SACRISTON developed from a little mining village of the 1840s into what was almost a small town by the 1890s. It was a thriving mining community of hard-working miners, with a good share of drinking places to quench their thirsts.

Pubs such as the Robin Hood were well established in the village by the end of the 19th Century and from the 1920s this pub and one called the Colliery Inn were also satisfying the pitmen's passions for gambling and sport.

Handball courts were built at the rear of the two pubs, where miners played a squash-like game, using their hands instead of rackets. Gambling was an important feature of these games and miners liked to bet on the results.

In the 19th Century, Sacriston had a bit of a reputation for drinking, gambling and occasional lawlessness.

Fortunately, there were several religious institutions keeping things in order. By the end of the century, there was one Anglican, one Roman Catholic and three Methodist churches.

As in many Durham villages, Methodism was represented by the Wesleyan, Primitive and New Connexion sects.

Methodist chapels were built in several different locations in Sacriston during the 19th Century but St John's, the prominent Methodist Chapel on the western side of Front Street, came quite late and only dates from 1898.

Sacriston's Church of England parish was created in 1863 from parts of the parishes of Chester-le-Street and Witton Gilbert. It initially encompassed Sacriston, Findon Hill, Daisy Hill, Edmondsley, Nettlesworth and Plawsworth Gate.

A mission church served the area, until St Peter's parish church opened in 1866 and a vicarage was built behind the church in 1868.

The church and vicarage were built in what was then open countryside north of Sacriston on the road to Edmondsley. Sacriston was only slightly bigger than Edmondsley in those days and since Edmondsley was part of the parish, the location of the church suited both places.

Daisy Hill developed as a settlement between the two villages in the later 19th Century.

In the 1890s, a field still separated the parish church from the rest of Sacriston. To the south of the field, on the northern edge of the village stood St Bede's Roman Catholic Church of 1881, with St Bedes Catholic school nearby on Front Street.

St Bede's Church and school still serve Sacriston today, but housing along Front Street now occupies the once empty land that separated the Catholic and Anglican churches. The catholic school once overlooked Lingy House Farm (now demolished) on the opposite side of Front Street and was one of a number of schools serving Sacriston by the 1920s.

Two schools had opened in Witton Road, near Sacriston crossroads, in about 1912 and are now Sacriston Junior and Infant Schools. There were also Sunday schools in Front Street, but Fyndoune Community College and Plawsworth Road Infant School came much later in the century.

Sacriston's educational and religious needs were supplemented by a choice of recreational facilities. In 1932, part of Fulforth Wood opened as a public park called Fulforth Dene, tucked away behind some allotment gardens.

For those preferring indoor entertainment, dance halls and cinemas were an important feature of Sacriston life from 1900 to 1960. A concert hall called Club Hall was built near Front Street in the early 1900s and dance venues included the Store Hall, in Plawsworth Road, and Drill Hall, in Charlaw Lane.

Sacriston's first two cinemas were the Victoria Picture Hall and the Theatre Royal, both established in 1921.

Victoria Picture Hall burned down in 1941, but stood behind the Post Office on the eastern side of Front Street north of the crossroads. It had been built as a concert hall in 1897. The Theatre Royal cinema, in Church Street, closed in 1931 but reopened for a short time in the 1950s.

The two cinemas were known as Top and Bottom Pictures but were supplemented in 1924 by a "middle pictures", called the Institute Pictures. This cinema occupied the upper floor of Sacriston Memorial Institute, a building opened after the First World War on the site of a Methodist chapel.

The institute's lower floor included a billiards room and reading room. In 1961, the whole building was severely damaged by fire and hastily rebuilt. It was reopened as a community centre in a ceremony performed by the Sacriston-born actress, Wendy Craig.

In 1937, the management of the institute supported the construction of yet another cinema in Sacriston, but this did not come into being until 1957 when a purpose-built cinema was built next door.

This was a short-lived enterprise and was used as a bingo hall from 1962. Now a furniture store, the canopy over the pavement betrays its original purpose.

Of course, Sacriston's lifeblood was always the colliery on the wooded western fringe of the village. Dating to 1839, developments had taken place at the colliery in the 1920s and 1930s with the opening of new drifts, but the cokeworks of 1891 closed down in 1939, in the colliery's 100th year.

The following year, Sacriston was shocked by further sad news when five of its miners were killed by a roof fall at the pit.

Sacriston's Witton Pit closed in 1966, and in 1981 the remaining Victoria Pit was listed for closure. Despite a reprieve and the long miners' strike of 1985, Sacriston colliery finally closed on November 15, 1985.

It was a sad end to an important chapter of Sacriston's history but was by no means an end to Sacriston's history. The little town lives on and is here to stay.

I am grateful to George Nairn for assisting me with local images. George's new book on Sacriston, Edmondsley, Daisy Hill, Black House, cowritten with Dorothy Rand, will be available at Christmas.

Published: 02/07/2004

If you have any memories of Durham City, Chester-le-Street, Derwentside or the Durham coast, including old photos or stories of people and places you would like to share with readers of The Northern Echo, write to David Simpson, Durham Memories, The Northern Echo, Priestgate, Darlington, DL1 1NF or email David.Simpson@nne.co.uk. All photos will be returned.