Hetton-le-Hole

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Hetton-le-Hole is a town in the civil parish of Hetton in the Sunderland district, in the county of, Tyne and Wear. Until 1974 it was in County Durham.

The A182 road runs through the town, between Houghton-le-Spring and Easington Lane which borders the County Durham District, off the A69t and east of the A1(M).

The parish includes the villages of Easington Lane and Warden Law, had a population of 14,402 in 2001.[1] The parish also includes Hetton proper, along with East Rainton, Middle Rainton (West Rainton is a separate parish), Low Moorsley and High Moorsley.

Great Eppleton Wind Farm, a wind farm originally of four dual-bladed alternators, provides electricity to the National Grid. The original wind turbines have been replaced by larger three-bladed versions. The turbines are far enough away from local houses not to cause any audible disturbance.

History

The history of the Hetton area can be traced back for up to a thousand years. The name Hetton derives from the Old English hēopedūn meaning 'wild rose hill'.[2] In 1187 Bertram de Heppedune held the manor for the King; other de Hepdons were his descendants. The name was adopted by a local landowning family, the le Hepdons, who owned part of the Manor.

Records exist of the many holders of the manor back to the 14th century. William de Hepdon held half the Manor by deed in 1363 and in 1380 William de Dalden held the other half. Even earlier charters go back to 1187 and mention the early village of Heppedune, its people, houses, crofts, oxgangs and strips of land for the villagers in the three great fields around the settlement.

Hetton-on-the-Hill and Hetton-le-Hole

The ancient manor, which was bounded by that of Elemore, was divided into two parts known as Hetton-on-the-Hill and Hetton-in-the-Hole. The latter, a more sheltered vicinity, was where the present village arose.

Coal mining

By 1896, Hetton-le-Hole was a mining village in its own right; the district parish of Eppleton had been formed from Hetton-le-Hole which, by then, included that part of Hetton-le-Hole known as the "Downs". The village had a population of 5,000 and occupied 512 acres.[3][4]

Coal has been mined in the surrounding area since Roman times. Coal was then obtained by drift mining, but by the 14th century shafts were used. In 1819 the Hetton Coal Company was formed and its first shaft was sunk a year later. It was a highly controversial undertaking, with geologists doubtful as to whether coal of any value existed there. The Hetton Coal Company's owners also decided to build a wagonway from their new Hetton colliery to the River Wear at Sunderland. George Stephenson was hired to build the Script error: No such module "convert". line. The trains were powered by gravity down the inclines and by locomotives for its level and upward stretches. It was the first railway to use no animal power at all. These methods were used until 1959, as was some of the original machinery.

This was the scene of one of the earliest fatalities on railway lines, the "Hetton Wagonway Disaster" of Saturday 26 February 1831. Two Primitive Methodist Ministers were walking along the wagonway to Hetton when they saw some wagons approaching on the line on which they were walking. They moved to the adjacent line but had not seen wagons approaching from the other direction. John Hewson was killed outright, John Branfoot died a few hours later.[5]

These activities led to a rapid increase in the size of Hetton and over 200 houses for the miners were built at once. These have all but gone now, but twelve of these former mining cottages from Francis Street in the Hetton Downs area of the town were re-erected stone by stone at Beamish Open Air Museum, Stanley, near Chester-le-Street. The UK miners' strike (1984–1985) brought about hardship for many of the workers. Two local unsigned bands (The Pigeon Fanciers and Haswell Crisis) recorded and released a single to raise money for the families and to recognise the contribution made by miners over the years in their locality. Their adapted version of a Bob Dylan classic failed to chartScript error: No such module "Unsubst"., but the project made a slight profit as local support from other mining communities ensured that 'Knocking on Hetton's Floor' sold more than 1000 copies.

