Stanley, County Durham
Stanley is a town and civil parish in County Durham in England. Centred on a hilltop between Chester-le-Street and Consett, Stanley lies south-west of Gateshead. The town's name is derived from the Old English stān and lēah, meaning "stony woodland clearing".
The local economy was once based on coal-mining and other heavy industries; with their disappearance or substantial decline, Stanley is now primarily a commuter town. Its core began to grow in the nineteenth century through the expansion and merger of the mining villages of East Stanley and West Stanley.
The civil parish, created in 2007, incorporates the town of Stanley and the following villages and settlements: to the north of the town centre, Shield Row, Kip Hill, and Causey; to the east, No Place; to the south-east, Bloemfontein, The Middles, and Craghead; to the south, South Moor and Quaking Houses; to the south-west, Oxhill, Catchgate, New Kyo, Greencroft, and Annfield Plain; to the west, West Kyo and Harelaw; and to the north-west, Tanfield Lea, Harperley, White-le-Head, Tantobie, Coppy, Tanfield, and Clough Dene.
History
Some archaeological evidence of possible Iron Age and Roman activity has been found in the Stanley area.Stanley is referred to in an early thirteenth century episcopal actuma documented decisionof Richard Poore, Bishop of Durham from 1228 to 1237. Dated between 1228 and 1234, it confirms the granting of the vill of Stanley and some land in Durham to William de Kilkenny.
The first printed map of the Bishopric of Durham was created in 1576. Published in 1579 as part of the cartographer Christopher Saxton's county atlas, it shows Stanley as "Standley". In 1611, John Speed, a famous English mapmaker who built on Saxton's work, created a map of the bishopric that also shows Stanley as "Standley".
The 1909 West Stanley Pit Disaster, one of the worst in the history of British coal mining, occurred at West Stanley Colliery on 16 February of that year. 168 men and boys were killed. An explosion at the same colliery in 1882 had killed 13 men. On 22 August 1947, an explosion at the Louisa Morrison Colliery killed 22 men.
Stanley was served by the Stanhope and Tyne Railway, which had two stations in the town: West Stanley, and Annfield Plain. Both closed in 1955.
Tanfield Lea was the site of the Ever Ready company's largest British battery factory, a major local employer. The factory opened, to much fanfare, in 1968, had around 950 employeesmainly former miners at its peak in the 1970s, and closed in 1996. The British Steel plant in the neighbouring town of Consett also had many ex-miners among the several thousand employed when it closed in 1980, part of a wave of redundancies affecting workers in the traditional heavy industries of the region.
The Stanley Blues Festival took place on the first weekend in August between 1993 and 2007, with appearances by local, national, and international blues artists and other musical acts. Nearly 15,000 people attended in 2002, the event's tenth anniversary. With support from the then-Derwentside District Council, Durham County Council, and the regional arm of Arts Council England, admission was free.
In mid-2023, Stanley Town Council handed back Stanley Civic Hall, the town's long-standing arts venue and community hub, to Durham County Council. Amidst political controversy, it closed shortly afterwards, and was put up for sale in early 2024. The Civic Hall was formerly known as the Lamplight Arts Centre, which opened in 1961. The council had taken over its running in mid-2013. The Civic Hall hosted concerts, recitals, plays and shows in the Alun Armstrong Theatre, had an independent cinema, put on exhibitions, held classes and seminars, and was a weddings and corporate events venue.
In late 2023, the owners of the Beamish Football Centre training ground announced that government funding had been secured for a major refurbishment and upgrade, with work starting in 2024.
Local government
Stanley, whose boundaries have changed over the years, has successively been part of the Lanchester Poor Law Union ; Stanley Local Board ; Stanley Urban District ; Derwentside District ; and County Durham.Stanley is in the UK parliamentary constituency of North Durham. Since July 2024, this has been represented in the House of Commons by Luke Akehurst of the Labour Party.
Town Council
Since 2007, Stanley Town Council has provided the first tier of local government. The council has the statutory right to do whatever it considers will improve the economic, social or environmental well-being of the area. It has a duty to provide allotments and to take into account the potential impact of every policy and action on reducing crime. The council's powers include the provision and maintenance of bus shelters, community centres, play areas and play equipment, and the awarding of grants to local community organisations. It can also issue fixed penalty fines for offences such as littering, graffiti, fly-posting, and contraventions of dog control orders.The town council has 20 councillors, elected every four years by electors in the seven parish wards. The last election was in 2021 for the 20212025 term. Each year the councillors elect, from amongst themselves, a town mayor and deputy, and a council leader and deputy.
