Tanfield, Durham

Tanfield

Back street in Tanfield Lea, County Durham
Tanfield
 Tanfield shown within County Durham
Population 8,270 (2011.Ward)[1]
OS grid referenceNZ191557
Shire countyCounty Durham
RegionNorth East
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post town Durham
Postcode district DH9
Police Durham
Fire County Durham and Darlington
Ambulance North East
EU Parliament North East England
List of places
UK
England
County Durham

Coordinates: 54°53′49″N 1°42′11″W / 54.897°N 1.703°W / 54.897; -1.703

Tanfield is a former mining village in County Durham, England, near Stanley, and the location of Tanfield Railway, the Causey Arch and Tanfield School.

History

The village was first recorded in 1179 as Tamefeld, believed to be Old English for "field by the River Team", but it is mentioned in an account by John of Hexham of the Scottish invasion of 1138. The village church is from the 10th century.[2]

Economy

Collieries

The village has the highest rate of people aged 16–74 who have never worked, the figure stands at 33.33 percent, in the whole of England and Wales.[3]

Religious sites

The village church of St. Margaret of Antioch dates back to 900 AD, but the present structure was built in the 18th century. It was the parish church of Beamish Hall, former home to the Eden, Joicey and Shafto families. There is a Methodist church in Tanfield Lea.

Notable people

Tanfield was the home of Tommy Armstrong (1848–1919), the "pit-man poet", whose grave is in the village cemetery.

References


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 7/9/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.