Hetton Colliery closed in 1950, Elemore Colliery closed in 1974 and Eppleton Colliery closed in 1986. Today, nothing exists of the mines in Hetton; the former mine complexes have disappeared and spoil tips have been removed, although some remain in nearby Haswell. The area surrounding Hetton Colliery has been landscaped and is now occupied by a lake and leisure facilities. Eppleton Colliery has been landscaped, and all that remains is the Hetton Centre (the former Colliery Welfare building) and the Eppleton Colliery Welfare Ground which hosts the home games of Sunderland A.F.C. Women and Sunderland U23s. There is also a quarry where sand is mined. This is now undergoing a reformation; around 15% of it has been smoothed and grassed over.

The decommissioned St Nicholas' Church in Front Street was destroyed by fire in November 2006. It is unknown if arson was the cause.[6] It had previously been listed because of its architectural significance.

Civil parish

Hetton le Hole became a civil parish in 1866,[7] on 1 April 1937 the parish of "Hetton le Hole" was abolished and merged with East Rainton, Great Eppleton, Little Eppleton, Moorsley and Pittington to form a parish called simply "Hetton".[8] In 1931 the parish of "Hetton le Hole" had a population of 17,665.[9]

Governance

Hetton-le-Hole is represented by three councillors on Sunderland City Council as part of the Hetton ward.

Two of the three councillors represent the Labour Party, being Councillor James Blackburn and Councillor Iain Scott.

The other councillor is Councillor Ian McKinley, who is currently the only serving Reform UK councillor on Sunderland City Council.[10]

Hetton Town Council

Hetton Town Council is the parish council for Hetton, composed of 21 councillors over 4 wards. Hetton-le-Hole, Easington Lane and Hetton Downs all have 6 councillors representing their wards, unlike East Rainton and Moorsley which has 3 councillors.[11]

The wards of Hetton Town Council are as follows:

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  • Easington Lane
  • East Rainton and Moorsley
  • Hetton Downs
  • Hetton-le-Hole
File:Hetton Council 11th December 2025.svg
The composition of Hetton Town Council as of December 2025
Current Hetton Town Councillors
Ward Councillors
Easington Lane style="background-color: Template:Party color" | Donna Brennan
style="background-color: Template:Party color" | Richard Elvin
style="background-color: Template:Party color" | Josh Green
style="background-color: Template:Party color" | Mark Pigdon
style="background-color: Template:Party color" | Kay Rowham
style="background-color: Template:Party color" | Sam Woods-Brass
East Rainton and Moorsley style="background-color: Template:Party color" | Lynsey Gibson
style="background-color: Template:Party color" | Pauline Hall
style="background-color: Template:Party color" | Stephen Holt
Hetton Downs style="background-color: Template:Party color" | Phillip Dowell
style="background-color: Template:Party color" | Bill Little
style="background-color: Template:Party color" | Roz Meadows
style="background-color: Template:Party color" | Harry Morton
style="background-color: Template:Party color" | Donna Thomas
style="background-color: Template:Party color" | Christine Willis
Hetton-le-Hole style="background-color: Template:Party color" | Kerry Angus
style="background-color: Template:Party color" | James Bonsall
style="background-color: Template:Party color" | John Defty
style="background-color: Template:Party color" | David Geddis
style="background-color: Template:Party color" | Kathleen Pearson
style="background-color: Template:Party color" | Susan Waterston

As of December 2025, the composition of the council was:

Party Councillors
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  1. REDIRECT Template:Party name with color

Template:Redirect category shell || align=center|2

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Total 21

Notable people

Sport

Music

See also

References

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  1. ↑ Office for National Statistics : Census 2001 : Parish Headcounts : Sunderland Template:Webarchive Retrieved 2009-09-16
  2. ↑ http://kepn.nottingham.ac.uk/map/place/Durham/Hetton%20le%20Hole
  3. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  4. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  5. ↑ W. M. Patterson, Northern Primitive Methodism, 1909. Primitive Methodist Magazine 1831 page 274. Also referred to in histories of Primitive Methodism by H B Kendall and John Petty and Primitive Methodist Magazine 1832 page 451 relating to movements of Primitive Methodist Ministers to Sunderland.
  6. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  7. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  8. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  9. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  10. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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External links

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