On 7th September 2000 I tried to locate Gurney Villas at Coundon Grange. My G2 Gdad John HANN and his family were there for a few years around  1851 and then they moved to Ryhope.  
What was found was Gurney Terrace at Close House. This ran up the hill from Gibson Street; as also did Heslop Street and Stanley Street, leading to Vyners Street. At the East end of Gibson Street is The Royal Hotel opposite which is the Friends Mission Hall 1897 and a small Post Office. Enquiring at the Post Office I was told that there used to be a Gurney Valley up the road to the school and to the right but these houses had been knocked down and a plantation of trees now stood there. The trees in question looked to be only a few years old. It was suggested that I should look for a book of the area which would be in the library at Bishop Auckland.  (see below).  

It later turned out that part of Gurney Villas is still there and the following pictures were taken and sent to me by Terry CHITTENDEN who lives close by.  

  This is Gurney Villas (now called Gurney Valley) from the South West.  I doubt if the field would have been there when this area was booming.  There was possibly more money made from coal than gold in the 1800s.  

  Gurney Villas from the South East.  The Black Boy Railway used to run along the lane.  I'm advised by Amanda Wakes that this is now called "the Black Path".  

  This I think would be considered the front of the houses.  Note that these early houses were provided with gardens where the miners would probably have kept chickens and pigs.  About 50 years later when colliery villages such as Horden were built they had a small paved yard at the back.  Anyone who wanted to do some gardening had to get an Allotment.  These were provided by the local council, not the mine owners. 

  The North side of the row.  The school is behind the camera.  The road to the left runs down to Close House, Eldon and then on Southwards to Shildon.  

  Turning slightly to the right this is the road to Bishop Auckland.  Through fields now where once would have been Industry.  What I'll probably never sort out is whether it was one of these houses in which my Great Grandmam Martha HANN was born on 20th April 1851.  

From David Allison I have maps of what the area looked like in 1850 and in 1924 - but if you have not got a fast connection these will take some time to down load as they are both about 0.4 Mb.  It would seem to have been a pretty lonely place in Gurney Villas in 1850.  

This is Gurney Terrace at Close House, September 2000.

Whilst browsing the internet, I came across your site, you visited Close House last September and took a photo of Gurney Terrace more to point my house No3! (the one with the canopy).
You mention on your site that when you visited you were told that Gurney Valley had been knocked down, this is not strictly true. Gurney Valley was a street with 147 Houses Some were knocked down over 30 years ago, and the rest about 18 years ago except for two they stand at the top of the hill next to the plantation. What you may find interesting is that one of the occupants is called Hoggarth and has lived there for years.

October 2001 I received the following from Margaret BEITH of Chester:

While browsing these pages I found an article about Close House and there was a picture of houses my great grandfather James Moore built.  He was no relation to Hogarths and isn't there for that reason.  The houses at Coronation were named after him, his wife and his three children.  Frances Terrace in Bishop Auckland was named after his daughter in law.  He lived in Gurney Villas, as did my other ggf.  He retired early from the colliery and had to earn a living by other means.  He was a seedsman.   In 1905 he bought a car that cost more than two houses!  He then started a building firm for his sons in co-operation with the colliery.  Eldon Colliery carried on until 1962 (?) It was The South Durham (Eldon) Colliery that closed in 1930.

January 2002 I received the following from Malcolm FRANKLIN in Canada:  

I am from Eldon Lane (presently living in Canada).  I casually crossed your search for Gurney Terrace, and memories flooded back.   

We lived in Spencer Street in Eldon Lane, and there was a Mr Hoggarth, his wife, and son Joe who lived in the street behind Spencer Street (I cannot remember its name).  Mr Hoggarth (Jack) was the manager at the Eldon Lane cinema. Tiny it may be, and change it certainly has. When I was a boy it was a live breathing place, and the mines were a big part of the culture.  Values were what we search for today, and for a small place it had adventure for a small boy:   
Boxing Club 
Coffee bar 
Cinema (four changes of movie per week) 
The pit buildings offered a thousand adventures themselves. 
The railway offered train-spotting. 
Scouts 
Auckland Park playground, 
Cookys Pond 
The 'clayhole' for football and cricket. 
And for the adults - the club and the pubs.  

August 2003 I received the following from Ken WALTON:  

I was especially interested in the photo of Gurney Terrace taken by one of your correspondents.  

My wife's grandparents and great-grandparents were both living in Eldon at the time of the 1901 census (and for most of their lives afterwards). The GGPs (Gittins) were at 8 Double Row and the GPs (Beavis) at 5 Gurney Terrace, just visible on the left of the photo.  

