased in 1879 by Henry Chaytor of

Witton Castle Witton Castle is a much-altered 15th-century castle, which is the centrepiece of a holiday and caravan country park at Witton le Wear, near Bishop Auckland, County Durham. It is a Grade II* listed building. Details Sir Ralph Eure obtained a lic ...

. During his tenure there was a large strike, following the deliberate sacking of an elected union leader in 1881. The strike was ended when a number of

policemen A police officer (also called policeman or policewoman, cop, officer or constable) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, ''police officer'' is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of t ...

were brought into the village to evict the strikers and their families; such treatment was not uncommon in those times. Mr Chaytor, sick of the years of industrial unrest, sold Ushaw Moor colliery to Pease & Partners in 1883. From this time, the workmen and community had an easier life, the new owners helping rather than opposing them. However, Ushaw Moor colliery closed in 1960, as part of the collapse of the Durham coal fields. In the last thirty years it has grown and become the centre of the Deerness Valley, becoming unusually prosperous where most pit villages have struggled. Good links with Durham and

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

and good local schools and amenities has meant it is very popular with first time buyers.

Geography

Ushaw Moor is approximately 2 miles west of

and 20 miles south 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 ...

. The Deerness Valley Railway Path, an eight-mile stretch of scenic woodland pathway converted from the former tracks of the Deerness Valley Railway, runs through Ushaw Moor.

Education

Ushaw Moor is the location of Silver Tree Primary School and St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School. Durham Academy is the main secondary school for the village.

, until its closure in 2011, was a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

and one of the constituent colleges of the

University of Durham Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by royal charter in 1837. It was the first recognised university to ...

. The college is currently being used by

Durham University Business School Durham University Business School (DUBS) is the business school of Durham University, a collegiate public research university in Durham, England. The school holds triple accreditation from AACSB, AMBA and EQUIS. Following a 1963 report on ma ...

whilst its own site is redeveloped. Ushaw College also hosts the annual Ushaw Jazz Festival.

Religion

Ushaw Moor is served by three churches: * Ushaw Moor Baptist Church * St. Luke's Church * St. Joseph's Catholic Church

Sports

Ushaw Moor Cricket Club was established in 1881 and has 2 senior teams and 4 junior teams.

References

External links

Ushaw Moor Community and Historical Website

Subterranea Britannica information on Ushaw Moor station

Ushaw Moor Post Office Website
{{authority control Villages in County Durham