RESIDENTS can learn about the social and natural history of their community thanks to a new publication.

Last year the 400 page Ferryhill Village Atlas was launched following two years of research and a summary of the findings is now available.

Archaeologists, geologists and historians worked alongside Ferryhill residents and schools to trace a full social and natural history of the area from the geology onwards.

The research and atlas was funded by the Limestone Landscapes Project, supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) and Durham County Council’s 4 Together Area Action Partnership and now a more concise, simplified version is available.

Ferryhill resident and local historian Tim Brown said: “It has been a fantastic project and it’s fascinating what has been uncovered about the Ferryhill area.

“The summary document will whet the appetite of local residents, who can then dig deeper in the main Village Atlas in the sections that interest them the most.”

Tony Devos, Limestone Landscapes programme manager with Durham County Council, added: “It’s great that local people have been involved in getting together a natural and social history of Ferryhill.

“These will be important documents for many years to come.”

The new 40 page summary is available free of charge from Ferryhill or Chilton Library or by emailing your address to walltowall9@hotmail.com and Ferryhill History Society will send out a copy.

An electronic version of both the full atlas and its summary are available on the Limestone Landscapes website from at limestonelandscapes.info/Pages/ferryhillvillageatlas.aspx or from the Ferryhill History Society website at ferryhillarchives.com