The house your correspondent mentions, number 3, is recorded in the census as 'To Let - no occupier'.

Regards, Ken Walton (Living in Wales for the last 44 years, but grew up in Bishop Auckland, and actually swam in Eldon Baths on one occasion at least)  

November 2004 I received an email from Norrie LIVINGSTONE who lived and played in the area when a lad.  

December 2004  I received a email from Steve FRENCH who said:

"I found your site after typing in a search for Gurney Pit - the home of my Great Great grandfather William French and his family.  I noticed that in the 1881 census he gives his address as Gurney Villa but by 1891 he is living at the specific address of 8 Gurney Pit. Is this one and the same place or do you think the housing changed?"  
I don't know the answer to Steve's question.  

March 2005 I received a note from Jackie LEEVERS:  

"Bryan,     I was searching for the Royal Hotel, Coundon Grange and found your site. I read your pages on Close House with great interest as I have just found that several of my family lived there around 1900. I've been collecting names and dates for some time and love to come across some real history. Thank-you.  

It may have been my g'mother's (Peggy Gradon nee Gibson) relations who build Gibson Street.  I know that her grandfather, Matthew Gibson owned Wellfield Farm a few miles away. I do not know whether other family members owned a farm nearer to Coundon Grange, but it seems fairly likely. Your site says that the cottages behind the Post Office may be part of the old farmstead, so Wellfield Farm would not have been near enough for that. If anyone knows when 15 Gibson Street was built or which farm the Gibson family owned, or even any first names, then I would be very pleased to hear from you.  

My other connection to Close House is via my great, great g'mother, Harriet Richardson, whose brother, Thomas Piercy Richardson, ran the Royal Hotel between 74 and 75 Close House, Auckland in the 1901 Census. Harriet Richardson also gave Close House as her address when marrying George Gradon in 1898, and they were living at 48 Close House in 1901.  

I also may be a relation of David Allison's (who provided map links on this site) as a Charles Allison married Harriet Richardson's first husband's sister, Annie Richardson. Charles and Annie (nee Richardson) Allison, were also witnesses at the marriage of Joseph and Harriet Richardson. Annie was Joseph's sister and they both were born in Leeming, Yorks and brought up in Whitby.  

If anyone has any further information about any of these families or buildings then I'd be very pleased to hear from. I'd also like to get in touch with David Allison if possible to see if there is a connection between our trees. "   

April 2006 I received this email from Marjorie MILLING

Hi Bryan    Thank you for reply, I thought the GIBSON clan came from g. grandmas side. It appears it is from the WEST side of the family, g.grandma & g.grandad WEST's marriage witnesses were Jane Gibson WEST & Tom Cleminson PROUD who was g.grandma's brother.  They were married at Eldon St. Mark's in 1892.  G. Grandad WEST's father was Joseph WEST.  I think it's possible for the wife to be GIBSON. I remember a cousin of Nana who's maiden name was Marjorie GIBSON and her sister was Nanna GIBSON.  Her married name became GREENWOOD and Marjorie became JONES.  I think Wellfield Farm could of been the farm they had.   The GIBSONs also were Landowners and had brickworks hence the clayhole.   Close House where they took the clay from brickworks was Bridge Place & bricks stored at Brickyard Coundon Grange.   All this was lost in a gambler. Would love for anyone who can give information on this line of GIBSONs. Also found more GIBSONs from Gibson Street.  Elizabeth (mother), Thomas (father), Margaret, John & Peter (children) were on 1891 census . Can you help with above information. I lived in Close House  until 1961 so know area very well.  Marjorie.   If you want to contact Marjorie send emails to "alderson5" and add to "@" and then to "tiscali.co.uk"   

April 2007 I received this email from Nora SHAW  (odd how such little place has so many "friends"; I have 17 contacts regarding this place)

Hello Bryan - I was interested to see your web page with the photographs of Gurney Valley - I was born there in 1930 in number 34. It was a single story terraced house with large walk in pantry - living room and at the back and one large bedroom at the front. The living room window faced into the backyard of the neighbours  Mr and Mrs White and family - at the right [number 35] and the window in our backyard belonged to the people in number 33 - Mr and Mrs Smythe. My family name was Dack. We lived there for almost 5 years. My grandparents, Fred and Mabel Hodgson and family lived in 138 Gurney Valley from 1935 /6 until they died in 1961 and 1963 respectively - their surviving daughter Dorothy and Son Edward moved to Leeholme in the late 1960's and shortly after this their house and the one I was born in were demolished.   
Obviously our dates do not coincide but I had to let you know of my interest in your site. My Great Grandparents Robert and Sarah Dack lived in Close House from approximately 1905 until their deaths; Sarah was last in 1930.  
Nora