County Council
provides the second tier of local government. Eight Stanley town councillors serve on the county council. Its responsibilities include education, housing, social services, highways, planning, and refuse collection.In May 2024, the county council became part of a new upper tier of local government, the North East Combined Authority, led by Mayor Kim McGuinness of the Labour Party.
| Councillor | Division | Political Party |
| Christine Bell | Annfield Plain | Derwentside Independents |
| Joan Nicholson | Annfield Plain | Derwentside Independents |
| Carole Hampson | Craghead and South Moor | Labour |
| Sam McMahon | Craghead and South Moor | Labour |
| Angela Hanson | Stanley | Labour |
| Carl Marshall | Stanley | Labour |
| Gordon Binney | Tanfield | Labour |
| Joyce Charlton | Tanfield | Derwentside Independents |
Area Action Partnership (AAP)
The Stanley AAP, one of 14 in County Durham, is a non-political organisation and funding body engaged with tackling local issues. It involves members of the public and representatives of Durham County Council and Stanley Town Council, the police, the fire brigade, health, housing, and education providers, business, and voluntary organisations. Stanley AAP publishes a directory of local activities and advice and support services.Economy
The three largest employment sectors for residents in the local area are retail, manufacturing, and health and social work, while the three largest industry groups for local businesses are construction; professional, scientific, and technical services; and retail.Retailers in the town centre have faced significant competition from larger retail and leisure destinations elsewhere, including Clifford Road Retail Park, the MetroCentre, and Newcastle and Durham city centres. Online shopping, encouraged by the COVID-19 pandemic, has also changed shopping patterns and contributed to a weakening of footfall.
Stanley's main shopping area, Front Street, is pedestrianised, housing independent shops and chain stores such as Boots. A market is held on Thursdays and Saturdays: it has declined over the years.
There are several prominent buildings in the centre of Stanley that are vulnerable or vacant.
Transport links
Via the A693, Stanley is about from Junction 63 of the A1 motorway. Stanley Bus Station is an interchange for routes served by several operators.The nearest Tyne & Wear Metro stations are Felling, Stadium, and Gateshead, each around away; all three serve both lines of the Metro's network. The closest railway station, at Chester-le-Street, is on the East Coast Main Line and about from Stanley.
Newcastle International Airport and the Newcastle International Ferry Terminal are each about away.
Schools and libraries
As well as several primary schools, Stanley has two secondary schools: North Durham Academy,and Tanfield School, a specialist science and engineering college. St Bede's Catholic School & Sixth Form College, an academy, is in the nearby village of Lanchester.
There are public libraries in Annfield Plain, South Moor, and at the Louisa Centre in Stanley, with many others in the surrounding area.
Leisure and community activities
The C2C Cycle Route skirts Stanley to the north. This 140-mile route links Whitehaven on England's north-west coast with Roker Beach on the north-east coast.The Louisa Centre, a sports and leisure complex, contains a gym, a 25-metre swimming pool, a small pool, a sports hall, a shooting range, a soft play area, a nursery, meeting rooms, a café, and Stanley Library.
South Moor Golf Course, lying south of the town and to the west of The Middles, was founded in 1923 and first operated by the National Coal Board. Redesigned in 1925 by Alister MacKenzie, a famous golf course architect, the course has 18 holes. It has a practice area, a short-game area, a pro shop, and a clubhouse that can host functions.
The Stanley Indoor Bowls Centre, with a large arena and grandstand, offers play for people of all ages and abilities. Inaugurated in 1977, it has hosted several top-level international events. The centre also provides meeting facilities for a range of community groups and clubs, and can be hired for private functions.
The Venue, a community centre and events space, has facilities for dance and martial arts classes, sports, theatrical productions, concerts, weddings and parties, meetings, and cooking classes. It also has a small gym. Organisations based in or accessible via The Venue include Citizens Advice, Age UK, Foodbank, Community Money Advice, Welfare Rights, and Durham Action on Single Housing.