Research Projects

by Jane Hatcher

General Background History

The place-name has been interpreted as meaning ‘the ford of the cranes’ from the Old English words cran and forth. The area came within the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Durham, and Cornforth Moor was mentioned in old documents relating to the Palatinate of Durham in 1303, and Corneforth occurs in Bishop Hatfield’s Survey of 1382 (1). The ford in question provided access to the Bishop’s fulling mill (2), later a corn watermill, on the Coxhoe Beck, which was still shown on 20th century Ordnance Survey maps. The old village of Cornforth developed irregularly around its large village green. The first edition of the 6 inch Ordnance Survey map of 1856 shows endowed schools for both boys and girls sited on and around the village green. The school for boys was erected by subscription in 1835, and a girls’ school was built at the sole charge of Mrs Surtees (of Mainsforth) in 1852 (3). In the mid-19th century local clay was being used by the Cornforth and Coxhoe Brick Works, the Crow Trees Tile Works and the Cornforth Pottery which produced tobacco pipes (4). The names of these firms differ slightly from those marked on the 1856 O.S. map, which has Coxhoe Pottery and Cornforth Brick Works just to the north-east of Cornforth on the Stockton-Durham Turnpike Road. A trades directory of 1856 has entries for 6 inns and 15 farmers in the area (5), and figures included show that the population had grown from a steady 320-350 in the early part of the 19th century, but had risen to 700 in 1841 and to 1,040 in 1851, due to the opening of collieries, particularly in the adjoining township of Coxhoe (6). The 1856 map shows rows of colliery housing at West Cornforth, a short distance to the south-west, along with the Grey Horse pub.

By 1894 there was now a separate Cornforth Parish, which had been formed out of Bishop Middleham parish in 1868, with Holy Trinity Church having been built in that year. It could seat 320 (7). The larger Catholic Church of Ss. Patrick, Joseph and Cuthbert had been built in 1875, and could seat 450 (8). At West Cornforth, now described as a populous village inhabited by the miners of Tursdale and Thrislington Collieries, there were Wesleyan and Primitive Methodist Chapels, dating from 1892 and 1871, seating 400 and 500 respectively. The school there had been built by the Rosedale and Ferryhill Iron Co., but this had become a Board School in 1879, with about 350 children (9). The colliery school at Tursdale, a colliery village north-west of Cornforth, could accommodate 200 and had been built by Bell Brothers in 1868 (10). The population of the area had continued to increase, to 3,416 in 1871, but had decreased by 1881 due to the pit closures, and then had risen again to 4,339 in 1891 (11).

The directory for 1894 has 68 entries, of which 36 are specified as relating to West Cornforth. A total of 12 inns are mentioned. The 1898 map shows the new churches, and a small amount of new housing up towards the railway line, but Cornforth itself remains much the same. West Cornforth has, however, grown considerably, with not only a lot of houses, chapels and schools, but a station, mineral railways, iron works and coke ovens.

The 3rd edition map of 1923 shows Cornforth much the same, and West Cornforth only slightly larger, with an Institute and sewage works adding to its facilities. The iron works and coke ovens seem to have closed, as has Coxhoe Pottery. Coxhoe itself has also grown considerably.

Mining History

Coal was mined in the Cornforth area from an early date and there was a medieval mine here (12). Nearby mines followed in the 18th and 19th centuries - Coxhoe (also called Kelloe) Colliery is said to have been sunk as early as 1750, with several others in the early-mid 19th century, such as Thrislington (Chilton) in 1835, Tursdale in 1859, Thrislington’s Mary and Jane pits 1867, and East Howle in 1872 (13). There is also documentary evidence that Cornforth Colliery was working in 1840 and 1846, with royalties from Cornforth and Thrislington mines reported in 1847 (14). Several of the mines also finally closed down at about the same time in the late-19th -early-20th centuries, for example Coxhoe and East Howle both closed in the period 1880-1919, but Thrislington lasted until 1966 (15).

There is abundant evidence of industrial activity indicated on the 1st edition of the 6 inch Ordnance Survey Map published in 1856. Several railway lines are shown, the nearest to Cornforth being the North Eastern Railway which passes very close to the north end of the village and runs roughly east-west and crosses the main north-south line. The Coxhoe Branch of the West Hartlepool Railway branches off the main line and runs south-west to north-east (16). The coal-mining industry is represented, to the north of Cornforth, by Bowburn Colliery, Coxhoe Colliery and Clay Hole Colliery, and to its south-west near West Cornforth by Thrislington Colliery, where shafts are marked.

By the time of the 2nd edition of the map, published in 1898, the local coal-mining industry had undergone many changes, with collieries contracting, expanding, opening and re-opening, as reflected in the population figures. Bowburn and Clay Hole collieries are no longer shown, and Coxhoe Colliery is marked as disused. Completely new collieries have appeared at Tursdale alongside the North Eastern Railway, and at East Howle around the Bishop Auckland and Ferryhill Branch Railway. Over towards the east an old shaft and an old pit are marked near Coxhoe Bridge Station, yet neither had been there in 1856. Expansion in the scale of operation is shown at Thrislington Colliery near West Cornforth. Further changes are shown on the 1923 map. The old site of Bowburn Colliery now has a brick works. Coxhoe Colliery is again marked as disused. Tursdale is active, Thrislington has more development and East Howle has contracted.

(1) Victor Watts, A Dictionary of County Durham Place-Names, (2002), p.30.

(2) Durham County Council, Sites and Monuments Record.

(3) William Whellan & Co., History, Topography and Directory of the County Palatine of Durham, (1856), p.226.

(4) As (3).

(5) As (3).

(6) William Whellan & Co., History, Topography and Directory of the County Palatine of Durham, (1856), p.225.

(7) Francis Whellan & Co., History, Topography and Directory of the County Palatine of Durham, (1894), p.259.

(8) Francis Whellan & Co., History, Topography and Directory of the County Palatine of Durham, (1894), p.260.

(9) Francis Whellan & Co., History, Topography and Directory of the County Palatine of Durham, (1894), p.261.

(10) Francis Whellan & Co., History, Topography and Directory of the County Palatine of Durham, (1894), p.261.

(11) Francis Whellan & Co., History, Topography and Directory of the County Palatine of Durham, (1894), p.262.

(12) Durham County Council, Sites and Monuments Record.

(13) DCRO, Durham Collieries, (2001).

(14) Durham County Record Office (DCRO) D/X 728/1, D/X 691/7 and D/Lo/B56.

(15) DCRO, Durham Collieries, (2001).

(16) DCRO Q/D/P117 refers to the Great North Eastern Clarence and Hartlepool Junction Railway from Hedshope in Castle Eden to Cornforth 1842.

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