November 2008 I received the following from Judith SMITH:

After reading your web page I am sending a link to a Durham Miner's website which shows Gurney Valley on a GIS system. Please look through the historical maps and you can see the changes to the area. 

http://www.durham-miner.org.uk/durhamcc/DRE.nsf/DMPSimpleSearch?readform 

I lived in Gurney Valley in the 1970's and can confirm that: 

a) Gurney Villas were the houses at the bottom of a large hill. 

b) The other houses (over 100) ran up the hill which in previous times was called Black Boy.

c) The Black Boy (or Gurney) Pit ran behind the gardens of the houses at Black Boy.

The houses on the hill had very large (100 metres or so) gardens at the 'front' of them and all had a back yard with toilet and coalhouse in. These back yards opened up at the main road. 

When coming home from work at the mines, pitmen would walk up the long garden path to get home. 

The houses on the hill were brick built but were half timber clad. All of the timber was painted burgundy red. They were very distinctive and could be seen for miles straddling the hill above the pits. 

The houses on the hill had 2 bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen room and had a small 'scullery' or 'washhouse attached. 

It was only in the 1960's that all of the houses became known as Gurney Valley. 

Aug 2009 I received the following from Ivan CHURM

Hi Bryan, My name is Ivan Churm , born 1939 in Bridge Place. (Built by Moor)

In late 1989 I took a partner and built forty houses in Coundon Grange. (Brockwell Court). Being a video enthusiast I made a copy as the site progressed and twenty years later have got around to editing the clips. 

I called the site after the coal seam I assumed was beneath and not as some thought, (a Badger) but decided to research the sites history and came upon your website. The names and memories came flooding back. Joe Hoggarth the cinema projectionist's son (my age) had a Norton Dominator and the local bobby on his B.S.A. Bantam stood little chance. Temple was our bobby and no-one crossed him. 

At the top of our street adjacent to the elevated railway were the stone built continuous draw lime kilns approx forty foot high with I believe four eight foot wide by ten foot high (approx) arches where the lime was fired. 

I never saw them working but the stone construction was used as a climbing wall until their demolition in the seventies by G.S Stephenson of Bishop Auckland ,the main building contractor in the area at the time. 

I saw the houses occupied by the Irish navies Campbell Terrace (Paddy’s Row or Paddy’s Alley depending on day of week) pulled down. On one of the internal gable walls was painted in massive blue and red bold letters the word JAZUZ . One word spoke volumes. 

Cook’s Pond referred to in the document was Shepherd pond. The only Cook’s pond appeared yearly when the snow melted and ran down the old line from Shildon flooding our street (Oxford St) sometimes to a depth of three or four inches before forming a large pond in Cook’s field then overflowing into the Dean beck and on under the railway to the Gaunless. 

My uncle was a linesman and as Beecham closed the lines the signal cabins were demolished and he salvaged many documents and artifact from the attics including the attachment. 

Best Wishes, Ivan. 

In 1825 a traveller coming up the road from St. Andrew Auckland towards Darlington would soon have on his left an almost complete view of the valley of the Dean (or Denburn) Beck. Dominating the scene would be Grange Hill Farm, perched on the highest point in sight, the only inhabited spot in the township of Coundon Grange. Its name marks it out as the focal point in former days of the Bishop of Durham's agricultural holdings in the neighbourhood. The resident population was about 30.

At the head of the valley, about 1.5 miles away, he would see Eldon Blue House, the only house in Eldon township within view. The village lies just beyond the crest of the hill, the other farms further still, though many of the fields of Red House Farm lay on the southern slopes of the valley. The Manor of Eldon is first mentioned in a charter of King Canute, who gave it to the shrine of St. Cuthbert at Durham in 1020 when he came on pilgrimage. It had in 1792 been acquired by Sir John Scott, of Newcastle, then Solicitor-General, who became Lord Chancellor in 1802, and except for one year had held the office ever since. In 1821 he had been created Earl of Eldon. The estate remains with his family to this day.

Down in the valley itself was one small group of houses, the farm and cottages of Close House. Two of the fields bordering the beck were called East Bog and West Bog-names which indicated why the valley as a whole was avoided as a place of residence. Close House, about 150 yards north of the beck, was high enough to avoid flooding. For some reason this farm was a detached portion of the township of Bishop Auckland; the area was about 32 acres, the population no more than 20.

