Catalogue Item

Castle Eden Methodist Circuit

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• Castle Eden Methodist Circuit
  • Castle Eden Methodist Circuit (Ref: M/CE)
  • Registration (Ref: M/CE section 01)
  • Circuits (Ref: M/CE section 01)
  • East Durham Methodist Circuit (Ref: M/CE )
  • Thornley Circuit (Ref: M/CE )
  • Individual churches (Ref: M/CE section 02)
  • Cassop Methodist Church (Ref: M/CE )
  • Fishburn Methodist Church (Ref: M/CE )
  • Haswell Methodist Church (Ref: M/CE )
  • Kelloe St Paul Methodist Church (Ref: M/CE )
  • Quarrington Hill Methodist Church (Ref: M/CE )
  • Shotton Colliery Dene Street Methodist Church (Ref: M/CE )
  • Thornley Bow Street Methodist Church (Ref: M/CE )
  • Thornley Methodist Church (Ref: M/CE )
  • Trimdon Grange Methodist Church (Ref: M/CE )
  • West Cornforth Methodist Church (Ref: M/CE )
  • Wheatley Hill Methodist Church (Ref: M/CE )
  • Trustees (Ref: M/CE section 02)

Catalogue Description

The Circuit was formed in 2007 from 14 chapels and churches that were previously in three smaller circuits in East Durham:

- Hartlepool, serving the town and port at the mouth of the River Tees
- Thornley, serving the coal mining villages between the A1M and the A19
- Durham Coast and Peterlee, serving the New Town of Peterlee and villages on the Durham Coast

The present Circuit stretches from Seaton Carew in the south to Easington in the north and from the North Sea in the east to Coxhoe in the west.

Historically this area was dominated by industry and commerce. The countryside was dotted with pit villages, connected by railways, and the coast was dominated by the large pits of Blackhall Colliery, Horden and Easington, all working well out under the North Sea. All these areas were served by Hartlepool and, in the late 1950s, by Peterlee, which was built to serve the old inland mining villages as their coal became depleted and the mines began to close.

The character of the area changed into a more rural one in the late 20th century. The pits have all closed, the spoil heaps and mining areas have all been cleared up and the scene is again dominated by the rolling landscape of the magnesian limestone escarpment. With Durham County Council's 'Turning the Tide' initiative, the coastal area has been largely cleaned and walking paths installed.

On the downside, the closure of the pits and all the infrastructure that went with it, has led to widespread unemployment and social deprivation.

Source: Castle Eden Methodist Circuit website December 2019

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