Tudhoe - 1910

Tudhoe is an extensive parish, formed in 1866 from Brancepeth parish, and is bounded on the north by the River Wear, 1 mile north from Spennymoor station on the Bishop Auckland and Ferry Hill branch of the North-Eastern Railway, four miles north-east from Bishop Auckland and six south from Durham; the parish consists of the townships of Tudhoe and Tudhoe Colliery, and parts of the townships of Ferry Hill and Merrington, in the mid division of the county, north-west division of Darlington ward, Durham petty sessional division, union and county court district, rural deanery and archdeaconry of Auckland and Diocese of Durham. Tudhoe ward is within the Spennymoor urban District, having been added to it 31 December, 1894. The Church of Holy Innnocents erected in 1866, at a cost of one thousand eight hundred pounds, is a building of stone, in a modern Gothic style, consisting of chancel, nave, south porch and turret containing one bell; the east window, with three others on the south side of the chancel, are stained; in the south aisle are two stained windows, a memorial to George Ormiston, of Tudhoe Grange, and Mary his wife, and to Fanny their daughter, wife of Thomas Black, d. January 18th. 1862, and her children; a memorial window has also been erected by the congregation to the reverend A.O. Smith. The church was restored during the period1880-90, at a cost of five hundred and ninety five pounds, and will seat 413 persons. The register dates from the year 1866. The living is a vicarage, net yearly value two hundred and eighty five pounds, with the residence in the gift of the Dean and Chapter of Durham, and held since 1910 by the Reverend Ormbsby Douglass M.A., of Hatfield Hall, Durham. The chapel of ease at Tudhoe is an iron building, erected in 1880, and enlarged in 1882 and 1885, at a total cost of seven hundred and thirty one pounds, and will seat 300 persons; it is served by the clergy of Holy Innocents. Tudhoe Grange is an ecclesiastical parish, formed May 30th., 1884, mainly out of the parish of St. Paul’s Spennymoor. The Church of St. Andrew, erected in the year 1884 at a cost of three thousand pounds, is a building of stone, in the Early English style, consisting of chancel, nave, north aisle, west porch and an octagonal embattled tower, with short spire, containing one bell; the church was enlarged in 1891 at a cost of one thousand six hundred pounds, and in 1895 a memorial chapel was erected by Mrs. S.C. Baring to her husband, the late Thomas Charles Baring esq., M.A., M.P., J.P. who died in 1891: There are sittings for 530 persons. The register dates from the year 1884. The living is a vicarage, net yearly value three hundred pounds, and held since 1901 by the Reverend William Mackman Wykes M.A. of Durham University. The Catholic Church, dedicated to St. Charles, is a spacious building of stone, and has a turret containing one bell: there are several stained windows, and sittings for over 700 persons: attached is a burial ground and a residence for the priest: adjacent to the chapel is a certified poor-law school, usually called “Tudhoe Home,” enlarged about 1902 at a cost of twelve thousand pounds, for 186 children and conducted by the Sisters of Charity. There are also Wesleyan, Primitive Methodist, Welsh Congregational and Presbyterian Chapels at Low Spennymoor and Mount Pleasant, and Primitive Methodist and Wesleyan Chapels and a Temperance Hall at Tudhoe Colliery. A new cemetery of 4 ½ acres was opened in 1894 at a cost of three thousand pounds, and is under the management of the Spennymoor Urban District Council. In this cemetery is a cross with sculptured bas-reliefs, erected by their fellow workmen as a memorial to the men and boys who lost their lives in the lamentable explosion at Tudhoe Colliery, April 18th. 1882. The Park Hotel has good running grounds. The Weardale Steel, Coal & Coke Co. Ltd., have very extensive works here, considerably enlarged in 1896, but, with the exception of the blast furnace, are closed. Tudhoe grange Market, formerly for meat, is now (1910) used as an auction mart; the ground adjoining, about 100 yards square, is let off for travelling circuses, shows etc. The area of Tudhoe township is 1,841 acres of land and 12 of water; rateable value, twenty thousand nine hundred and ninety two pounds; the population in 1901 was 4, 872, and St. Andrew, Tudhoe Grange, 6,119. Town Sub-Post Office, M.O. & T. Office, Tudhoe Colliery.- Mrs. Mary Elizabeth Kay, sub-postmistress. Letters arrive from Spennymoor at 8 a.m. & 3 .30 & 8 p.m. ; dispatched at 8 .30 & 10 .30 a.m. & 5 .30 & 8 p.m. Wall Letter Box, Tudhoe Village, cleared at 8 .15 & 10 .30 a.m. & 5 .30 & 8 p.m. Council Schools Mount Pleasant (mixed), built in 1879, for 550 children; average attendance, 450; Anthony Charlton, master; Miss Annie Walbank, mistress. Coulson Street (mixed), built in 1874, for 384 children; average attendance, 310; Henry Copeland, master; Miss Margaret Robson, mistress. Cheapside, Tudhoe Grange (mixed & infants), built in 1860, for 220 children; average attendance, 107 mixed & 61 infants; George H. Smith, master; Miss Alice McNeill, infants’ mistress. Tudhoe Colliery(mixed), built in 1875, for 700 children; average attendance, 370; Lot Squire, master; Miss E. Smith, infants’ mistress. Church of England, Mount Pleasant (boys, girls & infants), built in 1869 & enlarged in 1892, for 527 children; average attendance, 533; James Keers, master; Mrs. Bland, mistress; Mrs. E. Raine, infants’ mistress. Catholic, Durham Road, Tudhoe, built in 1837, for 513 children, average attendance 285; John Robert Smith, head master; Mrs. Mary Ann Hunt, infants’ mistress.

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