The fields in the foreground on the south side were part of the Deanery Estate in the township of South Church (St. Andrew Auckland). It is unlikely that there were any houses here, as the village clustered below the ancient parish church, which still served a great area of nearly 30 square miles, stretching from Windlestone and Middridge to the east, Witton-le-Wear in the west, and Byers Green to the north. In the Middle Ages the Church was a secular college with a Dean and 11 Canons based on East Deanery, the oldest house for miles. The college was suppressed in 1548, the lands being confiscated by the Crown. In 1825 they were held by a family called Spencer.

If the view contained little sign of human habitation, it had other evidences of man's activity in the shape of a number of pit-heads. At Coundon Grange, below the farm, the traveller would see the newest of these, the Black Boy Machine Pit - the name suggests that it was the first in this group to have a steam-driven winding-engine. Due north of this was an older pit still in use. The name Black Boy came from an inn half-way down the Durham Road between Canney Hill and Bishop Auckland, around which the original colliery had its pits in the 18th century. Why the inn had this name has not been established.

The pits of the Eldon estate were mainly in the fields of Red House Farm; an estate map of 1840 shows four sites south of the valley road, and a fifth just north of it where it climbed to the hill-top. It is unlikely that more than two were being worked in 1825; one, very close to the road, directly across the valley floor from Close House, the other a little way up the bank, 200 yards to the south-east. Mining had been going on since 1734 at least; a report exists of the pit then in use.

On the Deanery estate also there is evidence of many earlier pits. Brown's Deanery Pit, the one operating in 1825, was very close to the Eldon boundary, about half-way up the hillside.

Fifty years later all these pits had been replaced by more modern ones going down to the deeper seams and employing a far larger work force. In consequence large numbers of houses were being built, and the population in the valley was about 3,000. Fifty years later again this figure had been doubled.

What set off this great expansion was arguably the most historic event of 1825-the opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway. In the words of P. W. B. Semmens in his book "Stockton and Darlington," "The Stockton and Darlington Railway was not the first passenger-carrying railway, nor the first public freight railway, and Locomotion was not the first steam locomotive by more than 20 years. Nevertheless, the combination of these three factors, with the scale of the Stockton and Darlington operation and its subsequent financial success, made the events of 27th September, 1825, a very obvious point from which the whole world-wide railway industry can be seen to have taken off."

The local significance of the event is well summed up by Semmens a few pages later: "The basic economic reason for the construction of the Stockton and Darlington Railway was to enable the collieries in the Auckland coalfield to compete with those further east." The pits of 1825 were so small that no special housing was required for the workmen, but by the 1890's both Eldon and Auckland Park were employing over 1,000 men and boys.

The Black Boy wagonway was part of the original scheme, and was constructed in 1826. It ran from the marshalling yard at Shildon up to a standing engine beside the railway cottages still existing (Rose Cottages) bearing the S. & D. plaque G.12. From there the main track ran down to Eldon Lane where four houses were built numbered G.13. (It is a pity that during the recent renovation of these houses the plaque was removed). Continuing north the line ran to the Machine Pit, and on to the Old Pit. Plans to extend it to Coundon never materialised. From the standing engine a branch ran down Eldon Bank (constructed for the purpose) to the pit at the bottom later called Old South Durham; a line branched off at the hill top to the other active pit, which was about half-way between the houses now on Eldon Bank and Pasture Rows; it is preserved as a footpath. For the Deanery Pit only a short spur was needed. In 1829 an extension was made from the main line to the new Black Boy Gurney Pit half a mile east of the Machine Pit. This pit is the one remembered locally as the Black Boy.

The extension of the Stockton and Darlington line to South Church in 1841 had an important effect on the valley as a whole. A tunnel had to be dug through the hill between Shildon and Eldon Lane, the spoil being used to make a great embankment across the valley which virtually sealed it off from South Church. Nothing can now be seen of the main housing areas from Rosemount. They are shut in on all sides. This isolation may well have contributed to the very strong sense of community which the newcomer discovers here, though the residents look back to it as a thing of the past.

The tunnelling was done by Irish navvies, for whom a row of cottages was built alongside the Black Boy line. Although they moved away immediately after, the row was known as Paddy's Row, and is still remembered as such, though its official name was Campbell Terrace. The houses were subsequently occupied by miners at the Adelaide Pit, which about this time took the place of Brown's Deanery Pit. The further development of Eldon Lane was linked with this pit, as the names High Deanery and Low Deanery, given to streets below the High Street, bear witness.

The extension enabled all the later pits to have their coal hauled by locomotives from the start. The first of these was the John Henry Pit at Eldon, below Howlish Hall; this was sunk in 1841. The wagonway built for it also served the New South Durham Pit, sunk in 1864 where the Eldon Brickworks now are. It has since been dismantled, but the line can still be seen above the churchyard. It crossed the Black Boy line above Paddy's Row, and joined the main line south of Coronation Bridge.

1864 saw also the sinking of the other main pit at Auckland Park, which replaced the Machine Pit. For this a branch line was made from the north side of the bridge, curling round the pit yard and terminating alongside Thomas Street. From there a line ran below the Gurney Villa terraces to link with the wagonway to the Gurney Pit. The original Black Boy line was no longer needed, but much of it remained intact until fairly recently. Now all trace of the Auckland Park and Adelaide pits has been removed. The buildings of the Eldon and Black Boy Gurney pits have also been demolished, but the pit-heaps remain.

Each settlement in the valley was connected with one of these pits. First came Gurney Villa, for the Black Boy pits; an extension known as Black Boy was built later, continuing the terraces to the Gurney Pit. About 1900 these were inappropriately renamed Gurney Valley. Below the Machine Pit, brickworks were built on both sides of the wagonway, and the adjoining houses were known as Brickyard; the name is still sometimes used. The pub, first called the Tile Sheds and now the Cumberland Arms, is commonly called the Blood Kit, apparently from a cockpit there in its early days. The recreation ground between Brickyard and Close House is known as the Clayhole. In 1885 Close House and Brickyard were transferred to Coundon Grange township. Strangely the name Coundon Grange now applies to Brick-yard alone, the other settlements having retained their separate names.

Close House grew much more slowly than the newer settlements. Up to 1900 it consisted only of High Street (above the farm) and Main Street (down to the beck), and No. 15 Gibson Street, built by the Gibson family (who owned the farm) for their own use. The cottages behind the Post Office may be part of the old farmstead.

Eldon had been included in the new ecclesiastical parish of St. John, Shildon, in 1834. In 1870 the Vicar, the Rev. H. Spurrier, told the Bishop that it was growing so fast that it needed a church of its own. In 1874 he repeated his suggestion, and a new Vicar of St. Andrew Auckland, the Rev. R. Long, said the same of the Black Boy colliery area. Bishop Baring, a great church builder, decided on a church in Eldon to serve the whole valley except Auckland Park and Gurney Villa, for which a district church, St. Philip's, was built in 1880, served by the clergy of St. Andrew's. (This church was in use until 1952; it has since been demolished). Only half of the township of Eldon was included in the new parish of St. Mark, the boundary being the footpath from Old Shildon to Old Eldon; but this included all the houses except Red House and Moor House. Lord Eldon gave sites for the Church and the Vicarage, and also a considerable grant towards the stipend. The Order in Council creating the parish was published 6th April, 1877; the Bishop licensed the Rev. William Noble, who had been appointed Vicar by the Crown on his recommendation, on 4th July, and the parish was then formally established. Until the church was built, services were held in the National School, then at the bottom of Eldon Bank.

The 1881 census gives the parish population as 3,418; by 1901 it was 4,979. It continued to grow until 1914, the highest census figure being 5,773 in 1921. The develop-ments of the latter period were mainly the work of Mr. Moore, whose name is preserved in Moore Street, Eldon Lane, in what is known as "The Hollow." He also built Bridge Place, and beyond the bridge "Coronation Town" now abbreviated to Coronation; the six terraces there are named after his children. Although this is outside the parish, the families in it came largely from Eldon and Eldon Lane, and still form an important element in St. Mark's congregation. Mr. Moore also built the side streets off Gibson Street at Close House. All of Eldon was built before 1900 except New Row and Eldon Bank, and after World War I two memorial bungalows and two shops.

The decline began in the years between the wars. Except in Eldon nothing new was built. The Gurney Pit closed in 1924 and Eldon Colliery in 1930. Auckland Park survived until 1943. After World War II the County Council placed the whole valley in its Category D, which effectively banned all development and led to a general neglect. Families were encouraged to move away. In consequence the population is now less than 2,000.

Category D was officially abolished in 1976, since when there has been at least a glimmer of hope that a community large enough to be socially viable may survive in the valley. Many houses have been renovated at Eldon Lane and Coundon Grange, and some new houses have been built at Coundon Grange. Nothing has been done, however, at Eldon, which is in a different Council area. But the Church and Church Hall are well sited to serve the whole valley. and it is our hope that they can play a significant part in the revival of community life.

Acknowledgements: "Stockton and Darlington" by P W B Semmens, Durham Co. Record Office, Institute of Mining, Newcastle.